L 



MM 




Class D02iQ7>rj 



.Bc^ 



K 



NEW TESTAMENT, 

ARRANGED IN 

HISTORICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER; 



COPIOUS NOTES 



PRINCIPAL SUBJECTS IN THEOLOGY; 



THE GOSPELS 

ON THE BASIS OP THE HARMONIES OF LIGHTFOOT, DODDRIDGE, E 

NEWCOME, MICHAELIS; / S/"^ '' 



THE ACCOUNT OF THE RESURRECTIOJN- / | ' ;,"A fn i ' 'l 
ON THE AUTHORITIES OF WEST, TOWNSON, AND CUASifl$Ui; ,- ~ ."if i '^ ' 

THE EPISTLES \ ^ \ ^ />// ^ 

ARE INSERTED IN THEIR PLACES, AND DIVIDED ACCORDING TO THB^fT * 




BY THE 

REV. GEORGE TOWNSEND, M. A. 

PREBENDARV OF DURHAM, AND VICAR OF NORTHALLERTON. 



THE WHOLE REVISED, DIVIDED INTO PARAGRAPHS, PUNCTUATED ACCORDING TO THE BEST 

CRITICAL TEXTS, THE ITALIC WORDS REEXAMINED, PASSAGES AND WORDS 

OF DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY MARKED, A CHOICE AND COPIOUS 

SELECTION OP PARALLEL PASSAGES GIVEN, &c. 

BY THE REV. T. W. COIT, D.D. 

PRESIDENT OF TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 



BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY PERKINS AND MARVIN. 

PHILADELPHIA: 

HENRY PERKINS. 

1840. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1837, by 

Perkins and Marvin, 

In the Clerk's OfBce of the Disti-ict Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



Wf TrAn6f€r 

Vtf^t. of Btsics 

MAP 2 4 1937 



STEREOTYPED AT THE 
BOSTON TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. 



Perldns Sj" Marvin,,. .Priraers. 



INTRODUCTION. 



To discover truth is the best happiness of an individual ; and to communicate it 
is the greatest blessing he can bestow upon society. Moral and religious truth 
can only be obtained from the right interpretation of Scripture : and the most 
effectual means of ehciting that right interpretation must be, to ascertain its pri- 
mary or historical meaning. The Books of Revelation w^ere given to the vi^orld at 
various times, and upon different occasions. Each book was written for some one 
especial cause. The all-wise providence of God has not imparted his will, as hu- 
man legislators are compelled to do, in abstract precepts, arbitrary institutions, or 
metaphysical distinctions. His Revelation is so constructed, that it is interwoven 
with the history of the world. It is a collection of facts and inferences — of nar- 
ratives and doctrines. To understand the latter, we must acquaint ourselves with 
the former : and then only shall we perceive that it is equally adapted to all ages 
and nations, so long as human nature remains the same ; and so long as hope and 
fear, and joy and sorrow, and evil and good, and sin and holiness, characterize 
mankind. 

The most general cause of religious error is the neglect of this mode of viewing 
Scripture. The Old and New Testaments, not only in the present day, but in 
former ages, have been for the most part considered as large reservoirs of texts, or 
as well-stored magazines of miscellaneous theological aphorisms ; from which every 
speculative theorist, and every inventor of an hypothesis, may discover some 
plausible arguments to defend his peculiar opinion. No matter how absurd his 
reasoning ; no matter how inconsistent his notions may be with the analogy of faith, 
with the testimony of antiquity, or with the context from which a passage is for- 
cibly torn away. His own interpretation shall be to him as the Spirit of God. 
The light is kindled from within ; and though its beams are not borrowed from 
learning, nor sense, nor sobriety, fancy shall supply the place of an acquaintance 
with the original tongue, and of the decisions of the commentator, till the Scrip- 
ture speaks the language of Babel to its Babylonish consulters. 

Seeing the absurdity and unreasonableness of this perversion of Scripture, the 
Romanist has proceeded to an opposite extreme. He rejects the oracles of God 
as his only religious guide, and unites with them the traditions of men to render 
them useless. He substitutes the priest for the Deity — the leaves of the sibyl, for 
the pages of truth — the decisions of the ages of darkness, for the well-considered 
interpretations of the studious and the learned. Avoiding one class of errors, he 
thus becomes the advocate of others, more dangerous, and more indefensible. By 

VOL. II. 1 A 



2 INTRODUCTION. 

closing the Scriptures to the people, the very possibility of discovering truth is 
done away. Error, invention, and imposture have at length been combined into 
one unscriptural system, where religion and liberty are alike sacrificed at the 
shrine of a predicted apostacy from the spirit and power of Christianity. That 
superstition must indeed be a curse to mankind, which is so bitterly and so sternly 
condemned in the Scriptures of the dispensation of mercy and love ; and which 
is represented also as falling into ruin, amidst the curses or the joy of the nations. 
Though the evils which have been brought upon the world by the frequent 
misinterpretation of the Scriptures, where they are, as they ought to be, freely 
perused, be infinitely less than those which have been occasioned by prohibiting 
their use ; their value, as our infallible guides, will become more evident, if we 
prevent, in any instance, the misapprehension of their sacred contents. This task 
is the more especial duty of the Clergy, as their authorized interpreters. Every 
attempt, therefore, whether of a partial or of a general nature, to illustrate the In- 
spired Volume, and to enable the people to avoid the two extremes to which I 
have alluded, ought to be considered as submitted to the approbation of the Chris- 
tian ministry. Their sanction must decide whether the labors of the theological 
student are worthy of the favorable reception of their people. Nothing, indeed, 
which is stamped with the general disapproval of the Protestant Clergy can deserve 
the public favor. They are too numerous to be bribed ; too learned to decide er- 
roneously ; too wisely liberal to be partial or unjust. Having no false creed to 
support, no unworthy objects to conceal, no inferior ends to serve, they approve 
or condemn, from their abundance of knowledge, and the soundest principles of 
reasoning. Their decisions are neither arbitrary, nor capricious. The public, whom 
they influence, may not always receive its first bias from their opinions ; but its 
ultimate acquiescence is unifoi-mly founded upon a conviction, that the reasonings 
which convince their teachers are satisfactory in their principles and conclusions. 
The Romanist priesthood may command the submission of its flocks to the arbi- 
trary decrees of the councils of an infaflible Church — the Protestant priesthood 
must persuade by argument and learning, or it possesses neither influence nor 
authority. 

Within the last few years the Sacred Volume, under the blessing of Divine 
Providence, has not only been circulated in a great number of languages, among 
the most remote nations ; but it has also been distributed to an indefinite extent 
in our native country. The spirit of attachment to the Inspired Records has even 
sometimes represented the Sacred Scriptures as the only means of grace. While 
the Bible alone is justly called the religion of Protestants, it has not been suffici- 
ently considered, that the instructions of a Christian priesthood are no less the 
means of grace to the Churches of God. The Bible is the map which directs, 
the Christian Minister must explain its directions : and wherever the Bible is read, 
a better interpreter of its infinite variety of blessings is generally required than 
the devotion, the zeal, the fancy, or the good intentions, of the reader. Much of 
its invaluable contents may be understood without any other guide than than the 
desire of the reader to become holy in the presence of God : but as the perversion 
of the Scriptures is the source of all error, and therefore of much crime, the in- 
terpreter is required to prevent that perversion. All sects, all parties, all Churches 
are united in asserting this truth. From the Church which acknowledges an in- 
fallible head upon earth, to the Society which sits in silent homage to the Deity, 
waiting the descent of a divine influence from above upon its male or female in- 
structors — all confess the necessity of some guide to truth and heaven, besides the 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

perusal of the uncommented text of Scripture. To the teachers, therefore, as 
well as the disciples of Christianity, I am anxious to submit the attempt to fix the 
primary meaning of every passage in the Bible, as the best foundation of correct 
teaching — as the surest preventive of error — the guide to all secondary interpre- 
tations — and the solid basis of that undoubted truth which is contained in the 
Scriptures alone. 

As the contents of the Old Testament are miscellaneously arranged, and the re- 
spective author of each book was left to his own language and his own judgment 
in the disposition of his writings ; we might naturally have expected that the 
same plan would be adopted also by the writers of the New Testament. The 
Spirit of God, which so influenced their minds for the common benefit of man- 
kind, that they should relate only truth to the world, did not instruct them in the 
rounding of periods, or the studied arts of composition : neither were they directed 
to observe one order of the several events, which each has related in his inspired 
narrative. One consequence of the apparent contradictions which have originated 
in this source has been highly beneficial to the Christian Church — greater atten- 
tion to the Sacred Volume has been induced ; and every difficulty which has been 
proposed by such objectors as Evanson, Priestley, Middleton, and others, to the 
consistency and veracity of the Evangelists, has been amply refuted. There are 
no real contradictions in Scripture. The scope and design of each writer require 
only to be known, and then the causes of their apparent discrepancies, of the va- 
riety of their phrases, of their omissions, their additions, and selections of particu- 
lar events, will be fully understood and appreciated ; and the value of the Inspired 
Books will be made to appear yet more and more inestimable. Another conse- 
quence, however, has been more painful. Christianity is the enemy of vice, in 
all its forms, all its plausibilities, all its self-deception, apologies, and motives. 
The least allowed indulgence of evil is incompatible with the demands of this pure 
and holy religion. Anxious to reconcile a life of negligence of God with adher- 
ence to Christianity, the careless, the irreligious, the presumptuous, the self-opin- 
ionated, or the indifferent, look for objections to the truth of Scripture ; and reject 
the Law to which they refuse obedience. Some of the objections proposed by 
the enemies of Christianity have been drawn from the apparent difficulties sug- 
gested by the various order of their narratives, adopted by the writers of the New 
Testament : and the evident advantage of removing these objections, and recon- 
ciling the accounts of the Evangelists, has induced many learned or inquiring 
men, in the earlier as well as in the later ages of Christianity, to compile and sub- 
mit to the world various Harmonies, which have been formed on different plans, or 
hypotheses. An eminent critic" has divided these into two classes : " Harmonies, 
of which the authors have taken it for granted that all the Evangelists have writ- 
ten in chronological order ; and Harmonies, of which the authors have admitted 
that in one or more of the four Gospels chronological order has been more or less 
neglected." To these might have been added a third, in which the Harmonizers 
have supposed that the chronology has been neglected by all the four EvangeUsts. 
The Harmonists who have adopted some one of these plans are very numerous. 
I refer the reader to the catalogues of Walchius'', Michaelis^ Pilkington'', Horne% 

" Marsh's Michaelis, vol. iii. part ii. p. 44. 

' Bihliotheca Theolog. vol. iv. p. 863-900. Jena, 1765. 

' Marsh's Michaelis, vol. iii. part i. p. 31-36, and part ii. p. 29-49. 

"^ Pilkington's Evangelical Harmony, Preface, p. 18-20. 

* Home's Critical Introduction, vol. ii. p. 503. 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

Chemnitius^, and Cave^, for a more ample account than it may be thought advis- 
able to give in this Introduction. They ought not, however, to be passed by with- 
out some notice. 

The Canon of the New Testament was closed by the Author of the Apocalypse. 
After his death, the Christian Churches admitted no addition to the Inspired Vol- 
ume. Each book, as it had been successively given to the Churches, was care- 
fully verified, and cautiously received. They were at first addressed to some one 
particular class of men, or were composed for one express purpose ; and, before 
their general utihty was acknowledged, they were received by the persons to 
whom they were addressed, in the sense for which they were composed by their 
respective authors. Thus the Gospel of St. Matthew, as Dr. Townson and others 
have satisfactorily shown, was compiled at a very early period after the ascension 
of our Lord, for the use of the Jewish converts. The Gospel of St. Mark was 
probably composed for the use of the converted Proselytes of the Gate ; and St. 
Luke's Gospel was written for the more general use of the Gentile converts, who 
were united into churches by St. Paul. The Gospel of St. John was written at 
the request of the Church at Ephesus, as a supplement to the rest ; with more 
especial reference to those heresies of his age, which impugned the doctrine of 
the Divinity of Christ. Many years, we may justly conclude, would have elapsed 
before these Gospels were collected into one volume ; and many more would 
elapse before the attention of the primitive Churches, which received them with 
so much veneration, would be directed to their apparent discrepancies. For this 
veneration was not slightly founded ; it originated from the universal knowledge 
which prevailed among all the Churches, that the authors of these books, and of 
the other books which they esteemed sacred, were possessed of the power of work- 
ing miracles, to demonstrate the truth of their narration. The general evidence 
deducible from the testimony of the eyewitnesses of the wonderful actions of our 
Lord, and from the testimony of the hearers of his gracious teaching, was not 
sufficient. The relators of his actions could appeal to their own supernatural 
gifts, and afford undeniable proofs of their veracity, and of their more than hu- 
man knowledge. St. Matthew, as one of the twelve, partook of the miraculous 
powers which were given to each. St. Peter may be considered as the real au- 
thor of St. Mark's Gospel ; and St. Paul, of the Gospel attributed to St. Luke. 
St. John also was of the twelve. Invested with the apostolic office, and act- 
ing with the plenary powers with which their Divine Master had honored them, 
we may justly conclude that none of their early converts, either of the Jews, the 
Proselytes, or the Gentiles, would have considered the seeming difficulties of their 
narratives. The objects for which both the Gospels and the Epistles were writ- 
ten would have been well understood, and further explanation was unnecessary : 
and no Harmony of the Gospels would have been either desired or appreciated 
in the apostolic age. 

When the miraculous powers of the apostles, however, had ceased with their 
lives, and the generation which had witnessed these miracles had passed away, it 
might naturally have been expected that some attention would be paid to this 
subject, and some efforts made to reconcile the apparent varieties in the accounts 
of the Evangelists. About eighty years after the death of St. John and the clos- 
ing of the Canon of the New Testament, Tatian, a Syrian by descent, a Mesopota- 
mian by birth, a sophist by profession, before his conversion to Christianity, and 

t Chemnitii Prolegomena. ^ Cave's Histaria Ldteraria, articles Tatianus, Ammonius, &,c. 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

becoming a pupil of Justin Martyr, compiled the first Harmony of the Gospels. 
The fragments which remain, and have been attributed to Tatian, are now gen- 
erally imputed to Ammonius. Clemens" quotes Tatian as the first harmonizer- 
He divided his Harmony into eighty-one chapters ; omitted the genealogies which 
prove Christ to be descended from David (the heresy of that age being to exalt, 
rather than to depress, the dignity of our Lord), and reduced all the Passovers to 
one, on the supposition that our Saviour's ministry lasted only one year. Epi- 
phanius tells us', that where Eusebius accuses the Ebionites of using only the 
Gospel according to the Hebrews, he means that they used the Harmony of Ta- 
tian. Theodoret tells us, that he found two hundred copies of Tatian's Harmony, 
which were highly prized : but because the genealogies and descent of Christ 
from David were omitted, he gave the four Gospels in their place. An additional 
evidence, that the translations of Victor of Capua, and of Lascinius are spurious*, 
may be derived from the fact, that they retain the genealogy which Tatian is said 
to have rejected. 

Pilkington gives a specimen, in his notes, of the confused order of the Harmony 
of Tatian, who does not, indeed, appear to have been a man of much judgment. 
The account which Cave has given of his philosophical opinions sufficiently con- 
vinces us, that no dependence can be placed on his decision. I add the extract, 
as even Pilkington's work is rare^ Tatian in general kept close to the order of 
St. Matthew, in which he has been followed by the greater number of those har- 
monizers who prefer being guided by the authority of one Evangelist, rather than 
equally to transpose the four. He sometimes, however, recedes from it without 
any apparent necessity or reason. " Several things," says Pilkington, '•' which 
ought evidently to be connected, are disjoined ; others are improperly united. 
The order of all the Gospels is arbitrarily transposed, and the times and seasons 
cannot be distinguished"." 

Ammonius, a Platonic philosopher of Alexandria, pubhshed a work, in the third 
century, which bears ~a. more proper title than the former ; being only called 
Evangeliorum Narratio. He so exactly follows the method of Tatian, that there 



* Clemens Stromat. lib. i. ap. Chemiiitii Prolegomena. 

' Ap. Cliemn. Euseb. Ub. iii. cap. 24. * See Pilkington's Preface. 

' Tatian's Harmony, collected from Bibliotheca Patrum, torn. via. p. 41. Paris, 1589. 





Matthew 


Mark 


I/iike 


John 


Evang. History, 


1 


iv. 17, 18. 


i. 14-16. 






§ 64. 


2 


iv. 18-23. 


i. 16-21. 


V. 1-12. 




66, 73, 74. 


3 


is. 9, 10. 


ii. 14, 15. 


V. 27-29. 




79. 


4 








iii. 22. 


48, 49. 


5 


iv. 12-17. 






iv. 1-4. 


50, 64. 


6 


iv. 23. viii. 1. 


iii. 1.3-19. 


vi. 12. 




88-116. 


7 


ix. 36. xi. 2. 




X. 2-13. 




162-165, 224. 


8 








ii. 1-12. 


41. 


9 


\'iii. 1-5. 


i. 40. 


v. 12-17. 




75. 


10 


viii. 5-14. 




vii. 1-11. 




116. 


11 


viii. 14-16. 


i. 29-32. 


iv. 38-40. 




69. 


12 






\-ii. 11-18. 




117. 


13 


viii. 16-19. 


i. 32-35. 


iv. 40-42. 




70. 


14 


viii. 19-21. 


i. 32. 


ix. 57. 




152, 223. 


15 


viii. 24. ix. 2. 


iv. 35. v. 18. 


viii. 22-38. 




15.3-156. 


16 


ix. 2-9. 


ii. 1-1.3. 


V. 17-27. 




76, 77. 



Pilkington's Notes, p. 30. 

"" Jerome mentions TheopliUus, bishop of Antioch, as the first harmonist. The Treatise o« 
the Gospels, ascribed to him, aUegorizes, instead of harmonizes, the Sacred Volume. Preface, p. x 



INTRODUCTION. 



is little doubt he has made an abridgment only of that work. About the year 
330, Juvencus, a Spaniard, wrote the Evangelical History in heroic verse. " He 
recedes," says Pilkington, " very httle from the method observed by Tatian ; only 
he keeps more closely to the present order of St. Matthew's Gospel, which he 
seems to have made his guide. In this he is followed by St. Augustine, who 
about the year 400, wrote his treatise De Concordia Evangelistarum." 

Comestor, a Frenchman, about 1180, wrote his Historia Evangelica, which, in 
method, differs very little from that of Tatian and Ammonius. 

Guido de Perpiniano published his Concordia Evangelica about 1330. He, in 
a great measure, follows St. Augustine, adhering to the present order of St. Mat- 
thew's Gospel : and he was of opinion, that, wherever any relation of facts or 
doctrines appears similar, in any of the Gospels, those passages ought to be con- 
nected, as being accounts of the same fact or discourse, though given in a diiferent 
manner. For example : several doctrines were delivered by our Saviour, at dif- 
ferent times, and on different occasions, correspondent to those contained in the 
Sermon on the Mount ; wherever he met with any doctrines similar to these, in 
any part of St. Mark's or St. Luke's Gospel, he thus transposed them so as to 
connect them with St. Matthew. 












St, Matthew 



v. 1. to viii. 1. 



St. MarJc 



ix. 48 

iv. 21, 22. 
xi. 25-27. 
iv. 23-25. 



St. Luke 

vi. 17-25. 
xiv. 34 



viii. 16, 17. 
xvi. 17, 18. 
xii. 58 



vi. 27-36. 
xi. 1-5. 
xii. 32-35. 
xi. 34-37. 
xvi. 1-16. 
xii. 13-32. 
vi. 36-43. 
xi. 5-14. 
vi. 43-46. 
vi. 25-27. 
vi. 46 



It must appear absurd to every reader, to suppose St. Mark's and St. Luke's 
Gospels to be such confused rhapsodies as they are here represented. The same 
method was likewise continued by Ludolphus, a German, who wrote his Vita 
Christi about the same time with Guido ; and John Gerson, who published his 
Monotessaron about the year 1420. 

About the year 1537, Osiander, a Protestant minister of Germany, published 
his Annotationes in Evangelicam Harmoniam. He makes no alteration of the 
present order of any of the Gospels ; but wherever similar facts or doctrines are 
placed variously, he imagines they ought to be distinctly considered. But, if the 
arbitrary method of transposing all the Gospels led the first Harmonists to connect 
passages which they ought not, the method which Osiander determined to pursue 
obliged him to suppose some passages to be accounts of different facts ; which, , 
upon any impartial examination into the several circumstances related, must ap- 
pear to be the same : that is, two sermons are supposed to have been preached 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

upon the Mount ; one related by St. Matthew and the other by St. Luke. Two 
centurions' servants are supposed to have been healed — two women are supposed 
to have been healed of an issue of blood — two damsels to have been raised from 
the dead — and two tempests to have been stilled upon the sea. 

The Harmony of Corn. Jansenius. bishop of Ghent, was pubhshed about 1.5.50. 
He follows the confused method of the first Harmonists : and Calvin, whose 
Harmonia ex tribus Evangelistis appeared in 1555, hath very nearly followed the 
steps of Perpinian. He omits St. John's Gospel in his Harmony, as having very 
little connexion with the others ; though this Gospel is one of the principal guides 
to a Harmonist, as it mentions the several Passovers, and distinguishes the times 
by notations omitted by the other Evangelists. 

In opposition to Cahdn, Carolus Mohnseus, a celebrated French lawyer, pub- 
lished an Evangeliorum Unio, in 1565. He appears to have taken but little pains 
in this cause : for he so nearly copies after Osiander, that he evidently seems 
rather to defend his opinion than to advance a new one. 

There was a Harmony pubhshed with the Pvhemish Testament, in 1582, in 
the confused method of the first Harmonists : which was also followed by Beaux- 
Ami, whose Harmony and Annotations were first printed in 1583. 

Gerard Mercator, the great geographer, published a Harmony in 1590, wherein 
he keeps steadily to the present order of St. Matthew, transposing the others ; 
but with more caution than Perpinian. 

The Harmony of Martin Chemnitius, who died in 1586, was revised by Lyser, 
and afterwards by John Gerhard, who entirely approved of his plan. Chemnitius 
too much followed the method of the first Harmonists : though he saw and re- 
formed several of their errors, and sometimes recedes from the present order of 
all the first three Gospels. Perkins pubhshed at Cambridge, in 1597, an abstract 
from Chemnitius, who, indeed, was chiefly followed by all Harmonists, with very 
Httle variation, for half a century. " Among these," says Pilkington, " I must 
particularly mention Sebastian Barradius, who was caUed, for his gi-eat zeal, 
knowledge, and industry, the Apostle of Portugal. Though Barradius followed 
nearly the same method wdth Chemnitius, he cannot well be supposed to have 
copied after him, as he appears to have been engaged in this work before that 
was published ; and he deserves our thanks, for collecting the various opinions of 
all the ancient Fathers, upon every particular mentioned in the Gospels, with 
great care and fidehty, which renders his work a valuable commentary.'" 

Thomas Cartwright, who pubhshed his Harmony about 1630, makes the pres- 
ent order of St. Mark his rule for method, but takes great liberties in the trans- 
position of St. Matthew and St. Luke. 

In 1654 was pubhshed the second part of the Annah of Archbishop Usher, in 
which is comprised a Harmony of the Gospels, by Dr. John Richardson, bishop of 
Ardagh. The Bishop supposes that St. Matthew hath alone neglected the order 
of tune, which is regularly and constantly observ-ed by the other three Evangelists. 
St. John, indeed, takes so httle notice of what is mentioned by the others, and so 
plainly appears to have followed the proper series of history, that the freest pens 
have rarely taken occasion to transpose his order : Tatian, Comestor, Ludolphus, 
and Mann, place chap. vi. before chap. v. The value of Dr. Richardson's work 
has been acknowledged by Le Clerc, 1701, Whiston, 1702, Bedford, 1730, &,c. 
and the foreigners, Du Pin and Butini ; who. though they differ from Bishop 
Pvichardson, and among themselves in many particulars, yet all agree to follow the 
general method here mentioned. 



8 



INTRODUCTION. 



Dr. Lightfoot published part of his Harmony in 1644, and the whole in 1654. 
He adheres to the present order of St. Mark and St. Luke, which he never trans- 
poses except in this instance : — 



^ect. 


St. Matthew 


St. Mark 


^S*^. Luke 


39 


viii. 23.— ix. 2. 


iv. 36.— V. 22. 


viii. 22-41 


40 


ix. 10-18. 


ii. 15-23. 


V. 29. 


41 


ix. 18-27. 


V. 22. 


viii. 41. 



The Harmonia Evangelica of Monsieur Toinard, published in 1707, has deserv- 
edly met with very general approbation ; for he not only pursued the true method 
in general, but he was possessed of great learning and judgment ; and he applied 
himself, with great care and diligence, to settle the several circumstances men- 
tioned by the different Evangelists. In this laborious work every sentence, and 
even every word, is harmonized. 

When I remembered that the valuable Diatessaron of Professor White, and the 
Harmonies of Newcome, Doddridge, Pilkington, Michaelis, and others, must be 
added to this list, I confess I contemplated the proposed completion of the Ar- 
rangement of the Scriptures with some dismay. To peruse all these works, even 
if they could be procured, was impossible — to reject them all would be an act of 
absurd presumption. The most patient labor can add but little to the good which 
has been already effected, and the researches of our predecessors must be the 
only solid foundation of every attempt to be useful. 

The four Gospqls having been written, as I have represented, for the use of 
some particular class of persons, and on various occasions in which they were in- 
terested, may be considered as letters. Each was penned on the plan of an 
Epistle, containing a narrative. In letter-writing, digressions, interruptions, sud- 
den desertions and resumptions of the subject, frequently occur. If I had re- 
ceived four letters from a distant country, each of which contained an account of 
the life and death of a kind friend — each informing me of some event, or circum- 
stance, which the other had omitted — each preserving the same principal circum- 
stances, but varying in the order of the minuter events — I should endeavour to 
ascertain the probable order of the events related, by first selecting those which 
were common to all ; and then by arranging, as probably consecutive, those 
which were made to follow each other, in any two of the letters. For the right 
placing of the events which might appear unconnected, certain rules must be laid 
down, as they would be suggested by the plan of the writer, the nature of his 
style, the notation of time and place, and the latitude to be assigned to the vari- 
ous particles which denote nearness, or remoteness, or connexion. It would be 
necessary to observe, whether my correspondents were more intent on represent- 
ing the substance of what is spoken, than the words of the speaker ; or whether 
they neglected accurate order in the detail of particular incidents, though they 
pursued a good general method ; whether detached and distant events are some- 
times joined together on account of a sameness in the scene, the person, the 
cause, or the consequences — whether, in such concise histories as are contained 
in letters, transitions were not often made from one fact to another, without any 
intimation that important matters intervened. By thus entering into the manner 
of my various correspondents, I should more effectually make them their own 
harmonists. 

The same rules, which might be thus applied to human compositions, are ap- 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

plicable to the Gospels ; the superior veneration, which is due to the latter as in- 
spired compositions, rendering greater care and attention necessary, tlian if they 
had been Avritings of less moment. Chemnitius has laid down several rules in 
his Prolegomena, which had evidently been attended to by Pilkington, Newcome, 
and Doddridge. Though Chemnitius had rendered his work comparatively use- 
less to me as a guide, on account of liis generally preferring the order of St. Mat- 
thew ; his rules are so valuable, that I shall add some further notice of them, to 
enable the reader to judge more correctly of the propriety of the order which I 
have adopted in the following work. 

It might have been supposed, that St. Luke was the proper guide to be fol- 
lowed, on account of the expression he has used in his preface. This has been 
considered in its place. Chemnitius' remark is just — " y.uOeSrig non pracise exac- 
tum ordinem in omnibus ; sed quod altius ordiri, et Jiistoriam ab initio repetere, ac 
deinceps continud ndrratiorie distincte, et distribute, quasi per gradus, reliqua velit 
addere.'^ Rejecting the notion of Osiander (and with him of Macknight, and all 
other harmonists who have followed the same plan), that each Evangelist wrote 
in their exact order the circumstances they have related, Chemnitius proceeds, as 
if the Gospels had been written on the plan of letters, to notice those facts which 
must be the resting places of the harmonizers. We are to ascertain the number 
of Passovers — the greater events between each — the principal journeyings of our 
Lord, and how he was at certain towns or places at certain times. His birth, 
baptism, death, resurrection, and ascension, must of course begin and end every 
Harmony. 

The Evangelists, we may presume, generally relate things in their order ; un- 
less they are reminded of other events, which appear to be suggested by the men- 
tion of a name, or an event. Thus St. Matthew unites the calling and mission 
of the twelve, though the latter was long after the former. St. Luke inserts the 
story of the death of the Baptist long before it took place ; being reminded of it 
by the event he had related. Mark unites also the captivity and death of John. 

Newcome has given many additional instances to those collected by Chem- 
nitius, to show that many general notices of time do not always imply an imme- 
diate succession of events ; such as "at that time " — " in those days " — naQmarav 
8t — ld(hv St — ^y^j'STo 5t — xal il6(hv — "on one of those days," as they were coming 
into Capernaum, &-c. 

Those notes of time, however, are to be particularly observed which appear to 
imply continuance, or are more definite — " When he came down from the moun- 
tain he went," &.c. " When he had finished these words " — " In that hour " 

" On the third day " — " On the eighth day"." 

Observe where the omission of events seems to be implied, as in John v. 1. ; 
vi. 1. ; and vii. I. The expressions ^t/frcc Tftwa, and Idoi, xal r6ie* are thus used. 

When all the Evangehsts agree in the order of certain events, their united 
consent ought not to be disturbed. 

When two Evangelists agree in any particular order, and a third differs, the 
two are to be preferred to the third ; unless very evident reasons appear to the 
contrary. 

When two Evangelists relate the same fact, and place different facts after it, 
observe the stricter notation of time in one than the other. 



See the notes to the passages in which these expressions occur. 
[* "After these things,"— « behold,"— " and then."— Ed.] 
VOL. II. 2 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

Chemnitius here refers to the instances that, after the heaUng of the centurion's 
servant, St. Matthew relates the heahng of St. Peter's mother-in-law. St. Luke 
relates the raising of the widow's son, and uses the particle which denotes the 
stricter notation of time ; while St. Matthew only implies that it was about that 
time. St. Mark adds a note, that this heahng of St. Peter's mother-in-law was 
effected when that apostle Avas called. 

When the order of events after a fact is different, inquire whether the altera- 
tion is by anticipation or recapitulation, and the circumstances in which the his- 
toi-y is related. 

When in the context of some one Evangelist one history follows another, and 
it is certain that the following is the last, consider whether any event is to be in- 
serted — for instance ; between the purification and return to Nazareth, insert the 
slaughter of the infants, and the flight into Egypt. 

When one Evangelist relates events in certain order, and an event is recorded 
ambng them, which is omitted by the other Evangelists when relating the same 
events, the order of the one may be followed. 

But if that one event may, by any notes of time, be transposed, the order is 
not a sufficient argument against its being displaced. 

Sometimes events, or discourses, are related, which are put together because 
they are told of the same person ; not because they are consecutive, but that the 
history of the person may be put together, as the mission of the apostles, the 
story of the Baptist, &c. 

When similar events are related we may conclude them to be the same, if the 
minuter circumstances agree ; such as time, place, occasion, person, object. 

Supposing the Gospels to have been written in the form of narrative epistles, 
and the observance of such rules to be necessary, I found that the most valuable 
basis of a harmony was already prepared for me by Eichhorn, one of the most 
celebrated, though not always the most approvable, of the German theologians. 
While I rejected, as a theory unsupported by facts, the hypothesis of Bishop 
Marsh and of Eichhorn. — that there was one original document from which the 
first three Evangelists derived their Gospels, — I was glad to avail myself of his 
collection of the events recorded by the first three Evangelists. These events. 
Bishop Marsh has justly observed, contain a short but well-connected representa- 
tion of the principal transactions of Christ, from his birth to his ascension. What- 
ever events are added by one, which are omitted by another, must evidently find 
their proper place among these. The chronology is settled by the number of 
Passovers mentioned by St. John : and I have adopted Mr. Benson's theory of the 
duration of our Lord's ministry, and that view of the chronology which he has 
given from St. John's Gospel. Eichhorn's arrangement of these events appeared 
to be the best foundation of a harmony on another account also. The order of 
St. Matthew's Gospel alone is altered : the order both of St. Mark and of St. 
Luke is preserved, and from this I have not departed in any instance. I annex 
the plan of Eichhorn, that the reader may compare its unbroken continuousness 
with the order proposed by any harmonist which he may have in his possession. 

1. John the Baptist, Mark i. 2-8. Luke iii. 1-18. Matt. iii. 1-12. 

2. Baptism of Christ, Mark i. 9-11. Luke iii. 21, 22. Matt. iii. 13-17. 

3. Temptation of Christ, Mark i. 12, 13. Luke iv. 1-13. Matt, iv. 1-11, 

4. Christ's return to Galilee, and arrival at Capernaum, Mark i. 14. Luke iv. 
14, Matt, iv, 12, 13. 

5. Cure of Peter's mother-in-law, Mark i. 29-34, Luke iv, 38-41, Matt, 
viii. 14-17. 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

6. Cure of a leper, Mark i. 40-45. Luke v. 12-16. Matt. vii. 2-4. 

7. Cure of a person afflicted with the palsy, Mark ii. 1-12. Luke v. 17-26. 
Matt. ix. 1-8. 

8. Call of St. Matthew, Mark ii. 13-22. Luke v. 27-39. Matt. ix. 9-17. 

9. Christ goes with his disciples through the corn fields, Mark ii. 23-28. Luke 
vi. 1-5. Matt. xii. 1-8. 

10. Cure of the withered hand, Mark iii. 1-6. Luke vi. 2-6. Matt. xii. 9-15. 

11. Preparation for Sermon on the Mount, Mark iii. 7-19. Luke vi. 12-19. 
Matt. iv. 23-25. 

12. Confutation of the opinion that Christ cast out devils by the assistance of 
Beelzebub, Mark iii. 20-30. Matt. xii. 22-45. (Perhaps formerly Luke also.) 

13. Arrival of the mother and brethren of Christ, Mark iii. 31-35. Luke v. 
19-21. Matt. xii. 46-50. 

14. Parable of the sower, Mark iv. 1-34. Luke viii. 4-18. 

15. Christ crosses the sea, and undergoes a storm, Mark iv. 35-41. Luke viii. 
22-25. Matt. viii. 18-27. 

16. Transactions in the country of the Gadarenes, Mark v. 1-20. Luke viii. 
26-39. Matt. viii. 28-34. 

17. The daughter of Jairus restored to life, Mark v. 21-43. Luke viii. 40-56. 
Matt. ix. 18-26. 

18. Christ sends out the twelve Apostles, Mark vi. 7-13. Luke ix. 1-6. 
Matt. X. 1-42. 

19. The fame of Christ reaches the court of Herod, Matt. xiv. 1-12. Mark 
vi. 14-49. Luke ix. 7-9. 

20. Five thousand men fed. Matt. xiv. 13-21. Mark vi. 30-44. Luke ix. 10-17. 

21. Acknowledgment of the Apostles that Christ is the Messiah, Matt. xvi. 13- 
28. Mark viii. 27. and ix. 1. Luke ix. 18-27. 

22. Transfiguration of Christ on the Mount, Matt. xvii. 1-10. Mark ix. 2-9. 
Luke ix. 28-36. 

23. Christ cures a demoniac, whom his Apostles were unable to cure, Matt, 
xvii. 14-21. Mark ix. 14-29. Luke ix. 37-43. 

24. Christ foretells his death. Matt. xvii. 22, 23. Mark ix. 20-32. Luke ix. 
43-45. 

25. Dispute among the Apostles about precedence. Matt, xviii. 1-5. Mark ix. 
23-37. Luke ix. 45-48. 

26. Christ blesses children who are brought to him, and answers the question, 
By what means salvation is to be obtained? Matt. xix. 13-30. Mark x. 13-31. 

27. Christ again foretells his death, Matt. xx. 17-19. Mark x. 32-34. Luke 
xviii. 31-34. 

28. Blind man at Jericho restored to sight. Matt. xx. 29-34. Mark x. 46-52. 
Luke xviii. 35-43. 

29. Christ's pubhc entry into Jerusalem, Matt. xxi. 1-11. Mark xi. 1-10. 
Luke xix. 29-44. 

30. Christ expels the buyers and sellers from the temple. Matt. xxi. 12-14. 
Mark xi. 15-17. Luke xix. 45, 46. 

31. Christ called to account by the Chief Priests and Elders for teaching pub- 
licly in the temple. He answers thein, and then delivers a parable, Matt. xxi. 23 
-27. and 33-46. Mark xi. 27. and xii. 12. Luke xx. 1-19. 

32. On the tribute to Caesar, and marriage with a brother's widow, Mutt. xxii. 
15-33. Mark xii. 15-37. Luke xx. 20-40. 



12 INTRODUCTIO.N- 

33. Christ's discourse with the Pharisees relative to the Messiah being called 
Lord by David, Matt. xxii. 41-46. Mark xii, 35-37. Luke xx. 41-45. 

34. The Pharisees censured by Christ, Matt, xxiii. 1, &.c. Mark xii. 38-40. 
Luke XX. 45-47. 

35. Christ foretells the destruction of Jerusalem, Matt. xxiv. 1-36. Mark xiii. 
1-36. Luke xxi. 5-36. 

36. Prelude to the account of Christ's passion, Matt. xxvi. 1-5. Mark xiv. 1, 
2. Luke xxii. 1, 2. 

37. Bribery of Judas, and the celebration of the Passover, Matt. xxvi. 14-29. 
Mark xiv. 10-25. Luke xxii. 3-23. 

38. Christ goes to the Mount of Olives, Matt. xxvi. 30-46. Mark xiv. 26-42. 
Luke XX. 39-46. 

39. He is seized by a guard from the Chief Priests, Matt. xxvi. 47-58. Mark 
xiv. 43-54. Luke xxii. 47-55. 

40. Peter's denial of Christ, &c. Matt. xxvi. 69. and xxvii. 19. Mark xiv. Q6. 
and XV. 10. Luke xxii. 56. and xxiii. 17. 

41. The crucifixion and death of Christ, Matt, xxvii, 20-66. Mark xv. 11- 
47. Luke xxiii. 18-56. 

42. The resurrection, Matt, xxviii. 1, &c. Mark xvi. 1, &c. Luke xxiv. 1, &c. 
Such being the theory, the rules, and the basis, upon which a Harmony of tlie 

New Testament might be advantageously compiled, it remained that I should se- 
lect those assistants which united most soundness of judgment, profound learning, 
patient labor, and extensive research. Rejecting the hypotheses both of Osiander 
and of all who would adhere to the order of any one of the Gospels, in preference 
to another, I decided to accept as my guides the five principal harmonists, which 
have not only obtained the general approbation of all parties, but who have been 
respectively of the most opposite descriptions and classes. 

The first is Lightfoot, whose Chronicle of the Old Testament had been made 
the basis of my preceding labor. His Harmony, though not fully completed, has 
been welcomed by scholars of all parties. Lightfoot was one of the most learned 
of the Puritan theologians, and possessed great influence in the Assembly of Di- 
vines". His Harmony, however, was encumbered with the same disadvantage, 
which I have mentioned^ as an error in his Chronicle. He places the events re- 
corded in Scripture in too large masses, and thereby destroys the minuteness and 
consequent perspicuity, which are so essential to a complete view of the sacred 
history. 

To mention Dr. Doddridge, my second guide, is to recall to the recollection of 
those who interest themselves in these dehghtful studies, the name of an amiable, 
learned, and pious man, whose praise is in all the Churches. If I have not uni- 
formly adopted his arrangement, I have been always edified by his devotional re- 
flections. Where his reasoning did not convince, his piety instructed. Where 
his decisions appeared to be accurate, the union of every quality which can adorn 
the theological critic rendered his labors doubly grateful. The pride and orna- 
ment of the Independent Dissenters, his anxiety to avoid offence never betrayed 
him into indifference for truth. His liberality never induced him to confound 
truth with error (a custom which is now extolled as freedom from prejudice), for 

° See the first volume of Mr. Pitman's valuable edition of Lightfoot's Works. Mr. Davison, in 
his work On Primitive Sacrifice, has objected to some opinions of Lightfoot ; but his learning was 
undeniable, and his autliority as a harmonist very great. 

^ Introduction to the Jirrangement of the Old Testament. 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

it was confined to persons, and not to sentiments. Whatever he believed to be 
true he enforced with a patiea,! gentleness ; which was so^igietinaes mistaken for 
timidity by those who esteem violence or declamation to be one criterion of min- 
isterial faithfulness and Christian zeal. An active pai'tisan of that system of re- 
ligion, which makes the ground of our acceptance with God to consist of a certain 
train of feehngs, as well as in repentance, faith, and obedience ; he has not pro- 
ceeded to the extremes which generally characterize the commentators of this 
school. His opinions on the formation and government of Christian churches 
will not, and cannot, meet with the approbation of the observers of the circun> 
stances related in the Gospels and Acts, and referred to in the apostolic Episdes. 
He appears to have been fettered by the theory which he had imbibed in early 
life, and had not rejected in his maturer years. I was not able to receive many 
of the proposed alterations of this amiable, great, and good man. They some- 
times appeared too arbitrary and abrupt. 

Pilkington's Evangelical History is my third principal aid in this difficult labor. 
Pilkington was a country clergyman, and he devoted himself to his work with 
much patience for many years. He considers St. Mark as the best guide to a 
harmonizer. Forsaking the old plans of placing the various passages in parallel 
columns, or in separate paragraphs, he divided the narrative in the manner which 
I have adopted in the first of these volumes. His ornissions of importapt clauses 
I found to be very numerous ! He has not given the whole contents of the 
Gospels, but rather formed a coritinuoiis narrative, on the plan of a diatessaron, 
with the Scripture references in, thg margin. He supposes, too, that our Lord's 
ministry lasted through five Passovers. 

Archbishop Newcome's Harmony appears to be generally and deservedly con- 
sidered the best work of this kind ever submitted to the public. It has received 
the sanction of the university of Oxford. It was made the foundation of White's 
Diatessaron, with some few exceptions. The learned Professor has followed 
West and Townson in the order of the narrative of the resurrection. He rejects 
the Archbishop's double institution of the Eucharist, and otherwise varies in the 
numbering of the sections from 126 to 130. I venture to depart from Arch- 
bishop Newcome with great reluctance, and adhere as much as possible to his 
general order of circumstances. 

My fifth and most inaccurate guide is Michaefis, whose brief work, as Bishop 
Marsh has justly observed, must be considered rather as an index than a harmony. 
I have, however, chosen him as one of my helpers, because he is the last arranger. 
He is considered also of high authority among the admirers of the German theo- 
logians ; and among all who mistake novelty for talent, and the rejection of old 
opinions for exemption from bigotry. 

The plan upon which I have endeavoured to render my consulting of the 
oracles of God useful to the Christian world is the only point which requires our 
further attention. 

All the harmonies which have hitherto been submitted to the world have been 
formed on one of two plans. The contents of the four Gospels have been arranged 
in parallel columns, by which means the whole of the sacred narrative is placed at 
one view before the reader — or they have been combined into one unbroken story, 
in which the passages considered by the harmonizer to be unnecessary to the illus- 
tration of the narrative are arbitrarily rejected. The former produces great con- 
fusion in the mind of the student ; the latter appears to place the reader too 
much at the disposal of the author. The former is the Harmony strictly so 

VOL. II. B 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

called ; the latter is the mere Diatessaron, or Monotessaron. To avoid the incon- 
veniences of both these systems, I have endeavoured to save the reader that em- 
barrassment, which is occasioned by four parallel columns ; and at the same time 
to combine the Gospels into one order, without leaving the reader to depend en- 
tirely on the judgment of the arranger, in the choice of the interwoven passages. 
My object has been to unite the advantages of both plans. Every text of Scrip- 
ture is preserved, as in the first, while the evangelical narratives are formed into 
one connected history, as in the second ; every passage which is rejected from 
the continuous history being placed at the end of each section, to enable the 
reader to decide on the propriety of the order which has been adopted by the 
Arranger. These passages will appear too often as broken and disjointed sen- 
tences ; and the conviction of the utility of this plan, and its rendering such evi- 
dent satisfaction to the laborious or inquiring student, could alone have rendered 
me patient, under the minute care and anxious fatigue, to persevere till it was 
completed. 

In harmonizing the accounts of the inscriptions on the cross, and the narrative 
of the resurrection, I have been guided by Townson, West, and Cranfield. 

Having decided on the method of disposing the contents of the four Gospels, 
another question remained with respect to the various periods of time included in 
the whole of the New Testament. I was not satisfied with the usual mode of 
dividing the actions of our Lord, according to the number of the Passovers during 
which he lived upon earth. This plan did not seem to convey any definite idea 
of the peculiar propriety of the several actions which are recorded of our Saviour. 
The beauty of the narrative, and the proofs of design and wisdom which are 
every where discoverable in the Sacred Scriptures, seemed obscured or neglected 
by harmonizing the several Gospels with reference only to the number of Pass- 
overs — or the various journeys of our Lord — or even the perfect arrangement of 
the events themselves, if they were considered only as a collection of wonderful 
facts. Much higher and nobler views ought to be taken of the contents of the 
Sacred Writings. The Christian revelation is the completion of that great sys- 
tem of religion which began at the fall, and will continue till this our state of trial 
is over. The principal object of an arranger of the New Testament, therefore, 
ought to be, to place before his readers the gradual development of that dispen- 
sation of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, which began with the revival of miracle 
immediately before the birth of Christ, and terminated with the closing of the 
Canon of the Scriptures of the New Testament, and the cessation of the miracu- 
lous gifts. 

It will, I think, appear evident, that an arrangement of the New Testament 
will be most usefully formed upon this view of the gradual discovery of God to 
the world. God has imparted the knowledge of his will to the world as men 
were able to bear it. Without Pi,evelation there would have been no religion : 
neither is there any proof whatever that man could have invented for himself a 
system of religious belief. There has never been a Religion of Nature since the 
world was created. When men were iew in number, and had not yet collected 
in large cities, their reason might have confirmed their conviction of the trutii 
which had been originally revealed to them, respecting the existence and unity of 
God. The relations of life might have instructed them in the necessity of the 
observance of certain moral duties. When they had become assembled in cities, 
and had acquired opulence and security, the necessities of society might have 
taught them various other moral duties, as well as some system of civil polity ; 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

and all these may in one sense be called Natural Religion. But there is no 
proof whatever, either from the nature of man, from the probable origin of human 
society, or from the testimony of Scripture, that man was capable of framing for 
himself a consistent scheme of religion ; and all that Wollaston and other labo- 
rious writers have proved on this point is their own ingenuity and talent. The 
conclusions of philosophical inquirers, in an advanced state of refined society, 
when they are unsupported by undeniable facts, must be received as speculations, 
and not as history. I shall briefly dwell on this point ; and more fully explain 
the plan of this Arrangement. 

The one only true religion, which derived its origin from God alone, began at 
the fall, and will be completed only in another state of existence. It is character- 
ized throughout by one peculiar doctrine ; the continued superintendence of the 
affairs of mankind by a Divine Being, who was repeatedly manifested before his 
permanent incarnation as a man — who is now living in an invisible state, where 
He is interested in all that concerns the human race — and from which He will 
again become manifested in a more glorious manner than at any preceding time. 
This Being was called by the ancient Jews, and by the Evangelist St. John, and 
by the early fathers. The Word of God. In the Old Testament he is called 
The Angel Jehovah ; in the New Testament he is revealed to us as Jesus 
Christ. The world in which we live is Christ's world. As He led the Israelites 
from Egypt to Canaan, so is He leading the family of man into the Paradise of 
God from which they have fallen. 

This Divine Being was present at the creation and the fall of man, and con- 
versed with our parents in Eden. Unless they were, then, instructed in the use 
of language and the choice of food, as well as in the law of marriage and the 
knowledge of God, the sagacity with which they were endowed must have been 
greater than that with which untaught men are now gifted. As God conversed 
with them, we may fairly conclude he imparted his will to them, and thus Re- 
ligion commenced from Revelation in a state of innocence'. 

The first circumstance which we collect from the Sacred Records, after the 
account of the fall, was the offering of sacrifice. The same Divine Being is rep- 
resented as still continuing his charge over the fallen race. The oftering of an 
animal in sacrifice to God appears so utterly unreasonable and useless, that 1 
cannot but believe the primitive sacrifice to have originated in the divine com- 
mand. No other solution can be justly given of the difficulty. Whether the 
rS"1 nt^tOn ^e rendered, with Archbishop Magee, " A sin offering coucheth at the 
door," or with Mr. Davison and our translators, " Sin lieth at the door," is a mat- 
ter of httle moment. Positive evidence cannot be procured. The brevity of 
Moses in this part appears to have been intentional ; his object being to hasten to 
the history of Abraham. As the superintending being, the Angel Jehovah, was 
still with them, it is not probable that the first worship of our primeval ancestors 
would be of their own invention. It is not necessary to suppose that they were 
fully instructed in the typical meaning of the sacrifice, as the emblem of the 
atonement. The enactment might have been arbitrary, and commanded as a 
proof of their obedience, and of their faith in some future development of the 
meaning of the sacrifice. They appear to have brought their ofTering at an ap- 



' I cannot stop here to discuss Bishop Warburton's theory, that our first parents were created 
out of Eden, and then removed into the garden to be tempted and fall. It is amply refuted by 
Mr. Faber in his Connected View of the three Dispensations. 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

pointed time ; and mankind have been divided, from the period of the rejection 
of the sacrifice of Cain, into two opposite parties, the good and evir. 

After the general destruction of the first race by a flood, which the Angel 
Jehovah expressly declares was brought on the world by himself', he appeared to 
Noah, and renewed his covenant. When the patriarchal religion, in the varioiis 
settlements of men, was corrupted by the idolatry which endeavoured to reconcile 
outward worship with actual vice and speculative error — when they did not like 
to retain the spirituality of God in their knowledge, but assigned human attributes 
to the Creator — the same Divine Being renewed and enlarged the revelation of 
himself to Abraham ; aud continued personally to repeat and extend that revela- 
tion, by frequent manifestations of his presence, to the descendants of Abraharii, 
to the patriarchs, to Moses, and to the prophets, who at length completed, in their 
predictions, the anticipated history of their Incarnated Redeemer. All this was 
done slowly and gradually. The attention of mankind was continually directed 
to .the One Great Deliverer, who should be at once the Prophet, the Priest, and 
the King — the Sacrifice and the Deity — the Uniter of the divine and human na- 
ture—the mysterious and merciful Saviour — the present Protector, and the future 
Judge of mankind. 

The New Testament contains the history of the accomplishment of all these 
prophecies. We may justly expect to trace in this portion of the Inspired Writ- 
ings the same gradual revelation which characterized the former. Bishop Law 
has endeavoured to point out the mode in which the Deity has thus made himself 
known to mankind, in his work on the theory of religion. The first Lord Bar- 
rington published an Essay on the Dispensations, in the order in which they lie in 
the Bible. In the preface to the Miscellanea Sacra, he observes : — " The true 
way to obtain a thorough understanding of the Scriptures would be to make our- 
selves well acquainted with each of these periods, as they are described and dis- 
tinguished in the Bible, and as they stand in order of time ; the former of these 
always preparing for the latter ; and the latter still referring to the former ; so 
that we must critically understand each of these, before we can have the whole 
compass of that knowledge, and the proof of it, which the Bible is designed to 
give us. God having thought fit, at sundry times and in divers manners, or in dif- 
ferent parts, sections, or periods," (Mr. Davison' translates the words " in different 
portions,") " nolvfxsQwg, xtxl nolvrgdnwg, to speak to the fathers by the prophets, and 
to us by his Son. I am sensible that this is a work that will require much time 
and care, but the very outHnes of such a design would be of great use and 
service"." 

Upon the foundation of such reasoning, I have planned the several divisions 
of this Arrangement. I trust the order and gradual revelation, which I am of 
opinion may be observed in the Scriptures of the New Testament, will be better 
perceived by a short abstract of the contents of the fifteen parts into which the 
work is portioned. " I shall be rejoiced (I again quote from Lord Barrington) if 

'■ See Davison On Primitive Sacrifice, and Archbishop Magee On the Atonement. Mr. Davi- 
son's arguments have not shaken my conviction of the divine origin of sacrifice. But this is not 
the place to discuss this matter. I must not, however, omit here to observe, that another most 
emment of our modern theologians has embraced also an opposite opinion on this point. See 
Mr. Benson's remarks on the sacrifice of Abel in his Sermons on the Difficulties of Scripture. 

° " I, even I, do bring a flood of waters on the earth." See the note in loc. Arrajtgement of 
the Old Testament. 

' In his invaluable work Oh Prophecy. " Preface to the Miscellanea Sacra, p. xxxiv. 



INTRODUCTION. ]7 

this attempt should provoke others to study the New Testament in this way, I'iiid 
in all others, that may give such light to the obscure parts of it, as is necessary 
to satisfy the drict inquirers who are the best friends to religion.'''' 

I. The first part includes the period from the birth of Christ to his temptation. 
It may be regarded as the introduction to his ministry. This part of tiie Ncav 
Testament does not appear to have been considered with the attention it deserves. 
The careful reader, however, will observe the manner in which it pleased God 
that the attention of the existing generation should be directed to the Son of 
Mary, the poor and humble Virgin of the family of David. All the ancient proofs 
of his peculiar superintendence of the race of Abraham were accumulated at this 
period. The vision of angels was granted to Zacharias in the temple, the age of 
miraculous interference returned, and all the priests in the temple, the dwellers 
at Jerusalem, and consequently the whole nation, who were accustomed to visit 
Jerusalem every year, must have been acquainted with these events. When his 
miraculous dumbness ceased, the Spirit of prophecy came upon him, and he pre- 
dicted the glory of his own son, as the forerunner of the Messiah, together viiXh 
the approaching blessings of the Messiah's kingdom. The superhuman dream — 
another mode by which God imparted his will to mankind — was revived in the 
vision of Joseph. The descent of the Spirit of prophecy upon women was re- 
newed in the salutation of Ehsabeth, and the prediction of Anna. The same 
Spirit of prophecy returned also in the speech of the aged Simeon. The aston- 
ishing answers of our Lord in the temple, when he was twelve years of age, must 
have convinced the learned and aged rabbis then assembled, that the Child thus 
marked out by these supernatural interpositions was superior to all they had either 
known or heard of. The public declaration also of the inspired Baptist, and the 
wonderful manifestation of the Divine Presence at the baptism of Christ, must of 
themselves have convinced the Jews that their expected Messiah was among 
them ; if they had not perverted their prophecies, and anticipated a temporal de- 
liverer from the Roman dominion. 

I have endeavoured at some length to show the difference between the con- 
ceptual Logos of the ancients, and the personal Logos of Scripture : and to prove 
that the Logos of St. John, the Angel Jehovah of the Old Testament, " the 
Word " of the targumists, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah of the New 
Testament, the Founder and only Head of the Christian Church, was the one only 
manifested Jehovah, the Creator and Preserver of the world. The miraculous 
conception, and the mystery of the incarnation, demonstrate the Divinity, which 
was united with the assumed humanity of the condescending Incarnate ; and his 
temptation demonstrates him to be the second Adam, who should retrace the 
steps of the first, and restore us by his sinless obedience to the Paradise whicli 
our primal ancestor had lost. The mysteries with which this subhme system of 
man's redemption commences will be the subjects of our inquiry when our facul- 
ties are enlarged in a future state ; and I believe, upon the undeniable evidences 
which confirm the truth of Christianity — doctrines which I do not comprehend — 
that the Creator of the world, the Guide of mankind from Paradise to the judg- 
ment, was manifested in the flesh, as an infant, a child, and a patient, suffering 
man. 

II. The dispensations of God always blend with each other ; distinct, and yet 
inseparable, as the rays of light, and the colors of the rainbow. Though the way 
had now been prepared for the public manifestation of Christ to the Jewish na- 
tion, he did not openly and pubUcly declare his claims to the Messiahship of Is- 

VOL. II. 3 *B* 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

rael, till the Baptist, the founder of the intermediate dispensation into which men 
had been baptized, was put into prison. I have placed therefore, as a separate 
part, the events between the temptation of Christ, and the public assertion of his 
mission after the imprisonment of John. The reply of the Baptist to the deputa- 
tion from the authorities at Jerusalem, positively affirming the Messiahship of Him, 
whom a miraculous descent of the Holy Spirit, and the voice, the Bath Col, liad 
niarked as a superhuman being, in the midst of the assembled thousands from Ju- 
dtea — the uninvited attachment of the disciples of the Baptist to our Lord, wlien 
St. John pointed him out as the Lamb of God — the unostentatious miracle at 
Cana, when the silent operation of our Lord's power began to manifest his still 
concealed glory — his return to Capernaum with his family, as the preaching of 
the Baptist continued — his cleansing the temple, by miraculously overawing the 
mercenary intruders — his still refusing to commit himself — above all these, his 
annunciation to Nicodemus, that even the sons of Abraham were to be born 
agaifi into his kingdom — and the final testimony of John, prove the very gradual 
manner in which our Lord proceeded to attract the attention of his people, and 
to appeal to their judgment — before he would offend the prejudices of those who 
expected a temporal Messiah. The first miracle of Christ induced me to draw a 
parallel between the miraculous evidences which confirm the truth of the Christian 
religion, with those which demonstrate the divine legation of Moses. 

HL Though the ejecting the buyers and sellers from the temple may be con- 
sidered as a pubhc manifestation of our Lord's Messiahship, he did not verbally 
assert his claims, till the time when John the Baptist was prevented from appeal- 
ing to the people. He then returned to his own province, and his own town, 
where he had been known from his infancy, and there openly declared that the 
time of the Messiah was at hand. I consider this more public declaration of his 
mission till the time when the twelve apostles were sent forth to preach, as an- 
other stage in our Lord's ministry. On his way to Galilee lie conversed with the 
woman of Samaria, and convinced her, and many of her countrymen, by his con- 
versation and miracles, that he was the expected Messiah ; though he would not 
deviate from his design of first publicly asserting that fact in his own town. After 
another miracle at Cana, he at length came to Nazareth. It was the custom of 
the Jews to invite any eminent teacher who might come into their synagogues, to 
speak to the people. Here, then, having received the book from the reader, he 
applied to himself a prophecy which predicted the appearance of Christ. He 
stopped before he came to that clause which denounced threatening and veii- 
geance to the Jews ; and confined himself to the beautiful description of the be- 
nevolent character of the Messiah. Having applied the prophecy to himself he 
sat down. He refused to work a miracle among the people of Nazareth ; he ap- 
peared to desire to show to the world, that his usefulness must be founded on ho- 
liness, as well as on his preaching and miracles. They had known him thirty 
years. Of his manner of life, of his character and conversation during that period, 
the Evangelists are silent. The appeal of our Lord to the people of Nazareth, 
after living among them thirty years as a man, may account for their silence. No 
imperfection, no taint of sin, of weakness, or of folly, could be found through that 
whole period, to enable those among whom he would be in the least esteem to in- 
vahdate his lofty claim to the rank of the Divine Being, whom their prophets had 
announced. Their only exclamation arose from their ignorance or forgetfulness 
of the miraculous conception ; or perhaps their murmur, " Is not this the carpen- 
ter's ^on?" might proceed from the suppressed indignation, which made them se- 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

cretly refuse to acknowledge the infinite superiority of one, who had hved among 
them as an equal. 

Gahlee was wisely chosen as the scene of our Lord's ministry. It abounded 
with strangers, Phoenicians, Arabians, and Egyptians. I have endeavoured to 
show, in a note to the first section of this part, the advantages of this intermixture 
to the future progress of the Gospel. I am confirmed in my opinion, that our 
Lord's more public ministry began with his application to himself of the prophecy 
of Isaiah in Nazareth, from the manner in which he then proceeds to announce 
the ultimate object of his coming. He declared, for the first time, that as Elijah 
had been sent to the Gentile of Sarepta, so also was he sent to those who would 
accept him, and who were not of his own country. Though they could not con- 
fute him, they could endeavour to destroy him. The first persecution of our Lord 
began upon his hinting to his proud and jealous countrymen, that he had " other 
sheep which were not of this fold." The service of the synagogue was interrupted, 
and the peace of the town disturbed. This circumstance, as I have shown, ex- 
plains that part of our Lord's conduct, which many have considered inexplicable. 
He would not revive on other and similar occasions the same scenes of tumult 
and exasperation. He proceeded, therefore, with the utmost caution — refusing to 
call himself the Messiah — charging the persons who were healed to tell no man — 
and keeping back many things even from the apostles. 

The various sections of this part fully display the wisdom which continued thus 
gradually to impress the people with the conviction that their Messiah had arrived. 
The disciples who forsook John to follow Christ, and who had returned to their 
occupation as fishermen, were now commanded to attach themselves permanently 
to his service, with the prophetic annunciation, that they were in future to be- 
come " fishers of men." The heahng of the demoniac appears to prove his power 
over a world of invisible spirits. The cure of diseases demonstrated to the Jews 
that he possessed the power to forgive the sin which they believed to be the cause 
of physical evil. By healing the leprosy, a disease which was considered incura- 
ble, except by God alone, and by referring the leper who was cured to the priest, 
he communicated to the priests the secret of his divine character. Soon after this 
message had been sent to the priests, he openly asserted the power to forgive, 
which he had already demonstrated by his silent and eloquent miracles. Having 
attached to him St. Matthew, who was more learned, and better educated than 
the fishermen of Galilee, and whose presence therefore might be of more weight 
with the Jews, he publicly wrought a miracle at Jerusalem, and assured the Jews 
that he was appointed of the Father to judge the world. By dispensing with the 
enactments of their traditional law, he declared himself the Lord of the Sabbath. 
By heahng the withered hand, he condemned the superstition which preferred tlie 
useless observances of a supposed piety, to active and useful benevolence — and 
having now attracted around him great multitudes of people, and attached to him- 
self twelve disciples, whom he intended to appoint to the apostohc office, he gave 
the New Dispensation to mankind. He embodied the spirit of the Mosaic Law in 
the sermon on the mount ; and annihilated for ever all other modes of pleasing 
God, than purity of mind, rectitude of principle, spirituality of soul, and holiness 
of life. 

Having promulgated his new dispensation, our Saviour healed the servant of 
the centurion, who was probably a Gentile ; and he again hinted to the Jews the 
conversion of the Gentiles. By healing the widow's son, he proved his power 
over the laws of life and death, and again demonstrated to the Jews, upon their 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

own principles, that He was that Messiah whom they expected to raise the dead. 
The message of John, who was still in prison, enabled our Lord to point out the 
real Elias, who was to precede the Messiah ; it appears to have given occasion to 
his bitter reproach of the impenitent cities of Judsea, which he concludes, however, 
with an invitation to all to receive his mission. Various miracles and instructions 
follow, till the time arrived when the foundation of the Christian Church should 
be laid in the appointment of twelve apostles ; who should possess equal power, 
and equal authority to assert the present existence of the Messiah in Judsea, and 
the spiritual nature of the kingdom which he had come to establish. 

The principal notes in this part, in addition to those on the history and dates, 
refer to the possible or probable existence of the types of the New Testament — a 
subject which has never, I believe, been sufficiently considered by theologians. 
To which must be added the notes on the demoniacs — the bearing of our sins by 
Christ — the conduct of our Lord respecting the Jewish Sabbath, the Jewish tra- 
ditionary observances, and others of this nature. 

IV. The fourth part includes the time from the mission of the twelve apostles 
to that of the seventy. In the note to the former of these events, I have entered 
at some length into the question of church government. An opinion has very 
generally of late years prevailed in society, that all inquiries on this subject are 
useless, and that our conclusions are of no importance. It is said that sincerity 
is equally acceptable with the Deity, whatever be our form of worship ; and as 
our opinions are out of our own power, we cannot be responsible for involuntary 
decisions. It has been said also, that the Deity has not preferred one form of dis- 
cipline to another, or it would have been plainly revealed. 

Reasonings of this nature do not appear to me to be satisfactory. I would reply to 
them by observing, that the peace and order of society have hitherto been dependent 
on the conclusions of the student in his closet. Armies are moved and states are 
shaken by the effects of the prevalence of opinions, which are proposed or defended 
by the more retired and reflecting. Discussion elicits truth ; and the establishment 
of truth alone can bestow peace and happiness. Our conclusions, therefore, upon 
the subject of church government must and will be of importance so long as the 
usurpations of the papacy and the divisions of parties continue to agitate mankind. 
As far as the happiness of society in this world is concerned, it is impossible that 
the sincerity of error can be equally acceptable to God with the sincerity of truth. 
Happiness is connected with truth rather than with sincerity ; and that which 
most promotes the happiness of man must be more pleasing to God, than the sin- 
cerity which causes persecution. The form of worship which I believe to be pro- 
posed in the New Testament would have effectually preserved the world from the 
sincerity of persecution ; for it would have prevented the intolerable assumption 
of that ecclesiastical dominion, which was founded on usurpation, and is sup- 
ported by intolerance and ignorance. 

But it is said our opinions are not in our own power. The position is too 
general to be accurate. Opinions are not involuntary, when we possess the 
means of examining their evidence and foundation. I reserve, till another oppor- 
tunity, an inquiry into the criteria of moral and religious truth. 

The most objectionable of the notions to which I refer is, the assertion that 
the Deity has not preferred one mode of discipline to another, or it would have 
been more plainly revealed. 

I have endeavoured to show that a plan of church government was so plainly 
revealed, that it was uniformly acted upon for fifteen centuries. That plan is 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

founded upon the one simple and general proposition, that the Church of God was 
to be composed of several societies, each of which should be united by this one rule 
— that no person should assume any spiritual office without the permission of 
those superiors to whom the power of ordaining, confirming, and regulating the 
Churches had lawfully and regularly descended. Every Church might consist of 
many congregations, and was independent of its neighbours ; Episcopacy alone 
being the bond of union among all Christians. The collision of opinions which 
has taken place since the Reformation has prevented the adherents of this form 
of church government from so uniformly maintaining this truth as it was their 
duty to do. They shrank from the appearance of defending a position, with 
which their own interest was identified. The consequence has been, that Epis- 
copalians have been long considered merely as the principal sect among Christians 
— and Christianity itself as a collection of disputable opinions supported by a va- 
riety of sects. The members of the Reformed Episcopal Churches ought to have 
remembered, that they were required in defence of truth to submit to reproach 
and insult in every form. 

The coincidence does not appear to be merely accidental, that the Baptist 
should be put to death at the time when the twelve apostles were sent forth. 
The old dispensation had now done its work. The schoolmaster led the people 
to Christ, and the twelve went forth to bring them in to their Divine Lawgiver. 
The foundations of the Christian Church were laid, Christ and his apostles being 
the corner stones. He now continued his miracles and teaching ; by correcting 
the opinions of the people on their Jewish traditions — healing the Syro-Phoenician, 
as the earnest of the future healing of the Gentiles, a doctrine never wholly lost 
sight of — feeding the four thousand, who had probably followed him in the antici- 
pation that he would save them from the Roman yoke. When our Lord healed a 
blind man about this time, St. Peter first declared his conviction in more express 
and decided terms, that the Prophet of Nazareth was the Messiah. Upon this 
confession our Lord declares his Church to be built ; and predicts to St. Peter, 
that he should become its second founder, by first opening its gates to the Gentile 
world. He then astonishes the Apostle by prophesying his approaching death ; 
and confirms the faith of his wondering disciples, whose minds were confounded 
with the apparent inconsistency between his asserted dignity and his anticipated 
degradation, by that scene which visibly opened the union of the two worlds, — 
the transfiguration on the mount. While their minds were still impressed with 
the remembrance of his glory, he again predicted his sufferings, and submitted, as 
a man who was bound by the political regulations of society, to the demand for 
tribute. The chapter concludes with the contention among the disciples for su- 
periority. They could not, till the Holy Spirit had illumined their minds, under- 
stand the doctrine of a spiritual kingdom. They saw that Christ could have 
maintained an army without expense — they saw the people eager to follow him — 
and they imagined that the Roman yoke would be thrown off at an early oppor- 
tunity. 

The principal notes refer to some of the Jewish traditions — our Lord's apply- 
ing to himself certain expressions, by which the Jews described their Messiah, 
and the nature of the Messiah whom they expected. The address to St. Peter — 
the disputing of the apostles — and the transfiguration are briefly considered as in- 
teresting subjects of inquiry to tlse theological student. 

V. The fifth part embraces the next great division of our Lord's ministry, — the 
period from the mission of the seventy to his own triumphant entry into Jeru- 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

salem. As the victim was led to the altar garlanded with flowers, and followed 
by the acclamations of the people ; so was our Great Sacrifice adorned for the 
altar of the cross. Few remarks are necessary on the contents of this part. The 
deeper impression produced by the preaching of his apostles and of the seventy, 
and by his own wonderful example, miracles, and teaching, began to appear more 
plainly. The agitation of the public mind at Jerusalem — the public assertion of 
his preexistence — his increased boldness as his personal danger became greater — 
his more numerous cautions to his disciples — his assertion of his Divinity, and the 
consequent resolution of the Jews to apprehend him — successively prove the wis- 
dom of the plan upon which our Lord acted, of gradually convincing the people, 
and then submitting to his painful death. No sooner was the resolution taken to 
seize him, than his lamentations over Jerusalem begin — his parables assume a 
more prophetic character, descriptive of the reception of the Gentiles, and the re- 
jection of the Jews. At length he goes on to work his greatest miracle, the rais- 
ing* of Lazarus from the dead, and with that (which appears to have been publicly 
performed before many of the rulers, who were eager to apprehend him), to dis- 
continue the appeal to the Jews by this kind of evidence. If he had wrought 
miracles at Jerusalem, it would have appeared that he desired to excite the peo- 
ple to rebellion. The whole nation were now made acquainted with his preten- 
sions, and with the evidence upon which they were supported. He entered, 
therefore, Jerusalem amidst the shouts of the people, in a manner so remarkable, 
that he evidently fulfilled a prophecy of Zachariah. I have inquired, in a note to 
this passage, from a review of the history of the Jews, from the date of the 
prophecy to the destruction of the temple, whether the prediction can be applied 
to any ruler of Israel, under any dynasty of its own, or of its foreign sovereigns. 

VI. The sixth part relates the conduct of the Holy Jesus from his triumphant 
entry into Jerusalem, till his submission to the Roman guard, to whom he was 
betrayed. I have generally avoided devotional remarks on the New Testament, 
because every commentator abounds with them ; and because they obviously pre- 
sent themselves to the mind of every reader of this wonderful and beautiful book. 

I have, however, sometimes deviated from my rule, and was more especially 
tempted to do so, when I contemplated the joyful entry of our atoning Saviour 
into his once " holy city." The cleansing of the temple, the miraculous wither- 
ing of the fig tree, and the voice from heaven, when the Greeks of the dispersion 
asked to see Him, were sufficient to attest his divine power ; but they were not 
miracles sufficiently splendid to attract universal notice, and to excite the jealousy 
of the Pharisees. As the time of his betrayal was come, He did not hesitate to 
reprove, with more boldness than he had hitherto shown, all the sects among his 
countrymen. He commanded the Herodians to " render unto Caesar the things 
that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." To the Sadducees 
he explained, from the books of Moses, the doctrine of the resurrection. The in- 
consistency of the apparently austere, but in reality immoral, Pharisee is repro- 
bated with unsparing and indignant severity. The prophetic parables, the predic- 
tion of the fall of Jerusalem, and the allusions to the great event of which it was 
typical — his institution of the eucharist, to be received by us all till He shall again 
come to judge the living and the dead — his exhortations to his disciples, his prom- 
ises of his Holy Spirit, his meekness, his gentleness, and his love present the per- 
fect portrait, which the simple pen of inspiration alone can adequately describe. 
The view, which I have submitted to the reader, of the agony in the garden of 
Gethsemane appears to be justified by the various circumstances which prove our 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

Lord to be the second Adam. Our faculties must be enlarged in another state of 
existence before we can comprehend the mysteries of Revelation. '•' One little 
part alone we dimly scan," that our faith may be strengthened with an earnest of 
the future great discoveries of God and his government, which shall await us in 
eternity. 

VII. From the apprehension of Christ to the crucifixion. The Lamb of God 
is sacrificed — the atonement is accepted — and man is pardoned ! All unite to 
reject our Lord. His disciples deserted him — the most zealous of their number 
denied him — the high priest insulted him — the servants mocked him — the soldiers 
spat in his face, and ridiculed his pretensions — the Sanhedrin comdemned him. 
Though his betrayer declared the innocence of his victim — though Pilate acquitted 
him — though his accusers agreed not together, yet the heads of opposing factions 
unite to destroy him. The power of Rome, the religious hatred of an apostate 
Church, the changeable populace, who perhaps imagined their clamors were the 
voice of God, all combined to fulfil the prophecies, and murder the willing Sacri- 
fice, who was about to intercede for them all. Our Lord never forgot his Divinity 
in the midst of these scenes. When he was dying as a man he forgave sins as a 
God. He refused to deliver his assumed body from the cross, but he declared 
his power as Lord of the invisible world. I have fully expressed my opinion on 
this point in the twenty-fifth note to the present part. I believe the death of 
Christ to be a mysterious atonement for the sins of man. I have no hope of ever- 
lasting happiness, but from my faith in this mysterious atonement. I believe this 
doctrine to be the one peculiar, fundamental, and characteristic truth of Revela- 
tion. I humbly prostrate my reason to the God who has given Revelation to 
guide us, as the best proof of my most rational homage to the Deity ; and I pray 
that the consolation which I derive from this faith in the atonement of our only 
Lord and Sa\dour, may never be shaken by the presumptuous conclusions, and 
the shallow speculations of the philosophy which rejects Revelation. 

VIII. From the resurrection to the ascension. I have already mentioned the 
authorities upon which I have divided this part. The reflections upon our Lord's 
ascension, in the forty-third note to this part, are such as every Christian will adopt 
who believes in the immortality revealed in Scripture. 

IX. Before the Gospel was offered to the Gentiles, the apostles made their 
appeal exclusively to their own brethren. Our Lord had told the Jews, that their 
rejection of his ministry should be forgiven them ; but their refusal to be convinced 
by the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit should neither be forgiven in this nor in 
the future world. The present part gives an account of the preaching of the 
apostles from the ascension to the time for the calling in of the Gentiles, and the 
miraculous conversion of St. Paul to Christianity for that purpose. 

The first section of this most interesting part presents us with a view of the 
return to Jerusalem of the timid disciples of Christ, and their meeting for devo- 
tional purposes in one of the hyperoa, or upper rooms, in which the Jews were ac- 
customed to celebrate their Passovers ; totally unconscious of their lofty destiny, 
as the moral and religious renovators of mankind. I have taken the opportunity 
in beginning this part, to request the reader to compare the claims of Christianity 
to the homage of a rational and immortal being, with the pretensions of any of 
the absurd speculations which have insulted the reason and debased the morals of 
society. It will be perceived that I have not availed myself of any part of Mr 
Faber's work on the same subject. The note was written before his book was 
submitted to the public. 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

The election of Matthias, related in the second section, has been generally 
considered an argument for the popular election of the clergy. We live under 
this curse, that whatever form of regimen we adopt, whether in church or state, 
thorns and thistles must be produced. Our own wisdom and prudence may in- 
crease or diminish their number ; but some evil will be found, and we try in vain 
to escape from it. To avoid one class of real or supposed grievances in the ap- 
pointment of the clergy, without appeal to the congregation, other, and sometimes 
greater, evils have been preferred by popular elections. By these, the errors of 
the people are perpetuated, where the opinions of the congregation are erroneous. 
The teacher is compelled to preach the sentiments of his hearers ; and to learn 
implicitly where he ought to instruct freely. As no dominion is more cruel, arbi- 
trary, capricious, and unjust than the dominion of large and therefore irresponsi- 
ble bodies ; so no slavery is so intolerable as subserviency to their fluctuating 
opinions. 

• The prayer of the disciples, at the election of Matthias, may be considered as 
one proof of their acknowledgment of the Divinity of our Lord. 

We are brought, in the third section, to that wonderful event, by which tlie 
ignorant, timid, prejudiced disciples of our Lord obtained, in one instant, by the 
especial Providence of God, advantages, accomplishments, knowledge, and every 
other requisite qualification for the noble office, which would have otherwise re- 
quired the labor of many years. Endued with power from on High, they became 
at once prudent legislators, sober and learned judges, eloquent preachers, liberal 
vvithout compromising truth, tolerant without religious indifference. Throug'i 
the whole of the remainder of the New Testament, the apostles appeal to the mi- 
raculous gifts of healing, of languages, of discerning of spirits. The contrast of 
their present and former conduct demonstrates the internal change which had 
taken place. Without these assistances, indeed, the religion which commanded 
the submission of the passions, for the sake of a crucified criminal, whom they as- 
serted to have been a Divine Being, could never have prevailed. The immediate 
effects of this great event are related in the next sections, the accession of con- 
verts, and, what must now appear almost as wonderful, the union of Christians in 
this truly primitive church. They were neither divided by absurd jealousy, by 
the pride of intellect, by adherence to some strange errors, to which their fathers 
pledged themselves, and which did not die away with the political events, or fool- 
ish controversies, in which they originated. They were neither influenced by the 
fear of offending, by a regard to self-interest, by attachment to opinions which 
they received without inquiry, and maintained without examination. Truth, con- 
firmed by undeniable evidence, and demonstrated by irresistible argument, was 
the object they pursued and obtained. 

After the conversion of the cripple, the attention of the people of Jerusalem 
was so much excited, that the Sanhedrin ordered the apostles to be summoned ; 
and inquired what new imposition was about to be practised on the Jewish nation. 
How unbounded must have been the rage and indignation of the Sanhedrin, who 
were in daily expectation of a powerful and temporal Messiah, a conqueror of the 
Komans, and an elevator of the Jewish nation to the height of political power ; 
when the fishermen of Galilee stood before them, and affirmed, that the con- 
demned and innocent Victim from Nazareth v</as the true and long-expected 
Messiah ; and that the Sanhedrin had murdered their heaven-descended Sov- 
ereign ! Li the note to section eight, I have given the parallel between Christ 
and Moses, whose prediction St. Peter had applied to our Saviour. To what ex- 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

tent this parallel maj' have been explained is uncertain. If the Sanhedrin heard 
of this application, they must have been more highly enraged. They imagined 
thev had crucified the new religion when they crucified its Founder. They had 
but nurtured with blood the seed which should grow into the tree, which should 
refresh the world with its leaves, and the Church with its fruits of life. Annas 
and Caiaphas, and the most learned talmudists, the eminent, the honorable, and 
the noble, were assembled to hear the defence of the despised fisherman, whom 
they insulted for his deficiency in the only learning v/hicli their intellectual vanity 
esteemed. Another extraordinary descent of the Holy Spirit is related in section 
eleven, to encourage and animate the converts at this beginning of their predicted 
persecutions. The Church continued at peace, wealthy, flourishing, and united. 

With this abundant prosperity began the corruption of the Church. Am- 
bition, a more powerful passion than avarice, which is its minister only, divided 
the infant community. Ananias first desired eminence by his apparent liberality ; 
he might have wished also, as many have supposed, to obtain a more ample pro- 
vision, at some future period, from the funds of the Church. The custom now 
began, which in Christian societies has never been discontinued, of maintaining 
the poor from some permanent fund afforded by the voluntary benevolence of the 
wealthy. 

From the fourteenth to the twentieth sections, we read of the gradual progress 
of the new faith. The repetition of his assertion by St. Peter, that the crucified 
and innocent Nazarene was the real Messiah, made the Sanhedrin resolve to pun- 
ish the apostles with death. They were checked by the advice of Gamaliel. 
The increasing numbers of the Church made the election of new officers necessary, 
who should peculiarly devote themselves to those duties which interfered with the 
proper discharge of the higher and apostolic office. The apostles prescribed the 
qualifications of the deacons, and approved of the choice of the people. This 
subject is partially discussed in the note to the eighteenth section. In the note 
to the following section I have endeavoured to show that Mr. Benson's Chronology 
of the Life of Christ, which I have adopted from a full conviction of its accuracy, 
is consistent with the prophecy of the seventy weeks by the Prophet Daniel. 

In the twentieth section we read of the breaking out of the persecution, in 
which St. Stephen was martyred, while testifying the Divinity of Christ, and assert- 
ing, in the presence of St. Paul, at that time one of his persecutors, that he saAV 
the glory which had been seen by their patriarchal ancestors ; and that the cruci- 
fied Jesus of Nazareth was the Personage who appeared with it. The ancient 
Jews believed that the Angel Jehovah was the manifested God of their fathers ; 
and Stephen, in his dying moments, declared that Jesus of Nazareth and the An- 
gel Jehovah were the same Being. This was blasphemy to the Jews, who con- 
sidered our Lord as a man ; and it must have shocked the unbelieving zealot, 
who afterwards becam^e the Apostle of the Gentiles. But the assertion of St. 
Stephen shows to us yet further, how beautifully the dispensations of God blend 
one with another, and rest upon the same evidence. St. Paul must have remem- 
bered the dying exclamation of the proto-martyr, when he was himself favored 
with the opening of the invisible world, and with the appearance of the same An- 
gel Jehovah, Jesus of Nazareth. If St. Paul, as a learned Jew, had been required 
to select the only evidence which could convince him that Jesus was the Christ, 
it is probable that he would have demanded the appearance of the Shechinah, 
and the manifested God of his ancestors. This was vouchsafed to him at his con- 
version, when the Jesus, whom Stephen saw standing at the right hand of God, 

VOL. II, 4 . c 



26 INTRODUCTION. 

appeared to him in the same glory, and told him, " I am Jesus," tlie manifested 
God of thy fathers, the Angel Jehovah, " whom thou persecutest." 

In consequence of the Pauline persecution, the apostles were dispersed from 
Jerusalem ; and the converts, who were probably gifted with miraculous powers 
for that purpose, every where preached the new religion. The provinces of Ju- 
daea now received Cliristianity. Samaria began to abound with converts, to 
whom the gifts of the Holy Spirit were imparted by the hands of St. Peter and 
St. John ; the apostles alone, as the higher order in the priesthood of Christianity, 
possessing authority to confer them. From tliis circumstance the ancient Church 
confined the power of confirming to the bishops, as the successors of the apostles, 
in those ordinary acts of authority, which they considered essential to all Christian 
Churches. When the provinces of Judaea were thus Christianized, the time for 
appealing to the Jews, and the Proselytes of Righteousness (among whom was the 
treasurer of Queen Candace), appears to have come to its proper termination. 
The Gospel of St. Matthew was probably now written for the use of the scattered 
communities ; and the Pauline persecution is unexpectedly terminated by the 
sudden interposition of Divine Providence, in the conversion of its principal agent. 
This event is related in the thirty-first section. 

In the note to the thirty-first section, I have briefly considered the inferences 
which have been sometimes deduced from the history of St. Paul's conversion, 
that no man can be a Christian who does not experience some miraculous change 
or interposition of a similar nature. It must be remembered, that St. Paul was 
not the chief of profligates, but chief of the opponents of the Gospel. This is the 
proper meaning of his appellation, " the chief of sinners." It is more than ques- 
tionable, whether the sudden demonstration of the truth of Christianity, which was 
now enforced on the mind of St. Paul, as the very best and most unsuspicious 
agent, by whom Christianity might be dispersed with the most effect, can be con- 
sidered as an argument in favor of the doctrine of the sudden conversions of edu- 
cated Christians, who are acquainted from their infancy with the Scriptures, and 
know why Christ rose from the dead. 

With the preaching of St. Paul, the miracles of St. Peter, and the repose of 
the Churches, this part terminates. I have considered, at some length, the doc- 
trine and government of the Church at Jerusalem, the model for all succeeding 
Churches. I have devoted some time to this point, because an attentive perusal 
of the Holy Scriptures alone has convinced me, that Jesus Christ is the Lawgiver 
of nations as well as the Saviour of individuals. My Bible, my only religion, has 
taught me, that Christ descended from heaven, neither to form separate congrega- 
tions of good and devotional individuals — nor to unite the world under one eccle- 
siastical domination. He came to make every separate kingdom one great 
religious family ; and thus to extinguish, over the whole earth, wars abroad and 
factions at home, and all political evils, of what kind soever, by religious peace 
and mutual love. God wills the present as well as the future happiness of man ; 
and Christianity, rightly understood, is the only means by which the divine object 
will eventually be accomplished. 

X. The time had now fully come in which the exclusive appeal to the Jews 
was to cease, and the new dispensation to begin ; when the Gospel was to be 
preached to other nations. This part includes the period between the vision of 
St. Peter, which announced the enlargement of the Church, and the mission of 
St. Paul to the idolatrous Gentiles. The vision of St. Peter was the commence- 
ment of the fulfilment of our Lord's prophecy, " On this rock I will build my 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

Church." The dissertation of Bernard Duysing, in the Critici Sacri, on this sub- 
ject is exceedingly curious. Some extracts are given from it in the note, together 
with the interpretation of Jones of Nayland. 

A discussion arose between some distinguished theologians in the last century 
on the Proselytes of the Jews. The first Lord Barrington adopted and learnedly 
defended the usual opinion, that in addition to the Proselytes of Righteousness, 
who engaged to fulfil the whole Law of Moses, there was also another class who 
professed their belief in the God of the Jews, but who did not bind themselves by 
the more burthensome ceremonial. Dr. Doddridge and Dr. Lardner, and, on the 
authority of their arguments, Dr. Hales, have differed from Lord Barrington, and 
asserted the existence of the former Proselytes only. Michaelis, Dr. Graves, Sel- 
den, Witsius, Spencer, Schoetgen, Lightfoot, and others, to whom reference is 
made in the first note, support the opinion of Lord Barrington, though they have 
not noticed the controversy, I have adopted the general supposition. The ex- 
istence of a large class of persons of the same description as Cornelius, who 
should receive the new religion before it was preached to the idolaters of the sur- 
rounding country, appears to have been a vAse provision for the continuance of 
that gradual and silent progress, by which Christianity was to be extended through 
the world. 

The New Dispensation was not at first generally received. The converts, who 
were scattered from Jerusalem by the Pauline persecution, preached to the Jews 
only. The Church at Jerusalem was astonished at the intelligence, that the Pros- 
elytes of the Gate were to be admitted into the Church ; and they commissioned 
Barnabas to make inquiry. Saul, who seems to have been now merely a private 
though eminent teacher, is associated with him ; and, on their arrival at Antioch, 
which may be called the first metropolis of the Christian cities, the adherents of 
the new reUgion are called by the now most honorable of all human appellations. 
Many have been of opinion, that the title of Christian was given by divine ap- 
pointment. It seems probable that some designation was necessary to distinguish 
the Christians from the Jews, with whom they were at first identified. 

Now that the new religion had become so firmly established, that it embraced 
another large class of persons, the lives of the apostles ceased to be essential to 
the existence of the rising Church. They consequently became subject to the 
plans of their enemies. One of them was put to death ; the rest appear to have 
been scattered from Jerusalem ; and the power, whicJi had at first been common 
to them all, was concentrated in one, who was left at Jerusalem, in the time of 
the greatest danger to protect and govern the Church. 

I have considered, at greater length than was perhaps necessary, the opinion 
that St. Peter, after his miraculous escape from prison, was sheltered at Rome. 
Many Protestant writers have asserted that he was never in that city. The evi- 
dence appears to be more favorable to the other supposition ; and it is probable 
that St. Mark's Gospel was now written under the inspection, or at the dictation 
of St. Peter. The perversion of the Romanist theologians on the subject of St. 
Peter's residence at Rome is well known. The supremacy of St. Peter is a fic- 
tion ; it is the upas tree of Christianity ; it has poisoned the fairest shrubs and 
flowers in the garden of the Church. It has changed the peaceful religion of the 
mild and holy Saviour into a series of political controversies ; from which have 
originated civil wars, alienations of princes from their people, and of people from 
their princes, and all the civil commotions which have prevented the progress of 
Christianity ; which have given its principal triumph to infidelity, and every where 



28 INTRODUCTION. 

degraded religion. If the blundering interpreters, who have assigned this imagi- 
nary supremacy to St. Peter, had granted it to St. Paul, they would have been 
more able to defend their folly ; St. Peter was the minister of the circumcision, 
St. Paul was the apostle of the Gentiles, of whom the Romans were the chief; 
and he openly reproved St. Peter for the conduct which he thought wortby of 
censure. ' 

The remainder of this part relates the continued increase of the Churches 
till the actual appointment of St. Paul to the mission to which he had been so 
long designated. 

XI. We now arrive at the dispensation under which we ourselves live, vvjien 
the Gospel was preached to the idolatrous Gentiles. In consequence of his divine 
appointment, St. Paul received the sanction of the heads of the Church at An- 
tioch, to his mission, and became their apostle. This part contains the account 
of his first apostolical journey. The principal points considered in the notes to 
this 'part are, the similarity between the service of the synagogue and that of the 
early Church, the question of predestination, the apostolical decree, and the na- 
ture of the spiritual gifts, titles, and offices in the Church of Antioch. Vitringa, 
who was both a theorist and a zealous Presbyterian, has endeavoured to establish 
the identity of the early church government with that of the synagogue. I have 
pointed out various instances in which the supposed parallel entirely fails. If in- 
deed it could be shown to be complete, the similarity would prove nothing with 
respect to the question concerning Episcopacy. As the Jewish synagogues were 
under the control of the heads of their religion at Jerusalem, while each congre- 
gation might possibly have some observances peculiar to itself ; so also the Chris- 
tian Churches were never independent of the apostolical authority, though each 
might perhaps vary in certain non-essential particulars. 

XII. The twelfth part contains an account of the second apostolical journey 
of St. Paul. Observant of our Lord's direction, that his evangelists should not 
go out alone, because " in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word v/as 
to be established," the Apostle, having chosen Silas after his separation from Bar- 
nabas, proceeds on his journey with Timothy, whom he met with on his arrival 
at Derbe. Our Lord's promise, that his apostles should possess authority over all 
the power of the enemy, was fulfilled at Philippi. In a former part of the Ar- 
rangement the opinions respecting demoniacal possession are considered at some 
length. The case of the Pythoness at Philippi appears to afford additional evi- 
dence in support of the general opinion, that the instances mentioned in Scrip- 
ture must be literally interpreted. 

In the tenth section of this part we come to the first of those most important 
portions of the Inspired Writings, the Epistles of Paul. As no part of the Scrip- 
tures have been more frequently misinterpreted than these Epistles, I have en- 
deavoured to submit to the reader, at the head of each Epistle, a brief statement 
of the proposition which St. Paul intended to establish ; and so to analyze the 
Epistle itself, that the nature of the arguments, by which that proposition is estab- 
lished, may be clearly seen. The primary meaning of every verse may be thus 
more probably ascertained ; and the universal adaptation of the Epistles to the 
circumstances of the Churches of Christ, in aU ages, be more distinctly pointed 
out. I reject the hypotheses of Semler, and of Taylor of Norwich, as well as the 
reasonings of his follower, Mr. Belsham ; who would destroy the peculiar doc- 
trines of Christianity, by endeavouring to prove that the terms and phrases which 
are used by St. Paul have an exclusive reference to the disputes of the apostolic 



INTRODUCTION. 29 

age, respecting the admission of the Gentiles into the Church of God, and are 
therefore to be interpreted as alluding only to the privileges of the visible Church. 
While it must be allowed that the existing controversy between the Jews and the 
apostles, on this point, ought to be kept in view, whenever the chief Epistles are 
studied, we shall utterly mistake the nature of that sublimer object which the 
Deity proposed when he gave inspiration to his serA'ants, if we attempt to confine 
their teaching and arguments to the advantages of a visible Church, and to the 
impartation to the idolatrous Gentiles of a purer system of morality. Their object 
was rather to prove, that if God admitted the Jews into a visible Church upon 
earth, as an earnest and proof that they should be hereafter admitted into a higher 
state of purity and happiness above ; the same mercy would receive the Gentiles 
into this higher glory, and consequently, as an inferior privilege, would receive 
them into a more extensive and visible Church upon earth. 'On this account it is 
that the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Atonement, (without 
which essential truths is no Christianity,) are so repeatedly and earnestly insisted 
upon. They are our pledges of future discoveries of God when we shall rise from 
the dead. If any revelation be given us from above, we might justly expect that 
some internal evidence of its truth would be afforded, in addition to the outward 
facts which demonstrate its divine origin. That internal evidence, among other 
doctrines, would probably consist in some account of the Deity, which could not 
have been discovered by reason ; and which would be the one, peculiar, charac- 
teristic, and mysterious foundation of the whole fabric of truth. This doctrine 
would be so interwoven with the system of revelation, that it would be alike 
found in the beginning, the middle, and the end. The removal of it would be 
attended with the conviction of the utter uselessness and unreasonableness of the 
remainder. It would be consistent with the analogy of faith ; it would be pro- 
portionate to the greatness of the soul of man ; it would be capable of exciting 
that internal feeling of indefinitude which uniformly attends our contemplation of 
the visible world, by whatever branch of science we attempt to explore it, and 
Avhether the microscope or telescope be called to our assistance. Such internal 
evidence, such mysterious, essential truth, is to be found only in the doctrine of 
the atonement of Christ — a Divine and an Incarnate Being. It ought not to excite 
surprise that the admirers of the powers of human reason have so uniformly en- 
deavoured to overthrow this truth. Salvation by a crucified Redeemer, who was 
at once a manifested and predicted God, though He was found in fashion as a 
man, and was despised and rejected of men, ever was and ever will be our only 
real hope ; while it is the object of unabated scorn both to the deifiers of human 
intellect, and to all the deistical critics of the New Testament. Impressed with 
these convictions, while I endeavour to ascertain the primary meaning of an Epistle, 
I never attempt to bring down the lofty speculations of the inspired writer from 
the battlements of heaven to the walls of the visible Church. Without losing- 
sight of the controversies of the apostolic age, I have not endeavoured to pervert 
the meaning of any one passage, by forcibly applying it to these disputes. 

The notes to each Epistle contain a brief account of their origin, date, place, 
and necessity. These will be found to be taken from our popular writers. The 
usual sources of our knowledge of these subjects have now been so thoroughly 
explored, that little addition is to be expected, unless we are willing to invent 
some new theory, or defend some strange paradox. 

The conduct of St. Paul at Athens, amidst the contempt which the speculative 
philosophers of the academy felt and expressed for the Hebrew teacher, suggested 

VOL. II. C* 



30 INTRODUCTION. 

some remarks on the best mode by which the missionary and the disputant, 
whether among heathens or infidels, may at once conciliate his hearers and advo- 
cate truth. In a note to another part of this section I have briefly considered 
some of those inquiries which in our early age are so deeply interesting ; but | 
which we are generally contented to resign to their own difficulty in our maturer 
years. The utter impossibility of solving the problems respecting the nature and 
attributes of God, concerning the permission of evil, the existence of matter, the 
origin of the universe, the sources of action with the Deity, and many others, is 
one great proof of our future immortality, and of our eternal improvement. 

In the fourteenth section we come to the First Epistle to the Thessalonians. 
The Epistle to the Galatians had been written to prove the reasonableness of the 
doctrine, that the Gentiles were to be readmitted into the Church of God. This 
Epistle contains a brief statement of the evidences in favor of Christianity ; and, 
as the Inspired Writings were read in all the Churches, we may consider the First 
Epistle to the Thessalonians as a supplement to the former. 

The next section gives us an account of the preaching of St. Paul at Corinth. 
While he continued in that city he addressed another Epistle to the Thessalonians, 
to remove a misinterpretation of his former letter, concerning the second coming 
of Christ. He assures them, that the early descent of our Lord to judgment is 
not to be expected till a great apostacy had begun, and flourished, and was over- 
thrown. The marks which distinguish this apostacy describe the Church of 
Rome. I have not, however, on my own authority represented Popery as the pre- 
dicted apostacy. The arguments which have proved satisfactory to the great ma- 
jority of Protestants on this subject are principally taken from Dr. Benson. Being 
convinced by these arguments, that the corrupt Church of Rome is described by 
St. Paul, as the great sin of Christianity, I have not hesitated to express and de- 
fend that opinion. To maintain Protestantism, and to oppose Popery, is not the 
cause of the Church of England, or of the English nation alone ; it is the cause 
of all mankind. To resist that dominion is the solemn and bounden duty of 
every man who wishes well to the human race, or who desires universal ecclesi- 
astical and civil freedom. The giant which once bestrode the civihzed world like 
a Colossus is restless, and struggling beneath the weight of increasing knowledge ; 
but his convulsive movements still shake the whole of Christendom, and his 
breath is the furnace of the volcano. We may mark the literary infidelity of the 
age, and the ancient superstitions of papal Rome ascending from the opposite 
sides of the intellectual horizon, and overshadowing the nation with their frowns. 
Our duty must be to strengthen the Protestant institutions — to promote the plans 
of good which aim at the enlightening of mankind — to sacrifice to truth as well 
as to candor, and to plead for the union which may be founded upon useful laws. 
It may be questioned whether truth does not flourish more in an age of contro- 
versy than of religious indifference. Christianity would never have established its 
unyielding peculiarities of opinion, discipline, and holiness, if the apostles had 
consented to forego their zeal and diligence, in deference to popular clamor, com- 
promised error, or the political plans of their superiors. Truth was their only, 
their undivided object. From this they were neither intimidated, nor perverted, 
nor seduced ; till by their preaching, and their writing, and their perseverance, 
they gave their perfect example to the Christian teacher ; and erected the Church 
and the Religion of Christ upon the ruins of every existing error. Their succes- 
sors have lately desisted from the wars of the tongue and of the pen ; and the 
consequence has been, that Christian union is destroyed, truth is trodden under 



INTRODUCTION. 31 

foot, and religious indifference, assuming the name of liberality, demands and re- 
ceives the general homage. The marks of our ahenation are now so deeply worn 
that we misrht fear we sliall never meet but in the grave — that we never shall 
worship together as one great family of God, till we rise fi-om the dead, and bow 
before His throne in the invisible world. 

On the authority of Michaelis and Dr. Hales, I have assigned an early date to 
the Epistle to Titus. The vow at Cenchrea — the disputes at Ephesus — -and the 
return of St. Paul to Antioch — terminate the part. 

XHI. The third apostohcal journey of St. Paul presents us Avith the same 
kind of history as the preceding. Proceeding from Antioch to the Churches 
which he had planted in Galatia and Phrygia, he remained two years in Ephesus, 
and sent Tunothy and Erastus to Macedonia and Greece. From Ephesus he 
writes his First Epistle to the Corinthians, to reprove the irregularities and disor- 
ders which had begun to divide the Church of Corinth ; and to answer various 
questions, in doctrine and discipline, which had been proposed to him by liis con- 
verts. The Apostle has been supposed, in this letter, to deny his own plenary 
inspiration. This opinion is considered in the note, principally from the labors 
of the lamented Rennell. 

The success of St. Paul at Ephesus at length endangered the profits of the 
shrine-makers of the temple of Diana. By their means he is compelled to retire 
to Macedonia, when he writes his First Epistle to Timothy ; to direct him how to 
suppress tlie false doctrines which the Jewish zealots were endeavouring to intro- 
duce into the Church at Ephesus, over which Timothy had been appointed. The 
Gospel had now made such progress that it had become necessary, as in the in- 
stance of Titus, and now of Tunothy, to place in large districts persons who 
should ordain ministers, and maintain discipline among the Churches. When the 
converts were required to submit to the authority wliich was now established over 
them, they began to question the right of the apostleis to control and govern them. 
Thus we find in the eleventh section, that St. Paul wrote from Macedonia his 
Second Epistle to the Corinthians, to vindicate his authority, and to caution his 
people against the influence of false teachers. By thus reading the Epistles in 
their connexion with the history, and considering them in their consecutive order, 
we see the manner in which the Churches were agitated, and the necessity of 
discipline, as well as of devotion, in all Christian societies. In this Epistle to the 
Corinthians, St. Paul observes the same conduct which but a short time before he 
had so earnestly recommended to Timothy. The two Epistles reflect light on 
each other, and give us a more accurate notion, Vv"hen thus considered together, 
of the state of the primitive Churches. 

It is not necessary that I should add in this place any remarks to those which 
will be found in the note to the thirteenth section of this part, the Epistle to the 
Pv-omans. Its object is to prove that Christ alone was the Author of that one sub- 
lime plan of redemption which included all mankind at the beginning, and which 
was intended to embrace the Gentiles once more within the Church of God: 
though for a season, on account of the Gentile idolatry, it had been confined to 
the family of Abraham. The prediction of the present state of the Jews, while 
their temporal polity was still flourishing, and of the eventual restoration of tliat 
people to the Christian Church, demonstrates the extent of the prophetic gifts 
which had been imparted to the apostles. 

The history proceeds to relate St. Paul's journeys over various parts of Asia — 
his presenting himself to St. James, the head of the Church at Jerusalem — his appre- 



32 INTRODUCTION. 

hension in that city — his defence, and appeal to his privilege as a Roman citizen 
to save himself from the indignation of his ow^n countrymen. We meet vv^ith an- 
other instance in the twenty-sixth section of the inveterate hatred which the Jews 
still continued to bear against the opinion which St. Paul so strenuously advocated, 
that the Gentiles were to be received into the Church. 

In the twenty-eighth section we are presented with St. Paul's appearance, for 
the first time since his conversion, before the Jewish Sanhedrin. The brief narra- 
tive of St. Luke does not stop to inform us of the mingled rage, and hatred, and 
contempt, with which they must have returned the earnest look of the Apostle, 
when he stood before them. They had granted him high powers and a great mil- 
itary command. He had been admitted to their confidence — he had distinguished 
himself, when a young man, by his ardent zeal in their cause. He now stood be- 
fore them, the betrayer of their imagined interests — an apostate and a criminal. 
The high priest commanded him to be struck, on account of the supposed insult, 
when St. Paul began the defence of his apparently inconsistent conduct, with as- 
serting that he had lived in all good conscience before God, until that day. The 
manner in which the Apostle divided his judges among themselves — his subsequent 
encouragement to persevere — the conspiracy of the Jews to kill him — its discovery 
— his accusation and defence before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa — and his appeal 
to the emperor, when he saw reason to believe that he would be surrendered to 
the Jews by the profligate Roman governor, are beautifully told, and are deeply 
interesting. It will be observed that St. Paul, whenever he is required to give an 
account of his motives, his religion, or his conduct as a Christian teacher, uniformly 
appeals to his miraculous conversion, and to the appearance of a great light at mid- 
day, which was seen by the large multitude which attended him. The part ends 
with his being committed, as a prisoner, to the custody of the centurion, in con- 
sequence of his appeal to Caesar. 

XIV. Few observations are necessary on the fourteenth part, which relates 
the voyage of St. Paul to Rome, his shipwreck at the island of Melita (probably 
in the Adriatic), and his arrival in Italy. During his imprisonment at Rome, he 
wrote his Epistle to the Ephesians, to congratulate them on their admission into 
the Christian Church, through the mercy of God, which invited them to holiness 
of life. In the second year of his imprisonment he sent an Epistle to the Philip- 
pians, on the usual subject, to caution them against the Judaizing teachers, and 
persuade them to love and union. The Epistle to the Colossians affirms the doc- 
trine of the atonement of Christ, against the metaphysical Essenians and Judaizers. 
These Epistles show the constant and peculiar care of the Apostle over the 
Churches, and his great anxiety to preserve the converts in the purity of the faith. 
The beautiful Epistle to Philemon displays the singular union of courtesy, kind- 
ness, and benevolence, which characterized the Apostle in private life. The first 
of the Catholic Epistles, that of St. James, was also given to the Churches at this 
period. The doctrines of St. Paul on justification by faith, without the deeds of 
the Law of Moses, appear to have been so misinterpreted, as if the Apostle had 
taught the opinion of salvation without holiness of life. Though the grace and 
mercy of God are the sole causes of the system of redemption, holiness is the only 
means by which that redemption may be secured. Holiness is the root of both 
present and future happiness, and is the one great object of the Gospel. It can- 
not therefore excite surprise, that the Catholic Epistles should be principally writ- 
ten to enforce these practical duties. 

XV. In this last part I have endeavoured to give a brief history of the Chris- 



INTRODUCTION. 33 

tian Church to the present day. The fourteenth part ended with the release of 
St. Paul from his first imprisonment, and the writing of the Book of the Acts by 
his companion St. Luke. WJiile the Apostle was waiting m Italy for Timothy, 
he had the opportunity of calmly considering the state of his countrym.en. He 
observed their hatred towards himself — their contempt towards him as an apostate 
and deserter of the cause of the Sanhedrin — their inadequate ideas of the Messiah 
— the approaching ruin of Jerusalem, and the consequent dispersion of his people. 
Impressed with sorrow for their condition, he made his last, and perhaps his 
greatest effort, to convince them of the real nature of the spiritual Being whom 
they ought to expect ; as the causer of a greater deliverance than the rescuing of 
their degraded country from the dominion of Rome. Avoiding all mention of his 
own offensive name, he wrote his Epistle to the Hebrews, to prove the truth of 
the doctrines upon which alone Christianity is estabhshed, the Divinity and atone- 
ment of Christ, who is the Word of God, the personal and manifested Logos of 
their own Scriptures. The Epistle to the Hebrews may be considered the key to 
the Old Testament, and the most important of all the Inspired Writings to him who 
would understand clearly the Scripture doctrine of the person of Christ. 

It is not improbable that St. Paul proceeded from Italy to the various places 
to which he intimated his desire to travel, and to others, which are mentioned in 
ecclesiastical history as the scenes of his labors. The reasons, upon the authority 
of which it is believed by many, that he now travelled to Britain, Jerusalem, An- 
tioch, to certain towns in Asia, to Greece, and Rome, will be found in the notes 
from the second to the twelfth sections. 

On his second visit to Rome, the Apostle was again imprisoned, in the gen- 
eral persecution of the Christians under N^ero. In the anticipation of approach- 
ing death, he wrote his Second Epistle to Timothy. In this letter he takes his 
farewell of his friend and of the Church, and expresses his joy at the prospect of a 
painful death, with that humble but well-founded confidence, which is the priv- 
ilege of a Christian only. 

The approaching death of St. Paul, and the near destruction of Jerusalem evi- 
dently rendered this the most appropriate period, when the rest of the apostles, 
who were still alive, might usefully address their general Epistles to the Christian 
Churches. We are accordingly now presented with the Epistles of St. Peter and 
St. Jude. The prejudices of the former Apostle against the Gentiles had sub- 
sided, and he addresses himself jointly to them, with the Jewish converts, to en- 
courage them to holiness and to patience under suffering. In his Second Epistle 
he reminds them of the danger of apostacy, and of the end of the Jewish dispen- 
sation and the visible world. 

About the same time St. Jude writes his Epistle, to guard the converts against 
every doctrine, however specious it might appear, which tended to diminish the 
sanctions of holiness. This was the one great object of all religion : and no pu- 
rity of faith, no zealous attachment to a party, an opinion, or a creed, can be sub- 
stituted for the indispensable sacrifice of ourselves to God. 

The sixteenth section brings us to the martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul, 
the two prmcipal leaders of the army of the Church militant upon earth. It is 
probable that none of the apostles, except St. John, was now left alive. The ap- 
peal of the Spirit of God to the Jews w^as now terminated. St. Peter had opened 
the kingdom of heaven to his people ; St. Paul had invited and adjured them to 
enter in — they had refused to accept the invitation ; and the wrath came upon 
them to the uttermost. They wander among us the outcasts of mankind. The 

VOL. II. 5 



31 INTRODUCTION. 

contempt of the nations has begun only to subside into pity with the existing 
generation. For the first time since the fall of Jerusalem, their Christian brethren 
regard them with uniform benevolence. 

The eighteenth section contains the Book of the Revelation^. I beUeve it, 
with Dr. Clarke, to have been intended to supply the place of a continued suc- 
cession of prophets in the Christian Church. I have divided it, with some varia- 
tions, according to the theory of its interpretation, submitted to the world by our 
latest and most popular commentator, Mr. Faber. 

The reader is supposed to have perused the volumes of this learned, though 
not always satisfactory, hierophant. 

The opinion that the apostacy of papal Rome is announced in the Book of 
Revelation* has been long and rightly received among the Churches. Mr. Croly 
has published some very curious and valuable observations on this point. He is 
of opinion that the principal portions of the Apocalypse refer exclusively to the 
corruptions of the Western Church. I subjoin a brief analysis of his ingenious 
system of interpretation, which is worthy of the attention of the biblical student, 
for Avhose advantage this statement is principally designed''. 

' The. System of Interpretation of the Apocalypse, by tlie Rev. George Croly, A. M. &c. — The 
Apocalypse is not a consecutive prophecy, but ?i fasciculus of prophecies, seen probably at inter- 
vals, during St. John's dwelling at Patmos, all predicting nearly the same events, under different 
emblems and modes of expression, and thus checking and illustrating each otlier. After the first 
three chapters, addressed to the Asiatic Churches, tlie predictions are strictly confined to Em-ope ! 
They take no notice of the Eastern Church, nor of Mahometanism. They are limited to Popery, 
of which they give a history, regular, close, and circumstantial, in a remarkable degree. Analysis 
of the Apocalypse. — Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, (the chapters of the seals,) are a general view, or index, 
of the events detailed in the subsequent predictions. These chapters comprehend the course of 
Providence, from the birth of Christianity to the Millennium. Chapters 8, 9, 10, 11, (the chapters 
of the trumpets,) are identical with chapters 15 and 16, (the chapters of the seals.) They both 
predict the series of events between tlie Reformation in the twelfth century, and the great uni- 
versal war in which Popery is to perish. But the chapters of the trumpets mark the events witli 
much more detail. Thus chapter 8 gives a view of the general, physical, and moral sufferings of 
man, in consequence of the divine displeasure at the corruptions of Christianity by the popedom. 
Chapter 9 is a most remarkable and characteristic prediction of the French Revolution. This 
prediction has been hitherto presumed, by the majority of commentators, to apply to Mahometan- 
ism. This is the chapter which Pastorini's, Walmsley's prophecies apply to Luther, and the Ref- 
ormation in Germany, and on which the Irish Romanists founded their expectation of a massacre 
of the Protestants in the year 182.5. It will be shown that it applies only to our era — that its date 
IS past — and that it is the history of the French Jacobin empire. Chapter 10 is the sudden dif- 
fusion of the Holy Scriptures, and synonymous of the French Revolution. Chapter 11 is a his- 
tory of the suppression of the Holy Scriptures by Popery, of their public extinction by Atheistical 
and Revolutionary France, and of their sudden recovery from tliis degradation, by being spread 
to the boundaries of the globe. Chapters 12, 13, and 14,' with 17, 18, and 19, are the peculiar 
narrative of the Church of Rome, in its rise, progress, and final punishment. Thus, chapter 12 
gives a detail of the persecutions of Christianity by Paganism, as embodied with the government 
of ancient Rome — with the transmission of the spirit of Paganism into the government of modern 
Rome, displayed in similar persecutions of Christianity. Chapter 13 is a striking prediction of 
the rise of the combined temporal and spiritual power of Rome. The Reformation under the 
Waldenses — the fierce vindictiveness of Rome against those early Christians — and the formation 
of the inquisition for the double purpose of crushing the Reformers, and of raising Popery to uni- 
versal dominion. Chapter 14 is a prediction of the downfall and extinction of Popery, by means 
which are yet hidden, but which are palpably connected with some great, brief havoc of man, 
and the ruin of the government of nations. The intervening chapters, 15 and 16, are the chapters 
of the seals, and have been already mentioned as synonymous with, and explanatory of, the chap- 
ters of the trumpets. The 17th, 18th, and 19th chapters are various details of the mode in which 
the punishment and extinction of Popery will be accomplished. Of these chapters, of course, it 
would be presumptuous to attempt any detailed interpretation. Tliey are future, and their satis- 
factory interpretation must wait for the event. But they all distinctly imply iome visitation of 



INTRODUCTION. 35 

Contrary to the usual mode of arrangement, I have placed the Epistles of St. 
John after the Apocalypse. The difference of the style in the composition was 
one of my principal arguments for so doing. The language of the Book of Rev- 
elations appeared to be the result of less intercourse with the Greeks, than that of 
the Epistles, which bear much resemblance to the style of St. John's Gospel, the 
last in date of the Inspired Writings. The powerful recommendations also to 
love and truth and union among Christians, which abound in the Epistles of St. 
John, appeared to be a more valuable legacy to the Churches of God than even 
the prophecies of the Apocalypse. Whetlier there be prophecies, they shall cease 
— charity never faileth. 

The completion of the Canon of the Nevv' Testament having been noticed in 
the twentieth section, I have concluded the work with a brief review of the his- 
tory of the Christian Church, from the close of the apostolic age to the present 
period. One day with our Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as 
one day. Though the fire by night, and the pillar of cloud by day no longer 
guide the visible Church through the wilderness of this world — He that keepeth 
his spiritual Israel can neither slumber nor sleep. As surely as He led his people 
in the olden time from Egypt to Canaan, so certainly will God overrule the evil 
of our state of trial, and direct the nations of a Christian world to truth and peace, 
to union and to mutual love. Individual holiness and political happiness must 
prevail upon earth. The province of this planet shall be reconquered from the 
power of evil which has so long led it captive. The tree of hfe will be again 
planted in the Paradise of earth, and all mankind, renovated in holiness, and 
serving their Only Great God in spirit and in truth, shall become one religious 
family of One Merciful Father. 

Such are the subUme representations of the plans of Providence which appear 
to be revealed in Scripture respecting mankind. When we remember the great- 
ness of the Deity, and the mystery of the continuance of evil, they will appear as 
rational as they are scriptural. They are founded upon the supposition, that evil 
would not have been permitted, unless greater eventual benefit would be thereby 
conferred on all accountable beings. By the atonement of Christ alone (the one 
great truth of Scripture) evil will be conquered, and universal happiness secured. 
Shadows, clouds, and darkness rest upon the future. We must die, we must rise 
again with enlarged and renovated faculties, before we can thoroughly compre- 
hend the government of the moral universe, which is thus but partially revealed 
to us in Scripture. The Revelation, which I have been endeavouring to illustrate, 
is the beginning of the golden thread, by which we shall be enabled, when we 
inherit our immortality, to trace the whole labyrinth of the plans of God. The 
eternal contemplation of our Jehovah, and the perpetual improvement of our rea- 
son, as well as our exemption from the possibility of evil, are among the noblest 
of our anticipated privileges hereafter. The best and greatest of our present priv- 

the divine wrath rapidly approaching, involving the world in war, of an extent, fierceness, and 
power of civil and physical ruin, beyond all example, and threatening all but the extinction of the 
human race ; a deluge of war. From the 20th chapter to the end of the Apocalypse are predic- 
tions of the period which is to follow the destruction of Popery, as the great criminal and corrupter 
of the Christian world. (The Millennium, closing in a second brief apostacy, to be distinguished 
by a sudden display of the power of God, followed by the day of judgment, and the consummation 
of that system of Providence in this world.) In this view of tlie Apocalypse, no prediction lower 
down than the French Revolution is looked upon as a subject for exact interpretation. This 
Revolution, however, furnishes the key to the Apocalypse, fixing the dates of the numbers 1260 
and 666. 



36 INTRODUCTION. 

ileges is the power of securing the expected happiness of the future, by our light 
use of the mercies of God in this stage of our existence. 

Whatever may be our discoveries of the government of God, or whatever our 
loftier or more devotional feelings on the perusal of Scripture, yet another point 
remains to be considered, before we can thoroughly understand the primary mean- 
ing of the Sacred Writings. We must never forget, that they were addressed to 
the ancestors of that wandering people, whose dispersion among the nations is a 
perpetual visible demonstration of the accomphshment of prophecy, and of the 
truth of Christianity. Jesus and his apostles were Jews. They conversed with, 
and lived among, and appealed to, Jews. To have been understood by the peo- 
ple to whom they spoke they must have adopted the idioms, language, proverbs, 
and modes of speaking then in use. Their conversations would have been filled 
with allusions to the events, circumstances, manners, modes, customs, &c. of their 
day. To understand the New Testament thoroughly, therefore, we must endeav- 
our to comprehend the sense in which the language of the Evangelists was under- 
stood by the people of their own age ; and the requisite explanations can only be 
afforded by the Jewish writers. The classical Avriters, in many respects, are of 
little service. Though the works of Raphelius, and of innumerable others, who 
have illustrated the New Testament from these beautiful sources of criticism, are 
abundantly useful, they have not rendered that peculiar and more essential service 
to sacred literature which has been effected by the students of the talmudical 
writings. The learned Baptist, Dr. Gill, Schoetgen, Wetstein, Lightfoot, Dru- 
sius, and others, have contributed much more effectual aid to our right interpre- 
tation of Scripture''. Though the talmuds abound with fables and absurdities — 
though the follies and conceits with which the Jews, who refused to embrace 
Christianity, began to crowd their books at the very time when the beautiful day- 
spring of the New-Testament Scriptures began to scatter the darkness of mankind, 
— may be considered as the beginning of their predicted judicial blindness, these 
books still illustrate the language of the Old Testament. They contain many ves- 
tiges of the ancient spiritual interpretations'". They explain the antiquities, alle- 
gories, mysteries, traditions, &c. of the Jews, which are alluded to in Scripture. 
Though they were written at a later period than the books of the New Testament, 
as I have shown in my concluding note to this work, they were compiled in the 
apostolic age, or in those which immediately succeeded it, when the traditions of 
their ancestors were most venerated, and when the storms which desolated the 
country attached the compilers most fondly to the very words and phrases of their 
learned rabbis". 

" "Postquam ab adolescentia mea persuasum habuissem, Grsecos Scriptores mihi diligenter per- 
legendos esse, eum quidem in finem, ut inde mihi plurima, quee ad N. T. illustrationem facere 
possunt, adferrem ; attamen illis bene multis perlectis, ipsa rerum experientia didicissem, non 
tantos eorum fructus, quantos animo preeceperam ; quia probatissimi quique Scriptores Grseci 
tanto seculorum intervallo a N. T. auctoribus distabant, ut vocabula tantum, non autem integrse 
sententiss compositio et ipsius linguae antiquse genius, convenirent, adeo ut N. T. stj'lus ab ipsis 
Vet. Graeci, vix intelligeretur ; de aliis mediis circumspicere ccepi. Missis ergo ad tempus Grse- 
cis, ad Hebraica accessi, et majori quidem fructu, quam putaveram," &c. Surenhusius ap. Schoet- 
gen. HorcE Heb. Pref. sect. iv. 

^ " Attende, Lector," says Schoetgen, " et observa reliquias veritatis apud veteres Judsos. 
Prius illud efFatum Servatore nostro longe fuit antiquius, adeoque iis verbis poterat Judseos con- 
vincere,jam adesse tempora Messiae, dum dictum illud ad tempus prssens adplicat: idque ea prse- 
cipue de causa, quia omnia Messiae criteria, de quibus antecedentia consulantur, isto tempore ad- 
erant." — Schoetgen. HorcB Heb. vol. i. p. 113. — See on this subject the whole of Schoetgen's 
preface to the first volume. 

" I entreat the attention of the theological student to the preface to Schoetgen's Hora He- 



INTRODUCTION. 37 

Impressed mth such considerations, I have sometimes availed myself of these 
sources of illustration. Though I may appear to have wandered too far from the 
stiict performance of the task which I had assigned myself — the arrangement of 
the New Testament — I would not refuse myself the pleasure of perusing and in- 
corporating in my notes many of the principal remarks of the learned and labo- 
rious Schoetgen. It is indeed to be regretted that the works of this divine are 
not sufficiently appreciated. He was imbued with the true spirit of theological 
criticism. Undertaking his work in the fear of God, and with a sincere desire to 
serve the Church, he never commenced his diligent reading without fervent prayer 
that his exertions might be useful. Firmly convinced of the inspiration of the 
New Testament, he had no hypothesis to serve — no theory to defend — no novel 
nor ingenious paradox to assert. Knowing that some degree of reputation would 
follow his diligent researches, he guarded himself carefully from vanity and self- 
conceit ; and rejected much of which the benefit Avas equivocal, lest the reader 
should imagine he desired only to display his learning. He apologizes for the 
very appearance of affectation, when his discussions might be thought unneces- 
sarily prolix. Every where acknowledging his obligations to Selden, Wagenseil, 
Braun, Witsius, Vitringa, Edzard, Lightfoot, and others, he still confesses the 
possibility of erroneous conclusions, and his utmost care to avoid them. His lan- 
guage is perspicuous rather than elegant ; and his great work will ever be es- 
teemed by all who desire to understand fully and satisfactorily the peculiarities of 
the New Testament. I trust that some theological laborer will soon devote hun 
self to the task of explaining the w'hole of the Sacred Volume from the same 
sources, which so much amused and delighted Schoetgen, Selden, Lightfoot, Dru- 
sius, and Gill. 

In selecting notes from these sources an additional interest was unavoidably 
excited for the wonderful people to whom so much of our Scriptures was ad- 
dressed. To them many notes are exclusively written. Though various circum- 
stances persuade me, that the mass of the Jewish people is altogether indifferent 
to the exertions which many benevolent and good men are daily making on their 
behalf, — though they at present despise, for the most part, the idea of a spiritual 
Messiah — we who are Christians well know that Palestine is the land of Emman- 
uel. We know that the Most High so continues to govern the nations of the 
world, that their power, and wealth, and greatness, whether they arise from good 
pohty, from war, or from commerce, shall all tend to the accomplishment of his 
prophecies. Of the unfulfilled prophecies of God, the most splendid, the most 
numerous, and apparently the most easy of execution, are those which relate to 
the Jews. They will again plant the vine and the olive upon their native hills, 
and reap their harvests in the valleys of their fathers. The history of the future 
age must develope the means by which this great event will be effected. We 
know not whether they will be borne back to Palestine in triumph in the ships of 
a powerful maritime nation, (and if so, may God grant that England, and not 
America, nor Russia, nor any other power, may be so honored by the Almighty), 
or whether in their behalf the age of miracles will return, and a great simultaneous 
effort be, therefore, made in their favor, on the part of the sovereigns of Europe 



braica, which is now before me; and to Lightfoot's Works, of whicli a new edition is just com- 
pleted, as well as to Wetstein's New Testament. The honor of opening to the world the foun- 
tains of talmudical learning, I rejoice to say, belongs to one of our own countr3^men. To use the 
quaint expression of Schostgen, nisi Lightfobtus hasset, multi non saltassent. 

VOL. IT, D 



38 INTRODUCTION. 

— or whether, by the exertions of pious individuals, the mass of the community 
will be so leavened that all people shall unite to restore them to the Holy Land. 
We know not whether they shall obtain their political reestablishment from the con- 
federated rulers of the great republic of Europe — or by an easier devotion of that 
wealth, which is daily making them the principal agents of the commerce of na- 
tions, purchase the right of the soil from its present feeble and divided possessors 
— or whether the future agitations and contentions of sovereigns may render it 
desirable that an important boundary power should be reestablished in Palestine ; 
and a formal surrender of their territory should be therefore made to their nation ; 
as in times past the policy of Persia restored their ancestors to Jerusalem, in con- 
sequence of its defeat by the Greeks ; and of the treaty which forbade the Per- 
sians to come within a certain distance of the coast— or whether they will be re- 
stored to their own now unoccupied, uncultivated, unregarded land, the central 
spot on earth, where the metropolitical Church of God may be most suitably es- 
tablished'', and which seems to be waiting till the heir shall resume his claims, by 
some other way, which is known only to the God of their fathers — all this must be 
left to that history, which is the only right interpreter of our faith-preserving 
prophecy. The experience of the past ages may teach us the manner in which 
the pride and ambition of man pursue their own plans, and are successful, or are 
defeated, as the God of Christianity may please to appoint for the accomplishment 
of his own designs. 

Greece boasted of Marathon and Thermopylae — Greece was triumphant and 
Persia was repulsed. Neither Themistocles nor Miltiades, nor his son, who com- 
pleted their victories, nor Darius, nor Xerxes, nor his successor, could have be- 
lieved that their opposite continents were in commotion, and the whole world was 
agitated, that the poor and despised prophets of Judaea might be proved to have 
spoken truth ; and the walls of Jerusalem be rebuilt after the predicted period of 
the Babylonish captivity\ When Cyrus the younger advanced into the plains of 
Babylon, from the frontiers of Persia, with a well-appointed army of veteran 
Greeks, who returned to their own country after his unexpected fall, by a retreat 
which is still commemorated as the most renowned in history, neither Cyrus, 

' Mr. King's remarks upon Palestine, considered as the centre of the mOlennian empire of 
Christ upon earth, are highly worthy of notice. " How capable this country is of a more univer- 
sal intercourse than any other, with all parts of the earth, is most remarkable, and deserves well 
to be considered, when we read of the numerous prophecies which speak of its future splendor 
and greatness ; when its people shall at length be gathered from all parts of the earth unto which 
they are scattered, and be restored to their own land. There is no region in the world to which 
an access from all parts is so open. By means of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, there is 
an easy approach from all parts of Europe, from a great part of Africa, from America by means 
of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and the well-known roads from thence ; there is an approach 
from the rest of Africa, from the East Indies and from the Isles ; and, lastly, by means of the 
Caspian, the lake or sea of Baikall, and the near communication of many great rivers, the ap- 
proach is facilitated from all the northern parts of Tartary. In short, if a skilful geographer were 
to sit down to devise the fittest spot on the globe for universal empire, or, rather, a spot where all 
the great intercourses of human life should universally centre, and from whence the extended ef- 
fects of universal benevolence and goodwill should flow to all parts of the earth, and where uni- 
\ersal and united homage should be paid, with one consent, to the Most High; he would not find 
another so suited, in all circumstances, as tliat which is, with emphasis, called the Holy Land. 
These obsei-vations, perhaps, may not deserve great weight, but they ought not to be wholly neg- 
lected ; especially when it is considered how many passages of Scripture there are which plainly 
declare, that the time shall at length come, when Zion shall be the joy of the whole earth."— 
Note to Hymns to the Supreme Being, p. 126. ap. Hales' Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. p. 1351. 

■■ See Hales' Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. pt. 2. p. 482. 



INTRODUCTION. 39 

Clearchus, nor Xenophon, could have imagined that they were preparhig the way 
for the accomplishment of the prophecies of God ; by pointing out to the Greeks 
of a subsequent generation, that when their forces should be united under one 
head, the kingdom of Persia was at their disposal ; as an obscure Jew had pre- 
dicted. They could not tell, that one reason why Cyrus could not conquer Per- 
sia Avith an army of the same people who should hereafter subdue it, might be — 
the prophecy of Daniel, that a Greek alone should become its conqueror. 

Rome did not know that its gradual conquests should overspread the world, 
and the nations should imperceptibly conform to its government ; and then that its 
factions should be extinguished, and compelled, Avhatever their republican indig- 
nation might be, to submit to one imperial ruler ; in order that the words of the 
Jewish prophets might be fulfilled, and the world be at peace, when the Messiah 
should be born. But as we now look back upon these events, and see how the 
God of Christianity rides in the whirlwinds of war, and directs all the storms of 
human passions ; so shall the generations which are yet to come look upon the 
changes in England, which established that Protestantism which is the blessing of 
mankind — they shall look back upon the revolutions of France, and the opposition 
of England to infidelity in religion and anarchy in politics, and admire, in the un- 
limited consequences of the events of the last generation, the accomplishment of 
the prophecies of God. 

Brethren of the house of Israel ! if any such may be induced to listen to a stu- 
dent of your own Scriptures, your rank among nations will still be high and splen- 
did. The God of your fathers has now permitted you, for nearly two thousand 
years, to wander over the world, an oppressed, an insulted, and a despised people, 
without a sovereign, a kingdom, or a church. God is a Being unchangeable, and 
wise, and good. You hold in your hands a collection of books which tell you of 
the glories of your ancestors — how they were separated from the rest of the world, 
neither because they were greater, nor wiser, nor better, nor braver, than the rest 
of men upon whom the rain descended and the sun shone ; but because the love 
of God elected them, and gave them their laws and institutions, to preserve the 
memory of His name, amidst the contagion of idolatry ; and to obtain for them- 
selves poUtical power and eminence, as the result of their obedience. 

The nations among whom they were planted respected and feared them, so 
long as they obeyed their Law : they subdued and conquered, and led them into 
captivity when they forgot their allegiance to Jehovah. The last and longest of 
their captivities was attended with this good eflfect ; it extirpated the remnant of 
that attachment to idolatry which had caused so many sufferings. The reaction 
from idolatry to faith was such, that when the books of the New Testament were 
wTitten, the devotion of the Jews to the ritual and ceremonial law was at its 
height. Idolatry was never named among them without detestation and contempt. 
The strict observance even of a burthensome traditional law was added to the 
generally undeviating compliance with the Mosaical institutions ; and the chosen 
people of God appeared to themselves, and to the heathen, to live in the firm 
profession and obedience of the most burthensome service, commanded by their 
inspired legislator. What was the cause, then, that at the very moment when 
the design of Moses seemed to have been accomplished, the God of Abraham, of 
Isaac, and of Jacob should give his inheritance to the heathen, and the dead 
bodies of his servants to the fowls of the air ? Why was your land laid waste, 
the temple destroyed, your people scattered over the world, at that peculiar pe- 
riodj when your obedience to the minutest of your laws was most perfect ? From 



40 INTRODUCTION. 

the earliest ages your fathers beUeved that a Divine Being should come upon 
earth to perform various essential benefits for mankind. This belief vi^as sup- 
ported by the predictions of the Old Testament. The expectation of a Messiah 
is the foundation of the whole system. When your observance of your ritual was 
most exact, your expectation of the Messiah was also niost fervid. Yet your na- 
tion was afflicted by the dreadful visitation to which I have alluded. Thus your 
obedience and your faith were at their height, when the greatest desolation came 
upon you. Some proportionate cause must be assigned for this apparent mystery, 
and none can be found but that which is related in these books, which we, the 
Christians, have added to those received by yourselves, upon similar evidences 
of their inspiration. We receive them as the writings of your countrymen, upon 
the authority of the miracles which were wrought by their authors — their own in- 
ternal evidence — the prophecies they contain — and upon all otlier similar proofs 
which demonstrate to you the authority of the books of the Old Testament. 

Here then we arrive at the question which divides the elder brother from the 
younger ; the Jew from the Christian. In the Inspired Books which the Christian 
has appended to the Sacred Writings of the Jews, we read of the actions and 
preaching, the birth, and life, and death of a Being whom we assert to be the 
predicted Messiah. You rejected this Being because he did not deliver you from 
the Roman yoke. You demand a temporal, we a spiritual, deliverer. In this 
lies the difference between us. If a temporal Messiah is the object of the proph- 
ecies. He has not come ; if a spiritual Messiah is to be expected, Jesus of Naza- 
reth was the Desire of nations. 

Though I am largely digressing from our more immediate object, I entreat 
you to permit me to appeal to you as my fellow-men on this subject. As we are 
immortal and accountable beings, the soul of man, which lives for ever, is of more 
value than the body, which must mingle with the elements — the future and eter- 
nal state is of higher consideration than the present transitory world — and it is 
more probable, therefore, that the Great Deliverer who was announced by a long 
train of prophets, and to whom the attention of mankind should be directed, 
would be the bestower of some inestimable benefits, which would refer to the soul 
as well as the body ; and to the future as well as the present world. Man is now 
and has long been the subject of so much misery and evil, that his deliverance 
from that state, and restoration to happiness in the world to come would probably 
be the greatest and the worthiest design of the Almighty. 

In looking for a temporal Messiah, you anticipate a being fit for earth alone. 
The Messiah whom we receive was fit for earth and for heaven. Your Messiah is 
a mere mortal, who must linger through his few years of feverish renown, " pleased 
with this trifle still, as that before : " ours is an Immortal, who came down from 
an invisible world to elevate the whole human race, and to restore them to com- 
munion with God. Your Messiah is expected to triumph, as a Caesar or a Napo- 
leon, over the bodies of the slaughtered, amid the groans of the dying, and the 
tears of the widow and the orphan : ours shall mount to universal dominion by 
subduing the heart, and by changing the sword into the ploughshare, and banish- 
ing tears and grief for ever. Which is more glorious ? Yours is compatible with 
the indulgence of all the lion passions of the heart : ours is only compatible with 
the conquest of self, with pure motives, and a holy life. Which is more worthy 
of an Immortal — which yields more praise to God ? 

I shah be trespassing too much upon the time of the reader if I permit myself 
to proceed further on this point. 



INTRODUCTION. 41 

I have not entered at great lengtli into the various controversies which prevail 
amono- Christians. Where the subject was unavoidable, I have endeavoured to 
point out the principles on which both agree ; and by following which, their dif- 
ferences would be more reconciled. This mode of proceeding generally offends 
both classes ; but I did not wish to become a partisan. In that principal and al- 
most the only great controversy which divides those who unite in believing the 
scriptural doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Atonement, the ques- 
tion of church government, I have expressed myself in the most decided manner. 
I have done so because I believe that Christir^nity is a system of positive institu- 
tions ; and that those Christians who vv'ould represent Christ our Lord as the Sav- 
iour of individuals only have misapprehended the spirit of Christianity. Christ is 
the Legislator of nations. As the Jews were a nation and a people governed by 
the laws of God, so was it designed that every nation under heaven should be 
bound by one law of Christian and national polity. This object was to be effected 
by our Lord committing to his Church a system of authority, which is alike suited 
to all forms of civil government. Because the teachers of the people are in all 
nations the eventual arbiters of the character, the destiny, and the morality of a 
people ; it pleased God to appoint an order of men, who should judge of the fit- 
ness or unfitness of all the teachers of the people ; and who should permit none 
to become Christian ministers who had departed from the truth which Christ had 
revealed. To prevent ambition and pride (the principal agitators of governments) 
from disturbing the Churches, he made these men equal. The apostles were 
equal among themselves, and they appointed teachers ; and the Christian world 
never heard at that time of revolts, rebellions, or wars, among Christians. The 
purity of the apostolic government was preserved among their immediate succes- 
sors. The union of the Church with the civil power under Constantine perverted 
Episcopacy, by inducing ambition among the governors of the Churches ; and the 
usurpations of the bishop of Rome still more deeply injured the spirituality of the 
visible Church. The Reformation was the sera of new modes of church govern- 
ment, as well as of the overthrow of the corruptions of that apostacy ; and the 
universal Church has been disgraced, and the world continued in evil, by the 
shameful and bloody divisions among Christians. These divisions still continue ; 
but they would not have existed if the institutions of the Great Lawgiver had 
been observed ; neither will they cease till the great majority of Christians shall 
revive among them the primitive laws of order and union. 

I have not studied to discover new modes of interpretation. At the risk of 
being considered a compiler, I have freely taken from various works on Scripture, 
whatever appeared to be suited to my purpose. Though in danger of being es- 
teemed erroneous, I have not hesitated to express a decided opinion on the con- 
troverted points I may have found it expedient to discuss. No fear lest I should 
be considered illiberal, or uncandid, has prevented me from condemning any opin- 
ion which is contrary to truth. No hope of pleasing has induced me for one mo- 
ment to study the popular opinion ; to vary my phrases, to soften my expressions, 
or in any way to flatter the people. While I have not studied novelty, I have 
not hesitated to express any new view of a subject which appeared to me desir- 
able. I may use the expressive language of the great author of the Demonstration 
of the Messiah, " I do not desire to live longer in this world than whilst I am dis- 
posed both to find out the truth and follow if*." 

■^ Bishop Kidder, Demonstration of the Messiah, dedication, p. J. 

VOL. II. 6 



42 INTRODUCTION. 

I must apologize for the period of the pubUcation of this book. Though some 
delay, arising from unavoidable circumstances, has caused me much regret, in other 
instances it has been willingly indulged. In contemplating the plan of the gov- 
ernment of the vi^orld, as it is revealed to us in the Scriptures, I seemed to be 
surveying a more magnificent temple erected to the glory of God than the round 
unclouded sky, w^ith the sun walking in his brightness. On every side I heard 
the song of angels, and of the spirits of the just made perfect. Like Adam in 
Paradise, I listened to the voice of a manifested God ; I conversed with the Evan- 
gelists and the Apostles, I walked with them through the avenues of the majestic 
edifice ; and even now, though their address is ended, " so charming is their 
voice, that I can think them still speaking, still stand fixed to hear." Their 
words are the words of eternal life ; and the intercourse with these priests of the 
temple, and with their Holy Master, the God of their homage, appeared but the 
anticipation of that intellectual and spiritual happiness which shall constitute so 
much of our felicity in a future state. I submit to the reader the completion of 
the labor of some years with deference, yet with satisfaction and pleasure ; and I 
rejoice that it has pleased God to grant me the desire and the patience to accom- 
plish a work which should be useful to the Church and to the world. 



PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE FOR EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR. 



43 



In the following Tables, which are designed principally /or the Use of Families, the whole of 
tlie Sections of diis Arrangement are divided in such a manner, that by reading one portion 
DAILY, the JVeiv Testament may be read through twice in a year. 



JANUARY. 



D«vs 

qV 
Month 


PART. 


SECT. PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 


Page. 


1 


I. 
II. 

lii. 

IV. 




47 


O 




49 
51 
54 


3 


vii.-xii 

xiii.— xviii 


5 


xix. XX 


57 


fi 




59 


7 




60 
63 
65 
67 


8 


i. ii 

IV .—VI 


10 




11 




69 
71 


^9 


xiii. xiv 


IS 


XV — xvui 


72 


14 
15 

16 


xix. to Luke vi. 31. on p. 77.. . . 
Matt. v. 44, to end of sect 


75 

77 
80 
82 
84 


17 


XXIV.— XXVll 


18 




10 


XXX. xxxi. xxxii 


Rfi 


90 


xxxiii. xxxiv 


89 


91 


XXXV. xxxvi 


91 


22 
93 


xxxvii.-xlii 


93 

97 
99 


94 


ii. iii. iv 


9«> 




10'> 


9fi 




104 


97 




105 


28 
90 


XI.-XIV 

XV. xvi. xvii 


108 
110 


30 


XVlll. XIX. XX 


113 


31 


xxi 


115 



FEBRUARY. 



Days 




of 


PART. 


Month 




1 


V. 


2 




3 




4 




5 




6 




7 




8 




9 




10 




11 




12 




13 




14 




15 




16 




17 


vi. 


18 




19 




20 




21 




22 




23 




24 




25 




26 




27 




28 




29 





SECT. PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 



V. vi. vii 

viii.-xiii 

xiv. XV. xvi 

xvii. xviii. xix 

XX. xxi. xxii 

xxiii. xxiv 

XXV. xzvi. xxvii 

xxviii.-xxxi 

xxxii. xxxiii. xxxiv 

XXXV .-XXX viii 

xxxix. xl 

xli. xiii. xliii 

xliv. xiv 

xlvi.-lii 

liii. and Part VI. sect. i. 

ii.-v 

vi.-xii 

xiii 

xiv. XV. xvi 

xvii. xviii 

xix. XX 

xxi. xxii. xxiii 

xxiv.-xxix 

xxx.-xxxiii 

xxxiv. XXXV. xxxvi 

xxxvii. xxxviii. xx.xix.. . 

xl.-xliii 

xl.-xliii. 

Ox,Serman on the Mount, 



Page. 



117 
120 
122 
124 
126 
128 
130 
131 
133 
135 
136 
138 
140 
142 
144 
146 
148 
150 
J 52 
155 
157 
159 
163 
165 
167 
170 
171 
173 

75 



MARCH. 



Days 




of 
VIoDth 


PART. 


1 


VII. 


2 




3 




4 




5 




6 


VIII. 


7 




8 




9 


IX. 


10 




11 




12 




13 


, . 


14 




15 




16 


X. 


17 




18 




19 


XI. 


20 


, , 


21 


, 


22 


XII. 


23 




24 




25 




26 


, , 


27 




28 




29 




30 


, , 


31 


.. 



-PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 



i.-vn 

viii. ix. X 

xi.-xv 

xvi.-xix 

xx.-xxiii 

i.-xvi 

xvii.-xxvii 

xxviii.-xxxv 

i.-vi 

vii. viii 

ix.-xii 

xiii.-xx 

xxi. xxii. xxiii 

xxiv.-xxx 

xxxi.-xxxv 

i.-iv 

v.-viii 

ix.-xiii 

i.-vi 

vii.-xi 

xii.-xiv 

i.-ix 

X. § 1-4. Galatians i. ii 

§ 5-7. Galatians iii 

§ 8-10. Galatians iv 

§ 11-13. Galatians v. vi.... 

XI. xii. xiii 

xiv. § 1-4. 1 Thessalonians i. ii 

§ 5-8. 1 Thess. iii. iv. v... 

XV. xvi. 2 Thess. i. ii. iii 

xvii. xviii. Epis. to Titus i.-iii. 



Page. 



177 
181 
182 
185 
187 
189 
192 
195 
204 
207 
208 
209 
212 
215 
217 
219 
221 
222 
224 
226 
228 
229 
232 
234 
235 
236 
238 
239 
241 
243 
246 



APRIL. 



Days 

of 
Month 



PART. 


SECT. PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 


XTT. 


xix.-xxi.and PartXIII.sec.i.-v. 


XTTT. 


vi. § 1-4. 1 Corinthians i 




§ 5-9. 1 Corinthians ii. iii... 




§ 10-14. 1 Corinthians iv. v. 




§ 15-17. 1 Cor. vi. vii. 1-17. 




§ 18-20. lCo.vii.l8,eKrf,viii. 




§ 21, 22. 1 Corinthians ix.. . 




§ 23-25. 1 Cor. x. xi. 1.... 




§ 26, 27. 1 Cor. xi. 2, to end. 




§ 28. 1 Cor. xh. 1-30 




§ 29. 1 Cor. xii. 31. xiii.. . . 




§ 30-32. 1 Cor. xiv. XV. 1-11. 




§ 33-40. lCo.xv.l2,enrf,xvi. 




vii.-ix. § 1-7. 1 Tim. i. ii 




ix. § 8-12. 1 Tim. in. iv 




§ 13-19. ITim.v. vi 




X. xi. § 1-7. 2 Cor. i. h 




xi. § 8-12. 2 Cor. iii. iv 




§ 13-17. 2Co. v.-vii. 1 




§ 18-21.2CO. vii.2,OT,(/,vih. 




§ 22-26. 2 Cor. ix. x 




§ 27-29. 2 Cor. xi 




§ 30-35. 2 Cor. xii. xiu 




xu. xiii. § 1-8. Romans i. ii.... 




xiii. § 9-12. Romans iii 




§ 13-16. Rom. iv. V. 1-11.. 




§ 17-21. Rom. V. 12, end, vi. 




' § 22-24. Rom. vii. 1-25 




§ 2.5-30. R. vii. 25, end, vui. 




§ 31-35. Rom. ix. 1-29..., 



Page. 



248 
250 
252 
254 
255 
257 
258 
260 
261 
262 
263 
264 
266 
268 
271 
272 
275 
277 
279 
281 
283 
285 
287 
289 
292 
294 
297 
298 
299 
302 



44 



PORTIONS OP SCRIPTURE FOR EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR 



MAY. 



Days 

of 
Month 


PART. 


SECT. PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 


1 

2 


XIII. 
XIV. 


xiii. § 36-39. Rom.ix.30,end,x. 
& 40—45. R.onia.ns xi.« .... 


3 

4 


§ 46-49. Romans xii.xiii.. 


5 


S 52— o4 Romans w 


6 

7 


§ 55-57. Romans xvi 

xiv.— XX 


8 




9 




10 


xxviii. xxix. xxx 


n 




12 


xxxiii xxxiv 


13 
14 
15 
16 

17 
18 
19 
20 


XXXV 

xxxvi. Part XIV. sect. i.-v... . 
vi.-ix 

X. § 1-3. Ephesians i. ii. 1-10. 
§ 3-7.E.ii.ll,cw^jiii.iv.l-6. 
§ 8-10. Ephesians iv. 7-30.. 
§ 11-13. Eph.iv. 31,32, v.. 


21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 


xi. § 1-4. Philippians i. ii. 1- 
§ 5-8. Phil. ii.l2,e7wZ,iii.l- 
§ 9-12.Pliil.iii. 17,«oe/wZ 
xii. § 1-3. Colossians i. ii. 1- 
§ 4-7. C. ii. 8, ererf.iii. 1- 
§ 8-ll.Colos.iii.l2, e«(i 


-16. 
iv. 

-7.. 

-11. 

iv. 


28 


xiv. § 1-3. James i 


30 




31 


§ 11-13. Jam. V. ifcsec. 


XV. 



Page. 



303 
305 
308 
310 
311 
313 
314 
316 
318 
319 
321 
322 
323 
325 
327 
328 
330 
333 
334 
336 
338 
340 
342 
345 
347 
349 
351 
352 
354 
357 
358 



JUNE. 



Davs 

of 
Month 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 



XV. 



SECT. PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURF,. 



i. § 1-5. Hebrews i. ii 

§ 6-9. Hebrews iii. iv 

§ 10-13. Hebrews V. vi 

§ 14-19. Hebrews vii. viii. .. 

§ 20-23. Hebrews ix 

§ 24-29. Hebrews x 

§ 30-33. Heb. xi. xii. 1,2... 
§ 34-37. Heb. xii. 3, to end.. 

§ 38-41. Hebrews xiii 

xii. § 1-6. 2 Timothy i. ii 

§ 7-13. 2 Tim. iii. iv 

xiii. § 1-5. 1 Peter i. ii. 1-10.. . 

§ 6-11. lP.ii.ll,ere</,iv. 1-6. 

§ 12-16. 1 Fet.iv.7,end,v. 

xiv. § 1-3. 2 Peter i. ii. 1-10. . . 

§ 4-8. 2 Pet. ii. 10, end, iii. 

XV. Jude, and Sect. xvi. xvii.. 

xviii. § 1-7. Revelation i. ii... 

§ 8-11. Revelation iii. iv. 

§ 12-20. Rev.v.-viii.l-5. 

§ 2]-28.R.viii.6,cH(?,ix.x. 

§ 29-31'. Rev. xi. xii 

§ 32-35. R. xiii. xiv. XV. 1-4. 
§ 36-44. Rev. xv. 5.-xvii. 
§ 45,46. R. xviii. xix. 1-10. 
§ 47-51.R.xix.ll.xxi.l-8. 
§ 52-55. R.xxi.9,en(f,xxii. 

xix. § 1-5. 1 John i. ii 

§ 6-10. I John iii. iv.... 
§ 11-15. 1 J.v.2&3Epis. 



Page. 



360 
362 
365 
367 
370 
372 
375 
377 
379 
386 
389 
391 
394 
396 
398 
400 
403 
407 
409 
411 
414 
417 
419 
421 
424 
425 
427 
429 
432 
435 



JULY. 



Davs 

of 
Month 


PART. 


1 


I. 


2 


.. 


3 


, , 


4 


, , 


5 




6 


, , 


7 


II. 


8 




9 


III. 


10 


, , 


11 




12 


, , 


13 


, , 


14 




15 


.. 


16 




17 




18 




19 




20 




21 




22 


.. 


23 




24 


IV. 


25 




26 


, , 


27 




28 




29 


.. 


30 




31 


• . 



SECT. PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 



1. 11. Ill 

iv. V 

vi. vii. viii 

ix.-xii • 

xiii.-xviii 

xix. XX 

i. ii 

iii. -viii 

i. ii 

iii.-vi 

vii.-ix 

X. xi. .xii 

xiii. xiv 

xv.-xviii 

xix. to Luke vi. 31. on p. 77 
Matt. V. 44, to end of sect.. . 

xx.-xxiii 

xxiv.-xxvii 

xxviii. xxix 

XXX. xxxi. xxxii 

xxxiii. xxxiv , 

XXXV. xxxvi 

xxxvii.-xlii 

i 

ii. iii. iv 

V. vi. vii 

viii 

ix. X 

xi.-xiv 

XV. xvi. xvii 

Sermon on the Mount 



AUGUST. 



D,iyB 




of 


PART. 


Month 




1 


IV. 


2 


, , 


3 


V. 


4 




5 




6 




7 




8 




9 




10 




11 




12 




13 




14 




15 




16 




17 




18 




19 


vi. 


20 




21 




22 




23 




24 




25 




26 




27 




23 




29 




30 




31 





SECT. PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 



XVlll. XI.X. XX 

xxi 

i. ii. iii. iv 

V. vi. vii 

viii.-xiii 

xiv. XV. xvi 

xvii. xviii. xix ,.., 

XX. xxi. xxii 

xxiii. xxiv 

XXV. xxvi. xxvii 

xxviii.-xxxi 

xxxii. xxxiii. xxxiv 

xxxv.-xxxviii 

xxxix. xl 

xii. xiii. xliii 

xliv. xiv 

xlvi.-lii 

liii. and Part VI. sect, i 

ii.-v 

vi.-xii 

xiii 

xiv. XV. xvi 

xvii. xviii 

xix. XX 

xxi. xxii. xxiii 

xxiv.-xxix 

XXX. -xxxiii 

xxxiv. XXXV. xxxvi 

xxxvii. xxxviii. xxxix.. . 

xl.-xliii 

Sermon on the Mount. . . . 



PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE FOR EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR. 



45 



1 

SEPTEMBER. 


NOVEMBER. 


Days 








Days 








of 
Month 

1 

2 


PART. 


SECT. PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 


fage. 


of 
Month 


PART. 


SECT. PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 


Page. 

303 

305 


VII. 




177 
181 


1 

2 


XIII. 


xiii. § 36-39. Rom.ix.30,enrf,x. 
§ 40-45. Romans xi 


viii. ix. X 


\^ 




Xl.-XV 


18^ 


3 




§ 46-49. Romans xii. xiii.. 

§ 50, 51. Romans xiv 

§ 52-.54. Romans xv 

§ 55-57. Romans xvi 

xiv.-xx 


308 


4 




xvi.-xix 


185 


4 




310 


5 
6 

7 


viii. 




187 
189 
192 


5 

6 

7 




311 
313 
314 


i — xvi 


xvii.-xxvii 


8 




xxviii.-xxx V 


195 


8 




xxi.-xxiv 


316 


9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 


IX. 
X. 

xi. 




204 
207 
208 
209 
212 
215 
217 
219 
221 
222 
224 


9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 


xiv. 




318 
319 
321 
322 
323 
325 
327 
328 
330 
333 
334 




xxviii xxix xxx 






xiii —XX 


xxxiii. xxxi V 


xxi xxii xxiii 


XXXV 




xxxvi. Part XIV. sect. i.-v.... 


sxxi.-xxxv 


X. § 1-3. Ephesians i. ii. 1-10. 
§ 4-7.E.ii.ll,cnrf,iii.iv.l-6. 
§ 8-10. Ephesians iv. 7-30.. 
§ 11-13. Eph. iv. 31,32, v.. 


Y.— viii 




i.-vi 


20 
21 
22 
23 


XII. 


Vll.— XI 


226 
228 
229 
232 


20 
21 
22 
23 




§ 14-16. Ephesians vi 

xi. § 1^. Philippians i. ii. 1-11. 
§ 5-8. Phil. ii.l2,£n(Z,iii. 1-16. 
§ 9-12.PhiI.iii. 17,ioe7irf,iv. 


336 

338 
340 
342 


xii.— xiv 


i,— ix 


x. § 1-4. Galatians i. ii 


24 


, , 


§ 5-7. Galatians iii 


234 


24 




xii. § 1-3. Colossians i. ii. 1-7.. 


345 


1 25 




§ 8-10. Galatians iv 


235 


25 




§ 4-7. C. ii. 8, enrf.iii. 1-11. 


347 


26 




§ 11-13. Galatians v. vi. . . . 


236 


26 




§ 8-ll.Colos.iii.l2, e?!rf,iv. 


349 


27 

28 






238 
239 


27 

28 




xiii. Epistle to Philemon 


351 
352 


xiv. § 1-4. 1 Thessalonians i. ii. 
§ 5-8. 1 Thess. iii. iv. v... 


29 




241 


29 




§ 4-7. James ii. iii 


354 


30 




XV. xvi. 2 Thess. i. ii. iii 


243 


30 




§ 8-10. James iv 


357 


OCTOBER. 


DECEMBER. 


Day. 








Davs 








of 
Month 


PART. 


SECT. PORTIONS Or SCRIPTURE. 


Page. 


of 
Month 


PART. 


SECT. — PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 


Page. 


1 


XII. 


xvii. xviii. Epis. to Titus i.-iii.. 


246 


1 


XIV. 


xiv. § 11-13. Jam. v. & Sec. xv. 


358 


2 




xix.-xxi. and Part XIII. sec. i.-v. 


248 


2 


XV. 


i. § 1-5. Hebrews i. ii 


360 


3 


XIII. 


vi. § 1-4. 1 Corinthians i 


250 


3 




§ 6-9. Hebrews iii. iv 


3ry2 


4 




§ 5-9. 1 Corinthians ii. iii... 


252 


4 




§ 10-13. Hebrews v. vi 


365 







§ 10-14. 1 Corinthians iv. v. 


254 


5 




§ 14-19. Hebrews vii. viii... 


367 


6 




§ 15-17. 1 Cor. vi. vii. 1-17. 


2.55 


6 




§ 20-23. Hebrews ix 


370 


7 




§18-20. 1 Co. vii. 18, eW, viii. 


257 


7 




§ 24-29. Hebrews x 


372 


8 




§ 21,22. 1 Corinthians ix... 


258 


8 




§ 30-33. Heb. xi. xii. 1,2... 


375 


9 




§ 23-25. 1 Cor. x. xi. 1.... 


260 


9 




§ 34-37. Heb. xii. 3, to end.. 


377 


1 10 




§ 26, 27. 1 Cor. xi. 2, to end. 


261 


10 




§ 38-41. Hebrews xiii 


379 


1 11 




§ 28. 1 Cor. xii. 1-30 


262 


11 




xii. § 1-6. 2 Timothy i. ii 


3Rfi 


12 




§ 29. 1 Cor. xii. 31. xiii.... 


263 


12 




§ 7-13. 2 Tim. iii. iv 


.389 


13 




§ 30-32. ICor.xiv. XV. 1-11. 


264 


13 




xiii. § 1-5. 1 Peter i. ii. 1-10.. . 


391 


14 




§ 33-40. lCo.xv.l2,enrf,xvi. 


266 


14 




§ 6-ll.lP.ii.ll,€wrf,iv.l-6. 


394 


15 




vii.-ix. § 1-7. 1 Tim. i. ii 


268 


15 




§ 12-16. 1 Tet.iY.7,end,v. 


396 


16 




ix. § 8-12. 1 Tim. iii. iv 


271 


16 




xiv. § 1-3. 2 Peter i. ii. 1-10... 


398 


17 




§ 13-19. ITim.v. vi 


272 


17 




§ 4-8. 2 Pet. ii. 10, end, iii. 


400 


18 




X. xi. § 1-7. 2 Cor. i. ii 


275 


18 




XV. Jude, and Sect. xvi. xvii.. 


403 


19 




xi. § 8-12. 2 Cor. iii. iv 


277 


19 




xviii. § 1-7. Revelation i. ii... 


407 


20 




§ 13-17. 2Co.v.-vii. 1 


279 


20 




§ 8-11. Revelation iii. iv. 


409 


21 




§ 18-21. 2 Co. vii. 2, endMii. 


281 


21 




§ 12-20. Rev. v.-viii. 1-5. 


411 


22 




§ 22-26. 2Cor. ix. X 


283 


22 




§ 21-28. R. viii. 6,e7!(f,ix.x. 


414 


23 




§ 27-29. 2 Cor. xi 


285 


23 




§ 29-31. Rev. xi. xii 


417 


24 




§ 30-35. 2 Cor. xii. xiii 


287 


24 




§ 32-35. Rev. xiii.-xv. 1-4. 


419 


25 




xii. xiii. § 1-8. Romans i. ii... . 


289 


25 




§ 36-44. Rev. xv. 5.-xvii. 


421 


26 




xiii. § 9-12. Romans iii 


292 


26 




§ 45,46. R. xviii. xix. 1-10. 


424 


27 




§ 13-16. Rom. iv. v. 1-11.. 


294 


27 




§ 47-51.R.xix.ll.xxi.l-8. 


425 


28 




§ 17-21. Rom. V. 12, end, vi. 


297 


28 




§ 52-55. R. xxi. 9,eni, xxii. 


427 


29 




§ 22-24. Rom. vii. 1-25 


298 


29 




xix. § 1-5. 1 John i. ii 


429 


30 




§ 25-30. R. vii. 25, end. viii. 


299 


30 




§ 6-10. 1 John iii. iv 


432 


31 




§ 31-35. Rom. ix. 1-29.... 


302 


31 




§ 11-15. 1 J.v.2&3Epis. 


435 



THE 



NEW TESTAMENT 



PART I. 

FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE TEMPTATION. 



Section I. — General Preface. 
Makk i. 1. — Luke i. 1-4. 
The Beginning of the Gospel, of Jesus Christ, "the Son of God.* sect. i. 

^ FoRASMTJCH^ as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a The Gospel of st. 
declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, biy written at°je- 
2 'even as they dehvered them unto us, which 'from the beginning Jhaf of'st.' liaJ 
were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the ■= word; ^ "^it seemed good to j," Achaia, a. d. 

me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very 

first, to write unto thee 'in order, -^most excellent "^Theophilus, 4- that ^ J^JJ"^^^ 
thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast ^ g^^ j^°J ^ 
been instructed. a see Note 4. 

o Dan. 3. 25. Matt. 4. 3, 6. & 8. 29. & 14. 33. & 16. 16. & 17. 5. & 21. 37. & 26. 63. & 27. 40, 43, 54. Mark 3. 1 1. & 5. 7. & 9. 7. & 15.39. 
Luke 1. 32, 35. & 4. 3, 9, 41. & 8. 28. & 9. 35. & 22.70. John 1. 14, 34, 49. & 3. 16,17,18, a5, 36. & 5. 19,-20, 21, 22, 23, 25. & 6. 69. & 9. 35. 
&10.36. & 11. 4,27. & 19.7. & 20.31. Acts 8. 37. & 9.20. Eom. 1. 4. & 8. 32. 2Cor.l.l9. Gal. 2.20. Eph. 4. 13. Heb. 1.2.&4. 14. 
& 6. 6. & 7.3. & 10.29. 1 John 3. 8. & 4. 15. & 5. 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20. Rev. 2. 18. b Heb. 2. 3. 1 Pet. 5.1. 2 Pet. 1. 16. 1 John 1. 1. 
c John 15. 27. d Acts 15. 19, 25, 28. 1 Cor. 7. 40. e Acta 11. 4. /Acts 1. 1. g- John 20. 31. 



Section II. — The Divinity, Humanity, and Office of Christ.^ sect, ii. 

John i. 1-18. The Gospel of St. 

iIn the beginning "was the Word, and the Word was 'with God, itEpheTusTi"?." 

"and the Word was God. ^ ''The same was in the beginning with God. ^''- 

^ "All things were made by Him ; and without Him was not any e see Note 5. 
thing made that was made. * -In Him was life ; and ^the life was the "Jo^i.^ie^^iV^"' 
light of men. ^ And ''the lisrht shineth in darkness; and the darkness 1 John 1.1. Rev. 

o o ' 1. 2. & ]9. 13. 

comprehended it not. 6Prov.8.30.ch.i7. 

^ 'There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. '''-'The \^f°^l\f\ 

■ r- 1 T • 1 1 c Phil. 2.6. 1 John 

same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men 5. 7. 
through Him might beUeve. ^ He was not that Light, but was sent to f ^^s'g. ver. 10. 
bear witness of that Light. ^ ''That was the true Light, which lighteth coj. i.^ie. Eph. 
every man that cometh into the world. ^^He was in the world, and 'the Rev. 4.11.' 
world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. ^^ "He came /g'l'j s- 26. 1 John 
unto his own, and his own received Him not. ^^ But "as many as re- ^ch.8.12. &9.5. 
ceived Him, to them gave He* power to become the sons of God, Ach.3. 19. 
even to them that believe on his Name: ^^ "which were born, not of 'l^j'L^kgs^l"' 
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. ver.33. 
^■^^And the Word 'was made ''flesh, and dwelt among us, (and 'we be- its'"49V'ver.4 
held his glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father,) 'full 1 John 2. s. 

r- J i iU Z ver. 3. Heb. 1.2. 

01 grace and truth. &11.3. 

m Lu. 19. 14. Acts 3. 26. &: 13. 46. n Is. 56. 5. Rom. 8. 15. Gal. 3. 26. 2 Pet. 1.4.1 John 3. 1. * Or, the right, or, privUege. 
och. 3. 5. James 1.18. lPet.1.23. p Matt. 1. 16,20. Luke 1.31, 35. & 2. 7. 1 Tim. 3. 16. 5Rom.l.3. Gal. 4. 4. 

r Heb. 2. 11, 14, 16, 17. $ Is. 40. 5. Matt. 17. 2. ch.2. 11. & 11. 40. 2Pet. 1. 17. ( Col. 1. 19. & 2. 3, 9. 



SECT. III. 



48 BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. [Part. 1. 

«ver.39.ch.3.32. ^^ "John*" bare witness of Him, and cried, saying, "This was He of 
fSeeN^tee. whoHi I spako, "He that cometh after me is preferred before me: "for 
Yi^atL3.n.Mark JJe was before me ! " ^^ And of his ""fuhiess have all we received, and 

ver.27,3o.ch.3! gracc for grace. ^Tor^the Law was given by Moses, ^u^'^Grace and 
wcii.s.ss.coi.i. "Truth came by Jesus Christ. ^^'No man hath seen God at any time ; 

^^u , ,. T. . 'the Only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath 

E ch. 3.34. Ephes. , , i tt- 

1. 6-8. Col. 1. 19. declared tiun. 

& 2. 9, 10. 
y Exod. 20. 1, &c. = 

Deut.4.44.&5.1. 

iKom.3.24.&5. Section HI. — Birth of John the Baptist. s 

/ch8'32&'i4 6 Luke i. 5-25. 

b Exo(i.33.2o. De. ^ There was "in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain 
Luke*io."22? ch! pHCSt named Zacharias, 'of the course of Abia : and his wife was of 
&^6.i6.^'john^4' the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. ^ And they were 
12. 20. both "righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and or- 

'is^ijo'hni. 9. ' dinances of the Lord blameless. ''And they had no child, because that 
Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. 
^ And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office be- 
B. V. M. 6. fore God ''in the order of his course, ^according to the custom of the 
J. P. 4708. priest's office, his lot was 'to burn incense when he went into the tem- 
^™^saiem. '^™ plc of the Lord ; ^^ ■'^and the whole multitude of the people were pray- 
„ ~ ing without at the time of incense. ^^ And there appeared unto him an 

e See Note 7. ® . . . 

a Matt. 2. ]. Augcl of the Lord, standing on the right side of ^the altar of incense ; 

*i9*Neh"i2*4 17' ^^ -^^^ whcn Zachar'as saw him, ''he was troubled, and fear fell upon 

c Gen. 7.1. & 17.1. him. ^^ But thc Angel said unto him, — 

so.s'.Tobia.Acta " Fcar not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; 

Phi?.' 3*^6^' ^^' -^"^ thy wife EHzabeth shall bear thee a son, 

dichron.24.19.2 And 'tliou shalt call his name John. 

31. 2."" ■ " ^^ And thou shalt have joy and gladness ; 

'o^'"'^.- oo ^-.^; ^ And ■'many shall rejoice at his birth. 

Sam.2.28. 1 Chr. ii, , •"• i -i r ^ -r i 

23. 13. 2Chr.29. '^^ t OY hc shali bc great m the sight of the Lord. 
/Lev. 16.17. Rev. ^ud '^shall drink neither wine nor strong drink ; 

s- 3>4. And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, 'even from his mother's 

fExod. 30. 1. , •' 

A Judges 6.22. & WOmD. 

13.^. Dan. 10.8. 16 And" many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord 

ver. 29. ch. 2. 9. •' 

Acts 10. 4. Rev. their God. 

1. 17 

t ver. 60, 63. ^'^ And" hc shall go before Him in the spirit and power of EUas, 

J ^'='••56. To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, 

i3.Tc'h.'7'.33.' And the disobedient* to the wisdom of the just; 

*OT,by. To make ready a people prepared for the Lord." 

m Mai. 4.5! 6.' ' ^^ And Zacliarias said unto the Angel, ""Whereby shall I know 
n Eccius. 48. 10. this ? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years." 

Mai. 4. 5. Alatt. ^ j •/ ^ 

11.14. Mark9.i2! ^^ And thc Augcl answcring said unto him, "I am ''Gabriel, that 

p Dan' 8^16^9 staud in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and 

21-^- Matt. 18.' to show thcc thcsc glad tidings. ^°And, behold! 'thou shalt be dumb, 

jEzek.3!26.&24. and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be per- 

^" formed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled 

in their season." 

^^ And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tar- 
ried so long in the temple. ^^And when he came out, he could not 
speak unto them : and they perceived that he had seen a vision in 
the temple : for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless, 
r See 2 Kings 11. ^3 And it camc to pass, that, as soon as '^the days of his ministration 
5. ichron.9.2D. ^^^^ accomplishcd, he departed to his own house. 24And after those 
days his wife EHsabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, 
2^ " Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked 
'^&'s4.'T,'4.''^' on me, to "take away my reproach among men." 



Sect. IV. v.] THE ANNUNCIATION. 49 

Section IM .—The Annunciation.'^ sect^iv. 

Luke i* 26-38. JB. y. iE. 5. 

^^ And in the sixth month the Angel Gabriel was sent from God unto J. P. 4709. 
a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, ^^ to a virgin "espoused to a man Nazareth. 
whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's j, see Note 8. 
name Avas Mary. "^^ And the Angel came in unto her, and said, " 'Hail, a Matt. i. is. ch. 
thou that ar^ * Highly Favored! 'the Lord is with thee! blessed art /ol'i.^g.ia. & lo. 
thou among women ! " ^^And when she saw him, ''she was troubled i9- 
at his saying, and cast in her mind v/hat manner of salutation this * iS^ted',^,Tach 

should be.' ^ ,^«c.<i. Seever 

^°And the Angel said unto her, "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast c Judges 6. 12. 
found favor with God. ^^ 'And, behold ! thou shalt conceive in thy f g^^'j^^'g 9 
womb, and bring forth a son, and-'^shalt call his name Jesus. ^^He bIs. 7. 14. Matt. 
shall be great, °and shall be called the Son of the Highest : and ''the }-2\ ^i 
Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of his father David : -^^ 'and g see Mark 1. 1. 
He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom ''j^^^^&i'gs' 
there shall be no end." Jf f -s- p«;132: 

^^ Then said Mary unto the Angel, " How shall this be, seeing 1 ; Dan. 2. 44. & 7. 

I , TJJ 14,27. Chad. 21. 

know not a man ? Mic.4.7.johni2. 

2^ And the Angel answered and said unto her, "^The Holy Ghost 34. Heb. 1. 8. 
shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow 
thee : therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall 
be called 'the Son of God. ^^ And, behold ! thy cousin Elisabeth, ^ ^''^ ^^'''^ ^- ^■ 
she hath also conceived a son in her old age : and this is the sixth 
month with her. who was called barren. ^'' For 'with God nothing '^jf^lect.as! 
shall be impossible." Si^chfis!!?"! 

^^'And Mary said, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto Eom.'4. 21. ' 
me according to thy word ! " And the Angel departed from her. 



Section V. — Interview hetween Wary and Elisaieth. sect. v. 

Luke i. 39-56. ^ .^^ ^ 

^^ And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country j. p. 4709. 
ndth haste, ''into a city of Juda.*^ ^° And entered into the house of Hebron. 
Zacharias, and saluted EHsabeth. ^^ And it came to pass, that, when ajosh^g-n 
Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped Mn her womb; k see Note 10. 
and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, '^'^ and she spake out with ' ^^^ ^"'^ ^^^ 
a loud voice, and said, — 

" ^Blessed art thou among women ! and blessed is the fruit of thy ^s"^^^.^' ^""^^^ 
womb 1 ^^ And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord 
should come to me ? "*"* For, lo ! as soon as the voice of thy salutation 
sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. '^^ And 
blessed is she *that believed : for there shall be a performance of those *^u^^Ji^et,7'^ 
things which were told her from the Lord." cisam.2.iPs.34. 

46 And Mary said,- |3.^^35.9.Hab. 

"My" soul doth magnify the Lord, di^sam.i.ii.Ps. 

'*"And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour; eMai.3.i2.ch.ii. 

4^ For ''He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. ^' 

For, behold ! from henceforth "all generations shall call me blessed ; 2, 3. ' ' 

"^^For He that is mighty •'^hath done to me great things, ^Ps. 111.9. 

■ , 2-1 1 • 1 • ° A6en.l7.7.Exod. 

And "holy is his name; 20. e. Ps. 103. 17, 

^° And ''his mercy is on them that fear Him iPs.gs.i &ii8 

From generation to generation. ^s- is. 40. 10 & 

o o 52. 9. & 52 10 

^^ He' hath showed strength with his arm; jps. 33. 10.1 Pet. 

He^ hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. .^- g 

^^He*" hath put down the mighty 'from their seats, 5. ii. Ps.'iiV 6. 

And exalted them of low degree. lio^frm^Oirm^ 

VOL. 11. 7 E 



50 THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. [Part I. 

ml Sam. 9. 5. Ps. 53 ge" Imtli filled the hungi-y with good things ; 
7tPs.98.3.Jer.3i. And the rich He hath sent empty away. 

Gen! 17. 19. Ps. ^* He hath holpen his servant Israel, 

sfGaL ^?T6."' I"" remembrance of his mercy '"'^ (°as He spake to our fathers) 

m See Note 12. To Abraham and to his seed for ever.""" 

^•^ And Mary abode with her about three months ; and returned to 
— ' - her own house. 



SECT. VI. 



J. P. 4709. 
Hebron. 



— Section VI. — The Birth and Naming of John the Baptist. 

^; I' ^;^" Luke i. 57, to the end. 

^"^ Now Elisabeth's full tiiBe came that she should be delivered ; and 
she brought forth a son. ^^ And her neighbours and her cousins heard 
a ver. 14. how ths Lord had showed great mercy upon her ; and "they rejoiced 

with her. 
'^™-i7.i3. Lev. 59 ^jj^j j^ came to pass, that 'on the eighth day they came to cir- 
cumcise the child ; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of 
his father. 
"^ver. 13. 6'' And his mother answered and said, " '^Not so; but he shall be 

called John." ^^ And they said unto her, " There is none of thy kin- 
dred that is called by this name." ^^And they made signs to his 
father, how he would have him called. ^^ And he asked for a writing 
d ver. 13. table, and wrote, saying, " *His name is John." And they marvelled 

/ver. 39. sH- ''^ 'And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue 

£■ ch. 2. 19, 51. loosed, and he spake, and praised God. "^^And fear came on all that 
A Gen.39Xps.80. dwelt round about them : and all these * sayings were noised abroad 
17. & 89.21. Acts throughout alFthe hill country of Judaea. '^'^And all they that heard 
i Joel 2. 28. them^laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What manner of child 
^\a3!&7l^i8!'& shall this be ! " And "the hand of the Lord was with him. 
WG.48. ^■^And his father Zacharias 'was filled with the Holy Ghost, and 

* Exod. 3. 16. & , • 1 . ■' 

4. 31. Ps. ill. 9. prophesied, saying, — 
iPs'.'is-jf 17. ^'^ Blessed^ be the Lord God of Israel ; 

m [i. e. a Mighty For '^Hc hath visitcd and redeemed his people, 

n3lT°^]f6^^3Q. ^^ And' hath raised up an '"Horn of Salvation for us 

-',''•. ^^'%\ ^4, ■■^^" In the house of his servant David, 

Acts 3.21. Rom. ,r, X » n TT /• 1 • 1 1 T» 1 

1. 2. ™ ^jYs He spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets 
"gs.T & iof sfg! Which have been since the world began), 

16^60 ter^M''' ^^ That wc should be saved from our enemies, 
p Gen. 12.3. & 17. And from the hand of all that hate us: 

Hcb. 6. 13, 17. ' ^^ To° perform the mercy promised to our fathers, 
*,?T-„^;^®' ^- And to remember his holy covenant; 

Heb. 9. 14. '' 

r Jcr. 32. 39, 40. ^^ The'' oath which he sware to our father Abraham 
Thest' t i. 2 ''^ That he would grant unto us, 
Tim.1.9. Tit. 2. That we, beinff delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might 

12. J Pot. 1. 15. ^ o ' <ZD 

2 Pet. 1. 4. ' 'serve Him without fear," 

" fs''4o^'3"ivi!i 3 ^^ I''^^ holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our [life]. 

1.&4.5. inatt.ii; 76 ^j^(j thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest : 

* or^For.Marki. For 'thou shalt go bcforc the face of the Lord to prepare his ways ; 
4.ch.3.3. 77 -Pq gjyg knowledge of salvation unto his people, 

t Or bowels of the ^ ~ i i -' 

mc^cy. *By the remission of their sins "^through the f tender mercy of 

t Or, sun rising, ^,,,. C^ nA • 

ltd/3 sVe 12' Whereby the tdayspring from on high hath visited us, 

Mai. '4.' 2. Rev! '^^ To' ffivc light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of 

22.16. J U 

1 18.9.2. & 42.7. & death, 

ActJac^'isf'^'^' To guide our feet into the way of peace." 

u ch. 2. 40. s° And "the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit ; and "was in the 

»^Matt.3.i.&n. deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel. 



Sect. VII.— IX. THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 51 

Section VII. — An Angel appears to Joseph. sect. \ii. 

Matt. i. 18, to the end. B. V. ^. 5. 

^^ Now the "birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. When as his J- P- 4709. 
mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together," she ^ ^^!Z 
was found with child 'of the Holy Ghost. ^'-^ Then Joseph her hus- ° ^uke i. 27. 
band, "being a just man, and not willing '*to make her a public exam- j Lute 1.35. 
pie, was minded to put lier away pri^■ily. ^^ But while he thought on c [Or, being kind 
these things, behold ! the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a tc-j^o!] "'°' 
dream,P saying. '-Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto <2Deut.24. l 
thee Mary thy wife; 'for that which is * conceived in her is of the eLukei. 35. ' 
Holy Ghost : ~^ •''and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his * '^f- iegotten. 
name t Jesus, for "he shall save his people from their sins."*! ^~ (Now |Thati= soCTour. 
all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Heb. 
Lord by the prophet,'' saying, — ^31. & 13.23', 38. 

^"^ '■' Behold !'' a virgin shall be with child, r see Note 17. 

And shall bring forth a son, * ^^- "• ^*- 

And tthey shalt call his name Emjianuel, ^st2iibema^!^ 
Which being interpreted is, God with us.") 

^''Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the Angel of the Lord 
had bidden him ; and took unto him his wife, ^^ and knew her not tiU 
she had brought forth 'her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus. *2.^7°2i. '" 



Section VIII. — Birth of Christ at Bethlehem. sect, viii. 

Luke ii. 1-7. B y ^ 5 

^ And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree j. p. 4709. 
from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be *taxed.' ^ ("And Bethlehem. 
this taxing was first made' when Cyrenius was governor of "Syria.) *or,m™;7e<f.[i.e. 
^ And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. * And Jo- ^^' b°s°.— ed.']°" 
seph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Ju- s see Note is. 
daea, unto ''the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, ("because he ^^ee'^'ote'ig 
was of the house and lineage of David.) ^ to be taxed A\ith Mary ''his u see Note 20. 
espoused wife, being great with child.^ ^And so it was, that, while Voha?.']!.'^' ^' 
they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be de- c Matt. 1. le. ch. 
Hvered. '^ And 'she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him ,i jiltt. 1. is. ch. 
in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a mansrer ; because there was \^''\, „ 

. o ? X See Note 21, 

no room for them in the inn. c Matt. 1.25. 



Section IX. — The Genealogies of Christ.^ sect, ex. 

Matt. i. 1-17.— Luke iii. 2.3, to the end. y See Note 22. 

The Book of the "Generation of Jesus Christ, 'the Son of <^ '^"'^^ 3. 23. 

, ' » Ps- 132. 11. Is. 

David, the Son of Abraham: u. 1. jer. 23. 5. 

. ch. 22. 42. John 

Luke 111. 23Bgji^g /f^g \^,j^g supposed) ''the son of Joseph, which was I- filets 2. 30. 

1 V TT 1 • T 1 1 • 1 1 r ' & 13. 23. Eom. 

the son oi Heli, '-^^ which was the son of Matthat, which was i-3- 
the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of ^f f GaL'3^.' te^' 
Janna, which was the son of Joseph, ^^ which was the son of Matta- <f Matt. 13. 55. 
thias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum, which ■'"''" ^- ^' 
was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge, -^ which was the 
son of Maath, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of 
Semei, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Juda, 
'^'' which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which 
was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was 
the son of Neri, ^^ which was the son of Melchi, which was the son 
Addi, which was the son of Cosam, which was the son of Elmodam, 



52 THE ANGELS APPEAR TO THE SHEPHERDS. [Part I. 

which was the son of Er, ^^ which was the son of Jose, which was the 

son of Ehezer, which was the son of Jorim, which was the son of 

Matthat, which was the son of Levi, •'^ which was the son of Simeon, 

which was the son of Juda, which was the son of Joseph, which was 

the son of Jonan, which was the son of Eliakim, ^^ which was the son 

of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Matta- 

c Zech. 12. 12. tha, which was the son of "Nathan, ■'^which was the son of David, 

rchron.'s. 5. ^'^ °'which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was 

^ichronta.K) &c.' ^^^ ^°^ ^^ Booz, which was the son of Sahnon, which was the son of 

Naasson, ^^ which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of 

Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which v/as the son of Phares, 

which was the son of Juda, ^^ which was the son of Jacob, which was 

AGen. 11.24, 26. the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, ''which was the son 

of Thara, which was the son of Nachor, ^^ which was the son of Sa- 

ruch, which was the son of Ragau, which was the son of Phalec, 

i See Gen. 11. 12. which was the SOU of Hebcr, which was the son of Sala, ^^ 'which was 

j Gen.^5.^,^&c. & |^}^g g^j^ gf Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad,^ which was the 

son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech, 

^^ which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which 

was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the 

son of Cainan, ■'^ which was the son of Enos, which was the son of 

jc Gen. 5. 1, 2. Scth, which was the son of Adam, ''which was the son of God.^ 

^Gen. 21.2, 3. ^'Abraham begat Isaac; and ""Isaac begat Jacob; and Matt. i. 3-17. 

m Gen. 25. 26. "Jacob begat Judas and his brethren ; ^ and "Judas begat 

6^^.38.27. Phares and Zara of Thamar ; and ^Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom 

p Ruth 4. 18, &c. begat Aram ; ^ and Aram begat Aminadab ; and Aminadab begat 

1 Chron 259 

&c. • ■ ' ' JSTaasson ; and Naasson begat Salmon ; ^ and Salmon begat Booz of 

Rachab ; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth ; and Obed begat Jesse ; 

gisam. 16. ].& ^ and ' Jcssc bcgat David the king; and '^David the king begat Solo- 

r2Sam. 12. 24. Hion of her that had been the wife of Urias ; ^ and 'Solomon begat 

sichro.3.io,&c. Roboam ; and Roboam begat Abia ; and Abia begat Asa; ^and Asa 

begat Josaphat ; and Josaphat begat Joram ; and Joram begat Ozias ; 

^ and Ozias begat Joatham ; and Joatham begat Achaz ; and Achaz 

f 2 Kings 20. 21. bcgat Ezekias ; ^^ and 'Ezekias begat Manasses ; and Manasses begat 

* somTread, jb- Amon ; and Amon begat Josias ; ^^and*Josias begat Jechonias and 

cS 'jiidm'beZt '^^® brethren, about the time they were "carried away to Babylon ; 

Jechonias. Se'e 1 12 and after they were brought to Babylon, "Jechonias begat Salathiel ; 

u 2 Kings 24. 14, and Salathicl begat "Zorobabel ; ^^ and Zorobabel begat Abiud ; and 

2Chfo.'36j6,2o; Abiud begat Eliakim ; and Ehakim begat Azor ; ^'' and Azor begat 

option' 5 08' Sadoc ; and Sadoc begat Achim ; and Achim begat Eliud ; ^^and 

29,30. ban. ]. a! Ehud begat Eleazar ; and Eleazar begat Matthan ; and Matthan be- 

lE^rr3 2'&5^2' S^^ Jacob ; I'^and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom 

i^eii. 12. i. Hag. was bom Jesus, who is called Christ. 

i'^ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen gen- 
erations ; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are 
fourteen generations ; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto 
Christ are fourteen generations.^ 



a See Note 24. 



SECT. X. 



B. V. S.. 5. 



J. P. 4709. Section X. — The Angels appear to the Shepherds, 

Fields near •• o on 

Betlilehem. LuKE 11. 0-20. 



1) See Note 25. ^ ^^D there wcrc in the same country shepherds abiding in the 

* Or, the night- field, kccpins *watch over their flock by night. ^ And, lo ! the Angel 

watches. ^ r» _.'_o.._'_. <=> . 

a ( 
6 1 



ach. 1. 12. of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round 

'' «<!,"-i^;3. Matt, about them : "and they were sore afraid. i° And the Angel said unto 

28.19. Mark 1.15. , _, <.,,,i.ti. i-i- r 

"pr.3],32.ch.24. them, " P Car not: for, behold ! 1 bring you good tidings oi great joy, 
c"s.<!°G.^'^' 'which shall be to all people. "Tor unto you is born this day, in 



Sect. XL— XII.] THE CIRCUMCISION. 53 

the city of David/a Saviour/which is Christ the Lord. ^^And this fj/^^"' Jl^j^J. & 
shall be a sisfn unto you ; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swad- is- is. cii. i. 43. 

. Acts 2 36 &. 10 

dhng clothes, lying in a manger." ^^-^And suddenly there was with 36. Phii. 2. 11. ' 
tiie Angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, — ■'"g^f"- i^ps^f. 

,,_,,_,..,,., , , . aoi -21. & 148. 2! 

'■* " Glory" to God m the highest, and on earth peace ; Dan. 7. 10. Heb. 

/-. Ji -n * J I » 1.14. Rev. 5.11. 

Good' will toward men ! ^ ch.19.38. Eph. 

1.6. & 3. 10,21. 

^^ And it came to pass, as the Angels were gone away from them i^^v. 5. 13. 
into heaven, *the shepherds said one to another, "Let us now go '79.' Eom'. s.'i.' 
even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which Ephes.2.i7.coi. 
the Lord hath made known unto us." ^^And they came with haste, iJohns. le.Eph. 

-. 2. 4 7. 9 Thess, 

and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. ^"^ And -2. I'e.'i John i. 
when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which * g^ \^^ „^^ ^^^ 
was told them concerning this child. ^^ And all they that heard it skepha-ds. 
wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 
i^-'But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart, j Gen. 37. 11. ch. 

■ ci ^ I ^ ^ 1 66 ver 51 

^^ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the 

things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. = 

——-—-__— —===^= SECT. XI. 



Section XL — The Circumcision." ^- ^^ -^^ ^• 

.. J. P. 4709. 

Luke ll. 2\. ^ ^ ^ Temple of Jeru- 

''And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of *'^- 
the child, his name was called ''Jesus, which was so named of the c see Note ac. 
Angel before he was conceived in the womb. "lo.'^s'. ch. i. 59!' 

i Matt. 1.2], 25. 
=^===^=^^=^= ch. 1. 31. 



SECT. XII. 



Section XIL — The Purification — Presentation of Christ in the Temple, 
where he is acknowledged by Simeo7i and Anna. 

Luke ii. 22-39. ^'.I'.Sq!'. 

^^ And when "the days of her purification, according to the Law of Temple of Jem- 
Moses were accompHshed, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present ^ ''''"° - 
him to the Lord ; ^^(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, " ''Every o Lev. 12.2,3,4, 6. 
male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;") ^^and *29.&34.i9^Num' 
to offer a sacrifice according to ^that which is said in the Law of the 3^i3.^&8. 17.& 
Lord, '•' A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." ^ cLcv. 12.2, c,8. 

25 And, behold ! there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was '^^^®'^'"^2^" 
Simeon ; and the same man was just and devout, ''waiting for the '']5;4^°Ver. ss!"^^ 
"Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him ; ^^ and it « i. e. the con- 
was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not^see /ps. 89.48° Heb. 
death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.*' ^''And he came °by "•5- „„ 

. *' e See Note 28. 

the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the g- Matt. 4.1. 
child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the Law, ^^ then took he 
him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, — 

^^ " Lord, ''now lettest thou thy servant depart, in peace according 'mi!'i! aj!"' 

to thy word: iis.52.io.ch.3. 

^°For mine eyes 'have seen thy ^ Salvation, j i. e. saviour.— 

^^ Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people ; Y ,^ k e. an Enii-'ht- 

32 A* Light to lighten the Gentiles, ITrle.^ll: 

And the Glory of thy people Israel." e. & eo. 1, 2, 3. 

33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were 13. 47. & 28. 28. 

spoken of him. 34 ^.^^j Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his 'gf'Mau.^sT'lt; 

mother, "Behold! this child is set for the 'fall and rising again of J^''™-,^-^?^'*- 1 

, ^ ^ Uor. i. 23, '24. y 

many in Israel ;'' and for "'a sign which shall be spoken against, 35 ("yea, cor.2.16. iPet. 
a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also,) that the thoughts f gee' Note 29. 
of many hearts may be revealed." '" a=*" '^^- *-• 

3^ And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, "i9.°25.' 



54 



THE OFFERING OF THE MAGI. 



[Part 1. 



Acts 26. 7. 
1 Tim. 5. 5. 

p Mark 15.43. ver. 
25. ch. 24. 21. 
* Or, Israel. 



of the tribe of Aser : she was of a great age, and had hved with a 
husband seven years from her virginity ; ^^ and she was a widow of 
about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, 
but served God with fastings and prayers "night and day. ^® And she 
coming in that instant gave thanks hkewise unto the Lord, and spake 
of Him to all them that ''looked for redemption in * Jerusalem. 

^^ And when they had performed all things according to the Law 
of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. 



SECT. xm. 

B. V. M. 5. 
J. P. 4709. 
Bethlehem. 

g See Note 30. 
a Luke 2. 4, 6, 7. 
iGen. 10.30. & 

25. 6. 1 Kings 4. 

30. 

c Luke 2. 11. 
d Num. 24. 17. 

Is. 60. 3. 
e [i. e. the East 

country. — Ed.] 

Jerusalem. 
h See Note 31. 
/2 Chron. 36. 14 
g 2 Chron. 34. 13. 

1 Mac. 5.42. Ik 7. 

12. 
h Mai. 2. 7. 
i Mic. 5. 2. John 

7.42. 
j Rev. 2. 27. 
* Or, feed. 
i See Note 32. 



Bethlehem 



k See Note 33 



kVs. 72. 10. Is. 

60. 6. 
* Or, offered. 
1 See Note 34. 
I ch. 1. 20. 



Section XIIL — The Offering of the Magi.^ 
Matt. ii. 1-12. 
1 Now when "Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of 
Herod the king, behold ! there came wise men 'from the East to Je- 
rusalem, ^ saying, " Where'' is he that is born King of the Jews ? for 
we have seen ''his star in the 'East, and are come to worship him." 
•^ When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and 
all Jerusalem with him;'' ''and when he had gathered alKthe Chief 
Priests and ''Scribes of the people together, ''he demanded of them 
where Christ should be born. ^ And they said unto him, " In Bethle- 
hem of Judaea ; for thus it is written by the Prophet, — 

^ ' And' thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, 
Art not the least among the princes of Juda : 
For out of thee shall come a Governor, ^ that shall *rule my peo- 
ple Israel.' " ^ 

''Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired 
of them diligently what time the star appeared ; ® and he sent them to 
Bethlehem, and said, " Go aJid search diligently for the young child ; 
and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come 
and worship him also." ^ When they had heard the king, they de- 
parted ; and, lo ! the star, which they saw in the East, went before 
them, till it came and stood over where the young child was."" i° When 
they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy ; ^^ and when 
they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary 
his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him : and when they had 
opened their treasures, ''they *presented unto him gifts ; gold, and 
frankincense, and myrrh. ^^And being warned' of God 'in a dream 
that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own 
country another way. 



sect. XIV. 

B. V. m. 5. 
J. P. 4709. 

Egypt, 
m See Note 35. 



a Hos. 11. 1. 

n See Note 30. 



SECT. XV. 

B. V. X.. 5. 
J. P. 4709. 

Bethlehem. 

o See Note 37. 



Section XIV. — The Flight into Egypt. 
Matt. ii. 13-15. 
^^ And when they were departed, behold ! the Angel of the Lord 
appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, " Arise, aihd take the young 
child and his mother, and flee into Egypt,™ and be thou there until I 
bring thee word ; for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him." 
i"* When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, 
and departed into Egypt ; ^^ and was there until the death of Herod : 
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the 
Prophet saying, " Out" of Egypt have I called my son."° 



Section XV. — Slaughter of the Children at Bethlehem." 
Matt. ii. 16-18. 
'^ Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, 
was exceeding wroth ; and sent forth, and slew all the children that 



Sect. XVI— XVIII.] JOSEPH RETURNS FROM EGYPT. 55 

were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old 
and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of 
the wise men.P i"Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by "Jer- ps^^ Note 38. 

^ •' a Jer. 31. 15. 

emy the prophet, saymg, — 

1® " In Rama was there a voice heard, 

Lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning ; ===== 

Rachel weeping for her children. 

And would not be comforted, because they are not." 



Section XVI. — Joseph returns from Egypt. sect. xvi. 

Matt. ii. 19, to the end. — ^Luke ii. 40. " „ 

^^ But when Herod was dead, behold ! an Angel of the Lord ap- j'p'4711.' 
peareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ^'^ saying, " Arise, and take Egjpt. 
the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel ; for — 

they are dead which sought the young child's life."i -^ And he arose, q see Note 39. 
and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of 
Israel. ^"- But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in 
the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither : ■" notwith- ^ ^^^ ^"""^ '^■ 
standing, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside "into the "^^^9.' ^^' ^"""^ 
parts of Galilee. -^ And he came and dwelt in a city called 'Naza- Nazaieth. 
reth : that it might be fulfilled 'which was spoken by the Prophets, j John 1. 45. 
Luke ii. 40. [that] " He = shall be called a Nazarene." ^^ And the child ^/"g'^,^^ J^.^s. 
grew, and waxed strong in spuit, filled with wisdom: and s see Note 41. 
the grace of God was upon him. 



Section XVII. — History of Christ at the age of twelve years.'' sect, xvu. 

Luke ii. 41, to the end. V. JE. 7. 

^^ Now his parents went to Jerusalem "every year at the feast of J. P. 4720. 
the Passover. '^^ And when he was twelve years old, they went up Jerusalem. 
to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast : ^^ and when they had ful- ' see Note 42. ^ 
filled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Je- "fesi.ss. 'ceut 
rusalem ; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. '*'* But they, ^^" ^' ^^' 
supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey ; 
and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. ^-^ And 
when they found [him] not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, 
seeking him. '^'^ And it came to pass, that after three days they found 
him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing 
them, and asking them questions. '^'''And'all that heard him were ^jia'^.k'/i^;^ 4 
astonished at his understanding and answers. ^^ And when they saw ^, 39. Joim 7. 
him, they were amazed : and his mother said unto him, " Son, why 
hast thou thus dealt with us ? behold ! thy father and I have sought 
thee sorrowing." ''''And he said unto them, "How is it that ye 
sought me? wist ye not that I must be about "my Father's business?" cJohn2. le. 
^^ And ''they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. dch.a.Ao. & is. 
^'^And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was 
subject unto them : but his mother 'kept all these sayings in her heart. 
^■2 And Jesus -^increased in wisdom and * stature, and in favor with .fisam.a. 26. 
God and man. * o'r a^e 



15, 46. 



34. 
e vcr. 19. Dan. 7. 



Section XVIII. — Commencement of the Ministry of John the Baptist, sect, xa'iu. 

Matt. iii. 1-12.— Mark i. 2-8.— Luke iii. 1-18. y ^gg 

I Luke iii. ]. 1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cfe- j. p. 4739. 

sar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod The wilderness 

being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of ° J^^' 



56 MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. [Part 1. 

Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the 

"ifsa^'^Acu tetrarch of Abilene/ "Annas and Caiaphas being the high ^Lukem.s. 

4- 6. priests, the word of God came unto John," the son of 

tM^rkiXi5- Zacharias in the wilderness. ^In those days came "John sMatt. iu. i. 

Luke 3.2,3. John the Baptist, preaching "in the wilderness of Judaea. * ''John ^ Mark i.4. 

c Josh. 14. 10. did baptize in the wilderness,'^ ^ and he came into all the = Luke iii. 3. 
X s° e°N ^44 country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentancej^ 

y See Note 45. 'for the remissiou of sins, "^ and saying, " Repent ye : -^for «Matt. iu. a. 

e Luke 1.77. the kingdom of heaven is at hand. ' As it is written in the ' ^^'"^ '• ^• 

/ Dan. 2. 44. ch. t» i 7 

4. 17. & 10. 7. r rophets, — 

^nio^i.nkei'^^' ' Behold !^ I send my messenger before thy face, 
z See Note 40. Which shall prepare thy way before thee:'^ 

As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the " Luke iii. 4. 
prophet, saying, — 

^o^V^^i?" ?\'^*-^- ' The'' voice of one crying in the wilderness, 

3. 3. Mark 1.3. "^ r T t 

John 1.2.3. rrepare ye the way ot the Lord, 

Make his paths straight. 
'Every valley shall be filled, » Luke iii. 5. 

And every mountain and hill shall be brought low ; 
And the crooked shall be made straight. 
And the rough ways shall be made smooth ; 

• P'- 98-2. Is. 52. >o ^^^ i^YY flesh shall see the Salvation of God.' " '" ^^^^ '"• e- 

10. eh. 2. 10. 

j Mark 1. 6. '^ And ^ the same John *had his raiment of camel's hair, and " Matt. iii. 4. 
Zech?i3. 4. ' a leathern girdle about his loins ; and his meat was 'locusts 
?Lev. 11.^2. and ""wild honey, '- "And there went out unto him all the 12 Mark i. 5. 
n Matt. 3. sT''" land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, ''and all the region "Matt. iii. 5. 
Acts 19. 4, 18. round about Jordan, " "and were all baptized of him in the 14 Mark i. 5. 
a See Note 47. river of Jordan, confessing their sins.^ 

'^ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Saddu- ^^ Matt. iii. 7. 

cees come to his baptism — "^ Then said he to the multitude '^ Luke iii. 7. 

that came forth to be baptized of him — ''he said unto " ^att. iii. 7. 

pMatt. 12. 34. & them, "^O generation of vipers ! who hath warned you to 

7,8,9". 'flee from 'the wrath to come? '* Bring forth therefore '" Matt. iii. s. 

'i^TW 1! 10. fruits *meet for repentance : " and think not to say within '^ Matt. iii. 9. 

* Or, answerable yourselvcs, ""We havc Abraham to our father : for I say unto 
^o^amen men o ^^^^ ^j^^^ ^^^ .^ ^^-^^ ^^ thcse stoucs to raisc up children 

'•J°^;i|J|39. unto Abraham. '"And now also the axe is laid unto the =° Matt. iii. 10. 
Rom. 4. 1,11,16. root of the trees: "therefore every tree which bringeth not 
^Luke'is. 7,'9. forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." 
/Att"2%7. '' ^"d the people asked him, saying, " 'What shall we do '^ Luke iii. 10. 
« Luke 11. 41. then?" '^ He answereth and saith unto them, " ""He that =2 Luke iii. 11. 
jam'es 2! isj 16. hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none ; and 
]^joh„3.i7.'&4. hg that hath meat, let him do hkewise." '^ Then Yame ^ Luke iii. 12. 
c Matt. 21. 32. also Publicaus to be baptized, and said unto him, "Master, 
J^LukJifs. what shall we do?" =^And he said unto them, " ™ Exact ^^""^^ '"-i^- 

no more than that which is appointed you." '^ And the ^ Luke iii. 14. 

soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, " And what 
*i°/ea^r' "" "^ ^h^ll ^® ^^ ^ " -^"d he said unto them, " *I)o violence to 
X Exod. 23. 1. no man, "^neither accuse any falsely ; and be content with 
to"'JL"«. your t wages." '° And as the people were in t expectation, ^e Luke iii. 15. 
J Or, suspense, and all men *mused in their hearts of John, whether he 
^^toT'™"''"' were the Christ, or not; "John answered, saying unto =' Luke iii. le. 
1/ Matt. 3. 11. them all, "''I indeed baptize you — ''have baptized you '^ Mark i. 8 

with water '"unto repentance, but =" there cometh One =« Matt. iii. ii. 

mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am '" ^^""^^ '• ^- 



Sect. XIX. XX] THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST. 57 

31 iiatt. iii. 11. jjQ(^ ^^.Qj.^]-jj. ^Q stoop down and unloose ; ^' whose shoes I 'Miifsfb^.ttcu 

am not worthy to bear: 'He shall baptize you with the 2^3,4.1001.12. 

32 Matt. iii. 12. Holy Ghost, and with fire : ^- whose fan is in his hand, a vai. 4. 1. Matt. 

and He will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat ^il^ll^ 3 y.^^^ 
into the garner; but He will "burn up the chaff with un- i- s- Lute 3. 4. 
» Luke iii. IS. quencliable fire." "^And many other things in his exhor- cLukei. -"e. 

tation preached he unto the people. (i^Mark 1. 5. Luke 

Matt. iii. 3, 5,6, 11. — 3 For this is He that was spoken of by the Prophet Esaias, say- V is Vohii l''l5^ 
ing, " ''The voice of one crying in tlie wilderness, 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord, 2d, 33. Acts 1.5. 
make his paths straight." 5 ''Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judsa, — . 6 and ^ H-lS-'^ '°--'- 
were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. 11 •• *I indeed baptize you with 3.4. John 1.15 23. 
water — He that cometh after me is mightier than I, — g JIatt. 3. 4. 

Mark i. 3, part of ver. 4, 6. 7. 6. — 3 •■ .The voice of one crying in the wilderness, * ^''' ^^' ^~j 
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." 4 — and preach the baptism . ^ ' .' ,.',,' 
of repentance *for the remission of sins. 6 And John was ^clothed with camel's hair, ie. & ig. 4. 
and with a girdle of a skin about his loins ; and he did eat ^locusts and 'wild honey : * Or, unto. 
7 and preached, saying, — 6 ."I indeed — but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." -*J^"- 3. /. 

^7*».y-.i ft ^ -Matt. o. 10. &^ 7. 

LcKE va. part of ver. 1, ver. fe, 9, part of ver. 16, and, ver. It. — / — " O -'generation of 19. 

vipers I who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come .•" S Bring forth therefore ™ ^lal. 3. 3. 

fruits tworthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves. We have Abraham T O^ meet fur. 

to our father; for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children is'so. ' 

unto Abraham. 9 And now also the ase is laid unto the root of the trees; 'every tree ^^^^=^^^ 
therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. SECT. XIX. 
IG — with water; but One mightier than I cometh. the latchet of whose shoes I am not y ^ ^6 
worthv to unloose : He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire : 17 ""whose J. p. 4739. 

fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and "will gather the wheat Bethabara, where 

into his gainer; but the chafi"he will b"^ with fire unquenchable." on'iupi^i'efrom 

_^^^^^^^^^^^_^^^^^^^^^^^ the wilderaess in- 
to Canaan. 

Section XIX. — The Baptism of Christ?' ^^^ee xote^*. 

J^ '' See ^ote 48. 

Matt. iii. 13, to the end. — I^Iajie i. 9-11. — Litke iii. 21, 22, and part, of 23. a :Matt. 3. 13. 
1 Mark i. 9. i "^j^-j, [x came to pass in those days, " when all the peo- ° ^^ " ^'q'^ib^' 

3 jj^^^ J 9 ' pie were baptized, " that Jesus came from Xazareth of Gal- John i. 32. 
•f Matt. ui. 13. ilee, * to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. " But "/.^Ji'e^s. %^' 
5 iiatt. ui. 14. John forbad him, saying, •'• I have need to be baptized of ^°^° ^: ^>^- 
6 Matt. iii. 15. thee, and comest thou to me?" '^And Jesus answering ^john 12.^28. 

said unto him. ••' Suffer it to be so now : for thus it becom- ^^,^-^-J- is.42.1. 

r i(^i' n • 1 -1 mi i -r» i i • Jiatt. 3.1/. Mark 

eth US to fulhl ah righteousness. ■= i hen he sutiered hun : 9. r. LafceQ. 35. 
7Maiki.9. ^ "and [he] was baptized of Jolm in Jordan. 'And Jesus, /seeXumb'.V 3 
sMatt. m. 16. ^-]^Q^ |jg .^yg^g baptized, went up straightway out of the 35,39,43,47. 

9 Mark i. 10. water : ^ 'and straightway coming up out of the water : '3. 21. 

10 XjTili6 ill. 2i. c; * o i. ■' 

uMatt. iii. 16. '"and praying, ''lo! ''he saw the heavens *opened "unto ^^latt. 2. 22. 

12 Mark i. 10. Him, and he ^saw the Spirit of God descending like a reiu. ' ' 

wLukei^L'a.' dove,'^ '^ in a bodily shape like a dove, '^and hghting upon ' Man; "12^ if' & 

't "*'■'"• ^'.- ^!' Him : ^ "^and, lo ! ^' there came a voice from heaven, saying, L-jf'g'j^'^Q^p"' 

iTMarki'."u.' "'Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased !" 1.17.' 

i» Luke iii. S3. '* And Jesus liimself began to be -'about thirty years of age. ■' joh" i.^32.^' 

jt P« 2 7 Is ^1. 

Matt. iii. pan of xer. 13, 16, and 17. — 13 ^Then cometh Jesus ''from Galilee — . >[ait. 3'. 17. 
16 — and — the heavens were opened — 17 — a voice from heaven, saying, " 'This is my Mark 1. 11. & 9. 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 2 Pet. 1. 17. 



SECT. XS. 



MARKi.^art after. 10. — and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon Him. 

Luke iii. part of xer. 21 and^. — 21 Now — .'it came to pass, that Jesus also bein£bap- 
tized — the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Ghost descended — upon him, and a voice V. IE.. 26. 
came from heaven, which said, ■• *Thou art my beloved Son ; in thee I am well pleased." J- T- 473^. 

Wilderness. 

e See Note 51. 

Section XX. — The Temptation of Christ.^ °Ma"k'].'i2,'&c. 

JIatt. iv. 1-11.— Mark i. 12, 13.— Lc^ iv. 1-13. t&c.^'^'^* 

1 Luke iv. 1. 1 ^j^^ ''Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from » see 1 Kings is. 

Jordan: and 'was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. &'8. 3. &ii. 1, 

= Mark 1.12. 2 j\^n(j immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilder- srActsk'ss. 

VOL. II. 8 



19. 8. 



58 THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. [Part L 

ness, ' to be tempted of the Devil. ^ And he was there in ^ ^^''"- '"■ ^ 

4 Mark i 13. 

the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan, ^ being forty 5 Luke iv. 9. 
« Exod. 24. 18. & days tempted of the Devil. And "in those days he did eat 

'i8.' iKingg nothing. " And when he had fasted forty days and forty ^aiatt. iv.9. 

nights, he was afterward a hungered. ' And when the ' "^'^"- '"■ ^■ 
d See Mark 1.1. Tempter came to him, he said, "If thou be ''the Son of 

God, command that these stones be made bread : ** com- ° ^"^^^ '^- 3- 

mand this stone that it be made bread." ^ And Jesus an- ' ^"^^ "• '*■ 
eDeut. 8. 3. swcrcd him, saying, " 'It is written, 'That man shall not 

live by bread alone, but by every word of God : "* that '" ^'^"- '''• ^• 

proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' " 
Jerusalem. " Then the Dcvil taketh him up-'^into the holy city, and " Ma«-iv. s- 

■''i^.''48.2!&'52^i. setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, ''and saith unto '^ m^h. iv. g. 
Eev"'if '2^^' him, " If thou be °'the Son of God, cast thyself down " from " ^"^^ '"■ ^■ 

^ See Mark 1.1. hcilCe : '^ for it is Written, '-i Luke iv. 10. 

iPs.pi. 11,12. i jjg/i shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee : 

^* And in their hands they shall bear thee up, " ^"'"•^ "'• "• 

Lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.' " 

'" And Jesus answering said unto him, " " It is written f ^"''^ "■ ^^' 

17 Matt i V V 

iDeut. c. ic. again, '"Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.' " 

j Luke 4. 5. '^ Again, •'the Devil taketh him up into an exceeding '" Man. iv. 8. 

auarantania. high mountaiii, aiid showeth him all the kingdoms of the 
fSeeNote52. world, and the glory of them, ''in a moment *" of time. " L"'*^" "• s- 
'" And the Devil said unto him, " " All these things will I '° ^h-"*"" '.''•^- 

, D 21 Matt. IV, 9. 

give thee, ^'^all this power will I give thee, and the glory ssLukeiv.e! 
''u^ao^\el' 13. of them ; for *that is delivered unto me; and to whomso- 
9.7. ever I will I give it. "If thou therefore wilt *worship me, ^ '^''^^ '"■''■ 

/°e'mf '''"'™*'" "'i^ thou wilt* fall down and worship me, "^"all shall be^^au. iv.9. 

thine." ^^ And Jesus answered and said unto him, " Get 26 luk! 11. 8. 
S^rs""^^'^^"' thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, "Thou shalt 

worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou 

serve.' " " Then the Devil leaveth him, '' and when the " lui"' iJ^"- 
g ee ote . J)evils had cndcd all the temptation, hc departed from him 
'Ve'SVts^''' "for a season. '' And [He] was with the wild beasts ; and "" ^ark i. 13. 
nHeb. 1. 14. the augcls ministered unto him. ^° And, behold! "angels '" Matt. iv. 11. 

h See Note 54, =_._.. . » 



came and ministered unto him.'' 



°I^ke''4Vi^ &C.''' Matt. iv. part of ver. ] , 4, 6, 7, 9, 10.— 1 Then was "Jesus led up of the Spirit into 

Deut. 8. 3. ^^^ wilderness — . 4 But he answered and said, " It is written, ' ^Man shall not live by 

} Ps. 91. 11, 12. bread alone, but by every word — ." 6 " — for it is written, ' 'He shall give his angels 

charge concerning thee : and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou 

dash thy foot against a stone.'" 7 Jesus said unto him — 9 And saith unto him — . 

r Deut.6.13. & 10. -^q rpj^gj^ ^^^^^^ jgg^g ^^^^ j^j^ « Qgj ^jjgg hence, Satan; for it is written, ' '"Thou shalt 

20. Josh. 24. 14. 7 7 7 7 

1 Sam. 7. 3. worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.' " 

Luke iv. part of ver. 2,3, 5, 9,. and 12. — 2 — and when they were ended, he afterward 
s See Mark 1. 1. hungered. 3 And the Devil said unto him, " If thou be "the Son of God — . 5 And the 
Devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the 
t Matt. 4. 5. world — . 9 'And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, 

u See Mark 1. 1. and said unto him, " If thou be "the Son of God, cast thyself down — ." 12 — " It is said, 
V Deut. 6. 16. < "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.' " 



Sect. I. II.] FURTHER TESTIMONY OF JOHN. 59 



PART IL 

FROM THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST, TO THE COMMENCEMENT 

OF HIS MORE PUBLIC MINISTRY AFTER THE 

IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN. 



3.28. Acts 13.25. 
c Mai. 4. 5. Matt. 



Section I. — Further Testimony of John the Baptist. sect.i. 

John i. 19-34. V. M. 26. 

''^^ And this is "the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and J. P. 4739. 
Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, " Who art thou?" ^^ And 'he ^'^'gg'j^an' '' *'" 
confessed, and denied not; but confessed, "I am not the Christ." — 

21 And they asked him, " Wliat then ? Art thou 'Ehas ? " And he^f'^t'J- 

•^ . J ^ Joiiii 5. 33. 

saith, " I am not." " Art thou *that Prophet ? " And he answered, s Luke 3.15. joi,a 
" No." ^^ Then said they unto him, " Who art thou ? that Vt^e may 
give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? " i''- 1". 
^^ ''He said, " I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ' Make *Diut?f8.''?5fi8. 
straight the way of the Lord !' as 'said the Prophet Esaias." ^^ And <? Matt. 3. 3. Mark 
they which were sent were of the Pharisees. ^^ And they asked him, John 3. as. ' 
and said unto him, " Why baptizest'' thou then, if thou be not that ^g^''^;^' „ 
Christ, nor Elias, neither that Prophet ? " ^® John answered them, say- /Matt. 3. 11. 
ing, "-^I baptize with water: "but there standeth One among you, ^ Mai. 3.1. 
whom ye know not ; -"^ ''He it is, who coming after me is preferred be- John is.' 30.' 
fore me ; whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose." ^^ These i lot in' Bethany. 
things were done 'in Bethabara'^ beyond Jordan, where John was '^^jol^'fo'^lQ' 

baptizing. c See Note 3. 

-^ The next day [John] seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, " Be- ■>'|^'"i/- iei^sc'^' 
hold ^the Lamb of God, Hvhich *taketh away the sin of the '^ world! Acts 8.32. i Pet. 
^'^ 'This is He of whom I said," ' After me cometh a Man which is pre- &c.' ' ' ' ' 
ferred before me :' for He was before me. ^^ And I knew Him*" not: Vs^.'s^.'^'g;^?"' 
but that He should be made manifest to "Israel, therefore am I come ^^i'vi'^-,'^^-^'''- 

& 9. ~o 1 Pet. y 

baptizing with water." ^^ "And John bare record, saying, " I saw the 24. & 3. is. 1 jo! 

• • • • -'*'0^ 22&:35&:4 

Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him. 10. iiev.'i.s. ' 
^^ And I knew Him not : but He that sent me to baptize with water, the * ^ ■■' *«'""«'*• 
same said unto me, ' Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, iver. 15,27. 
and remaining on Him, "the same is He which baptizeth with the e see Note 5. 
Holy Ghost.' ^"^ And I saw, and bare record that this i« ''the Son of m mIi. 3. 1. aiati. 
Cinf{ " 3. e. i^uke 1.17! 

^" 76, 77. & 3. 3, 4. 

^^^^^_--__-_— -^^_^^_^ n Matt. 3. 16. 

Mark 1.10. Luke 
3. 22. John 5. 39. 

Section H. — Christ obtains his first Disciples from John. o Matt. 3.1). Acts 

J ■ OK t 41 I 1.5.&2.4.&;10. 

John 1. do, to the end. 44. ^ 19. g. 

^^ Again the next day after e John stood, and two of his disciples, p see Mark i.i. 
^^ And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, " "Behold the Lamb = 



of God!" ^^And the two disciples heard him speak, and they fol- sect, ii. 
lowed Jesus. ^^ Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and v. K. 26. 
saith unto them, " What seek ye ? " They said unto him, " Rabbi J. P. 4739. 
(which is to say, being interpreted, Master), where *dwellest thou? " sethabara. 
^^ He saith unto them, " Come and see." They came and saw where gSee Note 7. 
He dwelt, and abode with Him that day : for it was tabout the tenth « John 1.29. 
hour. '*" One of the two which heard John speak, and followed Him, | That was tuo 
was ''Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ^^ He first findeth his own Ilfl"" '"'*'°'''' 
brother Simon, and saith unto him, "We have found the Messias " sMatt. 4. is. 
(which is, being interpreted, [Jthe] Christ). '^^And he hYOught xor, the Anointed 
him to Jesus. ,And when Jesus beheld him, he said, " Thou art Si- 



60 



MARRIAGE AT CANA. 



[Part II. 



h See Note 8. 
In the road to 
Galilee. 



John 21. 2. 
eGen.3.15. &2-3. 
18. & 26. 4. & 49. 
10. Num. 21. 9. 
Deut. 18. 15. 



*i°.'^'i8.''^'' ^'*"' ^'^^ t^^ ^^^ ^^ J^"^ • ^^o^ ^^^^^^ be called Cephas " (which is, by in- 
terpretation, *A Stone).'" 

^^ The day following [Jesus] would go forth into Galilee, and findeth 
Philip, and saith unto him, " Follow me." ^^ Now Thilip was of 
d [Supposed to be Bcthsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. '^^ Philip findeth ''Nathan- 
another name of ^el and saith unto him, " We have found Him, of whom 'Moses (in 

the apostle Bar- ' , . . » ^ 

thoiomew.-ED.] the Law) and the -^Prophets did write, Jesus °'of Nazareth, the son of 
Joseph." '*'' And Nathanael said unto him, " ''Can there any good 
thing come out of Nazareth ? " PhiUp saith unto him, " Com.e and see ! " 
'*''' Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, "Behold 

fPs 16.9 10 99. ■ ... . . . 

& 132.' 11. Is. i! 'an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" *^ Nathanael said unto 

&4o!io!it.&^oo'. Him, " Whence knowest thou me ? " Jesus answered and said unto 

est & '33' 14^15! ^^™' "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig 

Eze^^34.23.&37. tree, I saw thee." *^ Nathanael answered and saith unto Him, 

&9.24.'Mic.5.2! ^Thou art the Son of God ; Thou art 'the King of Israel ! " 

1. &.4. 2. ^ ""' answered and said unto him, "Because I said unto thee, 'I saw thee 

^^!\iatt.9.23.Luke under the fig tree,' believest thou ? thou shalt see greater things than 

A John 7. 41 ,42,52. thesc." ^^ And he saith unto him, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, 

'^hn^llo^'Rom; 'Hcreaftcr ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending 

9. 28, 29. & 9. 6. and descending upon "the Son of Man."' 

7 Matt. 14. 33. SeelMarkl.l. i- Matt. 21.5. &27. 11, 42. John 18. 37. & 19. 3. ( Gen. 28. 12. Matt. 4. 11. Luke 9.9, 

13. & 22. 43. &24. 4. Acts 1.10. m Dan. 7. 13, 14. Matt. 8. 20. & 9. 6. & 10. 23. & 11. 19. & 12. 8,32,40. & 13.37,41. & 16. 

13, 27, 28. & 17. 9, 22. & 19. 28. & 20. 18, 28. & 24. 27, 30, 37, 39, 44. & 25. 31. & 26. 2, 24, 45, 64. Mark 2. 10, 28. & 8. 31, 38. 
& 9. 9, 12, 31. & 10. 33. & 13. 26. & 14. 21, 41, 62. Luke 5. 24. & 6. 5, 29. & 7. 34. & 9. 29, 26, 44, 56, 58. & 11. 30. & 12. 8, 10, 40. & 17. 

22, 24, 26. & 18. 8, 31. & 19. 10, & 21. 27, 36. & 22. 29, 48, 69. & 24. 7. John 3. 13, 14. & 5. 97. & 6. 27, 53, 62. & 8. 28. & 12. 

23, 34. & 13. 31. Acts 7. 58 i See Note 9. 



Rabbi, 
^^ Jesus 



SECT. in. 

V. M. 27. 

J. P. 4740. 

Cana, in Galilee. 

k See Note 10. 
1 See Note 11. 
a See Josh. 19.28. 
b John 19. 96. 
c So 9 Sam. 16.10. 
& 19. 29. 
d John 7. 6. 
e Mark 7. 3. 



/John 4. 46. 
g John 1. 14. 
m See Note 19. 



SECT. IV. 

V. M. 27. 
J. P. 4740. 

Capernaum, 
n See Note 13. 



Section HI. — Marriage at Cana in Galilee.^ 
John ii. 1-11. 
^ And the third day' there was a marriage in "Cana of Galilee ; and 
the mother of Jesus was there. ^ And both Jesus was called, and his 
disciples, to the marriage. ^ And when they wanted wine, the mother 
of Jesus saith unto him, " They have no wine." '* Jesus saith unto 
her, " 'Woman, Vhat have I to do with thee ? ''mine hour is not yet 
come." ^ His mother saith unto the servants, " Whatsoever He saith 
unto you, do it." ^ And there were set there six waterpots of stone, 
'after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or 
three firkins apiece. ^ Jesus saith unto them, " Fill the waterpots with 
water." And they filled them up to the brim. ^ And He saith unto 
them, " Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast." And 
they bare it. ^ When the ruler of the feast had tasted -^the water 
that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, (but the servants 
which drew the water knew,) the governor of the feast called the 
bridegroom, '^ and saith unto him, " Every man at the beginning doth 
set forth good wine ; and when men have well drunk, then that which 
is worse ; but thou hast kept the good wine until now." '^ This 
beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, ^and manifested 
forth his glory ; and his disciples believed on him.™ 



SECT. V. 

V. ]E. 27. 
J. P. 4740. 

Temple at Jeru- 
salem. 

I. See Note 14. 
a Exod. 12. 14. 

Deut. 16. 1, 16. 

ver. 93. eh. 5. 1. 

& 6. 4. & 11.. 55. 
6 Watt. 91. 12. 

Mark 11. 15. 

Luke 19. 45. 



Section IV. — Christ goes down to Capernaum, and continues there 

some short time. 
John ii. 12. 
After this He went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his 
brethren, and his disciples : and they continued there not many days." 



Section V. — The Buyers and Sellers driven from the Temple." 

John ii. 13, to the end. 
1^ And "the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jeru- 
salem. '^ 'And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep 



Sect. VI. VIL] CONVERSATION WITH NICODEMUS. 61 

and doves, and the changers of money sitting. ^^ And when he had 
made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, 
and the sheep, and the oxen ; and poured out the changers' money, 
and overthrev/ the tables ; ^^ and said unto them that sold doves, 
'•Take these things hence! make not "my Father's house a house « Luke 2. 49. 
of merchandise." ^~ And his disciples remembered that it was writ- 
ten, " ''The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." <^Ps. 69. 9. 

^^ Then answered the Jews and said unto him, ""What sign « -Y^','- '2- ss. 
showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?" ^^ Jesus 
answered and said unto them, " ^Destroy this temple, and in three •'^27!4'o! liark iS 
days I will raise it up." ^-' Then said the Jews, " Forty and six years 58.& 15.29. 
was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days ? " 
21 But he spake 'of the temple of his body. -^ ^Yhen therefore he was »'& e.m "co'r.l: 
risen from the dead, ''his disciples remembered that he had said this h;i,^"22'®" 
unto them ; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which a Luke 24. 8. 
Jesus had said. 

2^ Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, 
many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he ^ j g^^, jg 7 
did. 2* But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he L^h™^?®;?-, 

' Matt. 9. 4. Jlark 

knew all men, 2=" and needed not that any should testify of man : for 2. s. ch. e. 64. & 

. 16. 30 \cts 1 24 

*he knew what was in man. KeV. 2.' 23. 



Section VI. — Conversation of Christ with Nicodemiis. sect, vi. 

John iii. 1-21. V. M. 27. 

^ There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of J- P- 4740. 

the Jews : - ''the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Jerusalem. 

" Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God ; for 'no ^J'' ^" ^°' '^ ^^' 

man can do these miracles that thou doest, except "God be with him." sch. 9. 16, 33. 

^ Jesus answered and said unto him, "Verily, verily, I say unto /'° ' "I" 

thee, iiXcept a man be born *agam, he cannot see the lungdom of (fch. 1.13. Gai.e. 
r< J 3 J 15. Tit. 3. 5. 

■* Nicodemus saith unto him, "How can a man be born when he is JjJtnV?' 
old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be *oi, from above. 
born ? " 

° Jesus answered, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 'Except a man "ac'^sVI^^''' 
be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom 
of God. ^ That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which 
is born of the Spirit is spirit. '^ Marvel not that I said unto thee. Ye 
must be born tagain. ^-^The wind bloweth where it hsteth, and thou 12'' {'"^.f'^'' 
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and icor.i li.' 
whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit." 

^ Nicodemus answered and said unto him, " °How can these things ^ "^h- 6. 52, eo. 
be?" 

" Jesus answered and said unto him, " Art thou a master of Israel, ^')'f8^"7.^6.°& 
and knowest not these things! "''Verily, verily, I say unto thee, s! 28. & 12.49. 
We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen ; and 'ye jTer.32. 
receive not our witness, i- If I have told you earthly things, and ye •'6''''^'-38-5-j ^■ 
beheve not, how shall ye beheve, if I tell you of heavenly things ! & is! 28.' Acts 2! 
^^ And 'no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down Ephes.'4.'9,°io.'' 
from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. ""And as ,^r''''m n^^' 

■,,-,.», . ft Num. 21.9. 

Moses litted up the serpent m the wilderness, even so 'must the Son jsee JoUni. si. 
of Man be lifted up: i^that whosoever believeth in him should not m ver.36. ch.6.47. 
perish, but "have eternal life. ^^ ^Yoy God so loved the world, that ''iZ!'tt.^' '' 
he gave his Only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should 1 •'<''>° *■ '^■ 
not perish, but have everlasting hfe. " Tor God sent not his Son "5^45.'la%.l 
into the world to condemn the world ; but that the world through h; ''^- ^ ^°^" ''• 

VOE. II. t- 



62 IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN. [Part II. 

^ch.%.^"^& e! him might be saved. ^^^He that believeth on Him is not condemned : 
40, 47. & 20. 31. but hg that beUeveth not is condemned already, because he hath not 

beheved in the name of the Only-begotten Son of God. ^^ And this 
'^Via'^'^"'^^' ^^ ^h® condemnation, 'that light is come into the world, and men 

loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ^^ For 
r Job 24. 13, 17. 'every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, 
* Or, discovered, lest his dcods should be *reproved. ^^ But he that doeth truth cometh 

to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are 



wrought in God." 



SECT. VII. 



Judaea. 



^- ^- ^"^^ Section VII. — John's last Testimony to Christ. 

J. P. 4740. T ■•■ oo ^ *7 J 

John hi. 22, to the end. 

^^ After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of 

iisaai. 9. 4. Judssa ; and there he tarried with them, "and baptized. ^^And John 

cMatt. 3.5, 6. also was baptizing in JEnon near to 'Salim, because there was much 

cch''" 7 15 34 ^^^ter there : "and they came, and were baptized. ^^ For ''John was 

/icor.4.'7. Heb. uot yet cast into prison. 

5.4. James 1.17. 25 xhcn thcrc arosc a question between some of John's disciples and 

himJeif. the Jews about purifying. ^^ And they came unto John, and said 

g- ch. 1. 20, 27. unto him, "Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond Jordan, ^to whom 

1.2. Luke 1. 17. thou barcst witness, behold I the same baptizeth, and all men come 
'acor u' 2. to him." ^'^ John answered and said, '•' ^A man can *receive nothing, 

Ep^e|^5.^25, 27. exccpt it be given him from heaven. ^^ Ye yourselves bear me 
j Cant. 5. 1. witness, that I said, ' ^I am not the Christ, but ''that I am sent before 
p See Note 15. Him.' ^9 ijjg ^hat hath the bride is the bridegroom: but ■'the friend 
fcveT.i3!ch.8.23. of the bridcgroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly 
i Matt. 28. 18. ch. bccausc of the bridegroom's voice.P This my joy therefore is fulfilled. 

1. 15 27. Rom. ~ J j J 

9'. 5.'"' 2° He must increase, but I mus^ decrease. ^^ *He that cometh from 

"' ^ ^f '00^; t!' above 'is above all. "He that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh 

ji ch. 6. 33. 1 Cor. I r 1 -1 11 nn 

15. 47. Ephes. 1. oi thc carth : He that cometh irom heaven is above all, •^■^ and 
over. 11. ch! 8. °what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth ; and no man 

26. & 15. 15. receiveth his testimony. ^^ He that hath received his testimony ''hath 
^1 John 5'. lb. set to his seal that God is true. ^* ('For he whom God hath sent 
g ch. 7. 16. speaketh the words of God : for God giveth not the Spirit "^by measure 

r See Note 17. [uuto him.]) ^^ 'The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things 
« Matt- iL 27. & into his haud. ^'^ 'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life : 

z>'. ch'. 5. 20, 22! and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath 

Heb.'2.8. See ' of God abidcth on him." 

Mark 1. 1. 
t Hab. 2. 4. ch. 1. =====^^=^^ 

12. & 6. 47. ver. 

i^joh'n s^To!'^'^' Section VIII. — Imprisonment of John the Baptist.' 

See Mark 1. 1. jyj^^^_ ^-^^ 3_5._Makk vi. 17-20.— LuKE iii. 19, 20. 

'But" Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for ^i^ukeiu. 19. 
SECT. VIII. Herodias his brother Phihp's wife, and for all the evils 
V. JE. 27. which Herod had done, ^ had sent forth and laid hold ^ ^^"'^ "'■ "■ 
J. P. 4740. upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, 
^":^- his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her. = For ^Markvi.is. 
s See Note 18. jo^n had Said unto Herod, " 'It is not lawful for thee to 
^Mafke?!?.^' have thy brother's wife." ^Therefore Herodias had *a ^Jiarkvi. 19. 
''^%\}^- ^^' ^ quarrel against him, and would have killed him ; but 
*or, an inward shc could uot. ^ For Hcrod "feared John, knowing that *Markvi.2o. 
c^Tiatf 14. 5. & he was a just man and a holy ; and tobserved him ; and 
21-6. when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him 

^°.'eK'™'"' gladly. ^ And when he would have put him to death, he " Matt.xiv.s. 
<i Matt. 21. 25. feared the multitude, ''because they counted him as a 

Luke 20. 6. ' ■' 

t See xNote 19. prOphct.' 



Sect. I. II.] THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. 63 

Matt. xiv. 3, 4. — 3 'For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him ^j^'^J^^-^^- 
in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. 4 For John said unto him, ".Qt is ^Lev 18 le'&ao 
not lawful for thee to have her." 21. 

Mark vi. part qfver. 17. For Herod himself — . 

Luke iii. 20. added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison. ■ 



PART III. 

FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE MORE PUBLIC MINISTRY 
OF CHRIST TO THE MISSION OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 



Section I. — General Introduction to the History of CJirisfs more sect. i. 

public Ministry^ V. M. 27. 

Matt. iv. 12-17. — Mark i. 14, 15. — ^Ldke iv. 14, 15. J. 1^4740. 

J Mark 1. 14. I ]\TQ^y'' after that John was put in prison, Jesus came Judaea. 
2Matt. iv. 12. into GaUlee. ^ 'Now when [Jesus] heard that John was a see Note i. 
3 Luke iv. 14. *cast into prison, he departed, ^ and Jesus returned in " ^i^'*'- ^•^~ 
■1 Mark i. 14. the power of the Spirit into^ Gahlee, "^preaching the i4,V.john4.43'. 

5 Mark i. 15. GospcI of the kingdom of God, ° and saying, " "The time *ot, delivered up. 

is fulfilled, and 'the kingdom of God is at hand : repent ^ Matt. 4. 23. 

6 Luke iv. 14. yg^ ^^^ believe the Gospel." "And there went out a fame <; Dan. 9. 25. cai. 

7 Luke IV. 15. of him through all the region round about: 'and he ejiau.3.2.&4.i7! 

taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. 

8 Matt. iv. 13. 8 ^j^^ leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Caper- 
namn, which is upon the seacoast, in the borders of Zabu- 
lon and Nephthalim : ' that it might be fulfilled which was 
spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, — 

10 Matt. iv. 15. 10 ,, rpj^g^ j^j^^ ^^ Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, n^- 9- 1, 2. 

By the way of the sea beyond Jordan, 

Galilee of the Gentiles f c see Note 3. 

n Matt. iv. 16. n r^^^g people which sat in darkness saw great light ; s^^-^- 7. Luke 

And to them which sat in the region and shadow of 
death light is sprung up." 

1= Matt. iv. 17. '^From'' that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, ^ Mark 1.14,15. 
" 'Repent ; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." j Matt. 3.2. & 10. 

Matt. iv. part of vcr. 12. — into Galilee. 



9 Matt. iv. 14. 



Section II. — Christ's Conversation tvith the Woman of Samaria.'^ sect, il 

John iv. 1-42. V. JE. 27. 

'^ When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that J. P. 4740. 
Jesus made and "baptized more disciples than John, ^ (though Jesus samaria. 
himself baptized*" not, but his disciples,) ^ he left Judaea, and departed a see Note 4. 
asain into Galilee. ^ And he must needs go through Sam.aria. ^ Then " "^''- ^- ^^'^^- 

. . G See Aote 5. 

Cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the 

parcel of ground 'that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.^ ^ Now Jacob's *^''5o^^;^34%1f' 

well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat fSeeNotee. 

thus on the well : and it was about the sixth hour. " There cometh 

a woman of Samaria to draw water : Jesus saith unto her^ " Give me 

to drink." ^ (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy 

meat.) 

^Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, "How is it that 



64 THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. [Part III. 

thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Sa- 
'lu^ITsJ'm' J^^i'ia? " (For ''the Jews have no deahngs with. the Samaritans.) 
Acts 10. 28'. 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, " If thou knewest the gift of 

God, and who it is that saith to thee. Give me to drink ; thou wouldest 
V.^ilf.'i.'ix'^^' have asked of him, and he would have given thee ''Hving water." 
Zech.i3.i.ii]4. 11 The woman saith unto him, "Sir, thou hast nothing to draw 
with, and the well is deep : from whence then hast thou that living 
water ? ^^ Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the 
well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle ? " 
^'^ Jesus answered and said unto her, " Whosoever drinketh of this 
cch. 6.35,58. water shall thirst again: '''but 'whosoever drinketh of the water that 
I shall give him shall never thirst ; but the water that I shall give him 
/ch. 7. 38. /shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." 

^,?'^^''o^'S"^^"^ ^^The^ woman saith unto him, "Sir, sive me this water, that I 

17. 2, 3. Rom. 6. ; ' o ^ 

23. iJoh.i5.2o. thirst not, neither come hither to draw." 

^^ Jesus saith unto her, " Go, call thy husband, and come hither." 
^'''The woman answered and said, " I have no husband." 
Jesus said unto her, " Thou hast well said, ' I have no husband.' 
^^ For thou hast had five husbands ; and he whom thou now hast is 
not thy husband : in that saidst thou truly." 
*w"'ch^'6%t.^& ^''The woman saith unto him, "Sir, ''I perceive that thou art a 
7.40. prophet. -'^ Our fathers worshipped 'in ^ this mountain; and ye say 

•• [Kl^^M^unt Ge- ^^at iu * Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. "s 
ri?.im.-ED.] 21 Jegyg saith unto her, " ¥/oman, believe me, the hour comelh, 

''nc inVI. 3'. "■ 'when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship 
^seo NoJV^^ the Father. ^~ Ye worship '"ye know not what : we know what we 
i Mai. 1.11.1 Tim. worship : for "salvation is of the Jews. ^^ But the hour cometh, and 
mikmr's 17. 99. "°^ ^^' whcu the truo Avorshippers shall worship the Father in "spirit 
n isa. 2.'3. Luke ^aud in truth : for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. ^'' 'God 
24^47. Rom. 9. -g ^ gpint ; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit 
« Phil. 3. 3. and in truth." 

y a Cor. 3.17. ^^ The woman saith unto him, "I know that Messias'' cometh 

ii soe Note 8. (which is Called Christ) : when He is come, '^He will tell us all things." 
*" Tn^ Q^^^^r .. ^"^ Jesus saith unto her, " T that speak unto thee am He." 

s ch. 9. 37. Matt. 07 * 1 1 • 

23. 63, 64. Mark ^^ And upon this camo his disciples, and marvelled that he talked 

' ■ with the woman. Yet no man said. What seekest thou ? or. Why 

talkest thou with her? ^^The woman then left her waterpot, and 

went her way into the city, and saith to the men, ^^ " Come, see a man, 

tver.25. 'which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" 

^^ [Then] they went out of the city, and came unto him. 

^^ In the meanwhile his disciples prayed him, saying, " Master, eat." 

^^But he said unto them, " I have meat to eat that ye know not of." 

^^ Therefore said the disciples one to anotlier, " Hath any man 

"6'38.^i7:4.''& brought him aught to eat ? " ^^ Jesus saith unto them, " "My meat is 

19. 30. to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish his work. ^^ Say not 

1 See Note 9. yg^ ' There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest ? '' Behold ! 

''L^ke'io' f' ^ ^^y ^"*^ y^"' ^^^^ "P y*^"'' ^y^^' ^"^ ^^^^^ °" "-^e fields ; "for they 
M Dan. 12. 3. are white already to harvest ! ^"^ "And he that reapeth receiveth 
wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal : that both He that soweth 
and he that reapeth may rejoice together. ^"^ And herein is that 
saying true, ' One soweth, and another reapeth.' ^^ I sent you to reap 
that whereon ye bestowed no labor : other men labored, and ye are 
entered into their labors." 
" ''"' ' ^^ And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him ''for 

the saying of the woman, which testified, " He told me all that ever 
I did." 40 gQ when the Samaritans were come unto him, they 
besought him that he would tarry with them : and he abode there two 



Sect. III. IV.] CHRIST'S FIRST PUBLIC PREACHING. 65 

days. '^^ And many more believed, because of his own word. "*- And 

said unto the woman, " Now we beUeve, not because of thy saying ; 

for ^we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the v^^^^^-^-^^o^'" 

Christ, the Saviour of the world." 



Section III. — Second Miracle at Carta, in Galilee.^ sect^iii. 

John iv. 43, to the end. V. M. 27. 

^■^ Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee. J- P- 4740. 
^''For "Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honor in his cana,m^aiee. 
own country. '*^ Then, when he was come into Galilee, the Galileans k see Note lo. 
received him, Miaving seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at "iCiafk'e. i. Luke 
the feast : 'for they also went unto the feast. ^' '^'^^ 

^^ So [Jesus] came again into Cana of Galilee, where ''he made the ^ Deut. i6. le. 
water wine.^ And there was a certain ^nobleman, whose son was (Zch. 2.1,11. 
sick at Capernaum. "*" "When he heard that Jesus was come out oi \^^^ ^°^^^^^' ^^ 
Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he ruier. 
would come down, and heal his son ; for he was at the point of death. 
*^ Then said Jesus unto him, " 'Except ye see signs and wonders, ye eicor. 1.^2. 
will not believe." ^^ The nobleman saith unto him, " Sir, come down 
ere my child die," ^° Jesus saith unto him, " Go thy way ; thy son ■ 

liveth." And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto 
him, and he went his way. ^^ And as he was now going down, his 
servants met him, and told him, saying, " Thy son liveth." ^^ Then 
inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they 
said unto him, " Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." 
^^ So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus 
said unto him, " Thy son liveth." And himself beheved, and his 
whole house. ^^ This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, 
when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee. 



Section IV. — First public Preaching of Christ in the Synagogue sect, iv. 
at Nazareth, and his Danger there."' V.JE. 27. 

Luke iv. 16-30. J. P. 4740. 

^^ And He came to ''Nazareth, where he had been brought up : and, Nazareth. 
as his custom" was, 'he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, m see Note 12. 
and stood up for to read." ^'' And there was delivered unto him the "jg^ 5"; MaS'e.t 
book of the Prophet Esaias ; and when he had opened the book, he n see Note 13. 
found the place where it was written, — p * ^"'^ "• ^'*' ^ 

'■ ' 17. 2. 

18 '' The ^Spirit of the Lord is upon me, ° |^^ ^2 It 

Because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor ;"i ^ h. gi. 1. 
He hath sent me [to heal the broken-hearted,] 1 ^^e Note le. 

To preach deliverance to the captives, 
And recovering of sight to the blind. 
To set at hberty them that are bruised, 
i^To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." 

2° And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and 
sat down ; and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were 
fastened on him. ^i And he began to say unto them, " This day is this 
Scripture fulfilled in your ears." ^^And all bare him witness, and d ps. 45. 2. Matt. 
■'wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth ; Jh'.l^'^."''^'^' 
and they said, " Ts not this Joseph's son?" sa^nd he said unto eiohne.ts. 
them, " Ye will surely say unto me this --proverb, ' Physician, heal } M^tftVs!' & 
thyself:' whatsoever we have heard done in -^Capernaum, do also n-^a. 
here in ^thy country." 2* ^nd he said, " Verily I say unto you. No ^u^kslV*' 

VOL. II. 9 *F 



66 



THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES. [Part 111. 



^jfa^rk 6?4V^john ''prophet is acceptcd in his own country. ^^ But I tell you of a truth, 
4-44. 'many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven 

shut up three years and six months, when great famine was 

» See Note 18. 



i 1 Kings 17. 9. & 
18.1. James 5.17. WaS 



i 2 Kiii"s 5. 14. 



i John 8. 59. & 10. 
39. 



up 

throughout all the land ; ^ ^^ but unto none of them was Elias sent, 
save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 
^^^And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet ; 
and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian." 

^^ And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were 
filled with wrath. ^^ And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and 
led him unto the *brow of the lull whereon their city was built, that 
they might cast him down headlong ; ^'^ but he 'passing through the 
midst of them went his way. 



SECT. V. 

V. M. 27. 
J. P. 4740. 

Capernaum. 

t See Note 19. 
a Matt. 4. 13. 

Mark 1. 21. 
b Matt. 7. 28. 

Mark 1. 22. 



SECT. VI. 

V. JE. 27. 
J. P. 4740. 
Sea of Galilee. 

u See Note 20. 
a Mark 1. 16. 

Luke 5. 2. 
i Jolin 1. 42. 
X See Note 21. 
y See Note 22. 
e Matt. 19. 27. 

Luke 5. 11. 
d Matt. 4. 21. 



e Matt. 4. 18. 
Mark 1. 16. 



/Jolin2].6. 



^2 Sam. 6. 9. 
1 Kings 17. 18. 



Section V. — Christ sojourns at Capernaum.^ 
Luke iv. 31, 32. 
^^ And [He] "came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and 
taught them on the Sabbath days. ^^ 'And they were astonished at 
his doctrine ; for his word was with power. 



h Matt. 4. 19. 
Mark 1. 17. 

i Matt.4.20. & 19. men 

27 Mark 1. 18, 
cli. 18. 28. 



Section VI. — The miraculous Draught of Fishes ;^ and the Calling of 

Andrew and Peter, James and John. 

Matt. iv. 18-22.— Mark i. 16-20.— Luke v. 1-11. 

^^ And'' Jesus, walking by the sea of Gahlee, saw two ^^''"- "■ ^^■ 
brethren, 'Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, cast- M^rki-n-so. 
ing a net into the sea : for they were fishers.'^ ^'^ And Jesus 
said unto them, " Come ye after me, and I will make you to become 
fishers y of men." ^^And straightway ""they forsook their nets, and 
followed him. ^^ ''And when he had gone a little farther thence, he 
saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were 
in the ship mending their nets. '^^ And straightway he called them : 
and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, 
and went after him. 

^ And "it came to pass, that as the people pressed upon ^"''* ''• ^-"• 
him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of 
Gennesaret ; ^ and saw two ships standing by the lake ; but the 
fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 
^ And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and 
prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land ; and he 
sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 

'* Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, " ■'^Launch 
out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught." ^ And 
Simon answering said unto him, " Master, we have toiled all the 
night, and have taken nothing : nevertheless at thy word I will let 
down the net." ^ And when they had this done, they enclosed a 
great multitude of fishes : and their net brake, ''' and they beckoned 
unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should 
come and help them ; and they came, and filled both the ships, so 
that they began to sink. ^ When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at 
Jesus' knees, saying, " ^Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O 
Lord ! " ^ For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the 
draught of the fishes which they had taken ; ^°and so were also James, 
and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And 
Jesus said unto Simon, " Fear not ; '"from henceforth thou shall catch 
11 And when they had brought their ships to land, *they 
forsook all, and followed him. 



Sect. VII. VIII.] 



THE DEMOJNIAC HEALED. 



67 



Matt. iv. 19, 20, 21, 22.— 19 And he saith unto them, " Follow me, and Jl will make j Luke 5. 10, 11, 
vou fishers of men." 20 '•'And they straicrhtway left their nets, and followed him. fc Mark 10. 23. 
21 'And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, 
and Jolm his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets ; and he 
called them. 22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. 

Mark i. 16. "''JN'ow as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew lais 
brother casting a net into the sea : for they were fishers. 



Luke 18. 28. 
I Mark 1. 19, 20. 
Luke 5. 10. 

m JIatt. 4. 18. 
Luke 5. 4, 10. 



Se 



I Mark i. 21. 



2 Mark i. 22. 



4 Luke iv. 34. 



5 Luke iv. 35. 



« Mark 

7 Luke 

8 Maifc 

9 Luke 
w Luke 
U Mark 

12 Luke 

13 Mark 

14 Luke 

15 Mark 

16 Luke 

17 Mark 
IS Luke 
W Mark 
2" Luke 
21 Mark 



i. 26. 
iv. 35. 
i.26. 
iv. 35. 
iv. 36. 
i. 27. 
iv. 35. 
i.27. 
iv. 36. 
i.27. 
iv. 36. 
i.28. 
iv. 37. 
i.2S. 
iv. 37. 
i.28. 



CTiON VII. — The Demoniac healed at Capernawn.'^ 
Mark i. 21-28.— Luke iv. .33-37. 

' And'' they went into Capernaum ; and straightway on 
the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and 
taught. ^ And* they were astonished at his doctrine ; for 
he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the 
Scribes. 

^ And" in the synagogue there was a man which had a 
spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, 
^ saying, " *Let us alone I what have we to do with thee, 
thou Jesus of Nazareth ? Art thou come to destroy us ? ''I 
know thee who thou art — the 'Holy One of God ! " ^ And 
Jesus rebuked him, saying, " Hold thy peace, and come 
out of him." ® And when the unclean spirit ^had thrown 
him in the midst, [and] * had^ torn him, and cried with a 
loud voice, he came out of him, ' and hurt hun not. ^" And 
they were all amazed, " insomuch that they questioned, 
'^ and spake among themselves, saying, " What a word is 
this ? '^ What thing is this ? What new doctrine is this ? 
for with authority " and power he commandeth the un- 
clean spirits, ^° even the unclean spirits, and they do obey 
him, '^ and they come out!" "And immediately '* the 
fame of him went out, [and] '^ spread abroad throughout 
all the region, ^° into every place of the country round 
about — "' round about Galilee. 



SECT, vn 

V.^. 27. 
J. P. 4740. 

Capernaum. 

z See Note 23. 
a Matt. 4. 13. 

Luke 4. 31. 
b JIatt. 7. 28. 

Luke 4. 32. 
c Mark 1. 23. 

* Or, Away. 

d Luke 4. 41. 

e Ps. 16. 10. Uan. 
9. 24. See Mark 
1. 1. 



/Mark 9. 20. 



Mark i. 23, 24, 25, and part of ver. 27, 28. — 23 ^And there was in their synagogue a g Luke 4. 33. 
man with, an unclean spirit ; and he cried out, 24 saying, " Let us alone ! ''what have we * Matt. 8. 29. 
to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth .' art thou come to destroy us .', I know thee who 
thou art — the Holy One of God!" 25 And *Jesus rebuked him, saying, " Hold thy i ver. 34. 
peace, and come out of him." 27 And they were all amazed — among themselves, say- 
ing, — " commandeth he " — . 28 — his fame — . 

Luke iv.part of ver. 35, 36, and 37. — 35 — And when the devil — he came out of him — . = 

36 — for with authoritj — . 37 And — . 



Section VIII. — Peter's Mother-in-law cured of a Fevers 
Matt. viiL 14, 15.— Mark i. 29-31.— Luke iv. 38, 39. 

^ And'' He arose out of the synagogue ; ^ and forthwith, 
when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered 
into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and 
3 Luke iv. 38. John. ^ And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a 
great fever, and * lay sick ; ° and when Jesus was come 
into Peter's house, ^ anon they tell hun of her, ' and 
they besought him for her. * And he came ^ and stood 
over her, and rebuked the fever, ^° and took her by the 
hand, and lifted her up ; and immediately the fever left 
her ; '^ and immediately she arose and ministered unto 
them. 

INIatt. viii. part of ver. 14 and 15. — 14 — he saw ^his wife's mother laid, and sick of a 
fever. 15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her : and she arose and minis- 
tered unto them. 



1 Luke iv. 38, 

2 Mark i. 29. 



4 Mark i. 30. 

5 Matt. viii. 14. 

6 Mark i. 30. 

1 Luke iv. 38. 
8 Mark i. 31. 
8 Luke iv. 39. 

10 Mark i. 31. 

11 Luke iv. 39. 



SECT. vni. 

V. 2E. 27. 
J. p. 4740. 

Capernaum. 

a See Note 24. 

a Matt. 8. 14. 

Mark 1. 29, 



J 1 Cor. 9. 5. 



68 



CHRIST TEACHES IN GALILEE. 



[Part III. 



Mark i.part ofver. 30 and 31. — 30 But Simon's wife's mother — of a fever, and — . 
31 — and she ministered unto them, 

hvKi: W. part of ver. 28 and 39. — 38 — and entered into Simon's house — . 39 — he 
— and it left her — . 



SECT. IX. 

V. iE. 27. 
J. P. 4740. 

Galilee. 

b See Note 05. 
a Matt. 8. 16. 



b Is. 53. 4, 12. 

1 Pet. 2. 24. 

c See Note 26. 

c Mark 1. 34. & 3. 
II. 

(J Mark 1.1, 25, 34. 

Luke 4. 34, 35. 
eMark3.12.Luke 

4. 41. See Acta 

16. 17, 18. 
* Or, to say that 

they knew him [to 

be Christ]. 
/Luke 4. 42. 



g Luke 4. 43. 

ft Is. 61. 1. John 
16. 28. & 17. 4. 



i Matt. 9. 35. 

Mark 1. 21, 39. 

Luke 4. 15, 44. 
j Matt. 24. 14. 

Mark 1. 14. 
k Mark 1. 34. 



Section IX. — Christ Teaches, and performs Miracles and Cures 

throughout Galilee}' 

Matt. iv. 23-25. ; viii. 16, 17.— Mark i. 32-39.— Luke iv. 40, to the end. 

' And" at even, when the sun did set, ^ all they that had 
any sick, with divers diseases, ' they brought unto Him all 
that were diseased, and them that were possessed of devils : 
* (and all the city was gathered together at the door :) ^ and 
he laid his hands on every one of them '^ that were sick of 
divers diseases, 'and* healed them : * and he cast out the 
spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick. ' That 
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the 
prophet, saying, — 

"Himself" took our infirmities 
And bare our sicknesses."'' 



1 Mark i. 32. 

2 Luke iv. 40. 

3 Mark i. 32. 

4 Mark i. 33. 

5 Luke iv. 40. 

6 Mark i. 34. 

7 Luke iv. 40. 

8 Matt. viii. 16. 
8 Matt. viii. 17. 



1" Luke iv. 41. 

11 Mark i. 34. 

12 Luke iv. 41. 

13 Mark 1. 35 

U Mark i. 36. 

15 Mark i. 37. 

16 Mark i. 38. 



I Mark 3. 7. 



m Mark 1.32,&c. 
Luke 4. 40, 41. 



n Matt. 4. 23. 
Luke 4. 44. 

Matt. 8. 16. 

Mark 1. 32. 
f Or, to say that 

they knew him to 

be Christ, 
p Mark I. 35 J 
q Mark 1. 39l 



'° And'^ devils also came out of many, crying out, and 
saying, " Thou art [Christ], the "^Son of God ! " And he, 
rebuking them, " suffered' not the devils to *speak, be- 
cause they knew him, '^ that he was Christ. 

" And -^in the morning, rising up a great while before 
day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and 
there prayed. '■* And Simon and they that were with him 
followed after him. ^^ And when they had found him, 
they said unto him, "All men seek for thee." '"^And he 
said unto them, " ^Let us go into the next towns, that I 
may preach there also ; for ''therefor came I forth." 
" And the people sought him, and came unto him, and 
stayed him, that he should not depart from them. '^ And 
he said unto them, " I must preach the kingdom of God 
to other cities also ; for therefor am I sent." 

'^ And Jesus went about all Galilee, 'teaching in their 
synagogues, and preaching •'the Gospel of the kingdom, 
*and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of 
disease among the people. "" And his fame went through- 
out all Syria, and they brought unto him all sick people 
that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and 
those which were possessed with devils, and those which 
were lunatic, and those that had the palsy ; and he healed 
them. ^' And' there followed him great multitudes of 
people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusa- 
lem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. 

Matt. viii. part ofver. 16. — '"When the even was come, they brought unto him many 
that were possessed with devils : — . 

Mark i. part of ver. 34 and ver. 39. — 34 And he healed many — and cast out many 
devils ; and — . 39 "And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and 
cast out devils. 

Luke iv. part of ver. 40, 41, 42. and ver. 44. — 40 "Now when the sun was setting — 
brought them unto him — . 41 — suffered them not * to speak : for they knew — . 
42 •''And when it was day, he departed, and went into a desert place — . 44 'And he 
preached in the synagogues of Galilee — . 



Luke iv. 42. 
Luke iv. 43 



19 Matt. iv. 23 



Matt. iv. 24 



21 Matt. iv. 25. 



Sect. X. XI.] 



CHRIST CURES A LEPER. 



69 



1 Luke v. 12. 

S Mark i. 40. 
3 Luke V. 12. 

■» Murk i. 40. 

5 Luke V. 12. 

6 -1Iatt. viii. 2. 
' Luke V. 12. 

8 Mark i. 40. 

9 Matt. Tiii. 2. 

10 Mark i. 41. 

11 Mark i. 42. 

12 Matt. viii. 4. 

13 Mark i. 44. 



14 Mark i. 43. 

15 Mark i. 45. 

16 Luke T. 15. 



" Mark i. 45. 



IS Luke V. 16. 
19 Mark i. 45. 



Section X. — Christ cures a Lejpcr.^ 
Matt. viii. 3-4. — Mark i. 40, to the end. — Luke v. 12-16. 

' And it came to pass, when He was in a certain city, 
behold ! ^ there came a leper to him, ^ a man full of leprosy, 
who seeing Jesus, [and] ^ beseeching him. and kneeling down 
to him, ° fell on his face '^ and worshipped him, ' and be- 
sought him, "^and saying unto him, ^ ''Lord, if thou wilt, 
thou canst make me clean." '" And Jesus, moved with 
compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith 
unto him, "I vvill ; be thou clean." ''And as soon as He 
had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, 
and he was cleansed. '" And Jesus saith unto him, '^ " See 
thou say nothing unto any man, but go thy way, show thy- 
self to the priest, and offer, for thy cleansing, those things 
"which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto'' them." 
'■* And He straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him 
away. '^ But* he went out and began to publish it much, 
and to blaze abroad the matter, '" but so much the more 
went there a fame abroad of him, ""and great multitudes 
came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their 
infirmities, ''insomuch that Jesus could no more openly 
enter into the city, but was without in desert places : 
" and '^he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed ; 
" and 'they came to him from every quarter. 



SECT. X. 

V.^. 27. 

J. P. 4740. 
Galilee. 

d See Note 27. 



a Lev. 14.3,4,10, 
21,^. Luke 5.14. 
e See Note 28. 
b Luke 5. 15. 



c JIatt. 4. 25. 
Jlark 3. 7. John 
6. 2 



d Matt. 14. 23. 
Mark 6. 46. 
e Jlark 2. 13. 



Jlark 



p- Lev. 14. 3, 4, 10, 
21 ,22. Luke 5.14. 



Matt. viii. part of zer. 2, ver. 3, and part of xer. 4. — 2 And, beliold ! there came a 
leper — saying, — . 3 And Jesus put forth ids hand, and touched him, saying, " I will ; 
be thou clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 — " .''See thou tell no /ch. 9. 30 
man; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that °Moses com- 
manded, for a testimony unto them." 

Mark i. part of xer. 40 ayid 44. — 40 And — •• If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." 
44 And saith unto him, — . 

Luke y. part of xer. 12, and ver. 13, 14. — 12 — saying, •'■' Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst 
make me clean." 13 And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, " I will; be 
thou clean." And immediately the leprosy departed from him. 14 And he charged 
him to tell no man : but ■'■ Go, and show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, 
according as ''Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them." 



ALev.14.4,10,2], 
22. Matt. 8. 4. 
Mark 1. 44. 



1 Mark ii. 1. 

2 Mark ii. 2. 



3 Luke V. 17. 



4 Luke V. 18. 
s Mark ii. 3. 
s Luke V. 18. 

7 Matt. ix. 2. 

8 Mark ii. 3. 

9 Luke V. 18. 

10 Luke V. 19. 

11 Mark ii. 4. 

12 Luke V. 19. 



V.^. 27. 

J. P. 4740. 

Capernaum. 



Section XL — The Paralytic cured ; and the Power of Christ to sect. xi. 

Forgive Sins asserted.^ 

Matt. ix. 2-8.— Mark ii. 1-12.— Luke v. 17-26. 

' And again He entered into Capernaum after some 
days: and it was noised that he was in the house. * And f see Note 
straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that 
there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as 
about the door : and he preached the word unto them. 

^And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teach- 
ing, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law 
sitting b}', which were come out of every town of Gal- 
ilee, and Judeea, and Jerusalem ; and the power of the 
Lord was present to heal them. 

" And, behold I ^ they come unto Him, bringing one sick 
of the palsy, '^ a man which was taken with a palsy, 
'lying on a bed, ® which was borne of four: 'and they 
sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before 
Him. '"And when they could not find by what way they 
might bring him in, because of the multitude, " they could 
not come nigh unto him for the press ; '^ they went upon the 



to THE CALLING OF MATTHEW. [Part III. 

housetop, and '' they uncovered the roof where he was ; " "^''■^ "• '^■ 
and when they had broken it up, they ^^ let .him down '^ ^"'"^ '• '^• 
through the tihng, with his couch, into the midst before 
Jesus. '^ When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the '° ^''"''^ "' ^• 
sick of the palsy, " Son, '°be of good cheer, thy sins be |° Lukev''4' 
forgiven thee : '' Man, thy sins are forgiven thee." '* And, is Matt. ix. :;. 
behold ! '® there were certain of the Scribes sitting there, '^ ''^"'' "• ^• 
reasoning in their hearts : ^° and the Pharisees began to ^ ^"''"' "• ^^- 

... "21 Matt. IX. 3. 

reason, saying ''within themselves, " This man blasphe- 22 Lukev.SL 
meth : " who is this which speaketh blasphemies ? ^^ Why ^ Mark ii. 7. 

a^obi4.4.is.43. doth thls manthus speak blasphemies? '' Who" can for. ^ ^^"''^^•si- 
give sins but God alone?" "And immediately, when ^ *^"'' "• ^• 
Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within 

*^%'3\?- M"". themselves, ^"^ knowing' their thoughts, "he, answering, '^^ '^^^"- '^- ''• 

12. 25. Mark 12. . ' oo ,, txti ^t ,' • *" 27 Luke v. 22. 

15. Luke 5. 22. said unto them, " Why reason ye these things in your 23 Mark u. 8. 

& li. 17. ■ ■ hearts ? ^' Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts ? '" for ^ Matt. ix. 4. 

c Matt. 9. 5. Luke whether " is' it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, ' Thy 3" MlrkiTo!' 

sins be forgiven thee ; ' or to say, ' Arise, and take up thy 
d See John 1. 51. bed, and walk ? ' '' But that ye may know that ''the Son '' ^^^'^ "• i°- 

of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, ^^ (then saith ^^ Matt. ix. e. 

he to the sick of the palsy,) ^* I say unto thee. Arise, ^^_ Mark. li. ii. 

and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house." as Luke v. 25. 

^'^And immediately he ^^ rose up before them, and ^' took 37 Mark ii. 12. 

up the bed, ''that whereon he lay, '^and went forth be- '^ ^"^^ [; fg 

fore them all, *" and departed to his own house, glorifying 40 Lukev.25. 

God, ^'insomuch that, "when the multitudes saw it, they "" Mark ii. 12. 

marvelled, and ''■^ they were all amazed, "* and were filled « Markii. 12! 

with fear, saying, " We have seen strange things to-day ! ^ Luke v. 26. 

"'^ we never saw it on this fashion ! " " [And they] glorified 45 M^t" ix. 8. 

God, which had given such power unto men. 

Matt. ix. part of ver. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ver. 7, and part of ver. 8. — 2 And, behold ! they 
brought to him a man sick of the palsy — and Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the 
sick of the palsy, " Son, — ." 3 — certain of the Scribes said — . 4 And Jesus — said — 
e Mark2.9. Luke 5 — " *is easier to say. Thy sins be forgiven thee ; or to say. Arise, and walk ? 6 But 
that ye may know that Aha Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, — Arise, take 
/ ee o n . . ^^ ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ thine house." 7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 
8 But — . 

Mark ii. part of ver. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, and 12.— 3 And—. 4 And when — letdown 
the bed whereon the sick of the palsy lay. 5 " — thy sins be forgiven thee." 6 But — . 
7 " — who can forgive sins but God only ? " 8 — he said unto them — , 9 " Whether — 
10 — (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) 12 — arose, — and glorified God, saying, — . 

Luke v. part of ver. 18, 20, 21, 22, ver. 23, 24, and part of ver. 25, 26.— 18 — men 

brought in a bed — . 20 And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, — . 21 And the 

Scribes — . 22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, — " What reason ye in your 

g Matt. 9. 5. hearts ? 23 Whether ^is easier to say. Thy sins be forgiven thee ; or to say, Rise up and 

M''*^.^. walk.' 24 But that ye may know that ''the Son of Man hath power upon earth to forgive 

sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, 

and go unto thine house." 25 And immediately he — took up — . 26 And they were 

=^^=== all amazed, and they glorified God, — 



SECT\_xir. Section XII.— TAe Calling of Matthew. s 

V. jE, 27. Matt. ix. 9.— Mark ii. 13, 14.— Luke v. 27, 28. 

J. P. 4740. 'And after these things 'He went forth again by the 1 ^tui". Ts. 

Capernaum. ^^^ gjdg • ^nd all the multitudc resorted unto him, and he 3 Mark ii. i4. 

g See Note 30. taught them. 'And as he passed by ''from thence, he ^ j'^^i^'j^^g^' 

saw a man, ° a publican, named Levi, "named Matthew, ejiatt. ix. 9. 

*or, place where 'the SOU of AlphsBus, ' sittiug at the *Receipt of Custom : 'Markii. i4. 

thecusCamwasre- „ , • i , i • ,, r< ri >» in A i i 1 ''i. 11 * Matt. ix. 9. 

ceived. Mark 2. " aud hc Said uuto hiiTi, " 1' ollow mc. "And he leu all, ^Lui^ev.a?. 

rose up, and followed him. •'' Luke v. 28 



Sect. XIII.] THE INFIRM MAN HEALED AT BETHESDA. 71 

Matt. ix. part ofvcr. 9. And as Jesus passed forth, — and he saith unto him, " Follow 
me." And he arose, and followed him. 

Mark ii. part of ver. 13, and 14. — 13 And — . 14 — he saw Levi — sitting at * the * Or, place where 
Receipt of Custom, and said unto him, " Follow me." And he arose and followed him. received. Jl'att! 

Ldke v. part of ver. 27. — he went forth, and saw — sitting at* the Receipt of ^- ^• 
Custom : — . 



Section XIII. — The Infirm Man healed at the Pool of Bethesda. sect^xiii. 

John v. 1-15. y j^^ 27 

^ After "this there was a feast of the Jews ; ^ and Jesus went up j. p. 4740. 
to Jerusalem. ^Now there is at Jerusalem, 'by the sheep *market, a Jevuseiiem. 
pool, which is called, in the Hebrew tongue, Bethesda, having five *OT,gate. 
porches. ^In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, "d^"/^' j' 
halt, withered, [waiting for the moving of the water. ^For an angel ch.i'.ia' 
went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water : '' ^'^^ ^""-^ ^i. 
whosoever then first, after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was 39."'' 
made whole of whatsoever disease he had.] ' ^ And a certain man was ' ^«*= ^'>^^ -2. 
there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. ^ When Jesus 
saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, 
he saith unto him, " Wilt thou be made whole ? " "^ The impotent 
man answered him, " Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, 
to put me into the pool ; but while I am coming, another steppeth 
down before me." ^ Jesus saith unto him, " 'Rise,^ take up thy bed, c Matt. 9. e. Mark 
and walk." ^ And immediately the man was made whole, and took ^ see Note^ss. 
up his bed, and walked : and '^ on the same day was the Sabbath. 
^° The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, " It is the 
Sabbath day; ^it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed." "He deb. 9.14. 
answered them, " He that made me whole, the same said unto me, ^Ne'h''i3^''i9''' 
' Take up thy bed, and walk.' " ^^Then asked they him, " What man J^r. i7.bi,&:c. 
is that which said unto thee, ' Take up thy bed and walk ? ' " ^^^ And Mark 2.24. i 3.4. 
he that was healed wist not who it was ; for Jesus had conveyed 14! "^ ■ • *" ^^• 
himself away, fa multitude being in that place. ^* Afterward Jesus ^ orjromaemui- 
findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, " Behold ! thou art made ""' 

whole: -^sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." i^'pj^g /Matt. 12. 45. 
man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made 
him whole. 



Section XIV. — Christ vindicates the Miracle, and asserts the Dignitij sect. xiv. 

of his Office. V.]Er27. 

John v. 16, to the end. J. p. 4740. 

^^ And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Jerusalem. 
him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day. ^"But arh. 9. 4. & n. 
Jesus answered them, ""My Father' worketh hitherto, and I work." iseeNnte34 
^^ Therefore the Jews ''sought the more to kill him, because he not jcb. 7. 19. 
only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his [own] '^pi'fi^o 6°'^'^' 
Father, ''making himself equal with God. ^^ Then answered Jesus ^ ver. 30. ch. 8.28. 
and said unto them, " Verilj, verily, I say unto you, '^The Son can &h. 10. see 
do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do; for what 11"'' ^j 
things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 2" For 'the aiss.bPet.'i.i?! 
Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all thinss that Himself doeth : .\'^V ", \ " 

. . ^ . ^ / Liuke 7. 14. Jfc o. 

and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 54.011.11.25,43. 
^' For as the Father raisetlmp the dead, and quickeneth them ; ^even ^Matt. 11. 27. & 
so the Son quickeneth whom he will. ^-For the Father judgeth no ch'. 3^.35. & 17^2 
man, but ^hath committed all judgment unto the Son ; ^^ that all men ^p%^\-f- 
should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. '"He that seoMarki. 1. 
honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. "eelliark i?'i. 



72 CHRIST DEFENDS HIS DISCIPLES. [Part. 111. 

*6'.'4o%W& a ^''Verily, verily, I say unto you, 'He that heareth my word, and be- 

51. k. 20. 31. lieveth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come 

ji John 3. 14. into condemnation; ■'but is passed from death unto hfe. ^^ Verily, 

^^"'?'ik^\T vsrily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and novv' is, when *the dead 

Col.' 2. 13. See shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they that hear shall live. 

^^ For as tlie Father hath life in Himself ; so hath He given to the 

'^.^&a7.^i!^^*'' ®*^'^ t° have life in himself. ^"^ And 'hath given him authority to 

mSee John 1.51. exccutc judgment also, "because he is the Son of Man. ^^ Marvel 

not at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the 

VThet's!4'. 16. graves shall hear his voice, -^ and" shall come forth; "they that have 

icor. 15. 52. done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done 

25.''3'2,~33,"46. ' cvil, unto tlic resurrection of damnation. ^°I^can of mine own self 

^eT w ^' ^"^ ^^ nothing. As I hear, I judge : and my judgment is just ; because 

?Matt. 26. 39. 'I scck not miiic own will, but the will of [the Father] which hath 

r^^t'c'h'tif^' ^^^^ ^^^' ^^ ^^^ ^ hem: witness of myself, my witness is not true. 

Rev. 3.14. ' ^2 "There is Another that beareth witness of me; and I know that 

^sl^ch^'s'.Vs.'^ "' the witness which He witnesseth of me is true. 

1 John 5. 6, 7, 9. 33 u Ye scut uuto Johu, 'and he bare witness unto the truth. ^* But 
'27,' 32. ' ' ' I receive not testimony from man ; but these things I say, that ye 
M 2 Pet. 1.19. rnight be saved. ^^ He was a burning and "a shining light: and "ye 
''&2i.2b\Ma/k6; wcrc willing for a season to rejoice in his light. ^^ But "I have greater 
^?'t , :; o witness than that of John: for ''the works which the Father hath given 

w 1 John 5. 9. r- ■ ^ ^ t • /• 1 1 

2:ch.3.2.&io.25. me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the 
t/^" o*U . ,., Father hath sent me ; ^'^ and the Father himself, which hath sent me, 

?/ Matt. 3.17. cSc 17. „, , , . \. -ir 1 • 1 1 1 1 • • 

5. ch. 6. 27. & 8. -"hath borne witness oi me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any 
1 ueut. 4. 12. ch. time, ''nor seen his shape. ^^ And ye have not his word abiding in 

J-i8ji^Timj.i7. you ; for whom He hath sent, him ye believe not. ^^ "Search the 
a [Or, Ye search Scripturcs, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and 'they are 
— iforf il^'.'lo! they which testify of me ; ^° "and ye will not come to me, that ye 

i(5^*9^%e^'46' ™ight have hfe. ^^ ''I receive not honor from men; ^^but I know 

Acts 17. 11. you, that ye have not the love of God in you. ''•'I am come in my 
*Luk"e'24^27?'ch; Father's name, and ye receive me not : if another shall come in his 

i-^^- own name, him ye will receive. ^* *How can ye believe, which 

'^r'^' OA it/ ' receive honor one of another, and seek not ^the honor that cometh 

c ver. 34. 1 Ihess. ,, ^-^ 

2. c- from God only ? *^ Do not think that I will accuse you to the 

fRol%*% Father : ''there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye 
g- Rom. 2. 12. trust. ^^ For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me ; 
7iGen.3. 15. &12. ''for hc wrotc of me. '*'' But if ve believe not his writings, how shall 

3.& 18. 18. &^. , v 1 -») m 

18. & 49. 10. ye believe my words ? ■" 

Deut. 18. 15, 18. 

ch. 1. 45. Acts ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

26. 22. • 

m See Note 35^ Section XY .— Christ defends his Disciples for plucking the Ears 

of Corn on the Sahbath day.^ 
Matt. xii. 1-8. — Mark ii. 23, to the end. — Luke vi. 1-5, 
V.^. 27. 'And ''it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the ' Lukevi.i. 

J. P. 4740. first," that he went through the corn fields : ' and his disci- ' ^^''"- ""■ ^■ 
In a progress, pj^g ^q^q an hungcrcd, and 'began to pluck the ears of 
n See Note 36. com ' as they went, ^and to eat, 'rubbing them in their 4^"^'^^; 
"£" 2?23!" hands. " But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto e mke vi. 1. 
J Deut. 23. 25. him, " Bohold ! thy disciples do that which is not lawful to « Mutt. xu. 2. 
o See Note 37. ^^ ^p^j^ j|^g Sabbath day. ' Why do they on the Sabbath ' Mark ii. 24. 
day that which is not lawful?" — ^ And certain of the 8Lukevi.2. 
Pharisees said unto them, " Why do ye that which is not 
lawful to do on the Sabbath day ? " — ® And Jesus, answer- ' ^ "''e "'■ ^■ 
ing them, '"said unto them, "Have ye never read " so J° "^^^^ '^: ^|' 
cisam.21.6. much as this, ""what David did, '^when he had need, and i2Markii.25. 
was an hungered, he, and they that were with him ? " How '^ ^^'^''^ '"■^^■ 



SECT. XV. 



Sect. XVI.] CHRIST HEALS THE WITHERED HAND. 73 

he went into tlie house of God in the days of Abiathar 
14 Luke vi. 4. the high priestjP and did " take, and eat the show-bread, p see Note 38. 
16 Matt. xii. 4. and gave also to them that were with him, "^which '^ was '^^ev°8.?i.^&24; 

not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with 9- 
16 Matt. xu. 5. lYiiYi^ but Only for the priests ? "^ Or have ye not read in 

the 'Law, how that, on the Sabbath da3's, the priests in *j^h™7^^' 
" ^i^"- ''I'- 6. the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless ? " But 

I say unto you, that in this place is •'One greater than the -^MaK™."'.^'^^" 

18 Mutt. xii. 7. temple. "* But if ye had known what this meaneth, ' ^ ^Hos. 6. 6. mic. 

will have mercy, and not sacrifice,' ye would not have con- ' " ''"' " ' 

19 Mark ii. 27. dcmned tlic guiMess." "And he said unto them, "The 

Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath ; 
™ M.r:.ii.28. =0 therefore "the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." "ikee!!'.'' 

See John 1. 51. 

Matt. xii. part of ver. 1, ver ^,part of vcr. 4, and vcr. 8. — 1 At that time Jesus 'went ^ jiark 3 23 
on the Sabbath day through the coi-n ; — . 3 But he said unto them, " Have ye not read Luke 6. 1. 
J what David did when he was an hungered, and they that were with him ; 4 how he en- J 1 Sam. 21. 6. 
tered into the house of God, and did eat the show-bread, which — . 8 For *^the Son of * Mark 2. 28. 
Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." ggg jojj'n j_ 5j_ 

Mark iii. 23, part of vcr. 24. 25, and26. — 23 And it came to pass, that he went through 
the corn fields on the Sabbath day : and his disciples began, — 'to pluck the ears of corn. 'Deut. 23.25. 
94 And the Pharisees said unto him, " Behold ! — ." 2-5 And he — " ""what David did — Luke" 6. i. ' 
23 — eat the show-bread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to ^ 1 Sam. 21. 6. 
tliem wliich were with him ? " 

Luke vi. part of ver. 1, 3, 4, and ver. 5. — 1 — and his disciples "plucked the ears of "-ij .'J'"no 'f^' 
corn, and did eat — . 3 — said, " Have ye not read — when himself was an hungered, Mark 3. 23. 
and they which were with him ; 4 hovi' he went into the house of God, and did — it is 
not lawful to eat, but for the priests alone .■■ " 5 And he said unto them, '• That "the Son Mark 2. 28. 
of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." See John 1. 51. 



Section XVL — Christ heals the withered liand.'^ sect, xvi 

Matt xii. 9-14. — Mark iii. 1-6. — Luke vi. 6-11. Y M 27 

2 ^'^''"' ''"■ ^" ' And when He was departed thence, ^ it came to pass j. p. 4740. 

3 Mark iii.].' also On another Sabbath, that "he entered again, ^ he went in a progress. 
■1 Matt. xii. 9. into their synagogue, ^ and taught. ''And, behold! there , see n^ 39. 

6 Matt! Iii. 10. '^^^ ^ ni^'^ ' whose right hand was withered. * And the 

7 Luke vi. 6. Scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether 'he would 
9 Mark iii.' 2.' hcal him OH the Sabbath day; that they might '" find an 
i"Lukevi.7. accusation against him. "But he knew their thoughts, 

11 Luke vi. 8. and said to the man which had the withered hand, " Rise 

up, and stand forth in the midst." And he arose, and 

12 iMatt. xii. 10. stood forth. " And they asked him, saying, " Is "it lawful "H^.^j^hn"" if 

to heal on the Sabbath days ? " that they might accuse 

13 Lukcvi. 9. hjjjj^ '^Then said Jesus unto them, " I will ask you one 

thing ; Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to 

14 Mark iii. 4. do evil? to save life or to destroy it ? " ''But they held 

15 Matt. xii. 11. their peace. '^ And he said unto them, " What man 

shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and 

Hf it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay *5^ Deur22^4 '' 
10 Matt. xii. 12. hold on it, and hft it out ? "'' How much then is a man 

better than a sheep ! Wherefore it is lawful to do well 
n Mark iii. 5. on thc Sabbath days." "^ And when he had looked round 
IS Luke vi. 10. about ou tlicm, '^ upou them all, '^ with anger; being 

grieved for the *hardness of their hearts; he saith unto * Or,uindness. 

20 Matt. xii. 13 the man, " Stretch 'forth thine hand." =" And he stretched %Matt. 12 13. 

21 Matt. xii. 14. it forth ; and it was restored whole, like as the other. 

22 Luke vi. 11. ^' Then ''the Pharisees ^^ were filled with madness, [and ^}^^\^'^i I- ,„ 

23 Af 1- T fi 1 0-3 ** 1 • 1 John o. lo. &, iO. 

24 Mitt. xii. 14. they] -'went forth, and straightway took counsel with the 39. & 11. 53. 

23 Luke vi. 11. Herodians, [and] " theld a council against him; '^''' s,x\^ tOr^tooUamnsei. 
VOL. II. 10 e 



74 



CHRIST IS FOLLOWED BY MULTITUDES. [Part III. 



communed one with another, what they might do to Jesus, 
[and] ^'^ how they might destroy him. 



e Mark 3. 5. 
Luke 6. 10. 



2S Matt. xii. 14. 



13 Then 



Matt. xii. part of ver. 10,13, and 14. — 10 — which had his hand withered 
saith he to the man, " ^Stretch forth thine hand." 14 — went out, and — . 

Make iii. part of ver. 1, 2, vcr. 3, and part ofver. 4, 5, and 6. — 1 And — into the syna- 
gogue ; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. 2 And they watclied 
Mm, whether — accuse him. 3 And he saith unto the man whicli had the withered 
*fonhf "a"' ^'^"^ ^^"'^' " *®*^'^*^ forth." 4 And he saith unto tliem, " Is it lawful to do good on the Sab- 
bath days, or to do evil ? to save life, or to kill ? " — . 5 — And he stretched it out : and 
his hand was restored whole as the other. 6 And the Pharisees — against him, how they 
might destroy him. 

Luke vi. part of ver. 6, 7, 10, and 11. — 6 And — he entered into the synagogue, — 
and there was a man — . 7 — he would heal on the Sabbath day, that they might — . 
10 And looking round about — he said unto the man, " Stretch -/^forth thine hand." And 
he did so ; and his hand was restored whole as the other. 11 And they — . 



/Matt. 12. 13. 
Mark 3. 5. 



SECT. xvn. 

V. iE. 27. 
J. P. 4740. 

In a progress. 

r See Note 40. 
a Matt. 10. 23. 
* Matt. 9. 30. 
c Luke 6. 17. 



* Or, rushed, 
d Mark 1. 23, 24. 
Luke 4. 41. 



c Matt. 14. 33. 

See Mark 1. 1. 
fMatt. 12. 16. 

Mark 1. 25, 34. 

g Is, 42. 1. 



A Ps. 2. 7. Matt. 3. 

17. & 17. 5. See 
Mark 1. 1. Luke 
9.35.Ephes. 1.6. 
Col. 1.13. 2 Pet. 
1. 17. 



Section XVII. — Christ is followed by great Multitudes, whose 
Diseases he heals/ 
Matt. xii. 15-21.— Mark iii. 7-12. 
' But when Jesus knew it, "he withdrew himself from 
thence, ^ with his disciples to the sea : ^ and 'great multi- 
tudes followed him " from Galilee, "and from Judaea, ^ and 
from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond 
Jordan : and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great mul- 
titude, when they had heard what great things he did, 
came unto him. ° And he spake to his disciples, that a 
small ship should wait on him, because of the multitude, 
lest they should throng him. ' For he had healed many ; 
insomuch that they *pressed upon him for to touch him, 
as many as had plagues : * and he healed them all. ^ ''And 
unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, 
and cried, saying, " "Thou art the Son of God ! " '" and 
•^he straitly charged them that they should not make him 
known. " That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by 
^Esaias the prophet, saying, — 

'- " Behold ! my Servant, whom I have chosen, 

My Beloved, ''in whom my soul is well pleased ; 

I will put nay Spirit upon Him, 

And He shall show judgment to the Gentiles. 
'^ He shall not strive, nor cry. 

Neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets ; 
'* A bruised reed shall He not break. 

And smoking flax shall He not quench ; 

Till He send forth judgment unto victory. 
'"And in his Name shall the Gentiles trust." 

Matt. xii. IC. And He charged them that they should not make him known. 
Makk iii. part ofver. 7. — But Jesus withdrew himself — and a great multitude — fol- 
lowed him, — . 



1 Matt. xii. 15 

2 Mark iii. 7. 

3 Matt. xii. 15. 

4 Mark iii. 7. 



5 Mark iii. 8. 



6 Mark iii. 9. 



7 Mark iii. 10. 



8 Matt. xii. 15. 

9 Mark iii. 11. 



10 Mark iii. 12. 



11 Matt. xii. 17 



12 Matt. xii. 18 



13 Matt. xii. 19. 

14 Matt. xii. 20. 



15 Matt. xii. 21. 



SECT. xvm. Section XVIIE — Preparation for the Sermon on the Mount — Election 

of the Twelve Apostles. 
Mark iii. 13-18, and part of ver. 19.— Luke vi. 12-19. 
' And "it came pass in those days, that He went out ' ^"''^ "'■ ^^■ 
into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer 
to God.' ° And when it was day he called unto him his "" ^"'''' "'■ ^^ 
disciples, ' whom he would, and they came unto him : '' ^ark iii. 13. 



y.M.27. 
J. p. 4740. 

Galilee. 

a Matt. 14. 23. 
B See Note 41. 



Sect. XIX.] 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 



75 



4 Luke vi. 13. 

5 Mark iii. 14. 

6 Luke vi. 13. 

7 Mark iii. 14. 
s Mark iii. 15. 
9 Luke Ti. 14. 

JO Mark iii. 17. 

11 Mark iii. IS. 



■* and of them he chose twelve, ^ and he ordained twelve 
^ (whom he also named Apostles), "that they should be 
with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, 
* and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out 
devils: — "Simon (whom he also named Peter), and An- 
drew, his brother, '" and James the son of Zebedee, and 
John the brother of James ; (and he surnamed them Bo- 
anerges, which is. The Sons of Thunder ;) " and Philip, 
and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James, 
the son of Alphseus, '" and Judas " Thaddaeus, '^the 'brother 
of James, '* and Simon the Canaanite, ^"^ called Zelotes ; 
'' and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him : — '^ and 
he came down with them, and stood in the plain ; and 
the company of his disciples, "and a great multitude of 
people, out of all Judsea and Jerusalem, and from the 
seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to 
be healed of their diseases ; '' and they that were vexed 
with unclean spirits : and they were healed. "" And the 
whole multitude ''sought to touch him : for 'there went 
virtue out of him, and healed them all. 

Mark iii. part of ver. 13, vcr. 16, and part of ver. 18. — 13 And he goeth up into a 
mountain, and calleth unto him — . 16 And Simon he surnamed Peter. 16 — and 
Andrew, and — and — . 

Luke vi. part of ver. 14, 15, and 16. — 14 — James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, 
15 Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphsus, and Simon — 16 — and Judas Is- 
cariot. which also was the traitor. 



12 Luke vi. 16. 
la Mark ui. 18. 
1-1 Luke vi. 16. 

15 Mark iii. 18. 

16 Luke vi. 15. 

17 Mark 3. 19. 

18 Luke vi. 17. 



19 Luke vi. IS. 

20 Luke vi. 19. 



4 Jude 1. 



c Matt. 4. 25. 
Mark 3. 7. 



d Matt. 14. 36. 
e Mark 5. 30. 



2 Luke 1 

3 Matt. 1 

4 Luke T 

5 Matt. 1 

6 Matt. 1 

7 Matt. 1 
3 Luke V 
9 Matt. \ 

W Luke V 

11 Matt. 1 

12 Matt. \ 

13 Matt. V 

14 Matt. 1 

13 JIatt. \ 

16 Luke V 

17 Matt. 1 

18 Luke V 

19 Luke V 

20 Matt. 1 



Section XIX. — The Sermon on the Mount. ^ 
Matt, chapters v. vi. vii. and vui. ver. 1. — Luke vi. 20, to the end. 
'• ' And seeing the multitudes, "He went up into a moun- 

tain : and when he was set, his disciples came unto him. 
^ And he hfted up his eyes on his disciples, ' and he opened 
his mouth, and taught them, saying, — 



i. 20. 
.2. 



.20. 
3. 

4. 



* " Blessed' be ye poor ! ^ Blessed" are the 
spirit ! for theirs is the kingdom of heaven 



poor in 
' "Blessed 



, 12. 
21 Luke vi. 23. 



2-3 Mi:tt. 
23 Luke 1 



are they that mourn ! for they shall be comforted. 
" Blessed" are the meek ! for -^they shall inherit the earth. 
^ Blessed' are ye that hunger now ! ^ Blessed are they 
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness ! for they 

21. shall be filled. '° Blessed* are ye that weep now ! for 

7. ye shall laugh. ^' Blessed are the merciful ! 'for they 

8. shall obtain mercy. '' Blessed-' are the pure in heart ! 
for *they shall see God. '^ Blessed are the "peacemakers ! 
for they shall be called the children of God. '" 'Blessed 
are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake ! 
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. '^ Blessed are ye, 
when men '^ shall hate you, and when they shall separ- 
ate you from their company, and shall reproach you, '' [and] 
shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner 

22. of "evil against you * falsely, for my sake ; '* and cast out 
your name as evil, for "the Son of Man's sake. '" "Rejoice 
ye in that day, *° rejoice, and be exceeding glad : for 
great is your reward in heaven : " and leap for joy : for, 
behold ! your reward is great in heaven ; for ^in the like man- 
ner did their fathers unto the prophets — -^ so persecuted 
they the prophets which were before you. -^ But, 'woe unto 
you that are rich ! for ""ye have received your consolation. 



.21. 
. 6. 



.23- 



SECT. XIX. 
V..^. 27. 

J. P. 4740. 

Galilee. 

t See Note 42. 
a Mark 3. 13, 20. 
5 James 2. 5. 
c See Ps. 51. 17. 

Prov. 16. 19. &. 

29.23. Is. 57.15. 

& 66. 2. 
d Is. 61. 2, 3. 

Luke 6. 21. Jobu 

16. 20. 2 Cor. 1. 

7. Rev. 21. 4. 
e Ps. 37. 11. 
/See Kom. 4. 13. 
Declaration who 

are blessed. 
ff Is. do. 1. &: 65. 

13. 
A Is. 61. 3. 
iPs. 41. 1. Matt. 

6. 14. Mark 11. 

25. 2 Tim. 1. 16. 

Heb. 6.10. James 

2. 13. 
JPs.15.2. &24.4. 

Heb. 12. 14. 
k I Cor. 13. 12. 

1 Jobn 3. 2, 3. 
u See Note 43. 
I 2 Cor. 4. 17. 

2 Tim. 2. 12. 
1 Pet. 3. 14. 

m 1 Pet. 4. 14. 
* Gr. lying, 
n See John 1. 51. 
.A.cts 5. 41. Col. 

1.24. James 1.2. 

1 Pet. 4. 13. 

p 1 Sam. 8. 7, 8. 

1 Kings 18. 4, 13. 

& 19. 2, 10, 14. 

& 21. 20. & 22. 8, 

26,27. 2 Kings 1. 

9.2Chron.l6.10. 

&24.19-22.&36. 

16. Neb. 9. 26. 

Jer. 3. 30. & 20. 

2. & 26. 15, 23. 
q Amos 6. 1. 
Woes denounced. 

T Yiaxt. 6. 2, 5, 16. 
Luke 16. 25. 



16 THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. [Part HI. 

tPm"i4. °'Woe 'unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. "^ ^"ke w. 25. 
u John 15. 19. 'Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and 
x"etNote^4. ^cep. '^ Woe "uuto you, when men shall speak well of "" ^"''^ ^'- ^'^■ 
» Mark 9. 50. you ! for SO did their fathers to the false prophets. 

^Privii'etesll" '"'Ye are the salt'' of the earth : "but if the salt have ^ M-tt.v.13-42. 
Duties of Christ's Jost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted ? it is thenceforth good 
wProv. 4. 18. for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 

™e Note 45 " Y^ "^""^ ^^^ ^^S^*- ^^ *^^^ world.y A city that is set on a hill cannot 
X Mari!;4. 21. be hid. ^^ Neither do men ""light a candle, and put it under a *bushel, 

ii!'33.^' ^^" ^ but on a candlestick ; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 

* The word in the ^^ Let your lia;ht SO shiiio before men, "that they may see your good 

original signifies iizi-r t-i-i i-i--i 

a measure con- works, and gloniy your Jbather which is in heaven. 

^tf"ls"S» a ^^ " Think "not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets : 

%h B " f ^ ^'^ ^^^ come to destroy, but to fulfil. ^^ For verily I say unto 

Christ's cSming. you, Hill hcaveii and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no 

zJohn'is 8^ wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled. ^^ Whosoever 'therefore 

1 Cor. 14. 25. shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, 

"w.T'Ga'i. 3;'2t lie shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven ; but who- 

b Lui;e 16. 17. socver shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the 

d p^m^ 9 31 & kingdom of heaven. ^^ For I say unto you, That except your righ- 

10- 3. teousness shall exceed ''the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, 

l^xod'^'o'ls y^ shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

Deut. 5. 17. 21 u Yq \\ave heard that it was said *by them of old time, ' 'Thou 

the''si'xth'com- shalt uot kill ; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the 

fi j"h"'''3T- Judgment.' ^^ But I say unto you, That -^whosoever is angry with his 

g-That is, rain brothcr without a cause shall be in danger of the Judgment : and 

■6."2o.'' James"2! whosoevcr shall say to his brother, ^Raca ! shall be in danger of 

2"- the Council : but whosoever shall say. Thou fool ! shall be in 

23.''i9'. ' danger of hell fire.^ ^^ Therefore, ''if thou bring thy gift to the altar, 

z See Note 46. g^j-^^j there remembcrest that thy brother hath aught against thee ; 

i See Job 42. 8. *^ c> G ^ 

Matt. 18. 19. 24 leave Hhere thy gift before the altar, and go thy way ; first be 
ip™'377.' reconciled to thy brother, and then come, and offer thy'* gift. ^^^ Agree 
a See Note 47. with thiuc adversary quickly, 'whiles thou art in the way with 
■'i2™58, 59.' him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and 
''^%l%^^' ^' the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 
zExod. 20. 14. 2s Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, 
rnJo'b.31 i.Prov. till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. 
t^-^l""" ffS- '^ " Ye have heard that it was said r*by them of old time,] ' 'Thou 

34.2. 2 Sam. 11.2. oo -n t i 

Exphnation of shalt uot commit adultery. -^^ But I say unto you, that whosoever 
^^mlndmen?""" '"lookcth on a womau, to lust after her, hath committed adultery with 
"£"■9^43^7^" ^^®^' ^li'^^cly in his heart. ^^ And "if thy right eye toffend thee, "pluck 

* Or, to them. it out, and cast it from thee : for it is profitable for thee that one ot 
\heetooffmd thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be 
See ch. 19. 12. cast iuto hell. ^" And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast 

f cot.^9. 27'. it from thee : for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members 
p o'eut.'li. 1. should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 

ig's^&c Ma'rk ^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^' ' Whosocvcr ^'shall put away his wife, let him 

10; 2', &c.' ^ give her a writing of divorcement.' ^^ But I say unto you, 'That 
'Zuke'ie.'is. whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, 

7:°)o;il'^*'°'' causeth her to commit adultery : and whosoever shall marry her that 
r Matt. 23. 16. jg divorced committcth adultery. 

swearmg^prohib- ,3 ^^ ^^^j^^^ ye havc heard Hhat it hath been said by them of old time, 
^LeT'^ig^V' ' Thou 'shalt not forswear thyself, but 'shalt perform unto the Lord 

Numb. 30.2. thine oaths.' ^4 gy^ I gay unto you, "Swear not at all; neither by 
<Dem.23. 23. hcavcn ; for it is "God's throne: ^^ nor by the earth; for it is his 
"^'jame's's: il footstool : neither by Jerusalem ; for it is "the city of the Great 
wPs.48:2.'&87.3. King, ^sj^gither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst 



Sect. XIX.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 77 

not make one hair white or black. ^^ But ""let your communication be, ""^f^ '*■ ^- •f'™«' 
Yea, yea ; Nay, nay : for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. 

38 a Ye have heard that it hath been said, ' An ''eye for an eye, and a of Revenge. 
tooth for a tooth.' ^^ But I say unto you, 'That ye resist not evil ; "but y^^°%l\t' 
whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other ^eut. 19. 21. 
also ; ■*" and if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy ^24^29. Luke 6. 
coat, let him have thy cloak also : '^^ and whosoever 'shall compel ll\ ^°cou%."'. 
thee to go a mile, go with him twain. ''^Give to him thatasketh thee, \p^u3.t^^' 
and "from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away : ' and of a is. so. 6. Lam. 

1 Luke vi. 30. him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again, j ji^,;_ 37. 3.2. 

2 Luke vi. 3L 2 i^^^ dg^g yg would that men should do to vou, do ve '^'^^ ^^- ^^■ 

1 ^ ^T in ■ J ^ J cDeut. 15.8, 10. 

also to them hkewise. Lukee. 30, 35. 

3 :iatt. V. -H. ' " Ye have heard that it hath been said, ' Thou 'shalt christians are to 

love thy neighbour, and -^hate thine enemy.' *But^Isay mies. 
4Luievi. 2<, ^j^^^ ^.^^^ which hear. Love your enemies; do good to ^uln^'i.'ii.' 

them which hate you ; bless them that curse you ; and e Lev. 19. is. 
sMiut. V. 45. pray ''for them which despite fully use you : ° that ye may •''^^"o^' ®' ^^' 

be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for i' Exod.as. 4. 

'He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good ; 5. 44. Luke e! 

6 Matt. V. 46. and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. ® For if lo". ^°"' ^ ' ^^' 

7 Luke ri. 32. ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? 'for *J'°''i^„-^A 

■ 11 1 111 a 1 I Acts /.60.] Cor. 

8 Matt. V. 4f;. Sinners also love those that love them : do not even the 4. 12, 13. 1 Pet. 
sMait. V. 17. Publicans the same? ''And if ye salute your brethren ,■ job. '25. 3.' 

only, what do ye more than others 1 do not even the 

10 Luke vi. 33. Publicaus SO ? '° And if ye do good to them which do 

good to you, what thank have ye ? for sinners also do even 

11 Luke vi. 34. the same. " And ^if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to •'' "'" 

receive, what thank have ye ? for sinners also lend to sin- 

12 Luke vi. 35. ners, to receive as much again. '^ But *love ye your ene- christians are to 

11 11 ;i 11- r 1 • • ° Soou to all 

mies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again ; men. 
and your reward shall be great, and "ye shall be the chil- \^^%\l'' 

13 Luke ri. 33. dren of the Highest : for He is kind unto the unthankful, m Matt. 5. 45. 

t4 Matt. V. 43. ^ .Q tj^g eyil_ 13 gg yg therefore merciful, '' be "ye there- ",?''2;^'^^i^'o- 

15 Luke vi. 3S. . : . "^ . ^-^* 44. & 19. 9. 

16 Matt. V. 48. fore perfect, even "as 3'our Father which is in heaven is coi.i. 28. &4. 

17 Matt.vi.1-34. i^nierciful, [and] '^perfect. 1 Pet. 1. 15, le.' 

■' " Take heed that ye do not your *alms before men, to be seen of Directions on 
them : otherwise ye have no reward tof your Father which is in ^ , ° . ," 

'' ^ Epiies. 5. 1. 

heaven. ^ Therefore when thou doest thine alms, tdo not sound a * or, rigkums- 
trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in p'^''ii2!"9.' Dan! 
the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, g- %[ ^ ^"- ^• 
They have their reward. ^ But when thou doest alms, let not thy left t or, with. 
hand know what thy right hand doeth : ■* that thine alms may be in p^°"-12-8- 

^ ~ J . . J J Ur, cause not a 

secret ; and thy Father, wnich seeth in secret, himself 'shall reward trumpet to be 

, , ■' ' sounded. 

thee openly. , Luke 14. 14. 

^" And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are : How to pray. 
for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners 
of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you. 
They have their reward. ^ But thou, when thou prayest, "^enter into »■ 2 Kings 4. 33. 
thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father 
which is in secret ; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward 
thee openly. '' But when ye pray, ^use not vain repetitions, as the ^Icch 5.*2.^^' 
heathen do ; 'for they think that they shall be heard for their much 1 1 Kings is. 26, 
speaking. ^ Be not ye therefore like unto them. For your Father aLukeii.s.&c. 
knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him. ^ After i>seeNote48. 
this manner therefore pray ye: — "Our Father which art in heaven,'' "acis 21. 14. ' 
hallowed be thy name : ^"^ thy kingdom come: "thy will be done in «> 1*5.103.20,21. 
earth, '"as it is in heaven : ^^ give us this day our ""daily bread : ^^and Vrov. 3o.'8.' 

VOL. II. G* 



78 THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. [Part III. 

"fcc''"' '^' ^^' ^forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors : ^^ and ^lead us not 
I Matt. 26. 41. into teuiptation, but "deliver us from evil. [''For thine is the kingdom, 
I'coT^w.'ii'^^' and the power, and the glory, for ever ! Amen.] ^*For 'if ye forgive 
s.^fo.' ^' ^" ^^''' ^^^ their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you ; 
a John 17. 15. ^^ but ''if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father 
4 1 chron. 29. 11. forgive your trespasses. 

cMaTkiT. 25*26. ^^ " Moreovcr, "when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad 
^p}>«|-*g32. countenance. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear 
d Mutt. 18. 35. unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 
James 2. 13. 17 g^^ thou, whcu thou fastcst, "'^anoint thine head, and wash thy face ; 
/Ruth. 3. 3. Dan. ^® that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is 
^°-^- in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee 

[openly]. 

'^"in^Heavtn!""* ^^ " Lay °'not up for yourselves treasures upon earth ; where moth 

g Prov. 23. 4. and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal ; 

HJb"ih 5 James ^" t)ut ''lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth 

5. ], &c. nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor 

^dty 'enforcrZ'"' Steal. ^^ For whcrc your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

h Matt. 19. 21. ^^ The 'light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, 

&"i8'. 22. 1 Tim.' thy whole body shall be full of light ; ^^ but if thine eye be evil, thy 

6. 19. 1 Pet. 1. 4. whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in 

' " "^ ■ ' ■ thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. 

Decision in reiig- ^4 u jvjq ^jxiau cau servc two masters : for either he will hate the one, 
jLuke"]Ti3 ^^d ^o^^ t'^^ other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the 
ftGai.i.io. iTim. othcr. '^Yc caunot scrvc God and Mammon. ^^Therefore I say unto 
i'joh'n'2'.'i5!^'^' you, 'Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye 
IPs 55. 22. Luke shall drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the 
4.6. 1'pet. 5. 7.' life more than meat, and the body than raiment? ^^ Behold "'the 
"i47.''9.^Luke 12! fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather 
24, &c. into barns ; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not 

much better than they ? ^^ Which of you, by taking thought, can add 
one cubit unto his stature ? -^ And why take ye thought for raiment? 
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow ; they toil not, neither do 
they spin : ^^ and yet I say unto you. That even Solomon, in all his glory, 
was not arrayed hke one of these. ^^ Wherefore, if God so clothe 
the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the 
oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ? ^^ There- 
fore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat ? or, What shall we 
drink ? or. Wherewithal shall we be clothed ? ^^ For after all these 
things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth 
nSeeiKings3.i3. that yc havc uced of all these things. ^^But "seek ye first the king- 
10.' 30.' Luke 12. dom of God, and his righteousness ; and all these things shall be 
31. 1 Tim. 4. 8. ^^^gjj ^jj^(.Q yQy_ 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow ; for 
the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto 
the day is the evil thereof. 
To judge no man. ' " Judge °not, and ye shall not be judged ; condemn not, ' ^"'^^ "'■ ^'^■ 
Matt. 7.1. and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be 
3,4^w"i3.'icor; forgivcu ; ^give, ^and it shall be given unto you, good ='Lukevi.38. 
4^ 3j^o. j.imes 4. j^gg^^^j.^^ prcsscd down, and shaken together, and running 
pProv. 19. 17. (jyg^^ 'shall men give into your bosom. For ''with ^ what ^Ma"-"'-2- 
'er5!'a;7.'j^'.3'l: judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with Uhe ^Lukevi.28. 
r Mark 4. 24. ^^-mc lucasure ye mete withal it shall be measured to you 
James 2. 13. again." 

5 Matt. 15. 14. ^And he spake a parable unto them, "Can 'the blind ^Lukevi.sg. 

.Toim ' 13.' iii". & lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 
*oJ!lkaabepe,-'The 'disciple is not above his master: but every one «L"kevi.4o, 
fecicdashismas- *^^^^ jg perfect shall be as his master. 'And why be- 'Luk6vi.4i. 



Sect. XIX.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 79 

boldest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but 
8 Matt. vii. 3. ^ considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? ^ or 
10 Luke vi"*^ how '"canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull 
out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself be- 
holdest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? Thou 
hypocrite ! "cast out first the beam out of thine own eye ; «seeProv. is.n. 
and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is "ss^^g! \lls'i3. 
n Matt.vii.6-15. in thy brother's eye. ,f ' ^e- 

,. •'. I'i'ii 1 1 -7 Never expose Sa- 

^1 " Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your cred Things to 

pearls before swine ; lest they trample them under their feet, and turn '^°"'^™p'' 
again and rend you. 

'' " Ask "and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, ^^r^yer^"^ 

and it shall be opened unto you. ^For ""every one that asketh "'^^""if'al^' 

receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; and to him that knocketh it Luken.u, io. 

shall be opened. ^ Or ''what man is there of you, whom if his son 14. 13! & 15. ?.& 

ask bread, will he give him a stone ? ^^ or if he ask a fish, will he give i.'s.V. rjohnl! 

him a serpent ? " If ye then, 'being evil, know how to give good gifts ^|" ^ ^ "' \^- 

1-11 I I 1 11 -n I 1- 1 • • « Prov. 8. 17. Jer. 

unto your children, how much more shall your t ather which is in 29- 12, is. 
heaven give good things to them that ask him ! ^-Therefore all things !r"'"'r"=;"r^^J 

3 c5 c 02 Oen. b. 5. &. o. 

"whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to 21. 
them: for 'this is the Law and the Prophets. a Luke 6. 31. 

^^ " Enter 'ye in at the strait gate : for wide is the gate, and broad To enter in at the 

~ . cD ' Strait ^iiXc 

is the way, that leadeth to destruction ! and many there be which go j Lev. 19! is. 
in thereat ! ^* *Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, Rom. ' if. ■s*) 10. 
which leadeth unto life ! and few there be that find it. ^i^: s. u. 

^^ " Beware ''of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, c Luke 13. 24. 
but inwardly they are 'ravening wolves. ^^ Ye shall know them by their *OT,mw. 
iLnkevi. 41. fruJts. ' For •'"cvery tree is kiiown by Ws owu fruit : for of 23.'']6'. Jiuti. 24! 
thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush tafba^.Eoin.'ie! 

2 Matt. vii. 17. gather they tgrapes : * even so ^every good tree bringeth ^'^ ^po|^|''®|" 

forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil 2 Pet. 2. i, 2, 3. 

3 Matt. vu. 18. fj.ujt_ 3 ^ g-Qod tree cannot bring forth evil fruit ; neither 3. 5. 2 Tim'. 3. 5'. 

4 Matt. vii. 19. can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every ''tree '^j'^J'^"^"^^^!^ 3°- 

that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast ^ox, a grape' 

5 Luke vi. 45. into the fire. ** A 'good man out of the good treasure of s}<^i- "• ^s- 

his heart bringeth forth that which is good : and an evil k Matt. 3. 10. 
man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth Iti, e!" ^' ■'"''" 

6 Matt. vii. 20. that which is evil : ® wherefore, by their fruits ye shall ' ^i'^"- ^- 35. 

7 Luke vi. 45. know them : ' for ^of the abundance of the heart his mouth -? '^'«"- ^^- 34- 

speaketh. 

8 Luke vi. 46. ^ " And ''why call ye me. Lord ! Lord ! and do not the To be Doers of the 

9 Matt. vii. 21. things which I say? ^ Not every one tliat saith unto me, He"rersoriy."° 

'Lord ! Lord ! shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; "!"ii\uk'!!''i3; 

but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in ^• 

10 Matt. vii. 22. heaven. '» Many will say to me in that day, Lord ! Lord ! '25?n!'il: I'^ke 

have we "not prophesied in thy name ? and in thy name 13.' K'jm.U'is. ' 

have cast out devils ? and in thy name done many wonder- 't™'''^,^' , 

n Matt. vii. 23. fyj -works ? " And "then will I profess unto them, I never John il si.' 

knew you : "depart from me, ye that work iniquity ! „ ^J°^^ g^' {^ 

2 Matt. vii. 24. '2 " therefore, whosoever heareth, " cometh to me, and ^uke 'is '25:^7. 

13 Luke VI. 47. , 1 ,4 1 • ,- • 1111 T -11 2Tim. 2. 19. 

14 Matt. vii. 24. "earetn these sayings 01 mine, and doeth them, 1 will oPs. .5.5. &6.8. 
i=Lukevi.47. '5 show you to whom he is like. "He is like "unto a ^'""-^s-^. 

17 Matt! In. 24. ^^^^^ man, which built his house, "and digged deep, and 
" Luke vi. 48. laid the foundation on a rock. And when '" the rain de- 
Z fT' ™'aT' scended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, -° the 

^ Luke VI. 48. , ' i i i 

Stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not 
21 MM. Vii. 25. shake it ; -" and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. 



80 



THE CENTURION'S SERVANT HEALED. [Part ill. 



pMatt. 13.54. 
Mark 1. 22. & 
6. 2. Luke 4. 32. 

q John 7. 46. 



r Luke 6. 27, 30. 
Eom. 12. 14, 52, 



« Luke 6. 37. 

21. &'14. 3, 4, 

10, 13. 1 Cor. 4. 

3. 5. James 4. 11, 

12. 
t Luke 6. 41, 42. 



u Matt. 5. 11. 
1 Pet. 2. 19. & 4. 
14. 

V Matt. 5. 39. 
w Matt. 5. 40. 
2 Deut. 15. 7,8,10. 

Prov. 21. 26. 

Matt. 5. 42. 
y Matt. 5. 46. 
2 Matt. 7. 16, 17. 



°^ And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and "'' ^'^"- ''"■ "^■ 
doeth them not, shall be likened unto a fooHsh man, '' that, ^ Luke vi. 49. 
without a foundation, built ^* his house upon the sand. ^ Matt. vii. 26 
"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the ^ Matt. vu. 27 
winds blew, and ^^ the stream did beat vehemently "' upon ^ Luke vi. 49. 

1 I 1 • c 11 1 1 ^ 11 r- • i 9ti T ^"^ Ma-U. vii. 27 

that house, and it lell, and great was the lall 01 it ! Im- 28 Luke vi. 49. 
mediately it fell ; and the ruin of that house was great." 

^^ And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these ^^ Matt. vii. 28. 
sayings, ^the people were astonished at his doctrine. '° 'For ^^ ^att. vii. 29. 
he taught them as one having authority, and not as the 
Scribes. ^' [And] when he was come down from the ^i Matt. viii. 1. 
mountain, great multitudes followed him. 

Matt. v. part of vcr. 12, and ver. 44. — 12 — for — . 44 But I say unto you, Love your 
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to ""them that hate you, and pray for them 
which despitefully use you, and persecute you. 

Matt. vii. ver. l,part of ver. 2, 3, 4, ver. 5, and part of ver. 16, 24, 26, a.nd 27. — 1 " Judge 
^not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with — what measure 5»e mete, it shall be measured 
to you again. 3 'And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but — . 
4 — wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye ; and, behold 1 
a beam is in thine own eye ? 5 Thou hypocrite ! first cast out the beam out of thine own 
eye ; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 
16 — Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? 24 — liken him — upon a rock : 
25 — And — and beat upon that house — . 26 — which built — . 27 — beat — .'' 

Luke vi. part of ver. 20. 21, 22, ver. 29, part of ver. 30, 32, 36, 41, 42, ver. 43, and part 
of ver. 47, 48, 49. — 20 — and said — for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 — for ye shall 
be filled. — 22 "Blessed are ye when men — . 29 "And unto him that smiteth thee on 
the one cheek offer also the other ; "and him that taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to 
take thy coat also. 30 ^Give to every man that asketh of thee — . 32 ^For if ye love 
them which love you, what thank have ye .'' 36 — as your Father also is — . 41 — per- 
ceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye .' 42 Either how — . 43 Tor a good tree 
bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 
47 Whosoever — my sayings, and doeth them, I will — . 48 — a man which built a 
house — the flood arose — for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth and 
doeth not, is like a man — a house upon the earth : against which — and — ." 



SECT. XX. 

V. M. 27. 
J. P. 4740. 

Capernaum. 
c See Note 49. 



a Matt. 8. 8. 



iPs. 107.20. 



c Luke 7. 8. 



Section XX. — The Centurion^ s Servant healed. 
Matt. viii. 5-13. — Luke vii. 1-10. 
' Now when He had ended all his sayings in the audi- 
ence of the people, he entered into Capernaum. ^ And a 
certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was 
sick, and ready to die. ' And when Jesus was entered 
into Capernaum, '' he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the 
elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come 
and heal his servant ; ^ and saying, " Lord, my servant lieth 
at home, sick of the palsy, grievously tormented." " And 
when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, 
saying, " That he was worthy for whom he should do this : 
''for he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a syna- 
gogue." ® And Jesus saith unto him, " I will come and 
heal him." " Then Jesus went with them. And when 
he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent 
friends to him, saying unto him, " Lord, trouble not thy- 
self ; for "I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under 
my roof: '"wherefore, neither thought I myself worthy to 
come unto thee : '' but ''speak the word only, and my ser- 
vant shall be healed. '^ For I '^also am a man set under 
authority, having ''' soldiers ^under me ; and I say unto 
this Jiian, Go, and he goeth ; and to another. Come, and 
he cometh ; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it." 



1 Luke vii. 1. 

2 Luke vii. 2. 



3 Matt. viii. 5. 

4 Luke vii. 5. 



S Matt. viii. 6. 
<> Luke vii. 4. 



7 Luke vii. 8. 

8 Matt. viii. 7. 

9 Luke vii. 6. 



10 Luke vii. 7. 

11 Matt. viii. 8. 

12 Matt. viii. 9. 
1^ Luke vii. 8. 
H Matt. viii. 9. 



Sect. XXL] THE WIDOW'S SON RAISED TO LIFE. 81 

jslTv'"^^" '"When Jesus heard "these thmgs, he marvelled at him, 
and turned him about, and said unto the people that fol- 

17 Matt. viii. 10. }Q\yg(j hijji^ 1' u Verily I say unto you, I have not found so 

18 Matt. viii. 11. g,j.g^j f^j(.}^ . j^Q^ j-jQj. jj^ Israel!" '® And I say unto you, 

That ''many shall come from the east and west, and shall "^^x'^itlo.^ 
sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the king- ^g^'gg^- Act^^irT 

19 Matt. viii. 13. Jqjj^ q£ heaven ; '"but 'the children of the kingdom -^shall 45] &u.i8. & 

be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping g.'&c.Ephes.s; 
!o Matt. viii. 13. g^jjfj gnashing of teeth." -° And Jesus said unto the cen- ®' 

■ ,, r^ 1 1 1 1 11- 1 1- e Matt. 21.43. 

turion, " (jro thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it /Matt. 13. 42,50. 
done unto thee." And his servant was healed in the self- m.^&Sso.^*' 
21 Luke vii. 10. same hour. "'And they that were sent, returning to the gp^t^'n' 
house, found the servant whole that had been sick. ludeh. 

Matt. viii. part of ver. 5, 8, 9, and 10. — 5 — there came unto him a centurion, be- 
seeching him, 8 The centurion answered and said, " Lord ! ^I am not worthy that g Luke 7. 6. 
thou sliouldest come under my roof: — . 9 — am a man under authority, having — ." 
10 — it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, — . 

LtJKE vii. part ofver. 3, 7, 8, 9, and 10. — 3 And when — . 7 " — but say in a word, 
and my servant shall be healed. 8 For I — ''under me soldiers, and I say unto one. Go, A Matt. 8. 9. 
and he goeth ; and to another. Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and 
he doeth it." 9 When Jesus heard — . 10 " I say unto you, I have not found so great 
faith, no, not in Israel." — . : 



Section XXI. — The Widow's Son at Nain is raised to life.^ sect. xxi. 

Luke vii. 11-18. y ^26 

^^ And it came to pass the day after, that He went into a city called j. p. 4739. 
Nain : and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Nain. 
^2 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold ! there was a see nm^ 50. 
a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother ; and she was a 
widow : and much people of the city [was] with her. ^^ And when 
the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, 
"Weep not." ^^And he came and touched the *bier; and they that *0r, coffin. 
bare him stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say unto thee, 
"Arise!" ^^And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak; and "n''^' ^ Acts" 9" 
he delivered him to his mother.® ^^ And 'there came a fear on all : '^°- K"""- ■*■ i7. 
and they glorified God, saying, "That 'a great prophet is risen up j^ri'^er^^ 
among us;" and, " That God hath visited his people." ^^ And this c ch. 24. 19. John 
rumor of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all t'.ii'.^^'^'^'^ 
the region round about. ^^And 'the disciples of John showed him of dch.i.es. 
all these things. " ^att. 11. a. 



Section XXII. — Message from John, who was still in Prison, sect. xxii. 

to ChristJ — 

Matt. xi. 2-6.— Luke vii. 19-23. 7'-^'JL 

J X 4/40 

1 Matt. xi.2. 1 ]\jQ.^y when John had heard "in the prison the works of onatour. 

2 Luke vii. 19. Christ, he, ^ calling u7ito him two of his disciples, sent them ~ — ■ ^ 

3 Matt.xi.3. to Jesus, 'and said unto him, "Art thou 'He that should auln°iV3.' 

4 Luke vii. 20. come, or do we look for another?" "When the men jcen. 49. 10. 

were come unto him, they said, " John Baptist hath sent Drmg.lt. Voim 
us unto thee, saying, ' Art thou He that should come ? or ^- ^'^■ 

5 Luke vii. 21. look we for another ? ' " * And in the same hour he cured 

many of their infirmities, and plagues, and of evil spirits ; 

6 Luke vii. 22. a,nd unto many that were blind he gave sight. '^ Then 

[Jesus] answering said unto them, " Go your way, and tell cis.so is. &35 
John what things ye have seen and heard ; 'how that the John 2. 23. & 3. 

7 Matt. xi. 5. bhnd' receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers ^fai'^itl?; 

yoL. n. 11 



82 CHRIST'S TESTIMONY OF JOHN. [Part III, 

g See Note 53. ^^.^ cleaiiscd, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised e up, 
'^6h2.^Luke4.i8: and "the poor have the Gospel preached to them. « And " Matt.xi.e. 
James 2. 5. blessod IS he, whosoever shall not 'be offended in me ! " 

e Is. 8. 14, 15. 

*^^"- ■'^ ^^- ^ Matt. xi. part of ver. 2, ver. 4, andpart of ver. 5. — 2 — sent two of his disciples, 4 Je- 
Rom. 9. 39,33. sus answered and said unto them, " Go and show John again tliose things which ye do 

1 Cor. 1.23 & 2. hear and see : 5 The Wind — ." 

14. Gal. 5. 11. 

I Pet. 2. 8. L0KE vii. part of ver. 19, 22, and ver. 23. — 19 And John — saying, "Art thou he that 

should come ? or look we for another ?" 22-' — see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, 

„„ ,, ,, „ the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the Gospel is preached. 23 And blessed 
/See Matt. 11.6. . un^n-xrjj-.. 

IS he, whosoever shall not.'De oftended m me. 



SECT. XXIII. 



Luke vii. 25. 



Section XXIII. — Christ's Testimony Concerning John. 
V. M. 27. Matt. xi. 7-15.— Luke vii. 24-30. 

J. P. 4740. > Ajjj) when the messengers of John were departed, ' ^"^® ''"■ ^^• 

n^ur. 2 jggyg began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, ^ '^^*"' '^'' ^' 
oEphes. 4. 14. " What wcut ye out into the wilderness to see ? "A reed 

shaken with the wind ? ' But what went ye out for to see ? ' ^^^^*- "'• ^• 
A man clothed in soft raiment ? Behold ! they that wear 
soft clothing, — ''behold ! they which are gorgeously appar- 
elled, and live dehcately, are in kings' courts. ^ But what ^ Luke vii. as. 
went ye out for to see ? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, 
^aS'.^Lukfi. 'and much more than a prophet ! ' For this is he, of whom « mm. xi. lo. 
■''s- it is written, — 

''i^'^a' Luke T.'ie. ' Behold ! ^I send my messenger before thy face, 
& 7. 27. Which shall prepare thy way before Thee.' 

' For * verily I say unto you. Among them that are born ' Luke vii. 28. 
of women, there hath not risen a greater 'prophet than 9 Luke vii. 28. 
John the Baptist : ^° notwithstanding, he that is least in the i" Matt, xi 11. 
h See Note 54. kingdom of heaven is greater than he.'^ " And ''from the " '^^''"- "'• ^^• 

days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven 
*furce'f m>d"\hei *sufFereth violence, and the violent take it by ' force. 
^■e,'&""' '"'" '' -"^"^ '^'^ *'^® Prophets and the Law prophesied until John ; " ^^='"- ";• ^^■ 
i See Note 55. ^'^ and if ye will receive it, this is ^Elias, which was for to ^' ■^''"■"■•i^- 
'^^''■^■''■Matt ^ome." '^ (And all the people that heard him, and the " ^"'=^^•29- 
^17.^2.' Lukei! Pubhcaus, justified God, ^being baptized with the baptism 
^^'r rustrated ^^ "^*^^^"- '' "^"^ ^^^ Pharisecs and lawyers t rejected ''the " '^"''* ^"- ^°- 
X Or' wmn them- couuscl of God J agaiust themselves, being not baptized 
selves. of hj^i). "^ " He Hhat hath ears to hear, let him hear !" " '^''"- ^'- ^^■ 

g Matt. 3. 5. ' 

^""^^on^v' Matt. xi. part of ver. 7, 8, ver. 9, and part of ver. 11. — 7 And as they departed — . 

i Matt. 13. 9. ^ — ^"^^ i" king's houses. 9 " But what went ye out for to see ? A prophet .' Yea, I 

Luke 8. 8. Rev. say unto you, .'and more than a prophet. 11 — than John the Baptist — ." 

& 3.' 6, 13, 22. ' Luke vii. part of ver. 24, 2.5, ver. 27, and part of ver. 28. — 24 — he began to speak unto 
j Matt. 21.26. the people concerning John, "What went ye out into the wilderness for to see ? 'A 

Luke 1. 76. ^gg^j shaken with the wind ? 25 But what went ye out for to see .' A man clothed iii 

k Ephes. 4. 4. ^^^^ raiment ? — . 27 This is He of whom it is written, ' Behold ! 'I send my messenger 

1.75. ■ ' before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.' 28 — I say unto you, Among 

those that are born of women there is not a greater — but he that is least in the king- 
dom of God is greater than he." 



SECT. XXIV. Section XXIV. — Christ reproaches the Jews for their Impenitence 
V. M. 27. and InsensiKlity y- 

J. P. 4740. Matt. xi. 16-24.— Luke vii. 31-35. 

on^ur. 1 ^jjp ti^g Lo,.^j gjj-jj^ u Whcrcunto, "then, shall I hken the i Luke vii. 31-35 

k See Note 56. men of this generation ? and to what are they like ? ^^ They 
a Matt.ii.i6,&c. are like unto children sitting in the market-place, and calling one to 
another, and saying, ' We have piped unto you, and ye have not 



Sect. XXV.] CHRIST INVITES ALL TO COME TO HIM. 83 

danced ; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not wept.' ^^ For ^Ms^tife?' 
^ John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine ; and ^^'^ i- 1^- 
ye say, ' He hath a devil.' ^i-phe 'Son of Man is come eating and <= see John i. 51. 
drinking ; and ye say, ' Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a 
2 Matt. si. 20- friend of Publicans and sinners ! 2= But ''Wisdom is justified <? Matt. 11. 19. 

24. of all her children." -' Then 'began he to upbraid the cities eLuieio.i3,&c. 

wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented 
not. ^^ " Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! for 
if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in 
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago -^in sackcloth /Jonahs. 7,8. 
and ashes. ^~ But I say unto you, ^It shall be more tolerable for ^ *^"'- 1°- 1^- 
Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. ^^ And thou 
Capernaum, ''which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down ft is. i4. 13. Lam. 
to hell ! for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had 
been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. ^■^But I 
say unto you, 'That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom iMatt. 10. 15. 
in the day of judgment, than for thee." 

Matt. xi. 16-19.— 16 " But >whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto •? Luke 7. 31, &o. 
children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, 17 and saying, ' We have 
piped unto you, and ye have not danced ; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not 
lamented.' 13 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ' He hath a 
devil." 19 *The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ' Behold a man ^ ^ee John 1. 51. 
gluttonous, and a winebibber, 'a friend of Publicans and sinners ! ' But Wisdom is jus- ■'-'" ^ • • 
tified of her children." 



Section XXV. — Christ invites all to come to him} sect. xxv. 

Matt. xi. 25, to the end. „ _, „^ 

•25 j^^ "that time Jesus answered and said, " I thank thee, O Father, j p 474Q 

Lord of heaven and earth ! because 'Thou hast hid these things from on a tour. 

the wise and prudent, "and hast revealed them unto babes. ^^ Even , „ 1^ „ 

1 ^ ^ . - . ^ "^^6 JNote 57. 

so, Father ! for so it seemed good in thy sight! ^^ All ''things are a Luke 10. 21. 
delivered unto me of my Father : and no man knoweth the Son, but *,^^^ ^%- \^- 

- 1 1 -n 1 ' Cor. l.iy,27. 

the Father ; 'neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and &2. 8. 2Cor. 3 
he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. ^^ Come unto me, all ye cch. le. 17. 
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ^^ Take my (Jch.as.is. Luke 
yoke upon you, -^and learn of me ; for I am meek and "'lowly in heart : 35! & is. 3?& 17! 
''and ye shall find rest in your souls. ^'^ For *my yoke is easy, and ^iln^'il^'^e 
my burden is light." 46. & 10. 15. 

/John 13. 15. 
- Phil.9. 5. 1 Pet. 

2.21. 1 John 2. 6. 

Section XXVI. — Christ forgives the Sins of a Female Penitent, at ^^ah^iX 
the House of a Pharisee.'^ hJei.e.ie. 

Luke vii. 36, to the end. ' ^ ^°'^^ 5. 3. 

^•^ And "one of the Pharisees desired Him that he would eat with 

him ; and he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. 
^^ And, behold ! a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she sect. xxvi. 
knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an y ^07 
alabaster box of ointment, ^8 and stood at his feet behind him, weep- j p 474Q 
ing, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with onatour. 
the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with mSeeNmeos. 
the ointment. ^^ Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him, saw ^^i=>tt. ae. 6. 

jMtirk 14 3 

it, he spake within himself, saying, " This 'man. if he were a prophet, Johnu.'a.' 

would have known who and what manner of woman this is that * "''■ ^^' ^• 

toucheth him : for she is a sinner." ^° And Jesus answering said unto 

him, " Simon ! I have somewhat to say unto thee." And he saith, 

" Master ! say on." "^^ " There was a certaui creditor which had two 

debtors : the one owed five hundred 'pence, and the other fifty, c see Matt. 18.28. 



84 ' CHRIST CURES A DEMONIAC. [Part III. 

^^ And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. 
Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most ? " ^■^ Simon 
answered and said, " I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most." 
And he said unto him, " Thou hast rightly judged." ''^ And he turned 
to the woman, and said unto Simon, " Seest thou this woman ? I 
entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet : but 
she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs 
[of her head]. ^^ Thou gavest me no kiss : but this woman since the 

<iPs. 23.5. ^jjj^g J came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. ^^ My ''head with oil 

thou didst not anoint : but this woman hath anointed my feet with 
ointment. ^"^ Wherefore '1 say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, 
are forgiven ; for she loved much : but to whom little is forgiven, the 

/Matt.^9.|. same loveth httle." '*^ And he said unto her, " Thy -^sins are forgiven." 
^^ And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, 

^S'i'i!' " Who -^is this that forgiveth sins also ?" s" And he said to the woman, 

AMatt.9. 22. " Thy ''faith hath saved thee ; go in peace 1" 

Mark 5. 34. & 10. •' 'tor 

53. ch. 8. 48. & 

18. 42. =^=^===^=^ 



e 1 Tim. 1. 14. 



= Section XXVII. — Christ preaches again throughout Galilee. 

SECT, xxvii. Luke viii. 1-3. 

V. JE. 27. ^ And it came to pass afterward, that He went throughout every 

J. P. 4740. city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the king- 
Gaiiiee. (Jqjj^ of Qod : aud thc twelve were with him, ^ and "certain women, 
a Matt. 27. 55, 56. which had bccn healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called 
* Mark 16. 9. Magdalcuc, 'out of whom went seven devils, •'and Joanna, the wife 
of Chuza, Herod's steAvard, and Susanna, and many others, which 
— ministered unto Him of their substance. 



SECT, xxvni. Section XXVIII. — Christ cures a "^Demoniac — Conduct of the 
V. ^. 27. Scribes and Pharisees." 

J. P. 4740. Matt. xii. 22-45.— Mark iil part ofver. 19-30.— Luke xi. 14-36. 

Capernaum. i j^^^ ^^i^y ^rg^t *into a housc. P ' And the multitude ' ^^^'^ '"■ ^^■ 

n See Note 59. comcth together again, "so that they could not so much = Mark m. 20. 
''*l7 foTe^°' as eat bread. ^ And when his tfriends heard 0/ ?"^, they = Mark in. 21. 
pSeVNrte'6i. wcut out to lay hold on him: ''for they said, " He is be- 
a Mark 6. 31. sidc himsclf 1 " ^ Thcu 'was brought unto him one pos- 'Matt.xn.22. 
^ John 7T& 10 sessed with a devil. Wind, and dumb : and he healed him, 

20! ° ■ ■ ' insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. 
'Mark'^a^'n^'^"^' 'And all the people were amazed, and said, " Is not this 5Matt.xii.23. 

Luke li. 14. the Son of David ? " 'But "when the Pharisees 'and the ^ ^{^*'^- f.f "l^- 
"ifkb^^^' Scribes which came down from Jerusalem * heard zV, they s mIL xii. 24. 

Luke li. 15. g^i(j 9u jjg 'hath Beelzebub," and ""'This fellow doth not ^ Markiii.22. 
'it^it]^. cast out devils, but by tBeelzebub the prince of the devils." "*'-'• ^"■^^■ 

john^7.2o. &8. „^^^ Jesus ^kucw their thoughts, and said unto them, '' Matt. xii. 25. 
t Gr. Beehebui : 1= aud hc Called them unto him, and said unto them in '^ Mark iii. 23. 



/Matt^rr'' parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan?" - Every - Matt. xii. 25. 

John 2. 25. kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; 

^'"^■^' " that kingdom cannot stand. '' And every city or house \l ^"^"^ 
divided ao-ainst itself shall not stand : '^ and if Satan '' rise le Matt. xii. 26. 
up against himself, and '^ cast out Satan, he is divided ;^^ Mark ui. 26. 
against himself : how then shall his kingdom stand ? '' he ,9 jj^'^;." '^■;^q; 
cannot stand, but hath an end. '" And if I by Beelzebub =» Matt. xii. 27 
cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out ? ^^ 
therefore they shall be your judges. '' But if I cast out °' """■ ""' ^• 
^"i4Tuke*1' ^3'' devils by the Spirit of God, then ^the kingdom of God is 

& 11. 20. & 17. j^g unto vou. "When a strong man armed keepeth "' ^uke =a. 21 

20, 21. "^ 



Sect. XXVIII.l CONDUCT OF THE SCRIBES. 85 

23 Luke xi. 22. jjjg palace, his goods are in peace ; '' but ''when a stronger Y^j^^^- ^'^- *^°'- 
than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he 
taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and 

14 Mark iii. 27. dividcth his spoils. ^■' No 'man can enter into a strong 'i^- 49-24 Matt, 
man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind 

2i M:itt. xii. 30. the strong man, and then he will spoil his house. *^ He 
that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth 

26 Matt. Nii.31. not with me scattereth abroad. '° Wherefore, '' Verily 'I ■'Heb.'e! 4, &'<>.& 

27 Mark 111. • . ^^^ ymto jou, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of io.j6,29. Uohn 

men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blas- 
23 Matt. xii. 31. pheme : '^® but 'the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall ''^ Acts 7.51. 

29 iMatt.xii.3x not be forgiven unto men. '^^ And whosoever 'speaketh a ^}^'^li- y-i9-,*= 

r -nT m- 1 11 1 r • i • 13. ao. bee John 

word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him : i-si. 7.& 12,25. 

30 Mark iii. 29. ^^ whosocvcr sDcaketh against the Holv Ghost, it shall , ^. , „ 

i .,°. ,. ,•', ... ml Tim. 1. 13. 

31 Mark iii. 30. not be forgivcn him, neither m this world, neither in the 

.. ,o ivorld to come : ^^ but is in danger of eternal damnation. 

32 iMatt. xu. 33- • 1 TT I 1 ■ • 5\ 

45. '' (Because they said, ' He hath an unclean spirit. ) 

^- Either make the tree good, and "his fruit good ; or else make the "Lukl'e^isjk 
tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt : for the tree is known by his fruit. 
34 O "generation of vipers ! how can ye, being evil, speak good things ? <'^i='tt.3.7. &23. 
^for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth .speaketh. ^^ A good p Luke 6. 45. 
man out of the good treasure [of the heart] bringeth forth good things ; 
and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 
3'' But I say unto you, That every idle word that men sliall speak, they 
shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. ^" For by thy words 
thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." 

38 Then 'certain of the Scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, 'M^'kg.n*. Luke 
" Master, we would see a sign from thee." ^^ But he answered and said to "-is, 29. John 

' ° • 1 I c • I 1 1 2. 18. 1 Cor. 1.22. 

them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign! and there ^ [s. 57. 3. Matt. 
shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the Prophet Jonas, ^o For 'as jokn 4^^481' ^'^^^ 
Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly ; so shall 'the « Jonah 1. 17. 
Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ^ LuJe^n 32^^' 
41 The "men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and „ g^e Jer. 3. 11. 
"shall condemn it : "because they repented at the preaching of Jonas ; and, ro^^; J/'ay^' ^^' 
behold! a greater than Jonas zs here! ^s The "^ Queen of the South w Jonah 3. 5. 
shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn Vcii'r"on!9°'i!" 
it : for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wis- Luke 11. 31. 
dom of Solomon ; and, behold ! a greater than Solomon is here ! 

43 " When ^the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, "he walketh y Luke 11.24. 
through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, ' I 
will return into my house from whence I came out.' And when he is 
come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45 Then goeth he, and 
taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and 
they enter in and dwell there ; "and the last state of that man is worse °26''^'Fet*"2^2o- 
than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. 22. 
Luke xi. .33-36. ^3 j\f ^ 'man, whcu he hath lighted a candle, putteth ']J|frk'4%J^'(.h. 
"" " ' ■ it in a secret place, neither under a *bushel, but on a 8- 1^- 
candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. ^4 The light c mTu. 6. 22. 
of the body is the eye : therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole 
body also is full of light ; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is 
full of darkness. '■^^Take heed therefore, that the light which is in 
thee be not darkness, ^e if thy whole body therefore be full of hght, 
having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light ; as when Ithe \^'iri^us1untfg, 
bright shining of a candle doth give thee light." 

^^ And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the 
company hfted up her voice, and said unto him, " Blessed ''is the womb ^Luke i.'cs, 48. 
that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked ! " ^^ But he said, ''Luke'8!'2L" 
" Yea, "rather blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it ! " James ;.25. 

VOL. TI. H 



z Job 1. 7. 1 Pet. 
5.8. 



86 CHRIST'S DISCIPLES HIS REAL KINDRED. [Part IIL 

fis 49 24. Luke Matt. xii. 29, and part ofver. 31. — 29 " Or /else how can one enter into a strong man's 

11. 21-23. house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man ? and then he will spoil his 
g'MarkS. 28. house. 31 — I say unto you, All ^manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men — ." 

alb^eX^l'c.Sc ^^^^ in. part ofver. 22, 24, ver. 25, part of vcr. 26, and 29. —22 — said " by the 

10. 26, 29. IJohn prince of the devils casteth he out devils." 24" And if a kingdom be divided against itself — . 

25 And if a liouse be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan — be 

divided-. 29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness-." 

A Matt. 9. 32. & LuKE xi. 14-20, and 2^-26, and 29-Z2. — 14 ''And he was casting out a devil, and it was 

■ m' q -id ^ dumb. And it came to pass when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake ; and the people 

12. 24. " ' wondered. 15 But some of them said, " He 'casteth out devils through *Beelzebub the 
* Gr. Beehebul, chief of the devils." 16 And others, tempting him, ^sought of him a sign from heaven. 

and sover.18,19. jy jjyj «:]-,g^ knowing their thoughts, said unto them, " Every kingdom divided against 
]6. 1.' ' itself is brouglit to desolation ; and a house divided against a house falleth. 18 If Satan 

k Matt. 12. 23. also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand .' Because ye say that I 
" 25' ^' ^^" ^°''" ^^^^ o"*' devils through Beelzebub. 19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom 

; E.xod 8. 19. do your sons cast them out ? therefore shall they be your judges. 20 But if I 'with the 

m Matt. 12. 30. finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. — 23 "He 
that is not with me is against me : and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. 

11 Matt. 12. 43. 24 "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seek- 
ing rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 

John 5 14 ^^ ^^^ when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth he, and 

Heb. 6. 4. & 10. taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and 
26. 2 Pet. 2. 20. ^ jj ^^ ^^^ o^^^ j^^g^ gj^^g of that man is worse than the first." 29 ^And when the 

p Matt. 12. 38,39. , , , ,• , , , , . ,, mi ■ ■ -1 .• ,, 

f Jonah 1 17 & People were gathered thick together, he began to say, " Ihis is an evil generation : they 

2. 10. seek a sign ; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. 

r 1 Kings 10. 1. 30 For as 'Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be to this 

s Jonah 3. 5. o-eneration. 31 The ""Queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with the men ot 

this generation, and condemn them : for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to 

hear the wisdom of Solomon ; and, behold ! a greater than Solomon is here ! 32 The 

men of Nineveh shall rise up in tlie judgment witli this generation, and shall condemn it : 

for 'they repented at the preaching of Jonas ; and, behold ! a greater than Jonas is here ! " 

SECT. XXIX. 



V ^27 Section XXIX. — Christ declares his disciples to be his real Kindred.'^ 

J. P. 4740. Matt. xii. 46, to the end. — Mark iii. 31, to the e7i<Z.— Luke viii. 19-21. 

Capernaum. 1 While he yet talked to the people, "behold ! his mother ' '^^^t'- ■^"- ^e- 

■ See Note 62 ^^^ ''^is brethren ^ came to him — and could not come at * Luke viii. 19. 
n Luke 8. 19-21. him for the prcss. ^ And standing without, sent unto him, ^ Mark iii. .?i. 
^Marks! 3L & 6. Calling him, ' desiring to speak with him. ' And the multi- 4 Matt. xii. 46. 
3. John2. ia & tude sat about him, and they said, " one said unto him, " Be- = Mark iii. 32. 
14. icor.''9!5! hold ! thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring b mm. xii. 47. 
^'''' ^' ^^' to speak with thee." ' But he answered, and said unto him 7 Matt. xii. 48. 
that told him, " Who is my mother ? and who are my breth- 
ren ? " 'And he looked round about on them which sat » Mark iii. 34. 
about him, ' and he stretched forth his hand toward his " Matt. xii. 49. 
e Marks. 34. disciplcs, and said, " Behold 'my mother and my brethren ! ,„ Matt. xii. so. 
d8eeJohni5.i4. '» For ''whosocver shall " hear the word of God, and do it, n Lukeviii.21. 
coi.'s.'ii'THeb'.' — '^ do the will of my Father, which is in heaven, — the 12 Matt. xii. so. 
^: \, , p„ same is my brother, and sister, and mother.""" 

r bee Note 63. .J ^ 

e ^'att. 12. 46. Matt. xii. part (f ver. 46 and 47. — 46 — stood without — 47 Then — . 

Luke 8. 19. j^,(^^^ iii ^^^j gf ^g,. 3] ^ 32, cer. 33, part of vcr. 34, o.nd ver. 35.-31 'There came then 

f '''•'":/'^- f- his brethren and his mother — . 32— unto him, " Behold ! thy mother and thy brethren 
£ , ee 1 ote . ^^j^j^^^^ ^^^^ f^j. ^jiee." 33 And he answered them saying, " Who is my mother, or my 
brethren ? " 34 —and said, " Behold /my mother and my brethren I 35 For ^whosoever 
shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother." 
- Luke vii. ;;ort of ver. 19, vcr. 20, and part of ver. 21.-19 Then— his mother and his 
brethren—. 20 And it was told him hy certa'm, which said, " Thy mother and thy 
brethren stand without, desiring to see thee." 21 And he answered and said unto them, 
My mother and my brethren are these which — ." 



SECT. X.XX. 



V- ^E. 27. 'Section XXX.— Parable of the Sower.' 

J. P. 4740. „ 1,^ • 1 r> T ■■■ A a 

(;,,ii„e. Matt. xiii. 1-9.— Mark iv. 1-9.— Luke vui. 4-«. 

— 'The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat > Matt. 13. i. 

t seeNole 65.' by the seaside : ' and he began again to teach by the sea- ' Mark iv. 1. 



Skct. XXXI.] REASONS FOR TEACHING BY PARABLES. 87 

3 Matt. xiii. 2. side : ^ and great multitudes were gathered together unto 
4Lukeviii.5. him. ''And when much people were gathered together, seaofGauiee. 
5 Markiv. 1. g^y^^ werc come to him out of every city, ° he entered into 
6i att. iui. -. ^ gijip^ and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was 

8 Mark i? 3 '^3' *^'^^ ^®^' °" *^^^ land, [and] ''stood on the shore. ' And „ gee Note ee. 

9 L^ke viii. 5. he taught them many things by" parables, "and said unto a Mark 12. 38. 

10 Markiv. 4. them in his doctrine, — 

"Lukeviii.o. ^"Hearken! Behold! there went out a sower, to sow 

12 Mark iv. 4. ^ his Seed ; '" and it came to pass as he sowed, some fell 

13 Markiv. 5. by the wayside; "and it was trodden down, '^ and the 
u Markiv. 6. fowls of the air came, and devoured it up. '^ And some fell 
i» Luke viu. 6. q^, stony grouud, where it had not much earth ; and imme- 

Mark IV. 6. (jja^^giy j^ sprang up, because it had no depth of earth : 

17 Luke viii. 6. ,., •',, f O f' ,fi , ^ 1 

IS Mark iv 6 ""^ ^^ ^*^°''^ ^^ ^ ^"^^^ sprung up, wheu the sun was 

19 Markiv. 7. "p, it was scorched ; " it withered away, because it lacked 

20 Luke viii. 7. moisture ; " and, because it had no root, it withered away. 

21 Mark iv. 7. '' And some fell among thorns ; and the thorns grew up 

22 Matt. .xiii. 8. 20 ^yjj-j^ jt^ 21 ^j^^ choked it, and it yielded no fruit. '' But 

23 Luke viii. 8. other fell into good ground, ^^ and sprang up, '* and in- 

24 iNiark iv. 8. creased, "and brought forth fruit, some 'an hundredfold, * Gen. 26.12. 
^^ i.att. xm.8. gQj^g sixtyfold, some thirtyfold." ^'^ And when he had 

„, " f ""■ ■ said these things, he cried, " and he said unto them, " 'He "?J'"'v"; ^l'^ 

27 Mark iv. 9. , i i • i ^^■^- ■^"'^^ ®' ^• 

that hath ears to hear, let him hear 1 

Matt. xiii. part ofver. 2, ver. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9. — 2 — so that he went into a ship, and 
sat; and the whole multitude — . 3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, 
saying, " Behold I "^a sower went forth to sow ; 4 and when he sowed, some seeds fell by <iLuke 8. 5. 
the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up : 5 some fell upon stony places, 
where they had not much earth ; and forthwith they sprang up, because they had no 
deepness of earth ; 6 and when the sun was up, they were scorched ; and, because they 
had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang 
up, and choked them. 9 *Who hath ears to hear, let him hear ! " Luke 8.' 8.' 

Mark iv. part ofver. 1, ver. 6, 7, and part of ver. 8. — 1 — and there was gathered tmto 
him a great midtitude, so that — . 6 " But when the sun was up it was scorched ; and be- 
cause it had no root, it withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew 
up. and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield 
fruitthat sprang up — and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred." 

Luke viii. part ofver. 5, 6, 7, and 8. — 5 " A sower went out to sow — and as he sowed, 
some fell by the wayside — and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell upon a ^ j,.,, jo g 
rock ; and — . 7 And some fell among thorns ; and the thorns sprang up — and choked it. Mark 4. 9. 
8 And other fell on good ground — and bare fruit an hundredfold. — ''He that hath ears to =^^=^=^=: 
bear, let him hear ! " 



=^^=^^=^=== SECT. XXXI. 

Section XXXI. — Reasons for teaching hy Parables.^ y ^^7 

Matt. xiii. 10-I7.— Mark iv. 10-12. j. P. 4740. 

1 Mark iv. 10. • ^j^jj "when Hc was alone, ^ the disciples came, and said Gaiiiee. 

2 Matt. xiii. 10. yj^^Q j^jj^^ cc ^J^^J speakest thou unto them in parables?" „geeN^e67. 

3 Matt. xiii. 11. ^ Hc answered, and said unto them, " Because 'it is given aLuke8.9,&c. 

unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, ^le'.^iy. Mark'4*' 

4 Matt. xiii. 12. but unto them it is not given. ■* For ^vhosoever hath, to him Yj^l^^!'^] '"' 

shall be given, and he shall have more abundance : but who- c Matt. 25. 29. 
soever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he Lukes.'is.&ig. 

5 Mark iv. 11. iiath, ' but uuto ''them that are v\'ithout, all these things are ^®- 

6 Markiv. 12. done in parables ; ® that "seeing they may see, and not perceive; coi. Tsa f iies. 

and hearing they mav hear, and not understand : lest at any t ^c' \^lTt'''' 

Y . . ' e Is. 6. 9. Matt. 

time they should be converted, and their sins should be for- 13. 14. Luke a. 

7 Matt. xiii. 14. gi^en them. "And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Ac'ts28'!26'. 

^Esaias, which saith,— ' ^tT'q'p\ 10 

' . ' /Is.6.9. Ezek. 12. 

' By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand ; s- Jrark4. 12. 

.-,.='•',„ ' , . ' Luke 8.10. John 

And seeing ve shall see, and not perceive, 12. 40. Acts 28. 

e Matt. xiii. 15. 8 p^j. ^j^jg people's heart is waxed gross, - l%fo.^3M!il 



88 THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER EXPLAINED. [Part III. 

g Heb. 5. 11. ^jjjj their ears ^are dull of hearing, 

And their eyes they have closed ; 
Lest at any time they should see with their eyes, 
And hear with their ears, 
And should understand with their heart, 
And should be converted, and I should heal them.' 

^Sl'io.'^''iii. " ^^^ ''blessed are your eyes, for they see ; and your ears, 9 Matt. xiii. 16. 
John 20. 29.' for they hear! '"For verily I say unto you, 'That many '" Matt. xiu. 17. 
'1 Pet."' 10,' 11. prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things 

which ye see, and have not seen them ; and to hear those 

things which ye hear, and have not heard them" 

Matt, ■s.ni.part ofv.W, and 13. — 10 — and — . 13 " Therefore speak I to them in parables ; 
3 Is. 6. 9. Mark 4. because they ^'seeing, see not ; and hearing, they hear not ; neither do they understand." 
14. Mark iv. first part ofver. 11. And he said unto them, " Unto you it is given to know 

the mystery of the kingdom of God — ." 



SECT. XXXII. Section XXXII. — Explanation of the Parable of the Sower. 

JNIatt. xiii. 18-23.— Mark iv. 13-23.— Luke viii. 9-17. 

J. P. 4740. ' "^"^"^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^o^t him with the Twelve asked of 'Markiv.io. 

Wilderness, him the parable, ^saying, " What might this parable be?" 3 jj"^^^ ^^^"jg' 

— ^ And he said unto them, " Know ye not this parable ? and 4 Matt. xui. is. 
how then will ye know all parables ? ^ Hear ye therefore 5 Luke viii. 11. 
the parable of the sower. * Now the parable is this : The e Mark iv. 14. 
seed is the word of God. * The sower soweth the word. 7 Matt. xiii. 19. 

o Matt. 4.23. ' Whcu auyoue heareth the word "of the kingdom, and ^Markiv. 15. 
understandeth it not, then * immediately, "lest they should ^ Luke viii. 12. 
believe, and be saved, '» cometh the Wicked One, and J^^^^^-^^J'';^"- 
catcheth away that, ''the word, 'Hhat was sown in his 12 ^jj^ 'J/jj jg 
heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. 
'^ But he that receiveth the word into stony places, the same is Matt. xiii. 20. 

iis. 58.2.Ezek. is he that hcareth the word, and anon 'with joy receiveth it ; .... , . ,„ 

35 32 Johns 35 14 • t i • '■• Mark iv. 16. 

immediately received it with gladness : '" yet hath he not ,5 jjatt. xiii. 21. 

root in himself, but dureth for a while ; '^ for a while be- le Luke viii. 13. 

lieveth, and in time of temptation, "for '* afterward, when n Matt. .xiii. 21. 

affliction, " when tribulation or persecution ariseth because 13 Mark iv. 17. 

"2"Tim 'i' 15 ^^ ^^^ word, by and by 'he is offended, '° and falleth away. '" Matt. xiii. 21. 

d Matt 19 23 ^' He ''also that received seed among the thorns is he that ^" ^"'"^ ''"'• ^^• 

Luke m 11- heareth the word ; '' and when he hath heard goeth forth, " "'"'• ""'• ^^- 

JjUKe Jo. 2^. ' ^22 Luke viii 14 

i^!™' ?-?A ^^and the cares, ^*and the care of this world, 'and the de- „, ,. , . '„ 

2 Tim. 4. 10. . r • • • or ^ Mark iv. 19. 

e 1 Tim. 6. 9, 17. ccitfulncss of richcs, ^^ and pleasures of this life, and the 04 jjatt. xiii. 22. 

lusts of other things entering in, " choke the word, and he somkeviii. 14. 

becometh unfruitful. ^^ But he that receiveth seed into the se Mark iv. 19. 

good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth '" Matt. xiii. 22. 

it ; '■'^ and receiveth it ^° in an honest and good heart, and ^ Matt. xiii. 2.3. 

having heard the word, keepeth it, and with patience, ^^ Mark iv. 20. 

" which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth some an hun- ^° Luke viii. 15. 

dredfold, some sixty, some thirty." '' *'""• '''''• ^^• 

^Se"n.33. '' And he said unto them, '' " No ^man, when he hath 3' J]^"' 1,':.^;^ 

lighted a candle, covOireth it with a vessel, or putteth it 

under a bed ; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they 
g- Matt. 10. 26. which enter in may see the light. 'Tor "nothing is secret, =■< Luke viii. 17. 
Luke 12. 2. ^j^^^^ shall not be made manifest ; neither any thing hid, 
AMatt. 11. 15. that shall not be known and come abroad. '° If ''any man 35 Mark iv. 23. 

have ears to hear, let him hear ! " 

Mark iv. jiart ofver. 15, 16, 17, ver. 18, part ofver. 19, 20, 21, and ver. 22. — 15 " And 
these are they by the wayside, where the word is sown ; but when they have heard, 
Satan cometh — and taketh away — that was sown in their hearts. 16 And these are 



Sect. XXXIV.] VARIOUS DESCRIPTIVE PARABLES. 89 

they likewise whicli are sown on stony ground ; who, wlien they have heard the word 

— 17 and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time — or persecution 

ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. 18 And these are they which 

are sown among thorns ; such as hear the word, 19 — of this world, 'and the deceitful- i 1 Tim. 6. 9, 17. 

ness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh 

unfruitful. 20 And these are they which are sown on good ground ; such as hear the 

word, — and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. 21 — 

Is a candle brought to be put under a *bushel, or under a bed ? and not to be set on a * The word in the 

candlestick ? 22 JFoi there is nothins: hid, which shall not be manifested ; neither was o'lgma' signifi- 

, . , , 1 • , , , , 1 ,, elh a less meas- 

any tmng kept secret, but that it should come abroad. ure, as Matt. 5. 

Luke viii. part ofver. 9, »«?•. 10, part of ver. 12, 13, 14, a7id 15. — 9 '^And his disciples .■^^• 

asked him — . 10 And he said, " Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the king- Luke'l2.'£ ' 

dom of God : but to others in parables; that 'seeing they might not see, and hearing it Matt. 13. 10,13. 

they might not understand." 12 " Those by the wayside are they that hear ; then com- Mark 4. 10. 

eth the Devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, — 13 They on the rock are 

theij, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy ; and these have no root, which 

— 14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which — and are choked with cares and 

riches — and bring no fruit to perfection. 15 But that on the good ground are they, 

which — brincr forth fruit — ." 



I Mark 4. 12. 



SECT. XXXIII. 

Section XXXIII. — Christ directs his Hearers to practise what they hear. 

^ ^ Y.M. 27. 

Mark iv. 24, 25. — Luke viii. 18. j p 474Q 

>Markiv.94. 1 J^^^^ J.Jg ^^^^^^ ^j^^O ^|^g^^ u -pj^j^g J^ggJ ^j^j^j yg j^gj^j. . Galilee. 

" ^.^"'' ■ ^hovv ye hear: ^ with "what measure ye mete, it shall be oMatt. 7. a. 
measured to you : and unto you that hear shall more be ^"''^ ^- ^^^ 

4 Mark iv. 25. givcH. " For ''he that hath, to him shall be given : and he & Matt. 13. 12. & 

that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he 20! 

5 Luke viii. 18. hath, — ' even that which he *seemeth to have." *fe toAr*'"' ""' 

LcKE viii. part ofver. 18. " Take heed therefore — "^for whosoever hath, to him shall c Matt. 13. 12. & 
be given ; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken — ." ^' ^^' ^'^^^ ^^^ 



Section XXXIV. — Various Parables descriptive of Christ' s KingdomJ sect, xxxiv 

Matt. xiii. 24-53.— Mark iv. 26-34. - — 

Mark iv. 06-29. 26 ^nd he Said, " So is the kingdom of God, as if a man /'p^.^o 

should cast seed into the ground ; 27 and should sleep, and Gaiiiel. ' 
rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, lie — 

knoweth not how. 28 p^^ the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; ^ ^'^'^ '^'""^ ^• 
first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 29 But 
when the fruit is *brought forth, immediately "he putteth in the sickle, * or, ripe. 
because the harvest is come." oRev. 14. 15. 

Matt, xiii.24-30. 24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, " The 

kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good 
seed in his field. 25 g^t ^^jig ^^^ g]gp^^ j^j^ enemy came and sowed 
tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 g^^ ^j^g,., ^^g ^i^dg ^as 
sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 
2'!' So the servants of the householder came, and said unto him, ' Sir, 
didst not thou sow good seed in thy field ? from whence then hath it 
tares ? ' 28 He said unto them, ' An enemy hath done this.' The 
servants said unto him, ' Wilt thou then that we go and gather them 
up ? ' 29 But he said, ' Nay ; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root 
up also the wheat with them, ^o Lg^ ^Q^h grow together until the ' 
harvest : and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers. Gather 
ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them : 
but ''gather the wheat into my barn.' " j Matt. 3. 12. 

1 Murk iv.30. 31 Another parable put he forth unto them, ' and he said, , .,,1- i. Z 

2 Matt. ..iii. 31. ^saying, ^ " Whereunto ^shall we liken the kingdom of Ac's 2.41. & 4. 

3 Mark iv. 30. (j^d? or with what comparisoH shall we compare it? th^'-''-"^'' 

VOL. II. 12 jj# 



90 ^ VARIOUS DESCRIPTIVE PARABLES. [Part III. 

di8 2 2,3. Mic. "The '"kingdom of heaven is Hke to a grain of mustard- " Matt. xUi. 31. 

4. 1, Ijuk6 13 19 

seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field ; ^ It is * Mark iv. 31. 
hke a grain of mustard-seed, which, when it is sown in 
the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth ; 
^ but when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater * ^""^ "■ ^^ 
than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches ; ^ and be- ' Matt. xii. 32. 
cometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge 
in the branches thereof * under the shadow of it." s Mark iv. 32. 

e Luke 13. 20. ° Another "parable spake he unto them: — "The king- a Matt. xm. 33. 

dom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, 

* The word in the aud hid iu thrcc '^measures of meal, till the whole was 

GrQ&]L is a raeas- i j ?5 

ure containing a- leaveneu.. 

hiiif,"' wanting 1 '"All tlicsc thiugs spakc Jesus unto the multitude in 10 Matt.xiii. 34. 
Me more than a parables ; and without a parable spake he not unto them : 

'' and with many such parables spake he the word unto " Mark iv. 33. 

them, as they were able to hear it. '■ But without a par- 12 Mark iv. 34. 

able spake he not unto them: 'Hhat it might be fulfilled " Matt. xiii. 35. 

which was spoken by the prophet, saying, — 

/Fs. 78. 2. "I -^will open my mouth in parables ; 

^ Rom. 16. 25, 26. I ^will uttcr thiugs which have been kept secret 

3. 9? coi. 1. 26. ' From the foundation of the world." 

'* And when they were alone, he expounded all things to " M^fxm »;- 
his disciples. 53. 

'^Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house. 
And his disciples came unto him, saying, " Declare unto us the para- 
ble of the tares of the field." ^^He answered and said unto them, 
A Matt. 24. 14. & "He that sovveth the good seed is ''the Son of Man; ■^^the field is 

28. 19. Mark 16. ^ . . 

lis' 20.' Luke 24. the world : the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the 
5i! Rom. lol'is.' tares are 'the children of the Wicked One ; '^'■' the enemy that sowed 

* Ge W John them is the Devil ; -'the harvest is the end of the world, and the reap- 
8. 44. Ac'ts 13. ers are the Angels. ^^ As therefore the tares are gathered and 

7 Joel 3."i3. Rev. bumcd in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. ''^The ""Son 

ft^Matt'is 7 See ^^ Mail shall scud forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his 

John i. 51. kingdom all tthings that off"end, and them which do iniquity ; ^ and 

* Or, scandals, 'shall cast them into a furnace of fire: "there shall be wailing and 
J Matt. 3. 19. gnashing of teeth. ''•^ Then "shall the righteous shine forth as the sun 

xt6v* 19. 20. ot ™ ~ C- ' 

20. 10. in the kingdom of their Father. "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear ! 

'"il!!"' ^' ^^'^ ^*" Again, The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a 
n Dan. 12. 3. field, the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy 
1 Cor! 15. 42. 43, thcreof goeth and ''selleth all that he hath, and 'buyeth that field. 
/^^g^ g ^5 "Again, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman 

p Phil. 3. 7, 8. seeking goodly pearls ; '^^ who, when he had found '^one pearl of great 
''l^\i^' ^" ^^^' price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. 
r Prov. 2. 4. & 3. '''' " AffaiH , The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast 
19'. ■ ' ' into the sea, and 'gathered of every kind: ^® which, when it was full, 
«ch. 22. 10. ^jjgy j],.g^ iQ shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into 
vessels, but cast the bad away. ^^ So shall it be at the end of the 
«ch.95. 39. world : the angels shall come forth, and 'sever the wicked from among 
Mver.42. the just, ^^ and "sliall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall 

be wailing and gnashing of teeth." 

^1 Jesus saith unto them, " Have ye understood all these things .' " 
They say unto him, " Yea, Lord ! " ^^ Then said he unto them, 
" Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of 
heaven is hke unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth 
V Cant. 7. 13. Qut of his trcasurc "things new and old." ^^ And it came to pass, that 
when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. 



Sect. XXXV.] CHRIST CALMS THE TEMPEST. 91 

Matt. xiii. part of ver. 32. " Wliich indeed is the least of all seeds : but when it is 
grown, it is the greatest among herbs, — ." 

Mark iv. part of ver. 32. '• — so that the fowls of the air may lodge — ." 



Section XXXV. — Christ crosses the Sea of Galilee, and calms the sect, xxxv. 

Tempest. V. M. 27. 

Matt. viii. 18-27. — xMark iv. part of ver. 35, to the end. — Luke viii. 22-25. j. p. 4740. 

I Matt. viii. 18. 1 jVqw wheii Jesus saw great multitudes about him, ~ it sea of caiiiee. 

3 M"^klv.''35.' came to pass ^ the same day, when the even was come, 

4 Luke viii. 22. * that he went into a ship with his disciples : and ^ he 

6 Luke vui S gave commandment to depart ; [and] ^ he said unto them, 

7 Matt, viii! 19! " Let us go over unto the other side of the lake." ' "And « Luke 9. 57, 58. 

a certain Scribe came, and said unto him, " Master, I will 

8 M;tt. viii. 20. follow thee whithersoever thou goest." ^ And Jesus saith 

unto him, " The fo.xes have holes, and the birds of the 

air have nests ; but 'the Son of Man^ hath not wiiere to * see Joim 1. sl 

o Matt. viii. 21. lay ^J5 head." ^ And 'another of his disciples said unto '^ ^i''« 9- 59, 60. 
him, "Lord, '^suffer me first to go and bury my father." -z^see 1 Kings 19. 

10 Mutt.viii.22. '"But Jesus said unto him, " Follow me ; and let the dead z see Note 69. 

,..-,,,, Tn tliis Note 

bury their dead. Mr. Townsend 

n Matt. viii. 23. ''And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples cXwmse'iffor 

12 Mark iv. 36. foUowcdhim. '' And whcu they had sent away the mul- JheSm^/Wl"" 

13 Luke viii. 22. titude, thev took him even as he was in the ship. '^ And tiiis is a mistake; 

n ^ 7J411 I'll- *^^^ Saviour as- 

u Mark iv. 3d. they launchcd forth. And there were also with him sumed this title 
15 Luke viii. 23. Other little ships. '° But as they sailed he fell asleep : '" and, 't^on'wi'th'NicoI 
" Mark If 37'' behold! there arose '^ a great storm of wind, '« and there trpanrp%°!' 
13 Luke viii. 23. came down a storm of wind on the lake ; [and] '" a great 

19 Malt, yiii.24. ^gj^pgg^ jj^ l^hg sca, ^° aud the waves beat into the ship, 

21 5iatt.^-iii.24. ■' insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves : but 

22 Luke viii. 23. he was aslccp ; ■" and they were filled tvifh water, and 

23 Mark iv. 38. were in jeopardy. '^ And he was in the hinder part of the 

24 Matt. viii. 25. ship, asleep on a pillow. ^^ And [his] disciples came to 

20 Mark iv. 38. him, aud awokc him, saying, " " Master ! 'carest thou not e Luke 8.24. 

5 sfttivhliS that we perish ? '' Lord, save us ! we perish ! " " And he 

saith unto them, " Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith ? " 

28 Luke viii 24. -'"Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea ; ^^ and -^g^^^riy^'ag ^^ 

29 Markiv. 39. the raging of the water ; '■^^ and said unto the sea, " Peace, 

be still ! " And the wind ceased, and there was a great 
33 Mark iv. 40. calm. ^° And he said unto them, " Why *^are ye so fearful ? s'Luke 8.25. 

31 Matt. viii. 27. how is it that ye have no faith ? " ^' But the men mar- 

32 M irk iv. 41. veiled, ^^ and they feared exceedingly, and said one to an- 

33 Luke viii. 25. other, "What manner of man is this! '^ for he com- 

mandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him : 

34 Matt. viii. 27. 34 that even the winds and the sea obey him !" 

Matt. viii. part of ver. 18, 26, and 27. — 18 — unto the other side. 26 — and there was 
a great calm. 27 — saying, " What manner of man is this, — . 

Mark iv.part of ver. 35, 37, 38, 39, and 41. — 35 And — he saith unto them, '-'Let 
us pass over unto the other side." 37 And there arose — so that it was now full. 
33 — and they awake him and say unto him — . 39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, 
— . 41 — that even the wind and the sea obey him .'" 

Luke viii part of ver. 22, 24, and 25. — 22 Now — on a certain day, -^. 24 And they came 
to him, and awoke him, saying, "Master! '■master! we perish!" Then he arose, and '' Mark 4. 38. 
rebuked the wind — and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 And he said unto them, 
'■'Where 'is your faith.'" And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, i Mark 4. 40. 
" V hat manner of man is this!" 



92 



CHRIST HEALS THE GADARENE DEMONIAC. [Part III. 



SECT. XXXVI 



V. JE. 27. 


J. P. 4740. 


Gadara. 


a See Note 70. 



a See Mark 1. 1 



b Rev. 20. 3 



< Matt. 8. 3-1. 



d Acts 16. 39. 



1 Markv. I. 

2 Matt, viii.28. 

3 Luke viii.27, 

4 Mark v. 2. 

5 Luke viii- 27. 
8 Matt. viii. 23. 
7 Luke viii. 27. 



Section XXXVI. — Christ heals the Gadarene Demoniac.'^ 
Matt. viii. 28. to the end.— Mark v. 1-20.— Luke viii. 26-39. 
' And they came over unto the other side of the sea, 
into the country of the Gadarenes — ^ the country of the 
Gergesenes — ^ which is over against Gahlee. ''And when 
he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him 
out of the tombs, * out of the city, a certain man, * pos- 
sessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, ' which had 
devils a long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in 
any house, but ^ who had his dwelling among the tombs ; s Mark v. 3. 
and no man could bind him, no, not with chains ; * because ^ M"1^ "■ 4- 
that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and 
the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fet- 
ters broken in pieces ; neither could any man tame him ; 
'" and always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and '» Markv. 5. 
in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones ; 
" exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. " Matt. viii. 28. 
'^ And, behold ! '' when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran, ''' and " Matt. viii. 29. 
fell down before him, '° and worshipped him, '''and cried " ^^I'^^J^'gg 
with a loud voice, and said, " What have I to do with thee, 15 Markv. e. 
Jesus, thou "Son of the Most High God? "Art thou come ]' ^!"'''':J- „ 

o 17 Matt. V] 11. 29. 

hither to torment us before the time? '* I beseech thee, w Luke viii.28. 
'^ I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not I"" Mark v. 7. 
^^ (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out ^o Luke viii. 29. 
of the man. " For he said unto him, " Come out of the ^' ^ark v. 8. 
man, thou unclean spirit." "~ For oftentimes it had caught ^^ Luke viii. 29. 
him : and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters ; 
and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into 
the wilderness.) ^^ And he asked him, " What is thy name ? " ^ Mark v. 9. 
And he answered, saying, " My name is Legion : for we 
are many." ^''(Because many devils were entered into '^^ ^uke viii. 30. 
him.) ^° And he besought him much, that he would not ^^ Mark v. 10. 
send them away out of the country ; ^^ that he would not '*" Luke viii. 31. 
command them to go out 'into the deep. 

" Now there was there, ^' a good way off from them, ^ ^ark v. 11. 
°^ nigh unto the mountains, a great herd of swine, feeding. 29 Mark v.'ii.' 
^° And all the devils besought him, saying, ^' " If thou cast ^° Markv. 12. 
us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine 
us into the swine, that we may enter into them.' 
forthwith Jesus gave them leave, [and] ''' said unto them, ^'' Matt. viii. 32, 
" Go." '^ And the unclean spirits went out, and entered 35 Mark v. ix 
into the swine : and the herd ran violently down a steep 
place into the sea, (they were about two thousand,) and 
were choked in the sea ; ^^ and perished in the waters. 
^' And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city 
and in the country ; ^^ and what was befallen to the pos- 
sessed of the devils. '" And, behold ! the whole city came '^ Matt. viii. 34 
out to meet Jesus ; ''° and they went out to see what it ■'" Mark v. 14. 
was that was done. "" And they come to Jesus, and see ■" Mark v. 15. 
him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, 
sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind, " at the feet of 
Jesus : " and they were afraid. " And they that saw it *'' Mark v, 
told them how it befel to him that was possessed with the 
devil, and also concerning the swine. " And ""= then 'the ^^ Lukt"vHi.^37 
whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round 
about ''besought him to depart from them ; " they began to "' *'"'' "■ "■ 
pray him to depart out of their coasts: " for they were "« Luke viii. 37, 



q J 31 Matt. viii. 31. 
'^ And 33 Mark v. 13. 



36 Matt. viii. 33 

37 Mark v. 14. 

38 Matt. viii. 33. 



Luke viii. 35. 

15. 
44 Mark v. 16. 



Sect. XXXVIL] CHRIST DINES WITH MATTHEW. 93 

taken with great fear. And he went up into the ship, and re- 
43 Mark v. 18. turned back again. ■*' And when he was come into the ship, 

'he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that " ^"^'^ ^- ^■ 
60 Murk V. 19. he might be with him. ^^ Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, 
51 Luke viii. 38. ^' but Jcsus Sent him away, '^^ but saith unto him, " Go 
62 M.rk V. 19. j^Qjj^g ^Q jjjy friends, and tell them how great things the 

Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on 

53 Mark v. 90. thee." " And he departed, and began to publish in Decap- 

54 Luke viii. 39. qUs,** and pubUshed throughout the whole city °^ how great 

things Jesus had done for him ; and all men did marvel. 

Matt. viii. part ofver. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34.— 28/And wlien he was come to the /Marks. 1, &e. 
other side into — there met him two — 29 — they cried out, saying, " What have we to do ^"^^^ ®- ^'^' ^"^ 
with thee, Jesus, thou *'Son of God ?" 30 And there was — a herd of many swine feed- g See Mark 1. 1. 
ing. 31 So the devils besought him, saying, — 32 And lie — And when they were come 
out, they went into the herd of swine : and, beliold ! the whole herd of swine ran violently 
down a steep place into the sea, — 33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways 
into the city, and told every thing, — 34 — and when they saw liini, ''they besought him h See Deut. 5. 25 
that he would depart out of their coasts. i.ul'e I' 8 ' Acta 

Mark v. part of vcr. 2, and 6. — 2 — a man with an unclean spii'it, 6 But — . 16. 39. 

Luke viii. part ofver. 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, ver. 32, 33, 34, part of ver. 35, ver. 3G, and part 
of ver. 38, 39. — 26 'And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, — 27 And when he i Matt. 8. 28. 
went forth to land, there met him — in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, " ^' ' ■ • • ' 
— and with a loud voice said, " What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou JSon of God j See Mark 1. 1. 
Most High? — torment me not." 30 And Jesus asked him, saying, "What is thy 
name .'" And he said, " Legion :" — 31 And they besought him — . 32 And there was a 
herd of many swine feeding on the mountain : and they besought him that they would 
suifer them to enter into them. And he suffered them. 33 Then went the devils out of 
the man, and entered into the swine : and the herd ran violently down a steep place into 
the lake, and were choked. 34 When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, 
and went and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then they went out to see what 
was done ; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, 
sitting — clothed, and in his right mind : and they were afraid. 36 They also which 
saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed. 
38 *^Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be /^ jiark 5. 18. 
with him : — saying, 39 " Return to thine own liouse, and show how great things God hath 
done unto thee." And he went his way, — how great things Jesus had done unto him. 



1 


Luke 


V. 


29. 


2 


Mark 


ii. 


15. 


3 


Matt. 


ix, 


. 10. 


4 


Luke 


V. 


29. 


5 


Matt. 


V. 


10. 


6 


Luke 


V. 


29. 


7 


M^irk 


ii. 


. 15. 


8 


Mark 


ii. 


Ifi. 


9 


M;.tt. 


ix, 


. 11. 


10 


Mark 


ii. 


16. 


11 


Luke 


V. 


30. 


12 


Matt. 


ix 


. 12. 


13 


Luke 


V. 


13. 


11 


Matt. 


ix 


. 13. 


<5 


Luke 


V. 


32. 


16 


Mark 


ii. 


18. 


17 


Luke 


V. 


33. 


18 


Matt. 


ix 


. 14. 


19 


Luke 


V. 


31.. 



a Luke 15. 1. 



Section XXXVII. — Christ dines with Matthew. sect.xxxvii 

Matt. ix. 10-17.— Mark ii. 15-22.— Luke v. 29, to the end. v ^o 

' And Levi made Him a great feast in his own house : j p 474Q 
and ^ it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his capemaum 
house, ' behold ! " there "was a great company of Pubh- 
cans and of others, ^ and sinners came, " that sat down with 
them ; ' also together with Jesus and his disciples : for 
there were many, and they followed him. * And when the 
Scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with Publicans and sin- 
ners, they said unto his disciples, " How is it that ' your 
Master '" eateth and drinketh with Publicans and sinners ? " 
" But their Scribes and Pharisees murmured against his 
disciples, saying, " Why do ye eat with Publicans and sin- 
ners ? " '^ But when Jesus heard ^^«^, '^ Jesus answering 
said unto them, " They that are whole need not a physi- 
cian ; but they that are sick. '^ But go ye and learn what 
that meaneth, ' I ''will have mercy and not sacrifice : ' '° 'I ^"f -A^-.^'S 

' . •> . 6. 6, 7. 8. cli. 12 

came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." 7. 

"^ And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to "i^Tim-^i.^is. 
fast: "and they said unto him, " Why do the disciples of 
John, and likewise of the Pharisees, fast often, and make 
prayers ; but thine eat and drink, [and] '* fast not ? " '° And 
he said unto them, " Can ''ye make the children of the bride- Mark's, igf' 



94 JAIRUS'S DAUGHTER IS HEALED, [Part HI. 

chamber fast [and] °° mourn ^' while the bridegroom is with ^^ '^''"- '"■ ^^■ 
them ? ^^ As long as they have the bridegroom with them, 22 Mark ii. 19. 
they cannot fast. " But the days will come, when the ■^ Luke v. 35. 
bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall 
they fast in those days." 

^* And he spake also a parable unto them : " No man 24 mke v. 36. 
putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old ; if other- 
wise, then both the new maketh a rent, — " the new piece, =» Mark ii. 21. 
^•^ which is put in to fill it up, taketh ^' away from the old «« Matt. ix. le. 
^' garment, and the rent is made worse ; ^^ and the piece ^^ '^^"'^ "• ^^• 

T ' . I 28 Matt. ix. 16. 

that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. 29 mke v. se.' 
e In those daya ^° And no man puttcth new wine into old 'bottles ; else the 30 mke v. 37. 
m^ade^ofirather ucw winc will burst the bottlcs, and be spilled, and the 
orakms.— Ed. jjQ^igg gj^g^u perish: ^' but new wine must be put into new 31 Luke v. 38. 

bottles ; and both are preserved. '^ No man also having ,32 Luke v. 39. 

drunk old wine, straightway desireth new ; for he saith, 

' The old is better.' " 

/Mark 2. 15, &c. Matt. ix. part ofver. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 1.5, 16, and ver. 17. — 10 •'"And it came to pass, 

Luke 5. 29, &c. g^g Jesus sat at meat in the house — many Publicans — and sat down with him and his 

disciples. II And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, " Why eateth 

5- ch. 11. 19. Luke — with ^Publicans and ''sinners?" 12 — he said unto them, "They Hhat be whole 

h'c I-2 Ti ' ' need not a physician, but they that are sick. 13 — for I am not come to call the righteous, 

t Mark 2. 17. ■'but sinners to repentance." 14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, " Why 

j 1 Tim. 1. 1.5. *do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples — .''" 15, And Jesus said unto them, 

k Mark 2. 18, &c. " Can 'the children of the bride-chamber — as long as the bridegroom is with them ? '"but 

& 18. 12. ' ' the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and "then shall they 

I John 3. 29. fast. 16 No man putteth a piece of *new cloth unto an old garment : for that — from 

m Mark 2. 20. the — 17 — "Neither do men put new wine into old bottles ; else the bottles break, and 

"fc 14^ •"•s 1 (' '' ^^^ wine runneth out, and the bottles perish : but they put new wine into new bottles, 

7. 5. and both are preserved." 

* Or Toic^ or, lui- 
ioronght. See Mark ii. part ofver. 15, 16, ver. 17, part of ver. 18, 19, ver. 20, part of ver. 21, and ver. 

Luke .5.30. 22. — 15 And — many Publicans and sinners sat — 16 — he — 17 When Jesus heard it, 

" " ■ ~ ■ he saith unto them, " They ''that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that 

& 18. ii. Luke 2i'c sick : I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." 18 — 'and they 

^•31, 32. & 19. come and say unto him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy 
o Matt 9 14 ' " disciples fast not.'" 19 And Jesus said unto them, " Can the children of the bride-cham- 

Lulie 5. 33. ber fast, while the bridegroom is with them ? — 20 ''But the days will come, when the 

rMatt. 9. 15. bridegroom shall betaken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. — 

t Or, raw, or, «n- 21 No man also seweth a piece of tnew cloth on an old garment : else — that filled it up 

■wrought. taketh — and the rent is made worse. 22 "And no man putteth new wine into old bottles : 

€ Matt 9 17 

else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be 

marred : but new wine must be put into new bottles." 



SEC. xxxviii. Section XXXVIII. — Jairus's Daughter is healed, and the i7ijirm 
y ^ 27 Womany 

J. P. 4740. Matt. ix. 1. and 18-26. — Mark v. 21, to the end. — Luke viii. 40, to the end. 

Capernaum. ■ And it Came to pass, that, ° when Jesus was passed \ ^^"""^ 7 '2/°' 

b See Note 71. ovcr again by ship unto the other side, °he "came into his 3 Matt. ix. 1. 
a Matt. 4. 13. qwu city ; [andj ■* when Jesus M'as returned, the people 4 Luke viii. 40. 
gladly received him, "much people gathered unto him, 5 Mark v. 21. 
•* for they were all Vv^aiting for him, ' and he was nigh unto « Luke viii. 40. 

^, 7 Mark v.2],22. 

tiie sea. 
h Matt. 9. 18. 'And * while he spake these things unto them, ^ behold ! » Matt. ix. is. 

there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by ' m^^v. 22. 
name ; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, '"down '" Luke viii. 4l 
at Jesus' feet, and besought him, " and worshipped him, " Matt. ix. is. 
'■^ and besought him greatly, '^that he would come into his 12 Mark v. 23. 
house : " saying, " My httle daughter lieth at the point of',' ^j"^';^;".^'^'- 
death : I prny thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that 



(?I.uke6. 19.&8 



Sect. XXXVIII.] AND THE INFIRM WOMAN. 95 

15 Luke viii. 42. she may be healed; and she shall live." '"(For he had 

one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay 

16 Matt. ix. 19. a dying.) ^'^ And Jesus arose, ''' and Jesus vi^ent with him ; 
i3MauIx"i9 and '^ so (Zid his disciples. '''But as he went, the people 
19 Luke viii.42. thronged him ; "° much people followed him, and thronged 

^ Mark ..24. ^Jj^j, 

=1 Mark v. 25. "' And, ^'bcliold ! ^^ a certain woman, ^^ which was diseased, 

23 Mark .""25° °' which "had an issue of blood twelve years, ^"and had suf- c Lev. 15.25. 

24 Matt. ix. 20. fered many things of many physicians, and had spent all 

25 Mark V. 25. ^j^g^^ gj;,g j^g^^j 27 upon physicians, neither could be healed of 
27 Luke viir. 43. any, ^^ and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, 
23 -Mark V. 26. ^^ whcu she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, 

30 Matt.ix.~20. and touched his garment, — ^"touched the hem of his gar- 

31 Mark V. 28. nient, — ^' for she said, "If I may touch but his clothes, 
32Lukeviii.44. J shall be whole." ''And immediately her issue of 

33 Mark V. 29. {jJqqjJ stauched. ''And straightway the fountain of her 

34 Mark v 30 ''^^ood was dried up ; and she felt in her body that she was 

healed of that plague. '^ And Jesus, immediately knowing 

in himself that ''virtue had gone out of him, turned him '^4^'"' 

about in the press, and said, " Who touched my clothes ? " 

It f"-!^ "-..^^^ '' And '^ when all denied, Peter and they that were with 

36 JjUkg viii. 45« 

37 Markv. 31. him Said, "(his disciples said unto him), '' " Master, '^ thou 

38 Luke viii. 45. seest the multitude thronging thee, ^"and press thee, ^' and 

40 Luke viii. 45. sayest thou, 'Who touched me?'" ""^And Jesus said, ^jj^^. 5 30 
4iMarkv. 3L " Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that Virtue Luke 6. 19. 

42 Luke viii. 46. jg g-Qne out of mc." " And he looked round about to see 

43 Mark v 3^ ~ 

44 Mark V. 33. her that had done this thing. " But ^^ when the woman 

45 Luke viii. 47. saw that shc was not hid, she came ^^ fearing and trembling, 
Mark v. 3.3. j^j^Q^.^j^g what was doue in her, and fell down before him, 

47 Luke viii. 47. and told him all the truth ; ^' she declared unto him, be- 

fore all the people, for what cause she had touched him, 

48 Matt. ix. 22. and how she was healed immediately. *^ And when he 

49 Luke viii. 48. saw her, he said ^^ unto her, " Daughter, be of good com- 

50 Mark V. 34. fort : — '" Daughter, -^thy faith hath made thee whole ; go in /^latt. 9. 93. 

o ' J ' o Mark 10. 5*^ Acts 

51 Matt. ix. 22. peace, and be whole of thy plague." '*' And the woman 14.9. 

was made whole from that hour. 

52 Markv. 35. 5. ~^]_^-jg .'j^g yg^ gp^}.g^ ^j^gj.g pj^j^^g |-j.Qj^ ^j^g j.^jgj. ^f ^j^g ^ Luke 8. 49. 

synagogue's house certain which said, " Thy daughter is 

53 Luke viii. 50. dead ; why troublest thou the Master any further ? " °' But 
=4 Mark v. 36. whcu Jcsus heard it — "'^ as soon as Jesus heard the word 

56 Markv. 36. that was spokcu, " he answered him, [and] ""said unto the 

57 Luke viii. 50. ruler of the synagogue, "saying, °* " Be not afraid, only 
?3 Mark V. 36. i^gljg^g^ '"Fear not, and she shall be made whole." 

59 Luke viii. 50. _ . 

eo Luke viii. 51. And when he came into the house, "' he suffered no man 

61 Markv. 37. ^q foUow him, savc Peter, and James, and John the brother 

62 Markv. 38. ^f James. "' And he cometh to the house of the ruler oi 

63 Matt. ix. 23. the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, "^^ and sav/ ''the min- ''Jee2ci,ron.35. 

64 Mark v. 33. strcls and the people making a noise, ^^ and them that 

65 Markv. 39. wopt and wailed greatly. ^' And when he was come in, he 

66 Matt. ix. 24. saith unto them, "Why make ye this ado, and weep? 

^ Luke viii. 52. 66 Qi^e ^pkce ! " Weep not, [for] '' the damsel is not dead, ' ^''' 2"- '"• 
69 Markv. 40. ^ut ■'sleepeth." "" And they lauglied him to scorn ; '" know- J Jo'"" "■ ii- 
™ Lake viii. 53. ing that sho was dead. ^' But 'when he had put them all ^fActsg. 4o. 
72 jj"j^ ^^'^^ out, [and] '^ when the people were put forth, " he taketh 
'3 Mark v. 40. the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that 
I* ^^'^'^ "• ^"^ were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. 

Luke viii. 54. 

'« Mark v. 41. '" And he took the damsel bv the hand, '° and called, "^ and 



96 



TWO BLIND MEN RESTORED TO SIGHT. [Part. III. 



said unto her, " Talitha Cumi ! " which is, being interpreted, 

" Damsel, I say unto thee, arise ! " " And her spirit came " Lukeviii.55. 

again: "and straightway the damsel arose, and walked ; 73 Mark v. 42. 

for she was of the age of twelve years : '^ and he com- 79 Luke vui. 55. 

manded ^"^ that something should be given her to eat. so Mark v. 43. 

*' And her parents were astonished : *^ and they were as- ai Luke vm. 56. 
I Matt. 8. 4. & 9. tonished with a great astonishment, *' And 'he charged them ^^ ^J^^J^ ^' ^^■ 
n'. 9. Mark 3. straitly, that no man should know it ; ^* that they should 84 Luke viii. 56- 
12. Luke 5. 14. ^gjj j-jQ ^^^^ what was done. *° And *the fame thereof sa Matt. iv. ae. 

* Ur, thisjame. n i i i 

went abroad into all that land. 

Matt. ix. part ofcer. 1, 18, 19, 20, ver. 21, a7id part ofver. 22, 23, 24, 25.— 1 And — 
entered into a ship, and passed over, and — 18 — behold ! there came a certain ruler — 
saying, " My daughter is even now dead : but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she 
shall live." 19 — and followed him, and — 20 ""And — a woman — with an issue of 
blood twelve years, came behind him, and — 21 For she said within herself, " If I may 
but touch his garment, I shall be whole." 22 But Jesus turned him about — " Daugh- 
ter, be of good comfort; "thy faith hath made thee whole." 23 "And when Jesus 
came into the ruler's house, — 24 He said unto them, — '• for the maid is not dead, but 
sleepeth." And they laughed him to scorn. 25 But — he went in, and took her by the 
hand, and the maid arose. 

Mark v. part ofver. 34, ayid 43. — And he said unto her, — . 43 — and commanded — . 

LcKE viii. part of ver. 41, 43, 44,45, 47, 48, ver. 49, and part of ver. SO, 51, 52,53, 54,55, 
56. — 41 ''And, behold ! there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the syna- 
gogue : and he fell — 43 'And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had 
spent all her living — 44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment ; — 
45 And Jesus said, " Who touched me.'" — "the multitude throng thee — and sayest 
thou, 'Who touched me.-"" 47 And — trembling, and, falling down before him — 
48 And he said — " thy faith hath made thee whole ; go in peace." 49 'While he yet spake, 
there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, " Thy daughter 
is dead ; trouble not the Master." 50 — believe only, — 51 — he suffered no man to go in, 
save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden. 52 And 

,, ,, ,, ,„ all wept and bewailed her: but he said — " she is not dead, "but sleepeth." 53 And 
s John 11. 11, lo. , , , , , • K . « 1 . 1 1, 1 1,7,11 

t Luke 7. 14. "'^y laughed him to scorn, — 54 And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, — 

John II. 43. saying, " Maid, 'arise." 55 — and she arose straightway; — to give her meat. 56 — but 
u Matt. 8. 4. cSt „, 1 J .1, 

9. 30. Mark 5. 43. "he charged them —. 



m Mark 5. 25. 
Luke 8. 43. 



71 Luke 7. 50. & 
8. 48. & 17. 19. 
& 18. 42. 

Mark 5. 38. 
Luke 8. 51. 



p Matt. 9 18. 

Mark 5. 22. 

q Matt. 9. 20. 



7 Mark 5. 35. 



SECT. XXXIX. 



Section XXXIX. — Christ restores two Blind Men to Sight. 
V.Z27. Matt. ix. 27-31. 

J P 4740 ^^ ^^^ when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him. 

On a Tour. Crying, and saying, " Thou "Son of David, have mercy on us!" 

ch i5~02 & ^^ "^"^ when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him, 

20. 30, 31. Mark aiid Jcsus saith unto them, " Believe ye that I am able to do this ? " 

18. 38', 39". " ** They said unto him, "Yea, Lord!" Then touched he their eyes, 

saying, " According to your faith be it unto you." ^° And their eyes 

were opened. And Jesus straitly charged them, saying, " See 'that 

no man know it." ^^ But 'they, when they were departed, spread 

abroad his fame in all that country. 



b Ch. 8. 4. & 12. 

16. & 17. 9. 

Luke 5. 14. 
c Mark 7. 36. 



SECT. XL. 

y.JE.27. 
J. P. 4740. 

On a Tour. 

a See ch. 12. 22. 

Luke 11. 14. 
6 Ch. 12. 24. 

Mark 3. *2. 

Luke 11. 15. 



Section XL. — Christ casts out a Dumb Sf)irit. 
Matt. ix. 32-34. 
3^ As "they went out, behold ! they brought to him a dumb man pos- 
sessed with a devil. ^^ And when the devil was cast out, the dumb 
spake : and the multitudes marvelled, saying, " It was never so seen 
in Israel ! " ^* But the Pharisees said, " He 'casteth out devils through 
the prince of the Devils." 



Sect. XLL] CHRIST RETURNS TO NAZARETH. 97 

Section XLI. — Christ returns to Nazareth, and is ill-treated there. sect. xli. 
Matt. xiii. 54, to the end. — Mark vi. 1-6. V iE 27 

1 MarkTi. 1. ' And "He wciit out froiTi thence, and came into his own j. p. 4740. 

2 Mark vi. 2. countvy ; and his disciples follow him. ^ And ^ when he was Nazareth. 
^Markvi.'a. come into his own country, Svhen the Sabbath day was aMatt. 13.54. 
s Matt. .xiii. 2. come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and *inso- ^"'^^'*-^^- 

6 Mark vi. 2. much that " many hearing him were astonished, ' and said, 

8 Malk vi"-'^^' * " From 'whence hath this man these things ? and what » John 6.42. 

wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such 

9 Mark vi. 3. mighty works are wrought by his hands ? ^ Is 'not this c is. 49. 7. Matt. 

the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and 23! Joi'm 6. 42. ' 
Joses, and of Juda, and Simon ? and are not his sisters ^^^' ^' ^ ' 

so Matt.xiii 55. here with us ? '" Is 'not this the carpenter's son ? is not 

his mother called Mary? and his brethren, •* James, and ''™"''^^-'*''- 

11 Matt. xiii. 56. Joses, and Simon, and Judas ? " are they not all with us ? 

t2 Mxrk vi. 3. Whence then hath this man all these things ? " '^ And they 

"Markvi. 4. 'werc offcuded at him. '^ But Jesus said unto them, '•'•'^A ''^'^"•^^- ^■ 

, . -11 1 • 1 • 1 /Matt. 13.57. 

prophet IS not without honor, but in his own country, and John 4. 44. 
u Mark vi. 5. among his own kin, and in his own house." ''' And ^he could s'.^'Ll.'^^l- ^?;^- 

o ' & 32. 2o. Mark 

15 Matt. xiii. 58. there do no mighty work, '" because of their unbehef ; save 9. 23. 

that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed 
17 Markvi. 6. them. "And ''he marvelled because of their unbelief. ais. 59. 6. 

Matt. xiii. /jart ofver.ZA, 56, ver. 57, and part of ver. 58. — 54 'And — he taught '^ark 6^ l^'^Luka 
them in their synagogue, — they were astonished, — " Wlience hath this man this wis- 4. 16,23. 
dom, and these miglity works?" 56 And Jiis sisters, — 57 And they ^were offended in .'^'?' ^^- ^' Mark 
him. But Jesus said unto them, " A ^prophet is not without honor, save in his own ^. Luke'4 24 
country, and in his own house." 58 And 'he did not many mighty worlis there — . John 4. 44. 

Mark vi.part of ver. 2, and 6. — 2 — saying, — 6 ""And he went round about tlie villages, ™^fk 6. 5, 6. 
teachmg. L^ke 13. 33. 



Section XLII. — Christ preaches again throughout Galilee. sect. xlii. 

Matt. ix. 35, to the end. 
^^ And "Jesus went about all the cities and villages, 'teaching in 



V.^. 27. 
J. P. 4740. 



their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and oaiiiee 
healing every sickness and every disease [among the people]. ^'^ 'But 



a Mark 6. 6. 



when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, Luke 13'. 22. 
because they *fainted, and were scattered abroad, ''as sheep having no * £'''.|*'/o4 
shepherd. ^'' Then saith he unto his disciples, " The 'harvest truly is *q^ ^^^^ \-^^^ 
plenteous, but the laborers are few ; ^® pray ■'^ye therefore the Lord of anduydown. 
the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest." 1 Ki'JJgs 22. 17. 

Ezek. 34. 5. 



PART IV 



Zech. 10. 2. 
e Luke 10. 2. 

John 4. 35. 
/2 Theas. 3. 1. 



FROM THE MISSION OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES TO THE ^^^ ^• 

MISSION OF THE SEVENTY. V. JE. 28. 

J. P. 4741. 



= On a Progress, 

probably in 

* Section I. — Christ's Mission to the Twelve Apostles.^ Gamee. 

Matt. x. and xi. 1. — Mark vi. 7-13. — Luke ix. 1-6. a See Note i. 

1 Luke Ix. 1. 1 Then "he called his twelve disciples together, and gave ^ ^"^"^ '^"'^ -• 

2 Matt. X.]. them power and authority over all devils. ^And 'when he Va'ikb. is.'&a 

had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power J^^^^^ 3 13 14. 
* against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all ^6. 7. Luke 6. 

3 Matt. X. 9. manner of sickness, and all manner of disease. ^ Now the * <>, over. 

VOL. II. 13 I 



98 THE TWELVE APOSTLES' COMMISSION. [Part IV. 

d^hakeG^h. names of the twelve apostles are these ; the first, Simon 
Acts 1.15. ("who is called Peter) , and Andrew his brother: James the 

e John 13. 26. V -^ ' ' 

/Matt. 4.15. son of Zebedee, and John his brother; '' Philip, and Bar- * Matt. x. 3. 
^24!'john4.'9,2o! tholomew ; Thomas, and Matthew the Publican ; James 
Acts'is. 46. ' the son of Alphseus ; and Lebbseus (whose surname was 
't,i7%lek.zil', Thaddajus); 'Simon "the Canaanite ; and Judas Iscariot, =*Matt.x.4. 

Luke^/s'"^'^" ^^^ ^^^^ betrayed him. 

i Matt. 3. 2. & 4. « These twelve Jesus sent forth ^ by two and two, ^ to ® '^^"- "; ^■ 

I Acts 8. 18, 20. preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick, ^ and g Luke ix! 2! 

'L*'k''io'4'& commanded them, saying, " Go -^not into the way of the » Matt. x. 5. 
22. 35. Gentiles : and into any city of ^the Samaritans enter ye 

n isa°m.9.7. Mark not ; ^^ but ''go ratlicr to the 'lost sheep of the house of '" '^''tt. x. e. 
&io.4^&22?35: Israel. " And ^as ye go, preach, saying, The ''kingdom » Matt. x. 7. 

oTheword[iiithe of licavcn is at hand. '^ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, '^ Matt. x. 8. 
eth a piece of raisc the dead, cast out devils : 'freely ye have received, 
value somewhat frccly givc." '^ And [he] commanded them that they should '^ ^''"^ "'" ^" 
thhig '''["ha^f ''a take nothing for their journey, save a staft' only ; '" and '"he '■* ^"''® '"• ^ 
6™!\uke 9.^3.'' said unto them, '' " ^Provide "neither gold, nor silver, nor '' Matt. x. 9. 

J, Luke 10. 7. "brass in your purses, '^ nor scrip for your journey, neither '* '^'^"- ''• ^^ 
1 T?m. 5. 18. ' two coats, neither shoes, " but be shod with sandals ; '* nor Jg ^ij^^ x' i^o 

jM'att.wfii. yet tstaves, '"neither bread; ^° for ''the workman is 19 Luke ix. 3. 

.^""ll^i'nS worthy of his meat." " And 'he said unto them, '' " Into '° Matt. x. 10. 

r Luku 10. 7. J _ . . ' . . 21 Mark vi. 10. 

s Luke 10. 5. whatsocvcr city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it 22 Matt. x. 11. 
1 Mark e^^ii ^'^ worthy ; and "^ whatsoever "^house ye enter into, ^* there ^ Luke ix. 4. 
Luke 9. 5. abide till ye go thence. ^* And when ye come into a ^ ^^^[ I' \l\ 
« Neh. 5. 13. Acts housc, salutc it. ^° And ^if the house be worthy, let your 26 Matt. x. 13. 
M Matt! 11.22,24. pcace coinc upon it; 'but if it be not worthy, let your 
re Luke 10. 3. peacc rctum to vou. ^^ And "whosoever shall not receive ^' Matt. x. 14- 

1/ Kom. 16. 19. 1 ■' /. 1 

Ei.hos. .'5. 15. you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out 01 that 
Mark'is.'g.' house or city, "shake off the dust of your feet, ^^ the very ^ Jf-»ke ix. 5. 
ZL^!'^' "' ^ dust from ^' under your feet, for a testimony against them.-' Mark vi. 11. 
a Acts 5. 40. 3" Verily I say unto you, "It shall be more tolerable for the 30 Matt. x. 15, 
21. 10. & 25. 7, land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment than to m end. 

%i. 2 Tim. 4. 16. ^ , , ^ . , J J o 

1 Cor. 14. 20. for that City. 

to''''.«?«iz?' ^^ " Behold ! ""I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: ''be 

c M'ark 13. 11-13. ye therefore wise as serpents, and Charmless as doves, i''' But beware 

21.14,15. ' of men : for ""they will dehver you up to the Councils, "and they will 
d^Exod.4.i2.Jer. gcourgc you iu their synagogues; ^^ and 'ye shall be brought before 
fssam. 23. 2. govcmors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and 

10! 2 Tim.' 4. 17". the Gentiles. ^'■* But Vhen they deliver you up, take no thought 
■^10 '35^ be' Luke ^^^ °*' what ye shall speak : for ''it shall be given you in that same 

21. le'. hour what ye shall speak ; ^^ for ^it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit 

ADau. 12. )2, 13. of your Father which speaketh in you. ^^ And •'^the brother shall de- 

MaHus.'ii' yiyer up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the 
* ^'l^' i\^\;i^ children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put 

Acts 8. 1. & 9. to death. ^^ And °ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake : 
* Or, end, m, fin- ''hut hc that cndurcth to the end shall be saved. ^^But 'when they 
•'m 10 28 See pcrsecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto 
''john'i. 51. ' you. Ye shall not *have gone over the cities of Israel, •'till the Son of 
'i3."i6. & ib.V Man be come. ~* The '^disciple is not above his master, nor the ser- 
' Mark 3%?*' ^^^^ above his lord. ^^It is enough for the disciple, that he be as his 

Luke li. 15. master, and the servant as his lord. If 'they have called the master 
t Gr. Beehlimi. of the housc tBcelzcbub, how much more shall they call them of his 
^ua^%\Tl 12 household ! ^^ Fear them not therefore : '"for there is nothing covered, 

2, 3. ' ' ■ that shall not be revealed ; and hid, that sliall not be known. ^^ What 
^'i^^s"^ 12^13. I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the 

Luke 12. '4. ear, that preach ye upon the " housetops. -^ And "fear not them 



Sect. II.] DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 99 

which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul : but rather fear 
Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ^^ Are not 
two sparrows sold for ta farthino- ? and one of them shall not fall on t ^t is m value 

1*1 i-ni-^inioi !• r IT halfpenny far- 

the ground without your'' b ather ; ■*" but the very han-s ot your head thing in the orig- 
are all numbered. ^^ r ear ye not thereiore ; ye are oi more value tnitlt part of the 
than many sparrows. fe^^Wr^i 

32 a Whosoever ^therefore shall confess me before men, 'him will I d see Note 4. 
confess also before my Father which is in heaven. ^^ But ''whosoever Vstm^M^'iif" 
shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father Aas''l7."34.' 
which is in heaven. ^^ Think 'not that I am come to send peace on p Luke 12. s. 
earth : I came not to send peace, but a sword. ^° For I am come to ^°^"' f'^' ^"^ 
set a man at variance 'against his father, and the daughter against her r Mark s. 38. 
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law ; ■^'^and "a 2 Tim. 2. 12. 
man's foes shall be they of his own household. ^■'' He "that loveth ^gg^gl •'^- ^^' ^^' 
father or mother more than me is not worthy of me : and he that t Mic. 7. 6. 
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ^^ '"And "is^mL 7.t.^^' 
he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of John is. is. 
me. ^^He "^that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his ^ch.ie. 24. 
life for my sake shall find it. f^*|-„o^v 1. 

.' Luke 9.23. & 14. 

40 a jjg ^that receiveth you receiveth® me, and he that receiveth me 97. 
receiveth Him that sent me. *^He ""that receiveth a prophet in the ''n.'ax'joim'is! 
name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward ; and he that re- ^;, „ , , , 

. 1 -1 -1 ^ • 1 1 11 . 2(ch. 18. 5. Luke 

ceiveth a righteous man in the name ol a righteous man shall receive 9. 48. & lo. le. 
a righteous man's reward. '^~ And "whosoever shall give to drink unto 13. 20. aii. 4'.i4. 
one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a dis- ® ^^^ ^"'^ ^• 

. - -IT 1 1 11 • • 1 1 • 1 51 z 1 Kjngs 17. 10. 

ciple, verily 1 say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. &18. 4. aKingg 

1 Matt. xi. 1. ' And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of ','„-„. „- 

J^ ' . . o en. 8. 5, 6. & 25. 

commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to 40. Mark 9. 41. 

2 Luke ix. 6. teach and to preach in their cities. ^ And Hhey departed, 1 Mark 6.12. 

3 jiarkvi. 12. and went through the towns, preaching the Gospel ; ^ that cJam. 5. 14. 

4 Mark vi. 13. mcn should repent. ^ And they cast out many devils, '^and 3. i",' 14 Luke 



anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them ; 



3. 1. 

* The word signi- 



valae somewhat 
less than a far- 
thing. Matt. 10. 



5 Luke ix. 6. 5 ^^^ healing everywhere. fieth a piece" of 

brass money, """ 

Mark vi. part ofver. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. — 7 ''And he called unto him the Twelve, 
and began to send them forth — and gave them power over unclean spirits; 8 " — no 
scrip, no bread, no *money in their purse : 9 "and not put on two coats. 10 — In what taktn'in"encral 
place soevev ye enter into a house, there abide till ye depart from that place. 11 •''And for money, Luke 
whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, ^shake off the ]^^ ,g 
dust — Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom land ''Gomorrha in /Matt. 10. 14. 
the day of judgment, than for that city." 12 And they went out, and preached — . Luke 10. 10. 

^ . . g Acts 13. 51. & 

Luke ix.part ofver. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. — 1 — and to cure diseases. 2 And ''he sent them — 18. 6. 

3 — " Take nothing for your journey, neither ^staves, nor scrip — neither ■'money ; nei- t Gr. or. 
ther have two coats apiece. 4 *And — there abide, and thence depart. 5 'And whoso- '^ Mark' G°ll' IL 
ever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, ™shake off — your feet, for a testi- 10. 1, 9. 
mony against them." 'See Matt. 10.10. 

j See Blatt. 10. 9. 

& Mark 6. 8. 

k Matt. 10. 11. 

Mark 6. 10. 

I Matt. 10. 14. 

ro Acts 13. 51. 



Section H. — Death of John the Baptist — Herod desires to see 

ChristJ 

Matt. xiv. 1-12.— Mark vi. ] 4-29.— Luke ix. 7-9. sect, n. 

1 Matt. xiv. 1. » At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame v. JE. 28. 

3 Luke t' "■ °^ "^^^"^ • ' ^"^ -^'"S Herod heard of him ; ' of all that J- P- 4741 

4 Mark II 14. ^as donc by him : * (for his name was spread abroad :) , — 

5 Lukeix.7. ^and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, iMatfTe. w 
« Luke ix. 8. that John was risen from the dead ; ' and of some, that Elias '^^"'^ ^- ^^• 

had appeared ; and of others, that one of the old prophets 

7 Markvi. 15. was riscu again. ' Others "said, " That it is Ehas." And 

others said, " That it is a prophet, or as one of the proph- 



] 00 DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. [Part IV. 

jMatt. 14. 2. ets." *But 'when Herod heard thereof, he said, ' unto sMarkvi. le 
Luke 3. 19. j^.g ggj.^j^j^t 10 u j^hn have I beheaded : but who is this of ' f ''"• ^\^- 

' i\i j_iuke IX. y. 

whom I hear such things ? " This is the Baptist : '' It is n Matt. .^iv. 2 
John, whom I beheaded : he is risen from the dead : " — '^ and " ^^""^ '';• ^^• 

cMatt. 14. 2. he said, " That "John the Baptist was risen from the dead, 
and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in 

d Luke 23. 8. him." — "* And "^he desired to see him. '° For Herod him- " Lukeix. 9. 
self had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound '^ ^^""^ "• "' 
him, '" and put him " in prison, for Herodias' sake, his j^ ^J'^"" ^'^•^• 
brother Philip's wife : for he had married her. '" For John is Mark vi. is. 

"a^'^si^^' ^^' ^ ^^^ ^^^^ '^^^^*-* Herod, " It 'is not lawful for thee to have 

*or, an inward thy brother's wife." " Therefore, Herodias had *a quarrel w Maikvi. 19. 
^™^'^*' against him, and would have killed him ; but she could 

/Matt. 21. 6. nQt_ ^° For Herod -^feared John, knowing that he was a 20 Mark vi. 20. 

tor, keft him, ;^^g^ fjjan and a holy : and tobserved him ; and when he 

or, saved mm. J ti i- iiii- 

heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. 

^' And when he Avould have put him to death, he feared ^^ ^att. xiv. 5. 

^Luke'20.^6. ^' the multitude, "because they counted him as a prophet. 

h Gen. 40. 20. 22 g^|. 23 ^j-,g^ ^ Convenient day was come, that ''Herod '^ Matt. xiv. 6 

on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, 
and chief estates of Galilee : ^* and when the daughter of ^ Mark vi. 22. 

t Gr, in ae midst, ^j^g g^j^j Hcrodias came in, and danced '' tbefore them, '"and ^ Matt. xiv. e. 
pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said 
unto the damsel, " Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I 

• Esther 5. 3, 6. will give it thec." " And he sware unto her, " 'Whatso- ^^ Mark vi. 23 

ever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half 
of my kingdom." °*And she went forth, and said unto her " "'"' ' 
mother, " What shall I ask ? " And she said, " The head 
of John the Baptist." ^' And she came in straightway with =' Mark vi. 25. 
haste unto the king, and asked, saying, " I will that thou 
give me, '" here, ''by and by, in a charger, the head of 3] jj^^i^'^'^gs. 
Matt 14 9 John the Baptist." '^ And ^the king was exceeding sorry ; 32 Mark vi. 26. 
vet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat ^' at f ^''"' "''■^' 

ni • 1 1 • 1 11 • 1 -ir » , . *• Mark vi. 26. 

meat with him, he would not reject her. And imme- 35 Mark vi. 27. 

* Or, one of his diatcly the king sent *an executioner, and commanded his 
^'"'''' head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in 

the prison, '" and brought his head in a charger, and gave it ^ ^^[J' "."^^jj 
to the damsel : and the damsel " brought it [and] '* gave as Mark vi. 28. 
it to her mother. '' And when his disciples heard of it, '» Mark vi. 29. 
they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb ; 
'' and went and told Jesus. '" ^^^''- "'"• ^^- 

Matt. xiv. part ofver. 2,3, ver. 4,partofvcr. 6,ver. 7,partofver. 8,9, cer. 10, and part 

of ver. 11, and 12. — 2 And said" — John — he is risen from the dead; and therefore 

t Or are wrouvht i^iighty works tdo show forth themselves in him." 3 *For Herod had laid hold on John, 

by him. " and bound him — in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. 4 For John 

^^^X^%'^^'»(\ ^^^'^ ^^^° '^™' " ^* '^^ '^°'' lawful for thee to have her." 6 — when Herod's birthday was 

iLev 18. le" & kept, the daughter of Herodias danced — and pleased Herod. 7 "Whereupon he prom- 

20.21. ised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. 8 And she, being before in- 

m Mark 6. 23. structed of her mother, said, " Give "me — John Baptist's head in a charger." 9 "And 

"n^'^kfi 26 ^^^ '^'"S was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him — 

he commanded it to be given her. 10 And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. 

p Mark 6. 28. 11 ^And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel ; and she — to her 

mother. 12 And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, — . 

Mark vi. heginning ofver. 21. And — . 

J Matt. 14. 1. Luke ix. part of ver. 7, and 9.-7 'Now Herod the tetrarch heard — 9 And Herod 

said — . 



Sect. IV.] FIVE THOUSAND ARE FED. 101 

Section III. — The Twelve return, and Jesus retires with them to the sect, hi. 

Desert of Bethsaida. y.JE. 28. 

Matt. xiv. 13, 14.— Mark vi. 30-34.— Luke ix. 10, 11.— John vi. 1, 2. J- P- 4741. 

1 Matt. xiv. 13. 'When "Jesus heard of it, ^ the 'apostles gathered ""'"aida. *" '" 

2 Mark VI. 30. themsolves together unto Jesus, ^ wheii thcv Were retumed, „ "~„., ^ 

3 Luke IX. 10. , , , •" 1, ,. , , , , • , 1 •■ ' a Matt. 10. 23. & 

4 Mark vi. 30. and told mm all things, both what they had done, and 12. 15. Mark e. 
Mark vi. 31. what they had tauglit. ^ And ^he said unto them, '• Come jokne. 1, -i 

ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while : * ^"""^ ^- ^''• 
for ''there were many coming and going, and they had no d Mark 3. 20. 
6 Mark vi. 32. leisure so much as to eat. ^ And ' after ^these things * he e Matt. 14. 13. 

8 LukVix. 10. took them and went aside privately, [and] ' they departed 

9 Mark vi. 32. by ship privately. '" Jesus went over the sea of Galilee 
HMarr^Hsa O^hlch is the sea of Tiberias) "into a desert place, 

12 Luke ix. 10. '^belonging to the city called Bethsaida. '^ And the 

13 Mark vi. 33. people saw them departing, and many knew him : and 
w Matt. xiv. 13. " ^vhen the people had heard thereof, they '^ ran afoot 

thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together 
16 Mark VI. 34. ^j^^q }^ip-j • 16 i^^iA -^Jcsus, wheii he came out, saw much peo- ^H^^^i ^- ^^- ^ 

pie, and was moved with compassion toward them, because 
1- Luke IX. 11. ^j^g^^ were as sheep not having a shepherd : '' and he received 

18 Mark vi. 34. them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, '* and 

19 Luke ix. 11. j-^g began to teach them many things, '* and healed them 

20 John vi. 2. that had need of healing. "" And a great multitude fol- 

lowed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on 
them that were diseased. 

Matt. xiv. part after. 13, and ver. 14. — 13 — he departed thence by ship into a desen 
place apart — followed him on foot out of the cities. 14 And Jesus went forth, and saw 
a great multitude, and ^was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. ^/'Jr,^" ^^' '^^^^^ 

Luke ix. part of zer.ld. 11. — 10 ''And the apostles — told him all they had done, a Mark 6. 30. 
"And — into a desert place — 11 And the people, when they knew ?'<, followed him — . i Matt. 14. 13. 



Section IV. — Five thousand are fed miraculously.^ sect. iv. 

Matt. xiv. 15-21. — Mark vi. 35-44. — Luke ix. 12-17. — Johiv vi. 3-14. y ^ gg 

1 john-i-i. 3. ' And Jesus went up into a moimtain, and there he sat J. P. 4741. 

2 John vi. 4. with his disciples. "And "the Passover, a feast of the on the ivay to 

• 1 -iTTTi IT 1 ^■r^ i • Jerusalem about 

3 John VI. 5. Jews, was niffh. When "Jesus then hited up his eyes, the time of the 

and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto — 

Philip, '•' Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat ? " e see Notej.^^ 

4 John vi. 6. 4 %^^^ ^]^jg hg gg^j J ^Q prove him : for he himself knew what Deut'. le'. Ljohn 

5 John vi. 7. he would do. '" Phihp answered him, " Two ^hundred penny- j Matt.^4^. i4. 

worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of <= see Numb. u. 

6 Mark vi. 35. them may take a little." ^ x^nd ''when the day was now ^ jiatt. i4. is. 

7 Luke ix. 12. far spent, his ' twelve * disciples came unto him, and said, ^'^^ ^- i"2- 

9 Markvhsc! '"' This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: 

10 Luke ix. 12. 5 send them away '" (the multitude), " that they may go into 
a Mark vi. 36. ^j^^ 'Uowiis and " couutrv round about, and into the vil- 

12 Luke IX. 12. _ - ' 

13 Mark ^-i. 36. lagcs, '"and lodge, '"and buy themselves bread: for they 
u Luke ix. 12. have nothing to eat." '" He answered and said unto them, 

16 Mark ^.37. ''"Theynecd not depart : '*give ye them to eat." And 

17 Matt. xiv. 16. they say unto him, "Shall 'we go and buy two hundred ^^'^^^^I'.Hf^' 
Mark VI. 37. *pennyworth of bread,^ and give them to eat?" ''He *The Roman pen- 

saith unto them, " How many loaves have ye ? go and hii'f-penny'""[i5 
see." And when they kncAv,' they say, " Five, -^and two il? S "^ ^^''"' 

20 John vi. 8. fishes." '"One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's h see Note?. 

2ijoimvi. 9. brother, saith unto him, -'"There is a lad here, which "^Luke'g,''] "see 
hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: ^but what Ma'ks^'s.^'^ 

22 Matt. xiv. 18. are they among so many! " °^And he said, " Bring them ^^ 2 Kings 4. 43. 

VOL. II. I* 



Mark vi. 38. 



103 CHRIST SENDS THE MULTITUDE AWAY. [Part IV. 

hither to me." *'And Jesus said ^Mo his disciples, ^ ■'°''" ^'-"'• 
^* " Make the men sit down, ^^ by fifties in a company." 25 joU vTio.' 
*' And he commanded them to make all sit down by com- ^' Lukeix. 14. 
panics upon the green grass : ^* (now there was much grass Z jlhn''v7. 10. 
in the place.) "^ And they did so, and made them all sit =9 Luke ix. 15. 
down. ^^ So the men sat down, in number about five ^° ''°''" '''■ ^**' 
thousand : '' and they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, ^' ^i"'' ^'- ^o- 
and by fifties. ^^ And when he had taken the five loaves 32 Mark vi. 41. 
ftisam. 9. 13. and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, ''and blessed, 

IVTotf Oft Ofi 

and brake ; '^ and when he had given thanks, he distributed ^' Jo''" '''• "• 
''the loaves, and gave them to his disciples, to set before ^^ Mark vi. 41. 
them, '^ and the disciples to the multitude, '" and the dis- ^' Matt. xiv. 19. 
ciples to them that were set down ; and likewise " the two 3° Marl vi "1 
fishes, '^ of the fishes as much as they would, '" divided he ss joh.i vi. 11. 
among them all. '° And they did all eat, and were filled. 'I *!"'' "• ^V 

" "^40 Mark vi. 42, 

^' When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, « john vi. 12. 

" Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be 
i Matt. 14.20. lost." "'^Therefore they gathered them together, ''^ 'and '''* J"''" '^': i^- 
6. 13. ' ' they took up twelve baskets full' of the fragments '''' of the 44 j^^n vl is. 
1 See Note 9. fjyg barley loaves, ""^and of the fishes, "'^ which remained ■'^ Mark vi. 43. 

over and above unto them that had eaten. "And they ^^ ;!f '," '"'z'^" 

. J 47 Walt. XIV. 21. 

that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside wo- 
men and children. "^ Then those men which had seen the -^s joim vi. 14. 
jGen. 49. 10. miracle that Jesus did, said, "This is of a truth •'that 

Deut. 18. 15, 18. , ^ . ' i i ,, 

Matt. 11. 3. John prophct that should come into the world. 

1. 21. & 4. 19,25.^ ^ 

& 7. 40. Matt. xiv. ver. 15, part ofver. 16, ver. 17, part qfver. 19, and ver. 20. — 15 *^And when 

k Mark 6. 35. it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, " Tliis is a desert place, and the time 
is now past ; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy them- 
selves victuals." 16 But Jesus said unto them, — " give ye them to eat." 17 And they 
say unto him, " We have here but five loaves, and two fishes." 19 And he commanded 
the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and, 
Ich. 15. 36. Mark looking up to heaven, 'he blessed, and brake; and gave the loaves to his disciples — 
JMa k6 42 ' ' ^^ "And they did all eat, and were filled : and they took up of the fragments that re- 
Luke 9. 17. mained twelve baskets full. 

Jolin 6. 12. Mark vi. 44. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men. 

n Matt, 14. 15. LuKE ix. part ofver. 12, ver. 13, part of ver. 14, and ver. 16, and 17. — 12 "And when 

Mark 6. 35. jjjg ^^y began to wear away, then came the — and said unto him, " Send — away, that they 

may go into the — country round about, — and get victuals : for we are here in a desert 
place." 13 But he said unto them, " Give ye them to eat." And they said, " We have 
no more but five loaves and two fishes ; except we should go and buy meat for all this 
people." 14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said — " Make them sit 
down — " 16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes ; and looking up to heaven, 
he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. 
"Mark 6. 42. ' l'^ "And they did eat, and were all filled : and there was taken up of the fragments that 
John 6. 13. remained to them twelve baskets. 

■''Ma'rk'e. 42^ ' JoiiN vi. part ofver. 11, and 13. — 11 And Jesus took the loaves ; — to the disciples, — 

Luke 9. 17. 13 — ''and filled twelve baskets with the fragments — . 



Luke 9. 12. 



SECT. V. 



Section V. — Christ sends the Multitude away, and prays alone.^ 
Matt. xiv. 22, 23.— Mark vi. 45, 46.— John vi. 15. 
V.^. 28. 1 "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come ' Johnvi. 15. 

p^obrb/'^!Lr ^"^ t^'^® h™ '^y force, to make him a king, "straightway ^Markvi. 45. 

Jerusalem. he constraincd his disciples to get into the ship, and to go 
* Or, over against to the othcr sidc bcforc *unto Bethsaida, while he sent 
k^'e'^No^e 10 ^^^y *h^ people. ' And when he had sent the multitudes ^ Matt, xiv.23. 
av/ay, he went up, "he departed again, into a mountain < John vi. 15. 
himself alone — '' apart to pray: and when the evening was » Matt. xiv. 23. 
come, he was there alone. 

Matt. xiv. ver. 22, and part of ver. 23. — 22 And straightway .Tesus constrained his dis- 
ciples to get into a ship\ and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the mul- 
titudes away. 23 —into a mountain — . 

Mark vi. 46. And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray- 



Sect. VI.] CHRIST WALKS ON THE SEA. 103 

Section VI. — Christ walks on the Sea to his Disciples, who are over- sect, vi. 

taken with a Storm} V.JE. 28. 

Matt. xiv. 24-33.— Mark vi. 47-52.— John vi. 16-21. J. P. 4741. 

1 John vi. 16. 'And "when the even was now come, his disciples went 11^' 

2 joiin vi. 17. down unto the sea, " and entered into a ship, and went over ' ^^"^ ^o'" ^i- 

, t^ 1 1 .1 1 • • .1 a Matt 14.23. 

3 Mark vi. 47. the sca toward Capernaum : and the ship was in the Mark 6. 47. 

4 John vi. 17. midst of the sea, and he alone on the land ; '' and it was 
s John vi. 18. now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. ^ And the 

6 Matt. ,xiv.24. sea arosc, by reason of a great wind that blew. ^ But the 

ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves ; 

7 Mark vi. 48. for the wind was contrary. '' And he saw them toiling in 

8 Matt. xiv. 25. rowing : * and 'in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went * M"'' ^- ^'^■ 

9 Mark vi. 48. uuto them. Walking on the sea; ''and 'would have passed c see Luke 24. as. 

10 joim vi. 19. by them. '° So when they had rowed about five and 

twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the 
sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship : and they were 

11 Matt. xiv. 26. afraid. '' And when the disciples saw him ''walking on the ^^"^ ^- ^■ 

sea, they were troubled, saying, " It is a spirit ! " and they 

12 Mark vi. 50. cricd out for fear. '^For they all saw him, and were 

13 Matt. xiv. 27. troubled. '^But straightway Jesus spake unto them, say- 

u Matt, xiv.28. ing, " Be ''of good cheer ; it is I ; be not afraid." '" And "gMar^k 6. so. John 
Peter answered him and said, "Lord, if it be thou, bid me 

15 Matt, xiv.29. come unto thee on the water." '° And he said, " Come." 
And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he 

IS Matt. xiv.30. Walked on the water, to go to Jesus. '^But when he saw 

the wind ^boisterous, he was afraid ; and beginning to * ^^ ^t^^M- 

17 Matt. xiv. 31. sink, hc cried, saying, "Lord, save me ! " '' And immediately 

Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said 

unto him, " O ^thou of little faith ! wherefore didst thou /Matt. c. so. & 

18 Mark vi. 51. (Joubt ? " '^ Aud hc wcut up uuto them into the ship; 

19 John vi. 21. 19 ^jjgj^ j.jjgy. vvillingly received him. ^^ And when they 

21 jthn v^^^^i^^ were come into the ship, the wind ceased, ^' and immedi- 

22 Mark vi. 51. atcly thc ship was at the land whither they went. " And 

they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and 

23 Mark vi. 52. wondcrcd. " For ^they considered not the miracle of the g Mark 8. i7, is. 

24 Matt. xiv.33. j^g^Ygg. f^j. ^j^jgij. ''heart was hardened. '^' Then they ''Mark 3.5. &i6. 

that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, 

" Of 'a truth thou art the Son of God ! "°> , Ps. 2. 7. 

See Mark 1. 1. 
Mark v'l.partofver.AT, 48, cc;-. 49, and part of vcr. 50, 51. — 47 — when even was come "> ^'^'^ ^"^^ ^'^- 
— 48 — for the wind was contrary unto them ; and about the fourth watch of the night 
he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, — 49 But when they saw him walking upon 
the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out : 50 And immediately he talked 
with them, and saitli unto them, " Be ■'of good cheer : it is I ; be not afraid." 51 — and j Matt. 14. 27. 
ii, -J A John 6. 20. 

the wmd ceased ; — . 

J oHf! vi. vei-. 20, and part of ver.2l. — 20 But he saith unto them, " It '•is I; be not fcMatt. 14. 27. 
..,,,„,.',,. Mark 6. 50. 

afraid. 21 — into the ship : — . 



Section VII. — Christ heals many People. sect\_vii. 

Matt. xiv. 34-36.— Mark vi. 53, to the end. V. E.. 28. 

1 Mark vi. 53. ' And "wheu they had passed over, they came into the J- P- 4741. 

2 Mark vi. 54. land of Genncsaret, and drew to the shore. ■ And when lll^' 

they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew aMatt. 14. 34. 

3 Matt. xiv. 35. him. ^And when the men of that place had knowledge 

of him, they sent out into all that country round about, 

4 Mark vi. 55. ^ and ran through that whole region round about, and be- 

gan to carry about in beds those that were sick, wliere they 

5 Matt. xiv. 35. heard he was ; '*and brought unto him all that were dis- 



104 CHRIST TEACHES AT CAPERNAUM. [Part IV, 

eased. * And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or « Mark vi. 56. 
cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and 
J Matt. 9. 20, 21. bcsought him, that 'they might touch if it were but the 
Ac" 19. 12. ■ border, '^ the hem, of his garment: and "as many as 7 Matt. xiv. 36. 
"wa^rk'a^o"' touchcd were made perfectly whole. 

Acta^ig. 19. Matt. xiv. 34, and part ofver. 36. — 34 ''And when they were gone over, they came 

d Mark 6. 53. into the land of Gennesaret. 36 And besought him that they might only touch — . 
* Of' **• Mark \i.part of v. 56. — of his garment : and as many as touched *him were made whole. 



SECT. VIII. Section VIII. — Christ teaches in the Synagogue of Capernaum — 
V ^28 Conversation with his Disciples. 

J. P. 4741. John vi. 22, to the end, and vii. 1. 

Capernaum. 22 'YuE day following, whcn the people which stood on the other 

side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save [that] 
one [wherein to his disciples were entered], and that Jesus went not 
with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away 
alone, ^^ (howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the 
place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks ;) 
^* when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither 
his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seek- 
ing for Jesus. 

'^^ And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they 
said unto him, " Rabbi, when camest thou hither ? " ^^ Jesus an- 
swered them and said, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, 
not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, 
* Or, fTork not. and wcrc filled. ^''^ *Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but 
"i!'5i.^&4.''i4^''' "for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of 
6 Matt. 3. 17. & Man shall give unto you : 'for him hath God the Father sealed." 
& 9°'?. 'Luke 3! ^^ Then said they unto him, "What shall we do, that we might 
fatl-tdi'l work the works of God ? " 

I'pet I'^n^' ^' ^^ Jesus answered and said unto them, " This "is the work of God, 
ciJohns. 23. that ye beheve on him whom He hath sent." 

"t": Mar^c" t ^° They said therefore unto him, " What ''sign showest thou then, 

11. 1 Cor. 1. 22. ^^|^a,t we may see, and believe thee ? what dost thou work ? ^^ 'Our 

"n.7. Nci.'. y."i5! fathers did eat manna in the desert ; as it is written, ' He -^gave them 

rcor'. jo'. 3."' bread from heaven to eat.' " 

■^p "re 24 2- ^*' ^^ Then Jesus said unto them, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, 

Moses gave you not that bread from heaven ; but my Father giveth 

you the true bread from heaven. ^^ For the bread of God is He which 

cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world." 

^seech. 4. 15. ^4 'pj^gjj ^said they unto him, " Lord, evermore give us this bread." 

Aver. 48,58. ^5 ^j^^ Jcsus Said unto then>, " I ''am the bread" of Hfe : 'he that 

nS^eeNoteu. ^ comcth to mc sliall never hunger ; and he that believeth on me shall 

37. never thirst. ^^ But ■'I said unto you. That ye also have seen me, and 

■//ver'.Ts'.'^^' believe not. ^'' All Hhat the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and 

z Matt. 24. 24. ch. 'him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out; ^^ for I came 

2. 19.' 1 John'".' down from heaven, "not to do mine own will, "but the will of Him 

Jaiatt. 26. 39. t'l^t sent me. ^^ And this is the Father's will [which hath sent me], 

ch. 5. 30. "that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should 

"ch.io.2t.&i7. ''^iss it up again at the last day. ^° And this is the will of Him that 

12. & 18. 9. sent me, ''that every one which seeth the Son, and beheveth on him, 

^chl'k 15, 16 & may have everlasting life : and I will raise him up at the last day." 

^' ^^' '^^ The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, " I am the 

?Matt.i3. 5o, bread which came down from heaven ; " '*^and they said, " Is 'not this 

4. 22. ' ■ Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know ? how is 

it then that he saith, I came down from heaven ? " 

^^ Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, " Murmur not 



Sect. IX.] CHRIST CONVERSES WITH THE SCRIBES. 105 

among yourselves. ** No '^man can come to me, except the Father ''g^'^"'' ^- '*• ''"■ 
which hath sent me draw him : and I will raise him up at the last 
day. *^ It 'is written in the Prophets, ' And they shall be all taught y/o^^-J^./f" 
of God.' 'Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of a.'He'b. 8. 16. 
the Father, cometh unto me. ''^ Not "that any man hath seen the sver. '37.' 
Father, "save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father, "v Verily, lull^^u^^^'^'^- 
verily, I say unto you, "He that believeth on me hath everlasting hfe. Luke 10. 22. ch. 

■ "^ . 1. 18. Sc 7. 29. 

^® I ""am that Bread of Life. "^^ Your ^fathers did eat manna in the wil- & 8. 19. 
derness, and are dead : ^^ this ""is the Bread which cometh down from '^se^^l'^l^' ^^' 
heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. °^ I am the Living zver.ss, 35. 
Bread "which came down from heaven : if any man eat of this Bread, ^^^^.^^s^' 25! 
he shall hve for ever. And 'the bread that I will give is my flesh, ^er-si. 

z ver. 51 58. 

which I will give for the life of the world." ach.3. 13. 

^~The Jews therefore 'strove amonsr themselves, saying, " How "'can sHeb. 10.5, 10. 

.U- ■ 1- fl u * * :, ') ' .» &' cch. 7. 43. &9. 

this man give us his ilesn to eat : le. & 10. 19. 

^■^Then Jesus said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, 'Except ''^h. 3. 9. 
ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no see ch. "1. h.' 
life in you. ^* Whoso -^eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath ■'^ch. "^4.^14.*"' ^ 
eternal life ; and I will raise him up at the last day. ^^ For my flesh is 
meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. ^^ He that eateth my flesh, 
and drinketh my blood, °dwelleth in me, and I in him. ^^ As the g- 1 John 3. 24. & 
living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father : so he that ' ' 
eateth m.e, even he shall live by me. ^^This 'is that Bread which a ^er. 49, .^o, 51 
came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat [manna], and 
are dead: he that eateth of this Bread shall live for ever." 

^^ These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Caper- 
naum. "''Many 'therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, ^l"\g^^- *^''" 
said, " This is a hard saying ; who can hear it ? " ^'^ When Jesus 
knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, 
"Doth this offend you? ^"^ T'lHiat •'and if ye shaU see the Son of Jl'^yhj^ij^si.^fc 
Man ascend up where he was before? "^It 'is the Spirit that quick- i9. Acts i. 9. 
eneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, uicm.^.Q. 
they are spirit, and they are hfe. ^^But 'there are some of you that ^ ver. 36. 
believe not." For '"Jesus knew from the beginning who they ™ch. 2. 24,25. & 

. 13 11 

were that believed not, and who should betray him. "^ And he said, 
"Therefore "said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, ex- nver. 44, 45. 
cept it were given unto him of my Father." "^^ From "that time many over. eo. 
of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. ''"Then 
said Jesus unto the Twelve, " Wifl ye also go away?" "^ [Then] 
Simon Peter answered him, " Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast 
''the words of eternal hfe. ^^ And 'we believe and are sure that thou pActss. ao. 
art that Christ, the Son of [the hving] God." ™ Jesus answered them, 'seeaiiirki.].& 
" Have 'not I chosen you Twelve, ^and one of you is a devil ? " eh'?'. Ygl^'&n: 
''^ He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon ; for he it was that ^^- , „ „ 
should betray him, being one of the Twelve. sch. 13.27. 

1 John vii. 1. 'After these things Jesus walked in Galilee ; for he would 

not walk in Jewry, 'because the Jews sought to kill him. «ch. 5. le, is. 



Section IX. — Christ converses ivith the Scribes and Pharisees on the sect. ix. 

Subject of Jewish Traditions. y ^ 28. 

Matt. xv. 1-20. — Mark. vii. 1-23. j. p. 4741. 

1 Mark vii. 1. ' Then "came together unto him the Pharisees, and cer- capemaum. 

2 Mark vii. 2. tain of the Scribes, which came from Jerusalem ; ^ and a Matt. is. i. 

when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with *de- *oi, common. 
filed (that is to say, with unwashen) hands, they found 'i"the*'OT'i^!fa], 

3 Mark vii. .3. fg^.jjf^ 3 ^^^ ^j^^ Pharisccs, and all the Jews, except they Ti'tophyiict; «? 

wash their hands toft, eat not, holding the tradition of the *» '■'^^ e""""- ' 

VOL. II. 14 



106 CHRIST CONVERSES WITH THE SCRIBES. [Part IV. 

elders ; ^ and when they come from the market, except 4 Mark vu. 4. 
they wash, they eat not ; and many other things there be, 
which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, 
t sextarius is a- ^nd tpots, brazen vessels, and of *tables ;) Hhen 'the Phar- * Markvii. 5. 

bout a pint and . i Vi -i i i i • r ■ i -tiT\ 

a half. isees and Scribes asked him, saying, " Why "do thy dis- " Matt. xv. 1. 

lMatt.l5.2. ciples transgress ''the tradition of the elders? for they '^^^''-''^-^ 
c Mark?. 5. wash not their hands when they eat bread." *But he an- » Matt. xv. 3. 
o See Note 14 swcrcd and said unto them, "Why do ye also transgress 
e Exod. 20. 13. thc commandmcnt of God by your" tradition ? ° For ' '^='"- "^^ *- 
5.^i6.^''proi^''23; Crod Commanded, saying, ' Honor 'thy father and mother ;' 
E^d'''^3'''f ^' ^"^' '° ' Whoso ^curseth father or mother, let him die the '» Mark vii. lo 
Lev. 20. 9. Deut. death.' " But ye say, ' If a man shall say to his father or " Markvii. n 
2o!&'3o™7'. ' mother, ^It is Corban (that is to say, a gift), by whatsoever 
«■ [Of. " if« i« 6« thou mightest be profited by me : he shall be free ; '^ and ^' Matt. xv. e. 
muia cor?imon a- honor uot liis father or his mother, '^and ye suffer him no " Markvii. 12. 
on°"|ucii*^ occas- morc to do aught for his father or his mother ; ''' thus have " Matt. xv. e. 
the'i^iiMiselsre- Y^ made the commandment of God of none effect by your 
leased a child tradition, ^'^ which ye have delivered : and many such like '^ Markvii. 13. 

trom supporting ' -^ . n • 

his parents, and thinsTS do vc. "^ Yc hyoocrites ! well did Esaias 'prophesy '•= Matt. xv. 7. 

even deemed it„^ ■'....•'.'■. s. s. j 

sacrilege if lie OI yOU Saying, aS it IS written, " Mark vii. 6. 

afterwards gave 

their u^se.-see ' This pcoplc 'Mrawcth nigh unto me with their mouth, '* Matt. xv. 8. 
is's^'feaj'^Ys"] '^"'^ honoreth me with their lips ; 
A Mark 7. 6. But their heart is far from me.' 

i Isa. 29. 13. 

Ezek. 33. 31. 10 Howbcit, ill vaiu do they worship me, teaching for doctrines " Mark vii. 7. 
the commandments of men. ^° For laying aside the command- ^^ Mark vii. s. 
ment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing 
of pots and cups : and many other such like things ye do." 

jMatt. 15. 10. 21 ^j-^^ J when he had called all the people unto him, he ^' Markvn. 14 

said unto them, " Hearken unto me every one of you, and 
understand ! ^^ There is nothing from without a man, that =2 Markvii. 15. 
entering into him can defile him : but the things which 
come out of him, those are they that defile the man. 

i Acts 10. 15. ^^ ^^ Not ''that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man ; ^^ Matt. xv. 11 
20. iTim. 4.4. ' but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a 

z Matt. "11. 15. man. ^'' If 'any man have ears to hear, let him hear !" 24 Mark vii. le. 

mMatt. 15. 15. ^^ And " whcu he was entered into the house from the ^^ Mark vii. 17. 

people, °° then came his disciples, and said unto him, =" Matt, xv 12. 
" Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after 
they heard this saying?" "But he answered and said, ^' Matt. xv. 13. 

Yco? s^'il' &c " E^^ry "plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, 

Is. 9. 16. Mai. shall be rooted up. ^' Let them alone : "they be blind lead- «* Matt. xv. 14. 
Luket'39.' ^^' ers of the blind ; and if the blind lead the blind, both 

p Mark 7. 17. shall fall into the ditch." '''Then ^answered Peter and =' Matt. xv. 15. 
said unto him, "Declare unto us this parable." '" And ^o Matt. xv. le. 

, Matt. 16.9. Jesus said ^'unto them, '^"AreVe also yet without un- ^' M"'"^ vii. is. 

Mark 7. 18. , ,- ., -, t-. i i ^i ^ r i ^ 32 Matt. xv. 16. 

ri Cor. 6. 13. dcrstandiug ? "■* JJo not ye yet understand, that whatso- .13 Matt. xv. 17. 

ever ^'' thing from without entereth into the man, ^^ at the ^* Mark vii. is. 

mouth, ^S:^ cannot defile him; ^'because it entereth not 3° JJ^"^" ^^" j"; 

into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the 37 Mark vi.. 19. 

draught, purging all meats?" '^And he said, " That =' ^ark vii. 20. 

which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 

'2h Pro;'6*'i4: '' "For ^° those things which proceed out of the mouth '' JJ"' ;'; jg- 

i5.'i9!'jtm^s ": ^^^^ f'0''th from the heart ; and they defile the man. 41 Matt. xv. 19. 

6." ' ' ■" For ^^from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil -"^ Markvii. 21. 

» Gr covetous- thoughts, adultcries, fornications, murders, "Hhefts, ■*" false ^^ m^t/xv. 19 

w7ses. '"''''"*' witness, "' *covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, 45 Mark vii. 22. 



Sect. X.] THE CANAANITE'S DAUGHTER HEALED. 107 

« Mark Tii. 23. an cvil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: "all these 
« Matt. XV. 20. evil things come from within, and defile the man. "' These 

are the things which defile a man : but to eat with un- 

washen hands defileth not a man." 

Matt. xv. part of verAjiyVer. 5, part of ver. 6,8, ver. 9, 10, and part of ver. 17,18, ^ 

19. — ITlien 'came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees, wliich were of Jerusalem, — 4 — " "He ^ j;" Sl.'l?! Lev. 
that curseth fatlier or mother, let him die the death." 5 But ye say, " Whosoever shall qq.' b.Deu't. 27. 
say to his father or his motlier, "It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by ^gg^^; -°' ^°' 
me; 6 — he shall be free—. 8 "This "people—. 9 But in vain they do worship me, ^ gee Mark 7. U, 
^teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." 10 ^And he called the multitude, 12. 
and said unto them, " Hear, and understand : 17 — entereth in — goeth into the belly, ^^f'^i;'^^'^''''^' 
and is cast out into the draught .' 13 But — . 19 — ^out of the heart proceed evil ^ i^ ^q_ i3_ coI. 
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, — blasphemies." 2. 18,-22. Tit.l. 

Mark yli. part of ver. 5, 6, ver. 9, and paH of ver. 10, 13, 17, 18.— 5 — " Why walk j, Mark 7. 14. 
not thy disciples according- to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwasheu j oen. 6. 5. & 8. 
hands .'" 6 He answered and said unto them, " Well hath Esaias prophesied of you 21.^ Prov. 6. 14. 
hypocrites — ' honoreth ''me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.'" 9 And ^ Is.29. 13. Ezek. 
he said unto them, " Full well ye ^reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep 33. 31. Matt. 15. 
your own tradition. 10 For Moses said, ' Honor 'thy father and thy mother ; and, — ^ ^^ frustrate 
13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, — "17 — his disciples j gee Matt. 15. 4. 
asked him concerning the parable. 18 And he saith — " Are ye so without understand- 
ing also ? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever — ." 



Section X. — Christ heals the Daughter of the Canaanite or Syro- sect, x. 
Phoenician Woman.^ V. M. 28. 

Matt. xv. 21-28.— Mark vii. 24-30. J. P. 4741. 

iMatt. XV. 21. 'Then Jesus ^ arose, and ^ went thence, and departed '^J^' 
2 Mark vii. 24. -j^^-q ^j^g coasts of Tyre and Sidon. "And "entered into p see Note is. 
4 Matt. XV. 22. a house, and would have no man know it ; but he could 
6 Mark vii. 24. not bc hid. " For, 'behold! a woman of Canaan, ® whose 
6 Markvii.25. y^^jjcr daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and 

^ Matt. XV. 22. ^ = r 1 i ■ i l • • 

8 Mark Vii. 25. camc out 01 the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, 

9 Matt. XV. 22. "Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David! my 

10 Matt. XV. 23. daughter is grievously vexed with a devil." '"But he an- 

swered her not a word. And his disciples came and be- 
sought him, saying, " Send her away ; for she crieth after 

11 Matt. XV. 24. us." " But hc auswercd and said, "I "am not sent but ''Acts'3^25; le. 

12 Matt. XV. 25. unto thc lost sheep of the house of Israel." '"Then came ^. i|- *'^- ^°'°- 

13 Mark vii. 25. ghe '^aud fell at his feet, '"and worshipped him, saying, 

15 M^^k vil:2t " Lord, help me ! " '' The woman was a *Greek, a Syro- * o^' «™'*- 

Phoenician by nation ; and she besought him that he would 

16 Matt. XV. 26. ^,^g^ fQ..^j^ ^}^g jjg^.jl Q^i- Qf jjgj. (laughter. "=But he an- 

" Mark vii. 27. swercd and said "unto her, "Let the children first be 

18 Matt. XV. 25. filled: for "it Hs not meet to take the children's bread, s Mark 7. 27. 

19 Matt. XV. 27. and to cast it to 'dogs."i "And she said, " Truth, Lord : <=g<=h- '•6-™i.3. 

yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their mas- q see Note le. 

20 Mark vii. 28. ter's table ; — '" the dogs under the table eat of the children's 

21 Matt. XV. 28. crumbs." "' Then Jesus answered and said unto her, " O 

22 Mark vii. 29. womau ! great is thy faith!" "And he said unto her, 

23 Matt. XV. 23. " For this saying, ^^ be it unto thee even as thou wilt : -" go 
^ Mau.xv:S'. % way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter." "And 
26 Mark vii. 30. her daughter was made whole from that very hour. '^ And 

when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone 
out, and her daughter laid upon the bed. 

Ma-rk\u. part of ver. 2i, 25, 27,28. — 24 ''And from thence he — went into the bor- ^ Matt. 15. 21. 
ders of Tyre and Sidon, and — 25 — a certain woman — came — 27 But Jesus said — "it * *"* * 
^is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs." 28 And she 
answered and said unto him, " Yes, Lord ; yet — ." 



108 



CHRIST GOES THROUGH DECAPOLIS. 



[Part IV. 



SECT. XI. 

V.JE. 28. 
J. P. 4741. 

Decapolis. 

a Matt. 15. 29. 

b Matt. 9. 32. 

LukeH. 14. 

c Mark 8. 23. 

John 9. 6. 
d Mark 6. 41. 

John 11. 41. & 

17. 1. 
e John 11. 33, 38. 
/I3. 35. 5, 6. 

Matt. 11.5. 
g Mark 5. 43. 



h Is. 35. 5, 6 
Matt. 11. 5. 
Luke 7. 22. 



Section XI. — Christ goes through Decapolis, healing and teaching. 
Matt. xv. 29-31.— Mark vii. 31, to the end. 
' And "again ^ Jesus, ' departing from the coasts of Tyre ' Mark vii. 31. 
and Sidon, came unto the sea of Gahlee, through the midst \ ^^'4 J^ilsf- 
of the coasts of Decapohs. ^^ And Hhey bring unto him one 37. 
that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech ; and 
they beseech him to put his hand upon him. •'^ And he took him aside 
from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and 'he spit, and 
touched his tongue ; ^^ and ''looking up to heaven, "he sighed, and 
saith unto him, " Ephphatha ! " that is, Be opened ! ^^ And -^straight- 
way his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, 
and he spake plain. ^^ And ^he charged them that they should tell no 
man : but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal 
they published it. ^^ And were beyond measure astonished, saying, 
" He hath done all things well : he maketh both the deaf to hear, 
and the dumb to speak." 

^^And [he] went up into a mountain, and sat down Matt. xv. 29-31. 
there, 3" and ''great multitudes came unto him, having with 
them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and 
cast them down at Jesus' feet ; and he healed them, '^^ insomuch that 
the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the 
maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see : and they 
glorified the God of Israel. 



» ch. 4. 18 



Matt. xv. part qfver. 29. 
of Galilee — . 



And — departed from thence, and came nigh 'unto the sea 



SECT. XII. 

V. JE. 28. 
J. P. 4741. 

On a Mount by 

tlie Sea of 

Galilee. 

a Matt. 15. 32. 



b 2 Kings 4. 43. 



c Matt. 14. 19. 

d 1 Sam. 9. 13. 

Luke 92. 19. 



e Mark 8. 8, 9. 



2 Mark viii. 2. 



3 Mark viii. 3. 



4 Matt. XV. 33. 

5 Mark viii. 4. 



/Matt. 15.34. 
Sea ch. 6. 38. 



Section XII. — Four thousand Men are fed miraculously. 
Matt. xv. 32, to the end. — Mark viii. 1-10. 
' In those days, the multitude being very great, and ' ""** ""• '• 
having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, 
and saith unto them, ^ " I "have compassion on the multi- 
tude, because they have now been with me three days, 
and have nothing to eat : ' and if I send them away fast- 
ing to their own houses, they will faint by the way ; for 
divers of them came from far." * And ''his disciples say 
unto him, ^ " From whence can a man satisfy these men 
with bread here in the wilderness ? ^ Whence should we ^ '"^"- ''"• ^^• 
have so much bread as to fill so great a multitude ? " "' And ' '"''"• ''''• ^^• 
Jesus saith unto them, " How many loaves have ye ? " 
And they said, " Seven, and a few little fishes." ^ And he ' M""" "^^ ='^- 
commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 
^ And "he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and ''gave 
thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the 
disciples to the multitude, '° to set before them ; and they 
did set them before the people. " And they did all eat, 
and were filled : and they took up of the broken meat that 
was left seven baskets full. '^ And 'they that did eat were " ""»"• ''"• ^^■ 
four thousand men, beside women and children. ' ' And he "^ Matt. xv. 39. 
sent away the multitude, and took ship, '^ straightway he en- 
tered into a ship, with his disciples, and came "into the J^ ^*^^- ^J;^jq_ 
coasts of Magdala, '" into the parts of Dalmanutha. 

Matt. xv. 32, and part qfver. 33,39. — 32 Then Jesus called his disciples wnio /(Jm, and 
said, " 1 have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me novir three 
days, and have nothing to eat : and I vs'ill not send them away fasting, lest they faint in 
the way." 23 — in the wilderness, — 39 — and came — . 

Mark viii. part nfver. 4, ver. 5, part of ver. 6, andver. 7, 8, 9, and beginning of ver. 
10. — 4 And his disciples answered him, — 5 /And he asked them, " How many loaves 



9 Matt. XV. 36. 



10 Mark viii. 6. 

11 Matt. XV. 37. 



Sect. XIIL] THE PHARISEES REQUIRE SIGNS. 109 

have ye ?" And they said, "Seven." 6 And lie commanded the people to sit down 

on the ground : and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave 

to his disciples — 7 And they had a few small fishes: and "'he blessed, and com- ff^Matt. 14. 19. ch. 

manded to set them also before them. 8 So ''they did eat, and were filled : and they ,j J|^^^^_ j5_ ^j. 

took up of the broken vicat that was left seven baskets. 9 And they that had eaten were 

about four thousand ; and he sent them away. 10 And — . ==^^=: 



Section XIII. — The Pharisees require other Signs — Christ charges sect, xiii. 
them with Hypocrisy. V. IE. 28. 

Matt. xvi. 1-12.— Mark viii. 11-21. J. P. 4741. 

1 Matt. xvi. 1. ' The "Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, tempt- Magdaia. 

2 Mark viii. u. ing, ^ bcgaii to question with Him; ^ and desired 'that he oMatt. 12. 38. 

3 Matt. XVI. 1 ^Qyi(j show them a sign from heaven, ''tempting him. la! 54-56. John 

4 Mark viii. 11. , i • i i Tin • ■ • 6 30 

5 Matt. xvi. 2. He answered, and said unto them, " When it is evening, jicor. 1.22. 

6 Matt. xvi. 3. ye say, ' It will be fair weather : for the sky is red.' " And 

in the morning, ' It will be foul weather to-day : for the 
sky is red and lowering.' O ye hypocrites ! ye can dis- 
cern tlie face of the sky ; but can ye not discern the signs 

7 Mark viii. 12. of thc tinics ? " ' And hc sighed deeply in his spirit, and 

» Matt. xvi. 4. gaith^ "Why doth this generation, *a 'wicked and adul- <:m^"-12.39. 
9 Mark viii. 12. terous generation, "seek after a sign? Verily I say unto 
lu Matt. xvi. 4. you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation, '" but 

the sign of the prophet Jonas ! " And he left them, and 
II Mark via. 13. (jgpaj-^gfj . "and entering into the ship again, departed to 

the other side. 
" Matt. xvi. 5. ,2^j^^ "when his disciples were come to the other side, "i^'''' s- 1^. 

13 Mark viii. 14. tjjgy had forgottcu to take bread; ''neither had they in 

14 Matt. xvi. 6. jj^g gj^jp ^-^j^ them, more than one loaf. '''Then Jesus 

15 Mark viii. 15. i-^ charged them, and "'said unto them, "Take 'heed, and 'i^"kei2.i. 

1" Matt. XVI. 6. ^ . 

beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the Saddu- 
17 Mark viii. 15. cees, "and of the leaven of Herod." "* And they reas- 
oned among themselves, saying, " It is because we have 

19 Matt. xvi. 8. taken no bread." '" Which when Jesus perceived, he said 

unto them, " O ye of little faith ! why reason ye among 

20 Mark viii. 17. yoursclves, becausc ye have brought no bread ? "^^ Per- 

ceive ^ye not yet, neither understand ? have ye your heart ^^^'^^ ^- ^^• 

21 Mark viii. 18. yg^ hardened? ^'Having eyes, see ye not? and having 

22 Mark viii. 19. gg^j-g^ hear ye not? and do ye not remember? ^^ When ^I ^e. 43.' Luke "^9! 

brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many bas- ^^' ^°'"' ®' ^^' 
kets full of fragments took ye up ? " They say unto him, 

23 Markviii.2o. » -pwelve." '' "And ^when the seven among four thou- ^^i'g!!.^'^- 

sand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up ? " 

24 Mark viii. 21. ^j^^ they said, "Seven." =' And he said unto them, 

25 Matt, xvi 11. <<How is it that *ye do not understand ''that I spake it »Mark6.52.&8. 

not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the 

26 Matt. xvi. 12. igaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees ? " "^ Then 

understood they how that he bade them not beware of the 
leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and 
of the Sadducees. 

Matt. xvi. part ofvcr. 4,andver. 9 , 10 , and part of ver. 11. — 4 — " seeketli after a sign ; 
and there shall no sign be given unto it, — 9 JDo ye not yet understand, neither remember J "^^ '''• 1^' *-''• 
the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up .'' 10 ''Neither the ^ j^ ,5' 04 
seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up .'' 11 How is it 
that ye do not understand — ." 

Mark viii. ;)o.rt o/r>er. 11, 13, 14, 15, Bcr. 16, a7id part of ver. 17. — 11 'And the Phari- i Matt. 12. 38. & 
sees came forth, and — seeking of him a sign from heaven, — 13 And he left them, — ..on. 
14 ""Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread,— 15 — he — saying, " Take heed, be- " '^''"' ^^' ^' 
ware of the leaven of the Pharisees," — 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 
" It is "because we have no bread." 17 And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, n Matt. 16. 7. 
" Why reason ye, because ye have no bread ? — ." 

VOL. II. J 



110 CHRIST HEALS A BLIND MAN. [Part IV. 

SECT. XIV. Section XIV. — Christ heals a Blind man at Bethsaida. 

V ^^28 Mark viii. 22-26. 

J. P. 4741. ^^ And He cometh to Bethsaida. And they bring a blind man unto 

Bethsaida. him, and besought him to touch him. ^^ And he took the bhnd man 

och. 7. 33. by the hand, and led him out of the town. And when "he had spit 

on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw 

aught. ^* And he looked up, and said, " I see men, as trees, walking." 

^^ After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look 

up : and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. ^^ And he sent 

*5^4"' ^' ^' ''^' ^^^^^ away to his house, saying, " Neither go into the town, 'nor tell it 

to any in the town." 



SECT. XV. Section XV. — Peter confesses Christ to be the Messiahs 

y ]^2g Matt. xvi. 13-20.— Mark viii. 27-30.— Luke ix. 18-21. 

J. P. 4741. ' And "Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns ' Mark viii. 27. 

cssarea Piiiiippi. of Csesarca Philippi : ^ and 'it came to pass, ^ when Jesus ^ Luke ix. is. 
rSeeN^i7. camc into the coasts of Csesarea Philippi, 'by the way, °as I Ma'k^u.'a?! 
a Matt. 16. 13. hc was aloHC praying, his disciples were with him : and ^ Luice ix. is. 
* Mark 8. 27. "he askcd his disciples, saying, "Whom '^do men say that ^^^''^''J^' 
c Mark 8. 27. I, the Sou of Mau, am?" 'And they * answered and » Mark viii. as! 
joVi.'si.' "^ 'said, " Some '*5a?/ that thoxi art John the Baptist; '"but ^ Matt. xvi. 14. 
"uke'g"-!'. some say, Elias ; "and others, Jeremias, or one of the n Matt. xvi. m. 
prophets ; '^ and others say, that one of the old prophets '^ Luke ix. i9. 
is risen again." '^ He saith unto them, " But whom say ye " Matt. xvi. 15. 
that I am?" '* And Simon Peter answered and said, '^ Matt. xvi. le. 
e See Mark 11. a Thou 'art the Christ, the Son of the living » God!" 

8 See Note 18. ^ 

'^And Jesus answered and said unto him, "Blessed art " Matt. xvi. 17. 

/Epiies. 2. 8. thou, Simon Bar-jona ! ■'^for flesh and blood hath not re- 

^G^'^'ii ^"" sealed it unto thee, but ^my Father which is in heaven. 

/tjoiln'i. 42. '^ And I say also unto thee, That ''thou art Peter, and " Matt. xvi. is. 

'^p^^'^j^jl"- 'upon this rock I will build my Church ; and ^the gates of 

j Job 38. 17. Ps. hell shall not prevail against it. " And *I will give unto " Matt. xvi. 19. 
Is. 38. 10. " " thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever 

^^j'ohnia\i^' *^^^ shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ; and 

whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in is Matt. xvi. 20. 

t See Note 19. hcavcu." ' '* Then 'charged he " straitly ''"his disciples, ■' Luke ix. 21. 
Mark's. 30.' ^' and commaudcd them, ^Hhat they should tell no man 21 fyk^ix^ai"" 
Luiie9. 21. jj^g^j jjg ^g^g [Jesus] the Christ. 22 Matt. xvi. 20. 

m Matt. 14. 9. Matt. xvi. part ofvcr. 14. — some Elias : — 

"Matt. 16. 16. Mkylk viii ■ part of ver. 27, 28, arati -per. 29, 30. — 27 — he asked his disciples, saying 

27. ' " ' unto them, " Whom do men say that I am.'" 28 — they — " John "'the Baptist: — 

Matt. 16. 20. and others, One of the prophets." 29 And he saith unto them, " But whom say ye that 

'^t'"" ^\Jh I am .?" And Peter answereth and saith unto him, " Thou "art the Christ !" 30 "And he 

p Matt. 14. 3. ver. , , , , , , , , ,, r^■ 

7, s. charged them that they should tell no man of him. 

9 Matt. 16. 16. Luke ix. part ofvcr. 18, 19, ver. 20, andpart ofver. 21. — 18 — he asked them, saying, 
John 6.69. & 11. "Whom say the people that I am.'" 19 They answering said, " John ? the Baptist ; 
2''- but some say, Elias ;" — 20 He said unto them, " But whom say ye that I am .'" 'Peter 

'^bS's! 30^"' answering said, " The Christ of God !" 21 ""And he — charged them to tell no man that 
_^_______. thing. 



SECT. XVI. 

V ^^28 Section XVI. — Christ astonishes the Disciples by declaring the 

J. P. 4741. Necessity of his Death and Resurrection. 

Galilee. Matt. xvi. 21, to the end. — Mark viii. 31, to the end, and ix. 1. — Luke ix. 22-27. 

oMatt.^i7,&c ' And 'from that time forth began Jesus "to show unto ' Mark viii. 31. 

g'sL&w'sf ^^^ disciples, how that he, 'the ''Son of Man, ''must go 3MarkviM.3i 

Luke 9. 20. & uuto Jcrusalcm, and suffer many things, ''and be rejected * Matt. xvi.21 

* See John 1. 51. of the clders, and of the Chief Priests, and Scribes, and ' Mark vm. 31 



Sect. XVII.^ THE TRANSFIGURATION OF CHRIST. HI 

6 Matt, xyi.21. {jg kiHed, ''and be raised again the third day." 'And he u See Note 20. 
8 Matt, xvi! 22! spake that saying openly. ^ Then Teter took him, and « Mark 8. 32. 

began to rebuke him, saying, " *Be it far from thee, Lord ! * Gr. puy thysdf 
» Markviii.33. this shall not be unto thee." "But when he had turned 

about, and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, say- 
10 Matt, xvi.23. ijjg^ u Qgt ^^gg behind me, Satan ! '" thou ''art an offence '^^°"- ^- ^- . 

unto me : for thou savourest not the things that be of God, 
" Markviii.33. 11 but the things that be of men." 

12 Markviii.34. '-'And when he had called the people unto him, with his ,, ,„ „„ , 

1. • 1 -1 1 1" 11 Tf e -n eMatt. 10, 38. & 

13 Luke IX. 23. disciples also, he said unto them alJ, " li any man will 1 6. 24. Mark 8. 

come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross /Matt"i6. 26. 

14 Luke ix. 24. daily, and follow me. '^ For whosoever will save his life Marks. 36. 

15 Markviii.35. shall lose it : but '"whosoever shall lose his life for my sake ^liarks. 38. 

16 Luke ix. 25. and the Gospel's, the same shall save it. '^ For -^what is a jobni.'ii.' ^"^ 

man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose him- a Dan. 7. 10. 

. Zech 14 5 

17 Markviii. 36. self. Or be cast away? "For what shall it profit a man, if Matt.' 25.' si. 

18 Mark viii. 37. he shall guiu the whole world, and lose his own soul ? '^ Or ; job'^34*'ii 

19 Matt, xvi.27. Yvhat shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? '" For "the £'• ''^;?^;o 

~ . " Prov. 24. 12. 

Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father ''with his Jer. 17.10. & 32. 
angels : 'and then he shall reward every man according to 1 cor.Ts. 2 c'or. 

20 Mark viii. 38. his works. ^" Whosoever •' therefore shall be ashamed of u.^Rev.l''^.&. 

me and of my words, in this ^adulterous and sinful gener- ■'fj.^^\„ „„ 
ation ; of him also shall 'the Son of Man be ashamed, Luke'9.26.&i2. 

21 Luke ix. 96. vvheu he Cometh ^' in his own glory, and ^* in the glory of le.'l TiirT.'i! s. 
^ Luke™'2r his Father, with the holy angels, ''and of the holy angels." kfofjpostathixg. 

24 Mark ix. 1. '* And hc Said unto them, " Verily "I sav unto you, That — E"-] 

, , p , , -^i , 1 • 1 1 11 Z See John 1. 51. 

there be some oi them that stand here, which shall not m Matt. le. 28. 

25 Mati.xvi.28. taste of death,'' till they have seen "the "Son of Man com- ,,^s"t\?;fj2i 

inp- in his kingdom : — '^ the kingdom of God come with « Matt. 24. 30. & 

•; » ° 25. 31. Luke 22. 

power. 18. See John 1. 

51. 
Matt. xvi. ^ari of cer. 21, 23, and »cr. 24, 2-5, 26, and part ofver.28. — 21 — of tlie <, See 2 Sam. 19. 
ciders and Chief Priests and Scribes, and be killed, — 23 But he turned, and said unto 22- Mark S. 33. 
Peter, " Get thee behind me, °Satan : — but those that be of men." 24 ^Then said Jesus ^8':3'KLuke9!23! 
unto his disciples, " If any more will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up & 14. 27 Acts 
his cross, and follow me. 25 For 'whosoever will save his life shall lose it : and whoso- li'^'^\ Tim .3' 
over will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall 12. 

ffain the whole world, and lose his own soul .' or ''what shall a man give in exchano-e for 1 ^"^^ ^''- ^^• 

Jolin 12 2.5 
his soul .' 28 Verily I say unto you, 'Tliere be some standing here, which shall not taste ^ p^ 49/7 g_ 

of death, till they see — ." s Mark 9. 1. Luke 

9 27 
Mark viii. part ofvcr. 31, 32, 33, 34, a7id 3.5. — 31 — 'he began to teach them that — ^ jj^^jj jp gj ^ 

" must suffer many things, — and after three days rise again." 32 — And Peter took 17.22. Luke 9. 

him, and began to rebuke him. 33 — " for thou savourest not the things that be of God, ^^' 

— 34 — "Whosoever will come after me. let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and ]6. 94. Luke" 9. 

follow me. 35 "For v/hosoever will save his life shall lose it; but — ." 93. fc 14. 27. 

V John 12. 25. 

Luke ix. ver. 22, part ofver. 23, 24, 26, and ver. 27. — 22 Saying, " The ""Son of Man „ Matt.lfi.21. & 

must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and Chief Priests and Scribes, 17. 22. See John 

and be slain, and be raised the third day." 23 And he said to them — 24 — " whoso- ' ' ,„ „„ 

ever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it." 26 ^For whosoever shall be Mark's. 38. See 

ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he shall ^°}}}} ^■J'l^ 
*^ '2 Tim 2. 12. 

come — in his Father's, — 27 ^But I tell you of a truth. There be some standing here, j, ]\!att. 16. 28. 
which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God." Mark 9. 1. 



Section XVII.— TAe Transfiguration of ChristJ sect^vil 

Matt. xvii. 1-1.3.— Mark ix. 2-13.— Luke ix. 28-36. V. M. 28. 

1 Matt, xvih 1. 1 p^^jy "after six days, — ^and it came to pass about an eight J- P. 4741. 

3 Markix. 2. days after these *sayings ^ Jesus taketh with him Peter, and caiiiee. 

4 Matt. xvii. 1. James, and John, ''his brother, ^and went up into amoun- y see Note &2. 
6 iviarkixia. ^^™ to pray ; *and [he] leadeth them up into a high moun- lo'^lmngi 



112 THE TRANSFIGURATION OF CHRIST. [Part IV. 

tain apart by themselves. ' And as he prayed, the fashion ' Luke ix. 29. 

of his countenance was altered, ' and he was transfigured '* Mark ix. 2. 

before them, *and his face did shine as the sun, '"and his " m^i"""!. 2 
6 Dan. 7. 9. Matt, raiment became shining, " as the light, '^exceeding ''white, u Matt. x'^u. 2 

" and glistering, '" as snow ; so as no fuller on earth can '^ Mark ix. 3. 

white them. "And, behold! there talked with him two " ji"|j^ l^" f • 

men, which were Moses and Elias : '^ who appeared in 15 Luke ix. 30. 

glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish "^ ^"'"'^ '"• ^^■ 

at Jerusalem. " But Peter and they that were with him " ^"^"'^ '"• 32- 
c Dan. 8. 18. & wcrc 'hcavy with sleep. And when they were awake, they 

saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. 

'^ And it came to pass, as they departed from him, '^then '! Luke ix. 33. 

IT. 1-1 It ,,t -,,!■■ . '9 Matt. xvii. 4. 

d Mark 9. 5. Luke auswcrcd retcr, and said unto Jesus, " Lord, it is good 

9 33 . ^ ^ o 

for us to be here : [and] if thou wilt, let us make here 

three tabernacles ; one for thee, and one for Moses, and 

one for Elias:" -"not knowing what he said. -" For he ^° ^""'"' '"• 23- 

he wist not what to say ; for they were sore afraid. 

e2 Pet. 1. 17. 22 ^jjjjg »]^g yg^ gpake, behold ! a bright cloud overshadowed ^^ Matt. xvii. 5 
them : " and they feared as they entered into the cloud ; ^ Luke ix. 34. 
^^and, behold! a Voice out of the cloud, which said, ^ Matt. xvii.s. 

fMatt.3. 17. "This^is my beloved Son, ^in whom I am well pleased ; '^ Matt. xvu. 6 

See Mark 11 ^ ■ 

11. Luke 3.^. ' ''hear ye him ! " ^" And 'when the disciples heard it, they 
f^'*^'-,l\r 1,. fell on their face, and were sore afraid. ^^ And when the '° Luke ix. 36. 

A Deut. 18. 15, 19. ' r ^ ^ 97 a i t 97 i\r ■• -r 

Acts 3. 22, 23. Voicc was past, Jesus was lound alone. And Jesus came Matt. xvn. ?. 
iofn's^is^g and ^touched them, and said, "Arise, and be not afraid." 
21. i 10. lb, 18: 28 ^jj(j ^i^gjj ti^gy had lifted up their eyes, '' and looked round '^ Matt. xvii. a. 

, , ^ ^ T 1 -iU '^ Markix. 8. 

about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with 
themselves. 
^^''JVl^"- n '"And as they came down from the mountain, «^Jesus '° "^^^"^ """• ^• 

Marks. 30. & 9. •' . m 11 i • • -i 

9. charged them, saying, " lell the vision to no man,^ until 

z See Note 93 z^j^^ g f ^ ^ • ■ f ^J^ jg^ „ 3. ^^^ 31 Mark ix. 10. 

( bee Jolin 1. 51. . . o 

they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with 
another what the rising from the dead should mean. 
^^ And they kept it close, and told no man in those days ^^ ^"'^® '"■ ^^• 
any of those things which they had seen. ^^ And his dis- '' *^^"- ""■ ^^• 
"iL^H.^iiafk".' ciples asked him, saying, " Why '"then say the Scribes 
"• that Elias must first come ? " '* And Jesus answered and ^^ Matt, xvii.ii. 

said unto them, " Elias ^^ verily cometh first, and restoreth ^^ Mark ix. 12. 
"2^^?.' Vin.^9.' ^^^ things ; and "how it is written of the Son of Man, that 
26. See Joiin 1. he must suffcr many things, and "be set at nought. ^^ But ^^ Mark ix. 13. 
Luke 93. 11. I say unto you, That ''Elias is indeed come ''' already, and " Matt. xvii. 12. 
p^\i'att^ii 14 & they knew him not, but 'have done unto him whatsoever 
iV. 12. Luke' 1. they listed : '* as it is written of him. '' Likewise ''shall '" Mark ix. 13. 

17. '' . 39 Matt. xvii. 12. 

q Matt. 14. 3, 10. also thc Son of Man suffer of them." *° Then "the disciples 40 Matt.xvii.13. 
'^seej'ohn'1^51 understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. 

s Matt. 11. 14. Matt. xvii. part ofver. 1, 2, ver. 3, and part ofvcr. 8, 11, 12.— 1 — Jesus taketh Peter, 

James, and John — and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, 2 and was 

transfigured before them : — and his raiment was wliite — 3 And, behold ! there appeared 

unto tliem Moses and EUas talking with him. 8 — they saw no man, save Jesus only. 

t Mal.4.6.Luke 1. 11 — truly shall first come, and 'restore all things. 12 "But I say unto you, That Elias 
1,5, 17. Acts 3. -^ ^„^g __ 

Mcli.ll. 14. Mark Mark ix. part of ver. 2, ver. 4, 5, 7, part of ver. 8, ver. 9, '\l,andpart ofver. 12, 13. — 
9. 12, )3. 2 And after six days — 4 And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses : and they 

V Matt. 17. 4. were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, " Master, "it is good 

Luke 9. 33. ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^ . ^^^ j^^. ^^ n^j^ke three tabernacles ; one for thee, and one for Moses, 

and one for Elias." 7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them : and a Voice came 

to See Matt. 17. 5. out of the cloud, saying, "This "is my beloved Son: hear him!" 8 — suddenly, 
Mark 1. 1. when they had — 9 ^And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that 

*John i. 51. "^ they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of Man were risen from 



Sect. XVIIL] THE DEAF AND DUMB SPIRIT CAST OUT. 



113 



the dead. 11 And they asked him, saying, " '^Vliy say the Scribes '-'that Elias must first y Mai. 4. 5. Matt. 
come? 12 And he answered and told them, Elias — . 13 — and they have done unto 
him whatsoever they listed — ." 

'Lvk:e. ix. part of vcr. 28,29. 33, 34, andver.35. — 28 — he took Peter and John and 
James, — 29 — and his raiment was white — 33 — Peter said unto Jesus, " Master, ^it is ^■^^''^'J^J ^' 
good for us to be here : and let us make three tabernacles : one for thee, and one for 
Moses, and one for Elias :" — 34 Wliile he thus spake, there came a cloud, and over- "^^^y^^^^'^f^^' 
shadowed them : — 35 And there came a Voice out of the cloud, saying, " This "'is my Mark 1. 1. & 
beloved Son: hear him I" 



7. Acts 3. 22. 



Section XVIIL — TJie Deaf and Dumb Spirit cast out. 
Matt. xvii. 14-21. — Mark Lx. 14-29. — Luke Lx. 37-42, and part of ver. 43. 



1 Luke ix. 37. 



2 Mark ix. 14. 



3 .Mark ix. 15. 



* Mark ix. 16. 

5 iMark ix. 17. 

6 Luke ix. 38. 

7 Matt. xvii. 14 

8 Luke ix. 38. 

9 Mark ix. 17. 

10 Matt. xvii.l4. 

11 Mark ix. 17. '^ Lord ! 
l2Matt.xvii.l5. Mhave 



' And ""it came to pass, that on the next day, when they 
were come down from the hill, much people met him. 
- And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great mul- 
titude about them, and the Scribes questioning with them. 
^ And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, 
were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. 
^And he asked the Scribes, "What question ye *with 
them ? " ^ And, '^ behold ! ' there came to him a certain 
man ' of the company, ' one 'of the multitude, [and] '° kneel- 
ing down to him, "answered and said, "Master, I have 
brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit ; 
^ Master ! I beseech thee, look upon my son ! 
mercy on my son ! '* for he is mine only child ; 



SECT. xvnr. 

V. M. 28. 
J. P. 4741. 

Galilee. 

a Matt. 17. 14. 



* Or, among your' 
selves. 



b Matt. 17. 14. 
Luke 9. 38. 



for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed ; for ofttimes he fall- 
ix.38^ eth into the fire, and oft into the water. " And, lo ! a 



-3 Luke ix. 38. 
» Matt. xvii. 15. 
■^ Luke i: 

17 Luke ix^'sg^^piiit takcth him, '*'and wheresoever he taketh him, he 

18 Markix. 18. ftearcth him ; '' and he suddenly crieth out ; and it teareth 
Z !h"'? ■''■ ?!' him that he foameth again, ^° and gnasheth with his teeth, 

2y Mark ix. 18. . ® . . * . , 

21 Luke ix. 39. and piucth away: ^^ and, bruising him, hardly departeth 
22Matt.xvii.i6. from him." ^^ And I brought him to thy disciples, ^^and 
I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out ; 
^^ and I besought thy disciples to cast him out ; ^° and they 
could not." ■'^He answereth him, and saith, " O 'faithless 
generation ! how long shall I be with you ? how long shall 
I suffer you ? bring him — " bring thy son hither ^* unto 
me." ^' And they brought him unto him : ^° and as he 
was yet a-coming, ^' when ''he saw him, straightway the 
spirit tare him ; ^^ the devil threw him down, " and he fell 
on the ground, and wallowed, foaming. '* And he asked 
his father, " How long is it ago since this came unto 
him ? " And he said, " Of a child. ^' And ofttimes it 
hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters^ to de- 
stroy him : but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion 
on us, and help us." ^^ Jesus said unto him, " If 'thou 
canst beheve, all things are possible to him that believeth." 
" And straightway the father of the child cried out, and 
said with tears, " [Lord,] I believe ! help thou mine unbe- 
lief." ^' When Jesus saw that the people came running 
together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, 
" Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee. Come out of 
him, and enter no more into him." ^' And the spirit cried, 
and rent him sore, and came out of him : and he was as 
one dead ; insomuch that many said, " He is dead." '"' But 
Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up ; and he 
arose : " and the child was cured from that very hour ; 
"" and [he] delivered him again to his father. " And they 
were all amazed at the mighty power of God. 

VOL. II. 15 J* 



I Or, dasheth him. 



23 Mark ix. 18. 

21 Luke ix. 40. 

25 Mark ix. 18. 

26 Mark ix. 19. 



27 Luke ix. 41. 

28 Mark ix. 19. 

29 Mark ix. 20. 

30 Luke ix. 42. 

31 Mark ix. 20. 

32 Luke ix. 42. 

33 Mark ix. 20. 

34 Mark ix. 21. 

35 Mark ix. 22. 



3S Mark ix. 23. 



37 Mark ix. 24. 



33 Mark ix. 25. 



39 Mark ix. 26. 



*" Mark ix. 27. 



41 Matt. xvii. 18, 

42 Luke ix. 42. 
« Luke ix. 43. 



c Matt. 17. 17. 
Luke 9. 41. 



d Mark 1. 26. 



e Matt. 17. 20. 
Mark 11. 23. 
Luke 17. 6. 
John 11. 40. 



114 CHRIST AGAIN FORETELLS HIS DEATH. [Part IV. 

/Matt. 17. 19. 44 j^^^ /when he was come into the house, his disciples ^ Mark ix. as. 

^nhen came to Jesus apart, and '"^ asked him privately, ^ Matt, xvu.ig. 
"Why could not we cast him out?" " And Jesus said « ^au. xvu^ao. 
unto them, "Because of your unbelief: for verily I say 
g- Matt. 21. 21. unto you, ^If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye 
Luke it! 6. " shall Say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder 
13^2.'" ^' ^' ^ place : and it shall remove ; and nothing shall be impossi- 
ble unto you." ^' And he said unto them, " This kind can ■*' Mark ix. 29. 
come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting." 

ft Mark 9. 14. Matt. xvu. part of ver. 14, 16, ver. 17, part of ver. 18, 19, and ver. 21. — 14 ''And when 

Luke 9. 37. they were come to the multitude, — and saying, 16 — and they could not cure him." 

i Mark 9. 19. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, " O 'faithless and perverse generation ! how long shall 

" ® ■ ■ I be with you ? how long shall I suffer you ? bring him hither to me." 18 And Jesus 

rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: — 19 — the disciples — said, "Why 

_; Mark 9. 28. ^'could not we cast him out ?" 21 " Howbeit tliis kind goeth not out, but by prayer and 

fasting." 

, Mark ix. part of ver. 18. — and he foameth, — . 

Luke ix. part of ver. 38, 40, 41, 42. — 38 And, — a man — cried out, saying, — 40 — and 
* Matt. 17. 17. they could not, 41 And Jesus answering said, '• O ^faithless and perverse generation ! 
how long shall I be with you, and suffer you?" — 42 — andtarehim. And Jesus rebuked 
the unclean spirit, and healed the child, — . 



SECT. XIX. Section XIX. — Christ again foretells his Death and Resurrection."^ 
V. M. 23. Matt. .xvii. 22, 23.— Mark ix. 30-32, and pad of 33.— Luke ix. 43-46. 

J. P. 4741. ' And they departed thence, and passed through Gali- ' Mark ix. so 

Gauiee. jgg . g^jjj j^g would not that any man should know it. 
a See Note 24. ° For ' whilc they abode in Galilee, "while they wondered =Markix.3i. 
every one at all things which Jesus did, ° he taught his dis- 4 Luke 1^43. 
ciples, and said unto them, °" Let these sayings sink down s Mark ix. 31. 
^^."■ilu. into your ears: for "the Son of Man shall be 'betrayed, ' l^^.l'^;,^^,^ 
Mark 8.31. &10. ^^^ 8 ^j.^g g^^j ^f ]y[^]^ jg delivered into the hands of men, and s Mark ix. 31. 
44. & 18. 31. & they shall kill him ; and after that he is killed, he shall rise, 

24. 6,7. See John , ^^ ^.^.^^^ ^^^.^^ ,, ^j^^ ^j^.^.^ ^^^„ „ -g^^ ^^^^ undcrStOOd ,' ^^'^■ 

not that saying, '^and it was hid from them, that they per- " Mark ix. 32. 
ceived it not. '^ And they were exceeding sorry ; '* and |^ ^"'"' '"-.^l- 
''mrki^ii.' were afraid to ask him ''of that saying. '^Then 'there u Mark ix'.'sa.' 
arose a reasoning amonar them, which of them should be '' J-uke ix. 45. 

17 A 1 1 X /-( 16 Luke ix. 46. 

greatest. And he came to Lapernaum. i, Mark ix. 33. 

cMark9.31. M.KTT. xvii. part of ver. 22, 23. — 22 And — Jesus said unto them, " The "^Son of Man 

See John 1.51. gjj^in,g _ i^to tj^e hands of men: 23 and they shall kill him, and the third day he 
shall — . 

Luke ix. 2>art of per. 43, 44, 4.5. — 43 — But — he said unto his disciples, 44 — deliv- 
ered into the hands of men. 45 But they understood not this saying — and they feared 
to ask him. 



SECT. XX. gj,p.j,joj^ XX. — Christ Works a Miracle to pay the Half SheJcel for the 

V. M. 28. Temple Serviced 

J. P. 4741. Matt. xvii. 24, to the end. 

Capernaum. 24 ^j^p »^yhen thcy werccomc to Capernaum, they that received 

b See Note 25. * tribute moncj/ came to Peter, and said, "Doth not your Master pay 

tc^M'Tn the tribute?" ^^He saith, "Yes." And when he was come into the 

original, didracA- j^ Jesus 'prevented him, saying, " What thinkest thou, Simon? 

ma, being in val- " i ^jo^ .i-,pi* 

ue fifteen pence of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute ? oi their 

sleEx.3o.^i3!k Qwu children, or of strangers ? " ^^ Peter saith unto him, " Of stran- 
b^oT'^nticipated. gers." Jcsus saith unto him, " Then are the children free. ^^ Notwith- 

-^°] standing, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast a 

^8 ha?fTn'ounce hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up ; and when thou hast 

&.1i.T6oVent"] opened his mouth, thou shalt find ta piece of money : that take, and 

ounTC "'^ give unto them for me and thee." 



cIect. XXL] THE DISPUTING OF THE DISCIPLES. 



115 



1 Matt, xviii. 1. 

2 Mark ix. 33. 

3 Matt, xviii.l. 
« Mark ix. 33. 

» Mark ix. 34. 

6 Luke ix. 47. 

7 Mark ix. 35. 



10 Mark ix. 36. 



" Matt,x™i.3. 



Section XXI. — The Disciples contend for Superiority.'^ 
Matt, xviii. 1, to the end. — Mark ix. part of ver. 33, to the end. — Luke ix. 47-50. 
' At "the same time, ' being in the house, ^ came the dis- 
ciples unto Jesus, saying, " Who is the greatest in the 
kingdom of heaven?" ''And he asked them, "What 
was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way ? " 
° But they held their peace : for by the way they had dis- 
puted among themselves, who should he the greatest. 
" And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, ^ sat 
down, and called the Twelve, and saith unto them, " If 
'any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and 
s Matt.xviii.2. servant of all." * And Jesus called a little child unto him, 
9 Luke ix. 47. ^-^^ gg^ j^^^^ jjj ^l^g uiidst of them, — ^ by him '° in the midst 
of them : and when he had taken him in his arms, he said 
unto them, " " Verily I say unto you, "Except ye be con- 
verted, and' become as little children, ye shall not enter 
'- Matt. xviii. 4. into the kingdom of heaven. '- Whosoever "^therefore shall 
humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in 
13 Matt. xviii. 5. the kingdom of heaven. '^ And 'whoso shall receive one 
such little child in my name, receiveth me : '* and Avhoso- 
ever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but Him that sent 
me : '^ for "'he that is least among you all, the same shall 
be great." '^ And '"John answered him, saying, "Master, 
we saw one casting out devils in thy name, [and he fol- 
loweth not us :] and we forbad him, because he followeth 
not us." " But Jesus said, " Forbid him not : 'for there 
is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can 
lightly speak evil of me. '* For ■'he that is not against us 
is on our part. '^ For ^whosoever shall give you a cup of 
water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, 
verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward." 

^^ " But Hvhoso shall offend one of these little ones which 
believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone 
were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned 
in the depth of the sea. 

■' '•' Woe unto the world because of offences ! for "'it must 
needs be that offences come ; but "woe to that man by 
whom the offence cometh ! ^^ Wherefore °if thy hand or 
thy foot *offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from 
thee : ^^ if ^thy hand ** offend thee, cut it off : it is better 
for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands 
to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched : 
-* where 'their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 
^°And if thy foot "*offend thee, cut it off: it is better for 
thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast 
into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched : 
^^ where their worm dieth not. and the fire is not quenched. 
^" And if thine eye *offend thee, pluck it out : '^ and cast 
it from thee : it is better for thee to enter into life, ^' into 
the kingdom of God, with one eye, than having two eyes 
to be cast into hell fire ; ^° where their Avorm dieth not, and 
the fire is not quenched. '^'For every one shall be salted 
with fire, ^ and ^every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. 
^^ Salt 'is good : but if the salt have lost his saltness, where- 
with will ye season it? 'Have salt in yourselves, and 
"have peace one with another. 
totke end. ' ' ^' " Take hccd that ye despise not one of these little 



U Mark ix. 37. 



15 Luke ix. 48 
■6 Mark ix. 38, 



n Mark ix. 39. 



18 Mark ix. 40. 

19 Mark ix. 41. 



20 Matt, xviii.6. 



!l Matt, xiiii. 7. 



22 Matt, xviii. 8. 



23 Mark ix. 43. 



21 Mark ix. 44. 
2o Mark ix. 45. 



28 Mark ix. 46. 

27 Mark ix. 47. 

28 Matt, xviii.9. 

29 Mark ix. 47. 



30 Mark ix. 48. 

31 Mark ix. 49. 



J2 Mark ix. 50. 



SECT. XXL 

V. M. 28. 
J. P. 4741. 

Capernaum. 

c See Note 26. 
a Luke 9. 46. 



J Matt. 90. 26, 27. 
Mark 10. 43. 



c Ps. 131. 2. Matt. 

19. 14. Mark 10. 

14. Luke 18. 16. 

1 Cor. 14. 20. 

1 Pet. 2. 2. 
d Matt. 20. 27. &. 

23. 11. 
e Matt. 10. 42. 

Luke 9. 4S. 
/Matt. 10.40. 

Luke 9. 48. 

^Matt.23.11,12. 

/jNumb. 11.28. 
Luke 9. 49. 



i 1 Cor. 12. 3. 

j See Matt. 12. 30. 
k Matt. 10. 42. 



I Mark 9. 42. 
Luke 17. 1,2. 



m Luke 17. 1. 

1 Cor. 11. 19. 
n Matt. 26. 24. 
o Matt. 5. 29, 30. 

Mark 9. 43, 45. 
* Or, aiusetheeto 

offend ; and so 

ver. 45, 46. 
p Deut. 13. 6. 

Matt. 5. 29. & 

18.8. 

q Isa. 66. 24. 
Judith 16, 17. 



d See Note 27. 
r Lev. 2. 13. 

Ezek. 43. 24. 
s Matt. 5. 13. 

Luke 14. 34. 
( Ephes. 4. 29. 

Col. 4. 6. 
u Rom. 12. 18. & 

14. 19. 2 Cor. 13 

11. Heb. 12. 14 



116 THE DISPUTING OF THE DISCIPLES. [Part IV. 

r P3. 34. 7. zech. ones ; for I say unto you, That in heaven "their angels do always 

v> E3ther\. 14. "behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. " For ""the Son 

^"'k ^9^^ ^^ ''^^^^ ^^ come to save that which Avas lost. ^^ How '•'think ye ? if 

19. 10. See John a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth 

19. 47. ■ ■ he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and 

y Luke 15. 4. seekcth that Avhich is gone astray ? ^^ And if so be that he find it, 

verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the 

ninety and nine which went not astray. ^* Even so it is not the will 

of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should 

perish. 

^E^cYus.^19^^13. ^^ " Moreover ""if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell 

Luke 17. 3. him liis fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, 

°/p?r3^'i^°' "thou hast gained thy brother. ^^ But if he will not hear thee, then 

b Deut. 17. 6. & take with thee one or two more, that in 'the mouth of two or three 

17! 2'cor^°i3! 1'. witnesses every word may be established. ^^ And if he shall neglect 

^^'^le^^' ^^ ^^^^^ them, tell it unto the Church : but if he neglect to hear the 

icor.s.g.QTiies. Cliurch, let him be unto thee as "a heathen man and a Publican. 

10. ' ■ ° " -^^ " Verily I say unto you, ''Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth 

<^ ^^z^"- 1^- 19- shall be bound in heaven : and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth 

John 20. 23. . 'J 

icor. 5. 4. shall be loosed in heaven. ^^ Again "I say unto you. That if two of 

eMatt. 5. 24. youshall agree ou earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, 

''5 ^14"* ^' ^' ^ "^^t shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. ^^ For 

where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in 

e See Note 28. t^C midst of them." <= 

^1 Then came Peter to him, and said, " Lord, how oft shall my 

f Luke 17. 4. brother sin against me, and I forgive him? ^till seven times?" 

"irk u' 25' ^^ Jesus saith unto him, " I say not unto thee, Until seven times ; ''but, 

Col. 3. 13. Until seventy times seven. -^ Therefore is the kingdom of heaven 

likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 

^* And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, 

*^n^sZf 'siilfr, which owcd him ten thousand ^talents. ^^ But forasmuch as he had 

which 



skill 



hick after five y^Q^ ^q pg^y hjg Jqj(J commanded him 'to be sold, and his wife, and 

ulings tlie ounce . , ^ '' 



«^f87 lOs. children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. ^^The ser- 

42 Kngs 4. 1. vant therefore fell down, and tworshipped him, saying, 'Lord ! have 

Neh. 5. 8. patience with me, and I will pay thee all.' -''Then the lord of that 

servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and lorgave him 

the debt. ^^But the same servant went out, and found one of his 

^nft^tju" eighth fellow-servants, which owed him a hundred tpence : and he laid 

Self aftef five ^^nds OU him, and took him by the throat, saying, ' Pay me that 

shillings tiie ounce thou owcst ! ' ^^ And his fellow-servant fell down [at his feet], and 

IS seven pence fmlf . 1 1 ■ . tt • • i i T 'ii 1 

pm7i!/,[i5centsj, Dcsought him, sayiiig, ' Have patience with me, and 1 will pay thee 
[all].' 2" And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till 
he should pay the debt. ^^ So when his fellow-servants saw what 
was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord 
all that was done. ^~ Then his lord, after that he had called him, 
said unto him, ' O thou Avicked servant ! I forgave thee all that debt, 
because thou desiredst me : ^^ shouldest not thou also have had com- 
passion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee ? ' ^^ And 
his lord Avas wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should 
''^"la.^Mark iL P^J all that was due unto him. ^^ So-'likcAvise shall my heavenly 

26. James 2. 13. Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one 
his brother [their trespasses]." 

Matt, xviii. part of ver. 3, 8, and 9. — 3 And said, — 8 " — it is better for thee to 

enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into 

everlasting fire. 9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, — with one eye, rather 

than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire." 

k Matt 18 2 ch Mark ix. part of vcr. 35, 3G, 37, Ter. 42, and part of ver. 43, and 47. — 35 And he — 

10.16. ' 36 And*he took a child, and set him — 37 "Whosoever shall receive one of such chil- 



Sect. I.] THE MISSION OF THE SEVENTY DISCIPLES. 117 

dren in my name, receivetli me : — 42 -And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones ^ Matt. 18. 6. 

that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and -^ .. in An =_ 

' . . = 771 jlatt. 10. 40. & 

he were cast into the sea. 43 And — ' 47 — it is better for thee to enter — . 18. 5. Mark 9. 

LrKE is. part of rer. 47, 48, aK(Z ■eer, 49,50. — 47 — took a child, and set him — 48 And '^'i3°20. 

said unto them, '• Whosoever "shall receive this child in my name receiveth me : and n Jiark 9. 38 

whosoever shall receive me receiveth Him that sent me :" — 49 And "John answered and ^'^ Numb. 11 

said, " Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name ; and we forbad him, because ^ g^g jiatt. 12. 

he followeth not with us." 50 And Jesus said unto him. " Forbid him not : for he "that 30. ch. 11.23. 

. , . ^ „ Mark 9. 39. 

IS not against us is lor us. 



PART V. 

FROM THE MISSION OF THE SEVENTY DISCIPLES 

TO THE TRIUJklPHAL ENTRY OF CHRIST INTO JERUSALEM, SIX 

DAYS BEFORE THE CRUCIFIXION. 

SECT. I, 



V.^. 28. 
Sectio" I. — The Mission of the Seventy Disciples.^ J. P. 4741. 

X -I -I ri Galilee. 
LUKZ X. 1-16. 

^ After these thinss the Lord appointed other ''Seventy'' also, and aSeeXotei. 

, ,'-,--..'■„. . •' . \ a [Ot, Seventy otA- 

sent them two and two beiore his lace into every city and place, ers,or,otJiersaiso: 
whither he himself would come. ^ Therefore said heunto them, '-'The polS b^t om 
'harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few : -pray ye therefore b^se7xot72^'''"' 
the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his b Matt. lo. i. 
harvest. ^ Go your vv ays : 'behold I I send you forth as lambs among ^^^^^^^^ g' gl. gg 
wolves. '* Carrv -^neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes : and salute no John 4. 35.' 
man bv the way. ^ And -'into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, eiattio ie' 
Peace be to this house ! ^ And if the Son of Peace be there, your / 2 Kings 4. 29. 
peace shall rest upon it: if not. it shall turn to you again. "And Mark e. 8. ch. 9. 
''in the same house remain, 'eating and drinking such things as they \ „ ,„ ,, 

' ^. . s c -' ^ Matt. 10. 12. 

give : for ^ the laborer is worthy of his hire : go not from house to house, h Matt. 10. 11. 
® And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such ^-1^°'' ^q' fl' 
things as are set before you, ^ and *heal the sick that are therein, and icor'. 9_.'4,&c. 
say unto them, 'The kingdom of God is come nigh funto you]. , , ™'°' 

inV»' i' -^ 11 ."*- ^ -i k ch. 9. 2. 

'^" But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go i Matt. 3. 2. & 4. 
your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, ^^ Even ""the 1^; ■^ i"- '• «■■• 
very dust of vour citv. which cleaveth on us. we do wipe off" against ^ ^i^"- lo- i^- 

. • . ■ ' . . ^ ch. 9. 5. Acts 13. 

you : notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is si.' & is. e. " 
come nigh unto you. ^- But I say unto you, That "it shall be more "mIt" e^u!^' 
tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that citv. " Matt. 11. 21. 

13 « ^oe "unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! ^for if the ^ j/.'f; n.^ij. 
mighty vv orks had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been r see Gen. ii. 4. 
done in you, they had a great v.^hile ago repented, sitting in sackcloth ?4!°i3.^ je?' 51! 
and ashes. ^^ But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at ^' ^ , „, 
the judgment, than for you. '^And^thou, Capernaum, which art 20. & 32. is. 
"exalted" to heaven, 'shalt be thrust down to hell ! ^^ jje 'that heareth *Mark 9°37^°' 
vou heareth me; and "he that despiseth you despiseth me : "and he J"'™ is. 20. 

• , j-ji ' TiX Thes. 4. 8. 

that despiseth me despiseth Him that sent me." » jotn 5. 23. ' 



SECT. n. 



Sectiox IL — Christ gaes up to the Feast of I'ahernacles.'' 

Matt. xix. 1, 2.— I\LiRK x. 1.— Joh>- vii. 2-10. "^^- ^- ^■ 

John vii. 2-10. ® Now "the Jews' feast of Tabernacles was at hand. ^ His ; ,^' 

'brethren therefore said unto him, '•' Depart hence, and go 
into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. 
*For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself jMatt.12. 45. 
seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself Arl^i'it 



Jerusalem. 



c See Xote 3 
a Lev. 23. 34 



118 AGITATION AT JERUSALEM. [Part V. 

dsl"Notf4 *° ^^^ world." 5 For "neither did his brethren beheve in-^ him. 
dch.2.4. &8 20. ^ Then Jesus said unto them, "My ''time is not yet come : but your 
eX 15.^19. *™^ ^^ alway ready. '''The Vorld cannot hate you ; but me it hateth, 
/ch. 3. 19. -^because I testify of it, that the worlis thereof are evil. ^ Go ye up 

g-ch.8.3o.ver.6. ujjto tliis fcast : I go not up yet unto this feast : ^for my time is not 

yet full come." ^When he had said these words unto them, he abode 

still in Galilee. 

^^ But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also 

up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. ' And ' Matt. xix. i. 
''u!T. ^"^ *°' ^ ^^ came to pass, ''that when Jesus had finished these sayings, 

" he arose from thence, and ^ he departed from Galilee, and ^ 3iark x. i. 

came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan ; ■* by the far- ^ *^''"- '''^- ^- 

4 Mark x 1 

ther side of Jordan : and the people resort unto him again: 
= and, as he wont, he taught them again. 

Mark x. part ofver. 1. And — cometh into the coasts of Judsea — . 
SECT. III. 



T -PA-A^ Section III. — Agitation of the Public Mind at Jerusalem concerning 

J. P. 4/41. - pj,y.j\f e 

Jerusalem. '^"' '^'^- 

— John vji. 11-52. 

a ch.^n.°56.'' ^^ Then "the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, "Where is 

ft ch. 9. 16. & 10. he ? " 1'^ And 'there was much murmuring among the people concern- 
cMatt. 21. 46. ^^S ^im : for "some said, " He is a good man : " others said, " Nay ; 

6'"w' ve/40''''' ^^^ ^^ deceiveth the people." " Howbeit no man spake openly of him 
d ch. 9. -K. & 12. ''for fear of the Jews, 
e Matt. 13. 54. "^^ Now about thc midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, 

f'^^ Ac^ts 2"?^ ^"^^ taught. ^^ And 'the Jews marvelled, saying, " How knoweth this 
*or,ieaming. man ^Icttcrs, haviug never learned? " ^^ Jesus answered them, and 
■'^^.'&'i"'49^ & ^^^'^j '■ My -^doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me ; " if ^any man 

14. 10,24. ''will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, 
^ch.'^8.'43. ■ ' or whether I speak of myself. ^® He 'that speaketh of himself seek- 
k[Or,2ahiies,oT,df^ cth his owu glory ; but he that seeketh His glory that sent him, the 

sires, or, !j iciU- . a J ' _ ■ ■ ■ a -r^- ■ 

ingtodo — Ed.] same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. ^^ Did ^not Moses 
tch. o. 41. & 8. gj^.g y^jj j-jjg Law, and yet none of you keepeth the Law ? *Why go 
jExod. 24. 3. ye about to kill me?" ^"The people answered and said, "Thou 

John'i.n.' ^hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?" ^^ Jesus answered 
A- mIu. 12. 14. ^nd said unto them, " I have done one work, and ye all marvel. 

Mark 3. fi. ch 5. 22 ]\Xoses ""therefore gave unto you circumcision ; (not because it is of 

lb, 1&. oc. lU. oL^ *— ' •^ ' ^ , 

39. fell. 53. Moses, "but of the fathers:) and ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a 
'lo.'lo.^''''"'^ man. ^■^ If a man on the Sabbath day receive circumcision, *that 
m Lev. 12. ?. thc Law of Moscs should not be broken ; are ye angry at me, be- 
*or,!ri«««t jj-eai- causc °I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day ? 

ji/fs&f* ^""^ "^ ^' Judge ^not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judg- 
ch. 5. 8, 9, 16. ment." 
^p°ov.'24. ^J'. di. ^^Then said some of them of Jerusalem, "Is not this he, whom 

8.io.james2.i. they scck to kill? ^"^But, lo ! he speaketh boldly, and they say 
'Ma"^k'6. 3. Luke nothing unto him; do the rulers know indeed that this is the very 
r se^'ch 8 14 Christ ? ^"Howbeit'we know this man whence he is: but when 
sch. 5. 43. & 8. Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is." 
tth. 5. 32. & 8. ^^ Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, " Ye ''both 

2G. Rom. 3. 4. know mc, and ye know whence I am : and T am not come of myself, 
"55." ■ ■ ■ but He that sent me 'is true, "whom ye know not ! ^^ But "I know 
''ch!''i": 15. ^" Hun: for I am from Him, and He hath sent me." 3" Then "they 
w Mark 11. 18. sought to take him : but ""no man laid hands on him. because his hour 

Luke 19. 47. & ° ^ 

20. 19. ver. 19. was uot yct comc. 
/ver^'44' ch 8 ^^ "^"^^ "many of the people believed on him, and said, " When 

20. Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man 

''ch.1''2!&f 30. bath done ? " ^a -phe Pharisees heard that the people murmured 



Sect, IV.] CHRIST AND THE ADULTERESS. 119 

such things concerning him ; and the Pharisees and the Chief Priests 
sent officers to take him. ^^ -phen said Jesus unto them, '^ Yet ''a "g'!'"'^'*'^^' 
httle while am I with you, and then I go unto Him that sent me." ^^ Ye 
"shaU seek me, and shah not find me: and where I am, thither ye °2?''& is^bs''' ^" 
cannot come." ^^Then said the Jews among themselves, " Whither 
will he go, that we shall not find him ? will he go unto ''the dispersed ^}l^]^^l\ 
among the ^Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles ? ^^ What manner of i Pet. 1. 1. 
saying is this that he said, ' Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me : *^^['^^%' 
and where lam, thither ye cannot come?'" <? is. 55. i. ch. 6. 

3" In 'the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and /cem'^is^is^^' 
cried, saying, " If "^any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink ! /Prov. is. 4. la. 
^^HeHhat believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, ■''out of his ch. 1.' it ^" ^' 
belly shall flow rivers of living water.'" ^'^ (But ^this spake he ^^ ^^^^'^^\Q°f 
the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive; for the Acts 2. 17,33,38. 
Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet \*;''- ^^- ^^- '^ ^^• 
Glorified.) iDeut.is.is.is. 

o / ... ch. 1. 21. & 6. 

^° Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, 14. 
"Of a truth this is ^The Prophet." « Others said, "This^is The ^gt ^' ^' ^^ '^^ 
Christ." But some said, "Shall Christ come '^out of Galilee ?* ver. 52. ch. 1. 
^^ hath 'not the Scripture said, ' That Christ cometh of the seed of ^ pj. 132. n. jer 
David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, "" where David*" was ? ' " Miti'. I^'s. Like 
^^ So "there was a division amono- the people because of him. 24. 

~ r 1 ^ m 1 yam. 16. 1, 4. 

^** And "some of them would have taken him; but no man laid fSeeNotee. 
hands on him. "^^ Then came the officers to the Chief Priests and "ii'iJ%^ii^' 
Pharisees; and they said unto them, "Why have ye not brought over. 30. 
him ?" ''^The officers answered, " Never ^ man spake like this man." ^ ch"i2. 42. Acts 
^''' Then answered them the Pharisees, "Are ye also deceived? ^.T.icor. 1.20, 
^^ have 'any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him ? ^^ but g see Note 7. 
this people who knoweth not the Law are cursed." « 5° Nicodemus ^ch. 3. 2. 
saith unto them (he '^that came *to Jesus by night, being one of ^ oeut. 1. 17. & 
them), ^^ " Doth ^our Law judge any man, before it hear him, and i^-s, &c. &19. 
know what he doeth ? " ^~ They answered and said unto him, " Art tis. 9. 1,2. Matt. 
thou also of Galilee ? Search, and look : for 'out of Galilee ariseth ver.^ii! " 
no prophet." 



Section IV. — Conduct of Christ to the Adulteress and her Accusers.^' seci\ iv. 
JoHM vii. 5.3, and viii. 1-11. V. JE. 28. 

\p'-^ And every man went unto his own house : ^ Jesus went unto the •'• ^- ^'^^• 
Mount of Olives. ^ And early in the morning, he came again into <?f<^'=°'- 
the temple, and all the people came unto him ; and he sat down, h see Note 8. 
and taught them. ^ And the Scribes and Pharisees brought [unto him] 
a woman taken in adultery ; and Avhen they had set her in the midst, 
* they say unto him, " Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in 
the very act. ^ Now "Moses in the Law commanded us, that such "oem'-^A.'^'. 
should be stoned : but what sayest thou ? " ^ This they said, tempt- 
ing him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped 
down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard 
them not. ~' So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, 
and said unto them, " He 'that is without sin among you, let him ''rI'II'o/i'J' 
first cast a stone at her." ^ And again he stooped down, and wrote on 
the ground. ^ And they which heard it, ['being convicted by their own 
conscience,] went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even [unto 
the last:] and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the 
midst. '° When Jesus had hfted up himself, [and saw none but the 
woman,] he said unto her, " Woman, where are those thine accus- 
ers ? hath no man condemned thee ?" ^^ She said, " No man. Lord." 



c Rom. 2. 92. 



120 CHRIST DECLARES HIMSELF THE SON OF GOD. [Part V. 



(ZLuk 
14. ch, 



e9.56.&i2. And Jesus said unto her, " Neither ''do I condemn thee. Go, and 

n. d. 17. , . ' ^ 



ech. 5. 14. 'sin no more."]] 



SECT. V. 



Section V. — Christ declares himself the Son of God. 
V. IE.. 28. John viii. 12-20. 

J. P. 4741. 19 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, " I "am the Light of 

erusa^em. ^^^ world •} he that folioweth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall 

°3°''i9!&'9'.'5.'& ^^^® *^^ l^S^t ^^ life." I'^The Pharisees therefore said unto him, 

12.35,36,46. " Thou 'bearcst rccord of thjself ; thy record is not true." ^* Jesus 

\c\i.5°zi. ' answered and said unto them, "Though I bear record of myself, yet 

c See ch. 7. 28. & my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but 

dch. 7. 24. V® cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go. ^^ Ye ''judge after 

ech. 3. 17. & 12. the flesh ; 'I judge no man. ^^ And yet if I judge, my judgment is 

/ver. 29. ch. 16. truc : for ^l am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. ^'^Il 

^ ,, <, c ^is also written in your Law, ' That the testimony of two men is true.' 

g Deut.. 17. 6. & _ „ •' . ' 1 ; 1 T-i 1 1 

19. 15. Matt. 18. i«i am one that bear witness oi myseli, and the I'ather that sent me 
Heb.io.°28. " " bcarcth witness of me. " ^^Then said they unto him, "Where is thy 
^"^'^'J^i -,r n Father?" Jesus answered, " Ye 'neither know me, nor my Father : 
3 ch. 14. 7. •'if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also." ^° These 

* Mark 19. 41. words spakc [Jesus] in *the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and 
m'^ch. 7. 8. '^*^ '^''.n laid hands on him ; for ™his hour was not yet come. 



SECT. VI. Section VL — Christ declares the Manner of his Death. 

V. ^. 28. John viii. 21, to the end. 

J. P. 4741. 21 Then said Jesus again unto them, " I go my way, and "ye shall 

Jerusalem. geek me, and ''shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come." 

a ch. 7. 34. & 13. 22 Then Said the Jews, "Will he kill himself? because he saith, 

i ver. 24. ' Whithcr I go, ye cannot come.' " ^^ And he said unto them, " Ye 

c ch. 3. 31. ^ "are from beneath ; I am from above : ''ye are of this world ; I am not 

16.1 jihn4. 5." of this world. ^*I 'said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your 

ever. 21. sins : ^for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins." 

25 Then said they unto him, " Who art thou?" And Jesus saith unto 

them, " Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. ^'^ I 

^seni' Je, &c.— have many things to say and to judge of you : °'but He that sent me 

i^di'^3%I'^\5 ^® ^"'"'^ ' ^^^^ '^ speak to the world those things which I have heard of 

15- Him." ^'' (They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.) 

'l.\\?&V2f32f' ^^ Then said Jesus unto them, " When ye have 'hfted up the Son of 

j Rom. 1.4. Man, -'then shall ye know that I am He ; and ''that I do nothing of 

2ch.3.ii.' myself, but 'as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things ; ^^and 

mchi4. 10, 11. '"He that sent me is with me. "The Father hath not left me alone, 

och.\ 34. & 5. "f*^*" •"■ do always those things that please Him." 

30. & 6. 38. ^'^ As he spake these words, ^many believed on him. ^^ Then said 

^42y&'ii.'45. ' Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, " If ye continue in my 
'^23T8'^2 Yamea ^ord, tkcn SLYO js my disciplcs indeed ; ^^ and ye shall know the truth, 
1. 25. & -i. 12. and 'the truth shall make you free." 

'^Mat't'. 3?'9!^;er. ^^ They auswcrcd him, " We ''be Abraham's seed, and v/ere never 
^^' ^ ,= nr. in bondaoje to any man : liow sayest thou, ' Ye shall be made free ?' " 

sKom. 6. 16,20. ^^ t i i tt -i -it sttti 

2 Pet. 2. 19. -^^ Jesus answcrcd them, " Verily, verily, 1 say unto you. Whosoever 

(Gal. 4. 30. committeth sin is the servant of sin. ^s ^nd 'the servant abideth not 
u^Rom. 8. 2. Gal. j^_^ the liousc for cvcr : but the Son abideth ever. ^^ If "the Son 
t>^h. 7. 19. ver. therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. ^'' I know that 
ye are Abraham's seed ; but "ye seek to kill me, because my word 
"i9,'3o.'& i4. loi hath no place in you. ^^ I '"speak that which I have seen with my 
i^Matt.3. 9. ver. Father ; and ye do that which ye have seen with your father." 

33- ^ 39 They answered and said unto him, "Abraham ""is our father." 

\Gd."3.7,'29.' Jesus saith unto them, "If ^ye, were Abraham's children, ye would 



Sect. VII.] THE SEVENTY RETURN V^ITH JOY. 121 

do the works of Abraham. '"^But "now ye seek to kill me, a man ^ver. 37. 
that hath told you the truth, "which I have heard of God : this did not " "^'^ ^^■ 
Abraham. ''^ Ye do the deeds of your father." 

Then said they to him, " We be not born of fornication ; 'we have * is. 63. le. & 64 

T~, , •'^ , ,, 8. Mai. 1. 6. 

one rather, even God. 

''-Jesus said unto them, " If 'God were your Father, ye would love cUohns. 1. 
me: ''for I proceeded forth and came from God: "neither came I of ^^^^^^^■^'^■^^'^ 
myself, but He sent me. ^^ Why ■'do ye not understand my speech ? « ch. 5. 43. & 7. 
Even because ye cannot hear my word. ** Ye ^are of your father the /ch.7. 17. 
Devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer s' Matt. 13. 38. 
Irom the begmnmg, and abode not in the truth ; because there is no AJudee. 
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own : for 
he is a liar, and the father of it. "'^ And because I tell you the truth, 
ye believe me not. ""^ Which of you convinceth me of sin ? and if I 
say the truth, why do ye not believe me ? '''' He 'that is of God heareth » •=•}• i^- ^e, 27. 
God's words : ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." 

"•^ Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, " Say we not well 
that thou art a Samaritan, and ^hast a devil ? " jch. 7. 90. & 10. 

. 20. ver. 52 

'^^ Jesus answered, " I have not a devil ; but I honor my Father, and 
ye do dishonor me. ^° And ''I seek not mine own glory : there is One '^^^- s- 4i. & 7. 
that seeketh and judgeth. ^^ Verily, verily, I say unto you, 'If a man jch. 5. 24. & 11. 
keep my saying, he shall never see death." ^^' 

^"^ Then said the Jews unto him, " Now we know that thou hast a 
devil. "'Abraham is dead, and the prophets ; and thou sayest, ' If a '"hsk 11^13! 
man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death !' ^^ Art thou 
greater than our father Abraham, which is dead ? and the prophets 
are dead: whom makest thou thyself?" 

. ^^ Jesus answered, " If "I honor myself, my honor is nothing : °it is "cii-s-si 
my Father that honoreth me, of whom ye say, that he is your God, 4. & 17. 1. Acts 
^^ yet ^ye have not known Him ; but I know Him ; and if I should ^^ ^ gg^ 29. 
say, I know Him not, I shall be a liar like unto you : but I know Him, 
and keep his saying. ^^ Your father Abraham 'rejoiced to see my « ^uke lo. 24. 

- - r Heb. ]]. 13. 

k See Note 10. 
s Exod. 3. 14. Is. 



day : '^and he saw it, and was glad." 

^^ Then said the Jews unto him, " Thou art not yet fifty years old. 
and hast thou seen Abraham ?" "43^13! ch.^ii.T, 

^^ Jesus said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Rev.i.'s. 
Abraham'' was, 1 am."' ^^ Then 'took they up stones to cast at him : ' see Note n. 

-- J r «ch. 10. 31,39. & 



but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, ["going through 11. 8. 
the midst of them, and so passed by]. 



u Luke 4. 30. 



"Section VII. — The Seventy return with Joy." sect, vn. 

Luke x. 17-24. V. IE. 28. 

1''' And ''the Seventy returned again with joy, saying, "Lord, even J. P. 4741. 
the devils are subject unto us through thy name!" ^^And he said Near Jerusalem. 
unto them, " I 'beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. ^^ Be- m see Note 12. 
hold! T give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and « see Note 13. 
over all the power of the enemy : and nothing shall by any means jjohn2.3i.&iG. 
hurt you. ^'^ Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are \l] ^9^' ^" '" ^ 
subject unto you ; but rather rejoice, because ''your names are written « Mark 16. is. 
in heaven. d Exod. 32. 3-2.P8. 

21 In 'that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, "I thank Thee, ^an^mi.vhk 
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things ^^^'^iV&ao" 
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 12. &2i.27. 
Even so. Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight! "*A11 things 
are delivered to me of my Father: and -^no man knoweth who the "'44,"46.' 

* Many ancient copies add these words, Mnd turning to his disciples he said, Dan. 7. 13, 14. Matt. 11. 27. & 16. 28. & 28. 18. 
cli. ] . 33. John 3. 35. & 5. 22, 27. &. 12. 34. & 13. 3. & 17. 2. Acts 2. 36. &; 17. 31. Eom. 14. 9. 1 Cor. 15. 25, 27. Eph. 1. 10, 21. 
Phil. 2. 9, 10. Heb. 1. 2, 8. & 2. 8. 1 Pet. 3. 22. & 4. 5. Rev. 17. 14. 

VOL. n, 16 K. 



e Matt. 11. 25. 
/J(din 1. 18. &6. 



122 'PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAJ,IAR1TAN. [Part V. 

/ 

Son is, but the Father ; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he 

to whom the Son will reveal Him." 

^■^ And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, " Blessed 
jrMatt. 13. 16. ^are the eyes which see the things that ye see! ^* For I tell you, 
A 1 Pet. 1.10. ''that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which 

ye see, and have not seen them ; and to hear those things which ye 

hear, and have not heard them." 



SECT. VIII. Section VIII. — Christ directs the Lawyer how he may attain etemat 

V. E.. 28. Life. 

J. P. 4741. Luke x. 25-28. 

on^ur. ^^ K-ST), bchold ! a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, 

o See Note 14. " Mastcr, "what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" ^®He said unto 
°S.^^'^^' ^ him, "What is written in the Law? °How readest thou?" ^T^nd 
h Deut.. 6. 5. he answering said, " Thou ''shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
dLev 18 5%eh ^eart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy 
9. 29. Ezek. 20. mind: and 'thy neighbour as thyself." ^® And He said unto him, 

11, 13, 21. Rom. ,,rr.i 1 ^ • i i • i i w . i i t ,, 

10.5. " Ihou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt uve. 



SECT. IX. Section IX. — The Parable of the good Samaritan. 

V !^28 Luke x. 29-37. 

J. P. 4741. ^^BuT he, willing to "justify himself, said unto Jesus, " And Pwho 
onaTour. is my neighbour?" ^° And Jesus answering said, "A certain man went 

a ch. nXh. down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which 

p See Note 15. Stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving 
him half dead. ^^ And by chance there came down a certain Priest 

b Vs. 38. u. ^]^g^^ ^yg^y . j^jjjj whcH hc saw him, 'he passed by on the other side. 
^"^ And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked 

c John 4. 9. ^^ ^^-^^ g^j^j passed by on the other side. ^-^ But a certain 'Samaritan, 
as he journeyed, came where he was ; and when he saw him, he had 
compassion on him. ^'^ And went to him, and bound up his wounds, 
pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought 
him to an inn, and took care of him. ^^ And on the morrow when he 
departed, he took out two *pence, and gave them to the host, and 
said unto him, ' Take care of him ; and whatsoever thou spendest 
more, when I come again, I will repay thee.' ^^ Which now of these 
three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the 
thieves ?" ^^ And he said, " He that showed mercy on him." Then 
said Jesus unto him, " Go, and do thou hkewise." 



*See Matt. 20. 2. 



SECT. X. Section X. — Christ in the House of Martha.'^ 

V. jE. 28. Luke x. 38, to the end. 

J. P. 4741. 38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain 

pr^aWy'^iTn a villagc. And a certain woman named "Martha received him into her 

Tour. house. 3^ And she had a sister called Mary, ''which also sat at Jesus' 

See N^ 16 ^'^^t' ^"^ heard his word. '^^ But Martha was cumbered about much 

oJohn 11. 1. & serving, and came to him, and said, "Lord, dost thou not care that 

iLukes. 35. "^7 sistcr hath left me to serve alone ? bid her therefore that she help 

^^'^■■S; . nie." ''i And Jesus answered and said unto her, "Martha ! Martha! 

1 Cor. 7. 32, &c. i • /io i c i • • 

c Ps. 27. 4. thou art careful and troubled about many things ; ^^ but one thing is 
needful. And Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be 

r See Note 17. ^^ken away from her." ' 



Sect. XI.] CHRIST TEACHES HIS DISCIPLES TO PRAY. 123 



Section XL — Christ teaches his Disciples to pray. sect. xi. 

Luke xi. 1-13. 

^ And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, j p '^^^^ 
when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, " Lord, teach us uncertain, 
to pray, as John also taught his disciples." ^ And he said unto them, P'°''Tiur.°° * 
"When ye pray, say, "[Our] Father [which art in heaven], hallowed — 

be thy name: thy kingdom come: [thy will be done, as in heaven, *or,/«r«Ae<iai, 
so in earth:] ^give us *day by day our daily bread : ''and forgive us 
our sins ; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us : and 
lead us not into temptation ; [but deliver us from evil]." 

5 And he said unto them, " Which of you shall have a friend, and 
shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him. Friend, lend me 
three loaves ; ^ for a friend of mine tin his journey is come to me, t^'^' ""' "-^ '"" 
and I have nothing to set before him ?* '^ And he from within shall b [This sentence 
answer and say. Trouble me not : the door is now shut, and my chil- tJansiatedln the 
dren are with me in bed ; I cannot rise and give thee. ^ I say unto and pedmps'°b™- 
you, "Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, pu'nctStes''it — 
yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as ed.] 
he needeth, ^ And ''I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you ; ^ji^ttVy &2i 
seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. ^■J^^l''k^■ ^'^■ 
^"For every one that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; i. e.uohns.aa. 
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. ^^ If "a son shall ask ' '^^''"- ^- ^• 
bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone ? or if 
he aslc a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent ? ^~ Or if he shall 
ask an egg, will he tofter him a scorpion? ^"^ If ye then, being evil, JGr.g-iM. 
know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall 
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him !" 



Section XII. — Christ reproaches the Pharisees and Lawyers. sect, xit. 

Luke xi. 37, to the end. V. M. 28. 

^^ And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with J. P. 4741. 
him : and he went in, and sat down to meat. ^^ And "when the pj^ably'^'in' a 
Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before Tour. 
dinner. ^^ And 'the Lord said unto him, "Now do ye Pharisees oMarkvTs. 
make clean the outside of the cup and the platter ; but 'your inward * Matt. 23. 25. 
part is full of ravening and wickedness. ''°Ye fools ! did not he that "^''-^-i^- 
made that which is without make that v/hich is within also ? *^ But 
''rather give alms *of such things as ye have ; and, behold ! all things '^4^^27?^ch.^i2°33; 
are clean unto you. ''^But "woe unto you, Pharisees ! for ye tithe *or, as you are 
mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and eMau. 23. 23. 
the love of God. These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the 
other undone. ''^ Woe -^unto you, Pharisees ! for ye love the upper- -^uark^.'is 39 
most seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. ■** Woe 
''unto you, [Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites !] ''for ye are as graves fp^^"'^'^^' 
which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of 
them." 

* '^^ Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, " Master, 
thus saying thou reproachest us also." '^'^And he said, "Woe unto 
you also, ye lawyers ! 'for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be ' '^*"- ^- *■ 
borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fin- 
gers. ■*"'' Woe ^unto you ! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, ^ Matt. 23. 29 
and your fathers killed them. *^ Truly ye bear witness that ye allow 
the deeds of your fathers : for they indeed killed them, and ye build 
their sepulchres. ^^ Therefore also said the Wisdom of God, *I will *m^"-^3-^ 
send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay 
and persecute : ^° that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed 
from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation ; 



124 



CHRIST CAUTIONS AGAINST HYPOCRISY. 



[Part V. 



I Gen. 4. 8. 



^M'rom 'the blood of Abel unto "'the blood of Zacharias, which per- 

m a Chron. 24. 20, • , , , , , , , i -tr -i t t 

21. ished between the altar and the temple. Venly, 1 say unto you, It 

shall be required of this generation. ^^ Woe "unto you, lawyers ! for 
ye have taken away the key of knowledge : ye enter not in yourselves, 
and them that were entering in ye thindered." 

^•^ And as he said these things unto them, the Scribes and the Phar- 
isees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of 
many things ; ^^ laying wait for him, and "seeking to catch something 
out of his mouth, that they might accuse him. 



a Matt. 23. 13. 



t Or, forbad. 



Mark 12. 13. 



SECT. XIII. 

\.M.^8. 
J. P. 4741. 

Uncertain, 

probably on a 

Tour, 



Section XIII. — Christ cautions his Disciples against Hypocrisy, 

Luke xii. 1-12. 

^ In "the mean time, when there were gathered together an innu- 
merable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon 
^°"'- another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, " Beware ''ye 
of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ^For 'there is 
nothing covered, that shall not be revealed ; neither hid, that shall 
not be known. ^Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness 
shall be heard in the light ; and that which ye have spoken in the ear 
in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. * And ''I say unto 
you my friends. Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that 
have no more that they can do. ^ But I will forewarn you whom ye 
shall fear. Fear Him, which, after he hath killed, hath power to cast 
into hell ; yea, I say unto you. Fear Him ! ^ Are not five sparrows 
sold for two *farthings ? and not one of them is forgotten before God ; 
^ but even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not 
therefore : 'ye are of more value than many sparrows. 

^ " Also ^\ say unto you. Whosoever shall confess me before men, 
him shall the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God ; ^ but 
he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of 
God. ^° And ^whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, 
it shall be forgiven him ; but unto him that blasphemeth against the 
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven. ^' And ''when they bring you 
unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no 
thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say ; 
^^ for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought 
to say," 



a Matt. 16. 6. 

Mark 8. 15. 
b Matt. 16. 12. 
e Matt. 10. 26. 

Mark 4. 22. ch. 

8. 17. 

dls. 51.7,8,12,13. 
Jer. 1. 8. Matt. 
10. 28. John 15. 
14, 15. 



* See Matt. 10.29. 



e Ps. 8. 6. Matt. 6. 

26.& 10.31. 
/Matt. 10.32. 

Mark 8. 38. See 

John 1. 51. 

2 Tim. 2. 12. 

1 John 2. 23. 
^ Matt. 12. 31, 32. 

Mark 3. 28. 

See John 1.51. 

1 John 5. 16. 
h Matt. 10. 19. 

Mark 13. 11. ch. 

21. 14. 



SECT. XIV. 



Section XIV. — Christ refuses to act as Judge. 
Luke xii. 13, 14. 
^^ And one of the company said unto him, " Master, speak to my 
proba^i^y on a bj-Qther, that hc dlvldc the inheritance with me." i" And He said unto 
him, " Man, "who made me a judge or a divider over you ?" 



V. iE. 25. 
J. P. 4741. 

Uncertain, 



a John 18. 36. 



SECT. XV. 

V. m.. 28. 
J. p. 4741. 

Uncertain, 

probably on a 

Tour. 

«lTim.6.7,&c. 



dEccles. 11. 9. 
Ecclus. 11. 19. 
ICor. 15. 32. 
Jamea 5. 5. 



Section XV. — Christ cautions the Multitude against 

Worldly -mind e dness. 

Luke xii. 15-34. 

^^And he said unto them, "Take "heed, and beware of covetous- 

ness ; for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things 

which he possesseth." ^^ And he spake a parable unto them, saying, 

" The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully ; i'^ and 

he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no 

room where to bestow my fruits ? ^^ And he said, This will I do : 1 

will pull down my barns, and build greater ; and there will I bestow 

all my fruits and my goods ; ^^ and I will say to my soul, ''Soul ! thou 



Sect. XVI.] CHRIST EXHORTS TO WATCHFULNESS, &c. , 25 

hast much goods laid up for many years : take thine ease, eat, drink, 
and be merry, ^o gut God said unto him, Thou fool ! this night *thy *°l;/lkTlJid. 
soul shall be required of thee : "then whose shall those things be, g^p^^gl''^;*^^^' 
which thou hast provided ? ^^ So is he that layeth up treasure for James 4. w. 
himself, "and is not rich toward God." cP..39.6.jer.i7. 

~^And he said unto his disciples, "Therefore I say unto you, 'Take "^au. e. 20. vcr. 
no thought for your hfe,what ye shall eat ; neither for the body, what 18J19. Jame's 2! 
ye shall put on. ^^ The life is more than meat, and the body is more ^ jfj^,t. e 25. 
than raiment. ^* Consider the ravens ; for they neither sow nor reap ; 
which neither have storehouse nor barn : and -^God feedeth them, /j'^* ^^- *i- ''"• 
How much more are ye better than the fowls ! ^^ And which of you 
with taking thought "'can add to his stature one cubit ? ^^ If ye then g[Or,_ca7ipToimg 

1 11 7 • 1 • 1 • 1 lie hislifetime.-BD.] 

be not able to do that thmg which is least, why take ye thought lor 

the rest ? ^'' Consider the hlies how they grow : they toil not, they 

spin not. And yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was 

not arrayed like oPxC of these. ^^If then God so clothe the grass, 

which is to-day in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven ; 

how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith ! ^^ And seek 

not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; tneither be ye of ^ ^refia't-uspLs" 

doubtful mind. ^° For all these things do the nations of the world 

seek after ; and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. 

^^ But ''rather seek ye the kingdom of God ; and all these things shall '' *'•'"• ^- ^^■ 

be added unto you. ■^'^Fear not, little flock; for 4t is your Father's '^'att. 11.25,06. 

good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ^^ Sell ^that ye have, and i Matt. 19. 21. 

• 7 i-Ti • 1 1 1 ° 1 • 1 1 1 • Acts 2. 45. & 4. 

give alms. rrovide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in 34. 

the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth *i6!''".'f'Tim.''B.' 

corrupteth. ^^ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be ^''• 

also." 



Section XVI. — Christ exhorts to Watchfulness, Fidelity, and sect. xvi. 

Repentance. V J2 28 

Luke xii. 35, to the end, and xiii. 1-9. J- P. 4741. 

35 " Let "your loins be girded about, and ''your lights burning ; ^"^ and pr^ably'^'on a 

ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will ' ^°"''- 

return from the wedding ; that when he cometh and knocketh, they nEphes. 6. 14. 

may open unto him immediately. ^'^ Blessed 'are those servants, ^^^^^^ ^^j" ^^ 

whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching ! Verily I say c Matt. 24. 46. 
unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to 
meat, and will come forth and serve them. ^^And if he shall come 
in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, 

blessed are those servants ! ^'^ And ''this know, that if the good man "i;\"- 24- 43. 

'—'1 J. lies. 5. 9. 

of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would 2 Pet. 3. io7 
have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through, k^' 
'*" Be 'ye therefore ready also : for the Son of Man cometh at an hour "^.Matt. 24^jM.^& 
when ye think not." 33! ci,'. 21. 34,36! 

'"^ Then Peter said unto him, " Lord, speakest thou this parable i Thes.'a. e. 
unto us, or even to all ?" ^2 ^^^^ ^he Lord said, " Who -^then is that ^^^f/^^; l^]\ ^ 
faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his 25. 21. icor. 4 
household, to give them their portion of meat in due season ? ^^ Blessed 
is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing ! 
'''' Of °'a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that s "^latt. 24. 47. 
he hath. "^^ But ''and if that servant say in his heart. My lord delayeth '» Matt. 21. 48. 
his coming ; and shall begin to beat the men-servants and maidens, 
and to eat and drink, and to be drunken ; ^^ the lord of that servant 
will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when 
he is not aware, and will *cut him in sunder, and will appoint him *Matt.'24. m™ °"^' 

VOL. II. K* 



126 



CHRIST CURES AN INFIRM WOMAN. 



[Part V. 



i Numb. 15. 30. 

Deut. 95. 2. 

John 9. 41. & 15. 

22. Acts 17. 30. 

James 4. 17. 
3 Lev. 5. 17. 

1 Tim. 1. 13. 



k ver. 51. 

I Matt. 20. 92. 

Mark 10. 38. 
I Or, pained, 
m Matt. 10. 34. 

ver. 49. 
n Mic. 7. 6j_ Jolm 

7.43. &9. 16.& 

10. 19. 
Matt. 10. 35. 



p Matt. 16. 2. 



5 Prov. 25. 8. 

Matt. 5. 25. 
r See Ps. 32. 6. 

Is. 55. 6. 



X See Mark 12. 
41,42. 



* Or, debtors. 
Matt. 18. 94. ch. 
11.4. 



*Is. 5.2. Matt. 21. 
19. 



his portion with the unbelievers. ^'^ And 'that servant v^'hich knew 
his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his 
will, shall be beaten with many stripes ; ''^ but ^he that knew not, and 
did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. 
For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required ; 
and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the 
more. 

49 a J k^^ come to send fire on the earth ; and what will I, if it be 
already kindled ! ^^ But 'I have a baptism to be baptized with ; and 
how am I tstraitened till it be accomplished ! ^^ Suppose "'ye that I 
am come to give peace on earth ? I tell you, Nay ; "but rather 
division. ^^ For "from henceforth there shall be five in one house 
divided, three against two, and two against three. ^^ The father shall 
be divided against the son, and the son against the father ; the mother 
against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother ; the 
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law 
against her mother-in-law." 

^'' And he said also to the people, " When ^ye see a cloud rise out 
of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower ; and so it is. 
^^ And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat ; 
and it cometh to pass. ^^ Ye hypocrites ! ye can discern the face of 
the sky and of the earth ; but how is it that ye do not discern this 
time ? 

^^ " Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right ? 
^^ When *thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, '^as thou art 
in the way give diligence, that thou mayest be delivered from him ; 
lest he haul thee to the judge, and the judge dehver thee to the officer, 
and the officer cast thee into prison. ^^ I tell thee, thou shalt not de- 
part thence, till thou hast paid the very last tmite." 

^ There were present at that season some that told him of Lu'^^e xin. 1-9. 
the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their 
sacrifices. ^ And Jesus answering said unto them, " Suppose ye that 
these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suf- 
fered such things ? ^ I tell you, Nay ; but, except ye repent, ye shall all 
likewise perish. ^ Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloiim 
fell ; and slew them, think ye that they were *sinners above all men 
that dwelt in Jerusalem ? ^ I tell you, Nay ; but, except ye repent, 
ye shall all likewise perish." 

^ He spake also this parable : " A ^certain man had a fig-tree planted 
in his vineyard ; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found 
none. '^ Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, ' Behold ! 
these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none : 
cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?' ®And he answering 
said unto him, ' Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about 
it, and dung it ; ^ and if it bear fruit, ivell ; and if not, thoi after that 
thou shalt cut it down.' " 



SECT. xvir. 

V. JE. 28. 
J. P. 4741. 

Uncertain, 

probably on a 

Tour. 



a Mark 16. 18. 
Acts 9. 17. 



Section XVII. — Christ cures an hifirm Woman in the Synagogue. 

Luke xiii. 10-17. 

^^ And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 
^^ And, behold ! there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity 
eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no Vv'ise lift up 
herself. ^^ And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said 
unto her, " Woman ! thou art loosed from thine infirmity." ^^ And 
"he laid his hands on her ; and immediately she was made straight, 
and glorified God. ^^ And the ruler of the synagogue answered with 



Sect. XIX.] CHRIST RESTORES A BLIND MAN. 127 

indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and 
said unto the people, " There 'are six days in which men ought to JExod. oo. 9. 
work : in them therefore come and be healed, and 'not on the Sabbath "ii^^l'-g^l- ^°- „ 
day." ^^The Lord then answered him, and said, " Thou hypocrite ! 7. &14'. 3". 
''doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from a ch. 14. 5. 
the stall, and lead him away to watering ? ^^ And ought not this wo- 
man, 'being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, (lo ! ' "^ ^^- ^• 
these eighteen years,) be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day ? " 
^"^ And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed ; 
and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done 
by him. 



Section XVIII. — Christ begins his Journey towards Jerusalem, to he gECT. xvin. 
present at the Feast of the Dedication. V. K. 28. 

Luke xiii. 22, and 18-21. J. P. 4741. 

^2 And "He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and jour- ^°''i"'ll°Z^,^^ 
neying toward Jerusalem. ^^Then 'said he, " Unto what is the king- — ^ 

dom of God like ? and whereunto shall I resemble it? ^°It is like a Mark'c.'e" ' 
grain of mustard-seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden ; 
and it grew, and waxed a great tree ; and the fowls of the air lodged 
in the 'branches of it." = see Note is 

^•^ And again he said, " Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of 
God ? ^^ It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three 
*measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." 



i Matt. 13. 31. 
Mark 4. 30. 



* See Matt. 13.33 



Section XIX. — Christ restores to Sight a Blind Man, tvho is sum- sect, xix. 

moned before the Sanhedrin} V. S.. 28. 

John ix. 1-34. J. P. 4741. 

' And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his '^"""^'^"'" 
birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, " Master, "vs^ho did sin, t^ee Note 19. 
this man, or his parents, that he was born " bhnd ? " ^ Jesus answered, „ g"j ^^je 20. 
" Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents ; 'but that the works ^cIj. 11.4. 
of God should be made manifest in him. "* I 'must work the works c ch. 4. 34. & .5. 
of Him that sent me, while it is day : the night cometh, when no man t'll'^'st. ^'n; 
can work. ^ As long as I am in the world, ''I am the lieht of the ^' 
world." ^ When he had thus spoken, 'he spat on the ground, and i9.'& s! 12 & 
made clay of the spittle, and he *anointed the eyes of the blind man e Mark'7^'33. & 8. 
with the ''clay, ' and said unto him, " Go, wash •'^in the pool of Siloam," ^■ 
(which is by interpretation. Sent). °He went his way therefore, and dJy %ra the 
washed, and came seeing. ,"':r-^*'" "'""^ 

^ The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him ^ s^« Note 91. 
that he was blind, said. " Is not this he that sat and begged ? " 9 Some '^ s!e 2 Khlcrs & 
said, " This is he." Others said, " He is like him." But he said, ^'^■ 
" I am Ae." ^° Therefore said they unto him, " How were thine eyes 
opened?" ^^He answered and said, " A ''man that is called Jesus ^^'^f- '^'■'• 
made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, ' Go to the pool 
of Siloam and wash.' And I went and washed, and I received sight." 
^^ Then said they unto him, " Where is he ? " He said, " I know not." 

^"'They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. 
"And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus madethexlay, and opened 
his eyes. ^^ Then again the Pharisees also asked him hov/ he had re- 
ceived his sight. He said unto them, " He put clay upon mine eyes, 
and I washed, and do see." "^^ Therefore said some of the Pharisees, 
" This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day." 
Others said, " How 'can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?" » ver. 33. ch 3. 3. 



128 CHRIST THE TRUE SHEPHERD. [Part V. 

Jj^J-J^'2,43. & >And there was a division among them. "They say unto the blind 
man again, " What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine 
ftch.4. 19. & 6. eyes ? " He said " He ''is a prophet." 

^*' ^^ But the Jews did zaot beheve concerning him, that he had been 

bUnd, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that 
had received his sight. ^^ And they asked them, saying, " Is this your 
son, who ye say was born blind ? how then doth he now see ? " ^'^ His 
parents answered them and said, " We know that this is our son, and 
that he was born blind ; ^^ but by what means he now seeth, we know 
not ; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not : he is of age ; ask 
him ; he shall speak for himself." ^® These words spake his parents, 
^^•^•ji^-&i9. because 'they feared the Jews. For the Jews had agreed already, that 
Acts 5. 13. if any man did confess that he was Christ, he "should be put out of the 
m ver. 34. ch. 16. gynagoguc. ^^ Therefore said his parents, " He is of age ; ask him." 
^"^ Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto 
« Jg^''- ''g ^?- him, " Give "God the praise: °we know that this man is a sinner." 
ver. 16. ^^ Hc aiiswered and said, " Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not : 

one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." ^^ Then 
said they to him again, " What did he to thee ? how opened he thine 
eyes ? " ^^ He answered them, " I have told you already, and ye did 
not hear : wherefore would ye hear it again ? will ye also be his dis- 
ciples ? " ^® Then they reviled him, and said, " Thou art his disciple ; 
but we are Moses' disciples ! ^^ We know that God spake unto 
p cii. 8. 14 Moses ; as for this fellow, ^we know not from whence he is." ^^ The 

5ch 3 10. man answered and said unto them, " Why 'herein is a marvellous 

'^i2!'p^!'i8. 4i.^& thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened 
Proi^i ts'^fe is" ™i'^6 eyes ! ^^ Now we know that "God heareth not sinners : but if 
29. &28. 9.IS.1. any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him He heareth. 
&'i4.''i9. Ezek! ^2 Sincc thc world began was it not heard that any man opened the 
lech. 7!'i3.'^' ^' eyes of one that was born blind. ^^ If ^this man were not of God, he 
s ver. 16. could do nothing." ^^ They answered and said unto him, "Thou 



t ver. 2. 



*or, excmnmurd- 'wast altogether born in sins ! and dost thou teach us ? " And they 



c^ted 1dm. ver. ^^^^'^ \^^^^ ^j^^. 



a See Mark 1. 1. 



SECT. XX. Section XX. — Christ declares that He is the true Shepherd. 

John ix. 35, to the end, and x. 1-21. 

V /F 2ft 

J P 4741 ^^ Jesus heard that they had cast him out ; and when he had found 

Jerusalem. him, he Said unto him, " Dost thou believe on "the Son of God ? " 

3*5 He answered and said, " Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on 

him ? " ^■^ And Jesus said unto him, " Thou hast both seen him, and 

6 eh. 4. 26. 'it is hc that talketh with thee." ^* And he said, " Lord, I believe! " 

cch.5.-23,27. and he worshipped him. ^^ And Jesus said, " For 'judgment I am 

S|e^ch. 3. 17. & ^Qj^^g jj^^Q ^j-j-g ^oi-ifi^ ''that they which see not might see ; and that 

dMatt. 13.13. they which see might be made blind." 

^^ And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, 

eRom.o. 19. c^^^^ ^^-^ ^^^^ j^-^^^ a ^^.^ ^^ j^jj^^j ^jg^ p )) 41 Jgg^g g^Jd UUtO them, 

/ch. 15. 22, 24. a jf /yg ^g^g blind, yc should have no sin : but now ye say, ' We see ;' 
therefore your sin remaineth. ^ Verily, verily, I say unto you, John x. 1-21. 
He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climb- 
eth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber ; ^ but he that 
entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ^ To him the 
porter openeth ; and the sheep hear his voice ; and he calleth his own 
sheep by name, and leadeth them out. '* And when he putteth forth 
his own sheep, he goeth before them ; and the sheep follow him, for 
they know his voice. ^ And a stranger will they not follow, but will 
flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers." ^This 



Sect. XXL] CHRIST ASSERTS HIS DIVINITY. 129 

parable spake Jesus unto them : but they understood not what things 
they were which he spake unto them. 

'' Then said Jesus unto them again, " Verily, verily, I say unto 
you, I am the Door of the sheep. ^ All that ever came before me are 
thieves and robbers : but the sheep did not hear them. ^I ''am the ^gt^h-g". 6. Ephe3. 
Door : by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in 
and out, and find pasture. i° The thief cometh not, but for to steal, 
and to kill, and to destroy : I am come that they might have life, and 
that they might have it more abundantly. ^'^ I ''am the good Shepherd : *^'' fa' as" &^37' 
the e'ood shepherd siveth his life for the sheep. ^^ But he that is an 24! Heb. 13. 20! 

. 1 Pet 9 25 i; 5 

hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth 4. " ' " 
the wolf coming, and 'leaveth the sheep, and fleeth ; and the wolf ' ^^'^''- "• '^' ^''• 
catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. ^^ The hireling fleeth, be- 
cause he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. ^^ I am the ^u\oT'lnT'as i 
good Shepherd, and •'know my sheep, and am known of mine. ^^ As ^g" "'e Fatiier. 
the Father knoweth me, *even so 'know I the Father : ""and I lay i Ma«. 11. 27. 
down my life for the sheep. ^^ And "other sheep I have, which are *" ■=■'• '^^- 1^- 
not of this fold ; them also I must bring ; and they shall hear my „ Ezek. 37. 22. 
voice, "and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. ^^ Therefore f^'et.'i.'^.' 
doth my Father love me, ^because I lay down my life, that I might ?is. 53. 7, 8,12. 
take it again. ^^ (No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of jch.s. 19. 
myself; I have power to lay it down, and I 'have power to take it '"jo'^xtts^l'^ 32' 
again.) This '^commandment have I received of my Father." sch. 7. 43. & 9. 

^^ There "was a division tlierefore again among the Jews for these ^^.^ - ao & 8 
sayings. -° And many of them said, " He 'hath a devil, and is mad ; 48,52. 
why hear ye him ?" -^ Others said, " These are not the words of him ^a^^ t^uG.l'. 
that hath a devil. "Can a devil open the eyes of the blind ?" 33" ^' ^' ^' ^' 



Section XXI. — Christ publicly asserts his Divinity. sect. xxi. 

JoHjs' X. 22-38. V. iE. 28. 

^^ And it was at Jerusalem the "feast of the Dedication, and it was J. P. 4741. 
winter ; ^^ and Jesus walked in the temple Hn Solomon's porch. Jerusalem. 
^"^ Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, " How aiMac. 4. 59. 
long dost thou *make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us *Acts3.ii.&5. 
plainly." ^^ Jesus answered them, "I told you, and ye believed not. *or, /wid us m 
"^The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. ever. 38. ch. 3. 
^^ But ''ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep. As I said unto /ch^8^47^i john 
you, -''' My 'sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow 4. e. 
me, ^^ and I give unto them eternal life ; and -^they shall never perish, /ch.'6^'37.^& 17. 
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. ^^ My "'Father, u, 12. &;i8. 9. 
which gave them me is greater than all ; and no man is able to pluck ^17. b.e.&c' 
them out of my Father's hand. ^^ I ''and my Father are One." '"^''- ^'^- "'^ 

^'^Then 'the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 j^g^g j ch. s. 59. 
answered them, " Many good works have I showed you from my 
Father; for which of those works do ye stone me ?" ^^The Jews 
answered him, saying, " For a good work we stone thee not ; but for 
blasphemy ; and because that thou, being a man, ^makest thyself God." J =•'■ ^- 1^- 
3^ Jesus answered them, " Is *it not written in your Law, I said, ' Ye "^m^^is^'j 
are gods ?' ^5 jf jjg called them gods, 'unto whom the word of God m ch. 6. 27. 
came, and the Scripture cannot be broken ; ^^ say ye of Him, "3g''37; & 8.'42^' 
'"whom the Father hath sanctified, and "sent into the world. Thou och. 5. n, is. 
blasphemest ; "because I said, I am ^the Son of God ? ^"^ If 'I do not p^gl'^ jja,,j 1 1 
the works of my Father, believe me not. ^s g^t jf i ^q^ though ye ? ch. is. 24. 
believe not me, ''believe the works : that ye may know, and believe, '^io','ii.' ^^" ^ ^*' 
^that the Father is in me, and I in Him." *ch.^i4. 10, 11.& 

VOL. II. 17 



130 CHRIST LAMENTS OVER JERUSALEM. [Part V. 

SECT. XXII. Section XXII. — In consequence of the Opposition of the Jews, Christ 

V ]e~28 retires heyond Jordan. 

J. P. 4741. John x. 39, to the end. 

Bethabara. 39 THEREFORE "they sought again to take him : but he escaped out of 

o ch. 7. 30, 44. & their hand, *** and went away again beyond Jordan, into the place 'where 
b^ch^i 28 John at first baptized ; and there he abode. *^ And many resorted 

ech. 3. 30. unto him, and said, "John did no miracle: 'but all things that John 

<2^h. 8. 30. & 11. gpake of this man were true." '*- And ''many believed on him there. 



SECT. XXIII. Section XXIII. — Christ, leaving the City, laments over Jerusalem.'! 
V ^ 28 Luke xiii. 23, to the end. 

J. P. 4741. -^ Then said one unto him, " Lord, "are there few that be saved ?" 

Near Jerusalem. And he Said UUtO them, 

y See Note 22. ^* " Strlvc Ho cntcr in at the strait gate ; for ^many, I say unto you, 

a 2 Esdi. 8. 1, 3. ^j]] gggjj ^o enter in, and shall not be able. ^^ When '^once the mas- 
c See John 7. 34. tcr of the houso is riscH up, and 'hath shut to the door, and ye begin 

^. Rora.'g^"' to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, ^Lord, Lord, open 
d Ps. 32. 6. Is. 55. unto US ! and he shall answer and say unto you, ^I know you not whence 
e Matt. 25. 10. J^ aic. ^^ Thcu shall ye begin to say. We have eaten and drunk in 
/ch. 6. 46. thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. ^'' But ''he shall say, 

^25.^2! " ' I tell you, I know you not whence ye are ; 'depart from me, all ye 
*^!Ti' ver^ ^^ ^^^''^^^'^ °^ iniquity! ^^ There ^shall be weeping and gnashing of 
iPs. 6. 8. Matt, teeth, *when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the 
j Matt. 8. 12. & prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. 

13. 42. & 24. 51. 29 ^j^ J jj^gy gj^^U couic from the east, and from the west, and from the 

k Matt 8 11 'J ' 

north and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 
'on^'iK \^/ f S^ ^° And, 'behold ! there are last which shall be first, and there are first 

20. 16. Mark 10. ' ' 

31- which shall be last." 

^^ The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto 

him, " Get thee out, and depart hence ; for Herod will kill thee." 

mHeb.2.10. 32^^(1 j^g g^jd uuto them, " Go yc, and tell that fox. Behold ! I cast 

7? jMatt 23 37 . ^ j ^ ^ ^ 

o [Knapp puts an out devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third day "'I 
polntTfferOTWs ^'^^^'l ^^ perfected. ^^ Nevertheless I must walk to-day, and to-morrow, 
iuid would tran! and the day following : for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of 

sLitG thus would . 

/ not oftm have Jerusalcm. "'^ O "Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! which killest the prophets, 

Eo.f * , c— ^^^^ stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have 
^p^^69^25^iL ^i' gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under 

7.ban. 9. 27. hcr "wiugs ; and ye would not! ^^ Behold ''your house is left unto 
?Ps.ii8. 26. you [desolate]. And verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until 

Mafkuio ch the time come when ye shall say, 'Blessed is he that cometh in tlie 

19.38. John 12: name of the Lord !" 



SECT. XXIV. Section XXIV. — Christ dines with a Pharisee — Parable of 

V. M. 28. ^he great Supper. 

J. P. 4741. Luke xiv. 1-24. 

Near Jerusalem. i ^^^^^ -^ camo to pass, as hc Went into the house of one of the chief 

Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day, that they watched him. 

^ And, behold ! there was a certain man before him which had the 

dropsy. ^ And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, 
a Matt. 12. 10. sayiug, " Is "it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day ?" * And they held 

their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go. 
i Exod. 23. 5. 5 ^jj^j auswercd them, saving, " Which 'of you shall have an ass or an 

Deut 22. 4. ch. ' J o' -' 

13. 15. ■ ' ■ OX fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sab- 
bath day ? " ^ And they could not answer him again to these things. 
" And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he 



Sect. XXV.] CHRIST IXSTRUCTS HIS DISCIPLES. 131 

marked how they chose out the chief rooms : saying unto them, 

^ " When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in 

the highest room : lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of 

him ; ^ and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this 

man place ; and thou begin mth shame to take the lowest room. 

^'^ But "when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; « Prov. 23. 6, 7. 

that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go 

up higher. Then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them 

that sit at meat with thee. ^^ For "^whosoever exalteth himself shall be ''li^i-^i^^, ^', 

abased : and he that humbleth hunself shall be exalted." S'^si^i SJfa 

^- Then said he also to him that bade him, •'■'When thou makest a 4. 6.1 Pet. 5. 5. 
dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy 
kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours ; lest they also bid thee again, and a 
recompence be made thee. ^^ But when thou makest a feast, call 'the ^Tob!"2^2.''&4^7 
poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind ; ^^ and thou shalt be blessed ; 
for they cannot recompense thee ; for thou shalt be recompensed at 
the resurrection of the just." 

^^ And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these 
things, he said unto him, •'• Blessed -^is he that shall eat bread in/^'^-is-s- 
the kingdom of God!" ^^ Then "said he unto him, "'A certain ^ -^^^"- ^- 2- 
man made a great supper, and bade many. ^" And 'sent his servant ^ ^'■'"■'- ^- ^' ^• 
at supper-time to sav to them that were bidden. Come ; for all things 
are now readv. -^^ And thev all 'with one consent beo'an to make ex- "-P^^, °^^ ^"f; 

. _ . _ c lish at OTie would 

cuse. The first said unto him. I have bousht a piece of ground, and I be a closer trans- 

, , .-^' — '■ iicTiii lation ' and they 

must needs go and see it : 1 pray thee have me excused. '■■' And another au began at me,' 

said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them : I pray iy.!lED!f™°'"" 

thee have me excused. -° And another said, I have married a wife, 

and therefore I cannot come. ^^ So that servant came, and showed 

his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said 

to his servant. Go out quicklv into the streets and lanes of the city, and 

bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the bhnd. 

2- And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast coiiunanded, and 

yet there is room. ^^ And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into 

the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house 

may be filled. ^^For I say unto you, ^'That none of those men which ■''^^s' ^i'cfs^'ii 

were bidden shall taste of my supper." 46. 



Section XXV. — Chrisfs Disciples must for sal' e the World. sect, xxv. 

Luke xiv. 25, to the end. y_ ^_ 28. 

^5 KsT) there went great multitudes with him : and he turned, and J. P. 4741. 
said unto them, -^ " If "any man come to me, 'and hate not his father, onaTour. 
and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, "yea, and aOeut. 13. 6. & 
his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. "2" And ''whosoever doth not 37] ' " '' 
bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be mv disciple. ^^ For 'which *Eom. 9. 13. 
of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth ^ jx^tt. le. 34. 
the cost, wdiether he have sufficient to finish it ? ^^ Lest haply, after he g^^"^ |''niii.''3' 
hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it ^■ 
begin to mock him, ^^ sajing. This man began to build, and was not ^ ""'■ 
able to finish. ^^ Or w-hat king, going to make war against another king, 
sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thou- 
sand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand ? ^^ Or 
else, while the other is yet a great way oflf, he sendeth an ambassage, and 
desu-eth conditions of peace. ^^ So likewise, whosoever he be of you 
that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. ^^ Salt ■'is -^j^l^^l'^' 
good : but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned ? 
"^ It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill : but men cast 
it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear ! " 



J 32 



PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON. 



[Part V. 



SECT. XXVI. 

V. M.. 28. 
J. P. 4741. 

On a Tour. 

a Matt. 9. 10. 
b Acts 11. 3. Gal. 
2. 12. 
c Matt. 18. 12. 



d 1 Pet. 2. 10, 25. 
e ch. 5. 32. 



* Drachma, here 
translated a 
'piece of idlver, is 
the eightli part 
of an ounce, 
which Cometh to 
seven pence half 
penny [15centsJ, 
and is equal to 
the Roman pen- 
ny, Matt 18. 28. 



Section XXVI. — Parables of the Lost Sheep, and of the 

Lost Piece of Silver. 

Luke xv. 1-10. 

^ Then "drew near unto Him all the Publicans and sinners for to 
hear him. ^ And the Pharisees and Scribes murmured, saying, " This 
man receiveth sinners, ''and eateth with them." 

^ And he spake this parable unto them, saying, "^''What^man of 
you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave 
the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, 
until he find it ? ^ And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his 
shoulders, rejoicing ; " and when he cometh home, he calleth together 
his friends and neighbours, saying unto them. Rejoice with me, for I 
have found my sheep ''which was lost. '^ I say unto you, that like- 
wise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, 'more than 
over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 

^ " Either, what woman having ten *pieces of silver, if she lose one 
piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek dili- 
gently till she find it? ^ And when she hath found it, she calleth her 
friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I 
have found the piece which I had lost. ^"Likewise, I say unto you, 
there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that 
repenteth." 



SECT, xxvir. 



V. M. 28. 

J. P. 4741. 

On a Tour. 

a Mark 12. 44. 



Section XXVII. — Parable of the Prodigal Son. 
Luke xv. 11, to the end. 
^^ And He said, " A certain man had two sons : ^^ and the younger 
of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that 
falleth to me. And he divided unto them "his living. ^^ And not 
many days after, the younger son gathered all together, and took his 
journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riot- 
ous living. ^^ And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine 
in that land ; and he began to be in want. ^^ And he went and 
joined himself to a citizen of that country : and he sent him into his 
fields to feed swine. ^^ And he would fain have filled his belly with 
the husks that the swine did eat ; and no man gave unto him. ^'^ And 
when he came to himself, he said. How many hired servants of my 
father's have bread enough and to spare ! and I perish with hunger. 
^^ I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I 
have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, ^^ and am no more worthy 
to be called thy son ; make me as one of thy hired servants. ^° And 
he arose, and came to his father. But 'when he was yet a great way 
off", his father saw him, and had compassion ; and ran, and fell on his 
neck, and kissed him. ^^ And the son said unto him. Father, I have 
sinned against Heaven, 'and in thy sight ; and am no more worthy to 
be called thy son. ^^ But the father said to his servants. Bring forth 
the best robe, and put it on him ; and put a ring on his hand, and 
shoes on his feet. ^'^ And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it ; and 
''2'^T&5 ?4''^^' ^^* ^^ ^^^' '^"^ ^^ merry: ^* for ''this my son was dead, and is ahve 
Rev. 3. i. again ; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. 

^^ Now his elder son was in the field ; and as he came and drew nigh 
to the house, he heard music and dancing. ^^ And he called one of 
the servants, and asked what these things meant. ^^And he said 
unto him, Thy brother is come ; and thy father hath killed the fatted 
calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. ~® And he was 
angry, and would not go in. Therefore came his father out, and en- 
treated him. ^^ And he answering said to his father, " Lo ! these 



J Acts 2. 39. 
Ephes. 2. 13, 17, 



c Ps. 51. 4. 



SxcT. XXVIIL] PARABLE OF THE UNJUST STEW' ARD. I33 

many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy 
commandment ; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might 
make merry with my friends. ^° But as soon as this thy son was come, 
which hath devoured thy hving with harlots, thou hast killed for him 
the fatted calf ! ' ^^ And he said unto him, ' Son, thou art ever with 
me, and all that I have is thine. ^~ It was meet that we should make 
merry, and be glad : 'for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again ; ^^^f- 24. 
and was lost, and is found I ' " 



Section XXVIIL — Parable of the unjust Steward. sect, xxviii. 

Luke xvi. 1-13. y ^ 28. 

^And He said also unto his disciples, " There was a certain rich J. P. 4741. 
man, which had a steward ; and the same was accused unto him that °" " '^'""■ 
he had wasted his goods. ^ And he called him, and said unto him, 
' How is it that I hear this of thee ? give an account of thy steward- 
ship ; for thou mayest be no longer steward.' ^ Then the steward said 
within himself. What shall I do, "for my lord taketh away from me "^Z'e'.-iT]'"' 
the stewardship ? I cannot dig ; to beg I am ashamed. "* I am * The word -Bo^kj 
resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they originaUomain^ 
may receive me into their houses. ^ So he called every one of his three'quam'™^ 
lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, 'How much owest s^eeEzek-.-js.io, 
thou unto my lord ? ' ^ And he said, ' An hundred *measures of oil.' t.The word here 
And he said unto him, ' Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write mla'^'rf ,^ u^ the 
fifty.' ^ Then said he to another, ' And how much owest thou ? ' eff abom "foi": 
And he said, ' An hundred tmeasures of wheat.' And he said unto '««" ''""'^'^'^ """^ 

. . Q 3L pottle. 

him, 'Take thy bill, and write fourscore.' ^ And the lord commended 

the unjust steward, because he had done wisely ; for the children of 

this world are in their generation wiser than 'the children of light, j john la. 36. 

^ And I say unto vou. 'Make to yourselves friends of the tmammon of f?}^^' ^- ^- 

J '' ' J ^ ^ ^ II Ijes. o. o. 

unrighteousness ; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlast- c Dan. 4. 27. 
ing habitations. ^^ He ''that is faithful in that which is least is faithful ig^'si. \h.' n. 
also in much ; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much, ts', 19^'"'''' ^'' 
^^If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous *mammon, tor,™^. 
who will commit to your trust the true riches 1 ^'^ and if ye have not '^cb^wMi.^^' 
been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that *or, riches. 
which is your own ? ^^ No "servant can serve two masters : for either e iiait. 6. 21. 
he will hate the one, and love the other ; or else he will hold to the one, 
and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." — 



Section XXIX. — Christ reproves the Pharisees. 
Luke xvi. 14-17. 



SECT. SXIX. 



V. M. 28. 
J. P. 474L 
^^ And the Pharisees also, "who were covetous, heard all these on a Tour. 

things ; and they derided Him. ^^ And he said unto them. " Ye are ^ jiattT^ 14 
they which ^justify yourselves before men; but 'God knoweth your Jch. lu. 29. 
hearts: for ''that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination "i^^:'"®', , _ 

. o J o (£ J fcam. lb. 7. 

in the sight of God. ^^ The 'Law and the Prophets were until John : e Matt. 4. 17. & 
since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man "29'' ^^' ^"'^^ 
presseth into it. ^'^ And-'^it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than f^^- 102. 26, 27. 

^ . , P , , r -T ,■> f > Is. 40. 8. & 51. 

one tittle 01 the Law to lail. e. Matt. 5. is. 

1 Pot. 1. 25. 



VOL. II. 



134 CHRIST RECEIVES LITTLE CHILDREN. [Part V. 

SECT. XXX. Section XXX. — Christ answers the (Question concerning Divorce 
V. M. 28. and Marriage.'^ 

3. P. 4741. Matt. xix. 3-12.— Mark x. 2-12.— Luke xvi. 18. 

On aTour. i rji^^ Pharisecs also came unto Him, tempting him, and ' i^i^tt. xix. 3 

z See Note 23. Saying unto him, " Is it lawful for a man to put away his 

wife for every cause ?" ^ And he answered and said unto ^ Mark x. 3. 
them, " What did Moses command you ?" ' And they said, ^ Mark x. 4. 
aDeut.24. ]. " Moscs "suffercd to write a bill of divorcement, and to put 

Matt. 5. oZ. &. iidAiT 11* 

19.7. her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, ''Markx. 5. 

" For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 

''i.tul.'Hit^' ^ Have ye not read, 'that He which made them at the be- * ^att. xix. 4. 

ginning " of the creation, ' made them male and female ? ^ Mark x. 6. 

',*?'",• f^'^l- „ "and said, ' For * this cause shall a man leave father and I J,^"' "'"" t' 

Mark 10. 59. , 1,111 ,• -r 1 ;i • . ., ^ Matt. xix. 5. 

Eph. 5. 31. mother, and shall cleave to his wiie ; and "^they twain shall 
di^ Cor. 6. 16. & ijg ^^^ flggj^_ > 9 Wherefore they are no more twain, but ' ^^''^"- ^*''- ^■ 

one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let 

not man put asunder." 
c Deut. 24. 1. ch. '« They say unto him, " Why did "Moses then command to ^° Matt. xix. 7. 

give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away ? " '^ He " *'^''"- "'■''• ^• 

saith unto them, " Moses, because of the hardness of your 

hearts, suffered you to put away your wives ; but from the 
/Matt. 5. 32. beginning it was not so. '^ And -^I say unto you. Whosoever ^^ '^*''"' '""'■ °' 
Luke le! 18.' shall put away his wife, except it he for fornication, and 
' ■ shall marry another, committeth adultery ; and whoso mar- 

rieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." 

" And in the house his disciples asked him again of the '' Markx. 10. 

same matter. '''And he saith unto them, " Whosoever '"' Mark x. 11. 
^1^""^" lake'w '^sh'ill put away his wife, and marry another, committeth 

18. Rom. 7. 3. ' adultcry against her ; '^ and if a woman shall put away her ^^ ^^'^'^ '^- ^'^■ 

husband, and be married to another, she committeth adul- 
h Prov. 21. 19. tgj.y_>' 16 pjjg disciples say unto him, " If "the case of the '« Matt.xix. 10. 
man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry." '' But " Matt.xix. 11 
'17?°^''^'^''^'^' he said unto them, " All 'men cannot receive this say- 
ing, save they to whom it is given. " For there are some '* ^att. xix. 12 
eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb ; 
and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of 
''&^°5^i5^^' ^^' '^^^^ ' ^^^ ^there be eunuchs, which have made themselves 
eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is 
able to receive it, let him receive it." 

Matt. xix. part ofver. 4. And he answered and said unto them — . 
k Matt. 19. 3. Mark x. ver. 2, part of ver. 6, 7, and ver. 8, 9. — 2 *And the Pharisees came to iihn, 

and asked him, " Is itiawful for a man to put away his wife ?" tempting him. G " But from 
i Gen. 1. 27. & 5. t}ie beo-innino- — 'God made them male and female. 7 "For this cause shall a man 

2 & to 

„■„ on. leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife : — 8 And they twain shall be one 

1 Cor. 6. 16. flesh : SO then they are no more twain, but one flesh. 9 What therefore God hath 
^P^<^'^- ^- 31- joined together, let not man put asunder." 

19. 9. Mark 10. LuKE xvi. vcr. 18. " Whosoever "putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, 
II. 1 Cor. 7. 10, committeth adultery : and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband 

committeth adultery." 



SECT. xxxT. Section XXXI. — Christ receives and blesses little Children.^ 

V ^28 Matt. xix. 13-15. — Mark x. 13-16. — Luke xviii. 15-17. 

J. P. 4741. ' Then "were there brought unto Him little children, that ' Matt. xix. is 

On a Tour. he should put his hands on them, and pray. ^ But when = Luke xviii. is 
a See n^ 24. his disciplcs saw it, they rebuked ' those that brought them. ^ '^^'"''' "• '^• 
" "^'■•'j^o.^w. 4 gy^ when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and * ^'^'^ "• "' 
^called them unto him, and 'said unto them, " Suffer the « J;^"';^'*' 
little children to come unto me, and forbid them not ; for 



Sect. XXXIII.] ON FORGIVENESS OF INJURIES. 13^5- 

7 .Mark X. 15. i-of sucli is the kingdom of God. ' Verily I say unto you, ''l^°^'\^*^ ^''■ 

"Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a httle c Matt. is. 3. 
s Lukexviii.17. child, he shall not enter therein ; ^ in no wise enter therein." 
» Mark x. 16. o ^j, J j^g ^qq]^ them up in his arms, put his hands upon 
'" Matt. six. 15. tiiem, and blessed them ; '" and departed thence. 

Matt. XIX. part of ver. \3, ver. 14, and part of ver. 15. — 13 — and the disciples re- 
buked them. 14 But Jesus said," Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come 
unto me ; for "'of such is the kingdom of heaven." 15 And he laid his hands on them, — . ^ "''• '^- ^■ 

Mark x.jjart of cer. 13. "And they brought young children to him, that he should Luke'l8.'l5. 
touch them : and iiis disciples rebuked — . 

Luke XYiii. part of ver. 15, 16, 17. — 15 /And they brought unto him also infants, that -^^^r" jg" Jg] 
he would touch them : — them. 16 But Jesus — said, " Suffer little children to come ^ ^^^ j^ ^^ 
unto me, and forbid them not : for ^of such is the kingdom of God. 17 ''Verily I say unto i Pet. 2. 2. 
you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall — ." A Mark 10. 15. 



Section XXXII.— Parahle of the Rich Man and Lazarus.^ sect^xxii. 

LoKE xvi. 19, to the end. V. JE. 28. 

1^ " Theke was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and J- P- 4741. 
fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. ^° And there was a cer- o^^^ur. 
tain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, b see Note 95. 
^^ and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich 
man's table ; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ^^ And it 
came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels 
into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. 
^^ And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abra- 
ham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ^"^ And he cried and said, 
' Father Abraham ! have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may 
dip the tip of his finger in water, and "cool my tongue ; for I 'am tor- "^lech. 14. la. 
mented in this flame.' ^^ But Abraham said, ' Son ! "remember that Mark 9. 44, &c. 
thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus 
evil things ; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. ^® And 
beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so 
that they which would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can 
they pass to us, that would come from thence.' ^'^ Then he said, ' I 
pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's 
house ; ^^ for I have five brethren ; that he may testify unto them, 
lest they also come into this place of torment.' ^'^ Abraham saith 
unto him, 'They ''have Moses and the Prophets ; let them hear them.' du.s.w. &34. 
2° And he said, 'Nay, father Abraham; but if one went unto them 45! Acts" is! 21! 
from the dead, they will repent.' ^^ And he said unto him, ' If ^ "' "" 
they hear not Mo.ses and the Prophets, "neither will they be persuaded ^ •'"'"' ^^- ^°' "• 
though one rose from the dead.' " 



c Job 21. 13. 
ch. 6. 24. 



Section XXXIIL — On Forgiveness of Injuries. sect, xxxrrr. 

Luke xvii. 1-10. V .ffil 28 

^ Then said he unto the disciples, " It "is impossible but that offences J. P. 4741. 
will come ; but woe unto him, through whom they come ! ^It were Ona^our. 
better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he a jiatt. is. 6, 7. 
cast into the sea, than that he sho'ild offend one of these little ones, fcmhub. 
^ Take heed to yourselves ! 

" If Hhy brother trespass [against thee], "rebuke him; and if ]ie *-'^'a«-i8.i5,2j. 
repent, forgive him. ^ And if he trespass against thee seven times "prov. iV. 10. 
in a day, and seven tunes in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent ; •''^™^^- ^^• 
thou shall forgive him." 

'^And the apostles said unto the Lord, "Increase our faith." '^And <? Matt. n. 20. & 
"the Lord said, "If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might ^[l^'u,'.^'^ ^ 



136 CHRIST HEALS TEN LEPERS. [Part V. 

say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be 

thou planted in the sea ; and it should obey you. 

''' " But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, 

will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go 

and sit down to meat? ®and will not rather say unto him, Make 
ech. 12.37. ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, 'and serve me, till I have 

eaten and drunken ; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink ? ^ Doth 
/Job 22. 3.&35. he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded 

7 Ps 16 9 

Matt! 25! 30. him ? I trow not. 1° So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all 
11? 35. 1' Cot', f. those things which are commanded you, say, We are ^unprofitable 
16, 17. Philemon gervants ; we have done that which was our duty to do." 



SECT. XXXIV. Section XXXIV. — Christ journeys towards Jerusalem.' 

V. M. 28. Luke ix. 51, to the end, xvii. 11. 

J. P. 4741. 1 A.ND it came to pass, when the time was come that "He ' ^"^^ '"■ ^^■ 

ona^our. g^Q^y ^g reccivcd up, he steadfastly set his face to go to 
c See Note 26. Jerusalem. ^ And it came to pass, 'as he went to Jerusa- " Lukexvii.ii. 
"acS.^I.'^' lem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and ^ ^^^^ .^ ^^ 
b John 4. 4. Galilee. ' And [he] sent messengers before his face ; and t„ the end. 

they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready 

<;john4. 4, 9. for him. 5^ And "they did not receive him, because his face was as 

though he would go to Jerusalem. ^^ And when his disciples James 

and John saw this, they said, " Lord, wilt thou that we command fire 

(Z2 Kingsi. 10, to come down from heaven and consume them, even as ''Elias did ?" 

e [Knapp and ^^ But hc tumcd, and rebuked them, and said, " Ye know not what 

an"Tnte?roga"tion manner of spirit ye are of.' ^^ For ^the Son of Man is not come to 

point, after'" a« (Jestfov meu's lives, but to save them." And they went to another 

0/,'' making the J ^ ^ 

sentence read VlllaO"e. 

lawil ■whM,''k.l. ^■^ And ^it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man 
/To^nlsi. &3. said unto him, " Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest." 

37. & 12. 47. 58 ^j-,(j Jesus said unto him, " Foxes have holes, and birds of the air 
f See John i.'si. have uests ; but Mhe Son of Man hath not where to lay his head." 
i Matt. 8. 21. 59 ^j-,(j ij-jg g^ifj uuto another, " Follow me." But he said, " Lord, suffer 

■'spiritually 'dead uic first to go and bury my father." ^^ [Jesus] said unto him, " Let 

aii7dead.-ED5 "'thc dead bury their dead ; but go thou and preach the kingdom of 

iSee 1 Kings 19. God." 

^"- 61 ^j^(j another also said, " Lord, 'I will follow thee ; but let me 

first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house." ^^ And 
Jesus said unto him, " No man, having put his hand to the plough, 
and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." 

SECT. XXXV. 



V ]¥' 28 

J. P. 4741. Section XXXV. — Christ heals Ten Lepers.^ 

. On a Tour. LuKE Xvii. 12-19. 

d See N^ 27. ^^ And as hc entered into a certain village, there met him ten men 

aLev. 13. 46. that werc lepers, "which stood afar off": I'^and they lifted up their 
*i4."2. "iatl t voices, and said, " Jesus, Master, have mercy on us ! " ^^ And when 
/'"'^st"' and '"'^ ^^'^ them, he said unto them, " Go ''show yourselves unto the 
"ivnapppohittws priests." And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 
rogadve'y,'"'a« ^^ And ouc of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, 
tT-^I°r^'' and with a loud voice glorified God ; ^^ and fell down on his face at his 
rf r"«„.,e" in the fggf giving him thanks : and he was a Samaritan. " And Jesus an- 

JjlSllOpS l3lDi6j ?00 i-Ni 1 l""^ 

Barker's edition gwcriug Said, " Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine .-' 
°Mm^i}-zi. 18 There 'are ''not found that returned to give glory to God, save this 
w"! d,.^7: 5!^ stranger." ^^ And 'he said unto him, " Arise, go thy way ; thy faith 
& 8. 48. & 18. j^^^j^ j^^jg thee whole." 



Sect. XXX\^II.] THE TRUE NATURE OF PRAYER. ' 137 

Section XXXVI. — Christ declares the Loivliness of his Kingdovi, sect, xxxvr 
and the Sudden Destruction of Jerusalem. V iE 23 

Luke x\di. 20, to the end. j. p. 4741. 

^^ And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom on a Tour. 
of God should come, he answered them and said, " The kingdom 
of God Cometh not *with observation; ^^ neither "shall they say, Lo *0j, with outward 
here ! or, lo there ! for, behold ! 'the kingdom of God is t within you." /ver. 23. 

^-And he said unto the disciples, " The ^days will come, when ye SRom. 14. n. 
shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and ye shall ^JohnTasf ^'"'' 
not see it. ~^ And ''they shall say to you, See here ! or, see there ! go "le^e/JhnVsi^" 
not after them, nor follow them. ^■^ For 'as the lightning, that light- ^ i^- 12- 
neth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part jilrl'ilf ai^'ch. 
under heaven : so shall also the Son of Man be in his day. ^^ But ^}- ®' „, , 

' "^ c Jfatt. 24. 27. 

first ■'"must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation, see j'oha'i.oi. 
^^ And 'as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days oi ■^q]^^^;^^/^^ 
the Son of Man. "^"^ They did eat, they drank, they married wives, '^^- ^- ^• 
they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the %i^yi. 
ark; and the flood came, and destroyed them all. ^^ Likewise ''also ^Gln°iQ^'^^' 
as it w^as in the days of Lot : they did eat, they drank, they bought, 
they sold, they planted, they builded; ^^but 'the same day that Lot » Gen. 19. le, a-). 
went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and 
destroyed them all: ^°even thus shall it be in the day when •'the Son jSThess. 1.7. 
of Man is revealed. ^'^ In that day, he "which shall be upon the ft Man. 24.17 
housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take 
it away : and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. 
"^ Remember 'Lot's wife ! ^^ Whosoever "shall seek to save his Hfe shall ' <^™- ^^- ^^■ 
lose it ; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. -^^I "tell "le. V. Mark 8. 
you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed ; the one shall fohnii.'^.' 
be taken, and the other shall be left. ^^Two ivomen shall be grinding' « Matt. 24. 40, 41. 

fc o 1 Thess. 4. 17. 

together ; the one shall be taken, and the other left, t^'' [Two men j This 36th verse 
shall be in the field ; the one shall be taken, and the'other left.]" l^o^onhJ" 
^'' And they answered and said unto him, " Where, "Lord ? " And ^^"^^ '^"p'^^- 
he said unto them, " Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles "natt. 24. 28. 
be gathered together." 



SECT, xsxvf r. 



Section XXXVII. — Christ teacheth the true JS'ature of Prayer. 

Luke xviii. 1-8. V. M. 28. 

^ And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought ^^^ ^ .^^^^ ' 

"always to pray, and not to faint ; ^saying, " There was *in a city a — ^ 

judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man ; ^ and there was "se.'-Rlm.'it. 12'. 
a widow in that city ; and she came unto him, saying. Avenge me of cS'^l.' 2.' ^^' 

mine adversary. "^ And he would not for a while. But afterward he 1 Thess. 5. n. 

said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, ^yet dty."^ " '^ 

''because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her con- » ch. 11. s. 
tinual coming she weary me. ^ And the Lord said. Hear what the 

unjust judge saith. " And "shall not God avenge his own elect, which ^Hel'. 10. 37. 

cry day and night unto Him, though he bear long with them? ®I a^et 3. s, 9. 
tell you ''that he will avenge them speedily I Nevertheless, when 'the 

Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth ? " — 

- SEC. xxsvm. 



Section XXXVIII. — Parable of the Puhlican and the Pharisee. ^- ^- '^^■ 

T -^ ... „ T, J. P. 4741. 

Luke XVm. 9-14. ^ On a Tour. 

^And he spake this parable unto certain "which trusted in them- ^^^ j— ^^g 
selves *that they were righteous, and despised others." ^^ Two men is. 
went up into the temple to pray ; the one a Pharisee, and the other a "rigiuoJ."^^ 

VOL. II. 18 L* 



138 



THE DANGERS OF WEALTH. 



[Part V. 



'r',"?;\ ^ Publican. 

c Is. 1. 15. &. 58. 
2. Rev. 3. 17. 



d Job 29. 29. 
Matt. 23. 12. cb. 
14^ 11. James 4. 
6. 1 Pet. 5. 5, 6. 



The Pharisee ^stood and prayed thus with himself: "God, 
I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, 
adulterers, or even as this Publican. ^^ I fast twice in the week, I 
give tithes of all that I possess. ^^ And the Publican, standing afar 
off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote 
upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner ! ^^ I tell 
you, This man went down to his house justified rather than the other : 
''for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased ; and he that 
humbleth himself shall be exalted." 



SECT XXXIX. 

V. m. 28. 
J. p. 4741. 

On a Tour. 

e See Note 28. 

a Mark 10. 17. 

Luke 10. 25. 



b Ex. 20. 12, &c. 
Deut. 5. 16. &c. 



c Matt. 15. 4, 

dLev. 19. ]8. 
Mutt. 22. 39. 
Rom. 13. 9. 
Gal. 5. 14. 
James 2. 8. 



e Matt. 6. 20. 
Luke 12. 33. & 
16. 9. Acts 2. 45. 
& 4. 34, 35. 
1 Tim. 6. 18, 19. 



/■Prov. 11.28. 
Luke 18. 24. 



g Matt. 13. 22. 
Mark 10. 24. 
1 Cor. 1. 26. 
1 Tim. 6. 9, 10. 



h Job 31. 24. Ps. 
52. 7. & 62. 10. 
1 Tim. 6. 17. 



t Gen. 18. 14. 
Job 42. 2. Jer. 
32. 17. Zech. 8. 
(i. Luke I. 37. 



;• Mark 10. 28. 

Lulte 18. 28. 

k Deut. 33. 9. 

Mutt. 4. 20. 
Luke 5. 11. 



1 Matt.xix. 16. 

2 Mark x. 17. 

3 Matt. xix. 16. 
* Lukexviii.l8. 

5 Mark x. 17. 

6 Matt. xix. 16. 
^ Matt. xix. 17. 



8 Matt. xix. 18. 

9 Lukexviii.20. 



Section XXXIX. — From the Conduct of the young Ruler, Christ 
cautions his Disciples on the dangers of Wealth.'^ 
Matt. xix. 16-29.— Mark x. 17-30.— Luke xviii. 18-30. 

' And ^ when He was gone forth, into the way, ' behold ! 
one came, '' a certain ruler, ^running, and kneeled to him, 
and asked him, "and said unto him, " Good "Master, what 
good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal hfe ? " ' And 
he said unto him, " Why callest thou me good ? there is 
none good but One, that is, God. But if thou wilt enter 
into life, keep the commandments." * He saith unto him, 
" Which ? " Jesus said, " " Thou knowest the command- 
ments. '° Thou 'shalt do no murder ; Thou shalt not com- ^° *J"'- ='"•'8. 
mit adultery ; Thou shalt not steal ; Thou shalt not bear 
false witness ; " Defraud not ; '■ Honor ''thy father and thy " f'^'^ "'• ^^■ 

^ •^12 Matt xix. 19. 

mother; and, ''Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." 
'' The young man '^ answered, and '' saith unto him, " All J' ^f^'^' f go^"- 
these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I is Matt. xix. 20. 
yet?" '"Now when Jesus heard these things, he, ''be- ]' ^;"''<'-^™i-22- 
holding him, loved him, and '* Jesus said unto him, '" " Yet is Matt. xix. 21. 
lackest thou one thing : '^° if Hhou wilt be perfect, °' go thy '» Lukexviii.22. 
way, '^go, and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, 2, jia'kx'.^f' 
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, ^' take 22 Matt. xix. 2l 
up the cross, "* and follow me." "But when the young ^^ ^J'"''"'-.^^- 
man heard that saying, "" he was very sorrowful; ^'he went 25 Matt! xix! 22. 
away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. ^^ And when ^" Lukexviii.23. 

T .1x1 r 1 u 29 1 1 1 1 2' Matt. xix. 22. 

Jesus saw that he was very sorrowiul, he "^ looked round 28 Lukexviii.24. 
about ; ^^ then said Jesus unto his disciples, '' " How ^hardly 29 Mark x. 23. 
shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom ot God ! 1° fff^^^"i;^' 
^"Verily I say unto you. That °a rich man shall hardly 32 Matt. xix. 23. 
enter into the kingdom of heaven." ^^ And the disciples '^ Mark x. 24. 
were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, 
and saith unto them, " Children, how hard is it for them 
''that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God ! 
^^ And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go ^■^ *■''"• "• 24. 
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter 
into the kingdom of God." ^'When his disciples heard '° "^tt. xix. 25. 
it, they were exceedingly amazed, ^"and they were aston- '" Mark x. 26. 
ished out of measure among themselves, " saying, " Who "■ Matt, xix.25. 
then can be .saved ? " ^^But Jesus 

"^ beheld them, and said unto them, "' " The "things which « Matt, xix.26 
are impossible with men are possible with God. « With ^ J[;;'~3e 
men this is impossible; ""^but not with God: for " with 43 Mark x. 27. 
God all things are possible." "* Matt, xix.26. 

'^Then ^answered Peter, and said unto him, " Behold ! '' Matt.xix.27. 
*we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall ■" ^""^ ''• '^• 
we have therefore?" '"And Jesus answered and ''^ said ■" Ma't'^i^-as. 



saying, 

11- ,1 38 Matt, xix.26. 

looking upon them, ^^ j,^^,^ ^ g^ 



Sect. XL.] PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD. 139 

unto them, " Verily, I say unto you. That ye which 
have followed me, in the 'regeneration,*' when the '"Son ^Tty^of'opfn'kfns 
of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also t^lll'^;' ,S;?iet 
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of bach puts a com- 

' ,„ ' . ,~ J^ «„ m^ before " te- 

« Matt. xix. 29. Israel. And ' every one, verily I say unto you, that generation " ; 

49 Mark K ^9 t I n i i i ^i • r >i Knupp6e/07-e and 

50 Matt six" 29 "^tli lorsakeu houses, or brethren, or sisters, or lather, or after it as in the 
61 Mark x. 29. mothcr, Or wife, or children, or lands, for my Name's sake /|ee No^e 29 

'' Lukexviii.29. 6i ^ ^^ Gospcl's, [and] "' for the kingdom of God's sake, mMatt.20.2l. 

53 Matt. XIX. 29. . i^ 1 J If 1 1 154 60 66- iU- Luke 22. 28, 29, 

51 Lukexviii.3o. shall rcccive an hundredtold and more, now, ^in this 30. see John 1. 
60 Mark X. 30. pj-eseut time, ^'houses, and brethren, and sisters, and 3.Re?.%'.ii^' 
57 MarkTso. motliers, and children, and lands, with persecutions ; and « oeut. 33. 9. 

5s Matt, .xix, 29. in the world to come ^® shall inherit everlasting life." job 42. io. ' 

r.^ . , T Mark 10. 29, 30. 

Matt. xix. part ofver. 26, and 28. — 26 — but — 28 And Jesus — . Luke 18. 29, 30. 

Mark x. -part ofver. 17, vcr. 18, part ofver. 19, 20, 21, vcr. 22, part of vcr. 23, vcr. 2-5, "l'?"'/^' g=' •^ 
part ofver. 26, 27, ver.28,partofver. 29, 30. — 17 "And there came one — " Good Master, i8. is. 
what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" 18 And Jesus said unto hira, " Why 
^callest thou me good ? there is none good but One, that is, God. 19 Thou knowest the p Matt. 19. 17. 
commandments, 'Do not commit adultery ; Do not kill ; Do not steal ; Do not bear false g^^j^ gj lo &c 
witness ; — Honor thy father and mother." 20 And he — said unto him, " Master, all these Deut. 5. lC-20. 
have I observed from my youth." 21 Then Jesus — said unto him, " One ''thing thou °'"' ' ' 
lackest, — sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure &^ 19/21.' 
in heaven: and come — and follow me." 22 And he was sad at that saying, and ^"^^ »"^'i«'^'oo' 
went away grieved: for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus — and saitli unto his Act9'2. 45. & 4*. 
disciples, — 25 " It "is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for 34, 35. 1 Tim. 6. 
a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." 26 — saying — "Who then can be juiait'ig ''4 
saved ?" 27 And Jesus — saith, " With 'men it is impossible, — with God all things are Luke 18. 25. 
possible." 28 Then Peter began to say, " Lo, "we have left all, and have followed thee." * ^'^'^ ^"^^ '•■ 
29 — said, — "There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, "i^uke 18 28 ' 
or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, — 30 "But he shall receive an hun- « 2 Chron. 25. 9 
dredfold — in this time, — eternal life. L"'^*' 18- ^^■ 

Luke xviii. part ofver. 18, ver. 19, j)art ofver. 20, vcr.21,part of ver. 22, 23, 2i, vcr. 25, Mark io. 17." 
1i6, part of ver. 27, ver. 28, and part of ver. 29, 30. — 18 "And — asked him, saying, " Good ^ Exod. 20. 19, 
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life .' " 19 And Jesus said unto him, " Why qq' jjom' 13 9 " 
callest thou me good .^ none is good, save One, that is, God." 20 — • ^Do not commit Eph. 6.2. Col.3. 
adultery ; Do not kill ; Do not steal ; Do not bear false witness ; Honor thy father and 
thy mother. 21 And he said, " All these have I kept from my youth up." 22 — said 
unto him, — " sell ''all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, a.nd thou shalt a Matt. G. 19, 20. 
have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me." 23 And when he heard this, — for f Thii^e 19 
■he was very rich. 2^1 — said, " how ^hardly shall they that have riches enter into the z Prov.'ll'. 28. 
kingdom of God ! 25 "For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for *'""• ^^- '■^^■ 
a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." 26 And they that heard it said, " Who ^ f,^^^ jg .34 
then can be saved ?" 27 And he said, — 28 ''Then Peter said, " Lo ! we have left all, and Mark 10. 25. 
followed thee." 29 And he said unto them, " Verily I say unto you, "^There is no man * '^'''"- '^- ^^• 
that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, — 30 Who shall not re- * ^^^ ^°^^ "' 
eeive manifold — and in the world to come life everlasting." 



Section XL. — Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. sect. xl. 

Matt. xi.x. 30, and xx. 1-16.— Mark x. 31. y "^OH 

30 u guT "many that are first shall be last ; and the last shall be first, j. p. 4741. 

1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, onaXour. 
which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard, a oh. 20^16. & 21. 

2 And when he had agreed with the laborers for *a penny a day, he sl'fuke^i^so' 
sent them into his vineyard. ^ And he went out about the third hour, * The Roman'pen- 
and saw others standing idle in the market-place, ^and said unto llZfanafnce, 
them ; ' Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will St„4|i-2o!] 
give you.' And they went their way. ^ Again he went out about the ^'encfhaifyenm" 
sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. '^ And about the eleventh h^ cent" j.chVs. 
hour he went out, and found others standing [idle], and saith unto 

them, ' Why stand ye here all the day idle ? ' 'They say unto him, 
'Because no man hath hired us.' He saith unto them, ' Go ye also 
into the vineyard ; and whatsoever is righL thai shall ye receive.' 



140 CHRIST AGAIN PREDICTS HIS SUFFERINGS. [Part V. 

^ So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his 

steward, ' Call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from 

the last unto the first,' ^ And when they came that were hired about 

the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. ^*' But when 

the first came, they supposed that they should have received more ; and 

they likewise received every man a penny. ^^ And when they had 

received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, ^^ say- 

^a^Jlj^w"?^^' ^^g' ' These last thave wrought but one hour, and thou hast made 

them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the 

day.' ^•^ But he answered one of them, and said, ' Friend, I do thee 

Prov. 23. 6. ch. no wroug : didst not thou agree with me for a penny ? ^'^ Take that 

d ch. 19. 30. thine is, and go thy way. I will give unto this last, even as unto 

e ch. 22. 14. thee : ^^ is 'it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own ? 

gsee Note 30. .jg ^j^jj^^ ^^^ ^^jj^ bccause I am good ? ' I'' So "the last shall be first, 

•^^^.le.luke'i^ and the first last. Tor many be called, but few chosen." s 

Mark x. 31. But •''many that are first shall be last; and the last first. 



6 Rom. 9. 21. ^^,^ , 13 

c Deut. 15. 9. 



SO. 



SECT. XLi. Section XLI. — Christ is informed of the SicTcness of Lazarus.^ 

V. JE. 28. John xi. 1-16. 

J. P. 4741. 1 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the 

On aTour. ^^^^^ ^^ "Mary and her sister Martha. ^ (it 'was that Mary which 

h See Note 31. anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, 

iM^t 26 7^'^^' ^"^^^"^^^ ^^''^ther Lazarus was sick.) ^ Therefore his sisters sent unto 

Mark 14. 3. eh. him, sayiiig, '•' Lord, behold ! he whom thou lovest is sick." ''When 

c ch. 9. 3. ver. 40. Jcsus heard that, he said, " This sickness is not unto death, 'but for 

See aiark 1. 1. ^j^g giQj.y ^f Qq^j^ ^}^^^ the Sou of God might be glorified thereby." 

^ Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. ^ When he 

d ch. 16. 40. j^ad heard therefore that he was sick, ''he abode two days still in the 

same place where he was. "^ Then after that saith he to his disciples, 

" Let us go into Judaea again." ^ His disciples say unto him, " Mas- 

e ch. 10. 31. tgj.^ i^^Q Jews of late sought to stone thee ; and goest thou thither 

again? " ^ Jesus answered, " Are there not twelve hours in the day ? 

/oh. 9. 4. /if any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the 

g'ch. 12. 35. Yiglii of this world; ^° but 'if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, 

because there is no fight in him." ^^ These things said he : and after 

'^Da°n°i2 V^' ^^' that lie saith unto them, "Our friend Lazarus "sleepeth ; but I go. 

Matt. 9.24. that I may awake him out of sleep." ^^Then said his disciples, 

icor.'i5.i8,5i. "Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well." ^^Howbeit Jesus spake of his 

death ; but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in 

sleep. '^'*Then said Jesus unto them plainly, " Lazarus is dead ; ^^and 

I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may 

- believe; nevertheless let us go unto him." ^'^Then said Thomas, 

which is called Didymus, unto his fellow-disciples, " Let us also go, 

that we may die with him." 



SECTjCLii. Section XLIL — Christ again predicts his Sufferings and Death} 
y ^ 29. Matt. xx. 17-19.— Mark x. 32-34.— Luke xviii. 31-34. 

J. P. 4742. ' And they were in the way "going up to Jerusalem ; ' Mark x. 32 

On aTour. 2 ^ud Jcsus, Hhcn 'took uuto Mm the Twelve, and said ' ^^^^-J;^: gj' 
i See Note 32. uuto them, " Behold ! we go up to Jerusalem, and all 
J M^" ^16^1 & things 'that are written by the Prophets concerning ''the 
n.la.&ao.n. Son of Man shall be accomplished." 'And Jesus went ^^'"''...32. 
c P3"22.°is^53. before them ; and they were amazed ; and as they followed, 
d See John 1. 51. they wcrc afraid. And he took again the twelve '* disci- s MalL^k ' 
pies apart in the way, ® and began to tell them what things i Matt. xx. 17. 
should happen unto him, 'and said unto them, '" Behold ! ' "^"•"'- ^^- 



Sect. XLIIL] AMBITION OF THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE. 



141 



3 JIark X. 33. 



10 Matt. xx. 19. 

11 Liiliexviii,32. 



12 Lukexviii.33. 



^ve go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be be- 
trayed [and] ^ delivered unto the Chief Priests, and unto the 
Scribes ; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall 
deliver him to the Gentiles, '° to mock, and to scourge, and 
to crucify him: " for •'^he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, 
and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted 
on ; '" and they shall scourge him, and put him to death ; 
13 LukexvUi.34. and the tliird day he shall rise again." '^ And ^they 
understood none of these things ; and this saying was hid 
from them, neither knew they the things which were 
spoken. 

Matt. xx. part of rer. 17, 18, 19. — 17 — going up to Jerusalem, took the Twelve — 

18 — unto the Chief Priests and unto the Scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, 

19 *and shall deliver him to the GentUes — and the third day he shall rise again." 
Mark x. part of xer. 3?!, and ver. 34. — 33 saying, " Behold ! we go up to Jerusalem, 

and Hhe Son of Man shall be — 34 And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, 
and shall spit upon liim, and shall kill him; and the third day he shall rise again." 
Luke xviii. ^art o/rer. 31. — he — . 



e Matt. 16. 21. 
See John 1.51. 



/Matt. 27. 2. 

Mark 15. 1, 16, 

&c. Luke 23. 1. 

John 18. 28, &;c. 

Acts 3. 13. 
g Mark 9. 32. 

Luke 2. 50. & 9. 

45. John 10 6.& 

12. 16. 



ft ch. 27. 2. Mark 

15. 1, 16, &c. 

Luke 23. 1. 

John 18. 28, &c. 

Acts 3. 13. 
i See John 1. 51. 



Section XLIII. — Ambition of the Sons of Zebedee. 
Matt. xx. 20-28.— Mark x. 35-45. 

1 Matt. XX. 20. 'Then came to Him the mother of "Zebedee's children, 

2 Marks. 35. ^yj^]-^ jjg^ SOUS, ~ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, 
3Matt. XX. 20. 'worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him; 

^saying, '-Master! we would that thou shouldest do for us 
whatsoever we shall desire." ° And he said unto them, 
•' What would ye that I should do for you ? " '^ They said 
unto him, "Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy 
right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory." 
' She saith unto him, '• Grant that these my two sons 
'may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on 

s Matt. XX. 22. thg igft^ ii^ thy kingdom." * But Jesus answered and 
^ said unto them, •' Ye know not what ye ask. Can ye 
drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with 
the baptism that I am baptized with ? " '" And they 
say unto him, " We can." And Jesus said unto them, 
" Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of, and 
with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be bap- 
tized ; " but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand 
is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom 
it is prepared '^ of my Father." "' And "when the ten 
heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and 

14 Matt. XX. 24, Jqj^jj . n ^j^^j ^jjgy ^gj.g moved with indignation against the 
two brethren. '° But Jesus called them to him, and saith 
unto them, '• Ye ''know that they which *^are accounted to 
rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them ; and 
their great ones e.xercise authority upon them. "^ But ^so 
shall it not be among you, but whosoever will be great 
among you, shall be your minister ; '^ and whosoever of 
you will be tlie chiefest, shall be servant of all : '* for -^even 
the ^Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, '^but to 
minister, and 'to give his life a ransom for many." 

Matt. kx. part of ver. 21, 22, 23, 24, ver. 2-5, 26, 27, and23.—21 And he said unto her, 
" "What wilt thou?" — 22 — said, " Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of 
nhe cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with *the baptism that I am baptized with ?" 
They say unto him, '• We are able." 23 And he saith unto them. '• Ye 'shall drink in- 
deed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized witli ; but, to sit on 
my right hand, and en my left, is not mine "to give, but it shall le given to them for 



4 Mark x. 35 

5 Mark x. 36. 

6 Mark x. 37. 



7 Matt. XX. 21. 



9 Mirk X. 35. 



10 Mark x. 39. 



11 Mark x. 40. 



12 Matt. XX. 23. 

13 Mark x. 41. 



15 Mark x. 42. 



16 Mark x. 43. 



n Mark x. 44. 
18 Mark x. 45. 



SECT. XLUI. 

V. JE. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

On the way to 
Bethany. 

a Matt. 4. 21. 



b Matt. 19. 28. 



c Matt. 20. 24. 
d Luke 22. 25. 
* Or, tliink govd. 
e Matt. 20. 26, 28. 

Mark 9. .35. 

Luke 9. 48. 
/John 13. 14. 

Phil. 2. 7. 
S Luke 22. 27. 

.See Jolin 1.51. 
ft Is. 53. 10, n. 

Dan. 9. 24, 25. 

Slatt. 20. 23. 

John 11.51,52. 

1 Tim. 2. 6. 

Tit. 2. 14. 1 Pet. 

1. 19. 
i Matt. 20. 28. & 

26. 26. Rom. 5. 

15,19. Heb.9.2S. 
j ch. 26. 39, 42. 

Jlnrk 14. 36. 

Luke 22. 42. 

John 18. 11. 
k Luke 12. .50. 
I Actsl2. 2. T?om. 

8. 17. 2 Cor. 1. 

7. Rev. 1. 9. 
m ch. 95. 34. 



142 



TWO BLIND MEN HEALED AT JERICHO. [Part V. 



n Mark 10. 41. whom it is prepared — 24 — "when the ten heard it, — '2.5 But Jesus called them unto him, 

^"p® ^" ^^' ^' and said, " Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and 

p ch. 23. 11." they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26 But °it shall not be so among 

Mark 9. 35. & you; but ^whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister ; 27 'and who- 

o ch. 18. 4. soever will be chief among you, let him be your servant : 28 ''even as the Son of Man 

• See Notes/, g, came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." 



A, i. 



Mark x.part ofver. 35, and 38. — 25 And — come unto him, — 38 But Jesus - 



SECT. XLIV. 

V. JE. 29. 

J. P. 4742. 

Jericho. 

k See Note 33. 

a UiM. 90. 29. 

Mark 10. 46. 



6 Matt. 9. 22. 
Luke 17. 19. 
* Or, saved thee. 



t Luke 5. 2C. 
Acts 4. 21. & 11. 
18. 



2 Mark x. 46. 

3 Matt. XX. 29. 

4 Matt. XX. 30. 

5 Lukexviii.35. 

6 Mark x. 46. 

' Lukexviii.35. 

S Lukexviii.36. 

9 Lukexviii.37. 
I" Matt. XX. 30. 
11 Mark x. 47. 



d Matt. 20. 30. 



Section XLIV. — Two Blind Men healed at Jericho.^ 
Matt. xx. 29, to the end. — Mark x. 46, to the end. — Luke xviii. 35, to the end. 
' And "it came to pass, that as He was come nigh unto ' Lukexviii.35, 
Jericho, ^ as he went out of Jericho with his disciples, ^ a 
great multitude followed him. '' And, behold ! two blind 
men sitting by the way side, — °a certain blind man, "blind 
BartimfEus, the son of Timseus, ' sat by the way side, beg- 
ging ; * and hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it 
meant. ^ And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth 
by. '° When they heard that Jesus passed by, " and when 
he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry 
out, '^ and he cried, saying, "Jesus, thou Son of David, '^ ^"'"'''™'-^^- 
have mercy on me ! " have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son u 4'at" xx 31"' 
of David ! " ''' And the multitude, '° which went before, re- 15 Lukexviii.39. 
buked him, '* rebuked them, because they should hold their "^ Matt. xx. 31. 
peace : "and many charged him '^ that he should hold his is Lukexviii.39. 
peace ; but he cried so much the more, ^^ but they cried >' M^tt. xx. 31. 
the more, ^^ a great deal, ^'saying, "Have mercy on us, j" jj^^j" ^'^''gj 
O Lord, thou Son of David ! "^ thou Son of David, have 22 Lukexviii.39. 
mercy on me!" "And ''Jesus stood still, and called !" i'"''"™'-^"- 

J ^ ^ 2i Matt. XX. 32. 

them, ^^ and commanded him "'^ to be called, [and] " to be 25 Lukexviii-do. 
brought unto him. °* And they call the blind man, saying ^'^ Mark x. 49. 
unto him, " Be of good comfort, rise ; he calleth thee." ^ MarTx"49. 
^"And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus ; 29 Mark x. 50 
'° and when he was come near, he asked him 
" What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee ?" And he said, 
=' " Lord ! that our eyes may be opened : ^^ Lord ! that I ^ '^'^''^^f: ^j " 
may receive my sight." ^■' So Jesus had compassion on ^4 Matt! xx. 34. 
them, and touched their eyes : '* And Jesus said unto him, ^^ Lukexviii.42. 
" Receive thy sight ; thy 'faith hath saved thee. " Go thy "' "^''^ '^^ ^^■ 
way, thy faith hath *made thee whole." '' And immedi- '' Lukexviii.4s. 
ately he received his sight, and followed him "^ in the way, ''"* '^''"'' ''• ^~' 
'^ their eyes received sight, and they followed him, "" glori- '^ "*'*"• "'!';. ^J.' 
fying "God ; and all the people, when they saw it, gave 
praise unto God. 

Matt. xx. part ofver. 29, 30, 32, 33, and 34.-29 And as they departed from Jericho, 
— 30 — cried out, saying, — 32 And — and said, "What will ye that I shall do unto 
you ?" 33 They say unto him, — 34 — and immediately — . 

Mark x. part ofver. 46, 47, 48, 49, ver. 51, and part of ver. 52.-46 And they came to 
Jericho : and — and a great number of people, — sat by the highway side, begging. 47 — 
and say, " Jesus, '^ihou Son of David, have mercy on me !" 48 — that he should hold his 
peace ; but he cried the more — " Thou Son of David have mercy on me !" 49 And Jesus 
stood still, and commanded him — 51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, " What wilt 
thou that I should do unto thee .?" The blind man said unto him, " Lord ! that I might 
receive my sight." 52 And Jesus said unto him, — And immediately he received his 
sight, and followed Jesus — . 

Luke xviii. beginning of ver. 39, and part of ver. 40. — 39 And they — 40 — Jesus 
stood — . 



31 QQvino- ^^ Lul5exviii.40. 
="lj"^g5 31 Lukexviii.4]. 



Sect. XLV.] CONVERSION OF ZACCH^US. I43 

Section XLV. — Conversion of Zacchceus, and the Parable of the sect, xlv. 

Pounds. V. JE. 29. 

Luke xix. 1-28. J. P. 4742. 

^ And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. ^ And, behold ! Jericho. 
there luas a man named Zacchseus, which was the chief among the 
Pubhcans, and he was rich. ^And he sought to see Jesus who he 
was ; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. 
^ And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him : 
for he was to pass that way. ^ And when JesUs came to the place, he 
looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, " Zacchaeus, make haste, 
and come down; for to-day I must abide at thy house." ''And he 
made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. '^And when 
they saw it, they all murmured, saying, " That "he was gone to be a^Mau. 9. 11. ch. 
guest with a man that is a sinner." ^ And Zacchaeus stood, and said 
unto the Lord ; " Behold ! Lord, the half of my goods I give to the 
poor ; and if I have taken any thing from any man by 'false accusa- ''cii.3. 14. 
tion, ^I restore him fourfold." ^ And Jesus said unto him, "This day 'fs°m.^]|.3. 
is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as ''he also is 'a son of /Z^""' ^^" ^' 
Abraham; ^"for-'^the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that le. Gai. "3. 7.' 
which was lost." _ y^-^n. 

^^ And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, sce Matt. lo. 6. 
because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because "they thought that John i. 51! 
the kingdom of God should immediately appear. '^ He ''said thexe- f^';^^^\^-^^ 

fore, Mark 13. '34. ' 

" A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a 
kingdom, and to return. ^^ And he called his ten servants, and delivered 
them ten *pounds, and said unto them, 'Occupy till I come.' i*But *3S'ipm„«d%" 
*his citizens hated him, and sent a messaoje after him, sayinsr, ' We will twelve ounces' 

1 1 • ■ 5 1=; ? 1 • 1 J i^i and a half; 

not have this man to reign over us. ^^ And it came to pass, that when which according 
he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded the mincy'is'"^' 
these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the f money, shimn''g°™nd si™ 
that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. ^™^? C''''""' 
^''Then came the first, saying, 'Lord, thy pound hath gained ten Uohni.ii. 
pounds.' i'^ And he said unto him, ' Well, thou good servant ! because ^o'verTasr' ""'' 
thou hast been ^faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten JWa"- 25.21. ch. 
cities.' 1^ And the second came, saying, ' Lord, thy pound hath 
gained five pounds.' ^^ And he said likewise to him, ' Be thou also 
over five cities.' '^^ And another came, saying, ' Lord, behold ! here 
is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin. ^^ For '"I feared '^ '"*''^"- ^s- 94. 
thee, because thou art an austere man : thou takest up that thou layedst 
not down, and reapest tliat tliou didst not sow.' -'- And he saith unto 
him, ' Out 'of thine own mouth Vv'ill I judge thee, thou vt'icked servant ! '|„^'','5; l[ ^^11. 
thou '"knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not 
down, and reaping that I did not sow ? ^'^ wherefore then gavest not 
thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have re- 
quired mine own with usury ? ' ^"^ And he said unto them that stood 
by, ' Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.' ''ilad'lMf &.1''."-' 
~= (And "they said unto him, ' Lord, he hath ten pounds.') ^6 Yqy I j;/;,^^ f^f '^^{^l 
say unto you, "That unto every one which hath shall be given ; and '^'p'"' :^"'^ ""l 

J J ' •' o ' suf'estions of 

from him that hatli not, even that he hath shall be taken away from hys'anders did 
him. ^^ But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign '"—^v/\^^ 
over them, bring hither, and slay them before me." "-il'^oo i?" ^c\^ 

' <^ ' ■' 25. 29. Mark 4. 

^^ And when he had thus spoken, ''he went before, ascending up to 25. s. is. 
Jerusalem. .Mark 10. 32. 



la. 37 

m Matt. 25. 26. 



144 THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. [Part V. 

SECT. XLVi. Section XLVI. — The Resurrection of Lazarus} 

V. M. 29. John xi. 17-46. 

J. P. 4742. ^^ Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave 

Bethany. four days already. ^^ Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about 

I See Note 34. *fifteen furlougs off; ^^and many of the Jews came to Martha and 

*two miles' "*"''* Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. ^^ Then Martha, as 

soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him ; but 

Mary sat still in the house. ^^ Then said Martha unto Jesus, " Lord, 

if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died ! ^^ But I know, 

ach. 9. 31. that even now, "whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it 

thee." ^3 Jesus saith unto her, " Thy brother shall rise again." 

i Luke 14. 14. ch. 24]yjajtha saith unto him, "I 'know that he shall rise again in the res- 

cch. 5. 21. & 6. urrection at the last day." ^^ Jesus said unto her, "I am 'the Res- 

d eh. i'.^. & 6. urrection and the ''Life: "he that believeth in me, though he were dead, 

3^4^! jdm f "i' y^* ^'^^'^ '^^ '^^*^ ■ ^^ ^^^^ whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 

2. &5.J1. ■ 'never die. Believest thou this?" ^'^ She saith unto him, "Yea, 

*5.^o;&c.^"^'"'" Lord : -^I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which 

/M''"- 16. 16. ch. should come into the world !" 

4. 42. & 6. 14 

69. See Mark i! ^8 ^j-^^j whcu shc had SO Said, she went her way, and called Mary 
her sister secretly, saying, " The Master is come, and calleth for thee." 
^3 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. 
^^ (Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place 

^ver. 19. where Martha met him.) •'^ The ^ Jews then, which were with her 

in the house and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose 
up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, " She goeth unto the 
grave to weep there." ^~Then when Mary was come where Jesus 
was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, "Lord, 

Aver. 21. /.jf ^j^q^ hadst bccu here, my brother had not died ! " 

^^ When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weep- 

^idniseff '"""^"^ iiig which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and twas troubled, 
^^ and said, " Where have ye laid him ? " They said unto him, 

i Luke 19. 11. a J^Qy({^ comc and see." ^^ Jesus 'wept. ^^ Then said the Jews, " Be- 
hold how he loved him ! " ^^ And some of them said, " Could not 

j ch. 9. 6. tj^ig man, ■'which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even 

this man should not have died ? " 

^^ Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. 
It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. ^^ Jesus said, " Take ye away 
the stone." Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, 
" Lord, by this time he stinketh ; for he hath been dead four days." 
^^ Jesus saith unto her, " Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest 

tver.4,23. belicvc, thou shouldcst ^see the glory of God ? " ^^ Then they took 
away the sione from the place [where the dead was laid]. And Jesus 
lifted up his eyes, and said, " Father ! I thank thee that Thou hast 

I ch. 12. 30. heard me. ^^ And I knew that Thou hearest me always ; but 'because 
of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou 
hast sent me." ^^ And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a 
loud voice, " Lazarus, come forth I " '^^ And he that was dead came 

mch. 20. 7. forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes, and "'his face was bound 
about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, " Loose him, and let 
him go." 

^f&'if ■]? is' ^^ Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, "and had seen the 
things which [Jesus] did, believed on him. ^"^ But some of them went 
their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. 



Sect LIL] CHRIST IS ANOINTED BY MARY. 



145 



Section XLVII. — The Sanhcdrin assemble to deliberate concerning the sect^lvii 
Resurrection of Lazarus. V. E.. 29. 

John xi. 47, 48. J- ?• 4742. 

■^^ Then "gathered the Chief Priests and the Pharisees a council, ^'''"'_^"'- 
and said, " What Mo we ? for this man doeth many miracles. ^8 if ^^^-gS-^a. Matt. 
we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him ; and the Romans i. Luke 22. 2. 
shall come and take away both our place and nation." " *4".''i6^.^- ^^- ^'" 

m See Note 35. 



Section XL VIII. — Caiaphas prophesies. sect, xlviii. 

John xi. 49-52. y ^ gg 

■*3 And one of them, named "Caiaphas, being the high priest that j. p. 4742. 
same year, said unto them, " Ye know nothing at all, ^^ nor Vonsider Jerusalem. 
that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and a Luke 3. 2. ch. 
that the whole nation perish not." ^^ (And this spake he not of him- f; "" ^"^ 
self; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should * g'^j^^^^j^-gg 
die for that nation ;" and 'not for that nation only, ''but that also he "i8!49.°6.^ joim 
should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered ^-^^-^^ ^^ 
abroad.) Ephes.'a. 14-17. 



Section XLIX. — The Sanhedrin resolve to put Christ to Death. sect, xlix. 

John xi. 53. V.^. 29. 

Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put J- P- 4742. 

H. I .1 Jerusalem. 

im to death, — 



sect. l. 



Section L. — Christ retires to Ephraim, or Ephrata. 

John xi. 54. V. M. 29. 

Jesus "therefore walked no more openly among the Jews, but went -'• ^- 4742. 

, ^ ., / =. ; 11 1 Ephraim. 

thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called 

'Ephraim ; and there continued with his disciples. <^^^- 4. 1, 3. & 



4See2Chron. 13. 
19. 



SECT. LI. 



Section LI. — State of the public Mind at Jei'usalem, immediately pre- 
ceding the last Passover, at which Christ attended. 

John xi. 55, to the end. 7 p^' ^^' 

^^ And "the Jews' Passover was nigh at hand ; and many went out Jerusalem. 
of the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify them- — 

selves. ^^ Then ''sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, 1. & 6. 4.' 
as they stood in the temple, " What think ye, that he will not come 
to the feast ? " ^"^ Now both the Chief Priests and the Pharisees had 
given a commandment, that, if any man knew where He were, he 
should show it, that they might take him. 



h ch. 11. 7. 



Section LIL — Christ comes to Bethany, ivhere he is anointed by sect. lii. 

Mary." V.^29. 

Matt. xxvi. 6-13. — Mark xiv. 3-9. — John xii. 1-11. j p .^-g 

1 John xii. 1 1 Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Beth- Bethany. 

any, "where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he ^ gg^ ^ 37 
s Mark xiv. 3. raiscd from the dead. ^And 'being in Bethany, in the « John n. 1, 43. 

3 John xii. 2. j^Q^gg ^f gj^Qj^ ^j^g jgpgj.^ 3 jj^gjg .jjjgy jjjj^^jg j^jj^ ^ supper, Iti^t^t'l' ^'' 

4 Mark xiv. 3. and Martha served ; but Lazarus was one of them that sat 

6 John xii. 3. at the table with him, "as he sat at meat. ° Then took ''johu'iLb^*'^^ 

7 Mau.xxvi.7. ''Mary, "having an alabaster box of ointment of *spikenard, *°\^^"ZT/' 
B John xii. 3. vcry P precious, — ' of very precious ointment, — * a pound p s'ee Note 38. 

VQL. II. 19 M 



146 CHRIST PREPARES TO ENTER JERUSALEM. [Part V, 

of ointment of spikenard, very costly, — ^ and she brake the " ^^'^'^ "'"• ^• 

box, and poured it on his head, '°as he sat at meat, " and J° Matt.xxvi.7 

anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair ; 

and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. 

'^ But when his disciples saw it, " there were some that " ?^''"- ''.''^'•^- 

1 . . . ^ ^^ Mark xiv. 4, 

had mdignation within themselves, and said, " Why was 
this waste of the ointment made ? '^ For it might have been " ^^"'^ ""■ ^■ 
*seeMatti8.28 gQj^j f^j. j^^j.^ ^^^^ three huudrcd *pence, and have been 

given to the poor." And they murmured against her : — 

'' To what purpose is this waste ? " '^ Then saith one of J^ Jit' xTt^' 

his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should 

betray him, "" Why was not this ointment sold for three " JohnxU-s. 

hundred pence, and given to the poor?" '*This he said, '^ Johnxii. e. 

not that he cared for the poor ; but because he was a thief, 

e John 13. 29. and 'had the bag, and bare what was put therein. ''And " Mark xiv. e. 
Jesus said, " Let her alone ; why trouble ye her ? she hath 

/Deut.j.5. n. wrought a good work on me. ^" For -^ye have the poor "" ^^'"^ "'^^ '^• 
John 12. 8. with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them 

good ; but me ye have not always. " She hath done what ^' ^^"^ '""• ®- 
she could ; ^^ let her alone : against the day of my burying ^^ ^"^^ ""• ^• 
hath she kept this. '' For in that she hath poured this '' ^^^"•'"'"■is- 
ointment on my body, she did it for my burial; ^'^ she jg ^ Mark xiv. s. 
come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. ^' Verily 
I say unto you. Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached 
throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done 
shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." ^° Much peo- ^"^ ^°''" ""• ^■ 
pie of the Jews therefore knew that he was there ; and 
they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might 

A Luk" iG. 3i'. see Lazarus also, ^whom he had raised from the dead. 

i John 11. 45. & " But ''the Chief Priests consulted that they might put " Johnxii. 



10. 



12. 18 



jMkrkM. 3. Lazarus also to death ; "* because 'that by reason of him ^ Joh" "ii. 
igj'g "■ ^' ^" ^ many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus. 



Matt. xxvi. ver. 6, part of ver. 7, 8, and ver. 9, 10, 11, and 13. — 6 .'Now when Jesus 



k ch. 21. 17. 

I Deut. 15. 11. 

Mark 14. 7. was in ^Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, 7, there came unto him a woman 

•John 12. 8. having an alabaster box — and poured it on his head, — 8 — they had indignation, saying, 

"k 28. 20. Johri — 9 " For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor." -10 When 

13. 33. & 14. ]9. Jesus understood it, he said unto them, " Why trouble ye the woman ? for she hath wrought 

17. 11. ' ' 3- good work upon me. 11 Tor ye have the poor always with you ; but "me ye have not 

71 Mark 14. 9. always. 13 "Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the 

Deut. 15. 11. whole world, there shall also this, that this woman liath done, be told for a memorial of 

Matt. 18. 20. & , ,, ' ' ' 

26. 11. & 28. 20. her. 

IS^SS^fe \^\ Mark xiv. imrt of ver. 3. — there came a woman — . 

& 16. 5, 28. & John xii. part of ver. 7, and ver. 8.-7 Then said Jesus, — 8 " For "the poor always ye 

have with you ; but me ye have not always." 



SECT. uii. Section LIIL — Christ prepares to enter Jerusalem. 
Matt. xxi. 1-7.— Mark xi. 1-7.— Luke xix. 29-35.— John xii. 12-18. 

J.P*4742. 'And it came to pass, = on the next day, ■' when they l]'^^^^";^^ 

On the way to drcw uigh unto Jerusalem, and were come '' (when He was 3 Matt. xxi. i. 

Jerusalem. ^^^^^^ ^^jgj^ ^^ Bcthphagc and Bethany, at the mount called ' Luke xix. 29. 
the Mount of Olives, ' much people that were come to the * J"''" ""• ^• 
feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, * J"''" *"■ ^^^ 

* took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, 
oPs. ii8.25,2& and cried, " "Hosanna ! Blessed is the King of Israel, that 

cometh in the name of the Lord!" ' Then sent Jesus 'Matt. xxi. i. 

* forth two of his disciples, 'and saith unto them, " Go your ^ JJ^^J;^!-^- 
way into the village over against you ; and as soon as ye 



c la. 62. 11. 
Zech. 9. 9. 



Sect. LIIL] CHRIST APPROACHES JERUSALEM. 147 

10 Matt. xxi. 2. ]3g entered into it, '" straightway ye shall find an ass tied, 

12 Matt. xxi. 2. and a colt tied with her, '■'whereon yet never man sat: 

13 Luke xix. 30. loosc him, and bring him hither '" unto me. '° And if any 

15 jj^Jj] ^^ll 3" man say aught unto you, "^ Why do ye loose him ? thus 

16 Luke xix. 31. shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him ; 

17 Markxi. 3. 17 and straightway he will send him hither." '* All this was 

done, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the 

19 John xii. 14. prophet, saying, '" as it is 'written, — * z^«i'- 9- 9- 

20 John xii. 15. ^° " Fear not, daughter of Sion :*i q ee oe . 

21 Matt. .xxi. 5. "' Tell "ye the daughter of Sion, 

Behold ! thy King cometh unto thee, 
Meek, and sitting upon an ass, 
And a colt the foal of an ass." 

22 John xii. 16. 22 'p}^ggg things ''understood not his disciples at the first ; ^ ^"''^ ^^- ^^• 

'but when Jesus was glorified, •'^then remembered they that <= John 7. 39. 

, , . =■. J, , . 17 1111 /John 14. 26. 

these things were written of him, and that they had done 

23 Matt. xxi. 6. these things unto him."^ ^'And the disciples ^'^ that were 1 see Note 40. 

25 Matt x!d T ^^"^ went their way, ^^ and did as Jesus commanded them, 

26 Mark xi. 4. ^'^ and fouud the colt ^' even as he had said unto them, 

27 Luke xix. 32. 28 ^jg^j^ j-^ ^j^g door without, in a place where two ways 

23 Mark xi. 4. . . "^ 

29 Luke .xii. 33. nict ; and they loose him. "' And as they were loosing the 

30 Markxi. 5. colt, ^"certain of them that stood there, ^' the owners 

32 Mark x^s^'^ '-hereof, '^said unto them, "What do ye, loosing the 

33 Markxi. 6. colt ? " ^^ And they Said uuto them, ^'' " The Lord hath 

34 Luke xix. 34. need of him :" '^ even as Jesus had commanded : and they 

^'^ Mark xi. 6. 

36 Mark xi! 1. let them go. ^^ And they brought ^' the ass and the colt 

37 Matt. xxi. 7. '^ to Jesus I "and they cast their garments upon the colt, ^ ^ '^'"^^ ^- ^^ 

39 ^"^^ xrV^^' and they set Jesus thereon ; "^ and he sat upon him. 

40 John xii. 17. '"' The people therefore that was with him when he called 

Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, 

41 John xii. 18. |3aj.g record. "'For ''this cause the people also met him; ^John 12.11. 

for that they heard that he had done this miracle. 

Matt. xxi. part ofver. 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7.— 1 And — to Bethphage unto 'the Mount of «Zech. 14.4. 
Olives, — two disciples, 2 saying unto them, " Go into the village over against you, and 
— a colt — loose them., and bring them — 3 — ye shall say, " The Lord hath need of 
them ; and straightway he will send them." 6 — went, — 7 and brought — and /put on j 2 Kings 9. 13. 
them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 

Mark xi. part ofver. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7. — 1 And *when they came nigh to Jerusalem, k Matt. 21. 1. 
unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sendeth — 2 — ye shall find a j'o^h^n^ia^.'H.' 
colt tied, whereon never man sat ; loose him, and bring hivi. 3 And if any man say un- 
to you. Why do ye this ? say ye that the Lord hath need of him ; — 4 And they went 
their way, — 5 And — 7 — the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him ; — . 

Luke xix. part ofver. 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35. — 29 — he sent two of his disciples, 
30 saying, " Go ye into the village over against you ; in the which, at your entering, ye 
shall find — 31 And if any man ask you, — 32 And they — and found — 33 — said unto 
them, " Why loose ye the colt.'" 34 And they said, — 35 And they brought him — . 'm'^'"2'i%"'^" 

John xii. part of ver. 14, and 15. — 14 'And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat IMark 11.7. 
thereon ; — 15 — behold ! thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt." ^'^^^ ^9- 35. 



148 CHRIST APPROACHES JERUSALEM. [Part VL 



PART VI. 



FROM CHRIST'S TRIUMPHANT ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM, TO 

HIS APPREHENSION— SUNDAY, THE FIFTH DAY 

BEFORE THE LAST PASSOVER. 



SECT. I. Section I. — The People meet Christ with Hosannas — Christ 
V. M. 29. approaches Jerusalem^ 

J. P. 4742. Matt. xxi. 8, 9. — Mark xi. 8-10. — Luke xix. 36-40. — John xii. 19. 

On the road to i ^jjjj 2 ^s they Went ^ a very great multitude spread their ' Matt. xxi. s. 

Jerusalem. *' Jo r 2T1."^(' 

-— garments in the way ; others cut down branches from the , ,, "'''.■ t 

a See Note 1 i 7 • i ^ a i 1 1 ' Matt. xxi. 8. 

a See Lev.' 23. trees, and Strewed them m the way. And when he was 4 Luke xix. 37 
51' fec'^'s^iilc' *^ome nigh, even now at the descent of the Mount of 
10: 7. John 12! Ohves, the whole multitude of the disciples, ^ and the * ^^'"^^ ■'"^'- ^■ 



13. 



multitudes that went before, and that followed, * began to ® ^uke xix. 37 
rejoice, and praise God with a loud voice, for all the 
mighty works that they had seen; [and] 'cried, saying, 'Matt. xxi. 3 
t Ps. 118. 25, 26. " Hosanna 'to the Son of David ! — Hosanna in the'' highest ! 
23. 39." Mark ii! * Blcsscd bc the King that cometh in the name of the Lord ! ' !'"'"= ^'^^- ^s- 
b^se^eNoteV^' 'peacc iu hcavcn, and glory in the highest! 'Blessed be ' W'^^k"-"- 
c Luke 2. 14. the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name 
c^st^No'te 3." of the Lord ! ^Hosanna in the highest ! " '' And some of '° L"'^^ "^- ^^■ 
the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, 
" Master, rebuke thy disciples." " And he answered and " ^"''^ '''''■ ^^ 
said unto them, " I tell you, that, if these should hold their 
dHab.2. u. peace, ''the stones would immediately cry out." '^ The '- Jo^n xii. 19 
e John 11. 47,48. pharisccs therefore said among themselves, "Perceive *ye 
how ye prevail nothing ? behold ! the world is gone after 
him." 

Matt. xxi. part of ver. 9. — Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord ; — . 
/Matt. 21. 8. Mark xi. ver. 8, 9. — 8 /And many spread their garments in the way ; and others cut 

down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And they that went be- 
gVa. 118.26. fore, and they that followed, cried, saying, " ^'Hosanna ! Blessed is he that cometh in the 

name of the Lord !" 

Luke xix. part of »er. 36, and 38. — 36 And — they spread their clothes in the way. 
3==== 38 saying, — . 



SECT. II. Section IL — Chrisfs Lamentation over Jerusalem, and the Prophecy 

of its Destruction. 
^- -^- ^1 Luke xix. 41-44. 

J. P. 4742. 4^ ^ when He was come near, he beheld the city, and "wept 

Near Jerusalem. j.i.l->±j .. t<. 1 1 . 1 i • i • 

— over it, ^'^ saying, " If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this 

l^i^l^Xt thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they are 

Jer-gfi-s^e. j^i(j fjQfj^ thine eyes. '■^For the days shall come upon thee, that thine 

el Kings 9.7, 8. cnemics shall ''cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and 

/Mait^ 24^2. keep thee in on every side, ^"^ and 'shall lay thee even with the ground, 

Mark'i3.'2.'ch. ^nd thy children within thee ; and ''they shall not leave in thee one 

e Dan." 9. 24. ch. stouc upon auothcr ; "because thou knewest not the time of thy visit- 

1.68,78. 1 Pet. „j- „ )) 

2.12. ation. 



Sect. V.] THE BATH COL IS HEARD. 149 

Section III. — Christ, on entering the City, casts the Buyers and sect, hi. 

Sellers out of the Temple.^ V ^ 29. 

Matt. xxi. 10-13. — Mark ix. part ofver. 11. — Luke xix. 45, 46. J. P. 474a. 

iMark.xi.il. ' And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the tern- Jerusalem. 
13. "^'' pie. ^ And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city d See Note 4. 
was moved, saying, " Who is this ?" " And the multitude said, " This "luI" 7?i6^' 
is Jesus the "prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." ^^ And Jesus went into i»''"6-"-&7 

40. & 9. 1/. 

the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in j is. 56. 7. Jer. 7 
the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the i7;L^ei9!46? 
seats of them that sold doves, ^^and said unto them, " It is written, — 

' My 'house shall be called the house of prayer ; 
But ye have made it a den of thieves.' " c Matt. 21. 12. 

Luke xix. ver. 45, 46. — 45 And ^he went into the temple, and began to cast out them j'^^ 2 14 15 
that sold therein, and them that bought; 46 saying unto them, " It ■'is written, 'My dls. 56. 7. 
house is the house of prayer ; but 'ye have made it a den of thieves.' " e Jer. 7. 11. 



Section IV. — Christ heals the SicTc in the Temple, and reproves the sect, iv. 

Chief Priests. V. JE. 29. 

Matt. xxi. 14-16. J. P. 4742. 

" And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he Jerusalem. 
healed them. ^^ And when the Chief Priests and Scribes saw the 
wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, 
and saying, " Hosanna to the Son of David ! " they were sore dis- 
pleased, ^^and said unto him, " Hearest thou what these say ?" And 
Jesus saith unto them, •' Yea ; have ye never read, — 

' Out "of the mouth of babes and sucklings 



a Ps. S. ?. 



Thou hast perfected praise r' " sect. v. 



^^ V. M. 29. 

Section V. — Some GreeJcs at Jerusalem desire to see Chrisf^ — The ^- ^- '^~'^'^- 
Bath Col is heard. ^^^m. 

JoH?.^ xii. 20-43. <^ ^«« ^°}^ ^■ 

^° And there "were certain Greeks among them 'that came up to 4 1 Kings 8. 41, 
worship at the feast. ^^ The same came therefore to Philip, 'which ^^jj '^"^®' ^'^" 
was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, " Sir, we would dseech. 1.51. & 
see Jesus." — Phihp cometh and telleth Andrew : and again Andrew ejco"' 15. '36." 
and Philip tell Jesus. ~^ And Jesus answered them, saying, " The /Matt. 10. 39. & 
''hour is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified. ^* Verily, 35! Luke U 24! 
verily, I say unto you, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground ^^h'if'^s &17 
and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 24. 1 Thess. 4. 
^He -^that loveth his hfe shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in /i Matt. 26. 38, 39. 
this world shall keep it unto hfe eternal. ^^ If any man serve me, let 13" g^i.^^' ^°" '^^' 
him follow me ; and °' where I am, there shall also my servant be : if J i-ute 22. 53. 
any man serve me, him will my Father honor. ,Mltt.3. i7 

2^ " Now ''is my soul troubled ; and what shall I say ? Father, save fsee Note 6. 
me from this hour? 'But for this cause came I unto this hour. ;Ma,t"i2~29 
^® Father, glorify thy name ! " ^Then came there a Voice %om heaven, Jf'^gg^'i: \l- •=''■ 
saying, " I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." ^^ The Acts 26. is.' 
people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered : Eph^'i 2. '& 6. 
others said, "An angel spake to him." ^° Jesus an.swered and said, '^\ , ,, . „ 

• I TT ■ 1 r 1 r m cli. 3. 14. & 8, 

''This Voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. ^^Now 28. 
is the judgment of this world : now shall 'the prince of this world be "HeT2.'''9.^^ 
cast out ; "^ and I, "if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw "all " '=''■ i®- ^a- 
men unto me." "^This °he said, signifying what death he should die. ^&uo. 4. I's. 9. 

^ The people answered him, " We ''have heard out of the Law that Eztk^7*25. 
Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, 'The 'Son of Man ^ gV'jjit' 1 7' 
must be hfted up ?' Who is this Son of Man ? " ^^ Xhen Jesus said jSee ch. 1. 51 

VOL. II. *M 



150 THE BARREN FIG TREE CURSED. [Part VI. 

rch.i.9.&8i9 unto them, " Yet a little while ""is the lisrht with you. 'Walk while 

& 9. 5. ver. 46. i i- i i r i 

s Jer. 13. 16. ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you ; for 'he that walketh 

ich.'^if.K). in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. ^"^ While ye have light, 

iJohn2.il. believe in the light, that ye may be "the children of light." These 

Eph.5. s'. ' things spake Jesus, and departed, and ''did hide himself from them. 

i^hn^'s.l-ii. ^^But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they 

V ch 8. 59. & 11. believed not on him ; ^^ that the saying of Esaias the prophet might 

be fulfilled, which he spake, — 

*Roiif''io^"i6 "Lord, "who hath believed our report ! 

And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed !" 
^^ Therefore they could not beheve, because that Esaias said again, — 

%iatt.' 13. 14. '*''"He ""hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart ; 

That they should not see with their eyes, 
y In Jewish met- j^^y understand with their ^heart, 

aphysics the ^ 

heart was a And bc converted, and I should heal them.' 

Beat of intellect. 

—Ed. 41 These "things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. 

^- Nevertheless, among the chief rulers also many believed on him ; 
it "because of the Pharisees 
; put out of the synagogU( 
more than the praise of God. 



I Is. 6. 1. 



acb. 7. 13. & 9. Y)^^ "because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should 
b ch. 5. 44. be put out of the synagogue ; ^^ for Hhey loved the praise of men 



SECT^vi. Section VL — Christ declares the Ohject of his Mission. 

V. M. 29. John xii. 44, to the end. 

J. P. 4742. 44 Jesus cried and said, "He "that believeth on me, believeth not 

Jerusalem. ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^ jjjj^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ . 45 g^jj^J S^g tj^^t SCCth mC SCCth Him 

a Mark 9. 37. that scut mc. ^6 J ^^m como a Light into the world, that whosoever 

ich.''i4.97 believeth on me should not abide in darkness. 4"? And if any man hear 

cver.35,36.ch.3. niy words, and beheve not, ''I judge him not; for 'I came not to judge 

5/39. " ' ' the world, but to save the world, ^s jjg /^j-iat rejecteth me, and 

"^is'ae' *^' ^ ^' receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him : ^the word that I 

ech. 3. 17. have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. ^gpor ''I have 

"^iT'Tt^is^ig not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, He gave me a 

Markk 16. ' commaudmeut, 'what I should say, and what I should speak. ^"And 

A^ch. 8. 38. & 14. J ]^,^Q^ ^}jg^^ \y[g commandment is life everlasting. Whatsoever I 

iDeut. 18. 18. speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." 



SECT. VII. 



Section VH. — Christ leaves Jerusalem in the Evening, and goes to 

Bethany. 

V . S.. 29. Matt. xxi. 17. — Mark xi. part of ver. 11. 

BethaJ^ ' ' And when He had looked round about upon all things, > Mark xi. 11. 

— and now the eventide was come, "he left them, and went " Matt. xxi. 17. 

a John 11. 18. ^^^ ^^ ^j^^ ^.^y j^^^ "Bethany: ^ unto Bethany, with the ^'M"""'-"- 

Twelve, ' and he lodged there. ' *''^"- "'• "' 

Matt. xxi. beginning of ver. 17. And — . 
===^=^ Mare xi. part of ver. 11. — he went out — . 



sECT\jni. Section VHL — Monday — Fourth Day before the Passover — Christ, 
V.^29. entering Jerusalem^again.,curses the barren Fig tree.^ 

J. P. 4742. Matt. xxi. 18, 19. — Mark xi. 12-14. 

On the roan to ' Now, = ou thc morrow, ' in the momiiig, " whcu they ^"''"■""'■f 

Jerusalem from ' ' ,^ . , 't Mark xi. 12. 

Bethany. wcrc comc from Bethany, as he returned into the city, 3 Matt. xxi. is. 

gSeeN^7. hc huugcred. "And when he saw *a fig tree in the way, ^ J|»;^\'^;: ^^^ 

*Gr. o^efgtree. ' afar ofF, haviug leaves, ' he came to it, ' if haply he might , jiatt! xxi. 19! 
find any thing thereon. And when he came to it, '"and 7 Mark xi. 13. 



Sect. XII.] THE FIG TREE IS NOW WITHERED. 151 

8 Matt.xxi. 19. found nothing thereon, but leaves only ; " for the time of 

w M^tt.rxi. 19. fig^ ^^^ "^^•'' y^^ > '^ Jesus answered and said unto it, " No ^ see Note 8. 

H Mark xi. 13. mau eat fruit of thee hereafter ! " ''and [he] said unto it, 

12 Mark XI. 14. " Lg^ j^q fiuit gfow ou tliec heucefoiward for ever!" 

^'* Matt. xxi. 19. ... 

14 Mark.xi. 14. '^ And his disciples heard it. '° And presently the fig tree 

15 Matt. xxi. 19. withered away. — 

Mark xi. part of ver. 12, ]3, and 14. — 12 And — he was hungry : 13 And seeing a 
fig tree — he came, — he found nothing but leaves ; — 14 And — for ever — . 



SECT. IX. 

Section IX. — Christ again casts the Buyers and Sellers out of the y.M 29. 

Temple ."^ j. p. 4742. 

Mark xi. 15-17. Jerusalem. 

^^ And "they come to Jerusalem : and [Jesus] went into the tem- i see Note 9. 
pie, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, "uxke'w.'if.' 
and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of -Tohn^. 14. 
them that sold doves ; ^^and would not suffer that any man should *or,^a iwuse of 
carry a/iy vessel through the temple. ^''' And he taught, saying unto ^J,^'^/"'' "" 
them, " Is it not written, — c Jer.7. a. 

Matt. 21. 12, 13. 

' My 'house shall be called *of all nations the house of prayer ? 
But "ye have made it a den of thieves.' " 



Luke 19. 45, 46. 



SECT. X. 



Section X. — The Scribes and Chief Priests seek to destroy Jesus. V. iE.^29. 

Mark xi. 18.— Luke xLx. 47, 48. ^: ^- ^Z'*^- 

^ Jerusalem. 

iLukexix.47. I And Hc taught daily in the temple. 'And "the — 

3Lukexix.47. Scribcs and Chief Priests, ^and the chief of the people, °joim7.i9. & 8.' 

i Mark xi. 18. * heard it, and sought how they might destroy him : ^ and ^^l^^^^ - ^ 

6 aTarkxris^' could uot find what they might do ; " for they feared him, MaALsa." 

because ''all the people were astonished at his doctrine, 32. 

7 Luke xix. 48. ' [and] ^Vere very attentive to hear him. *^°;; ^™/(^ ™ 

Luke xix. port of ver. 47, and 48. — 47 — But the Chief Priests and the Scribes — 

sought to destroy him, — . 48 — for all the people — . ^^^^_^^___ 



SECT. XI. 



Section XI. — Christ retires in the Evening f-om the City. „ ^29 

Mark xi. 19. j p 4743. 

And when even was come, He went out of the city. Probably 

•' Bethany. 



Section XII. — Tuesday — Third Day before the Passover — The Fig ^^ ^^^ 

tree is now withered. — 

Matt. xxi. 20-22.— Mark xi. 20-26. ^- ^- ^^- 

T P 4742 

1 Mark xi. 20. ' And "in the momiug, as they passed by, they saw the q„ j,j^ ^^^^ ^^ 

2 Matt. xxi. 20. fia tree dried up from the roots. - And when the disciples Jerusalem from 

. , 11 1 . • r- Bethany. 

saw it, they marvelled, saying, " How soon is the fig tree — 

3 Mark xi. 21. withered away ! " ' And Peter, calling to remembrance, " *'""• ^'- '^• 

saith unto him, " Master, behold, the fig tree which thou 

4 Mark xi. 22. curscdst is withered away ! " * And Jesus answering saith ^ q^. ^^^,^ ^j^^ 

5 Mark xi. 23. unto them, " *Have faith in God. ° For 'verily I say unto MtiofOod. 

6 Matt. xxi. 21. you, ° [that] *if ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not Yuke'iT-Ie!"" 

7 Mark xi. 23. only do t\n?, wMch is done to the fig tree, but also ' that ]^Z',f.'t 

whosoever shall say unto this mountain,'' Be thou removed, k see Note 10. 

and be thou cast into the sea ; and shall not doubt in his "Luke'ii". 9! 

heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith f?''? .?*,"^'of 

9 Mark xi. 23. ^^^^ comc to pass ; ^ it shall be done, ' he shall have Avhat- James 1.5,6. & 

lu Matt. xxi. 22. soever he saith. '" And 'all things, whatsoever ve shall ask 22. & 5. 14. 



152 CHRIST ANSWERS THE CHIEF PRIESTS. [Part VI. 

in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. ^'Therefore I say " ^^^^^ xi. 24. 

unto you, What things soever ye desire, w^hen ye pray, 

believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. "And " Mark xi. 25 
''cof."'. 13!^' when ye stand praying, ''forgive, if ye have aught against 

any : that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive 
e Matt. 18.35. you your trespasses. '^ But 'if ye do not forgive, neither " Mark xi. 26. 

will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." 

Matt. xxi. T^art ofBer. 21. Jesus answered and said unto them, " Verily I say unto 
__;________ you, — if ye shall say unto this mountain. Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the 

sea ; — . 



SECT. XIII. Section XIII. — Christ answers the Chief Priests, who inquire con- 
V. .^.29. cerning the Authority by which he acted — Parables of the Vineyard 
J. P. 4742. and Marriage Feast, 

Jerusalem. Matt. xxi. 23, to the end, and xxii. 1-14.— Mark xi. 27, to the end, and xii. 1-12. 
• Luke xx. 1-19. 

' And it came to pass, that on one of those days, ^ they ' Luke x.^. i. 
come again to Jerusalem. 'And when He was come into !?!"'""'.^I; 
the temple, as he taught the people in the temple, and 4 Luke xx. 1. 
preached the Gospel, the Chief Priests and the Scribes 
^and the elders of the people came unto him, as he was ° Matt. xxi. 23. 
teaching, " and as he was walking in the temple, 'and v^uk^xxT 
'^M^'^k n^'J^' spake unto him, saying, " Tell us "by what authority doest 
Acts 4. 7. ' thou these things ? or who is he that gave thee this autho- 
rity * to do these things ?" ' And Jesus answered and said ^ Mark xi. as. 
unto them, ^° " I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell ,„ Ma tl'. xxi .^24 
me, I in hke wise will tell you by what authority I do these 
things. " The baptism of John, whence was it ? '^ was it " Matt. xxi. 25. 

f 1 c -, )) 1-! A 1 .1 1 l'^ Mark XI. 30. 

irom heaven, or 01 men r answer me. And they reasoned 13 Mark xi. 31. 

with themselves, saying, " If we shall say. From heaven ; 

he will say '"unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? ^ Matt. xxi. 25. 

'^ But if we shall say, Of men ; we fear the people ; '* all the '' Matt. xxi. as. 
6 Matt. 14.5. people will stone us ; 'for they be persuaded that John was '° ^"''^ ^^^^^ 
Luke 7. 29. ^ pi-ophet." "(They feared the people; for all men " m^^ xi. 32. 

counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.) '* And they ^' Mark xi.33. 

answered and said unto Jesus, " We cannot tell '^ whence " Lukexx. 7. 

it was." ^° And Jesus answering saith unto them, " Neither ^° Mark xi.33. 

do I tell you by what authority I do these things. 

-' " But what think ye ? A certain man had two sons ; " Matt, xxi.28. 

and he came to the first, and said, ' Son, go work to-day 
cEccius. 19. 21. in my vineyard.' *^ He 'answered and said, ' I will not :' ^^ '^'''"- '"''•^^• 

but afterward he repented, and went. " And he came to ^^ Matt. xxi. 30. 

the second, and said hkewise. And he answered and said, 

' I go. Sir :' and went not. =" Whether of them twain did '" M'^"- '^"'•^i- 

the will of his father ?" They say unto him, " The first." 
d Luke 7. 29, 50. Jesus saith unto them, "Verily ''I say unto you, that the 

Publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God 
e Matt. .3. 1, &c. before you. ^' For "John came unto you in the way of " Matt. xxi. 32. 
/Luke 3. 12, 13. righteousness, and ye believed him not; ^utthe Publicans 

and the harlots believed him : and ye, when ye had seen 

it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him." 

^'^ Then began he to speak to the people this parable : =" ^uke xx. 9. 

""Hear another parable. There was a certain house- " '^''"- ""'• ^^• 
g^Ps. 80.9. holder ^which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round 

i.'jer. 2. 21.^' ' about, °' and set a hedge about it, and digged a place for ^ Mark xii. i. 

the wine-vat, °' and digged a wine-press in it, and built a ^ Matt. xxi. 33 



Sect. XIII.] PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD. 153 

tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and ''went into a far AMatt.25 i4,i5 
311 Luk'e Tx'9^' country, '" and ^' for a long time. ^^ And at the season ^^when 
30 Luke xx! 10. the time of the fruit drew near, ^'' he sent a servant to the 
M Matt, xxi.34. husbandmen, ^^ that he might receive from the husbandmen 
^^ ^^ f ''" ^ ' of the fruit of the vineyard. '" But the husbandmen 

35 Mark xii. 2. i 7 • ,1 1 • 1 1 • 

3«Lukexx. ]o. caught fi»?2, and beat hun, and sent hmi away empty. 
37 Mark .xii. 3. 38 ^^^^^ again he sent unto them another servant ; and at him 

39 Luke XX 11 ^^^^y ^^^* stones, ^® and they beat him also, *° and wounded 

40 Mark xii. 4. him in the head, "' and entreated him shamefully, and sent 

41 Luke XX. 11. ]^ij^^ away empty, "- shamefully handled. "^ And again he 
43 Luke XX. 12. sBUt a third ; and they wounded him also, and cast him 
« Mark xii. 5. Qut. ''^ And again he sent another ; and him they killed, 
45 Luke XX. 13. and many others ; beating some, and killing some. ^' Then 

said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do ? I will 

send my beloved son : it may be they will reverence him 

40 Mark xa. 6. Avhen they sce him. ^"Having yet therefore one son, his 

47 Matt. xxi. 37. -vy ell-beloved, he sent him also last, "last of all, '* unto 

48 Mark xii. 6. them. Saying, They will reverence my son. "But when 
6" Luke XX 14^^® husbandmen saw the son, ^'' they reasoned among 

n Matt.xxi.38. themselves, — °' they said among themselves. — 'This is the 'J/^\f'|'e^'3 & 
heir ; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inherit- 27. i. John 11.53. 

52 jMatt.xxi.39. g^j,gg_ ^^ A_nd •'they caught him, and cast him out of the ^ Mat'. 26.50, &c. 

53 Matt.xxi.4o. vineyard, and slew him. '' When therefore the lord of the ^^^l^^^tiXc. 

vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen ?" ^°''"P:J'^' *"^' 
II ^^;:t "' They 'say unto him, '' " He will come, '' he 'will mJserably jseeLuke2o.i6. 

66 Matt. x.xi. 41. destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard '^^^''^^jgi- 2^4- ^ 

unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in is. 7. & is. 6. & 
>7 Matt. xxi. 42. their seasons." " Jesus saith unto them, ^'" Therefore say lo.'&'ii.Sebls. 
. J ^^^^ y^^^ "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, ,„jiatt. s. 12. 
and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. " 

59 Luke XX. 16. =' And wheu they heard it, they said, "God forbid!" 

60 Luke XX. 17. 60 j^^^ ]^g beheld them, and said, " What is this then that is 

61 Matt, xxi.42. written ? " Did ye never read in the Scriptures, — 

' The "Stone which the builders rejected, "i^'as^ie*^' 

The same is become the head of the corner :' Marki2. 10. 

This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes ?' Acts 4. ii. ' 

^ Eph.9. 20. 

6! Matt. XXI. 41. 62 ^j-j^ whosoever "shall fall on this Stone shall be broken : 1 Pet. 2. e. 7. 

but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to pow- |,ig^8^°i4 '15 &. 

63Matt.xxi.45. der." '^'And when the Chief Priests "''and the Scribes '^^■^f^i^^'^^-f 

65 Ma^Lxxi.^45. ^' ^"*i Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that Luke 20.' is.' 

6s Luke XX. 19. he spake of them ; [and] *^ had spoken this parable against 1 pTt. 2. 8.' 

67 Matt.xxi.46. them. " But when they sought to lay hands on him, they 

89 Matt.^x'ii.il feared the multitude, because ^they took him for a prophet ; P/^?"-.,^\g^^- 
14- ®* and they left him, and went their way. John 7.' 40.' 

^'And Jesus answered and 'spake unto them again by parables, 'gg^'^'^igfv^g: 
and said, ^ " The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, 
which made a marriage for his son, ^ and sent forth his servants to 
call them that were bidden to the wedding : and they would not come. 
^ Again, he sent forth other servants, saying. Tell them which are 
bidden. Behold ! I have prepared my dinner; ""my oxen and my fat- »-Prov. 9. 2 
lings are killed, and all things are ready : come unto the marriage. 
^ But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, 
another to his merchandise. ^ And the remnant took his servants, and 
entreated them spitefully, and slew them. ' But when the king heard 
thereof, he was wroth ; and he sent forth 'his armies, and destroyed ''lX 19^27, 
those murderers, and burned up their city. ^ Then saith he to his 
VOL. II. 20 



154 PARABLE OF THE MARRIAGE FEAST. [Part VI. 

servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were 
'Act"'i3%"' ^^' ^'-'^ 'worthy. ^ Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye 

shall find, bid to the marriage. ^° So those servants went out into 
« Matt. 13. 38, 47. the highways, and "gathered together all as many as they found, both 

bad and good ; and the wedding was furnished with guests. ^^ And 
"2 Cor. 5. 3. when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man "which 

Eph. 4. 24. ~ . ~ . 

Col 3. 10, 12. had not on a wedding garment ; ^^ and he saith unto him. Friend, 

is.'fe ig.'s. ' how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment ? And he 

was speechless. ^^ Then said the king to the servants. Bind him 

w Matt. 8. 12. hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him "into outer darkness ; 

I Matt. 20. 16. there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ^^ For ""many are 

called, but few are chosen." 

Matt. xxi. part of ver. 23, 24, 25, 26, ver. 27, part of ver. 34, ver. 35, 36, and part of 

y Acts 4. 7. •ycr. 37. — 23 — the Chief Priests — and ^said, " By what authority doest thou these things ? 

and who gave thee tliis authority.'" 24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, — 

25— "from heaven, or of men ? " And they reasoned with themselves, saying, " If v/e 

z ch. 14.'5. Mark 6. shall say. From heaven ; he will say — 26 — ^for all hold John as a prophet." 27 And 

u e-i • • they answered Jesus, and said, " We cannot tell." And he said unto them, " Neither 

tell I you by what authority I do these things." 34 — he sent his servants to the 

a Cant. 8. 11, 12. husbandmen, "that they might receive the fruits of it. 35 'And the husbandmen took his 

^? S^'f^'-K^^^i' servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other 
& 36. 16. Neh. 9. ' ' ' ^ 

2G. Matt. 5. 12. servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. 37 But — he sent unto 
& 23.34, 37. them "^his son, saying, They will reverence my son." 

1 Thes. 2. 15. Mark xi. part of ver. 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, chap. xii. part of ver. 1,2, 3,4, ver. 7, 8, part 

Heb. 11. 36, 37. qf^ggr. 9, ver. 10, 11, and part of ver. 12. — 27 — there come to him the Chief Priests, and 
, vT o] 2.3 ' ^'^^ Scribes, and the elders, 28 and say unto him, " By ''what authority doest thou these 
Luke 20. 2. things ? and who gave thee this authority — 29 — I will also ask of you one ^question. 

Acts 4. 7. j^j^jj answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 The baptism 

' "" of John, — 31 — Why then did ye not believe him .' 32 But if we shall say. Of men — . 

e Matt. 21. 33. Chap. xii. 1 '^And he began to speak unto them by parables, " A certain man planted a 
" ^ ■ ■ vineyard, — and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 

2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, — 3 And they — 4 — and sent 
him away — 7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir ; come, let us 
kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. 8 And they took him, and killed him, and 
cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do?" — 
and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others." 10 " And 
have ye not read this Scripture ; — 
/Ps. 118 22. " The /Stone which the builders rejected 

Is become the head of the corner : 
11 This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes •'' " 
^ Matt. 21.45,46. 12 ^ And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people; for they knew that 
John 7 25 30 ''^ ^'^'^ spoken the parable against them : — . 

44. Luke xx. part of ver. 1, ver. 3, 4, 5, part of ver. 6, 7, ver. 8, part of ver. 9, 10, 11 , 14, 

ver. 15, part of ver. 16, 17, ver. 18, and part of ver. 19. — 1 — came upon him, with the 

elders, 3 and he answered and said unto them, " I will also ask you one thing ; and 

answer me : 4 '-The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? " 5 And they 

reasoned with themselves, saying. If we shall say, From heaven ; he will say. Why 

then believed ye him not ? 6 But and if we say, Of men ; — 7 And they answered, " That 

they could not tell — 8 And Jesus said unto them, " Neither tell I you by what authority 

A See Matt. 21. I do these things." 9 " A ''certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, 

33. Mark 12. 1. g^j,^ went into a far country — 10 — that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard ; 

— beat him, and sent him away empty. 11 And again he sent another servant: — 

14 But when the husbandmen saw him, — saying. This is the heir : come, let us kill him, 

that the inheritance may be ours. 15 So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed 

him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them ?" 10 " He shall come 

and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. — 

iPs 118.^. 17 — 'The 'Stone which the builders rejected, 

Matt. 21. 42. rpj^g same is become the head of the corner ? ' 

)■ Dan. 2. 34, 35. 18 Whosoever shall fall upon that Stone shall be broken ; but Jon whomsoever it shall 
Matt. 21.44. fall, it will grind him to powder." 19 And the Chief Priests — the same hour sought to 
lay hands on him ; and they feared the people : for they perceived that he — . 



Jerusalem. 



Sect. XV.l CHRIST REPLIES TO THE SADDUCEES. 155 

Section XIV. — Christ replies to the Herodians. sect\jiv. 

Matt. xxii. 15-22.— Mark xii. 13-17.— Luke xx. 20-26. V. M. 29. 

1 Matt.xxii.i5. 1 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they J- P- 4742. 

2 Luke XX. 20. uiight entangle him in his talk. "And they watched him, 

3 jtiirkxii. 13. ^^^ ggjjj fQj^ii^ 3 unto him certain of * their disciples with the 
' Luke xx! 20. Herodians, ° spies, which should feign themselves just men, 

that they might take hold of his words, that so they might 
deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. 

6 Mark xii. 14. ''And whcH they were come, ' they asked him, * saying, 

7 Luke XX. 21. <( jyfr^stgj. ^yQ know that thou art true, " that thou sayest 

8 JIatt. XXU.16. ' ■> 

9 Luke XX. 21. and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of 

10 Mark xii. 14. any, '° and carest for no man ; for thou regardest not the 

person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth, 
n Matt.xxii.i7. 11 Tell us therefore, what thinkest thou? Is it law^ful to 

12 Mark xii. 15. gjye tribute unto Caesar, or not? '-'shall we give, or shall 

13 Matt, .xxii.18. we not give ? " '^ But Jesus perceived their wickedness, 

14 Mark xii. 15. and said, '''knowing their hypocrisy, '° " Why tempt ye 

16 mIu xxii 19' '^®' y^ hypocrites ? '" Show me the tribute money, — '' bring 

17 Mark xii. 15.' mc a *penny, that I may see it." '* And they brought unto * valuing of our 

,0 -vT -• lo I J ^ J "^ ~ . money seven 

Matt. XX11.19. i^jj^ ^ penny. '^ And he saith unto them, " Whose is this pence haif-penny 

19 Matt.xxii.aO. . 1 , ■■ - 51 on mi ^ ^ ■ ,r r~< [15 cents], as 

2u Matt.xxii.2i. image and tsuperscription .'' ihey say unto him, Lse- Matt. is. 28. & 

sar's." Then saith he unto them, " Render "therefore ^o^^l^^^timit 
unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's ; and unto God a Matt. 17. as. 

■=' Luke XX. 2G. the thiugs that are God's. " And they could not take hold LuUe I0.&. 

22Matt..xxii.22. of ^jg words beforc the people. And ^^ when they had ^''"'■'^'^■''■ 

23 Luke XX. 26. j^gg^j.^j these words, they marvelled "at his answer, and 

24 Matt.xxii.22. hgy their peace ; ^^ and left him, and went their way. 

Matt. xxii. pari ofverAQ. And they sent out unto him — and teachest the way of 
God in truth, neither carest thou for any man ; for thou regardest not the person of men." 

Makk xii. part ofver. 13, 14, 15, and ver. 16, and 17. — 13 ''And they send — the Phar- * Matt. 22.15. 
isees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. 14 — they say unto him, " Master, 
■^we know that thou art true — Is it lawful to give tribute to CEEsar, or not .'" 15 — But c Matt. ^. 16. 
he, — said unto them, '•' Why tempt ye me .'" — 16 And they brought it. And he saith unto 
them, " Whose is this image and superscription ?" And they said unto him, " Caesar's." 
17 iVnd Jesus answering said unto them, " Render '^to Csesar the tilings that are Cssar's, 22. 21. Luke 20. 
and to God the things that are God's." And they marvelled at him. ^• 

Luke xx. part of ver. 21, ver. 22, 23, 24, 25, and part of ver. 26.- — 21 And — saying, Mark']2.'l4.' 

'•' Master, 'we know — but teachest the way of God ttruly : 22 /Is it lawful for us to give X Or, of a truth. 

tribute unto Caesar, or no." 23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, ■^^/'''u'fg'JJ' 

'■' Why tempt ye me .■■ 24 show me a "penny. Whose image and superscription hath „• See Matt. 18.28. 

it? " They answered and said, •' Caesar's." 25 And he said unto them, " Render ''there- or Mark 12. 15. 

fore unto Caesar the thinfj-s which be Caesar's, and unto God the thinffs which be God's." ^2}^^}},' V,'^!^'-,^ 
e ; & 22. 21. Mark 12. 

26 — they marvelled — . 17. Rom. 13. 7. 



Section XV. — Christ replies to the Sadducees. 
Matt xxii. 23-33.— Mark xii. 18-27.— Luke xx. 27-40. sect. xv. 

1 Luke .XX. 27. ' Then camc to Him, Hhe same day, ''certain of the v ^ 2^ 

2 .^latt.xxii.as. ^ , . <! , • > 1 1 1 . •' ' . \ . ir^. i^. 

3 Luke XX. 27. badducccs, which deny that there is any "resurrection ; J. P. 4742. 

4 Luke XX. 28. and they asked him, 'saying, " Master, 'Moses wrote unto Jerusai^em. 
' -^f''^^ ^"- 19- iis^ ' If any man's brother die, ^ and leave his wife behind a Acts 2.3. e, 8. 

him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his f^^^'^o-^,^' 

7 Lukexx'.'29. ^if'^' ^"d raisc up seed unto his brother.' "Now "there 

8 Matt.x.Kii.25. were with us ' therefore, seven brethren: and the first, ^ToMts. 8. 
,' ^"'"""'■^?" *when he had married a wife, deceased, and having no 

10 Luke XX. 31. . „.. ,. o^'i 

11 Mark xii. 21. issuc, left his wifc uHto his brother. And the second took 

12 Luke XX. 31. hgf tQ ^jfg_ and he died childless. '" And the third " like- 

14 Luke XX. 31. wisc '^ took her, and in like manner the seven also '^had 

15 Luke .XX. 32. her, ''and they left no children, and died. '^ Last of all, 



156 CHRIST REPLIES TO THE PHARISEES. [p^rt VI. 

the woman died also. '" In the resurrection therefore, ^^ Mark xii. 23. 
when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be " of the " Matt.xxii.as. 
seven ? for they all had her '* to wife." '^ And Jesus an- " Mark xii. 23. 

<2 John 20. 9. swering said unto them, " Do ye not therefore err, ''because 
ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God ? 
'" The children of this world marry, and are given in mar- "^ ^^^^ ''■''• ^'*- 
riage. ^' In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are ^^ '^^''"•''^"•^''• 
given in marriage. °^ But they which shall be accounted ^^ '-""<' ^•''- 35- 
worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the 
dead, " when they shall rise from the dead, they " neither ?, Ma'txii 25. 

'i^cor' 15^ 49 "^^I'^T) ^'^^ ^'"6 given m marriage ; '^ but are as the angels 25 jiatt. xxii.su. 

53.i'John3.'2.' of God ^"^which are in heaven. "Neither can they die ^* ^arkxii. 25. 

any more ; for they are equal unto the angels, and are the 

children of God, being the children of the resurrection. 

^* But as touching the resurrection of the dead, ^'now that ^ Lukexx's?' 

■'^ActsV^^' ^^' ^'^^ dead are raised, -^even Moses showed : '" have ye not 30 Mark xii. 26 
Heb. n. 16. read in the Book of Moses, how in the bush God spake 
unto him, saying, ' I am the God of Abraham, and the God 
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ? ' =' God is not the God " Matt, xxii.32. 

^ Rom. 6. 10,11. of the (jead, but of the living; '' for ^all live unto him :'' ^"'^'^•''•='^- 
''ye therefore do greatly err." ''Then certain of the " ^f"''''"-^^- 

•^ . . ^. . 3-i Luke XX. 39. 

Scribes answering said, " Master, thou hast well said." 
^' And after that, they durst not ask him any question at all. '" ^^^^ "^^ ^"^ 
ftMatt. 7. 28. '« And when the multitude heard this, ''they were aston- '« Matt, xxii.33. 
ished at his doctrine. 

Matt. xxii. part ofver. 23, ver. 24, part of ver. 25, ver. 26, 27, part ofver. 28, ver. 29. 

• Acta 23. 8. part ofver. 30, 31, and 32. — 23 — came to him the Sadducees, hvhichsay that there is no 

jBeat. 25. 5. resurrection, and asked him, 24 saying, " Master, .^Moses said, ' If a man die, having no 

children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.' 25 — seven 

*Gr. seven. brethren; and the first, — 26 likewise the second also, and the third, unto the *seventh. 

27 And last of all the woman died also. 28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose 

fc John 20. 9. wife shall she be — 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, " Ye do err, *not knowing 

the Scriptures, nor the power of God. 30 For — in heaven. 31 — have ye not read 

I Exod. 3. 6, 16. that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 32 ' I 'am the God of Abraham, and 

Luke 20. 37'. t^s ^"'^ Isaac, and the God of Jacob .' ' — . 

Heb ll^~16 ^If^^R xii. ver. 18, part of ver. i9,ver. 20, and part of ver. 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, and 27. 

m Matt i> 23 — ^^ "Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection ; and 
Luke 20.'27. ' they asked him, saying, 19 " Master, "Moses wrote unto us, ' If a man's brother die,- 
Acts 23. 8. 20 Now there were "seven brethren : and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. 

TobU 3 8. ' 21 And the second took her, and died ; neither left he any seed ; and the third — 22 And 
the seven — and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. 23 — of them.' for the 
i'^l,Cor.l5.42,49, ggyen had her — 25 "For — neither marry, nor are given in marriage ; but ''are as the 
angels— 26 And as touching the dead, that they rise : — 27 He is not the God of the 
dead, but the God of the living : — . 

Luke xx. part of ver. 28, 29, ver. 33, part ofver. 34, 37, and 38.— 28 — having a wife, 
and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto 
"^^^ his brother.' 29 There were — took a wife, and died without children. 33 Therefore, in 
the resurrection, whose wife of them is she ? for seven had her to wife." 34 And Jesus 
answering said unto them, — 37 — at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of 
Abraham^ and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 For he is not a God of the 
dead, but of the living : — . 



52. 



JMatt. xxii..'?4. 



sECT^xvL Section XVI. — Christ replies to the Pharisees. 

V. ^29. Matt. xxii. 34-40.— Mark xii. 28-34. 

J. P. 4742. 1 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the ^ ^^^^^ ^^.. ^^ 

Jerusalem. Sadducccs to silcncc, tlicy wcrc gathered togcthcr. 'Then 
a Luke 10. 25. one of them, ivhich «;as "a lawyer, ' one of the Scribes ' Mark xii. 28 
came, and having heard them reasoning together, and ^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ 
perceiving that he had answered them well, "asked him a „ mluixxLe' 
question, tempting him, saying, ° " Master, "which is the a Mark xii. 28. 



Sect XVII.] CHRIST INCIUIRES CONCERNING THE MESSIAH. 157 

7 Matt.xxii.36. first commandment of all ? ' which is the great command- 
s Mark .xii. 29. dentin the Law?" ^And Jesus answered [and] ^ said 

10 Mark xu.'ag. ^nto him, '" " The first of all the commandments is, ' Hear, 

11 Marksii. 30. ^O Israel ! The Lord our God is one Lord ;' " and ' Thou *Deut. 6^4.^5.^&. 

shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with 2 Kings 23. 25." 

. . Is 42 8 

all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy nike'io'.s?. 

12 Matt.xxii.33. gj.j.gj,g(^j^ .' i^j^jg jg ^Y^Q fjj.g^ '^and great commandment. 

13 Matt.xxii.39. 13 j(\^n^ the second is like unto it, ^"^ namely this, 'Thou 

"shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' There is none other %^^J't.\^9.^%. & 

15 Matt.xxii.4o. commandment greater than these. " On ''these two com- ^•^s-Eom- is. 

16 Markxii.32. j^^ndmcnts hang all the Law and the Prophets." '' And JameV2.'8. " 

the Scribe said unto him, "Well, Master, thou hast said YTtm.i'.s^' 
the truth; for there is One God, 'and there is none other eDeut.4. 39. 

17 Markxii. 33. j)yt jjg . 17 a,nd to love Him with all the heart, and with all 46.9.' ' 

the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the /isam. 15. 22. 
strength, and to love his neighbour as him.self, is ^more than Micah e. e, 7, 8. 
13 Markxii. 3-1. all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." '** And when Jesus f Matt. 22. 46. 

^ k Deut. 6. 4 5. &. 

saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, "Thou 10. 12! & 30. e. 
art not far from the kingdom of God." ^And no man after is. ISfs. 
that durst ask him any question. 

]Matt. xxii. part of ver. 37, 38, and 39.-37 Jesus — " ' Thou ''shalt love the Lord thy ^f Luk'l^io' 27 

God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.' 38 This is the Rom. 13. 9.' 

first — 39 — , ' Thou 'shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' " "j'"-'- ^- J^' 

Mark xii. part of ver. 28, 30, and 31 . — 28 And — asked him, — 30 — commandment. 
31 And the second is like — 



Luke 10. 27. 
i Lev. 19. 18. ch 



Section XVH. — Christ inquires of the Pharisees concerning the sect. xvii. 

Messiah. V ^ 29 

Matt. xxii. 41, to the end. — Mark xii. 35-37. — Luke xx. 41-44. j p. 4742 

1 Matt. xxii.4i. ' While "the Pliarisces were gathered together, Jesus Jerusalem. 

2 Matt.xxii.42. asked them, ^ saying, " What think ye of Christ ? whose son a Mark 12. 35. 

3 Markxii. 35. Jg j^g ? " Thcv sav unto him, " The" Son of David." 'And 'l^"'^\f • ^^■ 

., _ 11-li 1 -1-11 i-ii S^'^ Siiot& 13. 

4 Luke XX. 41. Jesus answcrcd and said unto them, while he taught in the 

temple, "How say the Scribes that Christ is the Son of 
6Matt.xxii.43. j)avid?" "^ He saith unto them, "How then doth David 
7 Markxii. 36. \^ Spirit 'call Him Lord ? ' For David himself said 'by the * eccIus.si. 10. 
^M:«.x:;rlHoly Ghost, «in the ''Book of Psalms, ^ saying,- fpf.Tio.l:'' 

10 Matt. xxii. 44. 10 . The Lord said unto my Lord, Luke 20: 42'. 

Sit thou on my right hand, icl^'ib^'^ 

Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.' Heb-gi- I's.&io. 

1. Mark xii. 37 n j)^^^.- J therefore himself calleth him Lord : '' if David then eL^kew. 6. 

12 Matt. XX11.45. 13 A J e /Mark 12. 34. 

13 Matt, xxii.46. call him Lord, how IS he his son ? And no man was Luke 20. 40. 

able to answer him a word : ■''neither durst any one from ^jflj/oa 44 
u Mark xii. 37. |_|-jat day forth ask him anymore questions. '^ And the Luke 20. 42. 
common people heard him gladly. iCor.'io.M. 

Heb. 1.13.&10. 

Mark xii. part of ver. 36, and 37. — 35 — ' The ^Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on ^^i ^^^ 

my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.' 37 — and whence is he then his Vl.-uk'iar^oT' 

son .' — . i Ps. 110. 1. 

Luke xx. part of ver. 41, 42, and ver. 43, and 44. — 41 And he said — " How ''say they Mark ^' 36' 

that Christ is David's son ? 42 And David himself saith — ' The 'Lord said unto my Acts 2. 34. 

Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 43 till I make thine enemies thy footstool.' 44 David Heb^j ^3 & 10 

therefore calleth him Lord ; how is he then his son.' " 12, 13. 



TOL. n. 



158 



CHRIST REPROVES THE PHARISEES. 



[Part VL 



SECT. XVIII. 

V. M. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 
a Mark 4. 2. 



J Rom. 2. 19, &c. 

c Luke 11. 46. 
Acts 15. 10. 
Gal. 6. 13. 

d Matt. 6. 1, 2, 5, 

16. 
e Num. 15. 38. 

Dout. 6. 8. & 22. 

12. Prov. 3. 3. 
/Luke 11. 43. & 

20. 46. 3 John 9. 



g James 3. 1. 
See 2 Cor. 1.24. 
1 Pet. 5. 3. 

h Mai. 1. 6. 



t Matt. 20. 26, 27. 

;• Job 22. 29. 

Prov. 15. 33. & 

20. 23. Luke 14. 

11. & 18. 14. 

James 4. 6. 

1 Pet. 5. 5. 
iLuke n. 52. 



I Mark 12. 40. 
Luke 20. 47. 
9 Tim. 3. 6. 
Tit. 1.11. 



1 Luke .XX. 45. 
Matt, xxiii. 1. 
Mark xii. 38. 
Matt, xxiii. 2. 
Matt, xxiii. 3. 



8 Mark xii. 38. 
7 Matt, xxiii. 4. 



8 Matt, xxiii. 5. 

9 Mark xii. 38. 
10 Matt, xxiii. 5. 



13 Luke XX. 47. 
K Mark xii. 40. 

15 Luke XX. 47. 

16 Matt, xxiii. 8, 
to the end. 



m Matt. 15. 14. 

ver. 24. 
» Matt. 5. 33, 34. 



Exod. 30. 29. 



* Or, debtor, or. 
bound. 



Section XVIII. — Christ severely reproves the Pharisees. 
Matt, xxiii. 1, to the end. — Mark xii. 38-40. — Luke xx. 45, to the end. 

' Then, in the audience of all the people, ^ spake Jesus 
to the multitude, and to his disciples. ^ And "he said unto 
them in his doctrine, ■* " The Scribes and the Pharisees sit 
in Moses' seat ; ^ all therefore whatsoever they bid you 
observe, that observe and do ; but do not ye after their 
works : for ''they say and do not. * Beware of the Scribes, 
' for 'they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and 
lay them on men's shoulders ; but they themselves will not 
move them with one of their fingers. ' But "^all their works 
they do for to be seen of men ; ^they "love to go in long 
clothing, and " make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge 
the borders of their garments, ''and-'^love the uppermost" Matt. xxiii. a 
rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, '^ and '^ Matt.xxiii.7 
greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi ! 
Rabbi ! ''^ which devour widows' houses, and for a show, 
'^ for a pretence, '"make long prayers; the same shall 
receive greater damnation. '^ But ^be not ye called Rabbi ; 
for One is your Master, [even Christ] ; and all ye are brethren. ^ And 
call no man your father upon the earth ; ''for One is your Father, 
which is in heaven. ^° Neither be ye called Masters ; for One is your 
Master, [even Christ]. ^^ But 'he that is greatest among you shall be 
your servant. ^^ And ■'whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased ; 
and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. 

^^ " But ''woe unto you. Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye 
shut up the kingdom of heaven against men ; for ye neither go in 
yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. ^* Woe 
unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 'for ye devour widows' 
houses, and for a pretence make long prayer : therefore ye shall re- 
ceive the greater damnation. 

15 u "Woe unto you. Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye com- 
pass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye 
make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. ^^ Woe 
unto you, "'ye blind guides ! which say, ' Whosoever "shall swear by 
the temple, it is nothing ; but whosoever shall swear 
the temple, he is a debtor.' ^''Ye fools and blind! 
greater, the gold, °or the temple that sanctifieth the 
' Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing ; 
sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is *guilty.' 



by the gold of 
for whether is 
gold ? 1^ And, 
but whosoever 
i^Ye fools and 
/exoci. 29. 37. Wind! for whether is greater, the gift, or ''the altar that sanctifieth 



the gift ? ^" Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, 
and by all things thereon ; ^^ and whoso shall swear by the temple, 
sweareth by it, and by 'Him that dwelleth therein ; ^^ and he that shall 
swear by heaven, sweareth by "^the throne of God, and by Him that 
sitteth thereon. 

23 u '\jYoe unto you. Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 'for ye pay 
tithe of mint and tanise and cummin, and 'have omitted the weightier 
matters of the Law — judgment, mercy, and faith : these ought ye to have 
done, and not to leave the other undone. ^^Ye blind guides ! which 
"strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel ! ^^ Woe unto you. Scribes 

u The Greek word Scv^l^nvreg, here rendered " strain,''^ does not mean make an effort to .swa//o?c, hut filtrate, and alludes to the 
custom of filtering wine to free it from the insects, which, attracted by the odor or the taste, are apt to fall into it, and get 
drowned. This sense wp.s conveyed by the translations in use previous to the present revised version, in all which it stands 
as in the text, *' strain out, " at" being admitted to be a misprint, but which has lieen continued in every subsequent edition 
both English and American, except Baskett's folio edit. London, 1753. The word kwi/wi//, translated " oviaf," is the minute 
insect bred in wine that is left exposed, and hence called cidez vhiarius. The other insect, which, by being set in contrast, must 
liave been a lar^e one, was, probably, from its peculiar shape, named " the camel." Tliata/i insect is meant, and not the qimd~ 
ruped, is satisfactorily shown by the learned Cagetanus. The talmudists mention the Jalihhnsckin as very tronblcsonie in 
getting into the open vases of wine ; and Maimonides, lib. Dr Vctitis,c. ii. §22. says, " He who strains wine, vinegar, or strong 
drink, and yet eats fhe .TahhX-iL^chin , deserve^i chastisement." The proverbial expression intimates, that the Scribes and Phari- 
sees affected to STiiple little things, and disregarded those of great moment. 



q 1 Kings 8. 13. 

2 Chron. 6. 2. 

Ps. 26. 8. & 139. 

14. 
r Matt. 5. 34. 

Ps. 11. 4. Acts.7. 

49. 
s Luke 11. 42. 
t Gr. aviiBov, dill, 
t 1 Sam. 15. 22. 

Hos. 6.6.Mic. 6. 

8 Matt. 9. 13. & 

12.7. 



Sect. XIX.] CHRIST APPLAUDS THE POOR WIDOW. 159 

and Pharisees, hypocrites ! "for ye make clean the outside of the cup "Luke'^n 39 
and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 
-^ Tliou blind Pharisee !" cleanse first that ivhich is within the cup and see Note 14. 
platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 

27u^Qg unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! "for ye are "^^^'^Ig^g ■**• 
like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, 
but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 
-- Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within 
ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 

29 i. ■\yoe ""unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! because ye ^^ Lute 11.47. 
build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the 
righteous, ^" and say, ' If we had been in the days of our fathers, 
we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the 
prophets.' ^^ Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ^ye ^j^^J^'o^f' 
are the children of them which killed the prophets. ^^ Fill ""ye up ■. oen. 15. le. 
then the measure of your fathers. ^^Fe serpents! ye "generation of ^l^^^jj^'j 'V& ig 
vipers ! how can ye escape the damnation of hell ? ^4. 

34'-' Wherefore, 'behold ! I send unto you prophets, and wise men, ''L^"'n.'49.'^' 
and scribes ; and "some of them ye shall kill and crucify ; and ''some c Acts 5. 40. & 7. 
of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them ^^jiau. 10.17. 
from city to city: ^= that 'upon you may come all the righteous 2 cor. 11.24,25. 
blood shed upon the earth, -^from the blood of righteous Abel unto /Gen. 4.8.1 John 
^the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the ^■^^~- 
temple and the altar. -^^ Verily I say unto you. all these things shall 21. 
come upon this generation. 

2' '•' O ''Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! thou that killest the prophets, 'and a Lute 13. 34. 
stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would ■'I have gath- jDeut™^. 11,12. 
ered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under 4"",^eJ; ^ ^3^ 
her *wings,P and ye would not ! "* Behold I your housei is left unto /; Knapp & Gries- 
you desolate. ^^ For I say unto you. Ye shall not see me henceforth, temgation^point 
till ye shall say, 'Blessed is he that comethin the name of the Lord !" ^'|^"^™s^-" 

Matt, xxiii. heginning ofver. 1, and 2. — 1 Then — 2 saying, — . P ^^e Note 15. 

Mark xii. jjart ofver. 38, and ver. 39, and part of ver. 40. — 38 — which — "/ace ?p,^ jjo or 
salutations in the market-places, 39 and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the Matt. 21. 9. 
uppermost rooms at feasts : 40 "which devour widows' houses, and — make long prayers : "" Luke 11. 43. 
these shall receive greater damnation." " ^I'^t'- 23. 14. 

Luke xx. part of ver. 45, and ver. 46. — 4-5 — he said unto his disciples, 46 " Beware °of Matt. 23. 5. 
the Scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and ■''love greetings in the markets, and p ch. 11. 43. 
the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts ; 



Section XIX. — Christ apfilauds the Liberality of the jjoor Widow. gj-cT xix 

Mark xii. 41, to the eni.— Luke xxi. 1-4. 

1 jr,:rkxii.ii. 'And Jesus sat over against the treasury, "and he 7"p^4~42 
3 MaAxii!"4i'. looked up, 'and beheld how the people cast *money into jeru=aiL. 

the treasury ; and many that were rich cast in much. — 

^ ^^^^^ ^'^^'.- ^- * And there came ' also a certain poor widov/, " and she "im^T'set™" 

6 Mark xH. 42. threw in two tmites, ''which make a farthing. 'And he .^'KinjsV.'g. 

7 Mark xii. 43. called UTito him his disciples, and saith unto them, "Verily tit is the seventh 

I say unto you. That "this poor widow hath cast more in of that bl'is"^''* 

8 Luke xxi. 4. than all they which have cast into the treasury. * For all T"''v . „ 

.,-.,., ' r '^ee Acte 17. 

these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of a2Cor. 8. 12. 

9 Mark xii. 44. God; but she of her penury hath cast in "all that she had, 

''even all her lixing." 6Deut.-24. 6. 

<= 1 Johns. 17. 

Mark xii. part of ver. 42, and 44. — 42 — a certain poor widow, — 44 For al! they did 
cast in of their abundance ; but she of her want did cast in — . 

Luke xxi. part of ver. ] , 2, ver. 3, and part of ver. 4. — 1 — "and saw the rich men cast- c Mark 12. 41, 
ing their gifts into the treasury. 2 And he saw — casting in thither two tmites. 3 And t ^ee Mark 12 
he said, '• Of a truth I say unto you. ''That this poor widow hath cast in more than they ,'^'„ a lo 
all : 4 — all the living that she had." 



160 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM FORETOLD. [PartVL 

SECT. XX. Section XX. — Christ foretells the Destruction of Jerusalem, the End 
V.\a;. 29. of the Jewish Dispensation, and of the World.^ 

J. P. 4742. Matt. xxiv. 1-35.— Mark xiii. 1-31.— Luke xxi. 5-33. 

Jerusalem. ' And " Jcsus Went out, and departed from the temple, i Matt. xxiv. i. 

8 See Note 18. ^ And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples ° ^■^'"''^ ""'• ^ 
a Luke 21. 5. 3 ^j^jg disciples) Came to him for to show him the buildings ^ Matt. xxiv. i. 
of the temple ; ^ how it was adorned with goodly stones ^ ^"'"' ^•'''- ^• 
and gifts, [and] ^ saith unto him, "Master, see what man- ^ Markxxi. i. 
ner of stones and what buildings are here .'" "And Jesus ' Markxm. a. 
answering said unto him, " Seest thou these great build- 
ings ? ' See ye not all these things ? ' As for these things '' Matt.xxiv.9. 
which ye behold, * verily I say unto you, '"the days will 9 Matt', xxiv. 9. 
*jef 'af 18 ^Mic come, in the which " there 'shall not be left here one stone 'o Luke xxi. 6. 
3-^i2-Mary3.2: upon auothcr that shall not be thrown down." " Matt.xxiv.s. 

'" And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives over against '^ Markxiii.3. 
the temple, '^ the disciples, '^ Peter, and James, and John, J^ fi^"^' ^i'^J^'g^" 
and Andrew, '^came unto him privately, [and] '"asked 15 Matt. xxiv. 3. 
ciThes.5.1. hijn privately, " saying, " Master, but 'Hell 'us when shall ]^ ^u^exx!"?" 
these things be ? and what shall he the sign of thy com- is Matt. xxiv. 3. 
ing, and of the end of the world ? '° when all these things '^ Mark xiii. 4. 
shall be fulfilled?" '"And Jesus answering them began *" "^'•'' ^'"- ^• 
^u^r\^ii\ *^ ^^y "unto them, "Take ''heed that no man deceive " '^^''"- ''"^- ■*• 
Luke 21! s! you, "For "many shall come in my name, saying, ' I =2 Matt. xxiv. 5. 
cS"!.' 1; 1^8. am Christ;' and shall deceive many. '"And the time '^ ^'"''^ ''^'- ^• 
? j'otm4. L^' draweth near ; go ye not therefore after them. '' And ye "^ Matt. xxiv. 6. 
e Jer. 14. 14. & shall hear of wars and rumors of wars : but ^^ when ye shall '° ^""^^ '""■ ^' 

93. 21,25. Matt. . ,« , r 07 i . 1 9b at 1 ■•- t 

24. 11, 94. Mark hcar oi wars, and rumors oi wars, and commotions, be ^° """" ''".'■ '• 

8. John 5" 43. ' not terrified; '* see that ye be not troubled ; for all these 23 Matt. xxiv. 6. 
*tbne Tt ^htt things '' must needs ^° first come to pass, ^' but the end shall =' Mark xiii. 7. 

3.'"2.'&4: 17.'' ■ not be yet." ='Then-^said he unto them, "Nation shall 3° Mal-k xm. 7. 
■^il*^]9™2." Hag'?" rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom ; ^^ and 32 Luke xxi. 10. 

is.^au^.ti^?; gi'eat earthquakes shall be in divers places ; '' and there ^^ \^^ ^^i;^^; 

Mark 13. 8. shall bc famines, and pestilences, ^^ and troubles, '" and 35 Mark xiii. 8. 

fearful sights, and great signs shall there be from heaven. '" L""*^ ''^'- "• 

g See Mark 13. 8. 37 ^jj ^ ^^lesG are the beginning of sorrows. " *^''"- •"''''•^• 

AMatt. 10 17,18. =8 a g^ u^^t^^q j^gg^ ^^ yoursclvcs ; for '"before all these, '** Mark xiii. 9. 

& 24. 9. John 1 11 1 ii • 1 1 1 , 2" Luke xxi. 19. 

15. 90. & K). 9. they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you ; 
t\l'-^i%t [and] ^"they shall deliver you up to councils; ^' to the ^^ ^^^"* f ,'■ fg 
ie.^24.\*25. 23. synagogues, ^' (and in the synagogues ye shall be beat- « Mark xiii. 9. 
V\%:Ll%%, ^^ " and into prisons, "' to be afflicted ; '' and ye shall ^^ ^;^^^^ ^^i^^^. 
"• be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a 45 Marii xiii. 9. 

«™i-i-28. ^ testimony, "" for my Name's sake. "" And 'it shall turn to "<* Luke xxi. 12. 
,• Matt! 24. i4.' you for a testimony '" against them. " And ^ the Gospel '^ M^rk xm. li!' 
*LJke''i9%r& ii^ust first be pubUshed among all nations. ^^ But '^when 49 Mark xiii. lo. 
91.14. they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought ^'' ^^""^ ""'•"• 

beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premed- 
itate. " Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate " Lui^e xxi. m. 
before what ye shall answer: "^^but whatsoever shall be •"*' Mark xiii. 11. 
given you in that hour, that speak ye ; ^'for I will give ^' ^"""^ '"''• ^^• 
J Acts 6. 10. you a mouth, and wisdom, 'which all your adversaries 

shall not be able to gainsay nor resist; '^''for it is not ye °* Mark xiii. n. 
'» Aas 9. 4. & that speak, "but the Holy Ghost. '"" Now "the brother shall '' ^^'"^ """'■ ^^^ 
7tMic.7. 6. Matt, bctiay the brother to death, and the father the son; and 
Luk^e'bL 16.' ^"' children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause 

them to be put to death. '" And ye shall be betrayed both '° ^""^^ ""'• ^''• 
by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends ; and 

oAct3 7. 59. & o l' 1 11 1 1 , , ^, , 

12.2. some 01 you shall they cause to be put to death ; and ye " Matt. xxiv. 9. 



Sect XX.] DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM EORETOLD. 161 

5s Matt. xxiv. shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. ^^ And 

then shall many ''be offended, and shall betray one another, ^jg/'sy; " Tinf 
69Lukexxi.i8. and shall hate one another. *' But 'there shall not a hair i-, is. & 4.10, 
60 Luke xxi. 19. Qf yQu,. [jead perish. ^" In your patience possess ye your q mm. 10. 30. 
eiMatt.xxi.. gQuig_ «' And 'many false prophets shall rise, and shall ''g^^'^^'-/^/^;^ 
«2 Mat. xxiv. 12. deceive many. '^'" And because iniquity shall abound, the p. e! Luke 21. 

" 1. J 8. Acts 20. 59. 

63 Matt. xxiv. Yove of many shall wax cold ; "'but ''he that shall endure a'pet. 2. 1. 

64 Matt. xxiv. I unto the end, the same shall be saved. ''^ And this 'Gospel ^ Matt. 10. ^. 
"■ i of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a Heb'^s^^e^ii 

I witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end come. Rev. 2. 10. 

65 Mark xiii. 14 "'"But "whcn ye shall see the Abomination of Desola- ^ g^lt Rom.' m. 

tion, [spoken of by Daniel the prophet], standing where it ^^^°^g%^'^ 
«8 Matt. xxiv. ought not, '^'^ in the Holy Place, (whoso "readeth, let him Matt! 24. 15. 

67 Luke. xxi. 20. understand !) "^^ and "when ye shall see Jerusalem com- „Dan!9.23,25. 

passed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof '",Matt. 24. 15, 

r ' Mark 13 14 

68 Lukexxi.2i. ig j-iio.]^^ "^Then let them which are in Juda3a flee to the 

mountains ; and let them which are in the midst of it 
depart out ; and let not them that are in the countries 

69 Mark xiii. 15. enter thereinto ; "" and let him that is on the housetop not 
go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any 
thing out of his house ; '° neither let him which is in the 

■i Luke xxi. 22. field Tctum back to take his clothes. " For these be the 

days of vengeance, that ^all things which are written may "^J*"?-^;^?'^'- 
72 Luke XXI. 23. j^g fulfilled. '" But ^woe unto them that are with child, and j/ Matt. 24. 19. 

to them that give suck in those days ! for there shall be 
" Luke xxi. 24. great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people ; " and 
they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led 
away captive into all nations ; and Jerusalem shall be 
trodden down of the Gentiles, ^until the times of the Gen- ^^'^]^- 1-^^- ^^ 
74 Matt. xxiv. tiles shall be fulfilled. "But pray ye that your flight be not as.'" 
7s Markxiii.19. in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day ; '° for °in those aDan.9.26.&i2 
""^ 21!"' ""' days ^° shall be great tribulation, " shall be affliction, such 
'7 Mark xiii. 19. as was uot from the beginning of the creation '* of the 
Matt. xxiv. ^Qj.}(j 79 ^]^ie]^ QqJ created unto this time, neither shall be, 
79 Markxiii.19. 8° no, nor ever shah be. " And except that the Lord had 
Matt. XXIV. gjjQi.tened those days, *^ there should no flesh be saved ; 

81 Markxiii.2o. ^^ but for thc clcct's sakc, whom he hath chosen, he hath 

82 Mat. xxiv. ^. 1 , 1.1 1 

83 Mark xiii. 20. shorteucd the days. 



70 Matt. xxiv. 
18, 



84 Mark xiii. 21. 



" And Hhen if any man shall say unto you, ' Lo, here V'f'^^^'J'v. 



85 Matt. xxiv. is Christ!' or, 'Lo, he is there!' believe him not; "'for 21. g. 



24. 



'there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall ''Matt''2"'5^'ii 
show great signs and wonders : insomuch that, ''if it were 2 Tiiess. 2.'9, 

86 Mark xiii. 23. i.^„o;k1q th^^r cKoU A^^^i^,^ +1,^ -r^vir ol^^t 86 ti„<. <^+„i,^ „„ }l^'"- Kev. 13 



possible, they shall deceive the very elect. *'' But 'take ye 



13. 



87 Matt. xxiv. heed ; behold ! I have foretold you all things. " Where- Yo?28f29.\tm. 

fore, if they shall say unto you, 'Behold he is in the g'Tf^^l'^ig 
desert ! ' go not forth : ' Behold he is in the secret cham- e 2 Pet. 3. 17. 

88 Mutt. XXIV. jjgj.g I J ijgijgyg it j^Qt. ** For •'as the lightning cometh out of /Luke n. 24. 

the east, and shineth even unto the west ; °so shall also g m^"- 24- 37, 
"" as!"" ^^^''' the coming of the Son of Man be. ^^ For ''wheresoever the 51.' 

carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Yuke^i7^37. 

90 Ma,kxiii.24. 90 u g^t 91 immediately 'after the tribulation of those days i u. 13.10. Ezek. 

91 Matt. XXIV 1 11 1 • ■ ii I ■ ..1 1 • 32. 7. Dan. 7. 10, 

29. " there shall be signs m the sun, and m the moon, and m ii,i2.joei2. 10, 

92 Luke xxi. 25. |.jjg gj-g^j-g . ^^^ upon the earth distress of nations, with AmSs. 20.& 
°' ^"""^ '"''• ^'^- perplexity ; the sea and the waves roaring; "'men's hearts %^'uJ-ki3^24. 

failing them for fear, and for looking after those things Acts 2. 20. Rev. 

94 "\T If -'" 04 ^ 6 12 

-" '^'"- • which are coming on the earth ; for "^ the sun shall be 
95 Mat. xxiv.yg. darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, "" and the 
VOL. II. 21 N* 



62 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM FORETOLD. [Part VI. 

} Dan. 7. 13. stsLYS sliall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens 

mIu.' 16'. 2?; shall be shaken. '* And ■'then shall appear the sign of the ^ Mii"-^iv. 

"e" JohA h 51. Son of Man in heaven ; and then shall all the tribes of the 

fThess"4. 16. earth mourn. "' And then shall they see the Son of Man '' M'^'"'' ""'• as- 

2The93.i.7,io. ''' coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great "^ ^^"' '"''^" 

/£ Matt. 13! 41. glory. ^^And*then shall he send his angels, ' *with a m MarkKin.'^rr. 

l%°hess%^%. great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together ' Markxxiv. 

* Or, with atrum- his elect from the four winds, ^from the uttermost part of 2 Mnrfc^H; 07 

pet and a great /• i t r ■• ™arKxiii.^/. 

voice. the earth, to the uttermost part ot heaven, trom one end ' Matt.xxiv. 

L^MTt't ^24^32^' ^^ heaven to the other. ^ And when these things begin 4Lukexxi.28. 

Mark is. 28. to comc to pass, then look up, and hft up your heads; 5Lukexxi.29. 

"sa^^s"! Mark '13. fo.r 'your redemption draweth nigh." « Matt.xxiv. 

o^rAo^^m'fs '^"^ ^® ^P^'^^ *^ ^'^*^'" a '"parable; ^"Now learn a 7Lukexxi.29. 

40.8. & 51.' 6. ' parable of the fig tree; 'behold the fig tree, and all the » Markxiii.as. 

Matt. 5. is'. ' trees ! * when her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth 1! Luke xxi! 31! 

Lukeei.'li' leaves, ^ when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of n Matt.xxiv. 

'a cii^ "15 6 y^"^ ^^^^ selves that summer is now nigh at hand. '"So ,2 Markxiii.29. 

Is. 19.2.' Hag.' likewise ye, " when ye shall see all these things '^conie to '^ Lukexxi.31. 

la.^Marris. 8?" pass, ''^ know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand, " jj^^xiii 30 
^Ma'rk'is^'g '^ ^^^^'* ^^ ^^® doors. '^ Verily I say unto you, that "this gen- is Lukexxi.32! 

Luke 21'. ^12. ^ eration shall not pass '"away, "till all these things be ful- " Matt.xxiv. 

16.2. Acts'4. 2, filled. '** Heaven "and earth shall pass away ; but my words w Matt.xxiv.35. 

3. & 7. 59. & 12. 1 11 i , 5) 

1, &;c. iPet. 4. shall uot pass away. 

lb. Rev. 2.10, jyj;^^^ xxiv. part of »er. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 15, »«-. 16, 17, 19, part of ver. 21, 22,ver. 23,25, 

r Dan. 9. 23-27. and part of ver. 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34. — 2 And Jesus said unto them, — 3 And as he sat 

13. 14. Luke'21. upon the Mount of Olives, — saying, — 4 And Jesus answered and said — 6 — must come 

20. to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For ''nation sliall rise ag-ainst nation, and liingdom against 

"^'^'k^i^'if' kingdom ; — and earthquakes in divers places. 9 'Then shall they deliver you up — and 

t Luke 23. 29 shall kill you : — 15 ''When ye, therefore, shall see the Abomination of Desolation, spoken 

u Dan. 9. 26. & of by Daniel the prophet, stand — 16 ^Then let them which be in JudiEa flee into the moun- 

12. 1. Joel 2. 2. (-jjjjg . j7 let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house : 

Zech. 'l4.'2'3. t9 and 'woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days ! 

ai Mark 13. 21. 21 For "then — such as was not since the beginning — to this time, — 22 And except 

21" 8^ ^^' ^ ^ those days should be shortened, — "but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 

X See John 1. 51. 23 '"Then if any man shall say unto you, ' Lo, here is Christ I' or ' there !' believe it not. 

2* "^'V ^'^^^h^ 25 Behold ! I have told you before. 29 — shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall 

1 Tliess. 4. 16. not give her light, — 30 — and they shall see ^the Son of Man — 31 '•'And he shall send his 

z.LimesS. 9. angels — 32 — When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know 

a Mi'tt. 16. 28. that summer is nigh: 33 so likewise ye, — know 'that *it is near, even at the doors. 

13 ^o' T^' 2T3? "^^ Verily I say unto you, "This generation shall not pass, — . 

b Matt. 24. 3. Mark xiii. part of ver. 2, 4, 5, ver. 6, part of ver. 7, 8, ver. 13, part of ver. 14, ver. 16, 

Jje'r^U.'li & 17, 18, part of ver. 20, ver. 22, part of ver. 24, ver. 25, part of ver. 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, and ver. 

23. 21, 25. 31. — 2 — there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." 
24?'Lu1fe I'l."! 4 " Tell ("us, when shall these things be ? and what shall he the sign— 5 — " Take heed 
John 5. 43. lest any man deceive you : 6 ''for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ ; 

''is *^19™2'Ha'<' ' ^'^^ shs^l deceive many. 7 And when ye shall hear of wars — be ye not troubled : for 

2. 22. Zech. 14. such things — be ; — 8 "^For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom : 
Luke2l''l0.' ' and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines — "these are 

e Matt. 24. 8. the beginnings of tsorrows. 13 .''And ye shall be hated of all men for my Name's sake : 
^ 'r;'l?„T''fi,"r,.!lf but ^he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 — (let him that read- 

eih the pains of a eth understand !) then ''let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains; 16 'and let 
/Mrtral'g™"^'' l^ini t'l'^'- is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. 17 ^But woe to 

Luke 21. 17. them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days ! 18 And pray ye 
^Matt." 10.' 22.' & that your flight be not in the winter. 20 — no flesh should be saved ; — 22 For false 

24. IS.Rev. 9.10. Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if ii 
^Matt* 24 18.' '"'''■^ possible, even the elect. 24 — in those days, after that tribulation, — 25 And the stars 
j Luke 21. 23. & of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven sliall be shaken. 26 — coming in 
I^MaU.^.32. the clouds, With great power and glory. 27 — and shall gather together his elect from 

lAiko 21.29,&c. the four winds, — 28 ''Now learn a parable of the fig tree ; — ye know that summer is 

' ^^^'s"!^ ?i' fi'* '^^^^ '■ ^^ ®° y '" ii'^'' manner, when ye shall see these things — know that it is nigh, — 

Jei-. 31. 35,'36'. 30 — till all these things be done. 31 'Heaven and earth shall pass away ; but my words 

24?35.^'Luke*21. ^'^'^ "°* P^®^ '^^^y- 

33! Heb. 1.11.' Luke xni.partof ver. 5,6,7, 8,9, li,12,ver. 17, pnrtof ver. 2^, 26, ver. 27, partof ver. 31, 



Sect. XXL] , CHRIST'S SECOND ADVENT. 163 

32. and vcr. 33. — 5 "'And as some spake of the temple, — he said, 6 — there "shall not ™ Matt. 24. 1. 
be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." 7 And they asked him, , ,„ ' ' 
— •• when shall these things be ? and what sign will there be when these things shall come „ jiatt. 24. 4. 
to pass.'" 8 And he said, " Take "heed that ye be not deceived; for many shall come Mark 13. 5. 
in my name, saying, ' I am Christ ;' — 9 — for these things must — but the end is not hy a Thoss. 2. 3. 
and by. 11 But — and famines, and pestilences ; — 12 — ^being brought before kings and p See Note k. 
rulers — 17 And 'ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. 25 And — 26 — the 9 See Note o. 
powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then shall they see '"the Son of man coming gee Jof''']^''51 
in a cloud with power and great glory. 31 — when ye see these things come to pass, — Kev. 1. 7. &. 14 
32 Verily I say unto you. This generation shall not pass — till all be fulfilled. 33 "Heaven ■'*' 
and earth shall pass away ; but my word shall not pass away." 40.8. & 51.' C. ' 

^^^^^^^^^^_^^^_^___ Jer. 31. 35, 36. 

Matt. 5. 18. & 

Section XXI. — Christ compares the Suddenness of his Second Advent sii Heb!'r.' ii.^' 
to the coming of the Deluge. 



Matt. xxiv. 36, to the end. — Mark xiii. 32, to the end. — Luke xxi. 34-36. sect xxi 

1 Markxiii.32. 1 u ^^.j, "gf ^]^^i ^j^y g^jjjj ^/j^^ [^q^j. knovvetli iio man, no, — 

. not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but , „ . ' 
3el4i. ' the Father ; ^ but 'my Father only.' ^'' But as the days of Jerusalem. 
Noe were, "so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. ^^ For ''as — 

in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, Acts i. 7.' 

marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into 2 Pet^^s! 10.^' 

the ark, ^^and knew not until the flood came, and took them all *ze<:h-i4. 7. 

away; 'so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. ^'^ Then ^ Matt. 24! 27, 

•''shall two be in the field ; the one shall be taken, and the other left. lf_ see John 1. 

"^^ Two women shall be grinding at the mill ; the one shall be taken, d Gen. 6. 3, 4, 5. 

3 Mark xiii. 33. and the other left. ^ Take ^ye heed, watch and pray ; for i7.'26.' iPet^s. 

4 Matt. xxiv. ye know not when the time is. ^ Watch, therefore ; for ye ^°' „., .,., „ 

42-51 1 TiTi A-i-r> 1 " ^"- ~^- ■3^- See 

know not what hour your Lord doth come. *'' But know John 1. 51. 
this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the '{^"au.^25?i3!^''* 
thief would come," he would have watched, and would not have ^^%^%'^^% 
suffered his house to be broken up. ''^ Therefore be ye also ready; 11! ifhess.s.e! 
for in such an hour as ye think not, ''the Son of Man cometh. i f ^^ f '^'^ f ',=, 

, . i . , ^ , . " See John 1. 51. 

45 a "VVho 'then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath ^ L^^e 12. 42. 
made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season ? f ^or^"' ^■ 
"^^ Blessed ^is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find Heb. 3. 5. ' 
so doing ! ^^ Verily I say unto you, That *he shall make him ruler {^1"^'^%]%. 
over all his goods. "^^ But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, ^'^^'^ 22. 29. 
My lord delayeth his coming ; "^^ and shall begin to smite his fellow- 
servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken ; ^° the lord of that 
servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an 
hour that he is not aware of, ^^ and shall *cut him asunder, and * °''' ™' *™ ''•^• 
appoint him his portion with the hypocrites : 'there shall be weeping '^i'- 8-12. & 25. 
and gnashing of teeth. 

5 Mark xiii. 31. " " For "'the Son of Mttu is as a man taking a far journey, ^f*^® Matt. 25. 

who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, 
and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to 

6 Markxiii.35. vvatch. ' Watch "ye therefore ; for ye know not when the « "a"- 24. 42, 44. 

master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at 

7 Mark xiii. 36. the cock-crowing, or in the morning; 'lest coming sud- 

8 Markxiii. 37. jenly hc find you sleeping. * And what I say unto you I 
say unto all, Watch ! 

" And "take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your "i^The 
hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and \^^l: '^' ^: „ 

„ , . ,. „ 111 pi Iness. 5. 2. 

cares oi this Iiie, and so that day come upon you unawares ; 2 Pet. 3. lo. 

10 Luke xxi. 35. tofgr P^^ ^ g„^j.g gJ^g^Jl it pQj^g ^^ j^U ^^^^ tj^^t ^^^gjj ^^ Rev. 3. 3. & 16. 

" Luke xxi. 36. ^j^g f^^^ ^f ^j^g ^^^^^^ ^^^.^j^^ n ^atch 'ye, therefore, and ''l^f^:!t VJi 
pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape ]3. 33. Luke is 
all these things that shall come to pass, 'to stand before rPs. 1. 5. seo 
the Son of Man." iXl;ti2. 



9 Luke xxi. 34. 



164 THE WISE AND FOOLISH VIRGINS. [Part VI. 

a Mark 13. 32. Matt. xxiv. part of ver. 36. ^Bat of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the 

1 Thess. 5. 2. angels of heaven, — . 

2 Pet. 3. 10. ' -^-^_^-^^-_^__--^— - 



Section XXII. — The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. 
SECT^xxn. Matt. xxv. 1-13. 

V. JE. 29. ^ " Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, 

J. P. 4742. which took their lamps, and went forth to meet "the bridegroom. 

Jerusalem. 2 ^nd *five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ^ They that 

a Eph. 5. 99, 30. wero fooUsh took their lamps, and took no oil with them ; "* but the 

Rev. 19. 7. & 21. ijyjgg ^qq]^ q[\ Jj^ their vessels with their lamps. ^ While the bridegroom 

J ch. 13. 47. & tarried, ^they all slumbered and slept. ^ And at midnight ''there was 

c 1 Thess. 5. 6. ^ ^ry made. Behold the bridegroom cometh ! go ye out to meet him ! 

d eh. 24. 31. '' Then all those virgins arose, and 'trimmed their lamps. ^ And the 

e Lufcri2. 35. foohsh Said unto the wise, ' Give us of your oil ; for our lamps are 

*or,goingout. *gone out.' ^ But the wise answered, saying, ' Not so ; lest there be 

^ch. 7>2i,22,23. not euough for us and you; but go ye rather to them that sell, and 

V'i3^'/h^^9^3i ^^y ^°^ yourselves.' ^° And while they went to buy, the bridegroom 

i ch. 24. 42, 44. Came ; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, 

Luke 2i! 36! '^^' and •'^the door was shut. ^^ Afterward came also the other virgins, 

1 Thess^5^6 ^^^^yi^o? ' Lord ! "Lord ! open to us !' ^"- But he answered and said, 

1 Pe'. 5. 8. Rev. ' Vcrily I say unto you, *I know you not.' ^^ Watch 'therefore, for 

J See John 1. 51. yc kiiow neither the day nor the hour [wherein ^ the Son of Man 

cometh."] 



SECT, xxm. Section XXIII. — Parable of the Servants and the Talents. 

V. JE. 29. Matt. xxv. 14-30. 

J. P. 4742. 14 a YoR "the Jcingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far 

Jerusalem. couutiy, who Called his own servants, and delivered unto them his 

a A better supply p-Qods : ^^ and uuto oue he gave five ^talents, to another two, and to 

of the ellipsis O ' o ^ ^ _ _ ^ 

would have been auothcr onc ; 'to cveiy man according to his several ability ; and 

Man'u'as'7'' Straightway took his joumcy. ^^ Then he that had received the five 

Ma?k"i3!'34. ch! talcuts wcnt and traded with the same, and made them five other 

21. 33. Luke 19. talcuts. ^"^ And fikewisc he that had received two, he also gained 

*Ataientis£i87. Other two. ^^ But hc that had received one went and digged in the 

ch!'i^^2T ^^"''^ earth, and hid his lord's money. ^^ After a long time the lord of those 

i Rom. 1^6. servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. ^° And so he that had 

29. Eph. 4. 11. ' received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 

' Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents ; behold ! I have gained 

beside them five talents more.' ^^ His lord said unto him, ' Well 

done, thou good and faithful servant ! thou hast been faithful over a 

''34''4^6^'Lukri2. ^^^'^ things, T will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou into 

44; & 22. 29, 30. "the joy of thy lord.' ^^He also that had received two talents came 

2Tim. 2. 12. and said, ' Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents; behold! I 

1 Pet. 1. 8. have gained two other talents beside them.' ^^ His lord said unto him, 

ever. 21. 'Well 'douc, good and faithful servant! thou hast been faithful over 

a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou into 

the joy of thy lord.' ^^ Then he which had received the one talent 

came and said, ' Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping 

where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed; 

^^ and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth ; lo, 

there thou hast that is thine ! ' ^^ His lord answered and said unto him, 

' Thou wicked and slothful servant ! thou knewest that I reap where 

I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed ? ^^ thou oughtest 

therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my 

, u ,0 ,, ,, , coming I should have received mine own with usury.' ^^Take there- 

-/ch. 13. 12. Mark Si .. ,. i-iii i 

4. 25. Luke 8. 18. forc the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 
15.2." ' ° " ^^ For ^unto every one that hath ?hall be given, and he shall have 



Sect. XXVI.] CHRIST FORETELLS HIS APPROACHING DEATH. 165 

abundance : but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that 

which he hath. ^° And cast ye the unprofitable servant ^into outer ^^^' ^' ^"' ^ ^"^ 

darkness : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 



Section XXIV. — Christ declares the Proceedings of the Day of ■^— 

Judgment. V. M. 29. 

Matt. xxv. 31, to the end. J- P- 4742. 

31 a ^Yhen "the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the [holy] ^^^i^em. 

angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory ; ^^and "ch? le'. 27. & 19 
''before him shall be gathered all nations : and ^he shall separate them 



28. Mark 8. 38. 
See John 1. 51. 



one from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats ; fThe^-s"' 
^^ and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the 2 Thess.' i.' i". 

^ ° ° Jude 14. Kev, 



left. 

3^ " Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, ' Come, ^g^^^; ^f-jj,"- 
ye blessed of my Father ! ''inherit the kingdom "prepared for you from ^<i^- 20. 12. 
the foundation of the world.'^ ^^ For ^l was a hungered, and ye gave "^ai^iT.'ao.'ch.'is. 
me meat — I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink — I ^was a stranger, ^^^^ g ^^ 
and ye took me in — ^^ naked, ''and ye clothed me — I was sick, and 1 Pet. 1.4, 9. & 

. . ... - 3. 9. Rev 21 7 

ye visited me — I Svas in prison, and ye came unto me.' •''''Then shall cch.20. 23. 
the righteous answer him, saying, ' Lord ! when saw we thee a hun- Ycor^t't''' 
gered, and fed thee ? or thirsty, and gave thee drink ? ^^ When saw ^e*"- ii- ^'^_- 
we thee a stranger, and took thee in ? or naked, and clothed thee? /I'Jsg.VEzek. 
^^ Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee ?' i8.7. James 1.27. 
^^ And the King shall answer and say unto them, 'Verily I say unto ^3 John 5.'" 
YOU, •'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these mv ''J^^ss. is.ie. 

J ' J ^ -J i)i Tim. 1. 16. 

brethren, ye have done it unto me.' j Prov. 14. 31. & 
« " Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, ' Depart 'from jtJk'gtV."'^' 
me, ye cursed ! into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his ^''^- ^- 1°- 
angels. *^ For I w^as a hungered, and ye gave me no meat — I w^as 'aat'^ 13.' 40, '12! 
thirsty, and ye gave me no drink — ^•^ I was a stranger, and ye took spet. 2.'4.'' 
me not in — naked, and ye clothed me not — sick, and in prison, and ^p"^^,'';^ gj ^ 
ye visited me not.' ^"^ Then shall they also answer him, saying, 17. 5.' zech.'2. 
'Lord ! when saw we thee a hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or m Dan. 12. 2. 
naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee ? ' ^^Then r"*!^ °2 ^|' &(. 
shall he answer them, saying, ' Verily, I say unto you, 'Inasmuch as 
ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.' ^^ And =^ 
""these shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but the righteous sect. xxv. 
into life eternal." V iE 29 
■ J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 

Section XXV. — Christ retires from the City to the Mount of Olives. — 

-- ^ . „_ OQ a John 8. 1,2. 

Luke xxi. d/, do. j ji,_ 00. 39. 

^'^ And °in the day time He was teaching in the temple ; and 'at _____^___ 

night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the Mount 

of Olives. ^^ And all the people came early in the morning to him in 

the temple, for to hear him. ^- ^- ^^" 

'^ J. P. 4742. 



SECT. XXVI. 



Jerusalem. 



Section XXVI. — Wednesday, second Day before the Crucifixion — o Luke 22. 1. 
Christ foretells his approaching Death. 13.'". 

Matt. xxvi. I, 2.— Mark xiv. paH of ver. 1. ' * '^''.'^ J°^" ^- ^i- 

1 jiark XIV. 1. 1 After "two days was the feast of the Passover, and of scriptural usage 

2 Matt. XXVI. 1. |j,-,]Qavened Bread. " And it came to pass, when Jesus had evenTspoke'^n of 

3 Matt. xxvi. 2. finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, ' -'Ye Tavinf actuaii^ 

know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and gg^t'o^'^sailhr 
'the Son of Man "^is betrayed to be crucified. e. ?. is nke the 

•' rlescription 01 



past occurren- 
ces- — Ed. 



166 



PREPARATION FOR THE PASSOVER. 



[Pakt VI. 



SECT. XXVII. Section XXVII. — The Rulers consult how they may take Christ. 
V. M. 29. Matt. xxvi. 3--5. — Mark xiw. part of ver. 1, and ver. 2. — Luke xxii. 1, 2. 

J. P. 4742. ^ Now the feast of Unleavened Bread drew nigh, which 
Jerusalem, jg called the Passovcr. ^ Then "assembled together the 
Ps. 2. 2. John Chief Priests, and the Scribes, and the elders of the people, 
unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caia- 
phas ; ^ and consulted [and] ^ sought how they might take 
° Jesus by subtilty, '^ by craft, and put him to death. ' But 
they said, " Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar 
among the people :" " for they feared the people. y 

Matt. xxvi. part of ver. 4, and 5. — 1 — that they might take — and kill him. 5 But 
they said, " Not on the feast day, lestlhere be an uproar — . 

Mark xiv. part of ver. 1, and 2. — 1 — and the Chief Priests and the Scribes — him — 
2 — of the people." 

Luke xxii. part of ver. 2. And the Chief Priests and Scribes sought how they might 
kill him ; — . 



11. 47. Acts 4 
25, &c, 



y See Note 22. 8 



1 Luke xxii. L 

2 Matt. xxvi. 3. 

3 Matt. xxvi. 4 

4 Mark xiv. 1. 

5 Matt. xxvi. 4. 

6 Mark xiv. 1. 

7 Mark xiv. 2. 

8 Matt. xxvi. 5. 

9 Luke xxii. 2. 



SECT. xxvm. Section XXVIIL- 



V. JE. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 

z See Note 23. 

a John 13. 2, 27. 

b Zech. 11. 12. 
Matt. 27. 3. 

c Vrohahly shekels 
orstaterSy'in val- 
ue about 72 cts. ; 
the sum, there- 
fore, that Judas 
received was no 
more than $21. 
60c. which was 
the price paid for 
tlie loss of the 
meanest slave 
according to the 
Law of Moses ; 
see Exod.21.32. 

* Or, without tu- 
mult. 

d Mark 14. 10. 
Luke 23. 3. 
John 13. 2, 30. 

f. ch. 10. 4. 

/Matt. 26. 14. 
Luke 22. 3, 4. 

ffZech. 11. 12. 
Mark 14. II. 



■Judas agrees with the Chief Priests to betray 
Christ.^ 
Matt. xxvi. 14-16. — Mark xiv. 10, 11. — Luke xxii. 3-6. 
' Then "entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, 
being of the number of the Twelve. ^ And he went his 
way ^ unto the Chief Priests, to betray him unto them, ""and 
communed with the Chief Priests, and captains, how he 
might betray him unto them. ^ And said U7ito them, "What 
'will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you ?" " And 
when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give 
him money. ' And they covenanted with him for thirty 
^pieces of silver. ^ And from that time he sought opportu- 
nity to betray him. ^ And he sought how he might con 
veniently betray him. '° And he promised, and 
opportunity to betray him unto them *in the absence of the 
multitude. 

Matt. xxvi. ver. 14. ''Then one of the Twelve; called ^Judas Iscariot, went unto the 
Chief Priests. 

Mark xW. part of ver. 10. ■'"And Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went — . 
Luke xxii. ver. 5. And they were glad, and ^covenanted to give him money. 



1 Luke xxii. 3. 

2 Luke xxii. 4. 

3 Mark xiv. 10. 

4 Luke xxii. 4. 

5 Matt. xxvi. 
15. 

6 Mark xiv. 11. 

7 Matt. xxvi. 
15. 

8 Matt. xxvi. 
16. 

9 Mark xiv. 11. 
sought '° Luke xxii. 6. 



SECT. XXIX. 

V. M. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 
Jerusalem. 

a Exod. 12. 6. 

Matt. 26. 17. 

Luke 22. 7. 
* Or, sacrificed 



Section XXIX. — Thursday, the Day before the Crucifixion — 
Christ directs two of his Disciples to prepare the Passover. 
Matt. xxvi. 17-19. — Mark xiv. 12-16.— Luke xxii. 7-13. 
' And "the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they 
*killed the Passover, his disciples ^ came to Jesus [and] 
' said unto him, " Where wilt thou that we go and prepare 
that thou mayest eat the Passover ? " ^ And he sendeth forth 
two of his disciples, ' Peter and John, saying, " Go and 
prepare us the Passover, that we may eat." " And they said 
unto him, " Where wilt thou that we prepare ?" '' And 
[he] saith unto them, " Go ye into the city, * and, behold ! 
when ye are entered into the city, there shall ° meet you a ° '^"'^ ^'''- ^^■ 
man, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him '"into the '" ^"'"'''"'''•^'* 
house where he entereth in. " And wheresoever he shall ' i^kxiv. 14. 
go in, say ye to the good man of the house, The Master 
saith "unto thee, "My time is at hand; I will keep the '' J;"''^-^'''':"- 

^ J _ ■* ^* 13 Matt. xxvj. 

Passover at thy house with my disciples. '^ Where is the is. 
guest-chamber, where T shall eat the Passover with my " '^'"'^ ""■ " 



1 Mark xiv. 19. 

2 Matt. xxvi. 
17. 

3 Mark xiv. 12. 

4 Mark xiv. 13 
s Luke x.xii. 8. 

6 Luke xxii. 9. 

7 Mark xiv. 13. 

8 Luke xxii. 10. 



Sect. XXXI.l CHRIST REPROVES HIS DISCIPLES. 167 

15 Mark xiv. 15. disciples ? '^ Aiid liG will show you a large upper room, 

16 Markxiv. 16. furiiislied and prepared : there make ready for us." '^And 

17 Matt. XXVI. j^jg disciples went forth, and came into the city, "and did 

18 Markxiv. 16. as Jesus had appointed them, "'and found as he had said 

unto them : and they made ready the Passover. 

Matt xxvi. vartofver. 17, 18. and 19. — 17 ''Now the first day of the feast of Unleav- JExod. 12. 6. 
ened Bread the disciples — saying unto him, " Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee ^^^^ ^\ 7_ ' 
to eat the Passover ? " IS And he said, " Go into the city to such a man, and say unto 
him, The Master saith, — 19 — the disciples — and they made ready the Passover. 

Mark xiv. part ofver. 13. — and there shall — . 

Luke xxii. ver. 7, part of ver. 8, 10, 11, and ver. 12, and 13.— 7 '^Then came the 'Matt^ag^y. 
day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be ''killed. 8 And he sent — 10 — he said Mark 14. 12. 
unto them, — a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him — 11 And ye shall d See Mark 14. 12. 
say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith — Where is the guest-chamber, 
where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples ? 12 And he shall show you a large 
upper room furnished : there make ready." 13 And they went, and found as he had 
said unto them : and they made ready the Passover. 



Section XXX. — Christ partakes of the last Passover.^ " -^— 

Matt. xxvi. 20. — Mark xiv. 17. — Luke xxii. 14-18. — John xiii. 1. V- -^- 29- ■ 

T P 4749 

1 John xiii. 1. 1 Now "before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus Jerusalem 

knew that ''his hour was come that he should depart out of — 
this world unto the Father, having loved his own which ^Mau'^'aetg! 

2 Markxiv. 17. were in the world, he loved them unto the end. ^ And in jjohnia. 23. & 

3 Lukexx-ii.14. ^\-^q evening he cometh with the Twelve. ^ And when the ' ' 

4 Matt. xxvi. ^Quj. yyas come, — ■• when the even was come, — ^ he sat 

5 Lukexxii.M. down, and the twelve apostles with him. ^^ And he said 
6Lukexxii.i5. yjj^Q them, " *With desire I have desired to eat this Pass- 

7 Lukexxii.i6. oyer with you before I suffer ; '' for I say unto you, I will 

not any more eat thereof 'until it be fulfilled in the king- "^acIs w^4i^' 

8 Lukexxii.17. dom of God." ^ And he took the cup, and gave thanks, Rev. 19. 9. 

9 Lukexxii.18. ^nd Said, " Take this, and divide it among yourselves ; ^ for 

''I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, 
until the kingdom of God shall come." 

Matt. xxvi. part ofver. 20. Now — He sat down with the Twelve. 



* Or, I have heart- 
ily desired* 



d Matt. 26. 29. 



Section XXXI. — Christ again reproves the ambition of his Disciples, ^^ct^xxi. 

Luke xxii. 24-27.— John xiii. 2-16. V. JE. 29. 

1 joiin xiii. 2. 'And supper being ended [come], Mhere "was also a J- P- 4742. 
24-27.' ' strife among them, which of them should be accounted the e'^i^em- 
greatest. ^5 ^y^^ ijje said unto them, " The kings of the Gentiles "Luke''9^'4?' 
exercise lordship over them ; and they that exercise authority upon 4 Matt. 20. 25. 
them are called benefactors. ^^ But "ye shall not be so ; ''but he that ^ M^tt. 20. 26. 
is greatest among you, let him be as the younger ; and he tliat is chief, ^ ^'^^- ^- ^■ 
as he that doth serve. ^'^ For "whether is greater, he that sitteth at ^ ^,1^1 12. 37. 
meat, or he that serveth ? is not he that sitteth at meat? but ^l am /Matt. ao. as. 

, ,, , ,, ,, JolinlS. 13,14. 

among you as he that serveth. Phii. 2. 7. 

John xiii. 2-16. s^pj^g 'Devil having now put into the heart of Judas Is- ^j^hnig^V' 
cariot, Simon's son, to betray him ; ^ Jesus knowing ''that the Father a Man. ii. 27. &. 
had given all things into his hands, and 'that he was come from God, 35!&i7. 2. " ' 
and went to God ; '^ he ■'riseth from supper, and laid aside his gar- tco^,\f.'.27 
ments ; and took a towel, and girded him.self. ^ After that he poureth Heb. 2. s. 
water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe 'ic. 28." 
them with the towel wherewith he was girded.'' ^ Then cometh he to ^^^^^o^j f " 
Simon Peter : and *Peter said unto him, " Lord, *dost thou wash my b see Note as. 
feet?" ■^ Jesus answered and said unto him, "What I do thou * g^'; 5^;^^ 3 j^ 
knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter." ® Peter saith ; ver. 12. 
unto him, " Thou shalt never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, 



n ch. 15. 3. 
ch. 6. 64. 



168 CHRIST SPEAKS OF HIS BETRAYER. [Part VI. 

'e^n? E^hL^"' " If ""I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." ^ Simon Peter 
Heb.' m!]ii' ^' ^^^^^ unto him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my 
head." ^° Jesus saith to him, " He that is washed needeth not save 
to wash his feet, but is clean every whit ; and "ye are clean, but not 
all." ^^ For °he knew who should betray him ; therefore said he, 

"Matt. 23. 8, 10. u Ye are not all clean." 

Luke "•46. 

1 Cor. 8. 6. & 12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, 

19. 3. Phil. 2.11. . . o ? 

5 Luke 22. 27. and was set down again, he said unto them, "Know ye what I have 
'•Rom. 12. 10. done to you ? ^^ Ye ''call me 'Master' and 'Lord:' and ye say well, 

1 Pet.'s.'s.' for so I am. ^^ If 'I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your 
*PMi"2."". ^^Pet. f'S^t, ""ye also ought to wash one another's feet. ^^ For "I have given 

2.21. 1 John 2.6. you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. ^^ Verily, 

t Matt 10. 24. . L J J ^ J J 7 

Luke'e. 40. John 'vcnly, I Say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord ; 
^^'^' neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him." 



SECT. XXXII. Section XXXIL — Christ, sitting at the Passover and continuing the 
V. JE. 29. Conversation, speaks of his Betrayer. 

J. P. 4742. Matt. xxvi. 21-25.— Mark xiv. 18-21.— Luke xxii. 21-23.— Johjt xiii. 17-30. 

erusaj;m. , (^ j^ a^^ kuow thcsc tilings, happy are ye if ye do them. ' Jdm ''"i- 17- 

a James 1. 25. 5 J gpeak uot of you all, I know whom I have chosen ; but ^ ■'<''"' ""• ^^■ 
26. 23.' John is! that the ''Scripture may be fulfilled, — 

' He that eateth bread with me 
Hath lifted up his heel against me.' 

X'L^ohn'TI.'' ' *Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to = John xiii.io. 

29. & 16. 4. pass, ye may beheve that I am He. ''Verily, "verily, I say " Jo''" 'iii'.2o. 
"^25.%'. Luke' 10. unto you, Hc that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth 

^^" me ; and he that receiveth me receiveth Him that sent 

me." 
"^S'mM'' ' VV^hen ''Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit. « John xiii. 21. 

Luke 22! 21.' " And as they sat, and did eat, Jesus ' testified and said, 1 fl'^'"^''l^- 

John 12 27 . . 1 • 1 ' John xiii. 21. 

c Acts 1.17. " Verily, verily, I say unto you, That "one of you, * which « Mark xiv. is. 
1 John 2. 19. eateth with me, 'shall betray me. '" But, -^behold ! the " Jotn xiii. 21. 

fP3. 41. 9. Matt. 1 /. 1 . ,1 , •' . • , 1 11})'" Lukexxii.21. 

26. 21, 23. Mark hand oi him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. 
14.^8. joiini3. 1, ^jj(j ^jf^gy began to inquire among themselves, which of " Lukexxii.23. 
^ Matt. 26. 22. them it was that should do this thing. ''^ And they began '^ Mark xiv. 19. 

John 13. 22, 25. ,,, ,. ^, ,,* ri 

to be exceeding sorrowful ; and began every one 01 them " Matt. xxvi. 
APs. 41. 9. to say unto him, '^ one by one, ''^ " Lord, is it I?" '* and u m^^ xiv. 19. 

jo"hn i3.'i8.' another said, " Is it I ? " " And he answered and said '^ Matt.xxvi.^. 
"lZ-H'I*: "i^to them, " It is one of the Twelve, that dippeth with me ]' ^ark x!" 20.' 

See Joiin 1.51. in the dish. "He ''that dippeth his hand with me in the is Matt. .xxvi. 

jActs2.23.& ^jgj^^ ^jjg g^l^^g gj^^jj j^^^j.^^ ^^ ,g,pj^g ;g^^^ ^f ^^^^^ in-. 9 Lk xiv. 21. 

k Gen. 3. 15. dccd gocth, '" as ■'it was determined, land! "' as ""it is written so Luke xxii.2a. 

Ps ^2 Is 50. 5 -' L J 

&c'. &'53.' ' ' of him : but woe unto that man by whom 'the Son of Man °' Ma't.xxvi. 
zecil. i2. io. & is betrayed ! it had been good for that man, if he had not 
Luk^ 24"a5!'26; been born ! " •= '^ Then the disciples looked one on another, =^ John xiii. 22. 
i^- oi"'!," ^\^t' doubting of whom he spake. ^^ Now ""there was leaning ^ John xiii. 23. 

28, 36, 37. Acts t i i i t i i 

13. 27-29. & 17. on Jesus bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 

23.'&28. 23'. ' ' "^ Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ^* John xiii. 21. 

1 ptl: L 'i?: ask who it should be of whom he spake. '' He then lying "" ^"''^ ''"'• ^^• 
; See John 1. 51. ou Jcsus' brcast saith unto him, "Lord, who is it?" 
c See Note 26. ^^ Jesus auswcrcd, " He it is, to whom I shall give a tsop, ^^ John xiii. 20. 
mJohnig. 26. & whcu I havc dipped it." And when he had dipped the 

20^24. ■' sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. " And " John xiii. 27. 
tOT,morseL "after the sop, Satan entered into him. '* Then Judas, =*• Matt. xxvi. 

« Luke 22. 3. I • 1 1 , . . , , • , Tu- • -. T -^ »> 25. 

John 6. 70. which betrayed him, answered and said, " Master, is it 1 .■' 



Sect. XXXIIL] JUDAS GOES OUT TO BETRAY CHRIST. 169 

^ John xiii.27. He said unto him, " Thou hast said.'''^ ='Then said Jesus ^ see Note 27. 
30 John xiii.ss. unto him, " That thou doest, do quickly." ^° Now no man 

at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. 
" •f"''" """''■ 29- 3> For some of them thought, because "Judas had the bag, " J^^n 19. 6. 

that Jesus had said unto him, " Buy iJwse things that we 

have need of against the feast ; "' or, that he should give 
S2 John xiii. 30. something to the poor. ^" He then having received the sop 

went immediately out : and it was night.'' p Knapp adds 

here, " when he 

Matt. sxtI. ver. 21, and. fart of ver. 22, 23, and 24.— 21 And as they did eat, he said, ■^^nt out."— Ed. 

" Verily I say unto you. That one of you shall betray me." 22 And they were — 

23 And he answered and said. — 24 'The Son of Man goeth — . j See John 1. 51. 

Mark .tiv. part of ver. 18, 19, and 21. — 18 — said, '■ Verily I say unto you, One of you 

— shall betray me." 19 — sorrowful, and to say unto him — '• Is it I :" — 21 — as it is ^ g^^ .^^^^ ^ 

■"written of him : but woe to that man by whom ^the Son of Man is betrayed ! good were ^ gee John 1. 51 . 

it for that man, if he never had been born !" tJIatt. 26. 24. 

Luke sxii. part ofter. 22. — And 'truly the Son of Man g-oeth, — but woe unto that Mark 14. 21. 

, , . , , ... - ' SeeJohnl. ol. 

man by whom he is betrayed ! ' 



Section XXXHI. — Judas goes out to betray Christ, who predicts sect, xxxm. 
Peter^s Denial of him, and the Danger of the rest of the Apostles. V. M. 29. 
Lttkz xxii. 28-38.— John xiii. 31, to the end. J- P- 4742. 

John xiii. 31-35. 31 THEREFORE, whcu he WaS gOHC OUt, JcSUS Said, " NoW ef^^sajjm. 

°is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. "^^l^^^'if^'i^ 
^^ If 'God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, i Pet. 4. 11. 
and 'shall straightway glorify him. ^^ Little children, yet a little while ^ ch.' 12.' 23!' "' °" 
I am with you. Ye shall seek me: ''and, as I said unto the Jews, <f ch. 7. 34. & 8. 
' Whither I go, ye cannot come ; ' so now I say to you. ^'^ A °new ^ l^^, jg jg 
commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another ; as I have ^''p,^i^^^- f'^j'- 
loved you, that ye also love one another. ^^ By •'^this shall all men know ]J'"=^^^- 1- ^■ 
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 1 Pet. 1.' 22. 
Lokexxii.2S-3s. ^8 it Yg g^j.g ^j^gy ^.j^j^]^ }^3^yg continued with me in ^my 3. n, 23. & 4. 21 
temptations ; ^^and ''I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath /| John 2.5. & 
appointed unto me, ^"that 'ye may eat and drink at my table in my ^Heb.4. 15. 
kingdom ; ■'and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." ''ch^'^i.V H' ^'^^ 
3^ And the Lord said. "Simon! Simon! behold! ^Satan hath de- 2Cor. 1. 7. 

2 Tim. 2. 12. 

sired to have you, that he may 'sift you as wheat; ^'^but '"1 have i Matt. s. 11. ch. 
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not ; "and when thou art converted,® g^- ^^ ^^''- ^^ 
strengthen thy brethren." ^^And he said unto him, "Lord! I am jPs. 49. 14. 
ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death." ■'''And °he icor.6.'2. ' 
said, " I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that ^^ p^f '5^ g 
thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me." z Amos 9. 9. 

^^ And ''he said unto them, " When I sent you without purse, and "'Johnn. 9, 11, 



scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? " And they said, " Nothing." nPs. 51. 13. 
36 Then said he unto them, " But now, he that hath a purse, let him e^see"No'te28V' 
take it, and likewise his scrip ; and he that hath no sword, let him sell » -Matt. 26. 34. 
his garment, and buy one. ^"For I say unto you, that this that is johni3.'38.' 
'written must yet be accomplished in me. — ' And he was reckoned p ^J^}^^:}°; ^- , 

1 , -in I 1 • ' ■ ch. 9. 3. & 10. 4. 

among the transgressors. For the things concerning me have an q is. 53. 12. 
end." 38^Q(i thgy saij^ '-'Lord, behold! here are two swords." ^^^'^15.28. 
And he said unto them, " It is enough." ^ fSeeNote29. 

John .xiii. 36-38. 36 gjfjjQj^ Pctcr Said uuto him, "Lord, whither goest 
thou ? " Jesus answered him, " Whither I go, thou canst not follow 
me now ; but ''thou shalt follow me afterwards." ^^ Peter said unto %'=^-^^^-,^^^ 
him, "Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will ''lay down my s Man. 26. 33-35. 
life for thy sake." ^s jggyg answered him, " Wilt thou lay down thy Luke ^4 33734. 
Ufe for my sake ? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not 
crow, till thou hast denied me thrice." 

VOL. 11. 22 o 



170 



CHRIST CONSOLES HIS APOSTLES. 



[Part VL 



SECT. XXXIV. 

V. M. 29. 

J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 

g See Note 30. 

a Mark 14. 22. 
Luke 22. 19. 
] Cor. 11.23,24, 
25. 

* Many Greek 
copies hsive^gave 
thanks. See 
Mark 6. 41. 

b 1 Cor. 10. 16. 
or, represents ; 
the verb of ex- 
istence is often 
thus used ; com- 
pare Acts 10. 17. 
& 17. 20. where 
it is very prop- 
erly rendered 
onean ; see also. 
Gen. 40. 26. 
Dan. 7. 24. 
Matt. ra. 38, 39. 
Luke 15. 26. 
John 7. 36. & 10. 
6. 1 Cor. 10. 4. 
Gal. 4. 24. Rev. 
1.20. 

c 1 Cor. 11. 24. 

d See Exod. 24.8. 
Lev. 17. 11. 
Jer. 31. 31. 
Matt. 20. 28. 
Rom. 5. 15. 
Heb. 9. 22. 

« 1 Cor. 10. 16. 
j See Note b. 

h See Note 31. 



Section XXXIV. — Christ institutes the Eucharist.s 
Matt. xxvi. 26-29.— Mark xiv. 22-25.— Luke xxii. 19, 20. 
' And "as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and 
*blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and 
said, " Take, eat ; this Hs my body, ' which is given for 
you : "^this do in remembrance of me." ^ Likewise also 
* he took ^ the cup after supper, '^ and when he had given 
thanks, he gave it to them, ' saying, " Drink ye all of it ; " 
^ and they all drank of it. ^ And he said unto them, " This 
''is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many. 
" This 'cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is 
shed for you, [and] " for many for the remission of sins. 
'" Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more '^ henceforth of 
this fruit of the vine, -^until that day when I drink it new 
with you in my Father's ''kingdom; '""in the kingdom of God." 

Matt. xxvi. part of ver. 27, 28, a7id 29. — 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and 
gave it to them, — 28 ^for this is my blood of the New Testament, vi'hich is shed — 
29 ''But I say unto you, I will not drink — . 

Mark xiv. ver. 22, and part of ver. 23, and 25. — 22 *And as they did eat, Jesus 
took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, " Take, eat ; this ■'is 
• my body. 23 And — the cup, — . 25 — of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I 
drink it new — . 

Luke xxii. part of ver. 19, and 20. — 19 *And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake 

it, and gave unto them, saying, " This 'is my body — 20 — saying, — . 

/Acts 10. 41. n- See Note g-. A Mark 14. 25. Luke 22. 18. i Matt. 26. 26. Luke 22. 19. 1 Cor. 11. 23, 
ft Matt. 26. 26. Mark 14. 22. I See Note b. 



1 Mal;t xxvi, 
26. 



^ Luke xxii. 19. 
3 Luke xxii. 20. 

■1 Mark xiv. 23. 

5 Luke xxii.20. 

6 Mark xiv. 23. 

7 Matt. xxvi. 
27. 

8 Mark xiv. 23. 

9 Mark xiv. 24. 

10 Luke xxii.20. 

11 Matt. xxvi. 
28. 

12 Mark xiv. 25. 

13 Mat. xxvi. 29. 

14 Mark xiv. 2o. 



SECT. XXXV. 

V. M. 29. 
J. p. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 

a ver. 27. ch. 16. 

3. 22. 

Jch. 13.33,36. 
c ver. 18. 28. 

Acts I. 11. 
d ch. 12. 26. cSc 

17. 24: 1 Thess. 

4. 17. 

e ch.l. 4, 17. & 

8. 32. & 10. 9. 

& 11. 25. Heb. 

9.8. 
/ch. 8. 19. 
g ch. 12. 45. Col. 

1. 15. Heb. 1. 3. 
h ver. 20. ch. 10. 

38. & 17. 21, 23. 
t ch. 5. 19. & 7. 

16. & 8. 28. & 

12. 49. 
j ch. 5. 36. & 10. 

ft Matt. 21. 21. 

Mark 16. 17. 

Luke 10. 17. 
I Matt. 7. 7. & 

21. 22. Mark 11. 

24. Luke 11. 9. 

ch. 15. 7, 10. 

& 16. 23, 24. 

James 1. 5. 

1 John 3. 22. & 

5. 14. 

m ver. 21, 23. ch. 

15. 10, 14. 

1 John 5. 3. 
n ch. 15. 26. & 

16. 7. Rom. 8. 
15, 26. 

ch. 15. 26. & 
16. 13. 1 Cor. 2. 
14. 1 John 4. 6. 

p 1 John 2. 27. 

1/ Malt. 28. 20. 
ver. 3, 28. 



Section XXXV. — Christ exhorts the Apostles, and consoles them on 

his approaching Death. 

John xiv. 

^ " Let "not your heart be troubled : ye believe in God, believe also 
in me. ^ In my Fatlier's house are many mansions ; if it were not 
so, I would have told you. I 'go to prepare a place for you ; ^and 
if I go and prepare a place for you, T will come again, and receive 
you unto myself; that ''where lam, there ye may be also. ^And 
whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." 

^Thomas saith unto him, " Lord, we know not whither thou goest ; 
and how can we know the way?" ^ Jesus saith unto him, "I 'am 
the Way, the Truth, and the Life ; no man cometh unto the Father, 
but by me. '^ If ^ye had known me, ye should have known my Father 
also ; and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him." 

^ Philip saith unto him, " Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth 
us." 3 Jesus saith unto him, " Have I been so long time with you, 
and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ? ^he that hath seen me hath 
seen the Father ; and how sayest thou then, ' Show us the Father ? ' 
^" Believest thou not that ''I am in the Father, and the Father in me ? 
the words that I speak unto you 'I speak not of myself ; but the 
Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. " Believe me that 
I am in the Father, and the Father in me ; ^or else believe me for the 
very works' sake. '^ Verily, '^verily, I say unto you. He that believeth 
on me, the works that I do shall he do also ; and greater works than 
these shall he do ; because I go unto my Father ; ^^ and 'whatsoever 
ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glori- 
fied in the Son. ^^ If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 

15 u jf "yg jQYg j^g^ keep my commandments : '''and I will pray the 
Father, and "he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide 
with you for ever, " (even "the Spirit of truth ;) whom the world cannot 
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him ; but ye know 
him ; for he dwelleth with vou, ^'and shall be in vou. '^ I 'will not 



you, 



in you. 



Sect. XXXVII.] CHRIST THE TRUE VINE. 171 

leave you *comfoitIess : I will come to you. '■^ Yet a little while, and * °''' '"^*'"'^- 
the world seeth me no more ; but '^ye see me ; because I live, ye shall '^I'corf 15^20. 
live also. -" At that day ye shall know that "I am in my Father, and ^.J^'^-J"- "''• ^*'- 
ye in me, and I in you. ^^ He 'that hath my commandments, and 26." 
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall be «^ J'^^na. 5. & 
loved of my Father ; and I will love him, and will manifest myself to 
him." 

^^ Judas "saith unto him (not Iscariot), "Lord, how is it that thou "Lukee. le. 
wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?" ^^ Jesus 
answered and said unto him, "If °a man love me, he will keep my «ver. 15. 
words; and my Father will love him, "and we will come unto him, \ev°3"l6^^' 
and make our abode with him. ^* He that loveth me not, keepeth 
not my sayings; and "^the w^ord which ye hear is not mine, but the iver. 10. ch.s. 
Father's which sent me. ^^ These things have I spoken unto you, &'8. 28. & 12. 
being yet present with you ; ^^ but "the Comforter (which is the Holy y ^^^_ jg Luke 
Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name), he shall teach you ^'if'-tf^'^'i?' 
all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I 26. & 16.7,13. 
have said unto you. ^'' Peace 'I leave with you, my peace I give unto jphu. 4.7. coi! 
you : not as the world giveth, give I unto you. "Let net your heart ^- ^^• 
be troubled, neither let it be afraid. ^^ Ye have heard how 'I said jver.sjis. 
unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye '^j^Vjo'^io^fe 
would rejoice, because [I said], 'I go unto the Father ; for my Father le! le. & 20! 17. 
is greater than I. ^^ And "^now I have told you before it come to pass, ^ch. 13! 19. &; 
that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. i^- "*• 

^""Hereafter I will not talk much with you. Tor the prince of le.'ii.' 
this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. ^^ But that the world ^^^^^l] l^' Heb. 
may know that I love the Father ; and -'^as the Father gave me com- ^- ^■ 
mandmentj even so I do : arise, let us go hence." ' 



Section XXXVI. — Christ goes with his Disciples to the Mount of sect, xxxvi. 

Olives, V. JE. 29. 

Matt. xxvi. 30. — Mark xiv. 26. — Luke xxii. 39. j p 4742. 

» Mark xiv. 26. ^ And whcu they had sung a *hymn, ^ he "came out, and Jerusalem. 

uexxn.39. ^gj^(. g^g j^g ^g^g ^qj^^^ ^q t|,g MoUUt of OlivCS ; and his *Or,p^. 

disciples also followed him. a John is. i. 

Matt. xxvi. 30. And when they had sung a thymn, they went out into the Mount of fj ?«<"«• 
Olives. 

Mark xiy. part of vcr. 26. — they went out into the Mount of Olives. 

Lhke xxii. beginning of vcr. 39. And — . ==^^== 



Section XXX VII.— CAm?; declares Himself to he the True Vine. SEcr^xvn. 

John xv. 1-8. V. M. 29. 

^ " I AM the true Vine, and my Father is the Husbandman. ^ Every J- P. 4742. 
"branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away ; and every branch Jerusalem. 
that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit, a Matt. is. is. 
^Now 'ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. ^^^-^^-^■^^^ 
"* Abide "in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, 5.26. ipet.1.22. 
except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. ''1 john2. 6. 
^I am the Vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I ''■^°f-}'^:?\ 
in him, the same bringeth forth much ''fruit ; for *without me ye can 4. 13. 
do nothing. "^ If a man abide not in me, "he is cast forth as a branch, *me'AlZt^i%' 
and is withered ; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, « Matt. 3. 10. & 
and they are burned. ^ If ye abide in me, and my words abide in 
you, -^ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. ® Herein \",'u. &''i6.23. 
^is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit ; so shall ye be my ^^'^^•^{ '^13 
disciples," 35." pwi.' 1. n.' 



172 



EXHORTATION TO MUTUAL LOVE. 



[Part VL 



SEC. XXXVIII. 

V. JE. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 

och. 14.J5,21,93. 
ich.16. 24.&17. 

13. 1 John 1. 4. 
c ch. 13. 34. 

1 Thess. 4. 9. 

1 Pet. 4. 8. 

1 John 3. 11. & 

4.21. 
dch. 10. 11, 15. 

Rom. 5. 7, 8. 

Eph. 5. 2. 

1 John 3. 16. 
e ch. 14. 15, 23. 

See Matt. 12. 50. 
/See Gen. 18. 17. 

ch. 17. 26. Acts 

20. 27. 
g ch. 6. 70. & 13. 

18. 1 John 4. 10, 

19. 
h Matt. 2^. 19. 

Maik 16. 15. 

Col. 1. 6. 
tver.7.ch. 14. 13. 
j ver. 12. 
k 1 John 3. 1, 13. 
I 1 John 4. 5. 
?n c]i. 17. 14. 
n Matt. 10. 24. 

Luke 6. 40. 

ch.l3. 16. 
Ezek. 3. 7. 
V Matt. 10. 22. & 

24. 9. ch. 16. 3. 
5 ch. 9. 41. 
r Rom. 1. 20. 

James 4. 17. 
* Or, excuse, 
s 1 John 2. 23. 
t ch. 3. 2.&7.31. 

& 9. 32. 
u Ps. 35. 19. & 

69. 4. 
■c Luke 24. 49. 

ch. 14. 17, 26. 

& 16. 7, 13. 

Acts 2. 33. 
TO 1 John 5. 6. 
X Luke 1. 2. & 

24. 48. Acts 1. 

8, 21, 22. & 2. 32. 

& 3. 15. & 4. 20, 

33. & 5. 32. & 

10. 39. & 13. 31. 

1 Pet. 5. ]. 

2 Pet. 1. 16. 

1 John 1. 1,2. 
y Matt. 11. 6. & 

24. 10. & 26. 31. 
« cli. 9. K, 34. & 

12. 42. 
a Acts 8. 1. & 

9. 1. & 2S, 9-11. 
ich. 15.21. 

Rom. 10. 2. 

1 Cor. 2. 8. 

1 Tim. 1. 13. 
c ch. 13. 19. & 

14. 29. 

d See Matt. 9. 15. 

SECT. XXXIX. 

V. J&. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 
Jerusalem. 

a ver. 10, 16. ch. 
7. 33. & 13. 3. 

& 14. 28. 
h ver. 22. ch. 14.1. 
c ch. 7. 39. & 14. 

16, 26. & 15. 26. 

Acts 2. 33. 

Eph. 4. 8. 
* Or, convince, 
d Acts 2. 22-37. 



Section XXXVIII. — Christ exhorts his Apostles to mutual Love, and, 

to prepare for Persecution. 

John xv. 9, to the end ; and xvi. 1-4. 

^ " As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you : continue ye 
in my love. ^^ If "ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my 
love ; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in 
his love. 

^^ " These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain 
in you, and Hhat your joy might be full. ^^ This "is my commandment, 
That ye love one another, as I have loved you. ^■^ Greater ''love hath 
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. " Ye 
'are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. ^^ Henceforth 
I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his lord 
doeth ; but I have called you friends, •'^for all things that I have heard 
of my Father I have made known unto you. '^^ Ye ^have not chosen 
me, but I have chosen you, and ''ordained you, that ye should go and 
bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain ; that 'whatsoever 
ye shall ask of the Father in my Name, He may give it you. ^'' These 
•'things I command you, that ye love one another. 

18 u jf t^j^g world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated 
you. ^^ If 'ye were of the world, the world would love his own ; but 
"because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the 
world, therefore the world hateth you. ^" Remember the word that I 
said unto you, ' The "servant is not greater than his lord.' If they 
have persecuted me, they will also persecute you ; °if they have kept 
my saying, they will keep yours also. ^^ But ^all these things will 
they do unto you for my Name's sake, because they know not Him 
that sent me. ^^ If 'I had not come and spoken unto them, they had 
not had sin ; "^but now they have no *cloak for their sin. ^^ He "that 
hateth me hateth my Father also. ^* If I had not done among them 
'the works which none other man did, they had not had sin ; but 
now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. ^^ But 
this Cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in 
their Law, 'They "hated me without a cause.' 

^^ " But "when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you 
from the Father (even the Spirit of Truth, Avhich proceedeth from the 
Father), "he shall testify of me; ^'''and^'ye also shall bear witness, 
because ye have been with me from the beginning. 

^ " These things have I spoken unto you, that ye ^should John xvi. 1-4. 
not be offended. ® They ''shall put you out of the syna- 
gogues : yea, the time cometh, "that whosoever killeth you will think 
that he doeth God service. ^ And ''these things will they do unto 
you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. "* But 'these 
things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may 
remember that I told you of them. And ''these things I said not 
unto you at the beginning, because I was with you." 



Section XXXIX. — Christ promises the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. 
John xvi. 5, to the end. 

^ " But now "I go my way to Him that sent me ; and none of you 
asketh me, ' Whither goest thou ? ' ^ but because I have said these 
things unto you, 'sorrow hath filled your heart. ''Nevertheless I tell 
you the truth — it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go 
not away, "the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I 
will send Him unto you. ^And when He is come He will *reprove 
the world of sin, and of riehteousness, and of judgment. '^Of ''sin, 



Sect. XL.] CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR HIS FOLLOWERS. I73 

because they believe not on me ; ^° of "righteousness, because I go to « <;^i- 3- w.^fe 5. 
my Father, and ye see me no more ; " of -^judgment, because the /Luke lo.is. 
prince of this world is judged. ^~ I have yet many things to say unto Actsle^^'g. 
you, "but ye cannot bear them now ; i^howbeit when He, Hhe Spirit f^^^%f^ ^°l- 
of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not ^ Jiark4. 33.' 
speak of himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, i^iaV^'^' ^^^' 
and He will show you things to come. ^'^He shall olorifv me: for *,'=''• ^tv^''' ?^; 

r ■ ^1 I 11 I • T- All ■ ' & lo. 26. IJohn 

He shall receive of mnie, and shall show it unto you. ^^All 'thmgs 2.20,27. 
that the Father hath are mine ; therefore said I, that He shall take of 'ck ".'soVl^ls. 
mine, and show it unto you. ^^A ^little while, and ye shall not see .s.&n. 10. 
me; and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, ^because I go to "'sTt i'3.*^3a & 
the Father." i'.t!l^. ch. 13.3. 

1' Then said some of his disciples among themselves, " What is this 
that he saith unto us, ' A little while, and ye shall not see me ; and 
again, a little while, and ye shall see me ; ' and, ' Because I go to the 
Father ? ' " ^^ They said therefore, " What is this that he saith, ' A little 
while? ' we cannot tell what he saith." ^^Now Jesus knew that they ^i^;"26-i7- 
were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, "Do ye inquire among n Luke 24.41,52. 
yourselves of that I said, 'A little while, and ye shall not see me;' 2o."2o." ac^'2^ 
and again, ' A little while, and ye shall see me ? ' ^o Verily, verily, I fp^^ ^^■^'~- 
say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall oMat.7.-.ch.i4. 
rejoice ; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned p^th^^drn!'' 
into joy. -'^ A 'woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because fOr,parow«. 
her hour is come ; but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she t °''' p°™'''«*- 

^ _ _ ' Q ver. *do. 

remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the r ch. 14. 21, 23. 
world. ~^And "ye now therefore have sorrow; but I will see you s ver. 30. ch. 3.13. 
again, and "your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from t ch.']3. 3. 
you; ^^and in that day ye shall ask me nothing. "Verily, verily, I *or,pa?-aMe. 
say unto you. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name, He "ver^27.^'ch. 17 
will give it you. ^^ Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my Name : ^• 
ask, and ye shall receive, ^that your joy may be full. \iaA 14. 27. ' 

2^ "These things have I spoken unto you in f proverbs ; but the ^'^''■so-w- 
time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in tproverbs, but ?/ ch! 8?29 '&''i4! 
I shall show vou plainly of the Father. -'^ At 'that day ye shall ask "' "' 
in my Name ; and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for '27.' eot^. s.' 1. ' 
you ; ^'' for ''the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, coi"."!.' 20."' 
and 'have believed that I came out from God. 2- 1 'came forth from ^ ch- j5. 19, 20, 
the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, Jch.H.'LRom! 
and go to the Father." t&s.V"'"'^'*' 

^^His disciples said unto him, '"'Lo! now speakest thou plainly, 
and speakest no *proverb. ^*' Now are we sure that "thou knowest === 
all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee. By this 
"we believe that thou camest forth from God." "^^ Jesus answered ^^^^^^• 
them, " Do ye now believe ? ■^- behold ! "the hour cometh, yea, is ^- ^- 29. 
now come, that ye shall be scattered, ""every man to this own, and ^' ^" '*^^^' 
shall leave me alone : and "yet I am not alone, because the Father is ^"f^<""- 
with me. ^^ These things I have spoken unto you, that "in me ye "it^i' ^^' ^ 
might have peace. °In the world ye shall have tribulation; ''but be ^ Dan. 7. 13, 14. 
of good cheer, I have overcome the world." i6!28. &28.'i8. 

Luke 1. 32. & 
- 10. 22. ch. 3. 35. 

& 5. 22, 27. & 

Section XL. — Christ intercedes for his Followers. a'Jis 2. 36. & 17. 

T^„ . ^, ;; 3L Rom. H. 9. 

JOH-V XVll. 1 Cor. 15.25,27. 

1 These words spake Jesus, and hfted up his eyes to heaven, and phi!!"!. g,"'.^'' 
said, " Father ! "the hour is come ; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also fpet'b"'^"^'^" 
may glorify Thee ; ^ as ''Thou hast given him power over all flesh, k«'- i'- ^''■ 
that he should give eternal life to as many "as Thou hast given him. ^^."^6.^.37.' ^" 

VOL. II. o* 



174 CHRIST PREDICTS PETER'S DENIAL. [Part VI. 

^9.%i^' "' ^^'' ^ -^"^ '''^his is life eternal, that they might know Thee, Hhe only true 
e 1 Cor. 8. 4. God, and Jesus Christ, ^whom Thou hast sent. * I ^have glorified Thee 
/ch. 3.^34. & 5. oil the earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do ; 

57' &"7%9' &' ^ ^"^ now, O Father ! glorify Thou me with thine own self, with the 

10. 36. & li. 42. glory ''which I had with Thee before the world was. 
'^s^'se^&t'.s. & ^ " I 'have manifested thy Name unto the men •'which thou gavest 

31' &.\t 10.' &' ™^ ^"t of the world. Thine they were, and Thou gavest them me ; 

19. 30. and they have kept thy word. ' Now they have known that all things 

jo.W. &14. 9. whatsoever Thou hast given me are of Thee ; ®for I have given unto 

I'.'ihf'u. Hell; them the words * which Thou gavest me ; and they have received 
■^ '^'"T p 22 ^^^"*' '^'^^ have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they 

22. '" ' have believed that Thou didst send me. ^I pray for them ; "'I pray 

•'di.'6^37|39!& riot for the world, but for them which Thou hast given me, for they 

10. 29. &. 15. 19. g^j.g thine ; ^° and all mine are thine, and "thine are mine ; and I am 

49.'&']4.'io. ' glorified in them. ^^ And "now I am no more in the world, but these 
^^T's^' *'''' ^^' ^''6 i'l the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father ! ^keep, through 
miJohno. 19. thinc owu Name, those whom Thou hast given me, that they may be 
^011 13 i\i6 ^^■^^' ^^ ^^ '^''^* ^^ While I was with them in the world, 'I kept them 

'-irf- in thy Name, (those that Thou gavest me I have kept, and ""none of 

^io!'3o. '1 Pet.'^i! them is lost, but the Son of Perdition, that the Scripture might be 

^c)/'6%9\fcio fulfilled,) '^and now come I to Thee, and these things I speak in the 

28. Heb. 2. 13. world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 
''tio°s^iifs. ^* " I 'have given them thy word ; 'and the world hath hated them, 

^o.^tj'ohnl! w! because they are not of the world, "even as I am not of the world. 
5 ver. 8. 15 J ^y^y jjq^ tj^g^j. Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but "that 

'1" John' 3^3!^' thou shouldest keep them from the evil. ^^ They '"are not of the 
u ch. 8. 23. ver. world, cvcu as I am not of the world. ^"^ Sanctify ^them through thy 
tiMatt. 6. 13. truth: ^thy word is truth, i^ As ""Thou hast sent me into the world, 

2 Thiss^s. 3. even so have I also sent them into the world. ^^ And "for their sakes 

1 joiin 5. 18. I sanctify myself, that they also might be *sanctified through the 
X ch. 15. 3. Acts truth. 

I'^Pet "i^ 22^' ^^' ^" " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall be- 
y 2 Sam. 7. 28. Uevc ou 1110 through their word ; ^^ that 'they all may be one ; as Thou, 

ch.'8.4'o. ' ' Father, ai-t in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us ; 
zch.20.21. that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me. ^^ And the glory 

1 ThJss.'4.'7. ■ which Thou gavest me I have given them ; '^that they may be one, 
*ot,'t!^iyfancti. ^^^^^ ^^ ^*^ ^'"^ ouc ; ^^ (J in them, and Thou in me) ; ''that they may 

J''^^- be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast 

cirio. 16, 38. & sent me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved me. 

"■(sai. 3°S".^^' ^^ " Father ! T will that they also, whom Thou hast given me, be 
<:<'';• 14. 20. with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory, which Thou 

3. 24. ■ ■ hast given me, ■'^for Thou lovedest me before the foundation of the 
d Col. 3.14. world. 2^0 righteous Father! °the world hath not known Thee ; but 

€ I Or I dc$lTC—~ q ' 

Ed.] ch.'i2.26. ''I havc kuowu Thoo, and these have known That thou hast sent me ; 

4. 17. ' ^''^' ^^ and 'I have declared unto them thy Name, and will declare it ; that the 

/ver. 5. jQyg ^wherewith Thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." 

g ch. 15. 21. & 16. 3. h ver. 8. ch. 7. 29. & 8. 55. & 10. 15. & IG. 27. i ver. 6. ch. 15. 15. j ch. 15. 9. 



SECT XLi. Section XLI. — Christ again predicts Peter's Denial of Him. 

V. JE. 29. Matt. xxvi. 31-3.5.— Mark xiv. 27-31. 

J. P. 4742. ' Then saith Jesus unto them, " All >e shall be offend ' *{^"- •""'• 

Jerusalem. ^^ bccauso of mc this uight ; for it is 'written,— 

"mlrkiWi: ' I will smite the Shepherd, 

John 16. 32. And the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.' 

b Zecl). 13. 7. ^ 2 ivTait vvvi 

c Matt. 28. 7, 10, ^ But aftcr I am risen again, T will go before you into Gal- 32. 

16.^ Mark 14. 28. jj^^ „ 3 pg^^^ auswered and said unto him, "Though all ^ Matt.xxvi.33. 



Sect. XLIL] CHRIST'S AGONY IN THE GARDEN, 175 

men shall be oifended because of thee, yet will I never be 
4 Mark xiv. 30. offended." "And Jesus saith unto him, " Verily '*! say -^j^uke 22^33,^. 
s Matt. XXVI. y^T^iQ thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock 

6 Matt. xxvi. crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice." 'Jesus said unto 

7 Mark xiv.3i. him, " Verily I say unto thee, that this night, before the cock 

crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." " Peter ' spake the more 

8 Matt. xxvi. vehemently, [and] ** said unto him, " Though I should die 

9 aiarkxiv.3i. with thcc, yet will I not deny thee ' in any wise." '"Like- 

10 Mat.xxvi.35. Yvise also said all the disciples. 

Mark xiv. ver. 27, 28, 29, and part o/ver. 31. — 27 'And Jesus saith unto them, " All « Matt. 26. 31. 
ye shall be offended because of me this night : for it is .'"written, — ' I will smite the Shep- /Zech. 13. 7. 
herd, And the sheep shall be scattered.' 23 But ^after that I am risen, I will go before g jjatt. 28. 7 10 
you into Galilee." 29 ''But Peter said unto him, " Although all shall be offended, yet 16- ch. 16. 7. 
will not i." 31 But he — '' If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee— 'Likewise "'ke'la^'sl'lt' 
also said they all. John 13. 37, 38.' 

- i Matt. 26. 35. 



Section XLII. — Christ goes into the Garden of Gethsemane — 

His Agony there. 
Matt. xxvi. 36-46.— Mark xiv. 32-42.— Luke xxii. 40-46.— John xviii. 1, 2. sect. XLn. 

1 johaxviii. 1. 'When Jesus had spoken these words, "he went forth v. ^. 29. 

2 Matt. xxvi. ^yj^}^ Ya^ disciples ' unto a place called'' Gethsemane, ' over j. p. 4742. 

3 johnxvui. 1. Hhe brook Cedron, where was a earden into the which he Garden of ceth- 

4 John xviii. 2. entered, and his disciples. " And Judas also, which betrayed — ' 

him, knew the place, 'for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither ^ si" Note x?^^"' 

5 Matt. xxvi. ^j^jj Yns disciples; °and saith unto the disciples, " Sit ye i2Sam. 15. 23. 

6 Mark xiv. 33. hcrc, while I go and pray yonder." ^ And he taketh with "^^ 22? 30.' ^^' 

7 Matt. .xxvi. him, Peter and James and John, " the ''two sons of Zebe- d Matt. 4.21. 
s LJkexxii.40. dee. * And when he was at the place, he ^ began to be 

9 Mat. xxvi.37. sorrowful, and '° to be sore amazed, and to be very' heavy, i see Note 34. 

n Matl'xtvi.ss; " Then saith he unto them, " My 'soul is exceeding sorrow- 'fj^^^^-^^; 

ful, even unto death : tarry ye here, and watch with me, 

13 Markxii'ls' {^"^^^ " V^^Y ^^at yc enter not into temptation. " And he 

14 Lukexxii.4i! Went forward a little, '^ and he was withdrawn from them 

15 Matt. xxvi. about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, ''and fell on his 

16 Mark xiv. 35. face "^ Oil tlic grouud, and -Sprayed that if it were possible, /Heb. 5. 7. 

17 Mark xiv. 36. the hour might pass from him. '' And he said, " Abba, 

IS Mat. xxvi.39. s-pather ! '* O my Father! if it be possible, let this cup »"■ *>"• 20- p-2- &^ 

19 Mark xiv. 36. ^ L ,, ^, • ^, , ' rr., ,-,0 -r 2b. 39. Luke 22. 

20 Luice xxii.42. ps^ss irom me : all things are possible unto ihee; ii 42. John 5. so. 

21 Lukexxii.43. Thou be *wilhng, remove this cup from me ; nevertheless, 27. 'ito^. s. is. 

22 i-uke xxii.44. not my will but thine be done." °' And there appeared ''an phii.1).^8. 

angel unto him from heaven, strengthenino- liim. "^ And 'be- * Gr. wuungtore- 

. ^ O O ^ 7JIOV6, 

ingin an agony he prayed more earnestly ; and his sweat was a Matt. 4. 11. 
as it were great drops of blood fallins; down to the ground. !Joi'ni2 27. 

23 Luke xxii. 45. c i o o Heb. o. /. 

24 Matt. xxvi. "^ And when he rose up from prayer, "" he cometh unto the 
'"'■ disciples, and findeth them " sleeping for sorrow, ^"^ and 

2-'' Luke xxii. 45. r ' _ f o _ ^ 

25 Luke xxii.46 said unto them, '• Why sleep ye ?" ^" and [he] saith unto 
27 Mark xiv. 37. Peter, " Siiiion, sleepest thou? ''What, could ye not 
2« Matt. XXVI. ^yo^^^i^ ^yj^j^ ^j^Q Qj^g j^Q^j. ? 29 WatcK y 6 , ^" rise and pray, 

23 Mark xiv. 38. 31 that ye enter not into temptation: •'the spirit indeed is ^'^^^'^'^''^^y^- 
31 Man. xx!l''' willing but the flesh is weak." '' He went away again the olT.l.'n.' 
^41. second time, and prayed, ^^ and spake the same words, 

-^^att. XXVI. 34 gaying, " O my Father ! if this cup may not pass away 
33 Markxiv. 39. fjom mc, cxccpt I drink it, thy will be done." '' And when 
42.' ' ^''^'' he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes 
3o Mark xiv. 40. ^vere heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him. ^^ And 
44? " ' he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third 

37 Matt. xxvi. time, saying the same words. " Then cometh he to his 

38 Markxiv. 41. disciplcs ^* the third time, and saith unto them, ■' Sleep on 



176 



CHRIST'S BETRAYAL AND APPREHENSION. [Part VI. 



ft Knapp punctu- 
ates this sen- 
tence so as to 
require this ren- 
dering — " Sleep 
ye stUl and Uike 
your resti it is 
enough ! the hour 
is come." — Ed. 

2 See John ]. 51. 

m Matt. 26. 46. 
John 18. ],2. 

n Mark 14. 3a-.35. 
Luke 22. 39. 
John 18. ]. 

John 5. 30, & 
6. 38. Phil. 2. 8. 

p Mark 13. 33. 
& 14. 38. Luke 
22. 40, 46. 
Ephes. 6. 18. 

q See John 1.51. 

r Mark 14. 42. 
John 18. 12. 

s Matt. 26. 36. 
Luke 22. 39. 
John 18. 1. 

t Matt. ^6. 38. 
John 12. 27. 

K John 5. 30. & 6. 
38. 

V Matt. 96. 42. 
Rom. 7. 23. Gal. 
5.17. 



now, and take your rest : it is enough, the hour is come ;* 
behold ! 'the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sin- 
ners. '' Rise ""up, let us go ; lo ! he that betrayeth me is ^' Mark xiv. 42. 
at hand." 

Matt. xxvi. part of ver. 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, ver. 43, part of ver. 45, and ver. 46. — 
36 "Then cometh Jesus with them — 37 And he took with liim Peter and — and — very 
heavy. 39 And he went a Httle farther, — and prayed, saying, — nevertheless, "not as I 
will, but as Thou wilt." 40 And — and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, — 

41 ^ Watch and pray, — 43 And he came and found them asleep again, (for their eyes were 
heavy.) 45 — and saith unto them, " Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold ! the hour 
is at hand, and 'the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 ''Rise, let us 
be going : behold ! he is at hand that doth betray me." 

Mark xiv. ver. 32, part of ver. 33, ver. 34, part of ver. 35, 36, 37, 38,39, and 41. — 
32 ^And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane : and he saith to his disciples, 
" Sit ye here, while I shall pray." 33 — and began — 34 And saith unto them, " My 
'soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death : tarry ye here, and watch." 35 — and fell — 

36 — take away this cup from me : "nevertheless not what I will, but what Thou wilt." 

37 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, — couldest not thou watch one hour.'" 

38 — and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. "The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is 
weak." 39 And again he went away, and prayed, — 41 And he cometh — . 

Luke xxii. part of ver. 40, 41, 42,45, and 46. — 40 — said unto them, — 41 — and prayed, 

42 saying, "Father, — 45 — and was come to his disciples, he found them — 46 lest 
ye enter into temptation." 



SECT. XLIII. 

V. JE. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

Garden of Geth- 



a Matt. 96. 47. 
Luke 92. 47. 
Acts 1. 16. 



h 2 Sam. 20. 9. 

cPs. 4]. 9. &55. 

13. 
d See John 1. 51. 



m See Note 35. 



e John 17. 12. 



'of the ^ Matt. xxvi. 
5 Matt. xxvi. 



8 Mark xiv. 44 



S Mark xiv. 44. 
9 Mark xiv. 45. 



/Luke 22. 50. 



Section XLIIL — Christ is betrayed and apprehended — The Resistance 

of Peter. 

Matt. xxvi. 47-56. — Mark xiv. 49-50. — Luke xxii. 47-53. — John xviii. 3-11. 

'And "immediately, while He yet spake, cometh Judas ' Mark xiv. 43. 
one of the Twelve, ^ then, having received a band of men ^ '"''" """' ^* 
and officers from the Chief Priests and Pharisees, cometh 
thither with lanterns and torches and weapons ; ^and with ^ Mark xiv. 43. 
him a great multitude, with swords and staves, from the 
Chief Priests and the Scribes and the elders 
people. ^ Now he that betrayed him ^ had given them a 
token, saying, " Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he ; 
take him, 'hold him fast, * and lead him away safely." 7 Matt. xxvi. 
^And as soon as he was come, [he] '"went before them, 
and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. " And forthwith 
he came to Jesus, and said, " Hail, Master ! " 'and kissed !" Lukexxii.47 

11 iVlatt. xxvi. 

him. '^And Jesus said unto him, "Friend, "wherefore 49. 

art thou come ? " Judas, betrayest thou *the Son of Man )" Lukexxu' Is! 

with a kiss ? " '^ Jesus therefore, knowing all things that uioXm xviii. 4. 

should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, 

"Whom seek ye?" "They answered him, "Jesus of " ■'°''" ^''"'- s- 

Nazareth." Jesus saith unto them, " I am Ae." (And 

Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them.) "^As "^ john xviii. a. 

soon then as he had said unto them, " I am he,'" they went 

backward, and fell to the™ ground. " Then asked he them " John xviii. 7. 

again, " Whom seek ye ? " And they said, " Jesus of 

Nazareth." " Jesus answered, " I have told you that I am "* •'°'"' """• ^• 

he ; if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way." "That '^ ■'°^" ''''"''■ ^• 

the saying might be fulfilled which he spake, " Of 'them 

which Thou gavest me have I lost none." ^° Then came ^° ^J^"- ^'''''• 

they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. ^' When 2' Luice xxii.49. 

they which were about him saw what would follow, they 

said unto him, "Lord, shall we smite with the sword?" 

'''^And, behold! one of them which were with Jesus, 51! """'■ 

"Simon Peter, ^'stretched out his hand, and drew "' •'°''" "'"•."'• 

his sword, and ^struck a servant of the high priest, and .51? 



Sect. I.] CHRIST IS TAKEN TO ANNAS. 177 

25 John xviii.u. smote off "his right ear. The servant's name was Mal- 

56 Lujtexxii.oi. chus. ''And Jesus answered and said, " Suffer ye thus 

57 Johnxviii.il. far!" And he touched his ear, and healed him. ^'Then 
» Mm. xxvi. gj^jfj Jesus unto Peter, "^ " Put up again thy sword into his 

place : ''for all they that take the sword shall perish with ^if.^ii.^- ®- ^^^ 
29 Matt. xxvi. the sword. '^ Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my 



53. 



Father, and he shall presently give me ''more than twelve ''^^°f 



gs 6. 17. 



10. 



30 Matt. xxvi. legions of angels ? ^^ But how then shall the Scriptures be 

31 joiinxviii.ii. fulfilled, 'that thus it must be ? ^' The ^cup which my Father ^Mitf 26.'24!" 

32 jiatt. xxvi. hath given me, shall I not drink it ? " ^'- In that same hour ^^^^ ^- ^' 



44, 



33 jilrk xiv. 48. ^^ Jesus auswcred and said ^' unto the Chief Priests, and j Matt. 20. 22. &. 

34 Luke xxii.53. eaptains of the temple, [and] ^'to the multitudes, ^*and ^'^•^^'^• 
^ ^att. XXVI. ^^^ elders, which were come to him, '''' " Are ye come out, 

36 Lukexxii.5?. as against a thief, with swords and staves for to take me ? 

' 55? ' ^^''^' I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no 

3a Lukexxii.53. hold on me, ^^ ye stretched forth no hands against me ; '^but 

40 LukexilLss: 'the Scriptures must be fulfilled ; ^»but 'this is your hour, ^^f/t^lf 

41 Matt. xxvi. ' and the power of darkness." ■" But all this was done, that 20. Man. 26. 54. 
^^" the Scriptures of the Prophets might be fulfilled. ""Then &24.44. 

all the djsciples forsook him and fled. L^Ma°rk h^so. 

Matt. xxvi. part ofmr. 47, 48, -51, 52, and 55.-47 And while "he yet spake, lo ! Judas, See John 18. 15. 
one of the Twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from \ui^e 22.47.' 
the Chief Priests and elders — 48 — gave them a sign, saying, " Whomsoever I shall John 18. 3. 
kiss, that same is he : — .51 — his ear. 52 Then said Jesus unto him, — 55 — said Jesus — . 

Mark xiv. part of ver. 44, 45, ver. 46, 47, part of ver. 48, 49, and ver. 50. — 44 And 
he that betrayed him — 45 — he goeth straightway to him, and "saith, " Master ! master !" " Matt. 26. 49. 
and kissed him. 46 And they laid their hands on him, and took him. 47 And ■''one of p Matt. 26. 51. 
them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his j^j^^ 18.10.' 
ear. 48 And — unto them, " Are 'ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and loith q Matt. 26. 55. 
staves to take me ? 49 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not : — ^"^^ "^' ^~' 
50 '"And they all forsook him, and fled. See Joiin'l8.'l5. 

Luke xxii. part of ver. 47, 48, ver 50, part of ver. 52, and 53. — 47 And ^ while he yet « Matt. 26. 47. 
spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the Twelve, — 48 But jq]j„ ig.'s. 
Jesus said unto him, — 50 And 'one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and t Matt. 26. 51. 

cutoff his right ear. 52 "Then Jesus said — " Be ve come out, as against a thief, with t'?'''',^',!''" 

^ .7 J D ? John 18 10. 

swords and staves ? 53 When I was daily with you in the temple, — . ^ Matt. 26. 55. 

John xvui.^arto/?7er. 3, 10, and 11. — 3 Judas — 10 'Then — having a sword, drew it, Mark 14. 48. 

and smote the high priest's servant, and cut — 11 — " Put up thy sword into the sheath : — . WJ^jj 14 47 

Luke 22'. 49', 50. 



PART VII. 

FROM THE APPREHENSION OF CHRIST TO THE CRUCIFIXION. 



Section I. — Christ is taken to Annas, and to the Palace of sect. i. 

Caiaphas. V. JE. 29. 

Matt. xx^. 57. — Mark xiv. 51-5.3. — Luke xxii. 54. — John xviii. 12-14. j. p. 4742. 

1 johnxviii.i2. 'Then the band, and the captain, and officers of the Jerusalem. 

2 john.xviii.is. jg^g ^qq]^ Jesus, and bound him, "and "led him away to a see Matt. 26.57. 

Annas* first (for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas), which ^^^^^'^^-^ 

3 John xviii. 14. ^g^g ^j^g jijg]-, pj-iest that same year.* ' Now 'Caiaphas was *'^nd.^nn<is'sent 

he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient ^J'"ca!'api!^i "aJ 

4 Mark xiv. 51. that OHC uiau should die for the people. ''And there fol- '«,°:''.p"««, John 

. . xvill. 24. 

lowed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast t John 11. so. 
about his naked body ; and the young men laid hold on 
6 Mark xiv. 52. him. ^ And hc left the linen cloth, and fled from them 
VOL. II. 23 



178 



CHRIST IS CONDEMNED. 



[Part VII. 



naked. " And they that had laid hold on Jesus, ' then took 
hun, and led him * away to Caiaphas the high priest, " and 
brought him into the high priest's house : '" and with him 



e Matt. S6. 58. 
John 18. 15. 



SECT. II. 

V. M. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 

a Matt. 26. 69. 
Mark 14. 66. 
Luke VSi. 54. 



6 Mat. xxvi.57. 
''' Luke xxii.54. 
8 Matt. xxvi. 
57. 

were assembled all the Chief Priests, and the elders, and lo Mark X. 53! 
the Scribes. " And Teter followed afar off. " Lukexxii.54. 

Matt, xxvi.^fflrt ofver. 57. — led him — where the Scribes and the elders were assembled. 
Mark xiv. part of ver. 53. And they led Jesus away to the high priest : — . 
Luke xxii. part of ver. 54. — they — . 



4 John 18. 25. 



SECT. III. 

V. iE. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 
Jerusalem. 

a Matt. 26. 55. 
Luke 4. 15. 
John 7. 14, 26, 
28. & 8. 2. 



b Jer. 20. 2. Acts 
25. 2. 
* Or, with a rod. 



c Matt. 26. 57. 



d Ps. 27. 12. & 
35. 11. Mark 14. 
55. So Acts 6.13. 

e Deut. 19. 15. 



/John 2. 19. 



Section II. — Peter and John follow their Master. 
Matt. xxvi. 58. — Mark xiv. 54. — Luke xxii. 55. — John xviii. 15, 16, 
' And Simon Peter followed Jesus, ^ afar off, unto the 
high priest's palace, ^and so did another disciple. That 
disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with 
Jesus into the palace of the high priest ; "* but "Peter stood 
at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, 
which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto 
her that kept the door, and brought in Peter. ° And when 
they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were 
set down together, Peter sat down among them ^ (the 
servants), and 'warmed himself at the fire; 'and sat with 
the servants, to see the end. 

Matt. xxvi. part of ver. 58. But Peter followed him — and went in, — . 
Mark xiv. port of ver. 54. And Peter followed him afar off, even unto the palace of 
the high priest : and he sat with — . 



1 John xviii. 15. 

2 Matt. xxvi. 
58. 

3 John xviii. 15. 

4 John xviii. 16. 



Luke xxii, 55. 



6 Mark xiv. 54. 

7 Matt. xxvi. 
58. 



g Is. 53. 7. Matt. 
27. 12, 14. 



Section III. — Christ is first examined and condemned in the House 
of the High Priest. 
Matt. xxvi. 59-66. — Mark xiv. 55-64. — John xviii. 19-24. 
' The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and i Johnxviii.ig- 
of his doctrine. ^"^ Jesus answered him, " I "'spake openly 
to the world ; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, 
whither the Jews always resort ; and in secret have I said nothing. 
^1 Why askest thou me ? ask them which heard me, what I have said 
unto them ; behold ! they know what I said." ^^ And when he had 
thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by ''struck Jesus *with 
the palm of his hand, saying, " Answerest thou the high priest so ? " 
^3 Jesus answered him, " If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the 
evil; but if well, why smitest thou me?" ^^Now "Annas had sent 
him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. ^ Now the Chief = Matt.xxvi.59. 
Priests, and elders, and all the Council, sought false witness 
against Jesus, to put him to death ; ^ but found none : yea, 
''though many false witnesses came, yet found they none ; 
■* for many bare false witness against him, but their witness 
agreed not together. ^ At the last came 'two false witnesses, 
" and bare false witness against him, saying, ' " This fellow 
said, Sve heard him say, ^ ' I •'^am able to destroy the temple a aiarkxiv.58. 
of God, and to build it in three days ; '" I will destroy this ' Matt. xxvi. 
temple that is made with hands, and within three days I 10 Mark xiv. 58. 
will build another made without hands.' " " But neither " Markxiv.59. 
so did their witness agree together. ''And the high priest " Matt.xxvi.62. 
arose, "and stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, '''and " Mark xiv. 60. 
said unto him, " Answerest thou nothing ? what is it which 62. 
these witness against thee ? " "^ But *^Jesus held his peace, '^ ^!^^"- '""''• 
'"and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, is Mark xiv.ei 
and said unto him, " Art thou The Christ, the Son of The 



3 Matt.xxvi.60. 

4 Mark xiv. 56. 

5 Matt.xxvi.CO. 

6 Mark xiv. 57. 

7 Mat. xxvi. 61. 



Sect. V.] PETER'S FIRST DENIAL OF CHRIST. 179 

"Matt.xxvi. Blessed? "I 'adjure thee by the Hving God, that thou Ys7m ^14 24 96 
tell us whether thou be The Christ, Hhe Son of God." i see Mark i.'i.' 
18 Matt. xxvi. IS jggyg saith unto him, " Thou hast said : '' I am ; ^° never- 

64. 

>9 Markxiv. 62. theless I Say unto you. Hereafter'' shall ye see •'the Son of bSeeNote2. 
=0 Matt. .x.Kvi. Man sitting on the right hand of Power, and coming in the ^^'is-^^iatt^ie: 
21 Matt. xxvi. clouds of heaveu." ^' Then Hhe high priest rent his i'ukt li.' I?.' & 
^' clothes,'^ saying, " He hath spoken blasphemy f what fur- f'^f^'^^l^^"^^ 

ther need have we of witnesses ? behold ! now ye have Rom'. i4. lo.' 
^^att. X.VVI. i^gard his blasphemy. " What think ye ? " They answered Rev.TV.' 
2.1 Markxiv.c4. and Said, "He 'is guilty of death." "And they all con- '^|S°i!^^'^^ 
demned him to be guilty of death. c see Note 3. 

Matt. xxvi. part of ver. 61, and C3. — 61 And said, — 63 — And the high priest an- . j ^^ n? %' 
swered and said unto him, — . John 19. 7. 

3'Iark xiv. ver. 55, part of ver. 57, 60, 61 , 62, ver. 63, and part of ver. 64. — 55 ™And the ™ Matt. 26. 59. 
Chief Priests and all the Council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death ; 
and found none. 57 And there arose certain, — 60 — the high priest — saying, " Answer- 
est thou nothing ? what is it iuhich these witness against thee.'" 61 "But he held his » Is. 53. 7. Matt. 
peace, — 62 And Jesus said, — and "je shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right s' n t • 
hand of Power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." 63 Then the high priest rent his 
clothes, and saith, " What need we any further witnesses ? 64 Ye have heard the blas- 
phemy : what think ye .' — . ______^_^_^ 



Section IV. — Twelve at Night — Christ is struck and insulted hy the sect, iv. 

Soldiers.'' V. M. 29. 

Matt. xxvi. 67, 68. — Mark xiv. 65. — Luke xxii. 63-65. J. P. 4742. 

1 Lukexxii.63 ' And thc men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote Jerusalem. 

2 Mark xiv. 65. him; z" and some began "to spit on him, and to cover his e see Note 5. 

face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, " Prophesy ! " °-}^-^W^^r: 

11 1- 1 •! 1 - • 1 1 1 ft- ^- Matt. 27. 30. 

and the servants did strike him with the palms of their John 19.3. 

3 Matt. xxvi. hands. ^ Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him ; 

and others smote him with *the palms of their hands. *or,rods. 
< Luke XX1I.64. 4 ^^^ when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on 

the face, and asked him, saying, " Prophesy ! who is it that 
5 Mat. .>c.xri.68. smoto thcc ? ^ Prophesy unto us, thou Christ!'' who is he f^eeNotea. 
« Lukexxii.65. tj^^t smotc thcc ? " '^ And many other things blasphemously 

spake they against him. ; = 



SECT. V. 



Section V. — Peter^s first Denial of Christ, at the Fire, in the Hall 

of the High Priest's Palacefi V. M. 29. 

Matt. xxvi. 69, 70.— Mark xiv. 66-68.— Luke xxii. 56, 57.— JoHiN xviii. 17, 18, ^- ^- 4742. 

and 25-27. Jerusalem. 

' 69?"'^""' 'Now Peter sat without in the palace. "And as Peter g see Note 7. 

2 Mark xiv. 66. was beiicath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids 

3 johnxviii.n. Qf ^Yie high priest ' (the damsel that kept the door) unto 
! Marker? ■^^^^''' [^"^^ 'beheld him as he sat by the fire. 'And 

when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon 

6 Luke xxii.56. {jjjjj « earnestly, and said, "This man was also with him : 

7 johnxviii.17. 7 ^j.^ j^p^ ^j^Q^ j^jg^ ^^jg Qf ^j^-g j^g^j^,g disciples ? " He saith, 

8 Mark xiv. 67. a J ^m not." ' And [she] said, " And thou also wast with 

9 Matt. xxvi. jggyg ^f Nazareth, ' of Galilee." '" And he denied him, 

10 Luke xxii.57. " bcforc them all, saying, "I know not what thou sayest. 
Matt. XXVI. 12 "WToman, I know him not. '^I know not, neither under- 

12 Luke xxii.57. stand I what thou sayest." ''' And the servants and officers 

14 Johnxv'iii.is! stood there, who had made a fire of coals, for it was cold, 

and they warmed themselves ; and Peter stood with them, 

15 johnxviii.a5. ^^^ warmed himself. '" They said therefore unto him, " Art 

not thou also one of his disciples ? " He denied it, and 
" J<>h"-viii.96. g^j^^ ,, J ^j^ ^^^„ ,a Q^g ^f jj^g servants of the high priest, 



180 



PETER'S SECOND AND THIRD DENIAL. [Part VII. 



h See Note 8. 



being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, " Did I 
not see thee in the garden with him ? " " Peter then denied " John xviii.27. 
again. '*And he went out into the porch; '^and imme- 's jiarkxiv. 68. 
diately the cock crew.^ " Johnsviii.27. 

Matt. xxvi. part of ve,r. 69, and, 70. — C9 — and a damsel came unto him, saying, 
" Thou also wast with Jesus — 70 But he denied — . 

Mark xiv. ■part of ver. 68. But he denied, saying, — and the cock crew. 

Luke xxii. part of ver. 56, and 57. But a certain maid — and — looked upon him, — 
57 — saying, — . 

John xvvi.partofver. 17,and,25. — 17 Then saith — 25 And Simon Peter stood and 
warmed himself. — . 



SECT. VI. 

V. JE. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 
Jerusalem. 



Section VL — After Midnight — Peter^s second Denial of Christ, at 
the Porch of the Palace of the High Priest. 
Matt. xxvi. 71, 72. — Mark xiv. 69, and part of ver. 70. — Luke xxii. 58. 
" And when he was gone out into the porch, ° after a 'Matt. xxri. 
httle while another saw him, and said, "Thou art also of 2 Luke xxii.58. 
them." And Peter said, "Man, I am not." [And] 'an- * Matt. xxvi. 
other 7naid saw him, ''and began to say to them that stood " Mark xiv. 69. 
by, '"This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth; "this ^ Matt. xxvi. 
is one of them." 'And again he denied with an oath, "I « Markxiv. 69. 
do not know the man." 

Matt. xxvi. part of ver. 71. - 
Mark xiv. part of ver. 69, 70. 
again. — . 

Luke xxii. beginning of ver. 58. And 



7 Matt. .\xvi. 
72. 

and said unto them that were there, — . 

69 And a maid saw him again, — 70 And he denied it 



SECT. VII. 

V. m. 29. 

J. p. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 



i See Note 9. 



• Acts 2. 7. 
I Luke 23. 59. 



c Matt. 26. 34. 
Mark 14. 30. 
Luke 22. 34. 



* Or, /if wept abun- 
dantly, or, kc be- 
gan to weep. 



d Mark 24. 30. 
Luke 22. 34. 



Section VII. — Friday, the Day of the Crucifixion — Time, about three 

in the Morning. Peter's third Denial of Christ, in the Room where 

Christ was waiting among the Soldiers till the Dawn of Day. 

Matt. xxvi. 73, to the end. — ^Mark xiv. part of ver. 70, to the end. — Luke xxii. 

59-62. 

' And about the space of one hour after, another con- ' ^"^^ xxii.59. 

fidently affirmed, saying, " Of a truth this fellow also was 

with him ; for he is a 'Galilean." ' And Peter said, " Man, 

I know not what thou sayest." ' And they that stood by 

said again to Peter, '' " Surely thou also art one of them, 

^ for "thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto, 

^ for thy ''speech bewrayeth thee." ' Then began he to 

curse and to swear, saying, " I know not the man ; * I 

know not this man of whom ye speak." ' And immediately 

while he yet spake, the cock crew ; '" the second time the 

cock crew. "And the Lord turned, and looked upon u Luke xxii.ei. 

Peter. "And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, 

how he had said unto him, " Before the cock crow, thou 

shalt deny me thrice ; '^ before the cock crow twice, thou '^ ^^^'^ ""'• ^^• 

shalt deny me thrice." And *when he thought thereon, „ ,^ 

J 1-1 " Matt. XXVI. 

"he went out, and wept bitterly. 75. 

Matt. xxvi. part of ver. 73, 74, and 75. — 73 And after a while came unto him they that 
stood by, and said to Peter, — 74 — And immediately the cock crew. 75 And Peter re- 
membered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, " Before ''the cock crow, thou shalt 
deny me thrice. — . 

Mark xiv. part of ver. 70, 71, ayid 72.— 70 —a little after, —" Surely thou art one of 
them :" — 71 But he ijegan to curse and to swear, saying, 
to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, — he wept. 

Luke xxii. 62. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly. 



2 Luke xxii.60. 

3 Mark xiv. 70. 

* Matt. xxvi. 
73. 

5 Mark xiv. 70. 

6 Matt. xxvi. 
73. 

' Mat. xxvi.74. 
s Mark xiv. 71. 
9 Luke xxii. 60. 
•0 Mark xiv. 72. 



-72 And — And Peter called 



Sect. X.] CHRIST IS ACCUSED BEFORE PILATE. 181 

Section VIII. — Christ is taken before the Sanhedrin, and condemned, sect, viir. 

Matt, sxvii. 1. — Mark xv. part of ver. 1. — Luke xxii. 66, to the end. v. JE. 29. 

1 M;irkxv.i. 'And "straightway in the morning, ^as soon as it was J. P. 4742. 

3 Mark xv.'i. ' day, ' the Chief Priests held a consuUation with the elders Jerusalem. 

4 Matt. xxvii. ^ of the people, "and [the] Scribes, and the whole Council, aPs. a. 2. John 

- 18. 28. Ac- " 

13. & 4. 2f 
see 22. 5. 



[and] Hook counsel against Jesus to put him to death, is.' & 4.^'6.'& 



5 Mark .w. 1. _ 

6 Matt, xxvii. '' And [they] led him into their Council, saying, * " Art thou 

7 Luke xxii.66. the Christ ? tell us." And he said unto them, "If I tell 

8 Lukexxii.67. you, yc will uot belicve ; ^and if I also ask you, ye will 

10 Luk^xxii'ra "Ot answer me, nor let me go. " Hereafter 'shall the Son j see John i. 51. 
H Luke xxii.™; of Man sit on the right hand of the power of God." " Then "'''• ^■^■^^- ^■ 
said they all, " Art thou then 'the Son of God ? " And he "= ^'^'^ ^^^'^ ^- ^■ 
12 Lukexxii.71. gj^i(j ujjto ti^gn^ u Yg say ; "that I am." '^ And 'they said, '^j;0''/°r^'^";- 

1I7-I 1 r 1 ■ ^ n 1 Ed.1 Matt. 26. 

"What need we any lurther witness? lor we ourselves 64. iMark 14. 62. 
have heard of his own mouth." ^Mrrk'i4!'6f ' 

Matt, xxv'u. part of ver. 1. When the morning was come, all the Chief Priests and 
elders — . 

Luke xxii. part of ver. 66. And — the elders of the people, and the Chief Priests, and ==^i=^= 
the Scribes came together, — . 



Section IX. — Judas declares the Innocence of Christ.^ sect, ix. 

Matt, xxvii. 3-10. V. JE. 29. 

^ Then "Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was J. P. 4742. 
condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of Jerusalem. 
silver to the Chief Priests and elders, "* saying, " I have sinned in that k see Note lo. 
I have betrayed the innocent blood." And they said, "What is that -^ ch. 26. i4, is. 
to us ? see thou to that." ^ And he cast down the pieces of silver in 
the temple, ''and departed, and went and hanged himself.' ^And ^lefsT'i"'^' 
the Chief Priests took the silver pieces, and said, "It is not lawful for i see Note ii. 
to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood." ' And 
they took counsel, and bought with them The Potter's Field, to bury 
strangers in. ^ Wherefore that field was called, 'The Field or " ^"^^ ^- ^^^ 
Blood, unto this day. ^ Then was fulfilled that which was spoken 
by ''Jeremy the prophet," saying, — 

"And they took the thirty pieces of silver 
(The price of Him that was valued, 
*Whom they of the children of Israel did value), *or, mom they 

in A 1 1 r- mi -r\ , T-i- i i bought of the chd- 

^" And gave them for The Potter s Field ; drmofisraei. 
As the Lord appointed me." 



(iZech. 11.19,13. 
m See Note 12. 



Section X. — Christ is accused before Pilate, and is by him also sect, x. 

declared to be innocent. V. JE. 29. 

Matt, xxvii. 2, and 11-14. — Mark xv. latter part of ver. 1, and2-5. — Luke xxiii. 1-4. J. P- 4742. 

John Xviii. 28-38. Jerusalem 

sMatkxv'i^ 'And the Avhole multitude of them arose, ^ and bound 
3 Matt, xxvii. Jcsus. ^ And wheu they had bound him, they led him away 
4Lnxviii.38. '^'■^™ Caiaphas, unto *the hall of judgment; 'and "dehv- ^°'if Matt. 27. 

5 Matt, xxvii.a. ered him to Pontius Pilate the governor ; * and it was early. 2^- 

(Z Matt. 20 19 

6 johnxviii.28. ^-And thcy themselves went not into the judgment-hall, lest Acts 3. 13. 

they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover, ^nl'g/''" ^" ^ 

7 johnxviii.29. 7 Pilate then went out unto them, and said, " What accusa- 

8 Johnxvni.3o. ^^^^ bring ye against this man ?" * They answered and said 

unto him, " If he were not a malefactor, we would not have 

9 johnxviii.3i. (jgjiygred him up unto thee." 'Then said Pilate unto 

them, " Take ye him, and judge him according to your 

Law," The Jews therefore said unto him, " It is not 

'•" J°h''^---35- lawful for us to put any man to death." '"That 'the say- '^/ohtil^fsa 

VOL. II. P 



182 



CHRIST IS SENT BY PILATE TO HEROD. [Part VU. 



n See Note 13. 

d Acts 17. 17. 

e See Matt. 17. 

27. &22. 21. 

Mark 12. 17. 
/John 19. 12. 



g Dan. 2. 44. 
& 7. 14. Luke 
12. 14. John 6. 
15. & 8. 15. 
1 Tim. 6. 13. 



ft [Or, for I am a 
king. — Ed.] 



i John 8. 47. 
1 John 3. 19. & 
4. 6. 



i 1 Pet. 2. 22. 



13 Matt, xxvii. 
11. 



'■l Johnxviji.34. 



15 John xviii.35. 



16 John xviii.36. 



" Thou say est ''that '' ^ark xv. 2. 

-, r ^ ■ " John xviii.37. 

and tor this cause 



k la. 53. 7. 



I See Note g-. 



SECT. XI. 

V. JE. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 



och. 3 1. 



h ch. 9. 9. 
c Matt. 14. 1. 
Mark 6. 14. 



d Is. 53. 3. 



ing of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying 
what death he should die." " And they began to accuse " Lukexxiii.2. 
him, saying, "We found this /eZZow ''perverting the nation, 
and 'forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying, •'^that he 
himself is Christ, a King." '= Then Pilate entered into the ''^ Joi™ xviii.33. 
judgment-hall again, and called Jesus. "^ And Jesus stood 
before the governor : and the governor asked him, saying, 
" Art thou the King of the Jews ?" '" Jesus answered him, 
" Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee 
of me ?" '^ Pilate answered, " Am I Jew ? thine own na- 
tion and the Chief Priests have delivered thee unto me : 
what hast thou done ? " ^^ Jesus "'answered, " My kingdom 
is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, 
then would my servants fight, that I should not be dehv- 
ered to the Jews ; but now is my kingdom not from hence." 
" Pilate therefore said unto him, " Art thou a king then ?" " Joim xviii.37 
Jesus answered " and said unto him, "' 
I am a king. To this end was I born, 
came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the 
truth. Every one that Hs of the truth heareth my voice." 
'" Pilate saith unto him, " What is truth ?" And Avhen he "^ John xviii.ss. 
had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and saith unto 
^' the Chief Priests and to the people, " I ^find no fault in ^' Lukexxiii.4. 
this man ;— =' I find in him no fault at all" " And the Chief =^ John xviii.38. 
Priests accused him of many things ; but ^* when he was ac- 24 Matt. xxVii. 
cused of the Chief Priests and elders, he answered nothing. ^^• 
^° Then said Pilate unto him, " Hearest thou not how many 13! 
things they witness against thee ?" ^^ And he answered him ^* J^''"- '"'''''• 
to never a word. "And ""Pilate asked him again, say- 27 Mark xv. 4. 
ing, " Answerest thou nothing ? Behold ! how many things 
they witness against thee!" ^' But Jesus yet answered ^ *^^'''"'''- ^: 
nothing ; " insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly 

Matt, xxvii. part qfver. 11, and 12. — 11 — And Jesus said unto Mm, 
— 12 And—. 

Mark xv. part qfver. 1, 2, 3, and 5. — 1 — and carried him away, and delivered him to 
Pilate. 2 And Pilate asked him, " Art thou the King of the Jews ?" — he answering — 
" Thou sayest it." 3 — he answered nothing. 5 — so that Pilate marvelled. 

Luke xxVn. part of ver. 1, vcr. 3, and part of ver. 4. — 1 — and led him unto Pilate. 
3 And Pilate asked him, saying, '• Art thou the King of the Jews?" and he 'answered 
him, and said, " Thou sayest it." 4 Then said Pilate to — . 

John xviii. part of ver. 28, 33, and 38. — 28 Then led they Jesus — 33 — and said unto 
him, " Art thou the King of the Jews ?" 38 — the Jews, and saith unto them, — . 



14. 
Thou sayest. 



Section XL — Christ is sent by Pilate to Herod. 
Luke xxiii. 5-12. 

^ And they were the more fierce, saying, " He stirreth up the people, 
teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place." 

^ When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a 
Galilean ; '' and as soon as he knew that he belonged unto "Herod's 
jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem 
at that time. ^ And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad ; 
'for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because ^he had 
heard many things of him ; and he hoped to have seen some miracle 
done by him. ^ Then he questioned with him in many words ; but 
he answered him nothing. '" And the Chief Priests and Scribes stood 
and vehemently accused him. ^' And ''Herod with his men of war set 
him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, 
and sent him again to Pilate. 



Sect. Xn.] PILATE AGAIN DECLARES CHRIST INNOCENT. 183 

^~ And the same day Tilate and Herod were made friends together ; ' ^"^ ^- ^^• 
for before they were at enmity between themselves." « ^ee Note 14. 



Section XII. — Christ is hrought hack again to Pilate, rvho again de- sect. xii. 

dares Him innocent, and endeavours to persuade the People to asTc y ^29 

for His release. j p 4743. 

Matt, xxvii. 15-20. — Mark xv. 6-11. — Luke xxiii. 1.3-19. — JoHjf xviii. 39. Jerusalem. 

iLukexxiii. ' And "Pilate, when he had called together the Chief ^ ^1111^27! 23. 

2 Luke xxiii. Priests and the rulers and the people, ^ said unto them, ?^fM\l'*v 

14. 11' ; John 18. 38. & 

'•' le "have brought this man unto me, as one that pervert- i^-^- 

eth the people ; and, behold ! I, having examined him be- *^"''®^-^'2- 

fore you, have found no fault in this man touching those 

3 Luke xxiii. things whereof ye accuse him ; ' no, nor yet Herod ; for 

I sent you to him, and, lo ! nothing worthy of death is 
* Luke xxiii. ^Qj^g ^^^^ j^jj^_ 4 J ^^,j]j therefore 'chastise him, and release 'i^^'llE^T' 

5 jiatt. xxrii. him." ^ Now at that feast the governor was wont to release Matt. 27. e. 

15. , , n . ^ , 11., •'"hn 19. 1. 

6 Mark XT. 6. uuto the Ppcople ouc prisoner, whomsoever they desired, p see Note 15. 

7 Matt, xxvii. ■ ^ud they had then a notable prisoner, called Barab- 

8 Mark XV. 7. bas, ^ wMcJi lay ''bound with them that had made insurrec- -^ Luke 23. 19. 

tion with him, who had committed murder in the insurrec- 
8 Mark XV. 8. {iqyi. "And the multitude crying aloud began to desire 
10 Luke xxiii. j^-jj^ f^ ^Q g^g jjg j^g^fj gygj. fjouc unto them. '" (For of 

necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.) — 
" Matt, xxvii. 11 Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said 

12 johnxviii.39. unto them, '-"Ye have a custom that I should release unto 

13 M .tt. xxvii. yQ^ Qjjg g^t the Passover ; '^ whom will ye that I release unto 

14 joiin xviii.39. you ? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? '''will ye 

therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews ?" 

15 Mark XV. 10. 15 Pqj. jjg knew that the Chief Priests had delivered him for 

16 Matt, xxvii. envy. "^ When he was set down on the judgment seat, his 

wife sent unto him, saying, " Have thou nothing to do 
with that just man ; for I have suffered many things this 

17 Matt, xxvii. (jgy in a dream because of him." '' But the Chief Priests 

and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask 

18 Luke xxiii. Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. '* And 'they cried out all at «-^ct-'3- ». 

once, saying, " Away with this man ! and release unto us 
Barabbas." 

Matt, xxvii. part of rer. 15, arid ver. 18. — 15 — a prisoner, whom thej would. 
18 .Tor he knew that for envy they had delivered him. / Mark 15. 10. 

Mark xr. part of ver. 6, 7, and ver. 9, aiid 11. — 6 Now at that feast he released unto 
them — 7 And there was one named Barabbas, — 9 But Pilate answered them, saying, 
'• Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews ?" 11 But ^the Chief Priests ^ Matt. 27. 30. 
moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. . ct^ . . 

LrKE xxiii. vei-. 19. "who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was A Mark 15. 7. 
cast into prison. 

ioHS xYiii. beginning of rer. 2Q. But — . ^=^^^=^^=; 



Section XIII. — Pilate three times endeavours again to release Christ, sect, xrn. 
Matt. xx\ii. 21-23. — Mark xv. 12-14. — Luke xxiii. 20-2.3. — Johx xviii. 40. V. JE. 29. 

1 Lukexxiii.^j). I PiL^xE ' the govemor.^ therefore willing to release Jesus, j. p. 4742. 
3 LukexxiiiSo. " answered, [and] ° spake again to them, ^ and said unto Jerusalem. 
* Mat.xxvii.21. them, '•' Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto 

6 MaUMvii/21. y^^ "'" They said, " Barabbas." ' Then "cried they all again, " ■'^'^'■^ ^- ^^■ 

7 }ohnxviii.40. saying, " Not this man, buti Barabbas ! " (Now Barabbas q see Note le. 
9 Mat'^xx'ii 22 ^^^® ^ robber.) ^ And Pilate answered and said again unto 

10 Mark xv. 12. thcm, "What will ye then that I shall do ^vith Jesus which is 

n Mark XV. 13. called Christ, '" whom ye call the King of the Jews ?" '' And 

23? ' ^"'' they cried out again, " Crucify him !" [And] "'they all say 



184 



PILATE RELEASES BARABBAS. 



[Part VH 



I->c " Luke xxiii. 



b [Or, instruct 
him. — Ed.1 
Matt. 27. 6. 
Luke 23. 16. 



SECT. XIV. 

V. JE. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 

a Deut. 21. 6. 
5 Deut. 19. 10. 
Josh. 2. 19. 

1 Kings 2. 32. 

2 Sam. 1. 16. 
Acts 5. 28. 

r See Note 17. 



SECT. XV. 

V. ^. 29. 
J. p. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 

* Or, assf.nted. 

Exod. 23. 2. 
a Mark 15. 7. 

Luke 23. 19. 

John 18. 40. 
b Is. .53. 5. Matt. 

20. 19. &27. 26. 

Mark 15. 15. 

Luke 18. 33. 
9 See Note 18. 
t Or, o-ovemor^s 

house. 
c Luke 23. 11. 
t See Note 19. 
d Ps. 69. 19. 

Is. 53. 3. 
u See Note 20. 



c la. 50. 6. Matt. 
26. 67. 



/.lohn 18. 38. & 
19. 6. 



g Acts 3. 13. 



h Lev. 24. 16. 

i Matt. 96. 65. 
See Mnrk 1. 1. 
John 5. 18. Ik, 
10. 33. 



j Is. .53. 7. Matt. 

27. 12, 14. 
X See Note 21. 



'"Let him 

the third time, » Matt, xxvit 
? I have found no cause 15 jj;^^ ^^ ^^ 
'"chastise him, and let him '« Luke xxih. 
'' And they cried out the more exceedingly, " Cruci- 



unto him, " " Crucify him ! crucify him ! 
crucified !" '° Then Pilate said unto them, 
" Why, what evil hath he done 
of death in him ; I will therefore 

go. xiiiu tuc^ i;iicu uuu uic iiiuic CA^^ccuiiigij , v^i uv;i- 17 m^^ ^^_ J4 

fy him!" '* And they were instant with loud voices, re- "Lukexxiii.23. 
quiring that he might be crucified ; and the voices of them 
and of the Chief Priests prevailed. 

Matt, xxvii. partqfver. 22, and ver. 23. — 22 Pilate saith unto them, " What shall I do 
then — 23 And the governor said, " Why, what evil hath he done.' " But they cried 
out the more, saying, " Let him be crucified ! " 

Mark xv.part of ver. 12, and 14. — 12 — unto him — " Why, what evil hath he done .'" — . 

Luke xxiii. part of ver. 21, and 22. — 21 But they cried, saying, — 22 And he said unto 
them — . 



Section XIV. — The Jews imprecate the Punishment of Christ's 

Death upon themselves. 

Matt, xxvii. 24, 25. 

^* When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a 

tumult was made, he "took water, and washed his hands before the 

multitude, saying, " I am innocent of the blood of this just person ; 

see ye to it.'' ^^ Then answered all the people, and said, " His 'blood 

be on us, and on our children I""" 



Section XV. — Pilate releases Barahbas, and delivers Christ to be 

crucified. 
Matt, xxvii. 26-30. — Mark xv. 15-19. — Luke xxiii. 24, 25. — John xix. 1-15, 

and part of ver. 16. 

2 # 



1 Mark xv. 15. 

2 Luke xxiii. 
24. 

^ Luke xxiii 

25. 
■* John xix. I. 

6 Mark xv. 15. 
® Luke xxiii. 

25. 

7 Matt, xxvii, 
26. 

8 Matt, xxvii 
27. 

Mark xv. 16. 



' And so Pilate, willing to content the people, ' 'gave 
sentence that it should be as they required. 'And he re- 
leased unto them "him that for sedition and murder was 
cast into prison, whom they had desired. " Then 'Pilate 
therefore took Jesus, and scourged him ; ^ and when he 
had scourged him, ''he delivered Jesus to their will, 'to be 
crucified.' ^ Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus, 
[and] ' led him away '° into the tcommon hall, " called Prae- 
torium ; and they call together the whole band '^ of soldiers. 
'^ And they stripped him. and they put on 'him a scarlet >° Mt.xxvii.27. 
robe, '" a purple robe.* '' And "when they had platted a I j^'^^JiJ^^f 
crown of thorns," they put it upon his head, and a reed in 13 Mt. xxvii. 28. 
his right hand : and they bowed the knee before him, '* and ''' ^°^^ "'"• ^- 

. . . . ^^ Mt xxvii 99 

worshipped him, "and mocked him, saying, "Hail, King le Mark xv. 19. 
of the Jews ! " '" And they smote him with their hands. " Mat.xxvii.29. 
"^ And "they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote ,g m''",,^11j. 30. 
him on the head. ^" Pilate therefore went forth again, and 20 Jn.xix. 4-16. 
saith unto them, " Behold ! I bring him forth to you, ^that ye may know 
that I find no fault in him." ^ (Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown 
of thorns, and the purple robe.) And Pilate saith unto them, " Behold 
the man ! " ^ When ^the Chief Priests therefore and officers saw him, 
they cried out, saying, " Crucify him ! crucify him ! " Pilate saith 
unto them, " Take ye him, and crucify him ; for I find no fault in 
him." '' The Jews answered him, " We ''have a Law, and by our 
Law he ought to die, because 'he made himself the Son of God." 

^ When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid ; 
^and went again into the judgment-hall, and saith unto Jesus, 



"Whence art thou? 
saith Pilate unto him, ' 
not that I have power 



^But Jesus 



him no answer." ^" Then 



• Speakest thou not unto me ? knowest thou 
to crucify thee, and have power to release 



Sect. XVI.] CHRIST IS LED TO MOUNT CALVARY. 185 

thee ? " " Jesus answered, " Thou ^^couldest have no power at all ''j^JJl^^^^of^ 
against me, except it were given thee from above ; therefore he that 
dehvered me unto thee hath the greater sin." i- And from thence- 
forth Pilate sought to release him ; but the Jews cried out, saying, 
"If 'thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: "'whosoever 'Luke 23 2. 

o ' ffi Acts 17. 7» 

maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar." 

^3 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, 
and sat down in the judgment-seat in a place that is called the Pave- 
ment, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha ; ^"^ (and "it was the preparation nMatt. 27. 62. 
of the Passover, and about the sixth hour ;) and he saith unto the 
Jews, "Behold your King!" ^^But they cried out, "Away with 
him ! away with him ! crucify him ! " Pilate saith unto them, " Shall 
I crucify your King?" The Chief Priests answered, "We "have no " «'^n- 49. 10. 
king but Caesar." ^^Then ''delivered he him therefore unto them to ^Ma^'rk'js^'if'^^ 
be crucified. Luke 23. 24. 

Matt, xxvii. part of ver. 26, and 27. — 26 Then released he Barabbas unto them ; and 

when 'he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him — 27 — and g-athered unto him the whole 9}^- ^?- f • ,^^ 

° ' " 15. 35. Luke 23. 

band — . 16, 94, 25. John 

Mark xv. part of ver. 1-5, 16, ver. 17, 18, and part of ver. 19. — 1.5 — released Barabbas ' ' 
unto them, — delivered Jesus, — to be crucified. 16 And the soldiers — into the hall, 
— 17 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about 
his head, 18 and began to salute him, " Hail, King of the Jews !" 19 And they smote 
him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him — bowing their knees — . ====: 

Luke xxiii. beginning of ver. 24. And Pilate — . 

John xix. part of ver. 2, and 3. — 2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put 
it on his head, and they put on him — 3 And said, " Hail, King of the Jews ! — . 



Section XVI. — Christ is led away from the Judgment- Hall of Pilate seot\xvi 

to Mount Calvary. V. JE. 29. 

Matt, xxvii. 31, -32.— Mark xv. 20, 21.— Luke xxiii. 26-32.— John xix. paH of J. P. 4247. 

ver. 16, and ver. 17. On the way to 

sMatV^'^wf" ' And they took Jesus, and led him away. = And after ^—^' 

31. " ' ' that they had mocked him, ^ they took off the purple from 
3 Mark XV. 20. j^jj^ ^^^ |. j-^jg ^^^j-^ clothcs ou him, and led him out to 

4Johnxix.l7. '.- , . ^ 4 A 1 oi 1 . I . » /■ . . a Matt. 27. 31, 33. 

6 Lukexxiii.26. cruelty him. And he bearing his cross 'went forth into Mark is. 21, 22. 

6 Matt, xxvii. a place called the place Of a Skull, which is called in the t^^nl^^itst' 

7 Luke xxiii. Hebrcw, Golgotha. ' And as thev led him away, ^ as "they "eb. 13. 12. 

26. i 7iU 1 -J I 11 ci- r-i ■ cNumb. 15. 35. 

8 Mark XV. 21. camc out, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, 1 Kings 21. la 

9 Matt, xxvii. * who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Heb. 13^12. 

10 Luke xxiii. Alexander and^ Rufus ; ^ him they compelled to bear his y see Note 22. 
26-32. cross; '"and on him they laid the cross, that he might 

bear it after Jesus. ^'^ And there followed him a great company 

of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. 

2^ But Jesus turning unto them said, " Daughters of Jerusalem ! weep 

not for me ; but weep for yourselves, and for your children. ^^ For, 

''behold ! the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are '^j*Jke*2f 23^' 

the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never 

gave suck! ^o'pjjgn 'shall they begin to say to the mountains. Fall "w.l'ne^.iTi 

on us ! and to the hills. Cover us ! ^i y^y /jf they do these things in ^ ^- ^■ 

a green tree, what shall be done in the dry ? " ^~ And ^there were '^Je™25!29^^' 

also two others (malefactors) led with him to be put to death. &''2L3^,°4.''^' 

Matt, xxvii. part of ver. 31, and 32.— 31 —they took the robe off from him, and put ^■^%\2' 
his own raiment on him, '■and led him away to crucify him. 32 And — they found a man ^Matt. 27. 38. 
of Gyrene, Simon by name : — . h Is. 53. 7. 

Mark XV. p«rt o/zje?-. 20, 21.— 20 And when they had mocked him, — 21 And they 
compel one Simon, a Cyrenian, — to bear his cross. 

Luke xxiii. part of ver. 26. — coming out of the country, — . 

VOL. II. 24 *p 



186 



CHRIST IS CRUCIFIED. 



{Part VII. 



SECT. XVU. 

V. zE. 20. 
J. P. 4742. 

Calvary. 

a It is doubted by 
some whether 
Calvary was a 
mount. Perhaps 
its present con- 
dition is not a 
criterion by 
which to judge of 
its former state. 
—Ed. 

z See Note 23. 

* Or, Place of a 
Skull. 

b Matt. 27. 38. 
Mark 15. 27. 
John 19. 18. 

c Is. 53. 12. 
Mark 15. 28. 
Luke 23. 33. 
John 10. 18. 

a See Note 24. 



3 Mark xv. 23 



4 Luke xxiii. 
33. 



SECT. xvin. 

V. M. 29. 

J. P. 4742. 

Calvary. 

a Matt. 5. 44. 
Acts 3. 17. & 
7. 60. 1 Cor. 4, 
12. 



SECT. XIX. 

V. JE. 29. 
J. P. 4247. 

Calvary. 

b See Note 25 
* Or, wrought. 
oPa. 22. 18. 



And the 'Scripture was fulfilled, ' -fohnxix. i8. 

, , • , , 6 Mark xv. 28. 

was numbered with the trans- 



Section XVII. — Christ arrives at "Mount Calvary, and is crucified. 
Matt, xxvii. 33, 34, 37, 38.— Mark xv. 22, 23, 26, 27, 28.— Luke xxiii. 33, 38.— 

John xix. 18-22. 

■ And when they were come unto a place called Golgo- > Matt, xxvii. 
THA (that is to say, a place of a skull), Hhey gave him 2 Matt, xxvii. 
vinegar to drink mingled with gall : and when he had ^'*- 
tasted thereof, he would not drink. ^ And they gave him 
to drink wine mingled with myrrh ; but he received it 
not.'^ ■'And when they were come to the place which is 
called *Calvary, 'there they crucified him, and the male- 
factors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left, 
^ and Jesus in the midst, 
which saith, " And he 
gressors." 

' And Pilate wrote a "title, * the superscription of his ' ^"^^ "'"■ '^■ 

. ** Mark xv, 96. 

accusation, 'and set up over his head his accusation 9 Matt, xxvii. 
written, ^°and put it on the cross. And the writing was , ^J\ 

^ o 10 John xix. 19- 

" in letters of Greek, '^ " Jesus of Nazareth the King n Luke xxiii. 
OF THE Jews ; " '^ and Latin, '"* " The King of the Jews : " „ f\ . ,„ 
'"and Hebrew, ""'This is Jesus the King of the Jews." 13 Luke xxiii. 
"This title then read many of the Jews; for the place ,^ ^^^^ ^^ gg 
where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city ; and it was 15 mke xxiii. 
written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. '** Then said the ,g ^'^^^ ^^^.^.^ 
Chief Priests of the Jews to Pilate, " Write not, ' The King 37? ' 
of the Jews ; ' but that he said, ' I am King of the Jews.' " I j^jj" ^ l°[ 
'"Pilate answered, " What I have written I have written." w johnxix. 22. 

Matt, xxvii. ver. 38. '^Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the 
right hand, and another on the left. 

Mark xv. ver. 22, part of ver. 26, and ver. 27. — 22 And they bring him unto the 
place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, the place of a skull. 26 And — was written 
over, — . 27 '^ And with him they crucify two thieves ; the one on his right hand, and the 
other on his left. 

Luke xxiii. part of ver. 38. And a superscription also was written over him — " This 
IS THE King of the Jews." 

John xix. part of ver. 18. "^Where they crucified him, and two others with him, on 
either side one, — . 



Section XVIII. — Christ prays for his Murderers. 
Luke xxiii. part of ver. 34. 
Then said Jesus, " Father ! "forgive them ; for they know not what 
they do." 

Section XIX. — The Soldiers divide and cast Lots for Chrisfs Raiment. 
Matt, xxvii. 35, 36. — Mark xv. 24, 25. — Luke xxiii. part of ver. 34. — 
John xix. 23, 24. 
' And they crucified him.'' ' Then the soldiers, when 
they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four 
parts, to every soldier a part ; and also his coat. Now the 
coat was without seam, *woven from the top throughout. 
' They said therefore among themselves^ " Let us not rend 
it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be." " And they 
parted his raiment, and cast lots; ^ [that the "Scripture 
might be fulfilled, ^ which was spoken by the Prophet, 
' which saith, — 

" They parted my raiment among them, 
And for my vesture they did cast lots."] 
These things therefore the soldiers did. * And it was the 
third hour, and they crucified him. "And sitting down 
they watched him there. 



> Matt, xxvii. 

35. 
2 John xix. 23. 



3 John xix. 94. 

4 Luke xxiii. 
34. 

s John xix. 24. 

6 Matt, xxvii. 
35. 

7 John xix. 24. 



8 Mark xv. 25. 



9 Matt, xxvii 
36 



Sect. XXIII.] THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 1817 



Matt, xxvii. partofver. 35. — and parted his garments, casting lots : that it might be flil- 
filled — " The)' "parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots." 

Mark xv.24. And when they had crucified him, they "parted his garments, casting lots 
upon them, what every man should take. 



ffl Pa. 22. 18. 



Section XX. — Christ is reviled, when on the Cross, by the Chief Priests, sect, xx. 
the Rulers, the Soldiers, the Passengers, and the Malefactors. V. JE. 29. 

Matt, xxvii. 39-44.— Mark xv. 29-32.— Luke xxiii. 35-37. J- P- 4247. 

I Luke xxiii. 1 ^jjjj -^ti^g people stood beholding. And the rulers also "^^lH'^- 

with them derided him, saying, " He saved others ; let him aPs. ^. i7. 
'se!^^'"""' save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God." ^ And mTu.' a?.' 39.' 

the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering ^^'^^^ ^^' ^' 
3 Luke xxiii. j^jj^ vinegar, ' and saying, " If thou be the King of the Jews, 
■« Matt, xxvii. save thyself." '' And 'they that passed by reviled him, and ^j^g "g- ^- ^ 
s Mark XV. 29. ° railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, " Ah ! thou 

"that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, 'j*'^ny''i/^" 

7 m""^ ^^ ^°' " ^^^^ thyself, and come down from the cross. ' If thou be 

4o'"- ""'I" '^the Son of God, come down from the cross." ** Likewise ' ^'' ^^"^ '• ^• 

8 Matt. XXVII. ^jgQ ^j^g Chief Priests mocking him, with the Scribes and 

9 Mark XV. 31. eldcrs, Said, ® among themselves, "He saved others; him- . 

.0 Matt, xxvii. gg]^ j^g ^^j^j^^^ g^^g_ ,0 j^ j^g ^g ^j^g j^-^g ^f jgj.j^gj^ jg^ j^-j^ 

now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. 
u Matt, xxvii. u jje ^trusted in God : let him deliver him now, if he will 'w'fsf'a^'ie, 17, 
isMarkxv. 32. havc him : for he said, I am -^the Son of God. '^ Let Christ, is- 

the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we 

may see and believe." And they that were crucified with 
" ^^^' ''^™' him reviled him. '^ The thieves also, which were crucified 

with him, cast the same in his teeth. 

M-ATT. xxvii. part of ver. 39, 40, and 42. — 39 — wagging their heads, 40 and saying, 
" Thou ^that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. — 42 He ^Matt. 26. 61. 
saved others ; himself he cannot save. 

Mark xv. part of ver. 29, and 31. — 29 — they that passed by — 31 Likewise also the 
Chief Priests mocking said — with the Scribes, — . ^=:^=^= 



Section XXI. — Christ, when dying as a Man, asserts his Divinity in sect, xxi. 

his Answer to the Penitent Thief '^ V. JE. 29. 

Luke xxiii. 39-43. J. P. 4742. 

^^ And "one of the malefactors which were hanged, railed on Him, caivary. 

saying, " If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us." '*" But the other c See Note 26. 

answering rebuked him, saying, "Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou aMatt. 27. 44. 

art in the same condemnation ? '^^ And we indeed justly ; for we re- 



ceive the due reward of our deeds : but this man hath done nothing g^cT. xxil 
amiss." *^ And he said unto Jesus, " Lord remember me when thou 



V. JE. 29. 



comest into thy kingdom !" *^And Jesus said unto him, "Verily I 
say unto thee. To-day, shall thou be with me in Paradise." 



Calvary. 
a Matt. 27. 55. 



Section XXII. — Christ commends his Mother to the care of John. °Mark'i5.'4o. 

John xix. 25-27. ^Luke23.49. 

^^ Now "there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's Luiie 24. is. 
sister, Mary the wife of *Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. ^6 When *2.&2L7^2o^24 
Jesus therefore saw his mother, and 'the disciple standing by, whom ccii. 2. 4. 
he loved, he saith unto his mother, " Woman, 'behold thy son !" ^:^: ^- "• ^ ^^ 
^"^ Then saith he to the disciple, " Behold thy mother ! " And from _ 

that hour that disciple took her ''unto his own home. 



SECT. XXIIL 



Section XXIII. — The Death of Christ, and its attendant Circumstances. V. JE. 29, 

Matt, xxvii. 45-51, 54-56.— Mark xv. 33-41.— Luke xxiii. 44-49.— John xix. 28-37. J- P- 4742. 

1 Mark XV. 33. 1 ^^.^ when the sixth hour was come, Hhere was a dark- tll'^' 

» Lu! xxiii. 45. ness over all the *earth until the ninth hour ; ' and the sun * O'- ''""^- 



188 



THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 



[Part VII 



a Pb. 22. 1. 

d See Note 27. 



J Ps. 69. 21. 



was darkened. * And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a 
loud voice, saying, " Eloi, "Eloi, lama sabachthani \^ ^ Eli, 
Eli, lama sabachthani ! " ^ which is, being interpreted, " My 
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me I" ^ And some of 
them that stood by, when they heard it, said, " Behold! he 
calleth Elias." * After this, Jesus, knowing that all things 
were now accomplished, that the ^Scripture might be ful- 
filled, saith, " I thirst." ' Now there was set a vessel full 



4 Mark xv. 34. 

5 Mat.xxvii.46. 

6 Mark XV 34. 

7 Mark xv. 35 

8 John xix. 28. 



c John 17. 4. 

e See Note 28. 



dPs. 31. 5. 
1 Pet. 2. 23. 



9 John xix. 29 
10 Matt, xxvii. 
48. 

of vinegar ; '° and straightway one of them ran, and took a n john xix. 29. 
sponge, and filled it with vinegar, " and put it upon hyssop, " ^"tt. xxvii. 

to drink. 13 john xix. 29. 

Elias will '^ Matt, xxvii. 

come to save him, — '* will come to take him down." " When 15 Matt, xxvii. 

49. 



'^and on a reed, '^and put it to his mouth, 
'^ The rest said, " Let be ; let us see whether 



is 



f See Note 29. 
e Exod. 26. 31. 
2 Chron. 3. 14. 



16 Mark xv. 



45. 
23 Matt, xxvii. 

51. 
M Matt, xxvii 

52. 



/See Mark 1. 1 



g Ps. 38. 11. 
Matt. 27. 55. 
Mark 15. 40. 
See John 19. 25 



Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, " It 
^finished !" "* Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud n johnxix. so, 
voice, " he said, " Father, ''into thy hands I commend my '* m^". x.xvu. 
spirit!" And having said thus, ^'' he bowed his head, and 19 Lukexxiii. 
gave up the ghost/ ^' And, behold ! 'the veil of the tem- 20 johi, xix. 30 
pie was rent in twain, "^ in the midst, ^' from the top to the 21 Matt, xxvii. 
bottom ; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent ; ^'' and 22 Luke xxiii. 
the graves were opened. °° Now when the centurion 
^^ which stood over against him, " and they that were with 
him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things 
that were done ; [and] ^' that he so cried out, and gave up 25 Matt, xxvii 
the ghost, ^' they feared greatly, saying, " Truly this was ^s jiirkxv. 39. 
•'^the Son of God ! " [and] '" he glorified God, saying, " Cer- 27 Matt, xxvii. 
tainly, this was a righteous man ! " ^' And all the people ^ M^kxv. 39. 
that came together to that sight, beholding the things which 29 Matt, xxvii. 
were done, smote their breasts, and returned. ^^ And 30 Lukexxiii.47. 
^all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from 31 Luke xxiii. 
Galilee, stood afar ofT, beholding these things ; ^^ among 32 nike xxiii. 
whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of ^9- 
James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, ^'' the mother of 34 m^„. xxvu.' 
Zebedee's children, " who also, when he was in Galilee, ^^• 
h Luke 8. 2, 3. ''followed him, and ministered unto him ; and many other .,„ , " '^ ' „,' 

' .' •!° John XIX. 31- 

women, which came up with him unto Jerusalem. The 37. 
Jews therefore, 'because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should 
not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day (for that Sabbath day 
was a high day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, 
and that they might be taken away. -^^ Then came the soldiers, and 
brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with 
him. ^^ But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, 
they brake not his legs ; ^* but one of the soldiers, with a spear, pierced 
his side, and forthwith ■'came thereout blood and water. ^^ And he 
that saw it bare record, and his record is true ; and he knoweth that 
he saith true, that ye might believe. "^^ For these things were done 
that the 'Scripture should be fulfilled, " A bone of Him shall not be 
broken." ^^ And again, another 'Scripture saith, "They shall look on 
Him whom they have pierced." 

Matt, xxvii. ver. 45, part ofvrr. 46, ver. ^^partofvtr. 48, 50, ce?'. Z5, and part ofver. 
,56. — 45 "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth 
hour. 46 And about the ninth hour "Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, — that is to 
say, " My °God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me !" 47 Some of them that stood 
there, when they heard that, said, " Tliis man calleth for Elias." 48 — put it — and gave 
him — 50 — yielded up the ghost. 55 And many women were there beholding afar off, 
''which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him ; 50 'among which was Mary 
Blagdalone, and Mary, the mother of James and Joses, and — . 

Makk XV. part of ver. 33, 36, ver. 37, 38, part of ver. 39, and 40. — 33 — there was dark- 
ness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 36 And one ran and filled a sponge full 



tDeut. 21.23, 
Mark 15. 42. 
John 19. 42. 



;• 1 John 5. 6, 8. 



k Exod. 12. 46. 

Numb. 9. 12. 

Ps. 34. 20. 
I Ps. 22. 16, 17 

Zech. 12. 10. 

Rev. ]. 7. 

m Amos 8. 9. 

Mark 15. 33. 

Luke 23. 44. 
n Heb. 5. 7. 
P?. 22. 1. 



p Luke 8. 2, 3 
q Mark 15. 40. 



Sect. 1.] JOSEPH AND NICODEMUS BURY CHRIST. 189 

of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and ''gave him to drink, saying, " Let alone ; let us see rPs. 69. 91. 
whether Elias — 37 And Jesus cried v^ith a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. 38 And 
'the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. 39 And when the ^^^l^*",^'^}' 
centurion — saw — he said, " Truly this man was 'the Son of God." 40 There were also ^ g^.^ jj^^'i^ j_' j_ 
women looking on "afar off : — . a Ps. 38. 11. 

LtJKE xxiiL part ofver. 44, 45,46, and 47. — 44 And it was about the sixth hour, and — 
45 — and tlie veil of the temple was rent — 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud 
voice, — he gave up the ghost. 47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, — . 

John xlx.partofver. 29, 30. — 29 — and they filled a sponge with vinegar, — 30 — and — . 



PART VIII. 

FROM THE DEATH OF CHRIST TO HIS ASCENSION INTO 

HEAVEN. 



Section I. — Joseph of Arimathcea and Nicodemus bury the Body of sect. i. 

Christ. V. M. 29. 

Matt, xxvii. 57-60.— Mark xv. 42-46. — Luke xxiii. 50-54. — John xix. 38, to the end. J. P. 4742. 

' •'"''" "'"• ^^- ' And after this, ^ when the even was come,* because it Jerusalem. 

2 Mark xv. 42. . . 

3 Mat..xxvii.57. was the Preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), a see Note. i. 

4 Lu. xxiii. 51. 3 there came a rich man of Arimathsea, '' a city of the Jews, 

6 MLirxvlis. ^ named Joseph, ^ an honorable counsellor ; ' and he was a 

7 Lu. x.xiii. 50. good man, and a just ; * who also himself waited for the 
9 j'ohn''xi'x'^^ kingdom of God ; " being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, 

10 Luke xxiii. "for fear of the Jews, '" (the same had not consented to the '^l^^™^^' *^' ^ 
n Luke xxui. couusel and deed of them ;) ^' this man '^came, and went 
53- in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus ; '^ [and] 

13 John x^il.ss! bcsought Pilate, that he might take away the body of Jesus. 

14 Mark xv. 44. '^ And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead ; and call- 

ing unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had 

15 Mark xv. 45. bccn any while dead ? "* And when he knew it of the cen- 
18 joiin xix. 38. turion, "* Pilate gave him leave ; [and] '' commanded the 

17 Matt, xxvii. y^^^^ ^^ ^^ delivered " to Joseph." '"And he bought fine b see Note 2. 

18 Mark XV. 45. hneu, and "" he came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 

20 John l\x. 33! ^' ^"d when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in 

21 Mat.xxvii.59. a clean linen cloth ; ^^ and there came also 'Nicodemus ''^°^^ ^- ^' ^- *" 

22 John XIX. 39. (-vyrj^ich at the first came to Jesus by night), and brought a 

mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound 

23 John xix. 40. weight. " Then took they the body of Jesus, and 'wound " ^"'^ ^- ^• 

it in clean linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of 

24 John xix. 41. the Jews is to bury. ^* Now in the place where he was 

crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new sep- 

25 Mat.xxvii.6o. ulchre ; ^° and [Joseph] ''laid it in his own new tomb,which ''i^-ss. 9. 

26 John xix. 41. he had hewn out in the'' rock, "^ wherein was never man « see Note 3. 

27 John xix. 42. yet laid. ^' There laid they Jesus therefore, because of the 

Jews' Preparation day ; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. 

28 Luke xxiii. ^^ ^iid that day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew 
5*- on : ^' and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sep- 

29 Matt, xxvii. i . i , ^ , '■ 

(io. ulchre, and departed. 

Matt, xxvii. part of ver. 57, and 58. — 57 When the even was come — who also himself 
was Jesus' disciple : 56 he went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate — . 

Mark xv. part of vcr. 42, 43, 45, 46. — 42 And now — 43 Joseph of Ariniathaea, — which 
also waited for the kingdom of God, — 45 — he gave the body — 46 — took him down, 
and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, 
and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre. 

Luke xxiii. part of ver. 50, 51, .52, and ver. 53. — 50 And, behold ! there, was a man 



i^ 



THE CHIEF PRIESTS PREPARE A GUARD. [Part VIII 



iiamed Joseph, a counsellor; — 51 — he was of Arimathsea, — 52 — went unto Pilate, and 
'j'h^iq%q begged the body of Jesus. 53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and 'laid 

it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. 
John xix. part ofver. 38. — Joseph of Arimathaea — . 



SECT. U. 

V. K. 29. 

J. P. 4742. 

The Sepulchre. 

d See Note 4. 
a Luke 8. 2. 



SECT. III. 

V. M. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 
Jerusalem. 

a Mark 16. 1. 
b Exod. 20. 10. 



SECT. IV. 

V. JE. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

The Sepulchre. 
e See Note 5. 



Section II. — Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, and the Women 

from Galilee observe where the Body of Christ was laid.^ 

Makk XV. 47. — Luke xxiii. 55. 

■^^ And Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of loses, beheld 

where he was laid. ^^ And the women also, "which came with him 

from Gahlee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his 

body was laid. 



Section III. — The Women from Galilee hasten to return Home before the 
Sabbath began, to prepare Spices. 
Luke xxiii. 56. 
And they returned, and ''prepared spices and ointments ; and rested 
the Sabbath day 'according to the commandment. 



Section IV. — Mary Magdalene and the other Mary continue to sit 
opposite the Sepulchre till it is too late to prepare their Spices. 
Matt, xxvii. 61. 
And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over 
against the sepulchre.® 



Section V. — The Sabbath being ended, the Chief Priests prepare a 

Guard of Soldiers to watch the Sepulchre.^ 

Matt, xxvii. 62, to the end. 

^^ Now the next day, that followed the day of the Preparation, the 

Chief Priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, ^^ saying, " Sir, 

we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, ' After 

"three days I will rise again.' ^'* Command therefore that the sepulchre 

ifc26.6i. Mark bc made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come fby night,! 

8. 31. & 10. 34. - - •" - -- - "■ - ° -'-■ 

Luke 9. 22. & 
IB. 33. & 24. 6, 
7. John 2. 19. 



SEC !'. V. 

V.iE. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 

fSee Note 6. 
ach. 16.21. & 
17. 23. & 20. 19. 



i Dan. 6. 17. 



SECT. VI. 

V. M. 29. 

J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 

a Matt. 28. ]. 

Luke 24. 1. 

John 20. 1. 
b Luke 23. 56. 
g See Note 7. 



SECT. VII. 

V. M. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

The Sepulchre, 
h See Note 8. 



and steal him away, and say unto the people. He is risen from the 

dead ; so the last error shall be worse than the first." ^^ Pilate said 

unto them, " Ye have a watch ; go your way, make it as sure as ye 

So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, 'seahng the 



can. 



6C 



stone, and setting a watch. 



Section VI. — The Sabbath being over, Mary Magdalene, the other 
Mary, and Salome purchase their Spices to anoint the Body of Christ. 

Mark xvi. 1. 
And "when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the 

mother of James, and Salome, 'had bought sweet spices, that they 

might come and anoint him.? 



Section VII. — The Morning of Easter-Day — M. Magdalene, the other 
Mary, and Salome, leave their Homes very early to go to the Sepulchre. 

Matt, xxviii. 1. — Mark xvi. part ofver. 2. — John xx. part ofver. 1. 
1 In the end of the'' Sabbath ^ very early in the morning, 
the first day of the week, ^ when it was yet dark, * as it 
began to dawn, toward the first day of the week, came 
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary ^ unto the sepulchre, 
^ to see the sepulchre. 



Mat. xxviii. 1 

2 Mark xvi. 2. 

3 John XX. 1. 

4 Mat. xxviii. 1 
6 Mark xvi. 2. 

6 Mat. xxviii. 1. 



Sect. XIL] CHRIST RISES FROM THE DEAD. 191 

Mark xvi. part ofver. 2. And — they came — . 

John xx. part of ver. 1. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, — 
unto the sepulchre, — . 

=^^==^^^^^== SECT. vm. 

Section VIII. — After they had left their Homes, and before their v. ^eTso. 

Arrival at the Sepulchre, Christ rises from the Dead. j. p. 4742. 

Matt. XXviii. 2-4. The Sepulchre 

^ And, behold ! there *was a great earthquake ; for "'the Angel of the * or, hldlem. 
Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone a see Mark ic. 5 

... . Luke 24. 4. 

from the door, and sat upon it.' ^ His 'countenance was like lightning, John 20.12. 
and his raiment white as snow. ^And for fear of him the keepers j^Tn^iTe^ 
did shake, and became as dead men. 



Section IX. — The Bodies of many come out of their Graves and go sect, ix. 

to Jerusalem. y ^ 29. 

Matt, xsvii. part ofver. 52, and ver. 53. J. P. 4742. 

^^ And many bodies of the saints which slept"* arose, ^^ and came Jerusalem. 

out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, k see Note 10. 

and appeared unto many. =^== 



Section X. — Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, and Salome arrive at sect\ x. 

the Sepulchre, and fijid the Stone rolled away. V. IE.. 29. 

Mark xvi. part ofver. 2, and ver. 3, 4. — John xx. part ofver. 1. J- P- 4742. 

1 Mark xvi. 3. i ^^^ ^j^gy gg^i^j among themselves, ^ at the rising of Hhe "^^^ sepulchre. 

2 Mark xvi 2 J o ' o 

3 Mark xvi! 3! sun, ' " Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of i see Note ii. 

4 Mark xvi. 4. the scpulchrc ?" ^ for it was very great. And when they 

5 John XX. 1. looked, they saw that the stone was rolled" away ' from the " ^eeNote la. 

sepulchre. 

John xx. part of ver. 1. — and seeth the stone taken away — . =^=^^== 



Section XI. — Mary Magdalene leaves the other Mary and Salome sect, xi. 

to tell Peter. V. E.. 29. 

John XX. 2. J- P- 4742. 

Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the "other J^'"saiem. 

disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, " They have taken ach. is. as. & 

away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they 20,24!^^^'^' 

have laid him." 



Section XII. — Salome and the other Mary, during the absence of Mar ^ sect. xii. 
Magdalene, enter the Porch of the Sepulchre, and see one Angel, y ^^gg 
tvho commands them to inform the Disciples that Jesus was risen. j p 4742 

Matt, xxviii. 5-7. — Mark xvi. 5-7. The Sepulchre. 

1 Mark xvi. 5. ' And "entering iuto the sepulchre," they saw a young ^j^^^^~3 

man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white gar- John 20. u, 12. 

2 Mat.xxviii.5. jj^gj^^ . j^j^^ ^j^gy ^gj.g affrighted. '[But] the angel an- "^ee Note is. 

3 Mark xvi. 6.^ swcred and said unto the women, " Fear not ye ; ^be not 

5 Mark^xJi.'e.' affrighted ; * for I know that ye seek Jesus ° of Nazareth, 

6 Mat. xxviii.c. which was crucified ; "he is not here ; for he is risen, ''as Ye^^^'i' &'i7%^ 

7 Mark xvi. 6. he Said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay, ' behold &'2o."i9. 

9 Mafxrviii^T *^^ place where they laid him ! * But go your way, " quickly, 

10 Mark xvi. 7. '° tell his disciples and Peter " that he is risen from the 
u Mat.xxviii.7. (jga.d ; and, behold! ""that he goeth before you into Gali- 

12 Mark xvi. 7. , , , ,, i • c i • i I^ 13 1 I T c Matt. 26. 32. 

13 Mat.xxviii.7. lee : there shall ye see him, as he said unto you, lo ! 1 Mark 14. 28. 

have told you." 

Matt, xxviii. part o/23cr. 5, aretf 7. — 5 And — which was crucified. 7 And go — and 
tell his disciples — he goeth before you into Galilee ; there shall ye see him. 

Mark xvi. part of ver. 6. And he saith unto them — ye seek Jesus — he is risen • 
he is not here : — . 



192 



CHRIST APPEARS TO MARY MAGDALENE. 



[Part VHI. 



SECT. xin. 

V. JE. 29. 

J P. 4742. 

The Sepulchre. 

o See Note 14. 



SECT. XIV. 
V. JE. 29. 

J. P. 4742. 

The Sepulchre. 

a Luke 24. 19. 
p See Note 15. 



b ch. 19. 40. 



c ch. 11. 44. 



q See Note 16. 
dPs. 16. 10. 

Acts 2. 25-31. & 

13. 34, 35. 



SECT. XV. 

V. JE. 29. 

J. P. 4742. 

The Sepulchre. 

a Mark 16. 5. 
r See Note 17. 



SECT. XVI. 

V. JE. 29. 

J. p. 4742. 

The Sepulchre. 

s See Note 18. 



a Matt. 28. 9. 
Mark 16. 9. 



SECT. XVII. 

V. M. 29. 

J. P. 4742. 

The Sepulchre. 

t See Note 19. 
a Luke 8. 2. 
b Luke 24. 16, 31. 
John 21. 4. 



u See Note 20. 
X See Note 21. 
cP3.22.23. Matt. 

28. 10. Rom. 8. 

29. Heb. 2. 11. 
d John 16. 28. 
(Ephea. I. 17. 



Section XIII. — Salome and the other Mary leave the Sepulchre. 

Matt, xxviii. 8. — Mark xvi. 8. 
' And they went out quickly ^ from the sepulchre, with 
fear, ^ and fled from the sepulchre ; for they trembled, and 
were amazed, neither said they any thing to any man, for 
they were° afraid ; * and [with] great joy did run to bring 
his disciples word. 

Matt, xxviii. heginning ofver. 8. And they departed quickly — . 



1 Mark xvi. 8. 

2 Matt, xxviii. 



3 Mark xvi. 8. 
■» Matt, xxviii. 



Section XIV. — Peter and John, as soon as they hear the report of 
Mary Magdalene, hasten to the Sepulchre, which they inspect, and 
immediately depart. 

John xx. 3-10. 
^ Peter "therefore!" went forth, and that other disciple, and came 
to the sepulchre. ■* So they ran both together ; and the other disciple 
did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. ^ And he, stoop- 
ing down, and looking in, saw Hhe linen clothes lying ; yet went he 
not in. ^ Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the 
sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, ^ and 'the napkin that was 
about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together 
in a place by itself. ^ Then went in also that other disciple, which 
came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, andi believed ; ^ for as yet 
they knew not the '^Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 
^^ Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. 



Section XV. — Mary Magdalene, having followed Peter and John, 
remains at the Sepulchre after their departure. 
John xx. part of ver. 11. 
But "Mary stood without, at the sepulchre, weeping."" 



Section XVI. — M. Magdalene holes into the Tomb, and sees two Angels. 
John xx. part ofver. 11, ver. 12, 13, and part ofver. 14. 
" And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre, 
^^ and seeth two angels' in white, sitting the one at the head, and the 
other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. ^^ And they say 
unto her, " Woman, why weepest thou ? " She saith unto them, 
" Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where 
they have laid him." ^'' And "when she had thus said, she turned 
herself back, and saw Jesus standing. 



Section XVII. — Christ first appears to Mary Magdalene, and com- 
mands her to inform the Disciples that he had risen. 
Mark xvi. 9. — John xx. part ofver. 14, and ver. 15-17. 
' Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the J ''"'' '"^'- ^• 
week, he appeared' first to Mary Magdalene, "out of i7. 
whom he had cast seven devils, ^ and [she] 'knew not that it was Jesus. 
^5 Jesus saith unto her, " Woman, why weepest thou ? whom seekest 
thou ? " She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, 
" Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, 
and I will take him away." ^^ Jesus saith unto her, " Mary !" She 
turned herself," and saith unto him, "Rabboni!" (which is to say, 
Master), i''' Jesus saith unto her, "Touch me not ;^ for I am not 
yet ascended to my Father ; but go to "my brethren, and say unto 
them, ''I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to "my God and 
your God." 



Sect. XXII.] CHRIST APPEARS TO THE WOMEN. 193 

Section XVIII. — Mary Magdalene, token going to inform the Disciples sect, xviii. 

that Christ had risen, meets again with Salome and the other Mary v. M. 29. 

— Christ appears to the three Women. J. P. 4742. 

Matt, xxviii. 9, 10.— John xx. 18. "^^^ Sepulchre. 

^^ Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples? that she had seen y see Note 22. 

the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. ^ And as „ „ 

OL SeG Mark 16. 9. 

they went to tell his disciples, behold ! "Jesus met them, saying, " All John 20. 14. 
hail ! " And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped Rom. 8. 29. ' 
him. ^° Then said Jesus unto them, " Be not afraid ; go tell 'my 
brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me." 



Heb. 2. n. 



SECT. XIX. 



Section XIX. — The Soldiers, ivho had fled from the Sepulchre, v. .ffi. 29. 
report to the High Priests the Resurrection of Christ. j. p. 4742. 

Matt, xxviii. 11-15. Jerusalem. 

^^ Now when they were going, behold ! some of the watch came 
into the city, and showed unto the Chief Priests all the things that 
were done. ^^ And when they were assembled with the elders, and 
had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, ^^ saying, 
" Say ye. His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we 2 see Note 23. 
'^slept. ^** And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade 
him, and secure you." ^^ So they took the money, and did as they 

were taught : and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews 

until this day. 

Section XX. — The second Party of Women, from Galilee, who had sect, xx, 
bought their Spices on the Evening previous to the Sabbath, having V. JE. 29. 
had a longer way to come to the Sepulchre, arrive after the Departure S. P. 4742 
of the others, and find the Stone rolled away. ^""^ sepuichte. 

Ldke xxiv. 1-3. 
^ Now "upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, aMatt. 28. 1. 
they came unto the ^sepulchre ''bringing the spices which they had john2o.'2.' 
prepared, and certain others with them. ^And ^they found the stone f^.^^^'"'!^" 
rolled away from the sepulchre ; ^ and they entered in, and found not « iiktt. 28. 2. 
the body of the Lord Jesus. ^^"""^ i«- *• 



Section XXI. — Tivo Angels appear also to the second Party of Women, 

from Galilee, assuring them that Christ ivas risen, and reminding them sect, xxi. 
of his foretelling this Fact. V. K. 29. 

Luke xxiv. 4-91 J. P. 4742. 

^ And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, "^^^ s^ichre. 

"behold! two men stood by them in shining garments. ^ And, as a John 20. 12. 

00 ? _ Acts 1 10 

they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said * or, kim tLt uv 
unto them, " Why seek ye *the Uving among the dead? ^He is not *"'' 
here, but is risen. 'Remember how He spake unto you when He 17. 23'. Mark's. 
was yet in Galilee, '''saying, 'The ^Son of Man must be delivered ll'.t.%^^ 
into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise c see John 1. 51. 
again.'" ^ And ''they remembered his words, ^and "returned from the eUM.'k.'s. 
sepulchre, and told all these things unto the Eleven and to all the rest.*" ^^^''^ ^^- ^°- 

^ ' ° b See Note 25. 



Section XXII. — Mary Magdalene unites her Testimony to that of the ^^ 

Galilean Women. sect, xxii. 

Mark xvi. 10. — Luke xxiv. 10. V. M. 29. 

1 Luke xxiv. 1 J.J, ^^g jyiary t^Magdalene, ^ and "she went and told them J. P. 4742. 

2 Mark xvi. 10. that had been with him, as they mourned and wept, 'and Jerusalem. 

3 Luke x.xiv. 'Joanna, and Mary, the mother of James, and other women c see Note 26. 

that were with them, which told these things unto the tl°^,''^o'o^' 

, ' » 6 Luke 8. 3. 

apostles. 
VOL. II. 25 q 



194 

SECT. XXIII. 

V. &. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 



SECT. XXIV. 



CHRIST APPEARS TO CLEOPAS. 



[Part VIII. 



Section XXIII. — The Apostles are still incredulous. 
Mark xvi. 11. — Luke xxiv. 11. 
■ And they, when they had heard that He was alive, and 
had been seen of her, beheved not. "^ And their words = Luke xxiv. 
seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. 



' Mark xvi. H 



Section XXIV. — Peter goes again to the Sepulchre. 
y ^ gg Luke xxiv. former part of ver. 12. 

J. P. 4742. "Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre ; and stoopinaf 

The Sepulchre, dowu, he bchcld the linen clothes laid by themselves. 

a John 20. 3, 6. - 

^^ Section XXV. — Peter, who had prohahly seen Christ, departs from 

the Sepulchre. 
Luke xxiv. latter paH of ver. 12. 
Ani> [Peter] departed, wondering in himself at that which was 
come to pass.'* 



sect. XXV. 

V. m. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 
Jerusalem, 

d See Note 27. 



sect. XXVI. 

V. jE.. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

On the way to 
Emmaiis. 

e See Note 28. 



a Matt. 18. 20. 

ver. 36. 
J John 20. 14. & 

21.4. 

e John 19. 25. 
d Matt. 21. 11. 

ch. 7. 16. 

John 3. 2. & 4. 

19. & 6. 14. 
Acts 2. 22. & 
7.22. 

ech. 23. 1. Acts 

13. 27, 28. 
/cli. 1. 68. & 

2.38. Actsl. 6. 
g Matt. 28. 8. 

Mark 16. 10. 

ver. 9, 10. John 

20. 18. 

h ver. 12. 

j ver. 46. Acts 17. 

3. IPet. 1. 11. 
i Gen. 3. 15. & 

22. 18. & 26. 4. 
& 49. 10. Num. 

21. 9. Dent. 18. 
15, 18. Ps. 16. 9, 

10. &22. & 132. 

11. Is. 4. 2. & 
7. 14. & 9. 6, 7. 
& 40. 10, 11. & 
50. 6. & 53. 2. 
Jer. 23. 5. & 33. 
14,15. Ezek.34. 

23. & 37. 25. 
Dan. 7. 13, 14. 
& 9. 24. Mic. 
5. 2. & 7. 20. 
Zech. 6. 12. & 9. 
9. & 13. 7. Mai. 
3. 1. & 4. 2. 

fSeeNote29. 
k See Gen. 32. 26. 

& 42. 7. Mark 

6.48. 
Z Gen. 19. 3. 

Acts 16. 15. 
m Matt. 14. 19. 
* Or, ceased to he 

seen of them. See 

ch. 4. 30. John 

8.59. 



■■ Section XXVI. — Christ appears to Cleopas, and another Disciple, 

going to Emmaiis.^ 
Mark xvi. 12.— Luke xxiv. 13-32. 
' And, behold ! ^ after that he appeared in another form ' L"- ""'''.• '^• 
unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the coun- 3 Luke xxiv. 
try ^ that same day to a village called Emmaiis, which was *■^'^^■ 
from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs, ^*and they talked together 
of all these things which had happened. ^^ And it came to pass, that, 
while they communed together and reasoned, "Jesus himself drew 
near, and went with them ; ^^ but Hheir eyes were holden, that they 
should not know him. *^ And he said unto them, " What manner of 
communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, 
and are sad ?" ^^ And the one of them, "whose name was Cleopas, 
answering, said unto him, " Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, 
and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these 
days ? " 1^ And he said unto them, " What things ? " And they said 
unto him, " Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, ''which was a prophet mighty 
in deed and word before God and all the people ; ^^ and ^how the Chief 
Priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have 
crucified him. ^' But we trusted ■'^that it had been he which should 
have redeemed Israel : and beside all this, to-day is the third day since 
these things were done. ^- Yea, ^and certain women also of our com- 
pany made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre ; ~^and 
when they found not his body, they came, saying, That they had also seen 
a vision of angels, whicli said that he was alive. ^* And ''certain of 
them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even 
so as the women had said ; but him they saw not." ^^ Then he said 
unto them, " O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets 
have spoken ! ^^ Ought 'not Christ to have suffered these things, and 
to enter into his glory ? " ^'^ And, ^beginning at Moses and all the 
Prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things 
concerning*^ himself. ^® And they drew nigh unto the village, whither 
they went ; and *he made as though he would have gone further. 
^^ But 'they constrained him saying, " Abide with us ; for it is toward 
evening, and the day is far spent." And he went in to tarry with 
them. ^^ And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, ""he took 
bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. ^^ And their eyes 
were opened, and they knew him ; and he *vanished out of their 
sight. ^^ And they said one to another, " Did not our heart burn 



Sect. XXIX.] CHRIST APPEARS TO HIS APOSTLES. 



195 



within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened 
to us the Scriptures ?" 

LoKE xxiv. part ofver. 13. — two of them went — . 



SECT. XXVII. 



i Mark xvi. 13. 

2 Luke xxiv, 
3a-35. 



V. M. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 



Section XXVII. — Cleopas and his Companion return to Jerusalem, 
and assure the Apostles that Christ had certainly risen. 
Mark xvi. 13.— Luke xxiv. 33-35. 
' And they went and told it unto the residue ; neither 
believed they them. ^ And they rose up the same hour, 
and returned to Jerusalem, and found the Eleven gathered 
together, and them that were with them, ^* saying, "The Lord is aicor. is. 5. 
risen indeed, and "hath appeared to eSimon." ^^ And they told what g see Note 30. 
things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in 
breaking of bread. - ■ = 



Section XXVIII. — Christ appears to the assembled Apostles, Thomas 
only being absent, convinces them of the Identity of the Resurrection 
Body, and blesses them. 

Luke xxiv. 36-43.— John xx. 19-2.3. 
' Then "the same day at evening, being the first day of 
the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples 
were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, ^ as they 
thus spake, and stood in the midst of them, and saith unto 
them, " Peace be unto you ! " ^ But they were terrified and 
affrighted, and supposed that they had seen ''a spirit. ''And 
he said unto them, " Why are ye troubled ? and why do 
thoughts arise in your hearts ? ^ Behold my hands and my 
feet, that it is I myself ; "handle me, and see ; for a spirit 
hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." ^ And when 
he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands, and his feet, 
' and his side. "^Then were the disciples glad, when they 
saw the Lord. * And while they yet believed not "for 
joy, and wondered, he said unto them, " Have -^ye here 
any meat?" 'And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, 
and of a honeycomb. ^° And ^he took it, and did eat be- 
fore them. " Then said Jesus to them again, " Peace be 
unto you : ''as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." 
^' And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and 
saith unto them, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost. '^ Whose 
'soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and 
whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." 

Luke xxhr.part of vcr. 36. — [Jesus] himself — . 

John xx. part of ver. 19, and 20. — 19 — and stood in the midst, and saith unto tliem, 
" Peace be unto you ! " 20 And when he liad so said, he showed unto them his hands — . 



1 John XX. 19. 



2 Luke xxiv. 
36. 

3 Luke xxiv. 
37. 

4 Luke xxiv. 

38. 

5 Luke xxiv. 
39. 

6 Luke xxiv. 
40. 

7 John XX. 20. 

8 Luke xxiv. 
41. 

9 Luke xxiv. 
42. 

10 Luke xxiv. 
43. 

11 John XX. 21. 

12 John XX. 22. 

13 John XX. 23. 



SECT. XXVIII. 

V. M. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 
Jerusalem. 

a Mark 16. 14. 
1 Cor. 15. 5. 



b Mark 6. 49. 



c John 20. 27. 



d John 16. 22. 
e Gen. 45. 26. 
/John 21. 5. 

g Acts 10. 41. 



h Matt. 28. 18. 
John 17. 18, 19. 
Heb. 3. 1. 
2 Tim. 2.2. 

i Matt. 10. 19. & 
18. 18. 



Section XXIX. — Thomas is still incredulous. 
John xx. 24, 25. 
^* But Thomas, one of the Twelve, called Didymus, was not with 
them when Jesus came. ^^ The other disciples therefore said unto 
him, " We have seen the Lord." But he said unto them, " Except I 
shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the 
print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." 



sect. xxix. 

V. JE. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 



196 



CHRIST APPEARS AT THE SEA OF TIBERIAS. 



[Part VIIL 



SECT XXX. 

V. M. 29. 
J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 

a Luke 24. 36. 
1 Cor. 15. 5. 
* Or, together. 
h See Note 31. 
i See Note 32. 



b 1 John 1. 1 



k See Note 33. 



c 2 Cor. 5. 7. 
1 Pet. 1. 8. 



SECT. XXXI. 

V. M. 29. 

J. P. 4742. 

A mountain in 

Galilee. 

a ch. 26. 32. & 
28.7. 

1 See Note 34. 
m See Note 35. 



SECT. XXXII, 

V. iE. 29. 

J. P. 4742. 

Sea of Tiberias. 

n See Note 36. 
a ch. 1. 45. 
* Matt. 4. 21. 



c ch. 20. 14. 
d Luke 24. 41. 
* Or, Sirs. 
e Luke 5. 4, 6, 7. 



/ch. 13.23. & 20. 
2. 



g Acts 10. 41. 



k See ch. 20. 19, 
26. 
o See Note 37. 



Section XXX. — Christ appears to the Eleven, Thomas being present, 
Mark xvi. 14.— John xx. 26-29. 
' Afterward "He appeared unto the Eleven as they sat ' Mark xvi. 14 
*at meat, and ''upbraided them with their unbelief and 
hardness of heart, because they believed not them which 
had seen him after he was risen. ^ And after eight days 29. " '"'' 
'again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. TAe?t came 
Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, " Peace 
be unto you ! " ^'' Then saith he to Thomas, " Reach hither thy finger, 
and behold my hands, and heach hither thy hand, and thrust it into 
my side ; and be not faithless, but believing. ^^ And Thomas answered 
and said unto him, " My Lord and my ''God ! " ^^ Jesus saith unto 
him, " [Thomas,] because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed ; 
"blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed 1 " 



Section XXXI. — Christ appears to a large number of his Disciples 
on a Mountain in Galilee. 
Matt, xxviii. ver. 16, 17, and paHof ver. 18. 
^^ Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a moun- 
tain "where Jesus had appointed them. ^'^ And when they saw him, 
they worshipped him ; but some' doubted. ^^ And Jesus came and 
spake unto them." 



Section XXXII. — Christ appears again at the Sea of Tiberias — His 
Conversation ivith Peter.^ 
John xxi. 1-24. 
^ After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples 
at the sea of Tiberias. And on this wise showed he himself. ^ There 
were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and "Na- 
thanael of Cana in Galilee, and Hhe sons of Zebedee, and two other ol 
his disciples. ^ Simon Peter saith unto them, " I go a fishing." They 
say unto him, " We also go with thee." They went forth, and en- 
tered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. 
^ But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore ; 
but the disciples "knew not that it was Jesus. ^ Then ''Jesus saith 
unto them, " *Children, have ye any meat ? " They answered him, 
" No." 6 And he said unto them, " Cast 'the net on the right side of 
the ship, and ye shall find." They cast therefore, and now they were 
not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. ''Therefore -^that 
disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, " It is the Lord ! " Now 
when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat 
unto him (for he was naked), and did cast himself into the sea. ^ And 
the other disciples came in a little ship (for they were not far from 
land, but as it were two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fishes. 
^ As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals 
there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. ^^ Jesus saith unto them, 
" Bring of the fish which ye have now caught." " Simon Peter went 
up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty 
and three ; and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. 

12 Jesus saith unto them, "Come ^and dine." And none of the dis- 
ciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. 

13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish 
likewise, i* This is now Hhe third time" that Jesus showed himselt 
to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. 

1^ So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, " Simon, 
son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? " He saith unto him. 



Sect. XXXIV.] CHRIST ASCENDS TO HEAVEN. 197 

" Yea Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." He saith unto him, 
" Feed my lambs." ^^ He saith to him again the second time, " Si- 
mon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? " He saith unto him, " Yea, 
Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." He 'saith unto him, " Feed jacuso. 28. 
my sheep." ^''He saith unto him, the third time, " Simon, son of i Pet. 2! 25! & 
Jonas, lovest thou me? " Peter was grieved because he said unto him j cli. '2. 24, 25. & 
the third time, " Lovest thou me?" and he said unto him, "Lord, ^^■^°- 
^ thou knowest all things ; thou knowest that I love thee." Jesus saith 12.3,4. 
unto him, " Feed my sheep. ^^ Verily, *verily, I say unto thee, When p see Note .38. 
thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou mch. 13.23, 25. & 
wouldest : but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, ^?; ^' ,, „., „„ 

I 1 11 ■ 1 1 1 1 1-1 1 1 , n Matt. 16.27,28. 

and another shall gird thee,P and carry thee whither thou wouldest &25. 31. icor. 
not." ^^ This spake he, signifying 'by what death he should glorify liev. 2. 25. &' 
God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, " Follow me." a^.^^' ^ ^ ^' 

~° Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple "whom Jesus loved » cii- is. 35. 
following (which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, " Lord, 



which is he that betrayeth thee ? ") ^^ Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, " 

" Lord, and what shall this man do 1 " ^^ Jesus saith unto him, " If I sect, xxxiii. 
will that he tarry "till I come, what is that to thee ? follow thou me." v. JE.. 29. 
^^ Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple J- P- 4742. 
should not die. Yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die ; Jerusalem. 
but, " If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ? " ^4 xhis * ^,[' '^"t';'?*"- 

, ,. . , 1 ■ 1 'r- 1 r 1 1 ■ gether with than. 

IS the disciple which testineth of these things, and wrote these things ; qSoeNotesg. 
and °we know that his testimony is true. "27°''^ J5; g^; ^' 

\&.l. Acts 2. 33. 
= ft Matt. 3. 11. 

Acts 11. 16. & 

Section XXXIII. — Christ appears to his Apostles at Jerusalem, and cjoeis. is. 

commissions them to convert the World. ^^^^ ^- ''• '^ ^^■ 

Luke xxiv. 44-49. — Acts i. 4, 5. d Man. 16. 21. & 

lActsi. 4. ' And *being assembled together with them, [He] com- Mark's. 31. ' 

manded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem,<i l^'si.^' ^^'^^ 
but wait for the promise of the Father, "which, saith he, ye c see Luke 24. 27. 

2 Acts i. 5. have heard of me ; ^ for 'John truly baptized with water, "C Lu'ke^24."6. 

^but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many "^^v?^- ^f- ^o- 6- 

3 Luke x.tiv. , / t a i i • i . .1 ,, mi i , & 53. 2, &c. 

44-49. days hence. And he said unto them, " Ihese are the Acts 17. 3. 

words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things *ac1"'i3. ss" 46. 
must be fulfilled which were written in the 'Law of Moses, and z'n the uoima. 12. 
Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me." '^^ Then •''opened he their ps. 22. 27." 
understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, ^'^and said jer. s'l.W 
unto them, "Thus ^it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer 
and to rise from the dead the third day, ''^ and that repentance and ''re- j John 15. 27. 

• Acts 1 8 22 & 

mission of sins should be preached in his Name 'among all nations, be- 2.32. &! 15. 
ginning at Jerusalem. '^^ And 'ye are witnesses of these things. '*^ And, "'as.^joim^H.' 
''behold I I send the promise of my Father upon you ; but tarry ye in ^'ig^V'^lc's^i' 
the city [of Jerusalem,] until ye be endued with power from on high." 4.&2. 1, &c. 



Hos. 2. 23. Mic. 
4. 2. Mai. 1. 11. 



SECT. XXXIV. 



Section XXXIV. — Christ leads out his Apostles to Bethany, within y '^20 

sight of Jerusalem, gives them their final Commission, blesses them, j p. 4743, 

and ascends up visibly into Heaven — from whence he will come to Bethany. 

judge the Living and the Dead J , g^^ p^ ^g 

Matt. xxvm. part of vtr. 18, ver. 19, 20. — Mark. xvi. 15, to the end.— Lvkf. xxiv. .50, ' See Note 41. 

to the end.— Acts i. 6-12. " '^^='"- ^'^- ^■ 

. ijTTiii ,. T«i n -TTT, f> ^^- !• 26. Dan. 

I Luke XXIV. i^j^jj jjg ig^ ^hem out as far as to Bethany.' 'When 7.27. Amos 9. 



11. 



Acts i. 6. they therefore were come together, they asked of him, say- c Matt. 24. 36. 
ing, " Lord, "wilt thou at this time 'restore again the king- jTh'^ess^'s^i 
3 Acts i. 7. dom to Israel ? " " And he said unto them, " It "is not for 
VOL. II. *e 



198 CONCLUSION TO THE GOSPEL HISTORY. [Part VllL 

you to know the times or the seasons which the Father 
* of, ]he power cf ^ath put in his own power ; ''but ''ye shall receive ^power,*^ '' Acts i. 8 
the Holy ohost after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you ; and 'ye shall 

coming upon you. . •' i i • t i i • n t i 

Luke 24. 49. bc witncsscs unto me both m Jerusalem, and m all Judaea, 

eLukf2r48 ^^^ ^^ Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." 

John 15. 27. ^ And he said unto them, ® "All -^power is given unto me in ' M"^ xvi. is 

32. ' ' ' heaven and in earth. ' Go ^ye, therefore, * into all the Is? ' '^^"'' 

•'^MaM.u"?"" world, ^and f teach all nations, "and preach the Gospel to ^jiat.xxvm.ig. 

tsl&'io."!!. every creature, ^' baptizing them in the name of the Father, 9 jiauxxwii.ig! 

s"?" V&I2 ^^^ °^ ^^® ^^^' ^^^ °^ t'^^ Holy Ghost ; 'teaching Hhem 1° Mark xvi. 15. 

si.'&ia'. 3. &■ to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. "'^^'''■^''''"'■^^" 

17 ^ Acts 2 36 . 

&'i7. 31. Rom/ ''He 'that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; ■'but ^^ Matt. xxvm. 

25; 27. Ep°hes!''' he that believeth not shall be damned. " And these signs 13 Mark xvi. ic. 

k 9%"^iieb!"i! shall follow them that believe ; ^"In my name shall they cast '* Ji^rk ^vi. 17. 

2-|2.k^iPft: out devils; 'they shall speak with new tongues ; '= they " ^"*^''*"'- ^^■ 

14. . "'shall take up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly thing, 

f of ' ma^' disci- ^^ sh^^^ ^'^^ h^''* them ; "they shall lay hands on the sick, 

pieJ, or, ciiris- aud thcy shall recover : '^^ and, lo ! I am with you alway, '^ "att. xxviii. 

turns of all iior- •', iri iiiiirA t ""• 

tions. even unto the end 01 the world ! [Amen.] 

^;^n'if \« " So then after the Lord had spoken unto them '' these " ^^"'^ ''"• ^^- 

I John o. lo, 00. A ly Acts i 9 

Acts2. 38. & things, '^he lifted up his hands and blessed them. '"And 19 mkexxiv. 

Kom. 10.9." °it came to pass, while he blessed them, ■^' while they beheld, ^ ^°- 

■j(An 1^.48. ^^'1^ ^^^s parted from them, " [and] he was taken '■• and 51"'"''^' 

A- Luke 10. 17. carried up into heaven, '°and a cloud received him out of ^' t!IV'^.'i^ 

7. & 16. 18. & ' their sight ; ^* he was received up into heaven, and ^sat si- 

jA;te'2.4.& 10. "^^ th<^ "ght hand of God. " And they worshipped him. Z Luke'xL 

46. & 19. 6. -' And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he si- 

m Luke 10. 19. Went up, bchold ! two men stood by them in white apparel ; 26 mIaxvI. 19. 

Acts -28. 5^ '^ which also said, " Ye 'men of Galilee, why stand ye 27 Luke .xxiv. 

71 Acts 5. 15, lb. . , _i. -|- i*i'i 52 

& 9. 17. &-28. 8. gazmg up into heaven r this same Jesus, which is taken up 2s Acts i. 10. 

2 Kind's 2. 11. from you into heaven, ''shall so come in like manner as ye 29 Acts i. 11. 

Ephes. 4. 8. have seen him go into heaven." 

Acts 7. 55.' '° Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount 30 Acts i. 1-2. 

'st."'^ ^' ^' ^^ "" called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath-day's" 

rDan. 7. 13. joumey, " aiid returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ^'and ^i Lukexxiv. 

Matt 24 30 . . o j j ? ^.^ 

Mark 13.' -26.' Were contiuually ^in the temple, praising and blessing God. 32 Lukexxiv.53. 

John*' w.' 3^.^' [Amen.] ^^ And they went forth, and preached every where, 

i^!"i6.'2'Thes. the Lord working with them, 'and confirming the word with '' M"''^"- ^• 

1. 10. Rev. 1. 7. signs following. [Amen.] 

u See Note 43. " => l j 

« Acts 2. 46. & Matt, xxviii. part of ver. 13. — Saying — 

t Ac^'s. 12. & T^iJ^R^ xvi. part of ver. 1-5. — Go ye — . 

14. 3. 1 Cor. 2. Luke xxiv. part of ver. 50. — and — . 

4 5 Heb '^ 4 

' ' •— • Acts i. beginning of ver. 9. And when he had spoken — . 



X See Note 44. 



SECT. XXXV. Section XXXV. — St. John's Conclusion to the Gospel History of 
V iE~29 Jesus Christ. 

J p 4742. John xx. 30, 31, and xxi. 25. 

^^ And many other signs ""truly did Jesus in the presence of his dis- 
ciples, which are not written in this book ; ^i but these are written, 
a See Mark 1.1. that yc might bclicve that Jesus is the Christ, "the Son of God, and 
that believing ye might have life through his Name. ^^ And there are 
also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be 
b Amos 7. 10. Written every one, 'I suppose that even the world itself could not con- 
tain the books that should be written. [Amen.] 



THE 



NEW TESTAMENT. 



PART IX. 



FROM THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST TO THE TERMINATION OF THE PERIOD 

IN WHICH THE GOSPEL WAS PREACHED TO THE PROSELYTES 

OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND TO THE JEWS ONLY. 



PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 

IlAVijfG thus far proceeded through the magnificent temple of the Christian religion, till we 
have arrived at that holy altar on which the Great Sacrifice was ofiered, we are about to con- 
template the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit which the now-glorified Victim sent down from 
the Holy of Holies. We will pause, however, at the threshold of the rising Church, and appeal 
to all who have hitherto refused to enter in and worship, if they have been able to discover any God 
so worthy of their homage, as the God of Christianity ; or any temple so firmly established as this 
beautiful fabric of eternal truth. The Christian challenges the world to produce another system 
which is at all comparable to Christianity, in the evidences of its truth, the purity of its precepts, the 
philosophy of its discoveries, both concerning God and man; or in all the other essential qualities 
which the speculations, the fancy, or the sober reason of the reflecting or the learned in all ages 
have considered essential to any proposed scheme of religion. The Christian world have hitherto 
been, for the most part, too patient under the repeated attacks of their antagonists. They have 
been contented with defence, and with maintaining the walls of their fortress ; in replying to, 
rather than assailing the enemies of their sublime and holy faith. It is true that one considerable 
advantage has accrued to the cause of truth from this plan of action. Every argument which 
sophistry has been able to invent, and ignorance or vice to advance, has been fully and fairly 
met, discussed, and refuted. The external and internal evidence of Christianity has been so 
amply displayed — the facts on which the whole system rests have been so ably and repeatedly 
established, that no possible danger can be apprehended, if the Church of God continues its 
vigilance, from any future efforts of tlie great adversary of mankind. The danger to which alone 
it is exposed, is the offence which arises from the negligent lives of its professed followers, or 
their too indolent security in the goodness of their cause. 

Let us then leave for a short time the impregnable walls of tlie Christian truth, and make our 
incursion into the entrenched camp of the enemy. Let us at once inquire who are these proud 
boasters who have so long encoura,ged tliemselves in their empty blasphemies against tlie light 
of Revelation ? What are their claims to our veneration ? What are their discoveries ? What 
will they substitute in the place of Christianity ? Where is to be found a complete and perfect 
system of truth and morals among these pretended illuminators of the human race ? I appeal to 
the records of all ages for an answer, and implore the impartial inquirer to search into the history 
of all nations, in all periods from the day of the creation to the present moment, and see whether 
human reason has been able to frame a consistent religion for itself. If the same one, only true 
religion, which is revealed in Scripture under the three several forms of the Patriarchal, Levitical, 
and Christian dispensations, had been ■withlield from the world, have we any reason whatever to 
suppose, that its advantages could have been supplied to the world by any human discovery ? 

One thing only is necessary to be premised — tlie Christian in this great controversy appeals to 
facts, experience, and history. While he shrinks from no abstract reasoning, from no metaphysical 
inquiry, from no supposed philosophical deductions, he asserts tliat his religion is established 



200 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. [Part IX. 

throughout upon divinely-attested and undeniable /acte. He demands only of the opponents of 
Christianity, that the religion they would establish in its place be founded upon facts equally well 
attested, and upon evidences equally satisfactory and undeniable. 

It is certain that evU is every where around us. It is concealed in our hearts within — it is 
visible in our bodies without, in a countless train of infirmities, diseases, and afflictions. It is 
seen above us in the storms of heaven, around us in the evils of life, and beneath us in the graves 
of the dead. 

The question. Whence and why is evil permitted in this world? baffles all but the Christian. 
If God could prevent evil and did not, where is his benevolence ? if he wished to prevent evil, 
and could not, where is his power ? Here the infidel is baffled, and his proud reason stayed. 
Reason without Revelation has not solved, and cannot solve, the dark and mysterious difficulty. 
Christianity alone unfolds to man the origin of evil in this world, and while it explains the cause^ 
appoints the remedy. " An enemy hath done this," — and " the seed of the woman shall bruise the 
serpent's head." We are assured that an evil and malignant spirit, superior to man, influenced 
the mind of man to an act of disobedience. This is the recorded fact, and daily experience 
confirms its reasonableness and probability. Evil is still continued by the same means by which 
it originated. Thousands are hourly misled by one powerful or depraved mind. The sophistries 
of infidelity, the splendor of ambition, the gold of avarice are demons all pointing to the forbidden 
fruit — to a transgression of the sacred Law : and the authority of custom, the fear of ridicule, the 
false shame of the cowardice that dares not differ from the multitude, are all the enemies of our vir- 
tue, and poisoners of our happiness. Man tempts man to sin : if wicked men, ambitious conquerors, 
&c. can continue the dominion of evil solely from their superiority of talent (and such has been 
in every age the history of crime); if their own habits of evil were induced by the prior example 
of others acting upon minds liable to sin ; is it irrational to believe that the influence and mental 
superiority of an Evil Being originated the first crime that contaminated the human race ? The 
causes which continue evil may naturally be supposed to bear some analogy to the cause which 
primarily produced it ; and no cause is more probable than the influence of mental superiority 
over a mind capable of error, and endowed with the liberty of choice. Hence we find, " that 
they who remain in the state in which the fall left them are called the children of the devil ; and 
it is their pleasure to propagate that sin and death which their father introduced. As he was a 
liar from the beginning, so they are liars against God, as well as man ; he was a murderer, and 
they are murderers ; he was a tempter, a deceiver, a subtle serpent, a devouring lion ; and their 
works, like his, abound with deceit, enmity, subtlety, avarice, and rapacity. There have been 
two parties from the beginning — -the sons of God, and the seed of the serpent. Their opinions are 
contrary, and their works contrary. Christianity is at the head of one party, and infidelity at the 
head of the otlier. As time is divided into light and darkness, so is the world between these two. 
The dispute between them has subsisted throughout all ages past, it is now in agitation, and it 
will never cease till the consummation, when the Judge of men and angels shall interpose to 
decide it"." 

We are called upon to believe rather than to fathom these depths of Omnipotence ; and we 
know and are assured, that the two great works of the Destroyer, sin and death, shall be finally 
annihilated by the Saviour of mankind, who was revealed from the beginning as the conquerer 
of evil. 

But what are the discoveries of infidelity which could supersede this religion ? What philoso- 
pher in ancient days, or what speculator in modern times, who has dared to reject tliat account of 
the origin of evil in the world which is given us in revelation, has been able for one moment to 
propose any satisfactory explanation of this great mystery ; or offer any thing either to allay its 
bitterness, or to remove its sting ? All is wild and vain conjecture : they know only that evil 
exists, and they have no remedy whatever for the melancholy conviction, but a gloomy patience 
without hope of future good, or deliverance from present sorrow. 

Shall we go on to the next great event after the birth of the world ? The testimony of 
Revelation has sometimes been rejected in this question also. If, however, the discoveries of our 
present eminent geologist, and the conclusions of scientific or curious observers, both at home 
and abroad, may be received as arguments, there is sufficient evidence to assure us that at no 
very remote period a universal deluge overspread the whole surface of the globe, the traces of 
which are every where distinguishable. The traditions of all nations confirm the same truth. 
Their records in no one instance proceed higher than this event ; the chronology of the Egyp- 
tians, and of the Hindoos, which boasted a more ancient descent, have been long since consigned 
to oblivion. Let me then ask. Whether any invention of natural religion, that vain idol of the 

" Jones' (of Nayland) Works, vol. vii. p. 294. 



Part IX.] PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 201 

imacrination, can discover an adequate cause of this universal deluge ; or does tradition relate 
any tiling concerning it, which does not confirm the only rational and consistent account which 
is revealed to us in Scripture' ? There is abundant evidence to prove that the most absurd and 
superstitious ceremonies, and the most inconsistent and irrational theories of the pagan world 
were at first useful emblems or remembrances instituted in commemoration of this great event, 
though tliey were subsequently perverted ; and every species of idolatry, from the Hindoo to 
the savage, originated in the corruption of some primeval truth revealed to their patriarchal 
ancestors^. 

On this view of the subject, every difficulty respecting the polytheism of antiquity is solved. 
All the mystery of its early origin, and the causes of the institution of barbarous rites and absurd 
notions respecting the Deity, arc easOy and satisfactorily explained. Let him, who rejects 
Revelation, and yet believes in the power of the unassisted reason of man to frame for itself a 
consistent system of rational religion, contemplate the history of his species, and account for the 
incomprehensible series of mysterious absurdities he there surveys. Was it not the real, genuine, 
undoubted majesty of human reason which fully displayed itself when the scientific Chaldean paid 
Ms homage to fire, as to a God — when the dignified Persian bowed down to the host of heaven 
— and the deeply-learned Egyptian acknowledged the divinity of the reptile or the vegetable? 
If the advocate of the supremacy of human reason would be further gratified, I would refer him to 
the contemplation of the more northern nations, and bid him there behold its triumphs in the 
massacre of human victims, when the blood-bedewed priest, as in the plains of Mexico, in a 
subsequent period, tore the palpitating heart from the still living breast of the sacrifice, and spoke 
in his mystic augury the will of a ferocious deity. Human reason proposed the worship of the 
sword of God, Attila, and revelled in the banquet of those warriors, who drank mead from the 
skulls of their enemies in the halls of Valhalla. Human reason, unencumbered by Revelation, 
gradually instructed tlie passive population of Hindostan to burn their widows, to murder their 
infants, and to torture their own bodies. Cruelty, lust, and ignorance assumed the place of 
repentance, faith, and knowledge ; and the conquest of unassisted reason over the mind of man, 
was consummated in the golden clime of India, till the white horse of Brunswick pastured on its 
fair meadows, and the sons of Japhet forsook the shores of England to overthrow this proud 
temple of the idol god. 

We will now consider human reason in its most admired form in the schools of philosophy in 
Greece, of which the Pythagorean or Italic was the most distinguished for the reasonableness of 
its doctrines, the purity of its precepts, and the excellence of its discipline. Among the Pytha- 
goreans was taught the existence of a Supreme Being, the Creator, and providential Preserver of 
the Universe, the immortality of the soul, and future rewards and punishments. Though these 
opinions were blended with many sentiments which are not warranted by Revelation, there is 
certainly much to be admired and wondered at in the systems of Pythagoras. Yet even here, ir 
the advocates of the sufficiency of human intellect should feel inclined to triumph, they must 
do so upon Christian principles only ; for it is demonstrable that this great philosopher kindled 
his faint taper at the ever-burning fire on the holy altar of truth. He conversed, we have reason 
to believe, with those favored people who held in their hands the sacred records of Moses and the 
prophets. For Pythagoras, it is asserted by all the remaining evidence, travelled among the 
Jews in their dispersion, both in Egypt and in Babylon, and also with the remnant of them who 
were left in their own country at Mount Carmel. Before he proceeded on these travels he visited 
Thales, at Miletus, who happened to be in Egypt at the time when Jehoahaz was brought there a 
prisoner of war by Pharaoh-Necho'^, with many of his captive countrymen ; and these were the 
two men who founded the Ionic and Italic schools, from which descended all the schools of 

' That whicli the modern speculators call natural religion is the offspring of cultivated minds, tho- 
roughly imbued with an early and extensive knowledge of religion, and endeavouring, by subtle dis- 
tinctions, to separate the doctrines and duties which could only have been known by Revelation, from 
those wliioh they suppose to be discoverable by the power of human reason only. After all the reason- 
ings of Wollaston, Clarke, and others on this subject, the only point of real importance has been disre- 
garded. The question is, Whether there has ever been found a nation who has been governed by natural 
religion ? or, Whether tliis natural religion has made any discoveries concerning God, or the soul of 
man, or the nature of the future world, or on any of these sublimer subjects, which are at all comparable 
to those which are given to us in Revelation. Natural religion, says Faber, denotes that religion which 
man might frame to himself by the unassisted exercise of his intellectual powers, if he were placed in 
the world by his Creator, without any communication being made to him relative to that Creator's will 
and attributes. — Faber On the Three Dispensations, vol. i. p. 74. 

■^ See Stillingfleet's Origines Sacrce ; Faber's Origin of Pagan Idolatry ; Gale's Court of the Gentiles; 
Young On Idolatry. 

•^ See Gale's Court of the Gentiles ; Enfield's Origin of Philosophy ; and Note 40, in the Arrangement 
of the Old Testament, Period VII. part iv. sect. 8. 
VOL. IT. 26 



202 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. [Part IX. 

philosophy in Greece. Their predecessors had by no means such clear ideas of a Supreme God 
and a Superintending Providence ; and the reason seems to be, that they had no communication 
with the depositaries of truth, but were embarrassed with the mixed traditions of ancient times, 
and the stupid idolatry of their own days. Socrates and Plato were the two principal philosophers 
who next distinguished themselves by their superiority to their countrymen. These seem to have 
been permitted to show to the world to what height of excellence the intellect of man could 
attain without the possession of tlie Inspired Volume. Both taught the existence of one God, 
though both practised the worship of the numerous gods of their country. And such is the 
superiority of Revelation, that a little child, of our own day, who has been made acquainted with 
the common truths of Christianity, is a wiser philosopher than either of them. 

If, then, the learned, deeply-reasoning, and talented Greek was not able, by his own powers of 
reasoning, to frame any consistent code of religion by which to govern himself, or to benefit man- 
kind, much less shall we find that the more modern philosophers, who have ventured to reject 
Christianity, are more perfect guides, or are favored with greater discernment. Shall we, for 
instance, foUow Lord Herbert of Cherbury, who assures us that the indulgence of the passions is 
no greater crime than the quenching of thirst, or yielding to sleep ? — Or shall we believe, with 
Mr. Hobbes, that inspiration is madness, and religion ridiculous, and that the civil law of a country 
is thfe only criterion of right and wrong .^ — Shall we agree with Blount, the disappointed, self- 
possessed suicide, that the soul is material ? — Or with Lord Shaftesbury, that the Scriptures are an 
artful invention, that the idea of salvation is absurd, and join in his untranscribable blasphemies 
against the meek and blameless Jesus ? Shall the Jew Spinoza direct us, when he teaches us 
that God is the soul of the world and not the ruler ; and that all things proceed, not from the 
will or government of an All- wise Creator, but from a necessary emanation from the physical 
energy of the material universe, the passive fountain of existence ? Shall we agree with him 
that there is no Creator, no providence, no necessity for worship, nor any well-grounded expec- 
tation of a future state ? — -Or shall we rather become the votaries of Collins, and believe that 
man is a mere machine, and the soul is material and mortal ? — Or praise, with Tindal and Morgan, 
and Chubb and Bolingbroke, the dignity of reason, the excellence of natural religion, professing 
to admire Christianity'', while we deny its doctrmes and ridicule its truths ? — If these hiero- 
phants are not received as our guides into the temple of their natural religion, shall we turn to 
Gibbon, to pander to our frailties, and lead us to the shrine of vice, " a wortliy priest, where 
satyrs are the gods ?"• — Or shall we rather submit our intellects to the wisdom of Hume, to learn 
from him that we cannot reason from cause and effect, and therefore (oh sublime discovery !) the 
beauty of the visible creation does not prove the existence of God ? or, that experience is our 
only guide, and therefore miracles are impossible, and not to be credited on any evidence whatever ! 
If tliese lights of the world are not to have the honor of conducting us, shall we rather barter our 
veneration for the Christian Scriptures, for the reveries of Drummond, who would change the 
Bible into an almanac ; or the still worthier votaries of infidelity, who are alike distinguished 
from their countrymen by the double infamy of their politics and their religion ? The good prin- 
ciples of England have rejected the teaching of such men with scorn and contempt. " The 
etherial light has purged off" its baser fire victorious." Not even their names shall pollute my 
pages. In other lands, the follies of the rejectors of Revelation have been known in the misery 
of millions. These were the men, who, professing themselves wise, became indeed fools. God, 
with them, was the sensorium of the universe, or the intelligent principle of nature. They 
rejected, therefore, all idea of a Providence, and a moral Governor of the world. They ascribed 
every effect to fate or fortune, to necessity or chance ; they denied the existence of a soul distinct 
from the body ; they conceived man to be nothing more than an organized lump of matter, a 
mere machine, an ingenious piece of clock-work, wliich, when the wheels refuse to act, stands 
still, and loses all power and motion for ever. They acknowledged nothing beyond the grave ; 
no resurrection, no future existence, no future retribution ; they considered death as an eternal 
sleep, as the total extinction of our being; and they stigmatized all opinions diff^erent from these 
with the name of superstition, bigotry, priestcraft, fanaticism, and idolatry^ 

Let us now advert, for a moment, to the effects produced by these principles on an entire people, 
and also on individuals-''. The only instance in which the avowed rejectors of Revelation have 
possessed the supreme power and government of a country, and have attempted to dispose of 
human happiness according to their own doctrines and wishes, is that of France during the 
greater part of the revolution, which it is now well known was effected by the abettors of 
infidelity. The great majority of the nation had become infidels. The name and profession of 



' Bishop Porteus's Charge, Tracts 266, 267. Home's Critical Introduction, vol. i. p. 32. 
/ Home, vol. i. p. 31-35. 



Part IX.] PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 203 

Christianity was renounced by the legislature. Deatli was declared, by an act of the republican 
government, to be an eternal sleep. Public worship was abolished. The churches were con- 
verted into " temples of reason," in which atheistical and licentious homilies were substituted for 
the proscribed service ; and an absurd and ludicrous imitation of the pagan mythology was 
exhibited, under the title of the Religion of Reason. In the principal church of every town a 
tutelary goddess was installed, with a ceremony equally pedantic, frivolous, and profane ; and the 
females selected to personify this new divinity were mostly prostitutes, who received the adora- 
tions of the attendant municipal officers, and of the multitudes, whom fear, or force, or motives of 
gain, had collected together on the occasion. Contempt for religion, or decency, became the 
test of attachment to the government ; and the gross infraction of any moral or social duty was 
deemed a proof of civism, and a victory over prejudice. All distinctions of right and wrong were 
confounded. The grossest debauchery triumphed. Then proscription followed upon proscription, 
tragedy followed after tragedy, in almost breathless succession, on the theatre of France ; the 
whole nation seemed to be converted into a horde of assassins. Democracy and atheism, hand in 
hand, desolated tlie country, and converted it into one vast field of rapine and of blood. The moral 
and social ties were unloosed, or rather torn asunder. For a man to accuse his own father was 
declared to be an act of civism worthy of a true republican ; and to neglect it was pronounced a 
crime that should be punished with death. Accordingly women denounced their husbands, and 
mothers their sons, as bad citizens and traitors. Wliile many women — not of the dress of the 
common people, nor of infamous reputation, but respectable in character and appearance — seized 
with savage ferocity between their teeth the mangled limbs of their murdered countrymen. The 
miseries suffered by that single nation have changed all the histories of the preceding sufferings 
of mankind into idle tales. The kingdom appeared to be changed into one great prison ; the 
inhabitants converted into felons ; and the common doom of man commuted for the violence of 
the sword and the bayonet, the sucking boat and the guillotine. To contemplative men it seemed, 
for a season, as if the knell of the whole nation was tolled, and the world summoned to its execu- 
tion and its funeral. Within the short space of ten years not less than three millions of human 
beings are supposed to have perished in that single country, by the influence of atheism, and the 
legislature of infidelity. I well know it will be thought by many, that this part of the subject has 
been exhausted. But, in one sense, it can never be exhausted. The fearful warnings of that 
dreadful revolution ought to be indehbly impressed upon society, so long as a sovereign, or a 
state, remains in the civilized world. 

Thus it appears that man has never yet been able, by the mere light of nature to attain to a 
competent knowledge of religious truth. Let us now take a different view of the subject, and 
endeavour to show, by arguments of another kind, how impossible it is for him to lay any founda- 
tion for such knowledge, other than that which is already laid in the revealed will of God. 

From a consideration of the powers and faculties of the human understanding, it is demonstra- 
ble that it cannot attain to knowledge of any kind without some external communication. It 
cannot perceive unless the impression be made on the organs of perception ; it cannot form ideas 
without perceptions ; it cannot judge without a comparison of ideas ; it cannot form a proposition 
without this exercise of its judgment ; it cannot reason, argue, or syllogize, without this previous 
formation of propositions to be examined and compared. Such is the procedure of the human 
understanding in the work of ratiocination ; whence it clearly follows that it can, in the first 
instance, do nothing of itself; that is, it cannot begin its operations till it be supplied with the 
materials to work upon, which materials must come from without ; and that the mind, unfurnished 
with these, is incapable of attaining even to the lowest degree of knowledge. 

Without Revelation, therefore, it is certain that man never could have discovered the mind or 
will of God, or have obtained any knowledge of spiritual things. That he never did attain to it 
appears from a fair and impartial statement of the condition of the heathen world before the 
preaching of Christianity, and of the condition of barbarous and uncivilized countries at the 
present moment. That he could never attain to it is proved by showing that human reason, 
unenlightened by Revelation, has no foundation on which to construct a solid system of religion ; 
that all human knowledge is derived from external communications, and conveyed either through 
the medium of the senses, or immediately by divine inspiration ; that those ideas which are 
formed in the mind through the medium of the senses can communicate no knowledge of spiritual 
things ; and that, consequently, for this knowledge he must be indebted wholly to Divine 
Revelation*. 

If, then, we find, from the very nature of man, as well as from the records of all history, that 

^ Bishop Van Mildert's Boyle s Lectures, vol. ii. p. 68. This is one of the most valuable books ever 
given to the world. See also Dr. Dwight's excellent Discourses on Infidelity. 



204 



MATTHIAS APPOINTED TO THE APOSTLESHIP. 



[Part IX, 



he has never been able to invent for himself a consistent scheme of religion ; if his human reason is 
utterly incapable of arriving at any satisfactory conclusions respecting God and his Providence, 
the nature of the soul, or his own destiny in another state — if all his ideas on these subjects are 
clearly traceable to Revelation, and as soon as he steps over this boundary he launches at once 
into the chaos of conjecture and uncertainty; we have the most undoubted evidence in our favor, 
to prove that Revelation was necessary to man, and that he is unable of himself to discover those 
interesting and important truths which relate both to his present and future existence ; and the 
decided superiority of Revelation over every other system which the ingenuity or sagacity of man 
has either invented or proposed is tiie hallowed and ratifying seal of its divine origin. Who, then, 
will yet refuse to enter this holy temple of Christianity ? who will stUl reject the religion of 
Christ, for infidel phDosophy and metaphysical uncertainty — for endless and useless theories — for 
premises without conclusions — death without hope — and a God, without other proofs of his mercy 
than he has bestowed alike upon the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air ? 



SECT. I. 

V. m. 29. 
J. p. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 

a See Note 1. 
a Luke 1. 3. 
i Mark 16. 19. 

Luke 9.51. & 24. 

51.ver.9. 1 Tim. 

3. 16. 
c Matt. 28. 19. 

Mark 16. 15. 

John 20. 21. 

ch. 10.41,42. 
(f Mark 16.14. 

Luke 24.36. 

John 20. 19, 26. 

&21. 1, 14. 

1 Cor. 15. 5. 
e Luke 24. 52. 
/ch. 9. 37, 39. & 

20.8. 
g- Matt. 10. 2, 3, 4. 
h Luke 6. 15. 
t Jude 1. 
j ch. 2. 1, 46. 
k Luke 23. 49, 55. 

& 24. 10. 
I Matt. 13. 55. 



SECT. n. 

V. M. 29. 
J. p. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 

b See Note 2. 
a Rev. 3. 4. 
i Ps. 41. 9. 

John 13. 18. 
c Luke 22. 47. 

John 18. 3. 
d Matt. 10. 4. 

Luke 6. 16. 
c vcr. 25. ch. 12. 

25. & 20. 24. & 

21. 19. 
/Matt. 27.5,7,8. 
g Matt. 26. 15. 

2 Pet. 2. 15. 
c See Note 3. 
k Ps. 69. 25. 
i Ps. 109. 8. 
* Or, office, or, 

charge. 
il See Note 4. 
j Mark 1. 1. 
k ver. 9. 
I John 15. 27. 

ver. 8. uh.4.33. 



^Section I. — After the Ascension of Christ the Apostles return to 

Jerusalem, 
Acts i. ver. 1-3, mid 12-14. 
^ The former treatise have I made, "O Theophilus ! of all that 
Jesus began both to do and teach, ^ until *the day in which he was 
taken up, after that he, through the Holy Ghost, ^had given com- 
mandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen. ^ To ''whom also 
he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs ; 
being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to 
the kingdom of God. ^^ Then 'returned they unto Jerusalem from the 
mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey. 
^^ And when they were come in, they went up ^into an upper room, 
where abode both ^Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, 
and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, 
and ''Simon Zelotes, and 'Judas the brother of James. ^* These •'all 
continued with one accord in prayer [and supplication,] with *the 
women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with 'his brethren. 



Section II. — Matthias by lot appointed to the Apostleship, in the 
place of Judas. ^ 
Acts i. 15, to the end. 
^^And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, 
and said, (the number °of the names together were about an hundred 
and twenty,) ^® " Men and brethren ! this Scripture must needs have 
been fulfilled, 'which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake 
before concerning Judas, "^ which was guide to them that took Jesus ; 
^"^ for ■'he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of "this minis- 
try. ^^ Now -^this man purchased a field with "'the reward of iniquity ; 
and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels 
gushed out. ^^ (And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem ; 
insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that 
is to say. The Field of Blood.)" ^° For it is written in the Book of 
''Psalms, — 

' Let his habitation be desolate, 
And let no man dwell therein ;' 



*And, — 



His *bishoprick let another take.'"" 



^^ Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time 
that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ^-beginijing^from the 
baptism of John, unto that same day that 'he was taken up from us, 
must one be ordained 'to be a witness with us of his resurrection ! " 



Sect. IV.] PETER'S ADDRESS TO THE MULTITUDE. 205 

-^And they appointed two, Joseph, called "Barsabas (who was ™ ''''• ^^- ^^• 
surnamed Justus), and Matthias. ^^ And they prayed, and said, " Thou,*" ^ f ^^^^"jg^y 
Lord! "which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these ichron.as. 9. 
two thou hast chosen, ^^ that "he may take part of this ministry and 20. &17. i"'ch. 
'apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go ^ll^'^^"''^''^' 
to his own place. "'^ ^^ And they gave forth their lots ; and the lot fell j,[Or, apostiesMp 
upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. TeS— af]'*'^' 

fSeeNote6. 



Section III. — Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. s 

Acts ii. 1-13. sect^iii. 

1 And when "the day of Pentecost was fully come,'' they were all with v. JE. 29. 
one accord in one place.' ~ And suddenly there came a sound from J- P- 4742. 
heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and 4t filled all the house where Jerusalem. 
they were sitting. ^ And there appeared unto them cloven tongues g see Note 7. 
like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, ''and °they were all filled "i'ein.^il^.' 
with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the fg ^- ^^- "^ ^''• 
Spirit gave them utterance. h see Note 8. 

^And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out q{ i^f^e^oieQ. 
every nation under heaven. ^Now *when this was noised abroad, the cch.j.s.Miirk 
multitude came together, and were tconfounded, because that every man p-,P:'=!'^^°f!j- 

i-i- 7A11 & 19.6. 1 Cor. 12. 

heard them speak m his own language. 'And they were all amazed, 10, 28, 30. & 13. 
and marvelled, saying one to another, "Behold! are not all these * q^. wiien'tki^ 
which speak ''Galileans ? ^ and how hear we every man in our own ^"'"^ "'"^ """'*• 
tongue, wherein we were born? ^Parthians, and Medes, andElamites, Knlnd!"^'"^ 
and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in <^cii. 1.11. 
Pontus, and Asia, ^"Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the 
parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and Pro- 
selytes, ^^Cretesand Arabians, Mo we hear them speak in our tongues « Both Oriesbach 

J ■" ' 10 aiia i\.napp point 

the wonderful works of God ? " ^^ And they were all amazed, and were '>>'^ sentence in- 

, tcrrc'fl.tively. 

in doubt, saying one to another, " What meaneth this ? " ^-^ Others — ed'. 
mocking said, " These men are full of new wine ! ""^ t see Note 10. 



Section IV, — Address of St. Peter to the Multitude. sect. iv. 

Acts ii. 14-36. _ "~„„ 

Y JE 2d 
^^BuT Peter, standing up with the Eleven, hfted up his voice, and j. p. 4742. 

"said unto them, " Ye men of Judeea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusa- Jerusalem. 

lem,' be this known unto you, and hearken to my words. ^^For these oThec^kworri 

are not drunken, as ye suppose, 'seeing it is lut the third hour of the here implies that 

. . he spiike liv di- 

day ; ^^ but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel : — vine impulse.— 



Ed. 



17 £ 



And 'it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, i see Note n. 

I '^will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh : ^ j^ ^^^"^ ^^^^ 

And your sons and 'your daughters shall prophesy, j^'/I's^^m'^'^" 

And your young men shall see visions, zech.'i2.'io.' 

And your old men shall dream dreams; , °^"' ' 

J ' . a ch. 10. 45. 

^^And on my servants and on my handmaidens cch.21. 9. 

I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, -^and they shall prophesy. ■''1 co^r! 12! I'bjss 

1^ And ^I will show wonders in heaven above, &14. 1, &c. 

And .signs in the earth beneath, ,- Joei 2. 30, 31. 

Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke, 

^'^ The ''sun shall be turned into darkness, a Matt. 24. 29. 

And the moon into blood, Luke2i.'25.' 

Before that great and notable day of the Lord come. 
2^ And it shall come to pass. 

That 'whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' 'Kom lo. 13. 

^"2 Ye men of Israel, hear these words ! Jesus of Nazareth, a man ap- 

VOL. II. R 



206 EFFECTS OF ST. PETER'S ADDRESS. [Part IX. 

■'lo'Th'chifois! proved of God among you^by miracles and wonders and signs (which 
Heb. 2. 4. God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know), 

"Jke'sl^'^^'fe ^^ Him, ''being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge 
fe'/as*^'"' ^' ^^' '^^ God, 'ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. 

I ch. 5. 30. ^* Whom ""God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death ; be- 

m ver. 32. ch. 3. cause it was not possible that he should be holden of it. ^^ For David 

15. & 4. 10. & , ^, • 1 • 

10.40. & 13.30, speaketh concerning him, — 

34. & 17. 31. 

8 "n i' Cot's ' ^ "foresaw the Lord always before my face, 

14. & 15. 15. For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. 

Gal. i. 1. Eph. 1. ^^ Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; 

i'The°s's.^i.''i6. Moreover also, my flesh shall rest in hope ; 

fpltA.'ii.' ^^ Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, 
n Ps. 16. 8. Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." 

iH See Note ]2. 28 fhou hast made known to me the ways of life ; 

Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.' 

* ^K-'r"^ Q ^^ Men and brethren ! *let me freely speak unto you °of the patriarch 

cii.i3.°36.' ' David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us 

p 2 Sam. 7. 12,13. unto this day. ^'^ Therefore being a prophet, ''and knowing that God 

Luke L 32^ 69. had swom with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, [according 

2Ti'in.'2.8. to the flesh, he would raise up Christ] to sit on his throne; ^^ he, see- 

? P**- 16- lo- ing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that ' ['his soul] was 

rvJr. 24. "ot left iu hcll, neither his flesh did see corruption.' 3- This ''Jesus 

s ch. 1. 8. hath God raised up, "whereof we all are witnesses. ^^ Therefore 'being 

'^.''i^keb. io.'i2; by the right hand of God exalted, and "having received of the Father 

u .lohn 14. 26. & the promise of the Holy Ghost, he °hath shed forth this, which ye now 

is! ch. 1. 4.' ' see and hear." 2"* For David is not ascended into the heavens ; but he 

V ch. 10. 45. saith himself, — 

Eph. 4. 8. ' 

n See Note 13. i The "LoRD Said uuto my lord, 

"ftiau. 23. 44. Sit thou On my right hand, 

Epri-'lo^" ^^ Until I make thy foes thy footstool.' 

ich.s. 31. ^^ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God ""hath 
made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and 
^— = Christ." 



SECT. V. 



— Section V. — Effects of St. Peter's Address. 

Y-J^:3^: Acts ii. 37-42. 

^■^ Now when they heard this, "they were pricked in the heart, and 

said unto Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, " Men and brethren ! 

\uke3. lb. ■ what shall we do?" ^®Then Peter said unto them, "Repent, 'and 

i'lluke^af 47^" be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the re- 

ch. 3. 19. mission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, ^^ For 

''is^'l^m'it'i' the promise is unto you, and 'to your children, and to all that are afar 

ii'i^i^'l' 1 11' off, ei;e?i as many as the Lord our God shall call." ^° And with many 

Eph. 2. 13, 17. other words did he testify and exhort, saymg, " Save yourselves from 

'^RlmAi^ii!'^'^' this untoward generation." ^^ Then they that gladly received his 

fa'^Herifas word were baptized ; and the same day there were added unto them 

about three thousand souls ; "^^ and ''they continued steadfastly in the 

~ apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in 

SECT. vr. prayers. 

V. JE. 20. ^^^^^^^^^"^^"^^^^^^^"^^"^ 



J. P. 4742. 

Jerusalem. 



J. P. 4742. Section VL — Union of the first Converts in the primitive Church. 

Jerusalem. p^^^^ ji_ 43^ ^^ ^/^^ ^^^^ 

a Mark 16. 17. ^^ j\j^jj fg^r camc upou cveiy soul, and "many wonders and signs 

i'c'h.4!32 34. were done by the apostles. '*'*And all that believed were together, 

o See Note 14. and ''had all things common, ^^ and sold their possessions" and goods, 



Sect. VIII.] PETER AGAIN ADDRESSES THE PEOPLE. 207 

and ^parted them to all men, as every man had need; ^® and ''they, ^^^'^j^j^' 
continuing daily with one accord 'in the temple, and -breaking bread « Luke 24. 53. 
*from house to house,? did eat their meat with gladness and singleness "jj^' g^^!,' 
of heart, ^''praising God, and ^having favor with all the people. And *0!,athome. 
''the Lord added to the Church daily such as should he saved. p see Note 15. 

•' g Luke 2. 52. ch. 

4. 33. Rom. 14. 



SECT. vn. 



Section VII. — A. Cripple is miraculously and publicly healed by 24. 

St. Peter and St. John. 

Acts iii. 1-10. 
^ Now Peter and John went up together "into the temple at the 
hour of prayer, ''being the ninth hour. ^ And 'a certain man lame ^- ^- ^^■ 
from his mother's womb was carried : whom they laid daily at the : ^' 

J6rui?a.l6rn. 

gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, ''to ask alms of them — 

that entered into the temple. -^Who seeing- Peter and John about f';''-^-^''- 

u Ps. 55. 17 

to go into the temple asked an alms. ''And Peter, fastening his eyes ccb.u'.s.' ' 

upon him with John, said, " Look on us." ^ And he gave heed unto rfJoimg. 8. 

them, expecting to receive something of them. ^ Then Peter said, 

" Silver and gold have I none ; but such as I have give T thee: 'In 

the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk ! " '^ And he /is. 35. e. 

took him by the right hand, and lifted him up. And immediately his fr^'\^f'^^' 

c 111 -1 laiin- 1 '» Like John 9. 8. 

leet and ancle bones received strength, **and he •'leaping up, stood, 

and walked ; and entered with them into the temple, walking, and = 

leaping, and praising God. ^ And "all the people saw him walking 

and praising God ; ^° and they knew that it was he which ''sat for 

alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple ; and they were filled with V. ^E. 30. 

wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. ^- ^- ^^'*"^- 

Jerusalem. 



SECT. VIII. 



a John 10. 23. 
ch. 5. 12. 

Section VIII. — St. Peter again addresses the People. b ch. 5. 30. 

Acts iii. 11, to the end. ''ltl''i?\^^^' 

^^And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all d Man. 27.2. 
the people ran together unto them in the porch "that is called Solo- "^ll^l'if'u' 
mon's, greatly wondering. '^ And when Peter saw it, he answered Luke 23. is, 20, 

~ "^ ® 21. John 18. 40. 

unto the people, " Ye men of Israel ! why marvel ye at this ? or why &'i9. 15. ch'. \?i. 
look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness ^p^' j,. j^ ^.^^^^ 
we had made this man to walk? '•^ The ''God of Abraham, and of i-2|Luke].35. 
Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, "hath glorified his Son ^ cii. 7. 52. & 22! 
.Tesus, whom ye 'Melivered up, and "denied him in the presence of "• 

'J 1 * 1 * Or Aiitlior. 

Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. '"'But ye denied •'the Heb. 2. 10.& 5. 
Holy One "and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto ^"^i, o°-24. 
you, ^^and killed the *Prince of Life ; ''vt'hom God hath raised from ;ch.2. 32. 
the dead, Hvhereof we are witnesses. ^"^ And^his Name, through faith ^ ch '4"io.' & 14. 9. 
in his Name, hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know : yea, i Luke 23. 34. 
the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the i^.'aV i'cor'!2.'8. 
presence of you all. ^ '^""' ^' '^■ 

i -J . . q See Note 16. 

^^ " And now, brethren, I wot that Hhrough ignorance ye did it, as zLuke24.44. ch. 
did also your rulers. i '^But 'those things, which God before had "'^'i-^^: . ,,, . 

.' rr- 1 "' Ps.22. Is. 50. G. 

showed by the mouth of all his Prophets, that Christ should suffer, he & 53.5,&c. 

Dan 9 26 

hath so fulfilled. ^'^ Repent "ye therefore, and be converted, that your i Pct. i.ib, ii. 
sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing'" shall come from «<■!'■ "2- 38. 
the presence of the Lord, ^"and he shall send Jesus Christ, which ss^eNoteie! 
before was preached^ unto you; ^' whom "the heaven must receive och.i.ii. 
until the times of ^restitution of all 'things, Vhich God hath spoken by [ g'^'NoJeig! 
the mouth of all his holy Prophets [since the world began]. 2- For jLukei. 7o. 
Moses truly said unto the fathers, ' A Trophet shall the Lord your '"i9''"|V7^37^'^^' 
God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me;" Him shall ye u see Note 20. 



208 PETER'S ADDRESS TO THE SANHEDRIN. [Part IX. 

hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. ^'^ And it shall 

*9''4\^&^5™8. come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that Prophet, shall 

Gal. 3. 26. be destroyed from among the people.' ^^ Yea, and all the Prophets 

i8!&22. 18. &' from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, 

Gah'sfs^' ^^' '^^^6 likewise foretold of these days. ^^ Ye "are the children of the 

u Matt. 10. 5. & prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, 

47!ch!i3.V,33; saying unto Abraham, ' And 'in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the 

^^' earth be blessed.' ^^Unto "you first God, having raised up his Son 

wMatt. i. 21. [Jesus], "sent him to bless you, "in turning away every one of you 

from his iniquities." 



SECT. IX. Section IX. — St. Peter and St. John are imprisoned by Order 

V. M. 30. of the Sanhedrin. 

J. P. 4743. Acts iv. 1-7. 

Jerusalem. 1 ^j^jj ^s they spako unto the people, the priests, and the *captain 

* Or, rider. Tuake of the tcmplc, and tlic Sadducces, came upon them, ^ being "grieved 

o Matt.'aa. 23. that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrec- 

Acts 23. 8. tion from the dead. ^ And they laid hands on them, and put them in 

hold unto the next day : for it was now eventide. ^ Howbeit many of 

them which heard the word believed ; and the number of the men was 

about five thousand. 

^ And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, 

*h"49 &V"]3" ^"^ Scribes, ''and ''Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, 

and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high 

X See Note 21. priest. Were gathered together at Jerusalem." ^And when they had 

'ch^jlij;^' set them in the midst, they asked, " By "what power, or by what name, 

have ye done this ? " 



SECT\ X. Section X. — St. Peter^s Address to the assembled Sanhedrin. 

V. tE. 30. Acts iv. 8-22. 

J. P. 4743. 8 Then ''Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, " Ye 

Jerusalem. fulers of thc pcoplc, and elders of Israel ! ^ if we this day be exam- 
aLuke 12.11,12. incd of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he 
is made whole ; ^° be it known unto you all, and to all the people of 
6ch. 3.C, ic. Israel, 'that by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye cruci- 
cch. 2.24. jf|g(j^ Vhom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man 

d Ps. 118. 22. stand here before vou whole. ^^ This ''is the Stone which was set at 

Is. 28. 16. 

M'att.'2i.'42. nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 
"I'^^'o" V.?.^' ''k' ^^ Neither 'is there salvation in any other; for there is none other 

10.43. lTim.2. . •' ' 

5, 6. Name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. 

/Matt. 11.2.5. 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, ^and per- 

ceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled ; 
and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus ; 

^■ch.3. n. i4g^j,(j beholding the man which was healed ^standing with them, they 

could say nothing against it. ^^ But when they had commanded them 
to go aside out of the Council, they conferred among themselves, 

ft John 11. 47. 16 saying, " What ''shall we do to these men ? for that indeed a nota-. 

ich. 3. 9,10. ]j]g miracle hath been done by them is 'manifest to all them that dwell 
in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it; I'^but that it spread no further 
among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak hence- 
Agiin, ch.5.40. fQj.^]-, ^Q jjQ ^g^j^ \^ tl-^jg Name." i*^ And ^they called them, and com- 
manded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 

y See Note 92. ^^ But Pctcr and Johu answered and said unto them, " Whether *it be 

i ch. 1. 8. & 2. 32. right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, 

"iloh^i fb. j'^f'g^^ yc ' ^^ P*^'" '^^ cannot but speak the things which '"we have 



Sect. XIII.] DEATHS OF ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA. 209 

seen and heard."' ~^ So when they had further threatened them, they 
let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, "because of "Lufe'ao^e^^ig 
the people ; for all men glorified God "for that which was done. ^"^For fcSQ.a.ch.'s.se. 
the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing "'=''• ^- '''^• 
was showed. 



Section XI. — The Prayer of the Church on the Liberation of L " 

St. Peter and St. John. V. M. 30. 

Acts iv. 23-31. J- P- 4743. 

^^ And being let go, "they went to their own company, and reported "'^^ 
all that the Chief Priests and elders had said unto them. 2"* And ach. 12. i2. 
when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one ac- 
cord, and said, "Lord ! 'Thou art God, which hast made heaven and 62Kingsi9. 15. 
earth, and the sea, and all that in them is, ^^ who by the mouth of thy 
servant David hast said, — 

' Why "did the heathen rage, c Ps. 2. 1. 

And the people imagine vain things ? '^lnk'e'd%\ 

25 The kings of the earth stood up, 22. 1, s." ' 

And the rulers were gathered together /Luke 4 is 

Against the Lord, and against his Christ.' Joimio.se. 

g ch. 2. 23. & 3. 

^"^ For "^of a truth, against 'thy holy child Jesus, Avhom thou hast an- ^^■ 
ointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the 4 ver^. i3°*Vi. ch. 
people of Israel, were gathered together, ^^for ^to do whatsoever thy ^^4'^ ^^jg'*!' 
hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.^ ^^ And now, &?6. 25. &28! 
Lord! behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants ''that ich.2.43.&;5.i2.' 
with all boldness they may speak thy word, 2° by stretching forth j ch. 3. 6, le. 
thine hand to heal, 'and that signs and wonders may be done, ^by the ^ ',"'; ^''' 
name of *thy holy child Jesus." 26.' 

^^ And when they had prayed, 'the place was shaken where they "* ""■ ^^• 

were assembled together ; and they were all filled with the Holy 

Ghost, "'and they spake the word of God with boldness. 

SECT. xu. 



Section XIL — The Union and Munificence of the Primitive Church. ^' ^•^^- . 

Acts iv. 32, to the end. ' 1 

^-And the multitude of them that believed "were of one heart and ach. 5. 12. nom. 
of one soul ; 'neither said any of them that aught of the things which ]3.' 11. phii. 1.' 
he possessed was his own, but they had all things common. "^^And 3.8. ' " ^' 
with "great power gave the apostles ''witness of the resurrection of the * ^h. 2. 44. 
Lord Jesus; and 'great grace was upon them all. ^* Neither was "^^^ ^ c^ 
there any among them that lacked ; ■'^for as many as were possessors e ch. 2. 47. 
of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that /^h. 2.45. 

o- • o jr c ^ ^ver.37 ch 5 2 

were sold, ^^and ^laid them down at the apostles' feet; ''and distri- Ach.2.45. &6 i 
bution was made unto every man according as he had need. iver. 34,35. 

. ch 5 1 2 

^^ xlnd Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas (which a see Note 24. 

is, being interpreted. The Son of Consolation), a Levite, and of the 

country of Cyprus, ^^ having 'land, sold it, and brought the money, and 

laid it at the apostles' feet.'^ sect^xhl 

■ V. M. 31. 

J. P. 4744. 
Section XIII. — Deaths of Ananias and Sapphira. Jerusalem. 

Acts v. 1-10. 

fl ch 4. 37. 

^BuT a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a 6Niim.3o.'2. 
possession ; ^ and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy Ecdes^'.4!" 
to it; "and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet, c Luke 22. 3. 
3 But 'Peter said, "Ananias? why hath "Satan filled thine heart *to *v°;: g/"'^'"- 

VOL. II. 27 *R 



210 



THE APOSTLES DELIVERED FROM PRISON. [Part IX. 



b See Note 25. 
d vet. 10, 11. 



e Join 19. 40. 



lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land ? 
^ Whiles it remained, was it not thine own ? and after it was sold, was 
it not in thine own power ? Why hast thou conceived this thing in 
thine heart ?*" thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." ^ And 
Ananias hearing these words ''fell down, and gave up the ghost. And 
great fear came on all them that heard these things. ^And the 
young men arose, 'wound him up, and carried him out, and buried 
him. 

■^ And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, 
not knowing what was done, came in. ^ And Peter answered unto 
her, " Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much ? " And she said, 
" Yea, for so much." ^ Then Peter said unto her, " How is it that ye 

/ver.3. Mau.4.7. {jave agreed together -^to tempt the Spirit of the Lord ? behold ! the 
feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall 

^ver.5. carry thee out." ^° Then ^fell she down straightway at his feet, and 

yielded up the ghost. And the young men came in, and found her 
= dead, and, carying her forth, buried her by her husband. 



SECT. XIV. 

V. M. 31. 
J. P. 4744. 
Jerusalem. 

a ver. 5. ch. 2.43. 

& 19. 17. 
6Jolm9.22. & 

12. 42. & 19. 38. 
c See Note 26. 
cch.2.47.&4. 21. 
dch.3.11.&4.32. 
e ch. 2. 43. & 14. 

3. &19.11.Kom. 

15. 19. 2 Cor. 12. 

12. Heb.2.4. 
* Or, in every 

street. 
/Matt. 9.21. & 

14. 36. cli. 19.12. 
ff Mark 16. 17, 18. 

John 14. 12. 



Section XIV. — State of the Church at this time. 
Acts v. 11-16. 
^^ And "great fear came upon all the Church, and upon as many as 
heard these things. ^^ And ''of the rest durst no man join himself ■= to 
them : "but the people magnified them. ^'* And behevers were the 
more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women. ^^ And 
''they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch. And 'by the 
hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among 
the people ; ^^ insomuch that they brought forth the sick *into the 
streets, and laid them on beds and couches, -^that at the least the 
shadow of Peter passing by might overshadoAV some of them. ^^ There 
came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, 
bringing 'sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits ; 
and they were healed every one. 



Section XV. — An Angel delivers the Apostles from Prison. 
Acts v. 17-20, and part of ver. 21. 
^'''Then "the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him 
(Avhich is the sect of the Sadducees), and were filled with *indigna- 
tion, 1® and ''laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the 
common prison. ^^ But "the Angel of the Lord by night opened the 
P^"i^*^" doors, and brought them forth, and said, ^ " Go, stand and 
cch. 12.7. &16. speak in the temple to the people ''all the words of this life." ^^And 
di'oha 6 68 & when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morn- 
17. 3. 1 Joiin 5. ing, and taught. 



SECT. XV. 

V. M. 32. 
J. P. 4745. 

Jerusalem. 

a cli. 4. 1, 2, 6. 
* Or, envy. 
b Luke 21. 12. 



SECT XVI. 

V. M. 32. 
J. P. 4745. 

Jerusalem. 
a ch. 4. 5, 6. 



Section XVL — The Sanhedrin again assemble — St. Peter asserts 

before them the Messiahship of Christ. 

Acts v. part of ver. 21, and ver. 22-3.3. 

^1 But "the high priest came, and they that were with him, and 
called the Council together, and all the Senate of the children of 
Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. ^^ But when the 
officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and 
told, ^^ saying, " The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and 
the keepers standing without before the doors ; but when we had 
opened, we found no man within." ^'^ Now when the high priest and 



Sect. XVIII.] THE APPOINTMENT OF THE SEVEN DEACONS. 211 

'the captain of the temple and the Chief Priests heard these things, ^^i-uke 22. 4. ci, 
they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. -^ Then came one c Matt. 21. 26. 
and told them, [saying,] "Behold! the men whom ye put in prison <2ch. 4. is. 
are standing in the temple, and teaching the people." ^'^ Then went ^sht^i^h^ 
the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence ; °for /Mat^ 23. 35. & 
they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. ^^ And d see Note 27. 
when they had brought them, they set them before the Council. And g-<:'i-4.i9. 
the high priest asked them, ^^ saying, " Did '*not we straitly command ^."14.' ' 
you that ye should not teach in this Name? and, behold! ye have ^ ^9' Ga.]^3 w^^' 
filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, ^and intend to bring this man's 1^61.2.24. 
-Tilood "upon us ! " 'phii'b'i'.''- 

-^Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, "We 
^ought to obey God rather than men. ^° The ''God of our fathers ftch. 3. 15. 
raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and 'hanged on a tree ; ^^ Him •'hath 'M^itt-J-si. 
God exalted with his right hand to be *a Prince and 'a Saviour, ""for to "h. 3.^26."& is. 
give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. ^- And "we are his cToi.^^ h?" ^' 
witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost, "whom God "John 15.26,27. 
hath given to them that obey Him." "^]- '• '• ^ '"■ 

^^ When ^they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took coun- p."^- -■ ^'- ^ ''• 
sel to slay them. 



Heb. 2. 10. k. 12. 
2. 



Section XVH. — 5y the Advice of Gamaliel the Apostles are ^— 

dismissed. V. E,. 32. 

Acts v. 34, to the end. ^- ^- ^^45. 

^*Then stood there up one in the Council (a Pharisee, named °Ga- — 

maliel,* a doctor of the Law, had in reputation among all the people), ggge^ofegg 
and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space. "^^ And said * or, beiiemd. 
unto them, " Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend ''is'g'^'ioMiatt 
to do as touching these men. ^'^ For before these days rose up Theu- ^5. is. 
das, boasting himself to be somebody, to whom a number of men, before'the 1" 
about four hundred, joined themselves; who was slain, and all, as An"n"o Domfni. 
many as ^obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. ^" After fSeeNote29. 
this man rose up Judas of Galilee, in the days of the taxing, and drew "^i cor. ]!'25." 
away much people after him ; he also perished, and all, even as many ''^''•''■^i-*'^-^- 
as obeyed him, were dispersed. ^^And now I say unto you, Refrain ech.4.i8. 
from these men, and let them alone : 'for if this counsel or this work ^^'^^^i ^jii'kia 
be of men, it will come to bought ; ^'^but 'if it be of God, ye cannot 9.' 
overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even ''to fight against God." Vom.'s.^s.^l'cor 

^"And to him they agreed: and when they had 'called the apos- gg' Heh^w' 34 
ties, ^and beaten them^ they commanded that they should not speak James 1. 2. 
in the name of Jesus, and let them go. ^^ And they departed from 7, ch. 2. 46. ' 
the presence of the Council, "rejoicing that they were counted worthy J ^i'- 4- 20, 29. 

to suffer shame for his Name ; '^~ and daily ''in the temple, and in 

every house, 'they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. " 



=^=^=^===^= SECT. xvni. 

Section XVIII. — The Appointment of the seven Deacons. v. ^.32. 

Acts vi. 1-6. J. P. 4745. 

^ And in those days, "when the number of the disciples was multi- Jerusalem. 
plied, there arose a murmuring of the 'Grecians against the Hebrews, a eh. 2. 41. & 4. 4. 
because their widows were neglected 'in the daily ministration. ^ Then ^ ^^^'g ^g '^'^^' 
the Twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, 20. 
"It ''is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve ^V a la n 

' a iiXOQ. 10. 17. 

tables. ^Wherefore, brethren, 'look ye out among you seven men of eOeut. 1. 13. ch. 
honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may ap- iTim.3. 7.' " 
point over this ^business ; ** but we ■'^will give ourselves continually to s -^^^ ^"^^ 3°- 
prayer, and to the ministry of the word." /ch. . 



212 THE SPEECH OF ST. STEPHEN. [Part IX. 

gch.u.24. ^And the saying pleased the whole multitude; and they chose 

ai.'s.' ' ' Stephen (^a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost), and ''Philip, 

hSelNofesi ^^^ Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and 'Nicolas 

j ch. 1. 24. (a proselyte of ''Antioch), ^ whom they set before the apostles : and 

.'vv'hen they had prayed, *they laid their hands on them. 



k ch. 8. 17. & 9. 
17. & 13. 3. 
1 Tim. 4. 14. & 
5. 22. 2 Tim. 1 



SECT. XIX. 



Section XIX. — The Church continues to increase in Number.^ 

Acts vi. 7. 
And "the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples 
V. M. 33. multiplied in Jerusalem greatly ; and a great company ''of the priests 
J. P. 4746. YfQre obedient to the faith. 

Jerusalem. 



SECT. XX. 



i See Note 32 

«2"=J>-J2. 24.&19. Section XX. — Stephen, having boldly asserted the Messiahship of 
b John 12. 42. Christ, is accused of Blasphemy before the Sanhedrin. 

' Acts vi. 8-14. 

® And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and 

miracles among the people. 
V. iE. 33 or 4. 9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the 
J. P. 4746 or 7. synagogue of the Libertines,'' and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of 
. — - ' them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen; ^"and "they 
''L^k'^2i'\r h ^^^'^ ^^t ^"^'^ t^ resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. 
5. 39. See Exod! ^^Theii Hhcy suborned men, which said, "We have heard him speak 
j]Kini2iio blasphemous words against Moses, and against GoAy ^^And they 
13. Matt. 26.59, stirred up the people, and the elders, and the Scribes, and came upon 

him, and caught him, and brought him to the Council, ^^ and set up 

false witnesses, which said, " This man ceaseth not to speak [blasphe- 
"d ^9^26 mous] words against this holy place, and the Law. ^^For Ve have 
* Or, rit'ts. heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall ''destroy this place, 

and shall change the *customs which MoSes dehvered us." 



SECT. XXI. Section XXL — Stephen defends himself before the Sanhedrin. 

V. E,. 33 or 4. Acts vi. 15, and vii. 1-50. 

J. P. 4746 or 7. 15 ^^jj ^\ that sat in the Council, looking steadfastly on him, saw 
Jerusalem. j^-^ ^^^^ ^^ j^ ^^^ bccn the facc of an angel. 

^ Then said the high priest, " Are these things so ? " ^ And he 
ach.22. 1. gg^jjj^ u Men, "brethren, and fathers, hearken V The God of glory ap- 

j qI^^_ 12. 1. peared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before 
he dwelt in Charran, ^ and said unto him, ' Get Hhee out of thy coun- 
try, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which T shall show 
"12^4 5^'^^' *" thee.' ^ Then ^came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in 
Charran ; and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him 
dGen. 12. 7. & into this land, wherein ye now dwell ; ^and He gave him none inheritance 

i8'.&i7. 8. '&' in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on ; ''yet He promised that He 
e Gen. 15. 13 16. would givc it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when, 
/Exod. 12. 40. as yet he had no child. ^ And God spake on this wise, 'That his seed 
m See Note 35. should sojoum in a Strange land ; and that they should bring them into 
^Ex. 3. 12. bondage, and entreat them evil -^four hundred years." '' And the nation 
A^Gen. 17. 9, 10, ^^ ^hom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God; and after 
i Gen. 21. 2,3,4. that shall they come forth, and ^serve Me in this place. 
iGrn.S.3i^&c. ^ (" Ana ''He gave him the covenant of circumcision : 'and so Abraham 

fcls'ists' begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day ; ^ and Isaac begat 
; Gen. 37.4, 11, Jacob ; and ''Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. 

^Gen'39'^2 0^1 " " "^"^ '^'^^ patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt ; 
"23. ' ' '" ' ""but God was with him, ^"and delivered him out of all his afflictions, 
"J.°6." ^^' ^^' ^ "^"d gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt ; 



Sect. XXL] THE SPEECH OF ST. STEPHEN. 213 

and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. ^^ Now "there '>^'^"- '^^■^'^■ 
came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great 
affliction ; and our fathers found no sustenance. ^~ But '"when Jacob P^en. 42. i. 
heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first ; ^•^ and 
'at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren, and ^^^"■'^^■* ^^■ 
Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. ^'' Then "^ sent ''^''''■^^'^'~'^' 
Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all [his] "kindred, three- " oeai.fo'.^l'. 
score and fifteen souls. ^^ So 'Jacob went down into Egypt, "and died, « Gen. 46.5. 
he, and our fathers. ^^ And "were carried over into Sychem, and laid ""Exoif.'e^' 
in "the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons " exoii. is. 19. 

c r' ,iri /-ni \„ Josh. 24. 33. 

oi iimmor the lather oi bychem.)" wCen. 23. le. & 

^'' " But when ""the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had ^^- ^^■ 
sworn to Abraham, ^the people grew and multiplied in Egypt; ^^till "gL. 15. 13. 
another king arose, which knew not Joseph. ^^ The same dealt subt- "^'^ ^1 7 § 9 
illy with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, ^so that they cast ps. 105. 24,'25. 
out their young children, to the end they might not live. 2 Ex. 1.22. 

20 " In "which time Moses was born, and 'was *exceeding fair, and l^l'^'-^'m 
nourished up in [his] father's house three months. ^^ And ^vlien he *ot, fair to God. 
was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for « Ex. 2. 3-10. 
her own son. ^~ And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyp- 
tians ; and was ''mighty in words and in deeds. -^ And "when he was '^ I;"''^ ^,V?<^ 

o J ... € xjX. 2. 11, 19. 

full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the 

children of Israel. ~^ And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended 

him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian. 

^^ tFor he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God ^ °'' '^"''' 

by his hand would deliver them ; but they understood not. ^^ And 

•^the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove, and would /^xod. 2. 13. 

have set them at one again, saying, ' Sirs, ye are brethren ! why do 

ye wrong one to another ? ' ^^ But he that did his neighbour wrong 

thrust him away, saying, ' Who ^made thee a ruler and a judge over ^i4.''ch.4.7.'^' 

us ? ^* Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday ? ' 

^^ Then '"fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of ''& 4?2i).\'?8.^3, 

Madian, where he begat two sons. ''• 

^^ " And 'when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the ^^.x. 3. 2. 
wilderness of Mount Sina an Angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a 
bush. ^^ When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight ; and as he 
drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came [unto him], ^^ smj- 
ing, ' I ^am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God •^HJ'b'if le^' 
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' Then *Moses trembled, and durst k Ex. 3. 5. Josh, 
not behold. •^^ Then said the Lord to him, ' Put off thy shoes from 
thy feet ; for the place where thou standest is holy ground. ^* I 'have ' ^^' "*■ ^" 
seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I 
have heard their groaning, and am come down to dehver them ; and 
now come, I will send thee into Egypt.' m Ex. ]4. 19. 

^^ " This Moses whom they refused, (saying, ' Who made thee a ruler „^™\o°4i^& 
and a judge ? ') the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer 33. i. 
"by the hand of the Angel which appeared to him in the bush. ^^ He "& toji h^&^m! 
"brought them out, after that he had "showed wonders and signs in ^^- ^"^^ ■^^• 

. . 77 Ex 14. 21 27 

the land of Egypt, ^and in the Red Sea, 'and in the wilderness forty 28,29. ' ' 
veirs ' ^^' ^^' ^' ''^' 

^'' " This is that Moses which said unto the children of Israel, 'A '^ch. 3.'22.' 
""Prophet shall the Lord [your] God raise up unto you of your brethren, t or, m mysc//. 
tlike unto me ; 'him shall ye hear.' ^^ This 'is He that was in the jex^w. 3, iV. 
Church in the wilderness with "the Angel which spake to him in the «is. 63. 9. cai. 
Mount Sina, and ivith our fathers, "who received the lively "oracles to wEx.ai.hDeut. 
give unto us; ^^ to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him jofJ,'f "n ^^'^^ 
from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, ^"^ saying «, Rom. 3. 2. 



214 THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. STEPHEN. [Part IX 

f Deurg^e ""unto Aaron, ' Make us gods to go before us : for as for this Moses, which 
Ps. lo's. 19. brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of 
Ezek. 90. 25, 39. him.' ^^ And ^they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice 
2Th'ess.2.'ii. unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. ^^ Then 

"i7.l3!2Kin»'3i7. "^God tumcd, and gave them up to worship "the host of heaven ; as it 
J6-J&21. s.^jer. is written in the Book of the Prophets, — 

6 Amos 5.25,26, r r\ h i e t i i 

o See Note 37. ' U yc housc oi israel ! 

* Exod'.'35'!^4o.''& Have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices 

/ros^h.'s^M.^'^' By ^^^ space o/ forty years in the wilderness? 

t Or, having re- 43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, 
ei. e. Joshua — And the Star of your god Remphan, 

/Ne'h. 9. 24. Ps. Figurcs which ye made to worship them :° 

^■.I's.^^g^'^^' And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.' 

g 1 Sam. 16. 1. 

2 Sam. 7. 1. Ps. 44 Qyj. fgthers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He 

89. 19. ch.13.22. , , . , ., , . ^^ ,. , , , ,, , . ' , 

ft 1 Kings 8. 17. had appointed, ^speaking unto Moses, that he should make it accord- 

Ps. i32!'4,*5. ' ing to the fashion that he had seen ; "^^ which ''also our fathers, tthat 
'g.ao^^ichVof^ came after, brought in with 'Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, 

17. 12. 2 chron. /whom God dravc out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of 
j 1 Kings 8. 27. David. ''^ Who ^found favor before God, and ''desired to find a tab- 

6. 18. oh. 17. 24. ernacle for the God of Jacob. '*'' But 'Solomon built him a house. 
*Mutr5.^34,"35. '^^ Howbeit, ■'the Most High dwelleth not in [temples] made with hands ; 

&23. 22. g^g gaith the ''prophet, — 

SECT. XXII. *^ ' Heaven is my throne, 

— And earth is my footstool. 

T^:^?.°'' t What house will ye build me ? saith the Lord ; 

J. P. 4746 or 7, •' ' 



Jerusalem. Oi" what is the placc of my rest ? 



50 



Hath not my hand made all these things ?] 



Section XXH. — Stephen, being interrupted in his Defence, reproaches 



a Exod. 32. 9. & 

33. 3. Is. 48. 4. 
b Lev. 26. 41. 

Deut. 10. 16. 

Jer. 4.4. & 6.10, 

& 9. 26. Ezelc. 

44. 9. the Sanhedrin as the Murderers of their Messiah. 

c 2 Ciiron. 36. 16 ^ ■•,.,,.„ 

Matt. 21. 35. & Acts vii. 51-53. 

1 Tiie'ss. 2. 15. ^^ " Ye "stiffnecked ! and 'uncircumcised in heart and ears! ye do 

eExod'.2o.'i. always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did, so do ye. ^^ Which 

Heb^i'2' '^^ ^^^ Prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have 

p See Note 38. slain them which showed before of the coming of ''the Just One, of 

===== whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers ; ^^ who "have 

SECT, xxiir. received the Law by the disposition of angels,? and have not kept it." 



V.iE. 33or4. =^ 

J. P. 4746 or 7. Section XXHL — Stephen, praying for his Murderers, is stoned to 



Jerusalem. 



Death. 

Acts vii. 54, to the end, «nrf viii. beginning ofver. 1, and ver. 2. 

'^mltt's'il' ^* When "they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and 

ch. 10. ii. they gnashed on him with their teeth. ^^ But he, ''being full of the 

see"iohn 1.' 51. Holy Ghost, lookcd up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of 

e f Kin'^s 2L^i3. God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, ^^ and said, "Be- 

Heb'^is^ii. hold ! ^I see the heavens opened, and ''the Son of Man standing on 

■^^''•'^\-}^A ,„ the right hand of ""God ! " ^^Then they cried out with a loud voice, 

g Deut. 13. 9, 10. c' II- 1 1 • -1 1 sa 1 

& 17. 7. ch. 8. 1. and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord ; ^° and 
r See Note 40. "cast him out of the city, ■'^and stoned him. And ^the witnesses laid 
s See Nott 41. dowu their clothes at a young man's ""feet, whose name was Saul, ^^ and 



a ch. 5. 33 

b ch. 6. 5. 



'23^' 4^6'^' ^"""^ ^'^^y stoned Stephen, '"calling upon God, and saying, "Lord 'Jesus, 

ich. 9.4 
36. & 9: 
k Matt. £ 

&"^!34. ' said this, he fell asleep. 



j ch. 9. 40. & 20. 'receive my spirit ! " ^° And he -'kneeled down, and cried with a loud 
ft Matt. 5.44. voice, "Lord, '^lay not this sin to their charge ! " And when he had 



Sect. XXVII.] PETER REPROVES SIMON MAGUS. 215 

^ And 'Saul was consenting unto his death. ^ And devout men 'ch-7. ss.&aa 
carried Stephen to his burial, and "made great lamentation over him.' m Gen. 23. q. & 

"^ ° 50. 10. 2 Sam. 3 

_________^_________ 31. 

t See Note 42. 

Section XXIV. — General Persecution of the Christians, in which Saul 

(afterwards St. Paul) particularly distinguishes himself ^^ 

Acts viii. latter part ofver. 1, and ver. 3. SECT. XXIV. 

^ And at that time there was a great persecution against the Church „ ~^'^d 
which was at Jerusalem ; and "they were all scattered abroad through- j 'p 4747 
out the regions of Judsea and Samaria, except the apostles." ^ As for Jerusalem. 
Saul, 'he made havoc of the Church,^ entering into every house, and ach.vLid. 
hauling men and women committed them to prison. u see Note 43. 

6cb. 7.53. & 9.1, 
^^=^^^^=^^^^^^^= ]3, 21. &22.4. 

&26. 10,11. 

Section XXV. — Philip the Deacon, having left Jerusalem on account of gS?i. 13.^' 
the Persecution, goes to Samaria, preaches there, and worJcs Miracles. fTiiif'/'ia 

Acts viii. 5-13. a See Note 44. 

^Then "Philip went down to the city of Samaria,y and preached ^_-______ 

Christ unto them. ^ And the people with one accord gave heed unto 
those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which ^^'^^' •^^^' 
he did. " For ''unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of V. M. 34. 
many that were possessed with them ; and many taken with palsies, J- ?• 4747. 
and that were lame, were healed. ^And there was great joy in that ^amana. 
city. « i^h. 6. 5. 

^But there was a certain man called Simon, '^ which beforetime in jjiarkiTn? 
the same city "used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, z see Note 46. 
"^giving out that himself was some great one ; ^° to whom they all gave ' •=*»• ^^-e. 
heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, " This man is the great 
power of God." ^^ And to him they had regard, because that of long 
time he had bewitched them with sorceries. ^^ But when they believed 
Philip preaching the things 'concerning the kingdom of God, and '''^''- '•^■ 
the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 
^^ Then Simon himself believed also, and when he was baptized, he 
continued with Philip ; and wondered, beholding the *miracles and *^reaf^aci'J. 
signs which were done. 



Section XXVI. — St. Peter and St. John come down from Jerusalem to ^ect. xxvi. 

Samaria, to confer the Gifts of the Holy Ghost on the new Converts, v. E!.. 34. 
Acts viii. 14-17. J. p. 4747. 

^^ Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Sama- samaria. 
ria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and ach. 2.33. 
John; ^^ who, when they were come down, prayed for them, "that bch.i'j.z. 
they might receive the Holy Ghost. ^^ (For 'as yet He was fallen ''cii.'^g.'se.' 
upon none of them, only "they were baptized in ''the name of the 'icii.io.48. &19. 
Lord Jesus.) ^^ Then "laid they their hands on them, and they received eJii e 6 &19 6 
the Holy Ghost.- '^''•^•'- ., 

.' a See Note 47. 



Section XXVII. — St. Peter reproves Simon Magus. 

Acts viii. 18-24. SECT^xvrr. 

'^ And when Simon savv^ that through laying on of the apostles' V. M. 34. 
hands the Holy Ghost Avas given, he oflered them money, ^^ saying, J- P- 4747. 
" Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may ^"mana- 
receive the Holy Ghost." ^^ But Peter said unto him, "Thy money ''g^^";^^ 5 ^^''^ 
perish with thee! because "thou hast thought that 'the gift of God jch. 2r38.& io. 
may be purchased with money. ^^ Thou hast neither part nor lot in ^°■^'^^■'^'■ 
this matter ; for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. -- P^epent 



216 



« Dan. 4. 27. 

2Tim. 2. 25. 
d Heb. 12. 15. 
e Gen. 20. 7, 17. 

Exod. 8. 8. 

Num. 21. 7. 

1 Kings 13. 6. 

Job 42. 8. 

James 5. 16. 



SECT. XXVIII. 

V. vE. 34. 

J. P. 4747. 

Samaria. 



SECT. XXIX. 

V. m. 34. 
J. p.* 4747. 

Gaza, 
b See Note 48. 

a Zeph. 3. 10. 
c See Note 49. 
b Jolin 12. 20. 



c Is. 53. 7, 



d See Note 50. 



c See Note 51. 



f See Note 52. 

d Luke 24. 27. 
ch. 18. 28. 



c cli. 10. 47. 
g See Note 53. 
/Matt. 28. 19. 
Aiark 16. 16. 
g See Mark 1. 1. 



h 1 Kings 18. 12. 

2 Kii gs2. 16. 

Ez,»k. 3. 12, 14. 
h See N te 5'. 



SECT. XXX. 
V. TE. 34. 

J. P. 4747. 
Judaea. 

a Matt. 10. 23. 
ch. 11.19. 
i jee Note;5. 



PHILIP PREACHES THROUGHOUT JUDiEA. [Part IX. 

therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, 'if perhaps the thought 
of thine heart may be forgiven thee. ^^ Yoy I perceive that thou art 
in ''the gal! of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." ^4 Then an- 
swered Simon, and said, " Pray 'ye to the Lord for me, that none of 
these things which ye have spoken come upon me." 



Section XXVIII. — St. Peter and St. John preach in many Villages 

of the Samaritans. 

Acts viii. 25. 

And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the 

Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the Gospel in many villages 

of the Samaritans. 



Section XXIX. — The Treasurer of Queen Candace, a Proselyte oj 
Righteousness, is converted and baptized by Philip, who now preaches 
through the Cities of Judcea. 

Acts viii. 26, to the end. 
^^ And the Angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, " Arise, and 
go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem 
unto Gaza. "^ Which is desert." ^^ And he arose and went : and, be- 
hold ! "a man of Ethiopia, a '^eunuch of great authority under Candace, 
queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and 'had 
come to Jerusalem for to worship, ^^ was returning, and sitting in his 
chariot read Esaias the prophet. ^^ Then the Spirit said unto Philip, 
" Go near, and join thyself to this chariot." ^° And Philip ran thither 
to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, " Under- 
standest thou what thou readest?" ^^ And he said, " How can I, 
except some man should guide me ? " And he desired Philip that he 
would come up and sit with him. ^^ The place of the Scripture which 
he read was 'this, — 

" He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. 
And like a lamb dumb before his shearer, 
So opened He not his mouth.*^ 
^^ In his humiliation his judgment was taken away ; 
And who shall declare his generation?® 
For his life is taken from the earth." 

2^ And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, " I pray thee, of whom 
speaketh the *" prophet this ? of himself, or of some other man ? " 
2^ Then Philip opened his mouth, ''and began at the same Scripture, 
and preached unto him Jesus. ^^ And as they went on their way, 
they came unto a certain water ; and the eunuch said, " See, here is 
water ! "what doth hinder me to be ^baptized ? " ^'' [And Philip said, " If 
■^thou behevest with all thine heart, thou mayest." And he answered, 
and said, " I ^believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God ! "] 38^j^^ 
he commanded the chariot to stand still ; and they went down both 
into the water, both Philip and the eunuch : and he baptized him. 
33 And when they were come up out of the water, ''the Spirit of the 
Lord caught away Philip ;'' that the eunuch saw him no more, and he 
went on his way rejoicing. *° But Philip was found at Azotus ; and 
passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Csesarea. 



Section XXX. — Many of the Converts, who had fled from Jerusalem 
in consequence of the Persecution there, preach the Gospel to the 
Jews in the Provinces. 

Acts viii. 4. 
Therefore "they that were scattered abroad went every where 

preaching the word.' 



Sect. XXXIII.] SAUL IS BAPTIZED AND PREACHES. 217 

Section XXXI. — Saul, on his ivay to Damascus, is converted to the sect, xxxi 
Religion he was opposing, on hearing the Bath Col, and seeing the v. JE. 35. 
ShecUnah> J- P- 4748. 

Acts ix. 1-9. Near Damascus. 

^ And "Saul, vet breathinsr out threateninss and slaughter 'aD;ainst k see Note 56. 
the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, ^and desired 13."] Tim. i. is! 
of him letters to ""Damascus to the synacfogues, that if he found any *of ' ^<=® Notes?. 

, , , J o r> ^ • I ^ 1 • .I m See Note 58. 

this way," whether they were men or women, he might bring them * q^ „^ j,,^ ^^^^ . 
bound unto Jerusalem. ^And 'as he journeyed, he came near Da- so ch. 19. 9, 23. 
mascus : and suddenly there shined round about him a light "from ftcirss.Y&se. 
heaven ; '*and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, ^^- icor. 15. 8. 

. o Sec NotG 60 

"Saul! Saul! 'why persecutest thou me ? " ^And he said, " Who <,ji;,tt.. 25.40, &c. 
art thou, Lord ? " And the Lord said, " I am Jesus whom thou per- .ich.s. 39. 
secutest: [''it is hard for thee to kick against the Ppricks." ^ And he Pf*"? ^°'^,„^^\ 

11- 1 • 1 1 -1 T 1 e 1 -11 1 e Luke 3. 10. ch. 

trembling and astonished said, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to 2.37. &i6. 30. 

do ? " And the Lord said unto him,] " Arise, and go into the city, 

and it shall be told thee what thou must do." '' And -^the men which ■''^™-;-,'Vi ^^° 

en. 2'4. y. & yo. 

journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no i3. 
man.i ^ And Saul arose from the earth ; and when his eyes were q see Note 62. 
opened, he saw no man ;■■ but they led him by the hand, and brought ' see Note 63. 
him into Damascus. ^ And he was three days without sight, and nei- ° ^^^ ^°*® ^''• 
ther did eat nor drink.' 



Section XXXIL— ^gmZ is baptized. sect._xxxii. 

Acts ix. 10-18, and beginning of 19. V.M. 35. 

^° And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, "named Ananias ; J. P. 4748. 
and to him said the Lord in a vision, " Ananias ! " And he said, Damascus. 
"Behold! I am here. Lord!" ^'^ And the Lord said unto him, ach.22. 12. 
" Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in 
the house of Judas for one called Saul, 'of Tarsus; for, behold! he '^ch. 21. 39.&^. 
prayeth, ^^ and hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, 
and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight." Y"' o, 
^^ Then Ananias answered, " Lord, I have heard by many of this man, 59. &22. le. 
'how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem. ^'' And here 2Tim. 2. ^2. 
he hath authority from the Chief Priests to bind all ''that call on thy 'gf&lgntom: 
Name." ^^But the Lord said unto him, " Go thy way, for 'he is a 1. i.icor.is. 
chosen vessel' unto Me, to bear my Name before -'^the Gentiles, and Ephes. 3. V, s! 
^kings, and the children of Israel. ^^ For ''I will show him how great 2Tim. i.'ii. 
things he must suffer for my Name's sake." * see Note 65. 

^'^And 'Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and i3?G'ai.'2.'7, a.' 
•'putting his hands on him said, " Brother Saul ! the Lord (even Jesus, ^^%^{ ^f^- 
that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest) hath sent me, that sch. 20.23. &21. 
thou mightest receive thy sight, and *be filled with the Holy Ghost." //,," IxTa^s?^' 
i^And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales, and jch. 8. n.' 
he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized, ^^ and when ''fc'g.^iy^'&iais! 
he had received meat, he was strengthened. 



Section XXXIII. — Saul preaches in the Synagogues to the Jeivs. 



SECT. XXXIII. 



Acts ix. paH ofver. 19, and 20-30. V. JE. 35. 

^^ Then "was [Saul] certain days with the disciples which were at ^- ^- '^'^'*^- 
Damascus ; ^^ and straightway" he preached [Christ] in the synagogues, 
'that He is the Son of God. ^^ But all that heard him were amazed, 
and said ; " Is "not this he that destroyed them which called on this t see Mark 1. 1 
Name in Jerusalem ? and came hither for that intent, that he might /^^ s. 3. ver. 1. 
bring them bound unto the Chief Priests." ^^ But Saul increased the '^^'- 1- ^^' ^• 
VOL. II. 28 s 



a ch. 26. 20. 

u See Note 66. 



218 ST. PETER RAISES DORCAS FROM THE DEAD. [Part IX. 

d ch. 18. 23. more in strength, ''and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damas- 
cus, proving that this is very Christ. 
^S\'^- ^,\^^- ^^ And after that many days were fulfilled, ^the Jews took counsel to 

3. 2 Cor. 11. 26. , .,, , . „ . , ,.,-'.-' . ' r oi i » i i 

/2Cor. 11. 32. kili mm ; -''but •'their laying await was known oi feaul. And they 
watched the gates day and night to kill him ; ^^ then the disciples took 
^i^sam.^ w.^ia.^' him by night, and ^let him down by the wall in a basket.'' 
X See Note 67. 26 ^jj^j ''vv'hcn [Saul] was comc to Jerusalem, y he assayed to join 

^ih'^ii^' '^^'' himself to the disciples ; but they were all afraid of him, and believed 
y See Note 68. not that hc was a disciple. ^'^ But 'Barnabas took him, and brought 
xch. 4. 36. & 13. ^,j-^^^ ^Q ^j^g apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the 
jver. 20, 22. Lord lu thc Way, and that He had spoken to him, ■'and how he had 
k Gal. 1. 18. preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. ^^ And ^he was 
. ro J- ^ , with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem, ^^ and he spake 

I [Ot, disputed coU , , „ . , ^ i t i t a i ; t i • i mr-t 

ToquiaUy.—BD.j boldly lu the name oi the Lord Jesus. And disputed against the Gre- 
m ch. 6. 1. & 11. cians ; "but they went about to slay him. ^'^ Which when the brethren 
n ver.. 23. 2 Cor. kucw, they brought him down to Csesarea, and sent him forth to 
Tarsus. 



SECT. XXXIV. gEcxjQj^ XXXIV. — St. Peter, having preached throughout Judcea, 
V. M. 38-40. comes to Lydda, where he cures ^neas, and raises Dorcas from the 
J. P. 4751-53. dead. 

^^!ff^"<'- Acts ix. 32, to the end. 

och. 8. 14. ^2 And it came to pass, as Peter passed "throughout all quarters, he 

came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda. ^^ And there he 

found a certain man named JEneas, which had kept his bed eight 

years, and was sick of the palsy. -^^ And Peter said unto him, 
V.'^io^" ^' ^^' ^ " ^neas ! ''Jesus Christ maketh thee whole : arise, and make thy 

bed ! " And he arose immediately. ^^ And all that dwelt in Lydda 
c 1 chron. 5. 16. a,nd 'Sarou saw him, and ''turned to the Lord. 

36 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha (which, 
*or,Doe,oT,Roe. \yy interpretation, is called *Dorcas) : this woman was full 'of good 
'th.'sI'sT ' works and almsdeeds which she did. ^^ And it came to pass in those 

days, that she was sick, and died ; whom when they had washed, they 
/ch. ]. 13. \^\^ jigj. /jn a,n upper chamber. ^^ And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh 

to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent 
^or^be grieved. uTxto him two mcu, dcsiriug him that he would not tdelay to come to 

them. 

3^ Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they 

brought him into the upper chamber, and all the widows stood by him 

weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, 
^ Matt. 9.25. while shc was with them. '*" But Peter "'put them all forth, and 
ftch. 7. 60. ''kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body, 'said, 

^^I'^u^'"^- "Tabitha, arise!" And she opened her eyes : and when she saw 

Peter, she sat up. ^^ And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, 
z See Note 69. and whcn he had called the saints and widows, he presented her 
j John 11. 45. & alive. ^ ^^ And it was known throughout all Joppa ; ^and many believed 
kch "o 6 i" the Lord. '^^ And it came to pass, that he tarried many days in 

a See Note 70. Joppa, with onc *Simon a tanner.'' 



SECT. XXXV. Section XXXV. — The Churches are at rest ^from Persecution, in 

V. M. 38-40. consequence of the Conversion of Saul, and the Conduct of Caligula. 

J. P. 4751-53. Acts ix. 31. 

bSe6N^7i. Then "had the Churches rest"' throughout all Judaea and Galilee 

a Seech. 8.1. and Samaria, and were edified, and, walking in the fear of the Lord, 

c Sea Note 72. ^^^ -^^ ^^^ comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. 



Sect. II.] ST. PETER VISITS CORNELIUS. 219 

PART X. 



THE GOSPEL HAVING NOW BEEN PREACHED TO THE JEWS IN 
JERUSALEM, JUD^A, SAMARIA, AND THE PROVINCES, THE 
TIME ARRIVES FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE DEVOUT GEN- 
TILES, OR PROSELYTES OF THE GATE.' 



Section I. — St. Peter sees a Vision, in which he is commanded to visit sect. i. 

a Gentile, who had been miraculously instructed to send for him. „ TT.^ 

A 1 i« V.^. 40. 

Acts x. 1-16. j p 4-53 

^ There was a certain man in Csesarea called Cornelius, a centurion cssarea and 
of the band called the Italian band, '^ a "devout man, and one that ^' 
'feared God with all his house, -which gave much alms to the people, a see Note 1. 
and prayed to God alway. ^He '^saw in a vision evidently, about the ''Z%^-2^^'^'^ 
ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him, and saying * "^'^ 35- 
unto him, '• CorneUus ! " *And when he looked on him, he was 'J^''- ^°- '='^- "• 
afraid, and said, " What is it, Lord ? " And he said unto him, 
" Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. 
^And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose sur- 
name is Peter: ^he lodgeth with one "^Simon a tanner, whose house <^ch. 9. 43. 
is by the seaside; ['he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.]" ech. 11. 14. 
''And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he 
called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them 
that waited on him continually ; ^ and when he had declared all these 
things unto them, he sent them to Joppa. 

^ On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh 
unto the city, -^Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the /'=''• "-s.&c. 
sixth hour. ^° And he became very hungry, and would have eaten ; 
but while they made ready, he fell into a*" trance, ^^ and ^saw heaven b see Note 2. 
opened, and a certain vessel descending [unto him], as it had been a ^la^.u'.^^' ^^^ 
great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth ; 
^-wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, [and wild 
beasts,] and creeping things, and fowls of the air. ^^ And there came ^ j^ev u 4 &20 
a voice to him, "Rise, Peter! kill, and eat!" ^'^But Peter said, 25. c'eut. 14. 3, ' 
" Not so, Lord ! for ''I have never eaten any thing that is common or i Mat^io. ii.ver. 
unclean." ^^ And the voice spaJce unto him again the second time, ff- iJ^T'cot-" 10' 
" What 'God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." ^^ This was ^s! ^ Tim. 4. 4.' 
done thrice ; and the vessel was received up again into heaven. 



Tit. 1. 15. 



Section IL — St. Peter visits Cornelius, a Roman Centurion. sect, ii. 

Acts x. 17-33. V. M. 40. 

^'' Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he J- P- '^^53. 
had seen should mean, behold ! the men which were sent from Cor- cesarea. 
nehus had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate, 
^^and called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, 
were lodged there. 

^^ While Peter thought on the vision, "the Spirit said unto him, ach. 11. 12. 
'■' Behold ! [three] men seek thee ; ^^ arise "therefore, and get thee * i^h- is- 7. 
down, and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them." 
^^ Then Peter went down to the men [which were sent unto him from 
Cornelius ;] and said, " Behold ! I am he whom ye seek ; what is the 
cause wherefore ye are come?" ^-And they said, " Cornelius 'the c ver. 1, 2, &«. 



220 CORNELIUS IS BAPTIZED. [Part X. 

d ch. 22. 12. centurion (a just man, and one that feareth God, and ''of good report 
12.' ■ ' ' among all the nation of the Jews), was warned from God by a holy 

■''Rev."i9.^]o^'& 3^ngel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee." 
22. 9. 23 Then called he them in, and lodged them. 

^28? ch. ii.'s. ' And on the morrow Peter went away with them, ^and certain 

^chi5 ^8 '9" brethren from Joppa accompanied him. ^^ And the morrow after they 
Ephes. 3.' 6. entered into Csesarea. Knd Cornelius waited for them, and had called 

'■ at'.!' ia' n together his kinsmen and near friends. ^^ And as Peter was coming 

J Matt. 23. 3. . o . . . . C 

Mark 16. 5. jn, Comelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped 
k ver. 4, &c! Mm. ^^ But Pctcr took him up, saying, " Stand •'^up ; I myself 
iHeb. e.'io.' also am a man!" ^^ And as he talked with him, he went in, and 
'^dme^—E.D^]^^^ found many that were come together. ^^ And he said unto them, 
_^_____^ " Ye know how ^that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew 
to keep company, or come unto one of another nation ; but ''God hath 

SECT TTT I L J ■' ■' 

— '- ' showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. 

V. M. 40. 29 Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was 

J. P. 4753. ggjj^ £qj.^ j g^gj^ therefore for what intent ye have sent for me ? " 

— ^^ And Cornelius said, " Four days ago I was fasting until this hour ; 

"2 chron. 19. 7. and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold ! 'a man 

s^ik^gIkI^T" stood before me^in bright clothing, ^^and said, ' Cornelius, ''thy prayer 

Ephes. 6. 9, Col. ig heard, 'and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God. 

3. 25. 1 Pet. 1.17. „„ T , , ^ . 

J ch. 15. 9. Rom. 3- gend therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is 

2. 13 27. & 3.22 , . . 

29. &. id. i2,'i3; Peter (he is lodged in the house of one Simon, a tanner, by the sea- 
Gai?3. 28. ' side), who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee.' ^•'Immediately 
I'sl'^e.' ^' '"'' '^^' therefore I sent to thee; and thou "hast well done that thou art 

d See Note 4' comc. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all 

cis.57. 19. Eph. things that are commanded thee of God." 

2. 14, 16, 17. ° 

Col. 1. 20. . . 

d Matt. 28. 18. ~~ — ■ 

1 Cor. 15. 27. Section III. — St. Peter first declares Christ to he the Saviour of all, 
1 Pet. 3. ^. " even of the Gentiles, who believe in him. 

Rev. 17. 14. & K r,A Ar, 

19. 16. Acts x. 34-43. 

/Luke 4.' 18.' ch. ^* Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, "Of "a truth I perceive 

Heb' f 9' ^'^' ^^^^ GoA is no respecter of persons ; ^^ but ''in every nation he that 
g- John 3. 2. feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is "^accepted with Him. ^^ The 
^ch's'zo' word"^ which God sent unto the children of Israel, "preaching peace by 

jch. 2. 24. Jesus Christ : (''he is Lord of all.) That word, I say, ye know, which 

'ch.°i3. 31. ' " was published throughout all Judaea, and 'began from Galilee, after 
z*Luke^4!'3o'43. the baptism which John preached; ^^how -^God anointed Jesus of 
Jjiatf 28"'i9 Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing 

20. ch. 1. 8. ' good, and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil ; ^for God was with 

ch' 17. 31. ' ' him. ^^ And ''we [are] witnesses of all things which he did both in the 
"i'vm}tw}^' land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem ; 'whom they slew and hanged on 

W^.'i.'i.' a tree. '^^ Him ^God raised up the third day, and showed him openly, 
^zi'zf^^JV' ^^ C"*-*^ ''^^ ^^' ^^^ people, but unto witnesses"" chosen before of God, 

24. Mi'c. 7. is.' even to us, 'who did eat and drink with him), after he rose from the 

MaK '4. '2'.ch. 26. dcad ; ^^and ""he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to 
{?h. 15. 9. & 26. testify "that it is he which was ordained of God to he the Judge °of 

Gai^3°'2'2^'' "• quick and dead. ''^ To ''him give all the Prophets witness, that through 
his Name 'whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of 



SECT. IV. 



sins. 



V. M. 40. 
J. P. 4753. 

Csesarea. 



Section IV. — Cornelius and his Friends receive the Holy Ghost, and 

are haptized. 
Acts x. 44, to the end. 

"it'ie, n'.&^ii. ^'' While Peter yet spake these words, "the Holy Ghost fell on all 
?^' oc, them which heard the word. *^ And ''they of the circumcision which 

ver. isoi •' 



Sect. VI.] THE CONVERTS PREACH TO THE GENTILES. 221 

believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, 'because that «^|jj y-]^. 
on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost ; ^^ for 
they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then 
answered Peter, "^^ " Can any man forbid water, that these should not ''g" 9 Roi^^'i^ jg' 
be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost ''as well as we?" ei'cor. 1. n.' 
^^ And "he commanded them to be baptized ^in the Name of the Lord, -f^^- ^- ^- ^ ^■ 
Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. 



Section V. — St. Peter defends his Condtbct in visiting and baptizing sect, v. 

Cornelius. V. M. 40. 

Acts xi. 1-18. J. P. 4753. 

^ And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Jerusalem. 
Gentiles had also received the word of God. ^ And when Peter was 
come up to Jerusalem, "they that were of the Circumcision contended "^ch^.^io. 45. Gai. 
with him, ^saying, "Thou 'wentest in to men uncircumcised, 'and *ch. 10. as. 
didst eat with them." oGai.2.12. 

'* But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded 
it ''by order unto them, saying, ^ " I "was in the city of Joppa praying : ''Luke i. 3. 
and in a trance, I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had ""^ ' ' ' 
been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners ; and it 
came even to me ; ^ upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, 
I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, 
and creeping things, and fowls of the air. ^ And I heard a voice 
saying unto me, ' Arise, Peter ! slay and eat ! ' ^ But I said, ' Not so, 
Lord ! for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into 
my mouth.' ^ But the voice answered me again from heaven, 'What 
God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.' ^^ And this was done 
three times : and all were drawn up again into heaven. ^^ And, behold! 
immediately there were three men already come unto the house where 
I was, sent from Csesarea unto me. ^~ And ^the Spirit bade me go .'"■'°'^" ^^- ^3- "'' 
with them, nothing doubting; moreover ^these six brethren accom- ^-ch. 10.23. 
panied me, and we entered into the man's house. ^^ And Mie showed Ach. 10. 30. 
us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto 
him, ' Send [men] to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is 
Peter ; ^'^ who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house 
shall be saved.' ^^ And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on ich. 2. 4. 
them, 'as on us at the beginning. ^^ Then remembered I the word of i m^". 3. ii. 
the Lord, how that he said, ' John, ■'indeed, baptized with water; but ch. 1.5. &' 19/4. 
*ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.' "Forasmuch 'then as ''i'.'&Vis."""^' 
God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the ich. 15. 8, 9. 
Lord Jesus Christ; '"what was L that I could withstand God?" mch. 10.47. 

^^When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified »Rom- 10. 12. 
God, saying, " Then "hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance 
unto life ! " . 



13. 



Section VL — The Converts who had been dispersed by the Persecution sect, vi. 
after the Death of Stephen, having heard of the Vision of Peter, y. IE,. 41. 
preach to the devout Gentiles also. J. P. 4754. 



Acts xi. 19-2] . J"^^" ?nd '^o 

rrovinoes. 



a ch. 8. 1. 

f See Note 6. 



1^ Now "they which were scattered abroad, upon the persecution 
that arose about Stephen, travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and 
Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.'" 2° And 
some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they 
were come to Antioch, spake unto 'the Grecians, preaching the Lord *ch. e. 1.&9.29. 
Jesus. ^^ And "the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great ''2.47! 
number believed, and ''turned unto the Lord. dch. 9. 35. 

VOL. II. *s 



222 



HEROD AGRIPPA IMPRISONS ST. PETER. [Part X. 



SECT. VII. 

V.^. 41. 
J. P. 4754. 

Jerusalem and 
Antioch. 

g See Note 7. 
a ch. 9. 27. 

4 ch. 13. 43. & 14. 

22. 
c ch. 6. 5. 
d ver. 21. ch. 5. 

14. 



Section VII. — The Church at Jerusalem commissions Barnabas to make 

inquiries into this matter.? 

Acts xi. 22-24. 

^^ Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the Church 

which was in Jerusalem ; and they sent forth '"Barnabas, that he 

should go as far as Antioch. ^^ Who, when he came, and had seen 

the grace of God, was glad, and 'exhorted them all, that with purpose 

of heart they would cleave unto the Lord ; ^^ for he was a good man, 

and 'full of the Holy Ghost and of faith. ''And much people was 

added unto the Lord. 



SECT. VIII. Section VIIL — Barnabas goes to Tarsus for Saul, whom he talces with 
V ^42 ^^^ ^^ Antioch, ivhere the Converts were preaching to the devout 

J. P. 4755. Gentiles. 

Tarsus. AcTS xi. 25, 26. 

ach. 9.'30. ^5 Then departed [Barnabas] to "Tarsus, for to seek Saul ; ^^and 

when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it 

* Or, in the church, ^amc to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves *with the 
Church, and taught much people, and the disciples were called Chris- 
tians first in Antioch.*" 



h See Note 8. 



SECT. IX. 

V. JE. 43. 
J. P. 4756. 
Jerusalem. 

i See Note 9. 
* Or, began. 

a Matt. 4. 21. & 
20.23. 

b Exod. 12. 14,15. 
& 83. 15. 

c John 21. 18. 



I Or, instant and 
earnest prayer 
was made. 
2 Cor. 1.11. 
Ephes. 6. 18. 
1 Thess. 5. 17. 

d ch. 5. 19. 
kSee Note 10. 



e Ps. 126. 1. 

/ch 10. 3, 17. &, 
11.5. 



o-ch. 16.26. 

I See Note 11. 
APs.34.7. Dan.3. 

28. & 6. 22. Heb. 

1. 14. 
t Job 5. 19. Ps.33. 

18, 19. &. 34. 22. 

& 41. 2. & 97.10. 

2 Cor. 1. 10. 

2 Pet. 2. 9. 
j ch. 4. 23. 
k ch. 15. 37. 
I ver. 5. 
J Or, to ask wlio 

was there. 



Section IX. — Herod Agrippa condemns James the Brother of John to 
Death, and imprisons Peter, who is miraculously released, and pre- 
sents himself to the other James, who had been made Bishop of 
Jerusalem.^ 

Acts xii. 1-18, and beginning of ver. 19. 
^ Now about that time Herod the king ^stretched forth his hands to 
vex certain of the Church. ^ And he killed James "the brother of 
John with the sword. ^ And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he 
proceeded further to take Peter also ; (then were Hhe days of unleav- 
ened bread ;) ^ and "when he had apprehended him, he put him in 
prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him ; 
intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. ^ Peter there- 
fore was kept in prison ; but tprayer was made without ceasing of the 
Church unto God for him. ^ And when Herod would have brought 
him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, 
bound with two chains, and the keepers before the door kept the 
prison. "^ And, behold ! ''the AngeP of the Lord came upon hitn, and 
a light shined in the prison ; and he smote Peter on the side, and 
raised him up, saying, " Arise up quickly ! " And his chains fell off 
from his hands. ^And the Angel said unto him, "Gird thyself, and 
bind on thy sandals." And so he did. And he saith unto him, 
"Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me." ^And he went out, 
and followed him ; and Vist not that it was true which was done 
by the Angel ; but thought •'^he saw a vision. i° When they were 
past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that 
leadeth unto the city, "which opened to them of his own accord ; and 
they went out, and passed on through one street, and forthwith the 
Angel' departed from him. ^^ And when Peter was come to himself, 
he said, " Now I know of a surety, that Hhe Lord hath sent his Angel, 
and 'hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the 
expectation of the people of the Jews." 

^^ And when he had considered the thing, ^he came to the house of 
Mary the mother of ''John, whose surname was Mark, where many 
were gathered together 'praying. ^^ And as Peter knocked at the 
door of the gate, a damsel came tto hearken, named Rhoda ; '''and 



Sect. XIIL] THE DEATH OF HEROD AGRIPPA. 223 

when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, 

but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. ^^ And they 

said unto her, " Thou art mad ! " But she constantly affirmed that it 

was even so. Then said they, " It '"is his angel." i^^But Peter con- ™m^u.']&io. 

tinned knocking ; and when they had opened the door, and saw him, 

they were astonished. " But he, "beckoning unto them with the '^^l''^ii\t^^' 

hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had 

brought him out of the prison. And he said, " Go, show these things 

unto James, and to the brethren." And he departed, and went into 

another place." sect. x. 

^® Now as soon as it was day 
soldiers, what was become of Pe 
for him, and found him not, he e^ 
that they should be put to death 



m See Note 12. 



1® Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the 
soldiers, what was become of Peter. ^^ And when Herod had sought p ..,_' 
for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded Aniioch. 



n Sec Note 13. 

a ch. 2. 17. & 13. 

1. & 15. 32. & 

2J. 9. 1 Cor. 12. 



SECT. XI. 
V. M. 44. 



Section X. — The Converts at Antioch, being forewarned by Agabus, aslEph. Tii 
send relief to their Brethren at Jerusalem, by the hands of Barnabas o see Note 14. 

J c, In ich.21. 10. 

and Saul.'' c Rom. 15. 25. 

Acts .xi. 27, to the end. 19°'- 1^'-.^' 

' 2 Cor. 9. 1. 

^^ And in these days came "prophets °from Jerusalem unto Antioch. d ch. 12. 25. 
-^ And there stood up one of them named ''Agabus, and signified by ^ ^""^ ^""^ ^^" 
the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world : = 

which came to pass in the days of Claudius [Caesar]. ^^ Then the 
disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send "relief 
unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea : 2° which ''also thev did, and , „ ,„,_ 

T r 4/ S7 

sent it to the elders^ by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. 

oi.c.HerodAgrip- 

Section XI. — The Death of Herod Agrippa. ^or, bare a 

Acts xii. latter part ofver. 19, and ver. 20-23. S;'4-™ar'!' ™' 

^^ And "he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode. t Gr. that was^ 
^° And [Herod] *was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Zluamhcr'!' * 
Sidon : but they came with one accord to him, and, having made ^ i^'^^ii'.'l^\^^' 
Blastus tthe king's chamberlain their friend, desired peace ; because « 1 sam. 25. ss. 
'their country was nourished by the king's country. -^ And upon a set d ps^Tis. i. 
day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made q see Note le. 
an oration unto them. ^'-^ And the people gave a shout, saying, " It is _ 

the voice of a god, and not of a man ! " ^^ And immediately the 
Angel of the Lord "smote him, because ''he gave not God the glory : sect, xii. 
and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.i v. ^. 44. 

J. P. 4757 



Section XII. — The Churches continue to increase. 7. & 19. 20. 



Acts xii. 24. 
But "the word of God grew, and multiplied. 



Co/. 1. 6. 



Section XIII. — Saul having seen a Vision in the Temple,'' in lohich he 
is commanded to leave Jerusalem, and to preach to the Gentiles, 
returns with Barnabas to Aniioch. 

Acts xii. 25. 
'And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when thev had *or,cimrge. 

J cli 11 29 30 

fulfilled their *ministry, and "took with them John, whose surname « ver 12. ch. 13.5, 
was Mark. "• ^ ^^- ^''^ 



SECT. XIII. 

V. JE. 45. 
J. P. 4758. 

Antioch. 

r See Note 17. 
8 See Note 18. 



224 ST. PAUL'S FIRST APOSTOLICAL JOURNEY, [Part XI. 

PART XI. 

PERIOD FOR PREACHING THE GOSPEL TO THE IDOLATROUS 

GENTILES, AND ST. PAUL'S FIRST APOSTOLICAL JOURNEY. 
SECT. I. 

V. M. 45. 

J. P. 4758. 

Antlocli. 

— Section I. — The Apostles havins; been absent from Jerusalem when 

OCh. 11. 27.&14. ct 7 7 • X- ■ • .7 TI 7 1 7 tS 7 

96. & 15. 35. CiauL saw his Vision m the lemple, he and Barnabas are separated 

c Rom! 16^1!" ^^ ^^^ Apostolic Office by the Heads of the Church at Antioch. 

* Or, Herod:s AcTS xiii. 1-3. 

dNum. 8°."iT ch. ^ Now there were "in the Church that was at Antioch certain proph- 
Eom' f i^Ga/i ^^^ ^"^^ tcachers ; as 'Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, 
15. &2. 9. and ^Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen (*which had been brought up 

'it^ii Eom.'io'.' with Herod the tetrarch), and Saul. ^ As they ministered to the Lord, 
8^1 Tim 2 V' ^'^^ fasted, the Holy Ghost said, " Separate ''me Barnabas and Saul for 
2 Tim. 1. 11. the work 'whereunto I have called them." ^ And -^when they had fasted 

/ch. 6. 6. and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.'' 

a See Note 1. 



Section H. — Saul, in company with Barnabas, commences his first 
SECT. II. Apostolical Journey, by going from Antioch to Seleucia. 

V. M. 45. Acts xiii. former part of ver. 4. 

J. P. 4758. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia. 

Seleucia. 

Section HI. — From Seleucia Saul and Barnabas proceed to Salamis 
and Paphos, in Cyprus, where Seigius Paulus (whose name was 
SECT. III. assumed by Saul) is converted ; being the first Icnown or recorded 

V ^£^45 Convert of the idolatrous Gentiles. 

J. P. 4758. Acts xiii. latter part of ver. 4^12. 

Salamis and 4 ^j^jj fj-Qm theuce thcy sailed to "Cyprus. ^ And when they were 

'^—^' at Salamis, 'they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the 
a ch. 4. 36. Jews : and they had also ^ John to their minister. ^ And when they 

cch.'^i2.25. &:i5. had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found ''a. certain sorcerer, 
3^- a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus ; ''' which was with 

b See Note 2. the deputy'' of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man. Who 
called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. 
«Ex-7- "• ^But 'Elymas'' the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) with- 

c See Note 3. stood them, sccking to turn away the deputy from the faith. ^ Then 
d See Note 4. g^ul (who also is Called '^Paul), •'filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes 
^ Matt.^13. 38. on him, i°and said, "O full of all subtilty and all mischief, ^^Aou child 
i°jo"hn'3*t ^^ ^^^ Devil, thou enemy of all righteousness ! thou wilt not cease to 
AKnapp, here pci'vert the light ways of the Lord ;'' " and now, behold ! Hhe hand 
gitfon point?-*^ of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun 
^°- for a season." And immediately there fell on him a mist and a dark- 

's. ^6. ' ' "^' ness ; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. 
1^ Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being as- 
tonished at the doctrine of the Lord. 



SECT. IV. Section IV. — From Cyprus to Ferga in Pamphylia. 

y ^45. Acts xiii. 13. 

J. P. 4758. Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came 

Perga. to Pcrga in Pamphylia. And "John departing from them returned to 

o ch. 15. 38. Jerusalem. 



Sect. V.] ST. PAUL IS DRIVEN FROM ANTIOCH. 225 

Section V. — From Perga to Antioch in Pisidia — Paul, according to sect\ v. 

his custom, first preaches to the Jews — They are driven out of Antioch. v. M. 46. 
Acts xiii. 14-50. J. P. 4759. 

^*BuT when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in 
Pisidia, and "went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day,^ and sat 
down. ^^ And 'after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the °'i. & i8. i. 
rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, " Ye men and breth- j Lukf I'lel'ver. 
ren ! if ye have 'any word of exhortation for the people, say on ! " ^^j^;^ jg ^ 

''■Then*' Paul stood up, and ''beckoning with his hand said, "Men fseekotee. 



Antioch in 
Pisidia. 



of Israel, and 'ye that fear God, give audience ! ^~ The God of this « ver. ae, 42, 43. 
people of Israel -''chose our fathers, and exalted the people ''when they /Deut.T.^e,?. 
dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, *and with- a high arm brought ^Jfai.'ch!"?.^!?! 
He them out of it : ^^ and 'about the time of forty years ^suffered He ''^\q- ^' ^ ^^^ 
their manners in the ^wilderness ; " and when -'He had destroyed seven 'Ex. 16. 35. 
nations in the land of Chanaan, ''He divided their land to them by lot. Ps. 95. gj 10! ch. 



20 



36. 



And after that 'He gave unto them judges about the space of four *gx. irpon-o 



hundred and fifty years, "until Samuel the^ prophet, ^i And "after- ^erh!rps''fbr 

ward they desired a king : and God gave unto them Saul the son of f^J'^t^'/fi'S 

Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. ^^ And "^ a nurse bcar- 

"when He had removed him, ''He raised up unto them David to be her'chUd,Beut.i. 

their king ; to whom also He gave testimony, and said, ' I 'have found accordi^g'to the 

David the son of Jesse, ''a man after mine own heart, which shall c^r^'ost'om." 

fulfill all my will.' ^SQf^^j^jg ^an's seed hath God according 'to his ?^''<',^"^'l~- 

• 1 T ti • o c jDeut. 7. ]. 

promise raised unto Israel "a Saviour, Jesus: ^"^ when "John had first a josh. 14^ 1, 2. 
preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people i JuJj. 2. ik 
of Israel. "^^ And as John fulfilled his course, he said, ' Whom "think hSe'e^Notek' 
ye that I am ? I am not he ; but, behold ! there cometh One after "io_^f"' ^' ^' ^ 
me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.' -^ Men and "i/^^-J^^F' 
brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you hos. 13. 11. 
feareth God, ''^to you is the word of this salvation sent. ^'^ For they ^2 s"ar.2.4.& sis. 
that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, ^because they knew him not, I flam'. 13,' 14. 
nor yet the voices of the Prophets 'which are read every Sabbath day, ^'I'j'.nt^'Lukei. 
"they have fulfilled them in condemning' him ; ^^ and though they ^a, 69. ch. 2. 30. 
found no cause of death in him, 'yet desired they Pilate that he should t2Sam.'7.i2. Pa. 
be slain. ^^ And ''when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, ^ Matt. '1.21. 
^they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre ; ^° but B^i"'t."; l ' 
-'^God raised him from the dead, ^^ and ^he was seen many days of them J"^^J^i^'3\i 
which came up with him ''from Galilee to Jerusalem, Hvho are his wit- ^^^^''g^-'^g 
nesses unto the people. ^^ And we declare unto you glad tidings, how John i.'2o,'27. 
that ^ the promise which was made unto the fathers, ^'^ God hath ful- "^Luk" '24. '47'. 
filled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus /Lu'kt''23.''34.'ch; 
again : as it is also written in the ^second Psalm, — ^- ^W ^°J- ^c^- 

^o / y z ver. 14, Jo. ch. 

' Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.' a Luke 24. 20, 44. 

^''And as concerning that He raised him up from the dead, now no i see Note 9.' 
more to return to corruption, He said on this wise, — 3ia''rk'i5.''i3,'i4. 

T 7 -11 • 1 ± • r r-. ■ 1 jk Luke 23. 21, 22. 

' 1 Will give you the sure tmercies or David. " John 19. e, 15. 

° ■' ^ c ch. 3. 13, 14. 

^^ Wherefore he saith also in another '"Psalm, — ^^'^K^,^,-?^-^ 

24. 44. John 19. 

' Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.' c M'a'tt.'a?.'^.' 

Mark 15. 46.' 

^^ For David, tafter he had served his own generation by the will of H''^^•oo■ 

' o J John 19. 33. 

God, "fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption ; /Matt. as. e.ch. 
^~ but He, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. ^^ Be it known 26. &. 5. 30. ' ' 
unto you therefore, men and brethren, that "through this Man is ^cM"3.^i'cor. 

15.5,6,7. ftch. 1. 11. i ch. 1. 8. & 2.32. & 3. 15. & 5. 32. j Gen. 3. 15. & 12. 3. & 22. 18. ch. 26. 6. Rom. 4. 13. 

Gal. 3. 15. k Ps. 2. 7. Heb. 1. 5. & 5. 5. ; Is. 55. 3. f Gr. ra ocia, holy, or, just tilings .- wliich word the LXX, both in 
the phice of Is. b^. 3. and in many others, use for tiiat which is in the Hebrew, mercies, k See Note 10, m Ps. 16. 10. ch 2. 31. 
t Or, after he had in his own age served the loill of God. ver. 22. Ps. 78. 72. n 1 Kings 2. 10. eh. 2. 29. o Jer. 31. 34. Dan. 9 
24. Luke 24. 47. 1 John 2. 12. 

VOL. II. 29 



226 



ST. PAUL'S FIRST APOSTOLICAL JOURNEY. [Part XL 



j> Is. 53. 11. 
Rom. 3. 28. & i 
3. Heb. 7. 19. 



4 Is. 29. 14. 
Hab. 1. 5 



*Gr. in the week 
between, or, in 
the Sabbath be- 
tween. 

I See Note U. 

rch. 11.23. & 14. 

22. 
sTit. 2. 11. Heb. 

13. 15. 1 Pet. 5. 

12. 

t ch. 18. 6. 1 Pet. 
4. 4. Jude 10. 

u Matt. 10. 6. ch. 

3. 26. ver. 26. 

Rom. 1. 16. 
« Ex. 33. 10. 

Deut. 32. 21. 

Is. 55. 5. 

Matt. 21. 43. 

Rom. 10. 19. 
w ch. 18. 6. & 28. 

28. 
X Is. 42. 6. & 49. 

6. Luke 2. 32. 

j/ch.2. 47. 
m See Note 12. 



J 2 Tim. 3. 11. 



SECT. VI. 

V. JE. 46. 
J. P. 4759. 

Iconium. 

a Matt. 10. 14. 

Mark 6. 11. 

Luke 9. 5.ch.l8. 

6. 
b Matt. 5. 12. 

John 16. 22. ch. 

2.46. 



c Mark 16. 20. 
Heb. 2. 4. 



dch. 13.3. 
e 2 Tim. 3. 11. 
/Matt. 10.23. 

SECT. VII. 



preached unto you the forgiveness of sins ; ^^ and ''by Him all that 
believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justi- 
fied by the Law of Moses. ■*" Beware therefore, lest that come upon 
you, which is spoken of in 'the Prophets ; — 

^' ' Behold ! ye despisers, 

And wonder, and perish ! 

For I work a work in your days, 

A work which ye shall in no wise believe, 

Though a man declare it unto you.' " 
^^ And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gen- 
tiles besought that these words might be preached to them *the next 
Sabbath.' '^^ Now when the congregation was broken up, many of 
the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas : who, 
speaking [to them], "persuaded them to continue in "the grace of God. 
^* And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together 
to hear the word of God. ^^ But when the Jews saw the multitudes, 
they were filled with envy, and 'spake against those things which 
were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. '"^ Then Paul 
and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, " It "was necessary that the word 
of God should first have been spoken to you ; but "seeing ye put it 
from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo ! "we 
turn to the Gentiles. *'' For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, — 

' I ""have set thee to be a Light of the Gentiles, 
That thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.' " 

'^^ And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the 
word of the Lord ; "and as many as were ordained to ""eternal life 
believed. ^^ And the word of the Lord was published throughout all 
the region. ^^ But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable 
women, and the chief men of the city, and ""raised persecution against 
Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. 



Section VL — From Antioch in Pisidia to Iconium in Lycaonia — The 

People about to stone them. 

Acts xiii. 51, 52, and xiv. l-5,and former part of ver. 6. 

^^ But "they shook off" the dust of their feet against them, and came 
unto Iconium. ^- And the disciples 'were filled with joy, and with 
the Holy Ghost. 

1 And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into 
the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both 
of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. ^ But the unbeUeving 
Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against 
the brethren. ^ Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the 
Lord, ^which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted 
signs and wonders to be done by their hands. ^ But the multitude of 
the city was divided : and part held with the Jews, and part with the 
''apostles. ^ And when there was an assault made, both of the Gen- 
tiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, 'to use them despitefully, 
and to stone them, ^ they were ware of it, and ^fled unto Lystra. 



Section VII. — From Iconium to Lystra — The People attempt to offer 
them Sacrifice, and afterwards stone them. 
Acts xiv. 8-19, and beginning of ver. 20. 
^ And "there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, [being] 
ach. 3. 2. a. cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked. ^The 

9. 28, 29.' ' same heard Paul speak : who steadfastly beholding him, and 'perceiv- 



V. JE. 46. 
J. P. 4759. 

Lystra. 



Sect. XL] PAUL AND BARNABAS RETURN TO ANTIOCH. 227 



ing that he had faith to be healed, ^° said with a loud voice, " Stand 
'upright on thy feet ! " And he leaped and walked. "''• ^- ^• 

" And when the people saw what Paul had done, they hfted up their ^ch.^s. io!& sa. 
voices, saying, in the speecli" of Lycaonia, " The ''gods are come down ^■ 
to us in the likeness of men ! " ^^ And they called Barnabas, Jupiter ; ^Dan. a. 46. 
and Paul, Mercurius," because he was the chief speaker. ^^ Then the /Matt. 26. 65. 
priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and gar- fj^Jf'^^^ 
lands unto the gates, 'and would have done sacrifice with the people. ^^"^ is- 1"- 
1^ Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, -^they rent % kti^sie. 13. 
their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, ^^ and saying, Amola.?" 
" Sirs ! ^why do ye these things ? ''We also are men of like passions icor. 8. 4. 
with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from 'these vani- iGen.*^!!!. 
ties ^'unto the living God, '•'which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, f 'iifv ^14%'^^^" 
and all things that are therein : ^^who 'in times past suffered all nations jps.si. 12.ch.17. 
to walk in their own ways : ^'^ nevertheless "He left not himself with- J^h.^^tV ^' 
out witness, in that He did good, and "gave us rain from heaven, and Rom. 1.20. 
fruitful seasons, filhng our hearts with food and gladness." ^^ And "n'euV. n'. h. & 
with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not ^■.5|'5o''&^; 
done sacrifice unto them. jet^'A*^^' 

^^ And "there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, Matt. 5. 45. 
who persuaded theP people, ''and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of "sg^Noteis 
the city, supposing he had been dead. ^"Howbeit, as the disciples p 2 cor. 11.25. 
stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city. ^ '™" ^' "' 



Section VHI. — From Lystra to Derbe. sect, vnr. 

Acts xiv. latter part ofver. 20, and latter part ofver. 6, andver 7. V. M. 47. 
^° And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe, ^ cities of J. P. 4760. 

Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about: ^and there Derbe. 
they preached the Gospel. 

Acts xiv. part ofver. 6. — and Derbe, — . ' 

,^^^ SECT. IX. 



V. 2E. 47. 
J. P. 4760. 

Lystra, &c. 

a Matt. 28. 19. 
* Gr. had made 



Section IX. — St. Paul and Barnabas return to Lystra, Iconium, and 
Antioch in Pisidia, ordaining in all the Churches. 
Acts xiv. 21-23. 
^^ And when they had preached the Gospel to that city, "and *had 
taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and An- manydUdpics. 
tioch ; 22 confirming the souls of the disciples, and 'exhorting them to Vs.'^^' '^^^' 
continue in the faith, and that 'we must through much tribulation <^ *g^^^- ^uke'^ 
enter into the kingdom of God. ^^And when they had ''ordained 2«, 29. Rom. 8. 
themi elders in every Church, and had prayed with fasting, they com- 12. &3'.™2. ' ' 
mended them to the Lord, on whom they believed. '^I'^'i'^' ,. 

' •' q See Note 16. 



Section X. — They proceed through Pisidia, Perga, and Attalia, in sect. x. 

Pamphylia.^ V. ]e748. 

Acts xiv. 24, 25. j_ p ^ygj 

^* And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pam- Pisidia, &c. 
phyUa. 25 And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went 
down into Attalia. ===== 



sect. XI. 



Section XI. — They return to Antioch, and submit an Account of their y. M. 48. 
Proceedings to the Church in that place. j. p. 4761. 

Acts xiv. 26, to the end. Antiocli. 

2^ And thence sailed to Antioch, "from whence they had been ''recom- a ch. 13. 1, 3, 
mended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled, ^'i' And ''<:'•. is. 40. 
when they were come, and had gathered the Church together, 'they '21.19" ' 



228 



DECREE CONCERNING CIRCUMCISION. [Part. XL 



d 1 Cor. 16. 9. 
2 Cor. 2. 12. 
Col. 4. 3. 
Kev. 3. 8. 



SECT. XII. 

V. JE. 49. 
J. P. 4762. 

Antioch. 

a Gal. 2. 12. 

J John 7. ^. ver. 

5. Gal. 5. 2. 

Phil. 3.2. Col. 2. 

8, 11, 16. 

c Gen. 17. 10. 
Lev. 12. 3. 
d Gal. a. I. 



rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had ''opened 
the door of faith unto the Gentiles. ^* And [there] they abode long 
time with the disciples. 



Section XII. — Dissensions at Antioch concerning Circumcision, before 
the Commencement of St. Paul's second Apostolical Journey. 
Acts xv. 1, 2. 
^ And "certain men which came down from Judaea taught the breth- 
ren, and said, " Except *ye be circumcised "after the manner of Moses, 
ye cannot be saved." ^ When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no 
small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that 
''Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jeru- 
salem, unto the apostles and elders, about this question. 



Section XIII. — St. Paul and Barnabas go up to Jerusalem to consult 

the Apostles and Elders on the Dispute concerning Circumcision — 

Decree of James and of the Church therein. 

Acts xv. 3-29. 

^And "being brought on their way by the Church, they passed 
through Phenice and Samaria, 'declaring the conversion of the Gen- 
tiles ; and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. '^ And when 
they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the Church, and 
of the apostles and elders ; and 'they declared all things that God 
had done with them. ^ Buf there *rose up certain of the sect of the 
Pharisees which believed, saying, " That ''it was needful to circumcise 
them, and to command them to keep the Law of Moses." 

^ And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this 
matter. '' And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, 
and said unto them, " Men 'and brethren, ye know how that a good while 
ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth 
should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. ^ And God, ■''which 
knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, "giving them the Holy Ghost, 
even as he did unto us ; ^ and ''put no difterence between us and 
them, 'purifying their hearts by faith. ^^ Now therefore why tempt ye 
God, -'to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our 
fathers nor we were able to' bear ? ^^ But ''we believe that through 
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." 

^2 Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barna- 
bas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had 'wrought 
among the Gentiles by them. 

^^ And after they had held their peace, "James answered, saying, 
" Men and brethren, hearken unto me ! ^^ Simeon "hath declared 
how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a peo- 
ple [for] his name. ^^ And to this agree the words of the Prophets ; 
as it is written, — 
oAmo39. 11,12. 16' After °this I will return. 

And will build again the Tabernacle of David, which is fallen down ; 

And I will build again the ruins thereof. 

And I will set it up ; 
^^That the residue of men' might seek after the Lokd, 

And all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, 

Saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.' 

1^ Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. 
^^ Wherefore ^my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from 
among the Gentiles 'are turned to God : ^^ but that we write unto 



sect. XIII. 

V. ^.49. 
J. P. 4762. 

Jerusalem. . 

a Rom. 15. 24. 

1 Cor. 16. 6, 11. 
*ch. 14.27. 



c ver. 12. ch. 14. 

27. &; 21. 19. 
r See Note 17. 
* Or, ross wp^ said 

they, certain. 
d ver. 1. 



ech.lO. 20. &11. 
12. 

/lChron.28. 9. 

cb. 1. 24. 
g ch. 10. 44. 
ft Rom. 10. 11. 

i ch. 10. 15, 28,43. 

1 Cor. 1. 2. 

1 Pet. 1. 22. 
j Matt. 23. 4. 

Gal. 5. 1. 
8 See Note 18. 
ft Rom. 3.24. 

Eph. 2. 8.Tit.2. 

U. &3. 4,5. 

I ch. 14. 27. 
m ch. 19. 17. 
n ver. 7. 



t See Note 19. 



p See ver. 28. 
} 1 ThoBs. 1. 9. 



Sect. I.] PAUL AND BARNABAS RETURN TO ANTIOCH. 229 

them, that they abstain 7rom pollutions of idols, and "from fornication, '"Ex^ao^bfaa. 
and from things strangled, 'and from" blood. ^^ For Moses of old time f p^; f\^°- 
hath in every city them that preach Him, "being read in the syna- fg^'^'h'^^-^ 
gogues every Sabbath day." ^i co/. 6.9, is. 

-"'Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole Church, iph.l'.s^'coi.s. 
to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and i'pgj^^4®'3' ''• "'■ 
Barnabas ; (namely, Judas surnamed "Barsabas, and Silas, chief men tGen.9.4.Lev.3. 
among the brethren :) '^'^ and they wrote letters by them after this ^' °''"*' ^^- ^®' 
manner : — u see Note 20. 

"The Apostles and Elders and Brethren send greeting unt^o " *^''' '"^^ ^,^' ^^" 

. 1) cli. 1. 23. 

" the Brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and 

"Cilicia! ^^ Forasmuch as we have heard, that "certain which went 'feXii^Thl^h" 

" out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, i"' ^^• 

" saying, ' Ye must be circumcised, and keep the Law,' (to whom we 

"gave no such commandment:) ^^it seemed good unto us, being as- 

" sembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you, with our 

" beloved Barnabas and Paul, ^^men ^that have hazarded their lives "^ig.'icor. is^o! 

" for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^'^ We have sent therefore 2 cor. 11.23,26. 

"Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by tmouth. t^r. word 

" 2^ For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you 

"no greater burden than these necessary things; ^^ that ^ye abstain '-'.-,''"-|°;''o-^].; 

" from meats offered to idols, and ""from blood, and from things stran- 20! 

" gled, and from fornication : from which if ye keep yourselves, ye " ^^''' ^^' ^^' 

" shall do well. Fare ye well ! " 



Section XIV. — St. Paul and Barnabas return to the Church at An- sect, xiv. 

tioch, with the Decree of the Church at Jerusalem on the subject of v. JE. 49. 

the Necessity of Circumcision. J. P. 4762. 

Acts xv. 30-35. Antioch. 

^° So when they w^ere dismissed, they came to Antioch ; and when 
they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle ; 
^' which when they had read, they rejoiced for the ^consolation. * or, ezhortatiun. 
^^ And Judas and Silas, being prophets'' also themselves, ''exhorted the " ^'^^'^"qt & is 
brethren with many words, and confirmed them. ^'^ And after they 23.' 
had tarried there a space, they were let 'go in peace from the brethren *He*b? i^'si'.' ' 
unto the apostles. ^^ Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there 
still. ^^ Paul "also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and ' "^^ ^^- ^ 
preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. 



PART XII 



ST. PAUL'S SECOND APOSTOLICAL JOURNEY, 



SECT I. 

Section L — After remaining some time at Antioch, St. Paul proposes v ^ 50 
to Barnabas to commence another Visitation of the Churches. j. p. 47(53. 

Acts xv. .36. Antioch. 

And some days after, Paul said'' unto Barnabas, "Let us go again a see Note i. 
and visit our brethren "in every city where we have preached the "'^I'^i^'l^^i 
word of the Lord, and see how they do." 25. 

VOL. IX. T 



230 

SECT. II. 

V.^. 50. 
J. P. 4763. 

Syria and Cilicia. 

a ch. 12. 12, 25. 

& 13. 5 Col. 4. 

10. 2 Tim. 4. 11. 

Fhilem. 24. 
b ch. 13. 13. 
b See Note 2. 
c ch. 14. 26. 
c See Note 3. 
d ch. 16. 5. 
e ch. 15. 28, 29. 
/ ch. 15. 41. 
d See Note 4. 



SECT. III. 

V. &. 50. 
J. P: 4763. 

Berbe and Lystra. 

a ch. 14. 6. 

6 ch. 19. 23.Roni. 

IB. 21. 1 Cor. 4. 

17. Phil. 2. 19. 

1 Thess. 3. 2. 

1 Tim. 1. 2. 

2Tim. 1.2. 
c 2 Tim. 1. 5. 
d ch. 6. 3. 
e 1 Cor. 9. 20. 

Gal. 2. 3. 

See Gal. 5. 2. 
e See Note 5. 



SECT. IV. 

V. M. 50. 
J. P. 4763. 

Phrygia and 
Galatia. 



SECT. V. 
V. &. 50. 

J. P. 4763. 

Mysia and Troas. 

a The words " of 
Jesus" are in- 
serted on the au- 
thority of both 
Griesbacli and 
Knapp. — Ed. 

b 2 Cor. 9. 12. 
2 Tim. 4. 13. 

c ch. 10. 30. 

d 2 Cor. 2. 13. 



SECT. VI. 
V. ^. 50. 

J. P. 4763. 

Samothracia. 
f See Note 6. 



SECT. VII 

V. m. 50. 
J. P. 4763. 

Neapolis. 



ST. PAUL'S SECOND APOSTOLICAL JOURNEY. [Part XII. 

Section II. — &t. Paul, separating from Barnabas, proceeds from 
Antioch to Syria and Cilicia. 
Acts xv. 37, to the end, and xvi. 4, 5. 
^^ And Barnabas determined to take with them "John, vv^hose sur- 
name was Mark. ^^ But Paul thought not good to take him with 
them, 'who departed from them from Pamphyha, and went not with 
them to the work. ^^ And the contention was so sharp between them, 
that they departed asunder one from the other,'' and so Barnabas took 
Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus ; '"^ and Paul chose Silas, and departed, 
"being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. ^^ And 
he went through Syria and*^ Cilicia, ''confirming the Churches. 
^ And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the ^"^^ '"''• "*' ^• 
decrees for to keep, ^that were ordained of the apostles and elders 
which were at Jerusalem. ^ And ■'so were the Churches established 
in the faith, and increased in number daily.'' 



Section III. — St. Paul proceeds to Derhe, and Lystra in Iconium — 
Timothy his Attendant. 
Acts xvi. 1-3. 
1 Then came he to "Derbe and Lystra : and, behold ! a certain 
disciple was there, 'named Timotheus, 'the son of a certain woman, 
which was a Jewess, and believed, but his father was a Greek ; ^ which 
''was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Ico- 
nium. ^ Him would Paul have to go forth with him ; and "took and 
circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters : 
for they knew all that his father was a Greek.'' 



Section IV. — They proceed fi-om Iconium to Phrygia and Galatia. 

Acts xvi. 6. 
Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Ga- 
latia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, 



Section V. — From Galatia to Mysia and Troas. 
Acts xvi. 7-10. 
■^ After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia ; 
but the Spirit [of Jesus]" suffered them not. ^ And they, passing by 
Mysia, 'came down to Troas. ^ And a vision appeared to Paul in the 
night: — there stood "a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, 
"Come over into Macedonia, and help us!" ^"And after he had 
seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go ''into Macedonia, 
assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for tQ preach the 
Gospel unto them. 



Section VI. — From Troas to Samothracia. 
Acts xvi. beginning ofver. 11. 
Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to 
Samothracia,'^ 



Section VII. — From Samothracia to Neapolis. 
Acts xvi. latter part of ver. 11. 
And the next day to Neapolis : 



Sect. VIII.] THE PYTHONESS IS DISPOSSESSED. 23 1 

Section VIII. — From Neapolis to Philippi, where the Pythoness is sect, viii. 
dispossessed, and the Jailor converted. V. JE. 50. 

Acts xvi. 12, to the end. J. P. 4763. 

12 And from thence to "Philippi, which is *the chief cityg of that . ^f^p'- 
part of Macedonia, a7id a colony. And we were in that city abiding a Phii. 1. 1. 
certain days. ^^ And on the tSabbath we went out of the city by a * ^^^'^ifjf' 
river side, where prayer was wont to be made, and we sat down, and \Gr.sabbathday. 
spake unto the women which resorted thither. 

1* And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city 
of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us ; 'whose heart the Lord * L"ke24. 45. 
opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 
'^ And Avhen she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, 
saying, " If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into 
my house, and abide thereJ' And 'she constrained us. cGen. 19. 3. & 

•',„,'. • 1 , 33.11. Judges 19. 

^•^ And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certaui damsel 21. Luke 24. 29. 
''possessed with a spirit tof divination met us, which brought her mas- ^ /s'am. as. 7. 
ters "much gain by'' soothsaying. ^''The same followed Paul and us, I or, of Python 
and cried, saying, •' These men are the servants of the Most High 
God, which show unto us the way of salvation ! " ^^ And this did she 
many days. But Paul, 4)eing grieved, turned and said to the spirit, /^see Mark 1.25, 
" I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." 
^And he came out the same hour. g Mark le. 17. 

1^ And ''when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was a ch. 19. 25, 26. 
gone, 'they caught Paul and Silas, and ^drew them into the *market- »2Coi-. e. 5. 
place, unto the rulers ; ^''and brought them to the magistrates, saying, i ol,'coiiTt. 
" These men, being Jews, *do exceedingly trouble our city, ^^ and '^ 1 Kin?s is. 17. 
teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to ob- 
serve, being Romans." ^^ And the multitude rose up together against 
them; and the magistrates rent off their clothes, 'and commanded to 'n.'^a,'^.^''^ 
beat them; ^•'and when they had laid many stripes upon them, they 'Thes. 2. 2. 
cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: ^'^ who, 
having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and 
made their feet fast in the stocks. 

2^ And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto 
God : and the prisoners heard them. ^° And '"suddenly there was a '" ''''■ ^' ^^" 
great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken : 



e ch. 19. 24. 
h See Note 8. 



n ch. 5. 19. & 19. 



and immediately "all the doors were opened, and every one's bands "y^'lb.^ 

were loosed. ^^ And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his 

sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and 

would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 

^^ But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, " Do thyself no harm : for 

we are all here !" ^^ Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and 

came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas. ^^ And brought 

them out, and said, " Sirs ! "what must I do to be saved ? " ^i And ''2^3'7.''& 9I e/''' 

they said, " Believe ^on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be p Joim 3. le, se. 

saved, and thy house." ^-And they spake unto him the word of the 10.' 

Lord, and to all that were in his house. ^^ And he took them the 

same hour of the night, and washed their stripes ; and was baptized, 

he and all his, straightvv'ay. ^* And when he had brought them into 

his house, 'he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God 'i9."g^ ^' ^^' ^ 

with all his house. 

^^ And when it was day, the magistrates sent the Serjeants, saying, 
" Let those men go." ^^ And the keeper of the prison told this saying 
to Paul, " The magistrates have sent to let you go : now therefore 
depart, and go in peace." ^'^ But Paul said unto them, " They have 
beaten us openly uncondemned, '^being Romans, and have cast us into '•cii- 22.25. 
prison ; and now do they thrust us out privily ? nay verily ; but let them 



S3 3 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



[Part XH. 



s Matt. 8. 34. 
t ver. 14. 



come themselves and fetch us out." ^^ And the Serjeants told these 
words unto the magistrates ; and they feared, when they heard that 
they were Romans. - ^^And they came and besought them, and 
brought them out, and Mesired them to depart out of the city. ■*" And 
they went out of the prison, 'and entered into the house of Lydia ; 
and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and 
departed. 



SECT. IX. 

V. JE. 51. 
J. P. 4764. 

Thessalonica. 



a Luke 4. 16. ch. 

9. 20. & 13. 5, 

14. & 14. 1. & 

16. 13. ^ 19. 8. 
i See Note 9. 
b Luke 24. 26,46. 

ch. 18. 28. Gal. 

3. 1. 
* Or, whom, said 

he, I preach, 
c ch. 28. 24. 
d ch. 15. 22, 27, 

32, 40. 

e Rom. 16. 21. 
/ ch. 16. 20. 
ff Luke 23. 2. 

John 19. 12. 

1 Pet. 2. 15. 



V. JE. 51. 
J. P. 4764. 

§1. 

kSee Note 10. 
a ver. 11, 12. 
b Acts 9. 6. & 22. 
10, 15,21. &26. 

16. Tit. 1. 3. 
c Acts 2. 24. 

d Phil. 2. 22. & 4. 
21. 
e 1 Cor. 16. 1. 
/Rom. 1.7. 

1 Cor. 1.3. 2 Cor. 
1.2. Eph. 1.2. 
Phil. 1. 2. Col. 
1. 2. 1 Thess. 1. 

1. 2 Thess. 1. 2. 

2 John 3. 

g Matt. 20. 28. 
Rom. 4. 25. ch. 

2. 20. Tit. 2. 14. 
1 John 5. 19. 

h See Is. 65. 17. 
John 15. 19. & 

17. 14. Heb. 2. 
5. & 6. 5. 



Section IX. — From Philippi, through Amphipolis and Apollonia, to 
Thessalonica, where they are opposed by the Jews. 
Acts xvii. 1-9. 

^ Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, 
they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. ^ And 
Paul, as his manner was, "went in unto them, and three Sabbath days 
reasoned with them out of the' Scriptures, ^ opening and alleging, 'that 
Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead ; and 
that " this Jesus, *whom I preach unto you, is Christ." "* And '^some of 
them believed, and consorted with Paul and ''Silas ; and of the devout 
Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. 

^ But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto 
them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, 
and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of 'Jason, 
and sought to bring them out to the people ; ^ and when they found 
them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the 
city, crying, " These ^that have turned the world upside down are 
come hither also ! "^ whom Jason hath received ; and these all do con- 
trary to the decrees of Caesar, *^saying that there is another king, one 
Jesus." ^And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, 
when they heard these things ; ^ and when they had taken security of 
Jason, and of the other, they let them go. 



Section X. — St. Paul writes his Epistle to the Galatians, to prove, in 
opposition to the Judaizing Teachers, that Faith in Christ, and not 
their imperfect Obedience to the Ceremonial Law, was the cause of 
their Salvation.^ 

THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 

§ 1. — chap. i. 1-5. 
St. Paul vindicates his Apostleship, and salutes the Brethren. 

^ Paul, an apostle ("not of men, neither by man, but 'by Jesus 
Christ, and God the Father, "who raised him from the dead), ^and all 
the brethren ''which are with me, 'unto the Churches of Galatia ! 
^ Grace -te to you, and peace from God the Father, and fro7n our 
Lord Jesus Christ, '^ who ^'gave himself for our sins, that he might de- 
liver us ''from this present evil world, according to the will of God 
and our father : ^ to whom be glory for ever and ever ! Amen. 



§2. 

a ch. 5. 8. 
b 2 Cor. 11.4. 
c Acts 15. 1, 24. 
2 Cor. 2. 17. & 

11. 13. ch. 5. 10, 
12. 

i 1 Cor. 16. 22. 
e Deut. 4. 2. & 

12. 32. Prov. 30. 
6. Rev. 22. 18. 



§ 2. — chap. i. 6-10. 
St. Paul reproves the Galatians for their departure from his Gospel. 

•^ I MAKVEL that ye are so soon removed "from him that called you 
into the grace of Christ unto another Gospel ; '' which 'is not another ; 
but there be some '^that trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of 
Christ. ^ But though ''we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other 
Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him 
be accursed ! ^ As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach 
any other Gospel unto you 'than tliat ye have received, let him be 



Sect. X.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 233 

accursed ! ^° For ^do I now 'persuade men or God ? or ''do I seek to /iTi,es9.2.4. 
please men ? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of ^Matt!"28. 14. " 

p. ■ . 1 John 3. 9. 

^""S*^- AlThe9.9.4. 

Jam. 4. 4. 

§ 3. — chap. i. 11, to the end, and ii. 1-10. 



St. Paul, in Answer to the False Teachers, asserts that he received his Apostleship from § 3 

God, and relates his Conversion, Commission, and General History. 

^^ But "I certify you, brethren, that the Gospel wliich was preached l icor.is'ijs. 
of me is not after man ; ^^ for ''I neither received it of man, neither was T'/'s 3 
I taught it, but "^by the revelation of Jesus Christ. ^^ For ye have d acuq. i.&^. 
heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that I'-nm.^'i.^ib. 
''beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God, and 'wasted it ; ^'^ and « ^ois 8. 3. 
profited in the Jews' religion above many my *equals in mine own na- ^fare!'""'^ ™ 
tion, -^being more exceedinoly zealous °of the traditions of my fathers. / Acts 22. 3. & 

^ . ^ "^ *^ 26. 9. Phil. 3. G. 

^^But when it pleased God, ''who separated me from my mother's g- jer. 9. 14. Matt. 
womb, and called me by his grace, ^''to 'reveal his Son in me, that ^I 'S' 2- Mark. 7. 5. 
might preach him among the heathen ; immediately I conferred not 1.5. Acts 9. js.' 
with '^■flesh and blood, ^'^ neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which fs.'iiom'^^L^"' 
were apostles before me ; but I went into Arabia, and returned again ] 2 cor. 4. e. 
unto Damascus. ^^ Then after three years 'I twent up to Jerusalem •'2i?&'26. 17, is' 
to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days ; ^'■' but "other of the Eph.'s.^s.'^' 
apostles saw I none, save "James the Lord's brother. ^° (Now the J' Matt. le. 17. 
things which I write unto you, "behold ! before God I lie not.) ^i Af- Eph. e. 12. ' 
terwards ''I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia ; ^^and was 'Acts 9. 26. 
unknown by face 'unto the Churches of Judaea which "^were in Christ : ^ /cor.''9!'5. 
^^ but they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past ''\¥''}}'Jl' ^^' 
now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed ; ^* and they glorified „ Rom. 9. i. 
Gal. ii. 1-10. God in me. ^ Then fourteen years after, "l went up again p Acts 9.30. 

to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also: ' iThess. 2. 14. 
^ and I went up by revelation, 'and communicated unto them that ^ Act? 15.2. 
Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, (but tprivately to them t Acts 15. 12. 
which were of reputation,) lest by any means "I should run, or had run, * ph-i^^'ig"^' 
in vain. ^But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was iThes. 3. 5. 
compelled to be circumcised. ^And that because of "false brethren "2 cw. n'. 26^^' 
unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our "liberty w ch. 3. 25. & 
which we have in Christ Jesus, ""that they might bring us into bondage : i2c'or.ii.20.ch. 
^to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour ; that '•'the '••3,9- 
truth of the Gospel might continue with you. ^ But of those ""who ^I'.'&.'i. ie. ' 
seemed to be somewhat (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to ^ <=h. e. 3. 
me ; "'God accepteth no man's person) : for they who seemed to he Vom.%. ii. ' 
somewhat ''in conference added nothing to me ; "^ but contrariwise, 'when * 2 cor. 12. 11. 
they saw that the Gospel of the Uncircumcision ''was committed unto ''Rom!i.5.& n. 
me, as the Gospel of the Circumcision was unto Peter ; ® (for He that ^tI,^Tu'. ^' 
wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the Circumcision, d 1 Thess. 2. 4. 
'the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles :) ^ and when James, *i5.°& 13.^2.^' 
Cephas, and John, who seemed to be ^pillars, perceived ^the grace jg- j c^. 15. Jo' 
that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands ^h. 1. le. Coi. 1. 
of fellowship ; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the /Matt. le. is. 
Circumcision : 1° only they would that we should remember the poor ; fi'^^^' ^°' ^^^ 
''the same which I also was forward to do. '^iJTr'&'is' 

].?.' I'cor. 15. 10. 

^4.— chap. ilU, to the end. ^ ^ /Acts^if.'30. & 

St. Paul reproves Peter for Judaizing — He maintains the Doctrine of Justification by 24. 17. Rom. 15. 
Faith, and argues, that if those Jews who had embraced Christianity were convinced ^ ^^^ g"^'^ g 
of the insufficiency of the Ceremonial Law, as the means of Salvation, it was im- chapters. 

possible that the Gentiles should be expected to conform to it, or that it should be 

obligatory on them. § 4. 

" But "when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the " ^cts 15. 35. 

VOL. IT. 30 *T 



2 Cor". 5. 15. 

1 Thess. 5. 10. 

Heb. 9.14. 1 Pet. 18 

4.2. 



234 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Part XH. 

face, because he was to be blamed. ^- For before that certain came 

^il's! ^''■^' ^ ^^'om James, 'he did eat with the Gentiles ; but when they were come, 

he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the 

d Tt-^ 5 20 Circumcision. ^■' And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him ; 

e Acts 10. 28. '&. insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. 

11. 3. 14 gy|- ^\iQn J ga^^ ^i^^^ |-}^gy -walked not uprightly according to 'the 

g jutt.g. n'. truth of the Gospel, I said unto Peter ''before them all, " If 'thou, being 

Eph.2.3,12. a, Jew, hvest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, 

A Acts 13. 38, 39. , ,, , i a-i -i t i i t -> h 

i Eom. 1.17. & why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews ? 
cii^i'S.'Heb.'?! -^^ We ^who are Jews by nature, and not ^sinners of the Gentiles, 
18,19. 16 (^knowing 'that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but 

■'s.so.ch. 3. iT' 'by the faith of Jesus Christ,) even we have believed in Jesus Christ, 
i^i Johns. 8,9. that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the 
I Eom. 8. 2. works of the Law : for •'by the works of the Law shall no flesh be jus- 
m'Rom. 6. 14. &. tified. ^'' But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves 
7! Ko'm. 6. 11. also are found ^sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin ? God 
forbid ! 

For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself 
o Rom. 6. 6. ch. a tiansm-essor.' ^^ For I 'through the Law ""am dead to the Law, that 
p2Cor 5.15. ^ might "live unto God. ^° I am "crucified with Christ; nevertheless 
1 Thess. 5. 10. J Jive, yet not I, but Christ hveth in me ; and the hfe which I now 
5 See Mark 1.1. hvc in the flesh ^I live by the faith of 'the Son of God, '^who loved 
r ch. 1. 4. Eph. mc, and gave himself for me. ^^ I do not frustrate the grace of 

5. 2. Tit. 2. 14. * . . * . . 

« ch. 3. 21. Heb. God ; for "if righteousness come by the Law, then Christ is dead in vain. 

7. 11. See Rom. 

11. 6. ch. 5. 4. 

~~rZ § 5. — chap. iii. 1-5. 

a ch 5 7 ' ^*- Paul reproves the Galatians for deserting their first Principles of Faith, in supposing 

b ch. 2. 14. & 5. that the New Dispensation was not sufficient for Salvation ; although it had been 

7- confirmed to them by those spiritual Blessings and Gifts which were unknown to the 

c Acts 2. 38. &. ■\ir^„„:„ t 

8. 15. & 10. 47. Mosaic Law. 

E h^' i' iTiilb ^^ FOOLISH Galatians ! "who hath bewitched you, [that ye should 
6. 4.' ' " ' not obey ''the truth ?] before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evi- 
d^Rom. 10. 16, (jg,-,^|y ggt forth, crucified among you. ^This only would I learn of 
ech. 4. 9. you, Pteceived ye 'the Spirit by the works of the Law, ''or by the 

/Heb. 7. 16. & 9. |^g^j.jjjg Qf faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? 'having begun in the Spirit, 
s Heb. 10. 3.5, 36. arc yc now made perfect by ■''the flesh ? '^Have ^ye suffered *so many 
* o°,soareat. thiugs in vaiu ? if it he yet in vain ! ^He therefore Hhat ministereth 
A 2 Cor. 3.8. to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the 

~~T~ works of the Law. or bv the hearing of faith ? 

§ 6. ' . 

a Gen. 15. 6. 

Rom. 4. 3, 9, 21, ■■ r -\Q 

22. Jam. 2. 23. §6. — C/top. 111. 0-18. 



* Or, imputed. gj p^^j proves the Truth of his Doctrine by the example of Abraham, who was justified 

* ■'°''"fi?-n by his Faith in the Promises of God. 
Rom. 4. 1], 12, J 

^seeRom 9 17 "^ EvEN as "Abraham believed God, and it was *accounted to him 
%er.^2a.°'"' ■ ' for righteousness. ^ Know ye therefore Hhat they which are of faith, 
\s^"if-iifs. the same are the children of Abraham. ^And 'the Scripture, fore- 

Eccius.44 21. seeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached 

Acts 3. 35. » J J _ T w 1 1 n 11 ■ 

e Dent. 27. 26. bcforc the Gospcl uuto Abraham, saying, " In "thee shall all nations 
/ch! 2!'i6'. be blessed." ^ So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful 

g Hab.2.4.Rom. Abraham. ^^ For as many as are of the works of the Law are under 

L 17. Heb. 10. ^j^^ curse. For it is written, " Cursed 'is every one that continueth not 
^vTJri ? & in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them ! " 

10. 5, 6. & 11. 6. 11 But ^that no man is justified by the Law in the sight ot God, it is 
'9''l9:Ezet''2o^- cvidcut ; for, " The ^just shall live by- faith : " i'^ and Hhe Law is not 

11. Rom. 10.5. f f j^[^ ^ ^ u rj,^ i ^^^^ ^jQg^i^ thgj^ ghall live in them." i^ Christ 

J Rom. 8. 3. ' /. , T 1 • 1 r 

2 Cor. .5. 21. ch. .'hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse tor 
iVsut. 21. 23. us ; (for it is written, " Cursed Hs every one that hangeth on a tree" ;) 



Sect. X.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 235 

^* that 'the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Je- ' Rom. 4. 9, le. 
sus Christ ; that we might receive"' the promise of the Spirit through faith. 44. '3. Jer. 31. 

^5 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men ; "though it he but a Ez'et. n'.lg'. & 
man's tcovenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth |g- |g; zech^'jg 
thereto: ^^ now °to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. ^^- ^J'2"x)' ^^ 
He saith not, " And to seeds," as of many ; but as of one, " And to „ Heb. 9. 17. 
thy seed," which is ^Christ." ^'^And this I say. That the covenant, 1 oi, testament. 
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the Law, 'which was four "ij^^'.lfr^iJ'^ 
hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, 'that it should make p 1 cor. 12. 12. 
the promise of none effect. ^^For if 'the inheritance be of the Law, , Ex!i2°4o,4i. 
'it is no more of promase ; but God gave it to Abraham by promise, r Eom. 4. 13, 14. 

^ ver. 21. 
s Rom. 8. 17. 

§ 7. — chap. iii. 19, to the end. * Ro™- 4- 14. 

St. Paiil declares the object of the Mosaic Law was to preserve the Jews, from whom j y 

Christ was to be born, from the idolatrous Practices and Rites of the Heathens, and ^ joi,n j5_ g2_ 

to educate them in the Hope and Expectation of the promised Messiah. Eom. 4. 15. &5. 

i^ i^ ^ 20. & 7. 8, 13. 

^^ Wherefore then serveth the Law ? "It was added because of 1 Tim. 1.9. 
transgressions, (till '"the Seed should come to whom the promise was c Acts 7.53. Heb. 
made :) and it tvas "ordained by angels in the hand ''of a mediator. ^- ^- 

' . . . . d Ex 20 19 91 

-^ Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, 'but God is one. ^^ Is the 22.'r)eut. s.'s,' 
Law then against the promises of God ? God forbid ! •'^For if there To\mi'^\h^\cia 
had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness \ ^^' ^ '^™- ^• 
should have been by the Law ; 22 but ^ the Scripture hath concluded e Rom. 3. 29, 30. 
''all under sin, 'that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given /'^''•^-ai- 
to them that believe. ^-^ But before Faith came, we were kept under ^ rq^. 3, g^ jg^ 
the Law, shut up unto the Faith which should afterwards be revealed. ^- ^ ^^- ^^• 
-''Wherefore ^the Law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, ^6.°"' ' ' 
*that we might be justified by faith : ^^but after that Faith is come, we •?\J'^^"%5- ^/-^ , 

-J J '' ^ ^ ^ Rom. 10. 4. Col. 

are no longer under a schoolmaster. ^^ For ye 'are all the children of 9- i^. Heb. 9. 9, 
God by faith in Christ Jesus. ^'^ For "as many of you as have been ;. Xcts 13. 39. ch. 
baptized into Christ "have put on Christ." ^^ There "is neither Jew ^- ■'^■ 
nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor 8. 14, lo, le. ch." 
female ; for ye are all ''one in Christ Jesus. ^^ And 'if ye be Christ's, J ro!„.°6!"3!^'^' 
then are ye Abraham's seed, and ""heirs according to the promise. « Rom. 13. 14. 

o See Note 14. 
Rom. 10. 12. 
§ 8.— chap. iv. 1-11. 1 Cor 12.13. ch. 

^ ^ 5. (i. Col. 3. 11. 

St. Paul adds another Illustration, showing the Purport of the Law. and reproving the p John 10. 16. & 

Jewish and Gentile Converts for their desire again to place themselves in Bondage — i'',?"', ?-';?P''" 
His J< ear on that account. 4. 4, 15. 

^ Now I say. That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing ^^om.'i^i^HeK 
from a servant, though he be lord of all ; ^ but is under tutors and ^i- ^^■ 
governors until the time appointed of the father. ^Even so we, when "^4. "."as. Epii. 3.' 

we were children, "were in bondage under the *elements of the world; ^' 

4 but 'when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, § 8. 

'made ''of a woman, "made under the Law, ^ to ■'^redeem them that \l"^^^ "i'^co, 
were under the Law, ''that we might receive the adoption of sons. 2.8, 20. Heb. 9. 
^ And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth ''the Spirit of his Son * oi, rudimmts. 
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father! "^ Wherefore thou art no * <5en. 49 10. 

I ■ •/- 1 • /• /^ 1 1 1 Dan. 9.24. Mark 

more a servant, but a son ; 'and if a son, then a heir of God througn 1. is.Eph. 1. 10. 

Christ. ^ Howbeit then, ■'when ye knew not God, '•ye did service unto ''i°3"phii'!'2^7™' 

them which by nature are no gods ; ^ but now, 'after that ye have ^o^- 2- 14- 

known God, or rather are known of God, ""how turn ye tagain to "the 7. h.' aiic. 5. 3. 

weak and beggarly telements, whereunto ye desire again to be in J' 3"; &^; 7 "''* 

bondage? 1° Observe °ye days, and months, and times, and Pyears?'' p see Note 15. 

" I am afraid of you, 'lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain. "lukeh^i^.' 

f Matt. 20 28. ch. 3. 13. Tit. 9. 14. Heb. 9. 12. Eph. 1.7. 1 Pet. 1. 18, 19. o- John 1. 12. ch. 3. 26. Eph. 1.5. h Eom. 5 
5. &8. 15. t Rom. 8. 16, 17. ch. 3. 29. j Eph. 2. 12. 1 Thes. 4. 5. i- Rom. 1. 25. 1 Cor. 12. 2. Eph.2. 11, 12. 1 TheS3 
1. 9. 11 Cor. 8. 3. & 13. 12. 2 Tim. 2. 19. m ch. 3. 3. Col. 2. 20. f Or, back, n Rom. 8. 3. Heb. 7. 18. t Or, rudi 
ments, ver. 3. o Rom. 14. 5. Col. 2. 16. p Interrogatively after Griesbach & Knapp Ed. g ch. 2. 2. & 5. 2, 4. 1 These. 3. 5 



236 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Part XIL 

c g § 9.— chap. iv. 12-20. 

St Paul appeals to the Jews by their former zeal, and their affection for him. 

a 2 Cor. 2. 5. 12 BiiETiiREN, I bcseech you, be as I am ; for I am as ye are. "Ye 

VcoT' 11.^30. &. hs-^G not injured me at all: ^^ye know how through infirmity of the 

12.7,9. flesh, I preached the Gospel unto you 'at the first, ^* and my tempta- 

e ch. 1. 6. ^jjQj^ which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor lejected, but received 

'^Mid.TV.^seJ i^^ ''^^ ^'^ angel of God, 'even as Christ Jesus. ^^ * Where is then the 

zech. 12. 8. blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that if it had been pos- 

e Matt. 10. 40. . j ^ ^ i 

Luke 10. 16.' sible, yc would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them 
1 Thess'. I? 13. to me. ^^ Am I therefore become your enemy, •'^because I tell you the 

* Or, What was trUth ? 

/ ch. 2. 5, 14. ^^ They ^zealously affect you, hut not well ; yea, they would exclude 

<r R<"n-AO-|- tyou,i that ye might aflfect them. ^^ But it is good to be zealously af- 
t Or, us. fected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with 

q See Note 1=. you, ^^ my ''little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ 
Vhu°4'. t'o!^' be formed in you : ^° I desire to be present with you now, and to 
change my voice ; for tl stand in doubt of you. 



Jajn. 1. 18. 
J Oi, I am per- 
plexed fur yju. 



§10. 



§ 10. — chap. iv. 21, to the end. 

St. Paul continues his Appeal by an Illustration from the Old Testament, demonstrating 

the inferiority of the Law to the Gospel Covenant. 

^^ Tell me, ye that desire to be under the Law, do ye not hear the 
Law ? ^^ For it is written, " That Abraham had two sons, "the one by 



a Gen. 16. 15 
i Gen. 21. 2. 

c Eom. 9. 7, 8. a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. ^^ But he who was of the 
''fc'ir.' 1 Viieb.' bondwoman "was born after the flesh ; ''but he of the freewoman 

"•11- was by promise." ^'^ Which things are an allegory.'' For these are the 

* Or to'!iJ;jts ^^^ *covenants ; the one from the 'Mount tSinai, which gendereth to 
e Deut. 33. 2. bondage, which is Agar, ^^ (for this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia), 
t Gr.sina. g^j^j tauswercth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her 

same^ranicwlth. children ; ^^ but ^Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother 
■^^!'Rev.?.l2.& ^^ ^^ [all]' ^^ For it is written,— 

21. 2 10. 

g Is. 54.1. " Rejoice, ^thou barren that bearest not ! 

Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not ! 
For the desolate hath many more children 
Than she which hath a husband." 

*R^mf9."8^ch. 3. ^® Now wc brethren, as Isaac was, are Hhe children of promise. ^^But 

.^^- as then 'he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born 

j ch."5. li. & 6. after the Spirit, ■'even so it is now. •'° Nevertheless what saith ''the 

7^^' •) 8 oo 'Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son ; for ""the son of 

J Gen.2i.'io7i2. the boudwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. — 

m John 8. 35. 31 So thcn, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman "but of 

«^john8.36.ch. the free. 



§ 11. — chap. V. 

£ II St. Paul asserts that all those who depend upon the Jewish Law for Salvation, deprive 

themselves of the Blessing of the Christian Dispensation, and become Debtors to the 

whole Law — He exhorts them to practise the graces and virtues required by the 

Spiritual Religion of the Gospel, taking care to avoid those Moral Offences which the 

, , „ „„ Law of Moses condemned, and suppressing that spirit of vainglory and desire of Dis- 

a John 8. 32. ' ^r & i & .< 

Rom. 6. 18. tinction, which is the cause of so much Provocation and Lnvymg among Chnstians. 

b Acts 15. 10. ch. ^ Stand fast therefore in "the liberty wherewith Christ hath made 
2.4. & 4. 9. yg f,.gg^ a^j^(j \jQ ^Qt entangled again ''with the yoke of bondage. 
'A^ctrie^b!'^"' ^ Behold ! I Paul, say unto you, that 'if ye be circumcised, Christ shall 
d ch.3. 10. profit you nothing. ^ For I testify again to every man that is circum- 

\K?:ii^^'^^' cised, ''that he is a debtor to do the whole Law. " Christ 'is become 
/ Heb. 12. 15. of uo cffcct unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the Law ; •'^ye 
^3^Tm.tf.'^' are fallen from grace. ^For we, through the Spirit, 'wait for the 



Sect. X.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 237 

hope of righteousness by faith. ^ For ''in Jesus Christ neither circum- ''2^^^°'^-J%''^- 
cision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision ; but 'faith which work- c'olb. ii.' 
eth by love. '' Ye ■'did run well ; *who Mid hinder you that ye should 'jam''?%^20 
not obey the truth ? ^ This persuasion cometh not of him 'that calleth 22. 
you. ^A '"httle leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 1° I "have confi- { ^ ^'"'' ®' ^.^' 
dence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded; drive you back'? 
but °he that troubleth you ''shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. '' "^^ ^- ^• 
11 And 'I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, 'why do I yet suffer i,*^ictr!'5. e. & 
persecution ? is 'then the offence of the cross ceased ? ^^ I 'would ! ^■''- 33- 
— They were even cut off "which trouble you. "e. ■22?'^' 

^^ For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty ; only "use not <:ii- 1- 7. 
liberty for an occasion to the Flesh, but ""by love serve one another. ^1^°^'^^'^' 
^* For ""all the Law is fulfilled in one word, even in this ; — " Thou ^shalt ^ 1 cor. is. 30 
love thy neighbour as thyself." ^^ But if ye bite and devour one another, j^; ''• ^^- ^ ^ 
take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. « 1 cor. 1. 23. 

16 This I say then, "Walk in the Spirit, and tye shall not fulfil the ' ict'.l'.u. ch. 
lust of the Flesh. ^''For "the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the i-^-^- 
Spirit against the Flesh ; and these are contrary the one to the other ; "24." '^ ' ' ' 
'so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. ^^ But 'if ye be led « 1 cor. s. 9. 

*' . o ./ ''1 Pf t.2.16. 2Pel. 

of the Spirit, ye are not under the Law. ^^ Now "^the works of the 2. 19.' Jude 4. 
Flesh are manifest, which are these; — [adultery,] fornication, unclean- '"ch. e.^a. ^' ^^" 
ness, lasciviousness, ^° idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, x Matt. 7. 12. & 
wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, ^^envyings, murders, drunkenness, ' '.j'^g ' ' 
revellings, and such like ; of the which I tell you before, as I have also Matt. 22. 39. 
told you in time past, 'that they which do such things shall not inherit ^ ^™'^ g' jg ^ 
the kingdom of God. ^~ But -^the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 8. 1,4, js-^ '3. 
long-suffering, "gentleness, ''goodness, 'faith, ^^ meekness, temperance : 2. "u. 
■'against such there is no law. ^'* And they that are Christ's ''have t oi-./w/jhoj. 
crucified the Flesh with the taffections and lusts. ^^If 'we live in the Vc,™'. 
Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. ^'^Let ""us not be desirous of 6 Eom.y. is, 19. 
vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another. ''8!^2!"' ''' "' ^ 

d 1 Cor. 3. 3. Eph. 5. 3. Co]. 3. 5. Jam. 3. 14, IS. e 1 Cor. 6. 9. Eph. S. 5. Col. 3. 6. Rev. 22. 15. / John 15. 2. Eph. 5. 9. 
g' Col. 3. 12. Jam. 3. 17. /e Rom. 15. 14. i 1 Cor. 13. 7. j 1 Tim. 1. 9. /c Rom. 6. C. & 13. 14. ch. 2. 20. 1 Pet. 2. U. 

J Oi, passions. I Rom. 8. 4, 5. ver. 16 m Phil. 9. 3. 



§ 12.— chap. vi. 1-10. ^ „ 5^2 

^ ^ * Or, although. 

St. Paul exhorts them to Christian Charity, from a consideration of their own Weaknesses, ^ nom. 14. i. & 
from the Necessity of examining- their Actions, for ■which all shall be accountable, and 15- 1- Heb. 12. 
from the Duty of contributing to the Support of the Ministry, and to the Necessities of , j'f,„ g "jr V 
all mankind, particularly to our fellow-Christians. 3. 1. 

^ Brethren ! *if "a man be overtaken in a fault, ye ''which are VtiiTs's^^Vs. 
spiritual, restore such an one "^in the spirit of meekness : considering ,^,^'™' ~' ~^' 
thyself, ''lest thou also be tempted. ^ Bear 'ye one another's burdens, lo. 12.' 
and so fulfil ^the Law of Christ. ^ For °'if a man think himself to ^^IliT^est 
be something, when ''he is nothing, he deceiveth himself; ''but 'let ^- '''• 

^ , . 1,1 1 11 , 1 '. . . . /John 13. 14, 15, 

every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in 34. & is. 12. 
himself alone, and ^not in another ; ^ for *every man shall bear his own 4'.'2l ' ' 
Duiaen. . _ icor. 8. 9. ch. 

^ Let 'him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that ^^^g ^^^ 3 5 & 
teacheth in all good things. ^ Be ""not deceived ; "God is not mocked, is. 11. 
For "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap; ^ for ''he that 'acor.'is.'s^.^' 
soweth to his Flesh shall of the Flesh reap corruption ; but he that j see Luke is. 
soweth to tlie Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. ^ And k Rom. 2. c. 
•'let us not be weary in well doing ; for in due season we shall reap, 'if i^-^J^' l'^%j 
we faint not. ^° As "we have therefore opportunity, 'let us do good 1 cor. 9. li, m. 
unto all me7i, especially unto them who are of "the household of faith. "'15. 33.'^' 

n lob 13. 9. Luke Ifi. 2S. Rom. 2. 6. 2 Cor. 0. G. p Job 4. 8. Prov. 11. IB. & 29. 8. Hosea 8.7. & 10. 12. Rom. 8. 13. 

James 3. 18. q 2 Thess. 3. 13. 1 Cor. 15. 58. )• Matt. 24. 13. Ileb. 3. 6, 14. & 10. 36. &. 19. 3, 5. Rev. 2. 10. 

s John 9. 4. & 12. 35. 1 1 Thess. 5. 15. 1 Tim. 6. 18. Tit. 3. 8. u Eph. 2. 19. Heb. 3. 6. 



238 ST. PAUL PREACHES AT ATHENS. [Part XH. 

§ 13. — chap. vi. 11, to the end. 
St. Paul concludes, by reminding the Galatians, that the Zealots for Judaism did not 
keep the Law, and desired only to liave their proselytes circumcised, thai they them- 
selves might escape Persecution ; but St. Paul, on the contrary, declares, that he can- 
not be actuated by such selfish motives, for he bears in his body the marks of his 
sufferings for the Lord Jesus ; and testifies, that Holiness alone availeth with God. 
§ 1 3. He prays for a blessing on the Church. 

a ch. 9. 3, 14. 11 Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own 

cch. 5. 11. hand. ^^As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, "they 

d Phil. 3. 3, 7, 8. constrain you to be circumcised ; ''only lest they should "suffer perse- 
*Rom!^6'.'6.'ch.2. cutioii for the cross of Christ. ^^ For neither they themselves who are 

2"- circumcised keep the Law ; but desire to have you circumcised, that 

ch. s.'e.'cof. 3. they may glory in your flesh. ^^ But ''God forbid that I should glory, 
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, *by whom the world is 
125. 5. 'crucified unto me, and I unto the world. ^^ For in ■'^Christ Jesus 
iPhii. 3. 16. neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but ^a 
''i2?&9'. 6,7, 8.' new creature. ^^ And ''as many as walk 'according to this rule, peace 

phih's!'* ' ^^' be on them, and mercy, and upon -'the Israel of God ! 
tacor. 1. 5.&4. "From henceforth let no man trouble me; for ^I bear in my body 

5.11. Col. ]'. 94! the marks of the Lord Jesus. ^^ Brethren, 'the grace of our Lord 
i2Tim. 4. 22. Jesus Christ be with your spirit ! Amen. 

Philemon 25. n-TT i /-^ i • • r -r\ -n 

[[Unto the Galatians, written irom Kome.JJ 

[end of the epistle to the galatians.] 



II. 

S-2Cor. 5. 17. 



'-' ' Section XL — From Thessalonica to Berea — The Causes for which 

V. JE. 51. the Bereans are favorably disposed to receive the Gospel. 

J- P- 4764. AcTsxvii. 10-14. 

— ' ^° And "the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night 

o^ch. 9. 25. ver. y^to Bcrca. Who comiiig thither went into the synagogue of the 

Jews. 1^ These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that 

*jig»-|4. is.Luke they received the word with all readiness of mind, and 'searched the 

39! Scriptures daily, whether those things were so. ^^ Therefore many ot 

them believed ; also of honorable women which were Greeks, and ot 

men, not a few ; ^■'but when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge 

that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came 

c Matt. 10. 23. thither also, and stirred up the people. ^'^ And "then immediately the 

brethren sent away Paul, to go as it were to the sea ; but Silas and 

=== Timotheus abode there still. 



sect. XII. Section XIL — From Berea, having left there Silas and Timothy, 
V ]e~51 ^^' ^^'*^ proceeds to Athens, where he preaches to the Philosophers 

J. P. 4764. '^^^ Students. 
Athens. AcTS xvli. 15, to the end. 

1^ And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens ; and 
a ch. 18. 5. "receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to 

him with all speed, they departed. 

i2. Pet. 2. 8. i*"' Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, 'his spirit was stirred 

* Or, fidiof, dob. in him, when he saw the city *wholly given to idolatry. " Therefore 

disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout per- 

B See Noie 18. SOUS, and in the market daily with them that met with him.' ^^ Then 

certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered 

^oi, basefeiiow. him; and some said, "What will this tbabbler say?" other some, 

" He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods ; " because he 

preached unto them Jesus, and the Resurrection. ^^ And they took 

X Or, Mars' mi. him, and brought him unto t Areopagus, saying, "May we know what 

est'court'fn '^ this ncw doctriue, whereof thou speakest, is ? ^'^ For thou bringest 



Athena. 



Sect. XIV.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS, 239 

certain strange things to our ears. We would know therefore what 
these things mean." ^^ (For all the Athenians and strangers which 
were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to 
hear some new thing.) 

" Then Paul stood in the midst of *Mars' Hill, and said, " Ye men * ae'illopa^Lf 
of Athens ! I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. ^^ For 
as I passed by, and beheld your tdevotions, I found an altar with this ^°(^i,^f '""-"' 
inscription. To the Unknown God!' Whom therefore ye ignorantly sThess. 2. 4. 
worship. Him declare I unto you. ^* God ^'that made the world and <. ch.\4.°i5. 
all things therein, seeing that he is ''Lord of heaven and earth, d Matt. 11.25. 
Mwelleth not in temples made with hands ; ^^ neither is worshipped e ch. 7. 48. 
with men's hands, -^as though he needed any thing, seeing ^he giveth /p^. 50. 8. 
to all life, and breath, and all things ; ^^ and hath made of one blood ^le.^i'^jlb^™' 
all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath Wt^'.l'.tlf. 
determined the times before appointed, and ''the bounds of their hab- le. zeci,. 12. 1. 
itation ; ^^ that 'they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel ^ jiom'i%o' 
after Him, and find Him, •'though He be not far from every one of us. j ch. 14. 17. 
-^ For 'in Him Vt^e live, and move, and have our being; 'as certain ''jCoi. ].i7.Heb. 
also of your own poets have said, " For we are also his "offspring." i Tit. 1. 12. 
^^ Forasmuch then, as we are the offspring of God, ""we oug-ht not to " see Note 20. 

. . ^ * . ^ m Is. 40 18 

think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by 

art and man's device. ^^ And "the times of this ignorance God winked "g<^^".i6.Rom. 

at : but "now commandeth all men every where to repent ; ^^ because « Luke 24. 47. 

• -• T'it 11 lO 

he hath appointed a day, in the which ^he will judge the world in iPetTi. 14.&4. 
righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained ; ivhereof he hath ^\ ,„ ,, „ 

o J ■' t/ p cl]_ 10. 4Q. Rom. 

tgiven assurance unto all men, in that 'he hath raised Him from the 2. 1'fi. &I4. 10. 

dead." ^ Or, offered faUk. 

Q cli. 2. 24. 

^^ And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some 
mocked ; and others said, " We will hear thee again of this matter.'''' 

"^ So Paul departed from among them. ^^ Howbeit certain men clave 

unto him, and believed : among the which was Dionysius the Areopa- 

gite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. sect. xiii. 

V. /E. .51. 



Section XHL — From Athens St. Paul proceeds to Corinth, where he is j. p. 4764. 
reduced to labor for his support — Silas and Timothy join him there. Coiintii. 

Acts xviii. 1-5. a^on^.x 

^ After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to I %Xw!^a^% 

Corinth ; ^ and found a certain Jew named "Aquila, born in Pontus, j^ see Note 21. 

lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, (because that Claudius Vib'TThlf."?. 

had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome,)'' and came unto ^- ^ '^''^*'- ^- ^- 

c c]i 17 Q 

them: ^ and because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, rf ch. 17. 14, is. 
'and wrought ; for by their occupation tliey were tentmakers. * And « [o^ ''y/' '^''^"- 
"he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews wiwmfoccvpildti 
and the Greeks. ^ And ''when Silas and Timotheus were come from job'3a''i8.''ch°'^ 
Macedonia, Paul was 'pressed fin the spirit] ,y and testified to the Jews "■^\?'''~®' 

. ^iLij^ y g(3g Note 2*3. 

that Jesus *was Christ. * orAs tke Christ. 



Section XIV. — St. Paul writes his First Eptistle to the Thessalonians, to sect. xiv. 
establish them in the Faith, (luhen they were exposed to the Attacks of y ]^5j 
the Unconverted Jews,) by enforcing the Ihidences of Christianity.'^ j. p. 47(34. 

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. ^!:!!!''- 

§ 1. — chap. i. 1-4. § !• 

The Introduction and Salutation. z See Note 23. 

1 Paul, and "Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the Church of the Thes- "2 Ti°ess.'i. i. 
salonians, which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Cln-ist ! ;, bX' j' ' 
'Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord c Rom. i.e. 
Jesus Christ! ^We 'give thanks to God always for you all, making Phii;m.4^' 



240 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. [Part XII. 

f John 6.^29. Gal. iBention of you in our prayers ; ^ remembering ''without ceasing "your 

2Thess.i'.3'u. ^ork of faith, •'^and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord 

Jam. 2. 17. ' Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father ; ^ knowing, brethren 

r tiom. lb. b. c^' 

Heb. 6. 10. *beloved, ^your election of God. 

* Or, beloved of •' 

Ood, your dec- 

g Coi. 3. 12. § 2. — cliap. i. 5, to the end. 

2 Thess. 2. 13. gj^ Y&vl derives his first Argument for the Truth of Christianity, from the miraculous 

s 2 Gifts of the Holy Spirit — He rejoices in, and commends, their steady Adherence to the 

a Mark 16. 20. Christian Faith. 

1 Cor.2.4.&4.20. r -r. a /-^ i • i i i i • 

5 2 Cor. 6. 6. "^ 1' OR our Gospcl camc not unto you in word only, but also m 
"d ch.'2'. i, 5, 10, " power, and ''in the Holy Ghost, "and in much assurance ; as ''ye know 
eV'cor^4!'i6^&' what mauncr of men we were among you for your sake. ^ And 'ye 

Jh 2 14"' ^' ^^" became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in 

2 Thess. 3. 9. much affliction, -'^with joy of the Holy Ghost; ''so that ye were ensam- 

Heb. 16. 34. pies to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. ^ For from you 

f Rom.' i.'8. ' "sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, 

ich^a!.'!.' ^'^' but also ''in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so 

J^cor. 12. 2. that we need not to speak any thing. ^ For they themselves show of 

i See Mark 1. 1. US 'what manner of entering in we had unto you, ^and how ye turned 

PhiT.'s.'so. to God from idols to serve the living and true God; ^^and *to wait 

s.'i'a^'Re^v.^i.T-'.' for his Son 'from heaven, '"whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, 

'ie^'lThll's?!'.?! which delivered us "from the vv^rath to come. 

m Acts 2. 24. 

n Matt. 3.7. Rom. . „ -, ■■ -, -.r, 

5. 9. ch. 5. 9. § o. — chap. U. 1-ld. 

~~ From the Character, Conduct, and Sufferings of the Preachers of the Gospel, St. Paul 

a ch 15 9 demonstrates its Truth — and thanks God that tlie Thessalonians had received it, not 

6 Acts 16. 22. as a system of Philosophy, but as the Word of God — which was shown by its Influence 
TL\l7.^. on their Conduct. 

e^Phii. 1. 30. Col. 1 For "yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it 

f?'^°^-''-?\''r^''- was not in vain: ^but even after that we had suffered before, and 

5. 2 let. J. lb, 

^'i Cor. 7. 25. ' were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at 'Phihppi, 'we were bold in 

h 1 Cot. 9'. 17. ' our God ''to speak unto you the Gospel of God "with much conten- 

i Gal'.^l^lo!"'^'^' tion. ^ For ■''our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor 

•^ Rom' "'27' ^^ guile ; ^ but as ^we were allowed of God ''to be put in trust with 

''• '^ts 26. 33. the Gospel, even so we speak ; 'not as pleasing men, but God, ^ which 

&7. 2. & 12. 17! trieth our hearts. ^ For ''neither at any time used we flattering words, 

JH Joh'n 5'. 4'i, 44. as yc kuow, nor a cloak of covetousness ; (God Hs witness !) ^ nor '"of 

& 12.43.1 Tim. j-|^gj^ sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when "we 

",\^io''"c,^^ '*'*',',> might have *been "burdensome, ^as the apostles of Christ; ^but 'we 

12, 18. 2 Cor. 10. ' I • 1 1 1 1 -1 1 « 

1,2,10, 11. & were gentle among you. Lven as a nurse cherisheth her children, "so 

3.9.p'hiiem.8.9. bcing affcctionatcly desirous of you, we were willing "^to have imparted 

*Hy.'^^ oMfw"-- jjjjto you, uot thc Gospel of God only, but also ^our own souls, 

"vLu il'. ^' ^ because ye were dear unto us. ^ For ye remember, brethren, our labor 

^I'cOT^g V2 5 ^"^ travail : for 'laboring night and day, "because we would not be 

9 1 Cor. 2. 3.' & 9. chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the Gospel of God. 

2 Tim. 2? 24.' ' 1" Ye "are witnesses, and God also, ""how holily and justly and un- 
'^il°29.^' "■ ^ blameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe ; ^' as ye know 
tXau-io^sl^' how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a 

ocm'iVg' father doth his children, ^^that ""ye would walk worthy of God, "who 

2The'ss.'3.'8. hath Called you unto his kingdom and glory. ^^For this cause also 

^ch.h's. " ' ' thank we God "'without ceasing, because, when ye received the word 

"2 T?ies's.^'3^7. of God which ye heard of us, ye received it "not as the word of men, 

''phn.'T'2*7 Col. but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also 

1. 10. ch. 4. 1. in you that believe. 

y 1 Cor. 1. 9. ch. •' 

5. 24. 2 Thess. 2. 

z ct.Ys"' ^' ^' § 4.— chap. ii. 14, to the end. 



"r^Ti ?4 9*P ^^' ^^^^ shows the persecuting spirit of the Jews, by which the Power of the Gospel, 
3. 2. ' ' and the Faith of Converts is tried — their Repugnance to the Gospel being preached to 



Sect. XIV.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 241 

the Gentiles — their Iniquity and Destruction — He declares his love for the brethren, x 4 

and his desire to see tliem, which has only been prevented by the influence of Satan a Gal. 1.22. 
over tire hearts of his opponents. J Acts 17. 5, 13. 

^"* For ye, brethren, became followers "of the Churches of God which ^"^j' a^sL^^g] 
in Judcea are in Christ Jesus: for ''ye also have suffered like things of is. ^^ 5. 30. & 7. 
your own countrymen, 'even as they have of the Jews; ^^who ''both « Matt. 5. 12. & 
killed the Lord Jesus, and 'their own prophets, and have *persecuted Luke^'is^ss, 34. 
us ; and they please not God, ^and are contrary to all men ; ^'> forbid- ^'^'^ ''■ ^^- 

• • * Or chased us 

ding 'us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, '"to fill up out. 
their sins alwav : 'for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. •^?^'''-?-,^v^ 

1 I • 1 <- r g' Luke 11. 59. 

^'' But we, brethren, being taken from you tor a short time ^ in Actsia. 50. & 

. ^-^ . *^ 14 5 19 & 17 

presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly *to see your 5,'i3!&'i8. 12. 
face with great desire. ^^ Wherefore we would have come unto you; ^^i^- 9-'*' 22.21, 
even I Paul, once and again; but 'Satan hindered us. ^^ For "'what ^Gen. is. le. 

. ^ . . . . Matt. 23. 32. 

is our hope, or joy, or "crown of trejoicing ? Are not even ye in the « Matt. 24. 6, "14. 
presence of our Lord Jesus [Christ], °at his coming ? ^°For ye are our '' cX'i.i. 
glory and joy. 'itll'l^. s. 

15. 22. 

§5.-chap.m.l-5. Vii^.tli^l;. 

St. Paul declares his Anxiety for the Thessalonians, and reminds them that he had sent 1- 

Timotheus to confirm their faith, and comfort them in those various afflictions to " ''^" ^^- ''^■ 

which all Christians, as they had been before warned, were exposed. Ugo^j^ng-. 

' ■' J r . 1 Cof- 15. 23. 

^Wherefore "when we could no longer forbear, ''we thought it ^''vf kP",^''^- ^ 
good to be left at Athens alone ; ^ and sent 'Timotheus, our brother, 



and minister of God, and our fellow-laborer in the Gospel of Christ, to § ^■ 

establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith; ^that ''no j Acts 17. 15. 
man should be moved by these afflictions : (for yourselves know that c iiom- is. 21. 
'we are appointed thereunto: "* for -'^verily, when we were with you, 2Cor!i. 19.' 
we told you before that we should suffer tribulation ; even as it came ^ ^^^ g ■ ^^- 
to pass, and ye know ;) ^for this cause, ^when I could no longer for- 14. 22. & 20. 23 
bear, I sent to know your faith, '"lest by some means the tempter have 4. 9.'2T4m. 3"' 
tempted you, and *our labor be in vain. 12. i Pet. 2. 21. 



/Acts 20 24. 
g ver. 1. 



§ 6. — chap. iii. 6, to the end. ''^zc°^'u 1' 

St. Paul declares himself to be comforted by Timothy's account of them — He desires i Gal. 2. 2. & 4. 
another opportunity of seeing them again — and prays for their perseverance in holiness ^^- Phil-2- 16. 
till the coming of Christ. 7~Z 

^ But "now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us a Acts is. 1, 5. 
good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remem- *p1"1-i-8. 
brance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, 'as we also to see you ; ''t. e,^,' 13. ' 
''therefore, brethren, 'we were comforted over you in all our affliction dVhu.i.i. 
and distress by your faith : ^for now we live, if ye ''stand fast in the /Ads 26! 7. 
Lord. ^ For 'what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all ^ '^'™- ^- ^■ 
the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God ? ^^ night ^& i5!'32! ' 
■^and day Spraying exceedingly '"that we might see your face, 'and might *''''• ^- "• 
perfect that which is lacking in your faith. " Now God himself and coi. 4. 12. ' 
our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, *direct ^our way unto you ; 



12 



* Or, guide, 
j Mark 1. 3. 



and the Lord ''make you to increase and abound in love 'one toward k ci,. 4 



10. 



another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you : ^^ to the end zch. 4. g.&s. 15 



2 Pet. 1. 7. 



he may '"stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even ^j cor. i.s. 
our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus [Christ] "with all his saints, f''^^ 9The3''2 



17. 1 John 3. 20, 
21. 



§ 7.— chap. iv. 1-12. „ z;^,, ^4 5^ 

St. Paul shows the Gentile Converts the necessity of holiness and purity, and warns them Juiie 14- 
against those vices to which they had been before addicted, and which were still , „ 

practised by the Heathens — He exhorts them to brotherly love, and industry in their ^ 

callings. ^ Or,' beseech. 

^ Furthermore then we *beseech you, brethren, and texhort you by aPiiii. 1.27. 

the Lord Jesus, "that as ye have received of us ''how ye ought to walk jch.2. 12. 
VOL. II. 31 u 



242 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. [Part XIL 

dR°'^ a^a '^and to please God, so ye would abound more and more; ^ for ye 

Eph. '5. 17. ' know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. ^ For 

tf^j!'\^l' ,. this is '*the will of God even 'your sanctification ; ^that ye should abstain 

/ 1 Cor. 6. 15, 18. ^ ^ . . . , •' ^ 1111 

£ph.5.3.coi.3.5. Irom lomication ; ^ that ^every one 01 you should know how to pos- 
^i^M." 6.' 15 ' 18. ^^^^ ^^^ vessel in sanctification and honor ; ^not Mn the lust of concu- 
ACoi. 3. 5. Rom. piscence, 'even as the Gentiles ^ which know not God ; ^ that ''no man 
iB^.'i^h 18. S^ beyond and tdefraud his brother *in any matter, because that the 
j 1 Cor. 15. 34. Lord 'is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and 

12! & 4. 18.'' ' ' testified. '^ For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, "but unto 
A^v'^Tg^if 13 holiness. ^ He "therefore that tdespiseth, despiseth not man, but God, 

1 Cor. 6. 8. ' "who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit. 

^mli^IIdu^' °'' ^ But as touching brotherly love ''ye need not that I write unto you : 
* Or, in the mat- for 'ye yourselvcs are taught of God '^to love one another : ^^ and "in- 
i2Thes3. 1. 8. deed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia. 
™^«L^-,"- '*''■, ^ But we beseech you, brethren, 'that ye increase more and more ; '^ and 

ly. y. 1 Oor. l.a. *L . 1 u -\ 1 • 

Heb. 12. 14. that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and "to work 
M Luke 10. 16. with your [own] hands, as we commanded you ; ^^ that "ye may walk 
t Or, rejecteth. houestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack tof 

1 Cor. 2. 10. & , 1 • "^ J J 

7.40.1John3.24. UOthing. 
p ch. 5. 1. { Jer. 31. 34. John 6. 45. & 14. 26. Heb. 8. 11. 1 John 2. 20, 27. r Matt. 22. 39. John 13. 34. & 15. 12. Eph. 5. 2- 
1 Pet. 4. 8. 1 John 3. H, 23. & 4. 21. s ch. 1. 7. S ch. 3. 12. u 2 Thess. 3. 11. 1 Pet. 4. 15. « Acts. 20. 35. Eph- 

4. 28. 2 Thess. 3. 7, 8, 12. to Rom. 13. 13. 2 Cor. 8. 21. Col. 4. 5. 1 Pet. 2. 12. J Or, of no man. 



§ °" § 8. — chap. iv. 13, to the end. 

a See Ley. 19 28. St. Paul warns them against those zealous Jews who would deprive them of their hope 
Deut. 14. 12. 

2 Sarn. 12. 20. of a future happiness — They are called upon not to indulge as the Heathen did in 

JEph. 2. 12. immoderate grief over their dead, whom they supposed would not rise again — As an 

c 1 Cor. 15. 13. additional Evidence of the great Truth of the Resurrection, St. Paul describes its manner, 

^ \ *^o^-}n- ^®' ■■^■'' as he had been tauo-ht by Christ himself. 

c 1 Kings 13. 17, i^BuT I would uot havc you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning 

/I ct-.^is.^si them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, "even as others 'which have 

^Matt. 24.30,31. no hope. i^For "if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so 

2 THes's. i". 7. "^thcm also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. ^^ For this 

h 1 Cor. 15. 52. ^g g^y u^to you "by the word of the Lord, that, ^we which are alive and 

*i n'' ii; =i' ' remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are 

) 1 Cor. 15. 51. T • c 

/£ Acts 1. 9. Rev. aslccp. ^^ For ^the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, 

nohn^i2. 26. & w'th the voice of the Archangel, and with ''the trump of God ; 'and the 

14. 3. & 17.24. dead in Christ shall rise first: ^''' then ^we which are alive and remain 

meh.l^iL' shall be caught up together with them 'in the clouds to meet the Lord 

in the air : and so 'shall we ever be with the Lord. ^^ Wherefore 

§ 9. *comfort "'one another with these words. 



a Matt 24. 3, 36. 

^^;^; §9.-chap.v.Un. 

M 24 43 44 ^^' ^'''^^ shows the Necessity of Holiness from the sudden and terrible appearance of 
& 25. 13. Luke Christ, and the inevitable Destruction of the Wicked, and of those who are not pre- 
3^ lO^R^" ^3^3*' P^red for the day of his coming — Those who continue firm in the faith and practice of 
& 16. 15. this Gospel are comforted with the assurance that this day will be a day of salvation to 

d Is. 13. 6-9. them through Jesus Christ. 

29" & 21.' 34,' 35! ^ But of "the times and the seasons, brethren, 'ye have no need 

^ilr^Ta ^i Hob ^^^at I wHte unto you ; ~ for yourselves know perfectly that "the day of 

13- 13- the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. ^ For when they shall say, 

^i^johnl'.l^'^^' Peace and safety ; then ''sudden destruction cometh upon them, "as 

g Ephes. 5. 8. travail upon a woman with child ; and they shall not escape. 

^But •'^ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should over- 



h Matt. 25. 5 
i Matt. 24. 42 & 



25.' 13. Rom. 13. take you as a thief: ^ ye are all ^the children of light, and the children 



11, 12, 13. 1 Pet, 



5.'8. ' ' *' of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. "^ Therefore 'let 
■^Rom^is'^s' ^^' "^ "^^ sleep, as do others ; but 'let us watch and be sober. '' For^they 

1 Cor. 15.34. that sleep, sleep in the night ; and they that be drunken, *are drunken 
tA'ctr2.i5. in the night. ^But let us, who are of the day, be sober, 'putting on 
'I'^'u'w'it'^^' the breastplate of faith and love ; and for a helmet, the hope of sal- 



StcT. XVI.] THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 243 

vation : ^ for "God hath not appointed us to wrath, "but to obtain "i^^o'^ipetVs' 
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, ^^ who "died for us ; that, whether Jude 4. 
we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. ^^ Wherefore ''^2 Thess. 2. 13, 
*comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. Rom. u. s, 9. 

•^ ° ■' 2 Cor. 5. 15. 

* Or, exhort, 

§ 10. — chap. V. 12, to the end. ch. 4. 18. 

St. Paul admonishes them to have a due regard for their spiritual instructors, gives various r -in 

other impressive E.xhortations — and concludes with prayers and salutations. ^ j q^^ 26 18. 

^^ And we beseech you, brethren, "to know them which labor among f xlm's^^iy. 
you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; ^■^and to Heb. js. 7, n. 
esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. ^And be at *or,'j«eecA! 
peace among yourselves. ^'*Now we *exhort you, brethren, 'warn c 2 Thess. 3. 11, 
them that are tunruly, ''comfort the feeble-minded, "support the weak, t Or, disorderly. 
•Hae patient toward all men. ^^ See ^that none render evil for evil unto "^Heb. 12.12. 
any man ; but ever ''follow that which is good, both among yourselves, 15. i.Gai'. 0.1,2. 
and to all inen. ^^ Rejoice 'evermore ; ^''' pray •'without ceasing: ^® in -^{^ g'' c^pg ^l''" 
*every thing give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus 2Tim. 4. 2. 
concerning you. ^^ Quench 'not the Spirit: "^^ despise "not prophe- ^p;ov.'2o.'?2;& 
syings. ^^ Prove "all things ; "hold fast that which is good ; ^^ abstain Ig' ^; Eom'; ]2. 
''from all appearance of evil, -^^j^j] ^^he very God of peace ''sanctify J'^^j'^j^'^g''- ''• 
you wholly ; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body ^be h oai. 6. 10. ch. 
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ! ?,cor e 10 
^^ Faithful Hs He that calleth you, who also will do it. i'hii. 4. 4. 

^^ Brethren, "pray for us. ^^ Greet "all the brethren with a holy kiss, •'s'hae.^Eom. 12. 
^^ I tcharge you by the Lord, that ""this Epistle be read unto all ^the coi^4.''2.'^i Pet. 
holy brethren. ^^ The ""grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you ! 4. 7. 

r A -^ . T ° -^ k Eph.5.20.Col. 

[Amen. J 3. 17. 

[[The First Epistle unto the Thessalonians was written from Athens.]] ^YT\m'i\i. 

[end of the first epistle to the thessalonians.] 1Cm'i4.3'o^^° 

m 1 Cor. 14. 1, 39. ml Cor.2. 11, 15. IJohn 4. 1. o Phil. 4. 8. pch.4.12. j Phil. 4. 9. rch. 3 13. s 1 Cor. 1. 8. 

t 1 Cor. 1. 9. & 10. 13. 2Thes3.3. 3. u Col. 4. 3. 2Thess. 3. 1. v Rom. 16. 16. J Or, adjure. w Col. 4. 16. 
SThess. 3. 14. a See Note 24. x Rom. 16.20, 24. 2 Thess. 3. 18. 



Section XV. — St. Paul, being rejected by the Jews, continues at sect, xv. 

Corinth, preaching to the Gentiles. V. JE. 52. 

Acts xviii. 6-11. J. P. 4765. 

^And when "they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, 'he shook corinth. 
his raiment, and said unto them, "Your 'blood he upon your own a i. e. the Jews. 
heads ; ''I am clean : 'from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles." i'pit^'4'!'4. 

''And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, *jo "^h ^"^^^ s'l 
named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to c Lev. 20. 9, ii, 
the synagogue. ^ And •''Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, Ezek.^i8?'i3!&' 
believed on the Lord, with all his house ; and many of the Corinthians /|^g-^ 3 jg jg 
hearing believed, and were baptized. ^ Then ^spake the Lord to Paul & 33. 9. ch. 20. 
in the night by a vision, " Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy e ch. 13. 46. & 
peace ; ^° for '"I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt /f,,^; j ,4 
thee ; for I have much people in this city." ^^ And he *continued there g ch. 23. 11. 
a year and si.\ months, teaching the word of God among them. Vatt. 28!lo!^" 

= * Gr. sot there. 



SECT. XVI. 



Section XVL — St. Paul writes his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, 
in order to refute an error which they had fallen into concerning the 
sudden coming of the Day of Judgment — He prophesies the rise, pros- 
perity, and overthrow of a great Apostacy in the Christian Church.^ V. M. 52. 

J P 47f)^ 

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. connth. ' 

§ 1. — chap. i. 1, 2. 

St. Paul's Salutation. ,^ „ 1 ^' 

b See Note 25 

^Paul, "and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the Church of the a2Cor. i.io 



^44 



THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. [Part XII. 



6 1 Thess. 1. 1. 
c 1 Cor. 1. 3. 

§2. 

a 1 Thess. 1. 2, 

3. & 3. 6, 9. ch. 
2. 13. 

b 2 Cor. 7. 14. & 
9. 2. 1 Thess. 2. 
19, 20. 

c 1 Thess. 1. 3. 

d 1 Thess. 2. 14. 

c See Note 26. 

e Phil. 1. 28. 

/ 1 Thess. 2. 14. 

§3. 

a Rev. 6. 10. 
6 Kev. 14. 13. 
c 1 Thess. 4. 16. 
Jude 14. 
d See Note 27. 

* Gr. the angels 
ofhisipower, 

d Heb. 10. 27. & 

12. 29. 2 Pet. 3. 
7. Rev. 21. 8. 

t Or, yiddintr. 
e Ps. 79. R. 

1 Thess. 4. 5. 
/Rom. 2. 8. 

ff Phil. 3. 19. 

2 Pet. 3. 7. 

ft Deut. 33. 2. Is. 
2. 19. ch. 2. 8. 
i Ps. 89. 7. 
j Ps. 68. 35. 
k ver. 5. 
J Or, vouchsafe. 
I 1 Thess. 1. 3. 
TO 1 Pet. 1. 7. & 

4. 14. 

§4. 
a 1 Thess. 4. 16. 
b Matt. 24. 31. 

Mark 13. 27. 

1 Thess. 4. 17. 
c Matt. 24. 4. 

Eph. 5. 6. IJohn 

4. 1. 
if Matt. 24. 4. 

Eph. 5. 6. 
e 1 Tim. 4. 1. 
/ Dan. 7. 25. 

1 John2.18.Rev. 

13. 11, &c. See 
1 Mac. 2. 48, 62. 

g JohD 17. 12. 
h Is. 14. 13. Ezeli. 

28. 2, 6, 9. Dan. 

7. 25. & 11. 36. 

Rev. 13. 6. 
i 1 Cor. 8. 5. 

* Or, holdeth. 

i 1 John 2. 18. & 

it Dan. 7. 10, 11. 
I Job 4. 9. Is. 11. 

4. Hos. 6. 5. 

Rev. 2. 16. &;19. 

15, 20, 21. 
m ch. 1. 8, 9. 

Heb. 10. 27. 
n John 8. 41. 

Eph. 2. 2. Rev. 

18. 23. 

See Deut. 13. 1. 
Matt. 24. 24. 
Rev. 13. 13. & 

19. 21. 

p 2 Cor. 2. 15. & 

4. 3. 
.; Rom. 1.24,&c. 

See 1 Kings 22. 

22. Ezek. 14. 9. 
r Matt. 24. 5, 11. 

1 Tim. 4. 1. 
3 Rom. 1.32. 
e Sea Note 28. 



Thessalonians 'in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ ! ^ Grace 
"unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 



§ 2. — cJiap. i. 3-5. 
St. Paul rejoices at their Constancy under persecution ; and assures them that their pa- 
tient endurance is an evidence of a future judgment, when they will receive their reward- 

^ We "are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is 
meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of 
every one of you all toward each other aboundeth ; ^ so ''that we our- 
selves glory in you in the Churches of God "for your patience and 
faith ''in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye"" endure : ^ which 
is "a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may 
be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, ^for which ye also sufter. 



§ 3. — chap. i. 6, to the end. 

St. Paul predicts the Coming of Christ to judgment, and the everlasting Destruction of all 

those who have rejected his Gospel. 

^ Seeing "it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation 
to them that trouble you, '' and to you who are troubled 'rest with us ; 
when 'the Lord Jesus shall be'^ revealed from heaven with *his mighty 
angels, ® in ''flaming fire, f taking vengeance on them "that know not 
God, and ^that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus [Christ] : ^ who 
^shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of 
the Lord, ''and from the glory of his power ; ^" when 'he shall come 
to be glorified in his saints, ^and to be admired in all them that believe 
(because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. 

^^ Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God *would 
tcount you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of 
his goodness, and 'the work of faith with power : ^^ that "the name of 
our Lord Jesus [Christ] may be glorified in you, and ye in him, ac- 
cording to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 



§ 4. — chap. ii. 1-12. 
The Apostle here begins to rectify their error, with regard to the speedy coming of Christ 
to judgment — He warns them against any pretended revelations or spurious epistles, 
and calls to their memory what he had already told them, that a grand Apostacy must 
first take place : the character of which he fully describes. 

^ Now we beseech you, brethren, "by the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, 'and by our gathering together unto him, ^ that "ye be not soon 
shaken in mind, or be troubled, (neither by spirit, nor by word, nor 
by letter as from us,) as that the day of Christ is at hand. ^ Let ''no 
man deceive you by any means : for that day shall not come, "except 
there come a falling away first, and ^that Man of Sin be revealed, 
^the Son of Perdition, ^who opposeth and ''exalteth himself 'above all 
that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in 
the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. ^ Remember ye 
not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things ? ^ And 
now ye know what *withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 
'' For ^the mystery of iniquity doth already work : only he who now 
letteth ivill let, until he be taken out of the way. ^ And then shall 
that Wicked be revealed (whom *the Lord shall consume 'with the 
spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy "with the brightness of his 
coming) ; ^ even him, whose coming is "after the working of Satan 
with all power and "signs and lying wonders, ^° and with all deceiv- 
ableness of unrighteousness in ^them that perish ; because they 
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ^^ And 
'for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, 'that they should 
believe a lie : ^'^ that they all might be damned who believed not the 
truth, but 'had pleasure in unrighteousness.'' 



Sect. XVI.] THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 245 

§ 5. — chap. ii. 13, to the end. 

He rejoices over the Thessalonians, and exhorts them to continue steadfast in the doc- , , o ' 
^ ' a en. 1. o. 

trines in which they had been instructed. 5 1 Thess. 1. 4 

^^ But °we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren ^ LuteV^TS 
beloved of the Lord, because God Miath "from the beginning chosen i Pet. i. 2. 
you to salvation ''through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the % Thess. aT 12. 
truth : '"^whereunto he called you by our Gospel, to 'the obtaining of ^^^j^or^ie^ia. 
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^^ Therefore, brethren, -^stand p'^'-^-J; „ 

ff \ Cor. II* 2. 

fast, and hold ^the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by ch. 3. 6. 
word, or our epistle. ^^ Now ''our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, ^ i''joi,'n4. 10. 
even our Father, 'which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting ^"''^ ^- ^■ 

^ 7 ] Pet 1 3. 

consolation and ■'good hope through grace, " comfort your hearts, *and ^ 1 cor. 1. 8. 
stabhsh [you] in every good word and work! iPet^'s 10^^' 



§6. 



§ 6. — chav. 111. 1-5. Eph. 6. 19. Col. 

4. 3. 1 Thess. 5. 
St. Paul desires them to pray for liim and his companions, that the Gospel of God may 25. 

be glorified as much in other Gentile nations as with them ; and that they may be * ^'- '""Vp^"- 

delivered from their persecutors — He repeats Ms prayer for their faith and patience. . „ """■ ''' 

^Finally, brethren, "pray for us, that the word of the Lord *may "E^^^iofs' 
have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you : ^ and Hhat <^ 1 co^- 1- 9- 

. . '^ 1 Thess. 5. 24. 

we may be delivered from tunreasonable and wicked men ; Tor all e John iV. is. 
men have not faith. ^ But ''the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, Ap^''^7^jg 
and 'keep you from evil. ^ And •'^we have confidence in the Lord Gai. 5'. 10. 
touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we com- ^^^ 1 <^'''ron- 29- 
mand you. ^And ^the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, tor, the patience 

,,.■', . • • r /-ci • 1 <)/CArw«.lThes3. 

and Imto the patient waitmg lor Christ ! 1. 3. 

§7. 

f See Note 29. 

§ 7. — chap. iii. 6, to the end. o Rom. 16. n'. 

St. Paul here advises the Thessalonians how to act towards those who still continue to g_ 5. 2 john'io'. 
live a disorderly and idle life, contrary to the express commands they had received j 1 Cor. 5. I], 

from him— His prayer and blessing. ^^■ 

c 1 Thess. 4. U. 

^ Now*' we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus '^^j^^^- '"'^- ^^' 

Christ, "that ye withdraw yourselves 'from every brother that walketh d ch. 2. 15. 

'disorderly, and not after ''the tradition which he received of us. "For 'n ^i°'i xiiess ^ 

yourselves knew 'how ye ought to follow us : for ^we behaved not 6, 7. 

J "^ ^ f L Thess 2 10 

ourselves disorderly among you, ^neither did we eat any nian's bread ^ Acts is. 3. & 
for nought; but '"wrought with labor and travail night and day, that fl'^oi^'i^-f^^^^ 
we might not be chargeable to any of you ; ^ not 'because we have not 2- s- 
power, but to make 'ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. 1 Thess. 2.6. 

ver. 7. 

3. 19. 

any would not worK, neitner snouia ne eat. ^^ I'or we near tnat mere iihess. 4.'ii. 
are some *which walk among you disorderly, 'working not at all, but f j^xhess 4 ii 
are busybodies. ^- Now '"them that are such we command and ex- iTim. 5. 13. 
hort by our Lord Jesus Christ, "that with quietness they work, and eat ,„ 1 Thess. 4. 11. 
their own bread. ^•^ But ye, "brethren, *be not weary in well doing. »Eph. 4. as. 
1^ And if any man obey not our word tby this Epistle, note that man, * o'r,'faint ,iot. 
and ''have no company with him, that he may be ashamed : ^^ vet t Or, signify ticat 

ri 1 -ii- 1 I ikut" """' I'll tin epistle. 

'count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. ^"Novv p Matt. is. 17. 
'the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means: the ie*r°o.°"^' '^' 
Lord be with you all ! 'i^hesi^'s' h 

^'' The 'salutation of Paul with mine own hand,s which is the token '■ Tit. 3. 10. 
in every Epistle : so I write. ^^ The "grace of our Lord Jesus Christ it;. 20'. Tcor.'M. 
be with you all ! [Amen.] i ihes^o. as"' 

[[The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians was written from Athens.]] 'co';"]; ig"."^^' 

r T S See Note 30. 

[end of the second epistle to the thessalonians.] SEoid. 16.21. 



^° For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, ■'that if ' ^""J-^. 
any would not work, neither should he eat. ^^ For we hear that there I'Hies 



VOL. II. 



*r 



Corinth. 

a ch. 23. 29. & 
25. 11, 19. 
J 1 Cor. 1. 1. 
h See Note 31. 



246 THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. [Part XIL 

SECT. XVII. Section XVII. — St. Paul, still at Corinth, is brought before the 
V. M. 52. Judgment-seat of Gallio the Proconsul, the Brother of Seneca. 

J. P. 4765. Acts xviii. 12-17, and former part of ver. 18. 

^^ And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insur- 
rection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the Judg- 
25. 11, 19. ment-seat, ^^ saying, " This fellow persuadeth men to worship God 

b 1 Cor. 1. 1. contrary to the Law." ^'^ And when Paul was now about to open his 
mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, " If '"it were a matter of wrong or 
= wicked lewdness, O ye Jews ! reason would that I should bear with 
you : ^^but if it be a question of words and names, and of your Law, 
SECT. xviii. JqqJj^ yg tQ it- for J y^iw be no judge of such matters." ^^And he 
V. JE. 53. drave them from the Judgment-seat. ^'^ Then all the Greeks took 
J. P. 4766. ''Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the 
Crete, Nicopoiis. Judgmeut-scat ; and Gallio cared for none of those things.'' 

r J ^^ And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took 

i Sfe Note 33. his Icavc of the brethren. 

a 2 Tim. 2. 25. 

b 1 Tim. 3. 16. &; 

* Or, for. Section XVIII. — St. Paul, having left Corinth for Crete, is compelled 
c 2 Tim. 1. 1. cii. on Ms retum to winter at Nicopoiis, from whence he writes his 
d Num. 23. 19. Epistlc to Titus, whom he had left in Crete, tvith power to ordain 

1 Tim. 2. 13. Teachers, and govern the Church in that Island."^ 

e Rom. 16. 25. ' ■= 

VF[Z-i:ii THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. 

/2Ti-i.io. §l.-chap.n-i. 

g 1 Tliess. 2. 4. :> r 

1 Tim. 1. 11. St. Paul's Salutation. 

2.3. &'4."io'. ^ Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, (according 

* 2 ?:?'-\^^r ^r to the faith of God's elect, and "the acknowledging of the truth 'which 
23. & 12. 18. is after godliness ; ^ *in 'hope of eternal life, which God, ''that cannot 

j 1 Tim. 1.2. lie, promised 'before the world began ; ^but •'hath in due times mani- 
ic Rom. 1. 12. fested his word throuo[h preachinof, ^which is committed unto me 

9 Cor. 4. 13. o 1 c 

2 Pet.' I.' 1.' ''according to the commandment of God our Saviour;) ^ to 'Titus, 
'ha!"'] Tfrn.^L*' ■'mine own son after ''the common faith! 'Grace, mercy, and peace, 

2. 2 Tim. 1. 2. from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour ! 

§2. 

a 1 Cor. 11. 34. r n rtinn i "i— Q 

* Or, left undone. j • r' ' 



b Acts 14. 23. St. Paul enumerates the necessary qualifications required of those whom Titus was ap- 

2 Tim. 2. 2. pointed to ordain — more especially as the teachers were called upon to oppose and confute 

c ITim. 3.2,&c. ^Yie Judaizinff Christians, who were endeavouring to influence the Gentile Converts. 

d 1 Tim. 3. 12. b ! & 

e 1 Tim. 3. 4, 12. ^ FoR this causc left I thcc in Crete, that thou shouldest "set in 
■^I'co".'^!,^!'. order the things that are *wanting, and 'ordain elders in every city, as 
g Lev. 10. 9. I had appointed thee : ^ if 'any be blameless, ''the husband of one wife, 

Epi!."5. 18.' ' 'having faithful children, not accused of riot, or unruly. '^ For a bishop 
h 1 Pet. 5. 2. must be blameless, as ^the steward of God ; not self-willed, not soon 
t ori good tilings, s^gry, '^not given to wine, no striker, ''not given to filthy lucre ; ^ but 
j 2 Tiiess. 2. 15. 'a lovcr of hospitality, a lover of tgood men, sober, just, holy, tem- 
A^rTm.^.^s. & perate ; ^ holding ^fast ''the faithful word tas he hath been taught, that 

t'Tim^'i' h® "^^y ^^ ^^^^ '^y sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the 

J Or, in teaching. gaiuSayCrS. 

JlTim. I.IO. & 

6. 3. 2 Tim. 4. 3. 

§ 3. — chap. i. 10, to the end. 
, „ St. Paul draws the character of the Cretians, particularly the Judaizing teachers. 

a 1 Tim. 1. 6. ^^ FoR "thcrc are many unruly and vain talkers and 'deceivers, 

b Rom. 16.18. ''specially they of the Circumcision, ''whose mouths must be stopped ; 

'; Ma'M.^'23.^'14. ''who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, 'for 

2 Tim. 3. G. filthy lucre's sake. '^ One ■''of themselves, even a prophet of their own, 

/Actri7. 28.' said, "The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow-bellies." '^ This 



Sect. XVIIL] THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. 247 



,10. 
.2. 



witness is true. "'Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be ^sVim.'iX 
"sound in the faith ; ^'' not 'giving heed to Jewish fables, and •'com- ''j'=!j;~2j_,^ 
mandments of men, that turn from the truth. ^^ Unto *the pure all .^^^-^ Tim. 4. 4 

1 ■ 1 ; I 1 1 /-I 1 , 1 1- • -J Is. 29. 13. Matt 

things are pure: but unto them that are denied and unbelieving ts is. 9. coi. 2. 22. 
nothing pure ; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. ^''They 4i."Rom.'i4.'i4| 
profess that they know God ; but '"in works they deny Him, being ^w^^s^^s}"' 
abominable, and disobedient, "and unto every good work *reprobate. /Roj^jtlb^' 



& 3. 16. 
k aThess. 3.] 4. 



m 2 Tim. 3. 5. 

§ 4.— chap. ii. 1-8. „ Rom.'l. 28. 

St. Paul directs Titus to enforce Christian virtues, in opposition to the vices of the Cre- ?'F^™' h ^: 

T . Or void of 

tians, and the rites and ceremonies tliey wished to introduce — Titus is further com- judgment. 

manded to illustrate the purity of his doctrine, by his own personal example. 

^ But speak thou the things which become "sound doctrine: ^that a iTiL 1. 10.& 
the aged men be *sober, grave, temperate, ''sound in faith, in charity, is.^^if. T' 9." ^' 
in patience : ^ the "^aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as * oj- »'?j^a«<- 
becometh tholiness, not tfalse accusers, not given to much wine, c 1 t™. 2. 9, 10. 
teachers of good things ; "* that they may teach the young women to 3. 3,4.' 
be *sober, "^to love their husbands, to love their children, ^to be dis- |or'maLE7 
creet, chaste, keepers at home, good, 'obedient to their own husbands, J'or'Z'ile'.^' 
•''that the word of God be not blasphemed. '^ '- 1'''"^ s- 14. 

^ Young men likewise exhort to be tsober minded: ''in 'all things Eph. 5. 22. coi. 
showing thyself a pattern of good works : in doctrine showing uncor- fufvet.T.'i%. 
ruptness, gravity, ''sincerity, ®sound 'speech, that cannot be condemned ; ^^■^^^^^i' 
^that he that is of the contrary part ""may be ashamed, havinar no evil t or dL^crca. 

J r J ' & g I 'pim. 4. 12. 

thins; to say 01 you. 1 Pet. 5. 3. 

° •' ■> k Eph. ti. 24. 

i 1 Tim. 6. 3. 

« 5.— chap. ii. 9, to the end. J ^eh. 5. 9. 

^ J ' 1 rim. 5. 14. 

Titus is directed to exhort servants to fidelity, on Christian principles — He is reminded 1 Pet. 2. 12, 15. 

that the Christian religion is equally binding upon all ranks and descriptions of people, 

holding forth the same hope, and requiring the same holiness from all. 

^ Exhort "servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to „ , 5„'^; „ , 

. ' . c Eph. 6. 5. Col. 

please them well 'in all things ; not ''answering again ; ^^ not purloin- 3. £2.1 Tim. c. 

ing, but showing all good fidelity ; "that they may adorn the doctrine b iiip'ii. .5. 24"' 

of God our Saviour in all things. ^^ For ''the grace of God tthat c MaiLTTof"'^" 

bringeth salvation °hath appeared to all men, ^^ teaching us •'^that, /roIh.^s it. ch 3 

denying ungodliness ^and worldly lusts, we should live soberly righ- Z'^^; ij«*^ ^■^^• 

teously, and godly, in this present world; ^^ looking ''for that blessed eti, salvation t'o 
'hope, and the glorious ^appearing of the Great God and our Saviour ",ca™e7. '" "'^" 

Jesus Christ; ^'' who 'gave himself for us, that he might redeem us "i^g.'^i Tim.'2°.'4! 

from all iniquity, 'and purify unto himself '"a peculiar people, "zealous •^Ro"m V'lrEph 

of good works. ^^ These things speak, and "exhort, and rebuke with Y^l^^^'t"^' 

all authority: ^'let no man despise thee.'' g iPet. '4. '2." 

•' ' 1 John 2. 16. 
h 1 Cor. 1. 7. 

§6.-cA«;7.iii.l-8. _ |pe-t.'3.'?2. 

Titus is directed, in opposition to the Judaizing Christians, to impress upon the minds of i Acts 24.15. Col. 
his converts the duty of submission to their civil governors, of whatsoever nation or J: 5' | "^"^ ■'• -• 
religion; and, from the consideration of the great love and mercy of Christ toward j Col. 3. 4. 
themselves, Titus is desired to inculcate the duty of brotherly love and kindness to all. ?, Y"i' |o"'} p ^ 

^ Put them in mind "to be subject to principalities and powers, to ,'•'?'•, Y"'"'-/'-^- 
obey magistrates, Ho be ready to every good work, ^to ''speak evil of W.'epi^. 5. 2. ' 
no man, ''to be no brawlers, hut ""gentle, showing all •'^meekness unto i Heb"'9.'i4. 
all men. ^ For °'we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, ^9^5 Beut^'ife. 
deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in niahce and envy, %^\^i^^% 
hateful, and hating one another : ■* but after that ''the kindness and « Eph. 2. 10. cL 
*love of 'God our Saviour toward man appeared, ° not •'by works of o'2Tim. 4. 2. 
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved \ see Nott'33.' 
us, by 'the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost ; "7~^ 

a Rom. 13. 1. 1 Pet. 2. 13. h Col. 1. 10. 2 Tim. 2. 21. Heb. 13. 21. c Eph. 4.31. rf 2 Tim. 2. 24, 25. e Phil. 4. 5. 

/ Eph. 4. 2. Col. 3. 12. ^ 1 Cor. 6. 11. Eph. 9. ]. Col. J. 21. & 3. 7. 1 Pet. 4. 3. Ach.2.]l. * Or,pi1y. i 1 Tim. 2. 3. 
j Rom. 3.20. & 9. 11, & 11. C. Gal. 2. 16. Eph. 2. 4, 8,9. 2 Tim. 1. 9. i IJohn 3. 3, 5. Eph. 5. 06. 1 Pet. 3. 21. 



248 



PAUL COMPLETES HIS SECOND APOST. JOURNEY. [Paet XIL 



I Ezek. 36. 25. 
Joel 2. 28. John 

1. 16. Acts 2. 
33. & 10. 45. 
Rom. 5. 5. 

t Gr. richly, 
m Rom. 3. 24. 
Gal. 2. 16. ch. 

2. 11. 

n Rom. 8. 93, 24. 

ch. 1. 2. 

y 1 Tim. 1. 15. 

ch. 1. 9. 
g ver. 1, 14. ch. 

2. 14. 



^ which 'he shed on us tabundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour ; 
■^ that ""being justified by his grace, "we should be made heirs "accord- 
ing to the hope of eternal life. 

^ This ''is a faithful saying : and these things I will that thou affirm 
constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful 'to 
maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. 



§7. 

a 1 Tim. 1. 4. 

2Tim. 2.23. ch. 

1. 14. 
6 2 Tim. 2. 14. 



a 2 9or. 13. 2. 
b iMatt. 18. 17. 

Rom. IC. 17. 

2 Thess. 3. 6, 14. 

2 Tim. 3.5. 

2 John 10. 
c Acts 13. 46. 



§9. 

a Acts 20. 4. 

2 Tim. 4. 12. 

Eplies. 6. 21. 

Col. 4. 7. 
1 See Note 34. 
b Acts 18. 24. 
c ver. 8. 
* Or, profess 

honest trades. 

Eph. 4. 28. 

d Rom. 15. 28. 
Phil. 1. 11. &4. 
17. Col. 1. 10. 
2 Pet. 1. 8. 



SECT. XIX. 
V. JE. 54. 

J. P. 4767. 

Cenchrea. 

a Num. 6. 18. ch. 
21. 24. 
b Rom. 16. 1. 
m See Note 35. 



SECT. XX. 

V. JE. 54. 

J. P. 4767. 

Ephesua. 



SECT. XXI. 

V. iE. 54. 
J. P. 4767. 

Antioch. 

a ch. 19. 21. & 
20. 16. 



§ 7. — chap. iii. 9. 

St. Paul commands the teachers of Christianity to avoid the discussion of useless 

questions and speculations. 

But "avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and 
strivings about the Law ; 'for they are unprofitable and vain. 



§ 8. — chap. iii. 10, 11. 
St. Paul directs Titus in what manner he is to proceed with respect to heretics. 
1" A MAN that is a heretic, "after the first and second admonition, 
h-eject ; ^^ knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, 
'^being condemned of himself. 



§ 9.— chap. iii. 12-14. 

Titus is directed to proceed to Nioopolis, on the arrival of Artemas or Tychicus ; and 

to provide for Zenas and Apollos, if they should pass through the island. 

^■2 When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or "Tychicus,' be diligent 
to come unto me to Nicopolis : for I have determined there to winter. 
^^ Bring Zenas the lawyer and 'Apollos on their journey diligently, that 
nothing be wanting unto them. ''' And let ours also learn ^to *main- 
tain good works for necessary uses, that they be ''not unfruitful. 



§ 10. chap. iii. 15. 
St. Paul's Salutations and Conclusion. 

All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the 
faith. Grace he with you all ! [[Amen.]] 

[[It was written to Titus, ordained the first bishop of the Church 
of the Cretians, from Nicopolis of Macedonia.]] 

[end of the EPISTLE TO TITUS.] 



Section XIX. — St. Paul proceeds to Cenchrea. 
Acts xviii. end of ver. 18. 
And sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila 
having "shorn his head in 'Cenchrea : for he had a vow." 



Section XX. — From Cenchrea to Ephesus — where he disputes 
with the Jews. 
Acts xviii. 19. 
And he came to Ephesus, and left them there ; but he himself 
entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 



Section XXI. — From Ephesus St. Paul proceeds to Ccesarea ; and 
having saluted the Church at Jerusalem, completes his second Apos- 
tolical Journey, by returning to Antioch in ^Syr^a. 

Acts xviii. 20-22. 
^^ When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he con- 
sented not ; ^' but bade them farewell, saying, " I "must by all means 



Sect. III.] ST. PAUL'S THIRD APOSTOLICAL JOURNEY. 249 

keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem ; but I will return again unto 

you, 'if God will." And he sailed from Ephesus ; ^~ and when he had *J Cof- 4- 19. 

i 1111 /-ii 1 Heb. C. 3. Jam. 

landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the Church, he went 4. is. 

down to Antioch." n see Note 36. 



PART XIII. 

THIRD APOSTOLICAL JOURNEY OF ST. PAUL. 



SECT. I. 

V y^ KK 

Section I. — iS"^. Paul again leaves Antioch, to visit the Churches of , V, " " 
Galatia and Phrygia. Gaia.ia and' 

Acts xviii. 23. Piirygia. 

And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went a Gai. i. a. & 4. 
over all the country of "Galatia and Phrygia in order, 'strengthening j ,.{, j^ ^2 &i5. 
all the disciples. 32, 4i. 



Section II. — History of Apollos, tvho was now preaching to the sect, ii. 
Church at Ephesus planted by St. Paul. V. M. 55. 

Acts xviii. 24, to the end. J. P. 4768. 

2* And "a certain Jew named Apollos,^ born at Alexandria, an elo- Ephesus. 
quent man, and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. ^^ This ^ icoTTis. i 
man was instructed in the way of the Lord ; and being 'fervent in the ^if's^'it *' ^' 
spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, "knowing a see Note 1. 
only the baptism of John. ^^ And he began to speak boldly in the * Rom.12. 11. 
synagogue. Whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took 
him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more per- 
fectly. ^'^ And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the breth- ^ j cq, 3 g 
ren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him ; who, when he was ^ ch.9. 29. &17 
come, ''helped them much which had believed through srace. ^^ For ^- ^ ""■ ^• 

... T . . * Or 15 the Christ 

he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, ^showing by the b see Note 9. 
Scriptures that Jesus *was Christ.'' 



Section III. — St. Paul proceeds from Phrygia to Ephesus, and dis- _ L 

putes there with the Jeivs. V. 2E. 55. 

Acts xix. 1-10. J- ?• 4768. 

^ And it came to pass, that, while "Apollos was at Corinth, Paul pj^^- 
having passed through 'the upper coasts came to Ephesus. And find- "'^^"q ^" ^^'^ 
ing certain disciples, ® he said unto them, " Have ye received the j 1 Mac. 3. 37. & 
Holy Ghost since ye believed ? " And they said unto him^ " We ^J' 
"have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy'= Ghost." isam. 3.'?. 
3 And he said unto them, " Unto what then were ye baptized ? " And « see Note 3. 
they said, " Unto ''John's baptism." "* Then said Paul, " John ['verily] e Matt. 3. li. 
baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that 3o''"i^i'^g^&' 
they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on ii- le. & 13. 94, 
[Christ] Jesus." ^ When they heard this, they were baptized -^in the /ch. s. le. 
name of the Lord Jesus ; ^ and when Paul had ^laid his hands upon g <^h- 6. e. & s. 
them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and ''they spake with tongues, ach. 9. 4. &10. 
and prophesied. ^ And all the men were about twelve. '^^- 

■ . t ch 17 2 & 18« 

^ And 'he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space 4. ' ' ' 
of three months, disputing and persuading the tilings ■'concerning the J^-'^-^-^^- 
VOL. II. 32 



250 



THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIIL 



k 2 Tim. 1. 15. 

2 Pet. 2. 2. Jude 

10. 
I See ch. 9. 2. & 

22. 4. & 24. 14. 

ver. 23. 
d See Note 4. 
m See ch. 20. 31. 



SECT. IV. 
V. JE. 56. 

J. P. 4769. 

Ephesus 

a Mark 16. 20.ch. 

14.3. 
b ch. 5. 15. See 

2 Kings 4. 29. 
c Matt. 12. 27. 
e See Note 5. 
d See Mark 9. 38. 

Luke 9. 49. 



e Luke 1. 65. & 
7. 16.ch. 2. 43. 
&5. 5, 11. 

/ Matt. 3. 6. 

e ch. 6. 7. & 12. 
24. 



SECT. V. 

V.^. 56. 
J. p. 4769. 

Ephesus. 

a Rom. 15. 25. 

Gal. 2. 1. 
J ch. 20. 22. 
c eh. 18. 21. & 

23. 11. Rom. 15. 

24-28. 
d ch. 13. 5. 
e Rom. 16. 23. 

2Tim. 4. 20. 



SECT. VI. 
V. JE. 57. 

J. P. 4770. 

Ephesus. 

§T 

f See Note 6. 
a Rom. 1. 1. 
b 2 Cor. 1. 1. 

Eph. l.l.Col. 1. 

1. 
e Acts 18. 17. 
d Jude 1. 
e John 17. 19. 

Acts 15. 9. 
/ Rom. 1. 7. 

2 Tim. 1.9. 
g Acts 9. 14, 21. 

&22, 16. 2 Tim. 

2.22. 
h ch. 8. 6. 
i Rom. 3. 22. &. 

10. 12. 
j Rom. 1. 7. 

2 Cor. 1.2. Eph. 

Z.2. IPet. 1. 2. 



kingdom of God. ^ But '"when divers were hardened, and believed 
not, but spake evil 'of that way before the multitude, he departed 
from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the"* school 
of one Tyrannus. ^° And ""this continued by the space of two years ; 
SO that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord 
[Jesus] both Jews and Greeks. 



Section IV. — St. Paul continues two years at Ephesus — The people 

burn their magical hooTcs. 

Acts xix. 11-20. 

^'^ And "God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul ; ^^ so 
Hhat from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or 
aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went 
out of them. 

^^ Then "certain of the vagabond Jews,* exorcists, ''took upon them 
to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, 
saying, " We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth." ^^ And 
there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, 
which did so. ^^ And the evil spirit answered and said, " Jesus I 
know, and Paul I know ; but who are ye ? " ^^ And the man in 
whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and 
prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and 
wounded. " And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also 
dwelling at Ephesus ; and 'fear fell on them all, and the name of the 
Lord Jesus was magnified. 

^^ And many that believed came, and ^confessed, and showed their 
deeds. ^^ Many of them also which used curious arts brought their 
books together, and burned them before all men ; and they counted 
the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. ^^ So 
^mightily grew the word of God and prevailed ! 



Section V. — St. Paul sends Timothy and Erastus to Macedonia and 

Achaia. 
Acts xLx. 21, and former pari of ver. 22. 
^^ Aeter "these things were ended, Paul ''purposed in the spirit, 
when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusa- 
lem, saying, " After I have been there, "I must also see Rome." ^^ So he 
sent into Macedonia two of ''them that ministered unto him, Timotheus 
and 'Erastus. 



Section VL — ^S*^. Paul writes his First Epistle to the Corinthians, 
to assert his Apostolic Authority, to reprove the Irregularities and 
Disorders of the Church, and to answer the Questions of the Con- 
verts on various points of Doctrine and Discipline.^ 

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 

§ l.—chap. i. 1-3. 
St. Paul's Introduction, in which he asserts his Apostleship, and the unity of those who 

believe in Christ Jesus. 

^ Paul "(called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ 'through the will of 
God), and "Sosthenes our brother, ^unto the Church of God which is 
at Corinth, ''to them that 'are sanctified in Christ Jesus, ^called to be 
saints, with all that in every place ''call upon the name of Jesus Christ 
''our Lord, 'both theirs and ours ! ^ Grace 'be unto you, and peace, 
from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ ! 



Sect. VI.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 251 

§ 2.— chap. i. 4-9. § 2. 

St. Paul rejoices at their conversion, and at the spiritual gifts which they had received " ^°'"- ^- ^• 

in testimony of the truth of Christ. *g^7; ^^- ^- ^^°'- 

*I "thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God 'j'^'^g Eev^i^s" 
which is given you by Jesus Christ : ^ (that in every thing ye are en- d Phii. 3. 20. tu. 
riched by him, ''in all utterance, and in all knowledge ; ^ even as "the 12.^^' ^ ^'''" "*■ 
testimony of Christ was confirmed in you ; '^ so that ye come behind * gi. rmeiation. 
in no gift ; '^waiting for the ^coming of our Lord Jesus Christ :) ^ who /xhe'ss 3 13 
^shall also confirm you unto the end, ^thai ye may be blameless in the /coi. 1.22. 
day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^ God °'is faithful by whom ye were ^ 1,^^43' j'^h 
called unto the ''fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. lo- is- 1 Thess. 

^ 5. 24. 2 Thesg. 
3. 3. Heb. 10. 

§ 3.-chap. i. 10-16. ■• j^;^„ 15 4_ ^ 

St. Paul exhorts them to unity in the name of Jesus Christ, in whom was no division, in 1^- ^l- 1 John 
opposition to those Leaders under whose names tliey had enlisted themselves. 

^"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus x 3. 

Christ, "that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no *di- a Rom. 12. le. & 
visions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the 11! Phli. a'a. & 
same mind and in the same judgment. " For it hath been declared g; ^^' ^ ^''^' ^' 
unto me of you, my brethren, by them ivhich are of the house of Chloe, * g^. schisms, cb. 
that there are contentions among you. ^^ Now this I say, 'that every j eii. 3. 4. 
one of you saith, I am of Paul ; and I of "Apollos ; and I of ''Cephas ; <= Acts is. 24. & 
and I of Christ, ^ j„hn i. 42. 

^^ Is 'Christ divided ? was Paul crucified for you ? or were ye bap- ^ 2 cor. 11. 4. 
tized in the name of Paul ? ^'^ I thank God that I baptized none of ^ ■ • • 
you, but -^Crispus and ^Gaius ; ^^ lest any should say that I had baptized /Acts is. s. 

• • 1RA1T1 -11 11 !ii<-ir-.i ff Rom. 16. 23. 

m mine own name. '■^ And i baptized also the household of Stepha- a ch. le. 15, n. 
nas ; besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. 



§ 4. — chap. i. 17, to the end. 
St. Paul asserts that he was sent to preach the Gospel not with learned and skilful elo- 
quence, lest the power of God should be overlooked — He declares that the truths of the 
Gospel are not to be discovered by human wisdom or acquirements — And although 
the preaching of the Cross seems foolishness to those who disbelieve, yet it surpasses 
the wisdom of men, and is the power of God unto salvation, both to the converted 
Jew and Greek — that God has chosen the most despised among men to confound the § '^• 

learned Philosophers, and the great men of the Jews, who opposed themselves to the a ch. 2. 1, 4, 13. 

wisdom of the Gospel, showing by comparison tlie inferiority of all human attainments, ^'' ' 

/, 1 1 1 3 , • . 1 1 • , T 1 * Or, speech. 

that no ilesn should nave occasion to glory but m the L.ora. , q o 15 

^^ For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel: "not c Acts 17. is. ch. 
with wisdom of *words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of ^ch.i5. 2. 
none effect. ^® For the preaching of the cross is to 'them that perish, e Rom. i.ie.ver. 
"foolishness ; but unto us ''which are saved it is the "power of God. /job 5 12 13 
13 For it is Avritten,— i^- 29- w'Jer'. s. 

" I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, f l\^^: I!; „„ 

And will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 24. is. 44. 25. 

2° Where '^is the wise ? where is the Scribe ? where is the disputer of t Rom. 1.20,21, 
this world? ''hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 25.' Lule 10. 21.' 
^^ For 'after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew ^ 3^^\}^\^^\^ 

, .' 16. 1. Marks. 11. 

not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them Luke 11. le. 
that believe. ^■- For the ^ Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek 4 is. g. 14. watt. 
after wisdom ; ^^but we preach Christ crucified ; *unto the Jews a " Jjfe' -f 34 'john 
stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks 'foolishness ; ^'^ but unto them 6. eo, m. Rom. 

9. 32. Gal. 5 11 

which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ "'the power of God, i'pet. 2. s. ' 
and "the wisdom of God. ^^ Because the foolishness of God is wiser ' /". is. ch.2. 

14. 

than men ; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. m Rom. i. 4, le. 

^^ For ye see your calling, brethren, how that "not many wise men "^^^2 3 
after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called : ^'' but John 7. 48. 



252 THE FIRST EPISTI.E TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIIL 

^jam.'a.V.'sfe ^God hath chosen the fooHsh things of the world to confound the wise ; 

Pb. 8. 2. g^j-ijj Qq(J j^g^^j^ chosen the weak things of the world to confound the 

r ch. 2. 6 things which are mighty ; ^^ and base things of the world, and things 

« R"™- 3- ^^^ which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, [and] things which are 

t ver.24. HOt, ''to bring to nought things that are : ^^ that 'no flesh should glory 

V"' ?25' ^' ^^ ^^^ presence. ^° But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is 

2 Cor. 5.21'. Phil, made unto us 'wisdom, and "righteousness, and "sanctification, and 

V John 17. 19. "redemption : ^^ that, according as it is "" written, — 

r jer. 9. 23, 24. "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." 

2 Cor. 10. 17. " 



§ 5. § 5. — chap. ii. 1-5. 

''4'''l'3^"2^C ^^10 *^^" ^^^^ declares, that when he preached the Gospel to them, unlike their false teachers, 

10. & 11. 6.' ' he adorned it with no human learning or eloquence, but that his arguments were 

i ch. 1. 6. drawn from the testimony of divine revelation, confirmed by the power of miracles — 

c Gal. 5. 14. Phil. therefore their faith should not be founded on the wisdom or philosophy of men. 

d^ Acts 18. 1, 6, 1 ^jjj) j^ brethren, when I came to you, "came not with excellency 

e2Cor. 4. 7. & of spccch or of wisdom, declaring unto you 'the testimony of God. 

3o;ki2.t,9!' ^ For I determined not to know any thing among you, 'save Jesus 

Gal. 4. 13. Christ, and him crucified. ^ And ''I was with you 'in weakness, and 

f ver. 1. ch. 1. 17. . . . "^ . 

2 Pet, 1. 16. in fear, and in much trembling ; ^ and my speech and my preaching 

* ^B.l^^'ibtt^^' "^^^^ "^^ vf'ith *enticing words of [man's] wisdom, ^but in demonstra- 

1 The'39. "1. 5 tion of the Spirit and of power : ^ that your faith should not tstand 

t Gr. je. jj^ i^j^g wisdom of men, but ''in the power of God. 

A 2 Cor. 4. 7. & ^ 

6. 7. 



t g_ § 6. — chap. ii. G, to the end. 

o ch. 14. 20. Eph. The Apostle next shows, that, although he uses not worldly wisdom, the Corinthians 

15 Heb 5 14 have no cause to glory in their false teachers, for he (St. Paul) speaks the hidden 

t ch. 1. 20. & 3. mystery of God revealed to him by the Spirit, which no human industry or study 

19. ver. 1, 13. could attain to ; and declares to them, by the preaching of the Holy Ghost, the deep 

3. 15.' ' ' ' things of God, which can be revealed only by the Spirit of God, and cannot even be 

e ch. 1. 28. received by the natural or animal man, who has no other help but his human faculties. 

26. Eph. 3. 5' 9. ^ HowBEiT we speak wisdom among them "that are perfect; yet 

^ou. 28. 2 Tim. ^^^ i^j^g wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, 'that 

e Matt. 11. 25. comc to uought : '' but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, 

13. ■27.2 Cor. 3.' even the hidden wisdom, ''which God ordained before the world unto 

^^' our glory ; ® which 'none of the princes of this world knew, (for ^had 

Ac"t3 3. 17. See they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory ;) ^ but 

'Tl^'!^ T as it is ^written,— 

£■ Pa. 31. 19. Is. ' 

h Matt. 13 11 at " "^7® '^^th uot sccu, uor Car heard, 

1^- iJ.^John 14. Neither have entered into the heart of man, 

fjohna. 27.' The things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." 

i Prov. 20. 27. & 

27. 19. jer. 17. 10 gyj; ''God hath rcvcalcd them unto us by his Spirit : for the Spirit 

jRom. 11. 33, searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. ^^ For what man 

kB.om 8 15 kuowcth the things of a man, 'save the spirit of man which is in 

iapet. 1. 16. him? ^even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of 

Seech. 1.17. Qq(J_ 12 Nqw wc liavc rcccivcd, not the spirit of the world, but 'the 

m Matt. 16. 23. Spirit which is of God ; that we might know the things that are 

" Rom^ 8*5^ 7 f^'^^ly givcu to US of God : ^^ which 'things also we speak, not in the 

Jude i9. ' ' words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the [Holy] Ghost 

'^i-TheH^%%i. teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ^'^ But "the natural 

iJohn4. 1. n^an receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ; "for they are fool- 
to'' rf^cmiL'. ishness unto him; "neither can he know them, because they are 
q Job 15. 8. Is. spiritually discerned. ^^ But ''he that is spiritual *judgeth all things, 

is! w'isd. 9. lb. vet he himself is tiudged of no man. ^^ For 'who hath known the 

■p 1 -t oj "^ " ^ 

X Gr. shall. mind of the Lord, that he Imay instruct Him ? ^But we have the 

r John 15. 15. mind of Christ. 



Sect. VI.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 253 

§ 7. — chap. iii. 1-9, and beginning of ver. 10. § 7. 

St. Paul sliows that divisions in a Church, arising from the opinions of the people on the " "=''• 2. 15. 

various qualifications of their ministers, are destructive of spirituality. c . . 4. 

' ^ -^ c Heb. 5. 13. 

1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto "spiritual, but d Heb. 5.12, i3 
as unto 'carnal, eveji as unto 'babes in Christ. ^ I have fed you with ^ joJJn le 12 
''milk, and not with meat: 'for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, /ch. 1. 11. &11. 

■f V ' 1 j3 f"' Q I ^ on 

neither yet now are ye able. ^ For ye are yet carnal. For -^whereas 2l Jam. 3. le. 
there is among you envying, and strife, and *divisions, are ye not * OT,factims. 
carnal, and walk tas men ? ^ For while one saith, " I 'am of Paul ; " ^ ^ak^"°"^"" " 
and another, '• I am of Apollos ; " are ye not carnal ? g <=h- 1- 12- 

^ Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ''ministers by whom 3? 3. 
ye believed, 'even as the Lord gave to every man ? ^ I -'have planted, « Rom. 12.3,6. 
'Apollos watered ; 'but God gave the increase : '^ so then "'neither is j Act? is. 4, s, 
he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth ; but God that g^'i'^&ls'i'*' 
giveth the increase. ^ Now he that planteth and he that watereth are 2C'or. lo. 14, 15. 
one: "and every man shall receive his own reward according to his ''^illl^'^'^'^' 
own labor. ^ For °we are laborers together with God : ye are God's i ch. 1. 30. &15. 

. 10. 2 Cor 3 5. 

thusbandry, ye are 'God's building. ^"According 'to the grace of ^ g c^, jo. n' 
God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid ""the Gai. e. 3. 
foundation, and another buildeth thereon. Rom. -i'e, cu. 4. 

5. Gal. 6. 4, 5. 
Rev. 2. 23. & 22. 

12. 

§ 8. — chap. iii. latter pari of ver. 10-15. o Acts 15.4. 

Jesus Christ the only Foundation of Christianity — those vi^ho build upon this foundation . „ ,"■;; „.' 
are cautioned to take heed, as they must pass a severe examination — the teacher who £„),_ g.'ao. Col. 
has introduced false doctrines, will see his converts fall away in the time of perse- 2. 7. Heb. 3^3, 
cution, as wood, hay, and stubble in the fire, escaping themselves with difficulty — On ' -i - L 
the other hand, with those who have built upon this Foundation sound and good doc- lo. a. 

trine, their converts, like silver and gold, will pass through the trial of fire, and the r Rom. 15. 20. 
teacher himself will receive the reward of his labors. ^^^ .^i*^ 14 ' ' 

^" But "let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. ^^ For 

other foundation can no man lay than 'that is laid, Svhich is Jesus § g. 

Christ. ^^ Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, a i Pet. 4.11. 
precious stones, wood, hay, stubble ; ^^ every ''man's work shall be ^jj^^f^jg^^fg 
made manifest: for the day "shall declare it, because ■'it *shall be 2Cor. 11. 4.Gdi. 
revealed by fire ; and the fire shall try every man's work of wliat sort ^ Epii. 2. 2u. 
it is; ^''if any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, *he dch. 4. 5. 
shall receive a reward; ^^ if any man's work siiall be burned, he shall ^j^gP^'-i-''-'^ • 
suflfer loss ; but he himself shall be saved — yet 'so as by fire. /Luke2. 35. 

* Gr. is revealed. 



g ch. 4. 5. 

§ Q.—chap. iii. 16, to the end. '<■ •'"'^^ 22. 

St. Paul declares, that the teacher who wilfully introduces false doctrine into the Church 
will be destroyed, however successful in his attempt — The wisdom of this world is folly 
in the sight of God, therefore they should not glory in their teachers nor their boasted 
philosophy, making divisions in the Chuixh — the true glory of a Christian is in Christ, 
vpho is God's, through whom alone we obtain the promise of salvation, which cannot s 9. 

be given by the preachers of the Gospel. 

^^ Know °ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit e. le. Eph. 2. a! 
of God dwelleth in you ? ^^ If any man *defile the temple of God, rpet.^o! 5! ^' 
him shall God destroy ; for the temple of God is holy, which temple * O''. rf"«™y- 
ye are. ^* Let 'no man deceive himself ; if any man among you 5. 2°? ^' ^' ^^' 
seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may 
be wise. ^^ For 'the wisdom of this world is foohshness with God. cch. 1.20. & 2.6. 
For it is ''written, — d job 5. 13. 

" He taketh the wise in their own craftiness." 
2' And 'again,— eP3.94.11. 

" The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that thev are vain." /<=«• i- is- & 4. 

° , . ^- '^'"■- *' 5' ^■ 

^^ Therefore '^let no man glory in men; for "all things are yours: ^2001.4.5,15 

VOL. li. V 



254 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIII. 



h Rom. 14. 8. cb. 



^^ whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or hfe, or death, 
"i^T'acor.'io'.' or things present, or things to come ; all are yours ; ^^ and ''ye are 
7. Gal. 3. 29. christ's ; and Christ is God's. 



§ 10. — chap. iv. 1-5. 

The Apostles, as servants of Christ, are required to dispense the mysteries of the Gospel 

as men were prepared to receive them — In answer to the censure passed upon him by 

the false teachers, for not having instructed the Corinthians in the deeper doctrines of 

§ 10. Christianity, St. Paul declares, it is of little moment to be condemned by man's judg- 

a Matt. 24. 45. ment ; for God alone can judge righteously, to whom only the secrets of the hearts 

ch. 3. 5. & 9. 17. are known — He exhorts them, therefore, not to pass judgment on their spiritual in- 

2 Cor. 6. 4. Col. 

j_ 25. structors 

* ^"if 12. 49. 1 Let a man so account of us, as of "the ministers of Christ, 'and 
4. 10." ' ' stewards of the mysteries of God ; ^ moreover it is required in stewards, 

* Gr. day. ch. 3. ^.j^g^^ ^ ^^^ j^g found faithful. ^ But with me it is a very small thing 
c Job. 9. 2. Ps. that I should be judged of you, or of man's *judgment : yea, I judge 

p^rqv^shs^Rom; HOt mluc own sclf ; ''(for I know nothing by myself, 'yet am I not 
3.20. & 4. 2. hereby justified :) but He that judgeth me is the Lord. ^ Therefore 
Rom. 2. 1,16. & ''judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, 'who both will 
Rev'!'2o°'i2^' bring to hght the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the 
e cb.3. 13. counsels of the hearts ; and -^then shall every man have praise of God. 

/ Rom. 2. 29. ' 

2 Cor. 5. 10. ■ 

§ 11. — chap. iv. 6-13. 

St. Paul declares he has made use of his own name, and that of Apollos. that they might 

learn not to think too highly of their separate leaders, and so become puffed >ip with 

§ 1] . anger and contempt for each other — St. Paul and Apollos were only the servants of 

ffl ch. 1. 12. & 3. Christ, by whose ministry the Christians had believed — They disclaimed all titles and 

distinctions among them, that by their example the Corinthians might learn not to 

esteem their teachers above what he had written — The Apostle then addresses himself 



4. 
6 Rom. 12. 3. 

2, 6*. ' " ' to the false teachers — The former are called ignorant and foolish, because they preach 
* Gr. distinguish- the first article of the Christian faith : while the false teachers, from their speculations 

eth thee. ^^^^ traditions, are considered wise men and philosophers — The Apostles are despised 

Jam. 1.17. 1 Pet. — They are honored — The Apostles are exposed to every kind of danger, while they 
4- 10. are in the full enjoyment of affluence and every comfort. 

t or,'usthe'iast ^ And thcsc things, brethren, "I have in a figure transferred to my- 
aposties, as. ggjf ^jj^j ^^ Apollos, for your sakes ; Hhat ye might learn in us not to 
8.36. c'b.''i5.3'o,' think of men above that which is written, that no one of you 'be 
&6^9^°'"^'"' puffed up for one against another. '^ For who *maketh thee to differ 
ff Heb. 10. 33. from another 1 and ''what hast thou that thou didst not receive ? now 
A Acts'n'^i^B & if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not re- 
26. 24. ch. 1. 18, ceived it? ^ Now ye are full, 'now ye are rich, ye have reigned as 

3. is. see'2Kin. kiugs without US : and I would to God ye did reign, that we also 
t^2Cor 13 9 might reign with you ! ^ For I think that God hath set forth tus the 
j2Cor. 4. 8. & apostles last, ^as it were appointed to death; for ^ we are made a 

"il?"^^' ^'"'' tspectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. i" We ''are 
Vas^^"^'^"'"" fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ — we *are weak, but 
i Acts 23. 2. ye are strong — ye are honorable, but we are despised. ^^ Even ■'unto 
"20^34 Wl^efs ^^^^ present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and ''are naked, and 'are 

2.9. 2'The9s. 3. buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace, ^- and '"labor, working 
n Matt'.". 44. with our own hands: "being reviled, we bless ; being persecuted, we 

23" 34^0*137! suffer it; ^^ being defamed, we entreat: "we are made as the filth of 

60. Rom. 12. 14, the earth — and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. 

20. 1 Pet. 2. 23. o o J 

& 3. 9. 



o Lam. 3. 45. § 12.— chap. iv. 14-17. 

St. Paul declares he does not write these things to shame, but to instruct them, and to 

warn them against those false teachers who will not be to them as he was, their spiritual 

father — He therefore entreats them to imitate him, and sends Timotheus to them, who 
§ 12. should remind them of his instruction. 

a iThess. 2. 11. 14 J WRITE not thcsc things to sliamc you, but "as my beloved sons 
I warn you. '^ For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, 



Sect. VI.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 255 

yet have ye not many fathers; for ''in Christ Jesus I have begotten *K'^m%^|"oo'eh 
you through the Gospel. ^"^ Wherefore I beseech you, 'be ye follow- 3.6 g^, 4 jg 
ers of me. ^^ For this cause have I sent unto you ''Timotheus, %ho 1. is. ' ' 
is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you -^into Vn^i'T)!™'' 
remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I ^teach every where le.sThess. 3. 
in every Church. <f Acts 19. 93. ch. 

16. 10. Phil. 9. 
19. 1 Thess. 3.2 

§ 13. — diap. iv. 18, to the end. e 1 Tim. 1. 9. 

The false teacher having declared that St. Paul feared to encounter such learned and ^ Tim. 1.9. 
eloquent opposers, he declares his intention of visiting them shortly, when he would .' 

inquire not into the speech, but into the supernatural powers of his opposers, as the 33. ' ' ' 

Gospel is not established by the boasted wisdom of its preachers, but in the miraculous 

powers which are imparted to them for its confirmation — He then asks them if his § 13. 

own supernatural powers should be exercised towards them in punishment, or if he " ''"■^^^• 

should come to them in the spirit of peace and in love, on account of their having cor- jg c'o p^^',*^''' 

rected their errors. 15, 23. 

^^ Now "some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you ; "^Eom! 15.' sal 
^^ but 'I will come to you shortly, ''if the Lord will, and will know, not ^"{"i*"' "'' ^^'"' 
the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. ^° For ''the <i ch.9.4.iTiies. 
kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. ^^ What will ye ? ^shall I ^ 9 cor. 10. 9. & 
come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness ? ^^■'^ 

§ 14. 

§ U.—chap. V. a Eph. 5. 3. 

St. Paul commands the public excommunication of the incestuous person — He condemns * Lev. 18.8. 

their boasting in the knowledge of their false teacher, who has tolerated this enormity, 27 "^5 

and shows the infectious nature of sin, by comparing it to leaven — They are prohibited c 9 Cor. 7. 12. 

from associating with Christians openly profane, who are to be delivered over to the d ch. 4. 18. 

censure of the Church — But the wicked heathen, as being without the pale of the " 2 Cor. 7. 7, 10. 

Church, are to be left to the judgment of God. / Co'- 2- 5. 

^ It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and g iiltt. le. 19.& 
such fornication as is not so much as "named among the Gentiles, Ull^of'^'io 
'that one should have his 'father's wife. ^ And ''are ye puffed up ? ^ i^. 3, 10. 
And have not rather 'mourned, that he that hath done this deed might '']09.''6^i''Trm. i. 
be taken away from among you ? ^ For ^I verily, as absent in body, ,~Act9 0G is 
but present in spirit, have ^judged already, as though I were present, j ver. 9. ch. 3. 
concerning him that hath so done this deed, ^ in the name of our Lord ^^■^f-'^-^^-^'^"'- 
Jesus Christ, (when ye are gathered together, and my spirit,) ^with '■ '^''■^5.33. Gni. 
the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, ■''to Meliver such an one unto z is. 53. 7. John ' 
'Satan for the destruction of the ffesh, that the spirit may be saved in \'p^{ 5''ig^fte; 
the day of the Lord Jesus. '^ Your ^glorying is not good. Know ^- •>' ^^■ 
ye not that 'a httle leaven leaveneth the whole lump ? ^ Purge outr,,""?'"' 

iciiii 1 1 J Ot, IS slain. 

therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are un- n e.^. 12. 35. & 
leavened ; for even 'Christ our "Passover tis sacrificed for us. ^ There- ^^' ^' 
fore "let us keep tthe feast, "not with old leaven, neither 'Vith the „ De'ut. le. 3. 
leaven of malice and wickedness ; but with the unleavened bread of pJ^^I^-J^-^^^^- 

Mark 8. 15. 

Sincerity and truth. Luke 12. 1 

^ I wrote unto you in an ^epistle, " Not 'to company witii fornicators." , pee ve°r.'2, 7. 
1° Yet '"not altogether with the fornicators 'of this world, or with the l^^s^i"' 
covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs 2Tiiess. 3. 14. 
go 'out of the world. " But now I have written unto you. Not to Ich.i.goY 
keep company, "if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or « Joim 17. is. 
covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner ; „ ji"l" ]'§. iV. 
with such an one "no not to eat. ^^ For what have I to do to iudge B?^\- ^^•i''; -,, 

.toy Ihese;. 3, 6,14. 

"them also that are without ? Do not ye judge them that are within ? 2 John 10. 
^^ but them that are without God judgeth. Therefore ^put away ^^*^f^j,if4^^j'j 
from among yourselves that wicked person. P"'- 4. 5. 

° ■' ^ 1 Thess. 4. 19. 

ITim. 3. 7. 

§ 15.— chap. vi. 1-8. ^ <--h- 6. 1, 2, 3,4 

The Christians are reproved for referring their differences to heathen courts of judicature, ^ly,''" jj; g'l. 21. 

by which their Christian profession is dishonored — Instead of laying them before their & 22. 21, 22,34 



256 



THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIII. 



§ 15. 



a Pa. 49. 14. 

Dan. 7. 92. 

Matt. 19. 28. 

Luke 22. 30. 

Rev. 2. 26. & 3. 

21. vfe 20. 4. 
* 2 Pet. 2. 4. 

Judo 6. 
c ch. 5. 12. 



A Prov. 20. 22. 

Matt. 5. 39, 40. 

Luke 6. 29. 

Rom. 12. 17, 19. 

1 Thess. 5. 15. 
e 1 Thes. 4. 6. 



inspired teachers, who gave laws for the present ruling of the world — They are rebuked 
also for attempting to injure and defraud their Christian brethren. 

^ Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law be- 
fore the unjust, and not before the saints ? ^ Do ye not know that 
"the saints shall judge the world ? and if the world shall be judged by 
you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters ? ^ Know ye not 
that we shall 'judge angels ? how much more things that pertain to 
this hfe ! If, 'then, ye have judgments of things pertaining to this 
life, \do ye] set them to judge who are least esteemed in the 
Church ? ^ I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise 
man among you ? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his 
brethren ? '' But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before 
the unbelievers ! ^ Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, 
because ye go to law one with another. ''Why do ye not rather take 
wrong ? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded ? 
^ Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, ^and that your brethren ! 



§ 16. 

a ch. 15. 50. Gal. 

5.21. Eph. 5.5. 

1 Tim. 1.9. 

Heb. 12. 14. & 

13. 4. Rev. 22. 

15. 
b ch. 12. 2. Eph. 

2. 2. & 4. 22. & 

5. 8. Col. 3. 7. 

Tit. 3. 3. 
c ch. 1. 30. Heb. 

10. 22. 
d ch. 10. 23. 
* Or, profitable, 
e Matt. 15. 17. 

Rom. 14. 17. 

Col. 2. 22, 23. 
f ver. 15, 19, 20. 

1 Thess. 4. 3, 7. 
g Eph. 5. 23. 
h Rom. 6. 5, 8. & 

8. 11. 2 Cor. 4. 

14. 
i Eph. 1. 19,20. 

j Rom. 12. 5. ch. 
12. 27. Eph. 4. 
12, 15, 16. & 5. 
30. 

k Gen. 2. 24. 

Matt.19. 5. Eph. 

5. 31. 
1 John 17. 21,22, 

23. Eph. 4.4. & 

5. 30. 
m Rom. 6. 12, 13. 

Heb. 13. 4. 
n Rom. 1.24. 

1 Thess. 4.4. 
ch. 3. 16. 2 Cor. 

6.16. 
p Rom. 14. 7, 8. 
g Acts 20. 28. ch. 

7.23. Gal. 3.13. 

Heb. 9. 12. 

1 Pet. 1. 18, 19. 

2 Pet. 2. 1. Rev. 
5.9. 



§ 16. — chap. vi. 9, to the end. 

The Apostle here confutes the arguments of the false teacher, by which he appears to 
have sanctioned luxury and fornication, and declares that no unclean person can inherit 
the blessings of the Gospel — The immoderate indulgence of things in themselves lawful 
is sinful in Christians, who are God's both by creation and redemption. 

^ Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of 
God ? Be not deceived : "neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adul- 
terers, nor elTeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, ^^ nor 
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, 
shall inherit the kingdom of God. ^^ And such were 'some of you : 
"but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the 
name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 

^^ All ''things are lawful unto me, but all things are not *expedient : 
all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power 
of any. ^^ Meats 'for the belly, and the belly for meats : but God 
shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, 
but ^for the Lord, ^and the Lord for the body ; ^^ and ''God hath both 
raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us 'by his own power. 
1^ Know ye not that ^your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I 
then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a 
harlot ? God forbid ! ^^ What ? know ye not that he which is joined 
to a harlot is one body ? for ''two, saith He, shall be one flesh. ^'' But 
'he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. ^^ Flee ""fornication. 
Every sin that a man doeth is without the body ; but he that com- 
mitteth fornication sinneth "against his own body. ^'^ What ? "know 
ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in 
you, which ye have of God, ^'and ye are not your own ? ^^ For 'ye are 
bought with a price : therefore glorify God in your body, [and in your 
spirit, which are God's]. 



§ 17. 

a ver. 8, 26. 



b Ex.2]. 10. 
1 Pet. 3. 7. 



§ 17. — chap. vii. 1-17. 
St. Paul proceeds to answer the questions of the Corinthians, and gives rules of conduct 
both to married and single persons, according to their several tempers, and to the 
present state of the Church in a time of persecution. 

^ Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me : "It is 
good for a man not to touch a woman ; ^nevertheless, to avoid forni- 
cation, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have 
her own husband. ^ Let ''the husband render unto the wife due [be- 
nevolence] : and likewise also the wife unto the husband. ^ The wife 
hath not power of her own body, but the husband : and likewise also 
the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. ^ De- 



Sect. VI.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 257 

fraud 'ye not one the other, except it he with consent for a time, tliat ye '^4°^} ^- ^^■ 

y , /> • 1 1 • Zech. 7. 3. See 

may give yourselves to lastmg and prayer ; and come together agam, Ex. 19. is. 
that ''Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. ''But I speak this ^jThoss.s. k 
by permission : "and not of commandment.'' '' For -^I would that all e ver. 1-2, 05. 
men were "even as I myself; but '"every man hath his proper gift of i^^,°ii.^'^'^ 
God, one after this manner, and another after that. h see Note 8. 

^ I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, *It is good for them / Acts 26. 29. 
if they abide even as I. ^ But ^if they cannot contain, let them marry : f Matt. 19. 12. 
for it is better to marry than to burn. ^^ And unto the married I .'^''' ^^" ^^' . 
command, '''yet not I, but the Lord, 'Let not the wife depart from her ] j"';^' 5 ',4 
husband; ^^ (but and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be s sea ver. 12, 25, 
reconciled to her husband :) and let not the husband put away his '^°: 
wife. ^^ But to the rest speak I, "'not the Lord : If any brother hath a Matt. 5. 32'. &' 
wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him 10! 11,12. Luke 
not put her away ; ^^ and the woman which hath a husband that ^^" ^®' 

711 VQT 6 

believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her 

not leave him. ^* For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by 

the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband : 

else "were your children unclean ; but now are they holy. ^^ But if " ^°'^' ^' ^^' 

the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not 

under bondage in such cases. But God hath "called us *to peace, "m."!?! Jh. 14. ^^ 

^^ For what knowest thou, O wife ! whether thou shalt ''save thy hus- ^^' ^,''^' ^^' ^^' 

band ? or thow knowest thou, O man ! whether thou shalt save thy p 1 pet.stT 

wife ? ^"^ But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath t^r. roAa«. 

called every one, so let him walk ; and 'so ordain I in all Churches. Vcofn'28 



§ 18.— chap, vil 18-24. 

St. Paul teaches that Christianity makes no chano-e in the common relations and natural 

i,i- X- j?T-r- a 1 Mac. 1. 15. 

obligations of life. ^ ^ 6 Acts 15. 1,5, 

^^ Is any man called being circumcised? let him "not become un- 19,^24, 28. Gai. 
circumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision ? ''let him not be cir- c cai. 5. 6. & 6. 
cumcised. ^^ Circumcision "^is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, /j'^^^ jj ^4 
but ''the keeping of the commandments of God. ^° Let every man 1 John 2. 3. & 3 
abide in the same calling wherein he was called. ^^ Art thou called ^ j^hn 8. 36. 
being a servant ? care not for it : but if thou mayest be made free, phHemJe'^' 
use it rather. ^- For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is *Gr. made free. 
'the Lord's * freeman : likewise also he that is called, being free, is -^^j^'ig^'Eph ii^'e 
•''Christ's servant. ^^ Ye ^are bought with a price ; be not ye the 1 p^'- 2- le. 
servants of men. ^^ Brethren, ''let every man, wherein he is called, ^i'peu^\:9. 
therein abide with God. s<=« Lev. 25. 42 

h ver. 20. 

§ 19. — chap. vii. 95, to the end. 
St. Paul recommends both virgins and widows to continue unmarried in times of perse- 
cution ; and, to make them less solicitous about the present cares and pleasures of life, 
he reminds them of its shortness and insignificance. § ^°- 

^^ Now concerning virgins "I have no commandment of the Lord: V^"'' ^i ^2' t^' 
yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy 01 the Lord b 1 Tim. 1. le. 
"to be faithful. ^^ I suppose therefore that this is good for the present "j'^'^-,^- ^- ^ ^''" 
*distress, I say, ''that it is good for a man so to be. ^'' Art thou bound *ox, necessity. 
unto a wife ? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife ? seek ^ ''^'' ^' ^■ 
not a wife. ^^ But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned ; and if a 
virgin marry, she hath not sinned ; nevertheless such shall have trouble 
in the flesh : but I spare you. ^^ But 'this I say, brethren, the time is ^^v^{.1^'t]^' 
short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they 2Pet. 3. a, 9. 
had none ; ^" and they that weep, as though they wept not ; and they 
that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not ; and they that buy, as though ^"^-^ g^^- 
they possessed not ; ^^ and they that use this world, as not •'^abusing it. 1. 10. &4.' 14. 
For ^the fashion of this world passeth away. ^^ But I would have 4. 7!i"john 2. 17. 
VOL. II. 33 *v 



258 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIII. 

^in^i' '"^^*2/— you without ''carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things 

t Gt. of the Lord, fthat belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord ; ^^but he that 

selYTim. 5. 5. IS married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may 

please his wife. •'^ There is difference also between a wife and a 

i Luke 10.40, &c. virgin ; the unmarried woman 'careth for the things of the Lord, that 

she may be holy both in body and in spirit : but she that is married 

careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. 

^^ And this I speak for your own profit ; not that I may cast a snare 

upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon 

the Lord without distraction. 

^^ But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward 
his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let 
him do what he will, he sinneth not ; let them marry. ^"^ Neverthe- 
less he that standeth steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but 
hath power over his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart that 
jHeb. 13. 4. i^g ^j]j j^ggp [jjg virgin, doethwell. ^^ So •'then he that giveth her in 
marriage doeth well ; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth 
better. 
k Rom. 7. 2. 39 'j'jjg *wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth ; but 
mver. 25. if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she 
n 1 Thess. 4. 8. will ; 'ouly in the Lord. *" But she is happier if she so abide, "'after 
my judgment : and "I think also that I have the Spirit of God. 

a Acts 15. 20, 29. <: nn i ■■■ 

ch. 10. 19. § 20.— c/iop. Via. 

b Eom. 14. 14, St. Paul, in reply to the converts, instructs them tliat though the eating of things oifered 

■ „ .. to idols was indifferent in itself, the custom was to be avoided, as their example might 

d ch. 13. 8 9 12. \e<i^A the weaker brethren into sin, by encouraging them in the idea that their idol is a 

Gal! 6. 3.1 Tim! real God. 

e Ex'. 33. 12, 17. ^ Now "as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we ali 
Mat^.^iJs^'Gai. ^^^^c ''knowlcdgc ; ("knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth ; ^ and 
4^9. 2 Tim. 2. ''if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet 

/ 13. 41. 24. ch. as he ought to know ; ^ but if any man love God, 'the same is known of 
^^ ^!' A on . him ;) * as concernino; therefore the eating of those things that are offered 

g Deut. 4. 39. & '/ o O i ■ i 

6. 4. Is. 44. 8. in sacrifice unto idols, we know that ^an idol is nothing in the world, 

Mark 12 ■''9 ct ^ 

ver. 6. Ephe's. 4. ^^aud that thcrc is none other God but one. ^ For though there be that 
/joim'io 34^ ^^^ ''called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, 
i Mai. 2. 10. Eph. and lords many,) ^ but 'to us there is but one God, the Father, ■'of whom 
.\'^[ ,^ „„ are all things, and we *in him ; and 'one Lord Jesus Christ, 'by whom 

J Acts 17. 28. o ' 1 • ■ .» TT 1 • 1 • . "^ 

Rom. 11. 36. are all things, and we by him.' ^ Howbeit there is not in every man 

/* j!.hfi3!"i™'. that knowledge : for some "with conscience of the idol unto this hour 

Acts 2 36. ci. eat it as a thinaj offered unto an idol ; and their conscience being weak 

12. 3. Eph. 4. 5. . , & = 

Phil. 2. 11. IS defiled. 
\'''^",}-?-p"J- ^ But "meat commendeth us not to God : for neither, if we eat, tare 

1. b. Heb. 1. y. 1 o T> p 1 

i See Note 9. wc the bcttcr ; neither, if we eat not, tare we the worse. -* But ^take 

m ch. 10. 28, 29. hgcd Icst by auy mcans this * liberty of yours become 'a stumbhng- 

Ti^om. 14. 14, IjIqpJ^ ^q them that are weak. i° For if any man see thee which hast 

Rom. 14. 17. knowledge sit at meat in '^the idol's temple, shall not "the conscience 
toj^,Mvewethe ^f |-,jj^ which is Weak be ^emboldened to eat those things which are 
J ot,havewetke offered to idols ? " and 'through thy knowledge shall the weak brother 
p cti. 5. 13. perish for whom Christ died ? ^^ But "when ye sin so against the 
* Or, power. brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. 

1 f''2<!:V!f' " Wherefore, "if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh 
s ch. 10. 28, 32. while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. 

j Gr. edified. ^_^__^_ 

t Eom. 14. 15, 
20. 



§ 21. — chap. ix. 1-14. 

K^Matt. 25. 40, rpj^g Apostle here vindicates his Apostleship by appealing to their own conversion from 

1! Rom. 14.21. Heathenism, and the spiritual gifts he had conferred upon them — He argues against 

2 Cor. 11.29. tjje objections made to his apostolic character by his enemies, whose views and con- 



Sect. VI.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 259 

duct were totally opposite to his own ; by asserting, tiiat although he declined receiving § 21. 

maintenance from the Corinthians, he was fully entitled to demand it both for himself a Acts 9. 15. & 
and for his sister, or wife, as well as the other Apostles — He defends his right to a acoiis 12 
maintenance from the common practice of mankind ; by the Law of Moses ; and like- Gal. 2. 7, 8. 
wise by the express command of Christ. I ^j™" j ^j 

^ Am "I not an apostle ? am I not free ? 'have I not seen Jesus Christ ''^iqI'^II' 
our Lord? ""are not ye my work in the Lord? ^ If I be not an apostle m, is. &23."ii 
unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for ''the seal of mine apostle- cch. s. 6. &4. 
ship are ye in the Lord. ^ Mine answer to them that do examine me ^^• 
is this, '^ Have %ve not power to eat and to drink ? 12. m 

^ Have we not power to lead about a sister, a *wife, as well as other 'g^g^'lVhls'l^^s' 
apostles, and as -^the brethren of the Lord, and ^Cephas ? ^ Or I only 9- 
and Barnabas, ''have not we power to forbear working ? '' Who 'goeth * JJ'jjf jg^jj 
a warfare any time at his own charges ? who ^planteth a vineyard, and Mark's. 3. 
eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who *feedeth a flock, and eateth 1.19. 
not of the milk x>f the flock ? ® Say I these things as a man ? or saith s Matt. s. 14. 
not the Law the same also ? ^ For it is written in the 'Law of Moses, 9. "'^^' ' ' 
"Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the ',^,^°''- ";^. 

1 lim. 1. 18. & 

corn." Doth God take care for oxen? i" Or saith he it altogether e. 12. 2 Tim. 2. 

3. & 4. 7. 
for our sakes ? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written : that "'he that j Deut. 20. e. 

ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope ch?3'. 6%^8. 

should be partaker of his hope. ^^ If "we have sown unto you spiritual k John 21. is. 

things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? ^^ If j^o^u't'as^ 

others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather ? °Nev- iTim. 5. is. 

ertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, ''lest we ™ 2Tim. 2.6. 

should hinder the Gospel of Christ. ^^ Do 'ye not know that they oai. e'. e.' 

which minister about holy things tlive of the things of the temple ? and " ^tr.^ii^ii^' 

they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar ? ^* Even so ^^jg'^'/g- ^' ^• 

''hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should iThess. 2. 6. 

live of the Gospel. TV.rf. 

'■ q Lev. 6. 16, 26. 

& 7. 6, &c. 

Num. 5. 9, 10. 

§ 22. — chap. ix. 15, to the end. & is. 8-20. 

„ , . , . r- -, ■ n , Deut. 10. 9. & 

bt. Paul gives his reasons tor not having asserted his right to a maintenance from the is. 1. 
Christian Church at Corinth, in the fear that by burthening them he might make the t Or, feed. 
Gospel less successful — He declares his great desire to excel in his ministry ; content- ^J'^t^^',}'^''}^' 
ing himself with the indispensable duty of preaching, he shows his condescension Gal. 6. 6. 
and conformity to the weaknesses and prejudices of all sorts of people, that he might ^ ^'™- ^- ^^■ 

win them to Christ — The Apostle (v. 24.) proves the propriety of his conduct in thus 

exposing himself to hardships and unnecessary labors, by an allusion to the customs 
of their own countrymen, who hope to obtain only a corruptible crown ; and invites all § ■^^• 

the converts to follow his example, being encouraged with the certain hope of an ^ yg^. 12. Acts 
incorruptible one — Thev are exhorted to a life of continued self-denial and abstinence. 18- 3- ^ 20. 34. 
„ . . . . ch. 4. 12. 

^^ But °I have used none of these things : neither have I written these ' Thess.2. 9. 

c5 2 Thess. 3. 8. 

things, that it should be so done unto me. For ''it were better for me to j g cor. ii.io. 
die, than that any man should make my glorying void. ^^ For though I <= Rom- 1- w- 
preach the Gospel, I have nothing to glory of : for 'necessity is laid upon ^ ^J' ^' j' ^J, ^ 
me. Yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel. ^^ For if I do ^.piiii.i.n. coi 
this thing wilhngly, ''I have a reward : but if against my will, "a dis- /ch~ 10.33. 
pensation of the Gospel is committed unto me. '® What is my reward ^^°'^- ^- ^- '^ 
then ? Verily that, ■''when I preach the Gospel, I may make the Gos- g ch. 7. 31. 
pel of Christ without charge; that I ^abuse not my power in the *^«^''-i- 
Gospel. ^^ For though I be ''free from all rae?i, yet have 'I made my- ] Matt. is. 15. 
self servant unto all, ^that I might gain the more ; 2° and 'unto the Jews 1 1''"-^- 1- 
I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are is.'^is. &2i. 23, 
under the Law, as under the Law, [being not myself under the Law,] ^''• 
that I might gain them that are under the Law ; ^'^ to 'them that are cal^s. 2. 
without law, as without law (being "not ' without law to God, but ™ '^''- ''■■ ^• 
under law to Christ), that I might gain them that are without law. "2 c^r."ii? 29. ' 
^~To "the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak. °I am ch. 10.33. 



260 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORIP^THIANS. [Part XIH. 

p Rom. 11. 14. made all thinsrs to all men, ^that I miorht by all means save some. 

ch. 7. 16. . o J 

q Gal.' 2. 2. & 5. ^3 Aj,d this I do for thc Gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof 

7. Phil. 2. J6. & •. 1 

3. 14. 2 Tim. 4. With yOU. 

/E^h.Vi2.^' ^^ Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one re- 

oTim'2'5^&4 7 ^^iveth the prize? 'So run, that ye may obtain. ^^ And every man 

s2Tim. 4. 8. that '^strivoth for the mastery is temperate in all things: now they do 
iPet. i.'4.~&5. ^V to obtain a corruptible crown ; but we "an incorruptible. ^^ I there- 
si u^' ^'^ '^ fore so run, 'not as uncertainly ; so fight I, not as one that beateth the 

li^-Rom.'i.'ii. ^^^'- ^^but"I keep under my body, and "bring it into subjection: lest 

Col- 3. 5. ^^ ^^ that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should 

w Jer. 6. 30. ' bc "a castaway. 

2 Cor. 13. 5, 6. 

§ 23. § 23. — chap. x. 1-12. 

a Ex. 13. 21. & The Apostle, from the conduct of the Israelites of old, wishes to convince the Corinthians 

is! & 14. 14.' ' that as the favored people of God were so severely punished for their irregularities 

Deut. 1.33. and idolatry, so also the Christians, under the Gospel dispensation, who indulge in the 

Ps>78.'l4l'& " same sinful conduct and gratifications, will be as certainly punished as the Israelites 

105- 39. under the Law — He cautions them from these examples to avoid the same offences, and 

b Ex 14. 22. . 

Num. 33. s! warns them not to have too much confidence in themselves, as being members of the 

Josh. 4. 23. Ps. Christian Church, but to take heed lest they also fall into sin. 

78. 13. ■' 

" ^''- ]?-,\^'^^- ^ Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how 

Nell. 9. 15 20. *' o " 

Ps. 78.'24.' " that all our fathers were under "the cloud, and all passed through 'the 
20. u. Ps.'78"i5! sea ; ^ and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea ; 

*«7?/m."""' "'"' ^ and did all eat the same ^spiritual meat ; ^ and did all drink the same 
D|"t^^9- 21- Ps. "spiritual drink ; (for they drank of that spiritual Rock that *followed 

e Num. 14. 29, them : and that Rock was Christ ;) ^ but with many of them God was 

32, 35. & 26. 64, ii , i r , <• i • i -i i 

65. Ps. 106. 26. not well pleased : lor they were overthrown in the wilderness. 
t Gr.' our figures'. ^ Now thcsc things worc tour examples, to the intent we should not 
■^34."pg'. lo'6^l4!' ^^^^ after evil things, as -^they also lusted. '''Neither ^be ye idolators, 
f Ex'M'e ^^ were some of them ; as it is ''written, " The people sat down to eat 
I ch. 6. 18. Eev. and drink, and rose up to play." ^ Neither 'let us commit fornication, 
j Num. 25. 1, 9. as somc of them committed, and ^fell in one day three and twenty 
/e'x!'i7.I%. thousand. ^ Neither let us tempt Christ, as '^some of them also 

Deut' e^'ie' Ps. tempted, and 'were destroyed of serpents. '° Neither murmur ye, as 

78. 18, 56. & 95. ™some of them also murmured, and "were destroyed of "the Destroyer. 
I Num. 21. 6.' 11 Now all thcsc things happened unto them for tensamples: and ^they 
\ Num.'i'i 2, ' are written for our admonition, 'upon whom the ends of the world are 
n^Nu^.' 14.^37. & comc. ^^ Whereforc '^let him that thinkelh he standeth take heed lest 

V: 49! ' he fall ' 

Ex. 12. 23. "^ I'l" • 

2 Sam. 24. 16. 

t Or,'j'i/p«. ' § 24.— chap. X. 13-22. 

^g^nT' ^^' '* The Corinthians, exposed only to similar temptations as others, are exhorted to abstain 

g ch. 7. 29. Phil. from idolatry, and from eating of things offered to idols — The Apostle proves by a 

1:^A- , , , „ reference to our own communion, and to the ceremonial Law. that by such an action 

2a, 37. 1 John 2. ' i ' •,. i /- j 

18. there was an outward worshipping of the demons on whose sacrifices they feasted, 

r Kom. 11. 20. ^^j^^j ^^ whom they united themselves — The worship of the true God and idols incom- 

t 24 patible, and derogatory to the honor of Christ. 

* Or, moderate. 13 There hath no tcmptation taken you but *such as is common to 
i Ps.' 125.3. man : but "God is faithful, 'who will not suffer you to be tempted 
c^Jer.'bg! u. above that ye are able ; but will with the temptation also "make a way 
Vi7'.l'j^ohn5. to escape, that [ye] may be able to bear it. 

^21^ g J 1* Wherefore, my dearly beloved, ''flee from idolatry. ^^ I speak as 

/Matt. 26. 26, 27, to 'wisc mcu ; judgc ye what I say: ^^the-^cup of blessing which we 
/Acts 2. 42, 46. blcss, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? ^The bread 
A''R'om.'i2.'.5!'ch. which WO break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 
i^R'om'4 1 1" & " For ''we being many are one bread and one body : for we are all 
9g3^5.^2c'oi-rii. partakers of that One Bread. ^^ Behold 'Israel after the flesh : ^'are not 
j Lev. 3.' 3! & 7. they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar ? ^^ What say I 
it^ch. 8. 4. then? ''that the idol is any thing, oi" that which is offered in sacrifice 



Sect. VI.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 261 

to idols is any thing ? -" But I say, that the things which the Gentiles ' lj!%-. n.?.^ 
'sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God : and I would not ps. ibe. 37. 
that ye should have fellowship with devils. -^ Ye '"cannot drink the ^ ^'^^^ g\. 
cup of the Lord, and "the cup of devils : ye cannot be partakers of i^. 
the Lord's Table, and of the table of devils. -^Do we "provoke the oDeut.ssiai. 
Lord to jealousy ? -^are we stronger than he ? p Ezek. 22. 14. 

§ 25. — chap. X. 23, to the end, and xi. 1. S 25 

St. Paul, affirms, that though all meats under the Gospel dispensation were lawful, in a ch. 6. 12. 

opposition to the false teachers, he declares them not expedient, as the edification of b Rom 15. 1, 9. 

others should be the first consideration — The Corinthians are permitted to eat whatever -^pifn'n'i ""oi 

was sold in the shambles, or placed on the table of a heathen, unless by so doing they ^ rQj. pjo^pe'rity 

offend the conscience of weaker brethren — Christians are required to consult, even in or,welfare.-ED.] 

the most indifferent actions, the glorv of God, and the advantage of others, rather than ^ Baruch 6. 28. 

. . ' 1 Tim 4 4 

their own inclinations — They are called upon to follow the disinterestedness of St. -g^ j'g '. 

Paul, who followed Christ. Deat. 16. 14. Ps. 

^^ All, "things are lawful [for me], but all things are not expedient: vei-.ds. 
all things are lawful [for me], but all things edify not, ^-^ Let 'no ■^^J^'^g^J^^-.j 
man seek his own, but [every man] another's 'wealth. ^^ Whatsoever ^ Deut. 10.14. 
''is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience' 1^.^^'^'''"' 
sake, 2^ for 'the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. ^' If any i Eom. 14. le. 
of them that beUeve not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; *.oj. fAanis^n- 
Avhatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience' j n'om. 14. e. 
sake. ^^ But if any man say unto you, " This is offered in sacrifice j. ^^,"3 j- ' '' 
unto idols," eat not 'for his sake that showed it, and for conscience' iPet. 4. 11. 
sake: [for "the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.] ^^ Con- 8.'i3.'2Cor.'6. ' 
science, I say, not thine own, but of the other. For 'why is my liberty ^\^ Greeks. 
judged of another man's conscience? ^° for if I by "^grace be a par- m Acts 20. 28. 
taker, why am I evil spoken of for that ^ for which I give thanks? iTim;3.\ 
^^ AVhether 'therefore ve eat. or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to n Eom. 15. 2. ch. 
the glory of God. ^~ Give 'none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to „ ver.-aZ 
the tGentiles, nor to ""the Church of God : ^^ even as "I please all men p ^h. 4. le. 

Ephec. 5 ]. 

in all things, "not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that Phii. 3. iV.' 
they may be saved. ^ Be ^ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 2 xhess! 3! 9! 



§ 26.—cliap. xi. 2-16. 
St. Paul commends them for having observed his oi'dinances — He explains their nature, 



§ 26. 



fl ch 4 IT 
by showing the subordination of all men to Clirist, of the woman to the man, and the j chTl?' 

subordination of Christ to God — The veil being a mark of inferiority and subjection, * or traditions. 

women are forbidden to appear unveiled. 2Thess. 2. 15. 

^ Now, I praise you, brethren, "that ye remember me in all things, c Eph. 5.23. 
and 'keep the ^ordinances, as I delivered them to you. ^ But I would ''i*^°;^2^ii ^ 
have you know, that "the head of every man is Christ ; and ''the head 1 Pet. 3. 1, 5', 6 
of the woman is the man ; and 'the head of Christ is God. ^ Every 'ch'^'S 23! & 15. 
man praying or -^prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his 2^28. Phii. 2. 
head. ^ But 'every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head /ch.' 12. 10,28. 
uncovered dishonoreth her head : for that is even all one as if she were ^ ^'^- •'' '*^'^' 
''shaven. ^ For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn : but f Deut. 21. 12. 
if it be 'a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered, '^"""'-i- 1^- 

^ ' JJcut. 2a. 5. 

" For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as •'he is j cea. 1.26,27. 
the image and glory of God : but the woman is the glory of the man. ,^J'' W^'t, 

— ■ <— - w i_ J (^ den. 2. 21 22. 

^ For *the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man; ; cen. 2. is.'ai, 
^ neither 'was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the ^' „^ ^, 
man. ^"l-or this cause ougnt the woman to have rpower on her t That is, a wrer- 
head "because of the angels.'^ ^^ Nevertheless "neither is the man ™h'eiTuid^*m 
without the woman, neither the woman A\ithout the man, in the Lord ; v<nci^ofiiexhus- 
'^ for as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman, n Eccies. 5. 6. 
''but all thincrs of God. "Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a "^ ^''^ ^"°'® ^°- 

o Pal S 28 

woman pray unto God uncovered ? " Doth not even nature itself p r^^ 'n. 33. 



262 



THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIII. 



J Or, veil. 
g 1 Tim. 6. 4. 
r ch. 7. 17. & 14. 
33. 



§ 27. 

a ch. I. :0, 11, 
12. & 3. 3. 

* Or, schlsTns. 
b Matt. 18. 7. 

Luke 17. 1. 
Acts 20. 30. 

1 Tim. 4. 1. 

2 Pet. 2. 1, 2. 
t Or, secte. 

c Luke 2. 35. 

1 Jolm 2. 19. 

See Deut. 13. 3. 
J Or; je cannot 

eat. 
d 2 Pet. 2. 13. 

Jude 12. 
c ch. 10. 32. 
/ James 2. 6. 

* Or, them tltat 
are pom: 

g ch. 15. 3. Gal. 

I. 1, 11, 12. 

h Matt. 26. 26. 

Mark 14. 22. 

Luke 22. 19. 
f Or, for a rc- 

membrance. 
J Or, show ye. 
i John 14. 3. & 

21. 22. .icts 1. 

II. ch.4. 5. & 
15. 23. 1 Thess. 
4. 16. 2 Thess. 
1. 10. Jude 14. 
Rev. 1. 7. 

j Num. 9. 10, 13. 

John 6. 51, 63, 

64. & 13. 27. ch. 

10.21. 
i 2 Cor. 13. 5. 

Gal. 6. 4. 

* Or, judfrment, 
Rom. 13. 2. 

i Ps. 32. 5. 

1 John 1. 9. 
■m Ps. 94. 12, 13. 

Heb. 12. 5-11. 
n ver. 21. 

ver. 22. 

1 Ot^ judgment, 
p ch. 7. 17. Tit. 

1.5. 
q ch. 4. 19. 



§ 28. 

a ch. 14. 1, 37. 
J ch. 6.11. Eph. 

2 11,12. IThes. 

1. 9. Tit. 3. 3. 

1 Pet. 4. 3. 
c Ps. 115. 5. 
d Mark 9. 39. 

1 John 4. 2, 3. 
* Or, a-nathema. 
e Jlritt. 16. 17. 

John 15. 26. 

2 Cor. 3.5. 

/ Rom. 12. 4, &c. 

Heb. 2. 4. I Pet. 

4. 10. 
g- Eph. 4. 4. 
A Rom. 12. 6, 7, 

8. Eph. 4. U. 
t Or, ministeries. 



teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him ? 
^^ but if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her ? For her hair 
is given [her] for a tcovering. ^^ But 'if any man seem to be conten- 
tious — we have no such custom, '^neither the Churches of God. 



§ 27. — chap. xi. 17, to the end. 
The Apostle reproves them for their divisions and separate parties, when they meet 
together for the celebration of the Lord's Supper — They are required not only to 
assemble themselves in one place, but to receive tlie Lord's Supper as one body, 
uniting in commemorating the death of Christ — He condemns them for bringing meat 
into the Church, and joining it to the Lord's Supper, profaning the holy ordinance — 
To correct these disorders, the Apostle gives an account of the institution of the 
Eucharist, with directions for its due observance. 

^"^ Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come 
together not for the better, but for the worse. ^^ For first of all, when 
ye come together in the Church, "I hear that there be ^divisions among 
you ; and I partly believe it ; ^^ for 'there must be also theresies 
among you, "that they which are approved may be made manifest 
among you. ^° When you come together therefore into one place, 
tthis is not to eat the Lord's Supper ; ^^ for in eating every one taketh 
before other his own supper : and one is hungry, and ''another is 
drunken. ^^ What ! have ye not houses to eat and to drink in ? or 
despise ye Hhe Church of God, and •'^shame *them that have not ? 
What shall I say to you ? shall I praise you in this ? I praise you not. 

23Pqj. ^i have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto 
you, ''That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed 
took bread ; ^^ and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, 
" [Take, eat :] this is my body, which is broken for you : this do tin 
remembrance of me." ~^ After the same manner also he took the 
cup, when he had supped, saying, " This cup is the new testament in 
my blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." 
^^ For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, tye do show 
the Lord's death 'till He come. ^^ Wherefore, ^whosoever shall eat this 
bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of 
the body and blood of the Lord. ^® But 'let a man examine himself, 
and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup ; ^^ for he that 
eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and diinketh ^damnation to 
himself, not discerning the Lord's body. ^^ For this cause many are 
weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. ^^ For 'if we would judge 
ourselves, we should not be judged ; ^^ but when we are judged, "we 
are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the 
world. ^2 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry 
one for another ; "^ and if any man "hunger, let him eat at "home, that 
ye come not together unto tcondemnation. And the rest^will I set in 
order when 'I come. 



§ 28.— chap. xii. 1-30. 
The power of Christ sliown to be superior to that of idols, by the spiritual gifts he imparted 
— The Christians are desired to judge of the inspiration of their teachers by the 
doctrines they taught — Spiritual gifts, however various, derived from one and the same 
Holy Spirit, and for the same end, the common benefit of the Cliristian Cliarch — 
Wliich is exemplified, by a comparison to the human bodjr and its members. 

1 Now "concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you 
ignorant. ^ Ye know Hhat ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these 
Mumb idols, even as ye were led ; ^ wherefore I give you to under- 
stand, ''that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus *ac- 
cursed ; and that "no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the 
Holy Ghost. '' Now ^there are diversities of gifts, but "the same Spirit ; 
^ and ''there are differences of tadminislrations. but the same Lord ; 



Sect. VI.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 263 

^ and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God 'which ' ^p''- i- '^■ 
worketh all in all. " But -'the manifestation of the Spirit is given to ■'g^X/l.'-le/' 
every man to profit withal : ^ for to one is given by the Spirit *the f ^'^"t'*4Jio n. 
word of wisdom ; to another, 'the word of knowledge by the same k ch. 2. e, 7. 
Spirit ; ^ to ""another, faith by the same Spirit ; to another, "the gifts of '2 cor.\'^/'''^' 
healing by the same Spirit ; ^^ to "another, the working of miracles ; m Matt. it. 19, 
to another, ''prophecy ; 'to another, discerning of spirits ; to another, 2°Co^4.^i3^.' 
''divers kinds of tongues; to another, the interpretation of tongues. n^Markie is. 
^^ But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, "dividing <, ver. as, 29. 
to every man severally 'as he will. cai'VI ^^' 

1^ For "as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the ? Rom la.e. ch. 
members of that [one] body, being many, are one body : °so also is &c. " ' 
Christ. ^^ For '"'by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, ""whether '/j'jiJ^^-^i 
tve be Jews or tGentiles, whether we be bond or free ; and ^have been all r Acts 2. 4.&10. 
made to drink into one Spirit. 1* For the body is not one member, but ^^' "^''l^'^' ^ 

^ •' ' s Eom. 12. 6. ch. 

many, i'' If the foot shall say. Because I am not the hand, I am not 7. 7. 2 cor.io. 
of the body ; is it therefore not of the body ? ^^ And if the ear shall j John's! s.' 
say. Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body ; is it therefore ^^''■^■^" 
not of the body ?' ^^ If the whole body were an eye, where were the Eph. 4. 4,'i6. 
hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelHng ? "jg"- ^''- '^'''- ^• 
^^ But now hath ^God set the members every one of them in the body, w Rom. 6. 5. 
"as it hath pleased Him. ^^ And if they were all one member, where '^3^i'3;^i4^i6^''''" 
were the body? ^^ But now are they many members, yet but one coi. 3. 11. 
body. ^^ And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need ^ jj,',„ J^'e.x & 
of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. , I; ^ V*' ^,^; 

O . *^ 1 See Note 11. 

■^^ Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be z ver. as. 
more feeble, are necessary; --^ and those members of the body, which « Rom. 12. 3. ch. 
we think to be less honorable, upon these we *bestow more abundant *or,p«ira. 
honor ; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness ; t O''' <iivisioti. 
^-^ for our comely parts have no need. But God hath tempered the Eph^i. -ixL 4. 
body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which coif^i?24f ' ^°' 
lacked ; ^° that there should be no tschism in the body ; but that the <= Eph. 5. 30. 
members should have the same care one for another. ^^ And whether f ^ph 2 oo'& 
one member suffer, all the members suffer with it ; or one member be 3- 5- 
honored, all the members rejoice with it. ^~ Now 'ye are the body of Rom! 12! e. 
Christ, and 'members in particular. ^^ And ''God hath set some in s >'"• lo- 
the Church, first 'Apostles, secondarily, ^Prophets, thirdly. Teachers, /K™.'n. j7. 
after that ^miracles, then, '"gifts of healings, ^helps, ■'governments, tdi- j Kom. 12. s. 
versities of tongues. ^^ Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all Heb. i5.'i7,'24. 
teachers ? are all "workers of miracles ? ^° have all the gifts of heal- ■'"ver.'io"''''' 
ing ? do all speak with tongues ? do all interpret ? * or, pmcers. 



§ 29. — chap. xii. 31, and xiii. 

Charity founded on the love of God is preferable to the best spiritual gifts. 5 ■'■ 

^ o ch. 14. 1, 39. 

^^ But covet earnestlv the best gifts ; and yet show I unto you a * ch. 12. s, 9, lo, 
more excellent way. — ^ Though I speak with the tongues of men and see jiatt. 7.22." 
of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a "^l^^^--^'-^- 
tinkhng cymbal. ^ And though I have tlie gift 0/ ''prophecy, and un- Luke it! e.' 
derstand all mvsteries. and all knowledge : and though I have all faith, <^^i;'«. 6.1,2. 
so that 1 could remove mountains, and have not chanty, i amnothmg. iPet. 4. 3. 
3 And ''though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give * ^"''/^"grpti 
my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 2-4. 

"* Charity 'suffereth long, and is kind ; charity envieth not ; charity ^^ -P|^ i"- ^- ^'°™- 
*vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, ^ doth not behave itself unseemly, * - ■'°hn 4. 
•''seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil ; ^ re- ^^ift!"'"' '^^ 
joiceth ^not in iniquity, but ''rejoiceth tin the truth: "^ beareth 'all ' eo™- Js-i.Gai. 
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 24. ' 



264 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIII. 

^ Charity never faileth : but whether there be prophecies, they shall 
fail ; whether there be tongues, they shall cease ; whether there be 
3 ch. 8. 2. knowledge, it shall vanish away. ^ For ^ we know in part, and we pro- 

phesy in part ; ^^ but when that which is perfect is come, then that 
which is in part shall be done away. ^^ When I was a child, I spake 
X Or, reasoned, ^s a child, I undcrstood as a child, I tthought as a child : but when I 
*5^7^°Phn/3.'il. became a man, I put away childish things. ^^ For ''now we see through 
* gt. in a riddle, a glass, *darkly ; but then 'face to face : now I know in part ; but then 
'/joims^'s!"' ^hall I know even as also I am known. ^^ And now abideth faith, hope, 
charity, these three ; but the greatest of these is charity ! 



§ 30. 



§ 30.— chap. xiv. 1-25. 
The miraculous gifts being sometimes perverted, by being used to ostentation, St. Paul 
shows that prophecy is to be preferred to tongues, as it tends more to the edification of 
the Church. 

^ Follow after charity, and "desire spiritual gifts, ''but rather that 



a ch. 12. 31. 

29. ' " ' ' ye may prophesy. ^ For he that "speaketh in an unknown tongue speak- 

c^Acts2. 4.&10. gth j-jQt m^to men, but unto God : for no man *understandeth him; 

* 6r. hearetk. howbcit in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries : ^ but he that prophesieth 
speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. ^ He 
that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself ; but he that 
prophesieth edifieth the Church. ^ I would that ye all spake with 
tongues, but rather that ye prophesied : for greater is he that prophe- 
sieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the 
Church may receive edifying. ^ Now, brethren, if I come unto you 
speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to 

d ver. 25. yQ^ either by ''revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by 

doctrine ? ^ And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe 

t Or, tunes. ^j. j^g^^p^ cxccpt thcy givc a distinction in the tsounds, how shall it be 
known what is piped or harped ? ^ for if the trumpet give an uncer- 
tain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle ? ^ So likewise ye, 

t Gr. sigmjkant. g^ccpt yc uttcr by tlic toiiguc words teasy to be understood, how shall 
it be known what is spoken ? for ye shall speak into the air. ^° There 
are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of 
them is without signification. ^^ Therefore if I know not the meaning 
of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he 
that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. ^^ Even so ye, forasmuch 
as ye are zealous *of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the 
edifying of the Church. ^^ Wherefore let him that speaketh in an 
unhnoivn tongue pray that he may interpret. ^'^ For if I pray in an un- 
Jcnown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. 
1^ What is it then ? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with 

'a^iB.' ^' '^' ^"'' the understanding also : "I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing 

/ Ps. 47. 7. -^with the understanding also. ^^ Else when thou shalt bless with the 
spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say 
Amen °'at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou 
sayest ? ^^ For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edi- 
fied. ^^ I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all. ^^ Yet 
in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, 

*Mau' u' 25 & *'^^'- ^y '"^y '^^^^^ I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in 
18. 3. & 19. 14. an unknown tongue. 
3.Ti;ph. 4.14!' 2° Brethren, ''be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice 

<"iatt!i8"'3!^ 'be ye children, but in understanding be tmen. ^^ In •'the Law it is 
I Pet.' 2. 2.' '^written, — 

(■ Gr. perfect, or, 

ofar.pe age. ch. ,, ^j^,^ ^^^ ^j. ^^^^^ tougucs and othcr lips 
j John 10. 34. Will I speak unto this people ; 

h Is. 28. 11, 12. 



* Gr. of spirits. 



g ch. n.24. 



And yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord." 



Sect. VI.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 265 

^ Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that beUeve, but to 
them that beheve not : but prophesying serveth not for them that be- 
lieve not, but for them which beheve. ^'^ If therefore the whole Church 
be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there 
come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, 'will they not say 'Acts 2. 13. 
that ye are mad ? -^ But if all prophesy, and there come in one that 
believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of 
all, -^ and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest ; and so 
falling down on his face he will worship God, and report "that God is '"zech^l/^; 
in you of a truth. 



§ 31. — chap. xiv. 26, to the end, 
St. Paul gives directions for the most profitable way of exercising their gifts in the public 
assemblies — Women are forbidden to speak in the Churches — He submits the truth of 
his doctrine to those who were discerners of spirits — He commands that every thing S -^l- 

be done in their Churches both decently, and according to the observances already ^ ^.^^ g_ ^j^ jg 
established among Christians. 8, 9, 10. 

^^ How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of a'^cor. is.'ig. 
you hath a psalm, "hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, ^^^' ^' ^^■ 
hath an interpretation : 'let all things be done unto edifying. ^" If any i 1 xhesa. 5. 19, 
man speak in an unknown tongue, let it he by two, or at the most hy ^°- 
three, and that by course ; and let one interpret. -® But if there be no * Gr. tumM, or, 
interpreter, let him keep silence in the Church ; and let him speak to /"irit'ie^' 
himself, and to God. '^^ Let the prophets speak two or three, and ^let g iTim. 2. 11, 
the other judge : ^'^ if any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, ^ ^J, jj 3 j, . 
''let the first hold his peace. ^^For ye may all prophesy one by one, Tip2*5°'i p '^" 
that all may learn, and all may be comforted ; ^^ and "the spirits of the 3. 1. 
prophets are subject to the prophets ; ^^ for God is not the author of ' g c°of 'jo% 
*confusion, but of peace, -^as in all Churches of the saints. i John 4. 6. 

^* Let 'your women keep silence in the Churches : for it is not per- ^ xiie^s.'s.'ao. 
mitted unto them to speak ; but ''they are commanded to be under i ver. 33. 

obedience, as also saith the 'Law. ^^ And if they will learn any thing, 

let them ask their husbands at home : for it is a shame for women to § 32. 
speak in the Church. ^^ What ! came the word of God out from you ? a cai. 1. n. 
or came it unto you only ? ' ^°™- ^- -• 

^'^ If •'any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him 1. 21.' 
acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the command- * O''' hold fast. 
ments of the Lord ; ^* but if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant, splech. " 
^^ Wherefore, brethren, ^'covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak (^Gai. 3. 4. 
with tongues. '^^ Let 'all things be done decently and in order. f g^'i, j] jo. 

g Ps. 22. 15, &c. 

§nn 7 -I T -I Is. 53. 5, 6, &.c. 

32.— c/iOp. XV. 1-11. Dan.9.26.Zech. 

St. Paul proceeds to refute a Judaical error which had prevailed among the Corinthians i?" ii JJ*^? ?f' 

respecting the resurrection, and appeals to the testimony of the eyewitnesses, as the isl&be. 23. 

best evidences of the resurrection of Christ. }.^^}' "*■ ^^' ^ 

2. 24. 

^Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel "which I a Ps. 2. 7. & le. 
preached unto you, which also ye have received, and ''wherein ye Hos^'e.lf.'Luk-e 
stand : ^ by 'which also ye are saved, if ye *keep in memory twhat I ^,'^t^'(^i^ 
preached unto you, unless ''ye have believed in vain. ^ For 'I delivered Ig'^'i^p^f 1^ 
unto you first of all that^which I also received, how that Christ died n- 
for our sins ^according to the Scriptures ; * and that he was buried, \ jj^Jj^ |^' ^' 
and that he rose again the third day, * according to the Scriptures ; Jiark le. 14. 
5 and 'that he was seen of Cephas, then •'of the Twelve. ^ After that jdliiT 20.' 19,26. 
he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once : of whom the if^-tn-kezlho. 
greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. Acts 1.3, 4. 
■^ After that, he was seen of James; then *of all the apostles: ^and 22.^4, is.' eh.' 9 
^last of all he was seen of me also, as of tone born out of due time. J" , . 

o /-n T m 1 1 r 7 1 1 1 X ^^) anaboriive. 

" (ror 1 am the least 01 the apostles, that am not meet to be called m Eph.3.8. 

VOL. II. 34 w 



266 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIII, 

"i.'oai.^i.^is^ ^' ^" apostle, because "I persecuted the Church of God : ^^but °by the 

PhiL 3. 6. 1 Tim. gracc of God I am what I am ; and his grace which was bestowed 

Eph. 2. 7, 8. upon me was not in vain ; but ^I labored more abundantly than they 

pscor. 11. 23. all — 'yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.) ^^ There- 

Matt. 10.20. fore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. 

Rom. 15. 18, 19. 

2 Cor. 3. 5. Gal. ^„ , -, ^ ^r> 

2. 8. Eph. 3. 7. § 33. — chap. XV. V2-4Z. 

St. Paul proves the certainty of the resurrection of the dead from the resurrection of 
Christ — Mankind subjected to death by Adam, and raised to life by Christ. 

^^ Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say 

5 ^^- some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead ? ^^ But if 

a 1 Thess. 4. 14. t}^gj.g jjg no rcsurrection of the dead, "then is Christ not risen : ^'^ and 

if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is 

also vain. ^^ Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God : because 

*&^4'io'33'&^' ^^^ have testified of God that he raised up Christ; whom he raised 

13. 30. ' not up, if so be that the dead rise not. '^ For if the dead rise not, then 

is not Christ raised ; ^^ and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain ; 

c Rom. 4. 25. "ye are yet in your sins: ^®then they also which are fallen asleep in 

d 2 Tim. 3. 12. Christ are perished. " If ''in this life only we have hope in Christ, we 

are of all men most miserable, 
e 1 Pet. 1. 3. 20 But uow ^is Christ risen from the dead, and become ^the first- 

^^'^co\.'ih&"' fruits of them that slept. ^^ For ^since by man came death, ''by man 
Rev. 1. 5. came also the resurrection of the dead. ^^ For as in Adam all die, even 

f , T\-,\7 ' so in Christ shall all be made alive. 

A John 11.25. 
Rom. 6. 23. ' 



§ M.—chap. XV. 23-28. 

St. Paul reveals the order of the resurrection — The resignation of the mediatorial kingdom 

of Christ, after the resurrection of mankind from the grave, and the annihilation of sin 
& 34. ^"^^ death. 

o ver.20. 1 Thes. ^^ BuT "cvcry man in his own order : Christ the first fruits ; afterward 
4. 15, i'5,^r7-^_^ thgy that are Christ's at his coming : ^** then cometh the end, when he 

e Ps. iio. i.Acta shall havc delivered up 'the kingdom to God, even the Father ; when 
i' 2^' He'b^i'is h^ shall have put down all rule and all authority and power ; ^^ for he 
&10. 13. must reign, "Till he hath put all enemies under his feet. ^^The'^last 

"^R^ev.'S). 14.^"' enemy that shall be destroyed is death. ^^ For 'He hath put all things 

c Ps. 8. 6. Matt, under his feet. But when he saith, "All things are put under Aim," 
iPet.'3. ^. ' ' it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under him. 

/Phil. 3. 21. 28 j^j^^ -'^when all things shall be subdued unto him, then ^shall the Son 
also himself be subject unto Him that put all things under him, that 
God may be all in all. 



g cli. 3. 23. & 11. 



§ 35. § 35.— chap. xv. 29-34. 

"2Cor. 11. 28. The disbelief of the resurrection is inconsistent with the nature of our baptismal pro- 

^ „ ' ' ' fession, and encourag-es licentiousness — He exhorts them not to be deceived. 

* Some read, our, ' ° 

b iThess. 2. 19. ^^ Else wliat shall they do which are baptized for the dead? If the 
"^T'o cm^'^^' dead rise not at all, why are they then baptized for the dead ? ^° And 

10, ii. & u. 23. "why stand we in jeopardy every hour ? ^^ I protest by *your 'rejoicing 
KftlrtheZl^er which I havc in Christ Jesus our Lord, 1 die daily ! ^^ If tafter the 

of men. mauncr of men ''I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advan- 

e Is. 22. 13. & 56. tagcth it me ? If the dead rise not ; " Let "us eat and drink ; for to- 

i2.Eccics 2.24. jj^Qj-fQ^ ^g (Jig " 33 gg jjq^ (jgggjygjj . " EviKcommuiiications corrupt 

Wisd. 2. 6. , ^ 

Luke 12. 19. good manners." '^^ Awake ^to righteousness, and sin not; ''for some 
^ Rom I'a 11 ^^^^ not the knowledge of God — I 'speak this to your shame. 

Eph. 5. 14. ' 

h 1 Thess. 4. 5. ^S 36.— chap. XV. 35-44. 

I ch. 6. 5. gj Paul answers the philosophical objections raised to the resurrection of the dead, 

from the analogy of the growth of a plant from its seed — He shows that the human 
body, which is committed to the ground, will in the same manner rise again at the 
resurrection, changed in its properties, and more beautiful in its form. 



Sr.cT. VI.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 267 

^ But some man will say, "How are the dead raised up ? and with § ^^■ 
what body do they come ? "^^ Thou fool ! Hhat which thou sowest is not " ^^"^^ ^'^- ^• 
quickened, except it die : ^'' and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not * J°''°i2- ^•*- 
that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat or of some 
other grain : ^* but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to 
every seed his own body. ^^ All flesh is not the same flesh : but there is 
one l:ind of [flesh] of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and 
another of birds. ^° There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terres- 
trial : but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terres- 
trial is another. ^^ There is one glory of the sun, and another glory 
of the moon, and another glory of the stars : for one star diflfereth 
from another star in glory. ^ So ^also is the resurrection of the dead. '',?='"• ??-^ 

, . . . . . . Ar> • ^- • Matt. lo. 4o. 

It is sown in corruption — it is raised m mcorruption : '^^ it is sown in d Phii. a 21. 
dishonor — it is raised in glory : it is sown in weakness — it is raised 
in power : ^^ it is sown a natural body — it is raised a spiritual body. 
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual bodv. 



§ 37. — chap. XV. 45-49. 
The Trutli of the Resurrection proved to the Jews by the analogy between the first and 

the second Adam. § 37. 

^2 And so it is written. The first man Adam "was made a living ° '^^"- ^- ''• 
soul ; 'the last Adam was made ^a quickening spirit. ^^ Howbeit that ' fohn s^ai^k 
was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and after- ^'^^c-\\H{ 
ward that which is spiritual. ■*" The ''first man is of the earth, "earthy : coi. 3. 4. " 
the second man is the Lord ■'from heaven. '^^As is the earthy, such 
are they also that are earthy : ^and as is the heavenly, such are they "is- 
also that are heavenly; ^^ and ''as we have borne the image of the ■^^°''.°^•^^'^'• 
earthy, 'we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. f Gen. sis.' 



d John 3. 31. 
e Gen. 2. 7. & 3. 



t fiom. 8. 29. 

§ m.—diap. XV. 50, to the end. 1 n'phii'.lti. 

St. Paul asserts that our present bodies cannot be admitted into a spiritual state — He ^ John 3. 2. 
describes the manner of the resurrection, and the glorious change which will take 
place in a state of immortality, with the complete victory over sin and death — From 
these considerations the Corinthians are exhorted to an active and steadfast faith. 

^° Now this I say, brethren, that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the ^ jiatt. is.n. 
kingdom of God ; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. ^^ Be- John 3. 3,5. 
hold ! I show you a mystery ! ^We shall not all sleep, "but we shall all be 16, n.'"' ' ' 
changed, ^^ in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. at the last trump. ' ?•»'!■ 3- 21. 
('^For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorrupti- Jiait. 24.'_3i." 
ble, and w^e shall be changed.) ^^ For this corruptible must put on in- 1 tL^s's. i. le. 
corruption, and 'this mortal must put on immortality. ^* So when this e2Cor. 5. 4. 
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put ■^2!'i4^i5^.':^'v'!' 
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the -^saying that is written, 2°-^-*- 
"Death is swallowed up in victory." ^^O "death ! where is thy sting? % q^ ^^„" 
O *grave ! where is thy victory ? ^^ The sting of death is sin ; and ''the a Rom. 4. is. & 
strength of sin is the Law. '■''' But 'thanks be to God, which giveth us ,• '^^^ - ^' ' 
■'the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ ! ^® Therefore, 'my beloved j 1 John 5.4,5. 
brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, ahvays abounding in the work *2Pet. 3. 14. 
of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know 'that your labor is not in vain in ^ c^. 3. 8. 
the Lord. 

§ 39. — chap. xvi. 1-4. 
St. Paul, in reply to the last inquiry of the Corinthians, gives directions as to the manner 
in which Christians should provide for the poor, and promises to send their collections § 3°- 

to Jerusalem. "z Acts 11. 29. & 

^ . . 24. 17. Rom. 15. 

^ Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given '^^■^ Cor. e. 4. 
order to the Churches of Galatia, even so do ye. ^ Upon 'the first day 2. 10. ' ' 
of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath *jA'=J'2o.7.Kev. 



268 



THE TUMULT AT EPHESUS. 



[Part XIIL 



c 2 Cor. 8. 


19. 


t Gr. gift, 
2 Cor. 8. 
19. 


4,6, 


d 2 Cor. 8, 


, 4, 19. 



prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. ^And when 
I come, "whomsoever ye shall approve, by your letters, them will I 
send to bring your *liberality unto Jerusalem. '^ And "^if it be meet that 
I go also, they shall go with me. 



§ 40. 



a Acts 19. 21. 

2 Cor. 1. 16. 
h Acts 15. 3. & 

17. 15. & 21. 5. 

Rom. 15. 24. 

2 Cor. 1. 16. 
c Acts 18. 21. oh. 

4. 19. James 4. 

15. 
d Acts 14. 27. 

2 Cor. 2. 12. 

Col. 4. 3. Rev. 

3. 8.^ 

e Acts 19. 9. 

f Acts 19. 23. ch. 

4. 17. 

g Rom. 16. 21. 
Phil. 2. 20, 22. 

1 Thess. 3. 2. 
h 1 Tim. 4. 12. 
i Acts 15. 33. 

j ch. 1. 12. & 3. 

k Matt. 24. 42. & 
25. 13. 1 Thess. 

5. 6. 1 Pet. 5. 8. 
I ch. 15. 1. Phil. 

1. 27. & 4. 1. 
IThess. 3. 8. 

2 Thess. 2. 15. 
m Eph. 6. 10. 

Col. 1. 11. 
n ch. 14. 1. 1 Pet. 

4.8. 
o ch. 1. 16. 
p Rom. 16. 5. 
q 2 Cor. 8. 4. & 

9. 1. Heb. 6. 10. 
r Heb. 13. 17. 
s Heb. 6. 10. 
t 2 Cor. 11. 9. 

Phil. 2. 30. 

Philemon 13. 

u Col. 4. 8. 

ti 1 Thess. 5. 12. 

Phil. 2. 29. 
V) Rom. 16. 5, 15. 

Philemon 2. 
X Rom. 16. 16. 
3/ Col. 4. 18. 

2 Thess. 3. 17. 
■t Eph. 6. 24. 
a Gal. 1. 8, 9. 
b Jude 14, 15. 
c Rom. 16. 20. 



St. Paul concludes his Epistle with various messages and salutations — He gives an 
account of his son Timothy, and ApoUos' intention of coming to see them — Recom- 
mends Timothy to them — He exhorts them to faith and charity — Recommends 
Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus to them — He concludes with greetings and 
salutations. 

^ Now I will come unto you, "when I shall pass through Macedonia ; 
(for I do pass through Macedonia ;) ^ and it may be that I will abide, 
yea, and winter with you, that ye may ''bring me on my journey whith- 
ersoever I go. '' For I will not see you now by the way ; but I trust 
to tarry awhile with you, "if the Lord permit. ^ But I will tarry at 
Ephesus until Pentecost ; ^ for ''a great door and effectual is opened 
unto me, and 'there are many adversaries. 

^^ Now ^if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without 
fear : for ^he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do ; ^^ let ''no man 
therefore despise him. But conduct him forth 'in peace, that he may 
come unto me ; for I look for him with the brethren. 

■^^As touching our brother ■'Apollos, I greatly desired him to come 
unto you with the brethren : but his will was not at all to come at 
this time ; but he will come when he shall have convenient time. 

^^ Watch *ye, 'stand fast in the faith, quit you Uke men, '"be strong ; 
^"^ let "all your things be done with charity. 

^5 1 beseech you, brethren, (ye know "the house of Stephanas, that 
it is ^the first-fruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves 
to 'the ministry of the saints,) ^^ that '^ye submit yourselves unto such, 
and to every one that helpeth with us, and ^laboreth. 

^" I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achai- 
cus : 'for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied ; 
^^ for "they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore "acknowl- 
edge ye them that are such. 

^^ The Churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute 
you much in the Lord, '"with the Church that is in their house : ^^ all 
the brethren greet you. ""Greet ye one another with a holy kiss. 

^^ The ^salutation of me Paul with mine own hand, ^^ (if any man 
''love not the Lord Jesus Christ, "let him be Anathema ! ''Maran-atha,) 
^^ the "grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you ! ^'^ My love be with 
you all in Christ Jesus ! [Amen.] 

[[The First Epistle to the Corinthians was written from Phihppi by 
Stephanas, and Fortunatus, and Achaicus, and Timotheus.^ 

[end of the first epistle TO THE CORINTHIANS.] 



SECT. vii. Section VIL — St. Paul continues at Ephesus — A Tumult is occasioned 

at that place hy Demetrius.'" 
Acts xix. latter part ofver. 22, to the end. 
^^ But he himself staid in Asia for a season. ^^ And "the same 
time there arose no small stir about ''that way. ^* For a certain man 
named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, 
brought "no small gain unto the craftsmen. ^^ Whom he called to- 
gether with the workmen of like occupation, and said, " Sirs, ye know 
that by this craft we have our wealth ; '^^^ moreover ye see and hear, that 
not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath 
persuaded and turned away much people, saying that ''they be no 



V. ^. 5Gor7. 
J.P.4769or70. 

Ephesus. 

m See Note 12. 
a 2 Cor. 1.8. 
b See ch. 9. 2. 
c ch. 16. 16, 19. 



d Ps. 115. 4. Is 
44. 10-20. Jer. 
10. 3. 



Sect. IX.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 269 

gods, which oi'e made with hands. ^" So that not only this our craft is 
in danger to be set at nought ; but also that the temple of the great 
goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be 
destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth." 

~® And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and 
cried out, savins', " Great is Diana of the Ephesians ! " ^^ And the 
whole city was filled with confusion; and having caught "Gains and ^icT.'i. 14. ' 
■''Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they / ch. 20. 4. & 27 
rushed with one accord into the theatre. ^^ And when Paul would Philemon 24". 
have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. ^^ And 
certain of the Chief [Priests] of Asia, which were his friends, sent 
unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the 
theatre. "^ Some therefore cried one thing, and some another ; for the 
assembly was confused, and the more part knew not wherefore they 
were come together. ^'^ And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, 
the Jews putting him forward ; and ^Alexander ''beckoned with the ^2 TTm^i.^w."' 
hand, and would have made his defence unto the people. ^* But when n ch. 12. 17. 
they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of 
two hours cried out, - Great is Diana of the Ephesians ! " 

^^ And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, " Fe 
men of Ephesus ! what man is there that knoweth not how that the 
city of the Ephesians is *a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and ke^J/f*'^"'''" 
of the image which fell down from Jupiter? ^'' Seeing then that these 
tilings cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do 
nothing rashly. ^" For ye have brought hither these men, which are 
neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. 
^^ Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, 
have a matter against any man, tthe law is open, and there are depu- \Oi,thearuH 
ties ; let them implead one another. ^^ But if ye inquire any thing con- 
cerning other matters, it shall be determined in a tlawful assembly. ^ °'' '"'^""'"■i- 
^° For we are in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar, 
there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this con- ^^^^^^^^^ 
course." ^^ And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly. 



SECT. vnr. 



Section VIII. — St. Paul leaves Ephesus and goes to Macedonia. 

Acts xx. 1. '^- ^- 56 or 7. 



And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, 
and embraced them, and "departed for to go into Macedonia. 



J.P.4769or70. 

I\iacedonia. 

a ICor. 16.5. 
1 Tim. 1. 3. 



SECT. IX. 



Section IX. — St. Paul writes his First Epistle to Timothy, to direct 
him how to proceed in the Suppression of those false Doctrines, and. 
Corruptions, which the Jewish Zealots were endeavouring to establish v. ^.57 or 8. 
in the Church of Ephesus, over which he ivas appointed to preside.'^ J.P.4770or7l. 

Macedonia. 

THE FIPvST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. — 

§ !• 

§ ] .—chap. 1. 1, 2. „ ggg Note 13. 

The Salutation. a Acts 9. 15. Oa! 

^ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ "by the commandment 'of God j ch.'2. 3. &4. 
our Saviour, and [Lord] Jesus Christ, 'which is our hope ; ^ unto ''Timo- & 2.^10. & 3! 4 
thy, 'my own son in the faith ! ^Grace, mercy, and peace, from God ^'^^«'^- 
our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord ! ^ /ct^ le.'i. 

lCor.4.17. Phil. 

2. 19. 1 Thess. 

§ 2.— chap. i. 3, 4. 3- 2- 

e Tit 1 4 
St. Paul reminds Timothy of the causes for which he had left him at Ephesus — To /• Gal' 13 a Tim 

oppose the Jewish zealots, who endeavoured to intermix genealogies and traditions 1. 2. 1 Pet. l. 2. 

with the Christian doctrines. 

VOL. II. *W 



270 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. [Part XIII. 

§ ^- 2 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, "when I went into 

"AiL^it ^' Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some 'that they teach no other 
b Gal. 1. 6, 7. cb. doctrine, ^ neither "give heed to fables and endless genealoeies, "^which 

63 10 ...^ Oo? 

c ch.'4. 7. &6.4, minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith : so do. 

20. 2 Tim. 2. 14,' 

14.' & 3. 9. ' § 3. — chap. i. 5-10, and part ofver. II. 

d ch. 6. 4. St. Paul explains the design and use of tlie Law, which he shows to be perfectly 

consistent with Christianity, as it enforces moral goodness, and condemns all kinds of 

§ 3. wickedness. 

"g^?™' 14^' ^°' ^ (Now "the end of the commandment is charity ''out of a pure 
b 2 Tim. 2. 22. licart, and of a good conscience, and 0/ faith unfeigned : ^ from which 
* Or, ornot aiming gome *having swervcd have turned aside unto Vain jangling ; '''desiring 
c ch. 6. 4,20. to be teachers of the Law ; ''understanding neither what they say, nor 
d ch. 6. 4. whereof they affirm. ^ But we know that 'the Law is good, if a man 

/ Ga™3. li.'&c 5. use it lawfully ; ^ knowing •'^this, that the Law is not made for a ^ 
23- righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly 

^4.%: Tit." 1. 9! & and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and 
h'ch 6 15 murderers of mothers, for manslayers, ^° for whoremongers, for them 

that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for 

§ 4. perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary ^to 

''Gap2' 7'coi. sound doctrine ; ^^ according to the glorious Gospel of ''the blessed God. 

1. 25. i Thess. 

a Tim. 1. 11. § 4. — chap. i. paii of ver. 11, and 12-17. 

lit. 1. 3. gj. Y^xil digresses to enlarge on the goodness of Christ in making him an Apostle of this 

~P '7 05' glorious dispensation, and from God's mercy to himself, he invites all sinners to 

d 2 Cor. 3! 5, 6. repentance. 

&4. 1. Col. 1. 11 -y^z-jjjQjj "^as committed to my trust, ^^ and I thank Christ Jesus our 

e Acts 8. 3. & 9. Lord, Vho hath enabled me, "for that he counted me faithful, ''puttinsr 

1 1 Cor 15 9 -^ 1 o 

Phil. 3. b. ' ' me into the ministry, ^^ who "was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, 

r Luke 23. 34. aud iujurious ; but I obtained mercy, because -T did it ignorantly in 

A'cts3.'i7.'&26. unbelief, ^''and ^the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant ''with 

^Rom 5 =>o f^i'^h 'and love which is in Christ Jesus : ^^ this ^is a faithful saying, and 

icor. is.lo. worthy of all acceptation, that ^Christ Jesus came into the world to 

i'LT'e"? V^ ^^^® sinners, of whom I am chief ; ^"^ howbeit for this cause I 'obtained 

j ch. 3. 1. & 4. 9. mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-sufTering, 

TU.'™.'!.'"' "for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life 

k Matt. 9. 13. everlasting : — ^'^ now unto "the King eternal, "immortal, ''invisible, 'the 

s.^a. & 19. iV onlv wise God, '"be honor and glory for ever and ever ! Amen.) 

Eom.5. 8.1 John 

3.5. 

I 2 Cor. 4. 1. § 5. — chap. i. 18, to the end. 

'" pt''W^i6*^& ^'^^ ^^^^ reminds Timothy that he had been appointed by prophecy to the Christian 

145." 13." Da'n. 7. ministry, and e.xhorts him to persevere in the purity of the faith, and a good con- 

14. ch. 6. 15, 16. science — Alexander and Hymenasus, who had preserved neither, are punished for their 

Rom. 1. 23. . . 

p John 1. 18. impiety. 

"john 4.^^2. ^® This charge "I commit unto thee, son Timothy, ''according to the 

'jude 25^^" ^^' prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest 

r ichro;29. 11. "^^y^r a good warfare ; ^^ holding "faith, and a good conscience, which 

7~ some having put away concerning faith "have made shipwreck : 2° of 

' whom is ^Hymeneeus and ^Alexander, whom I have ''deUvered unto 

"ao.'b Tim! 2. '2. Satan, that they may learn not to 'blaspheme. 

A Ecclus. 46. 1. 
ch. 4. 14. 



c ch.6. 12. a Tim. s 6.— chap. ii. 1-7. 

2 3 & 4. 7. 

d ch. 3. 9. In opposition to the Judaizing Christians, St. Paul commands the Christian converts, in 

/ 2 Tim ^2 17 the benevolent spirit of the Gospel, to pray for all men, whether Jews or Gentiles : 

g 2 Tim". 2. 14. and especially for kings, and those in authority, of whatsoever nation or country— He 

'* Ac'tri3^"45' declares this to be acceptable in the sight of God, who would have all m.en saved, 

" and with whom there is only one Mediator between God and men of all nations — 

(■ „ St. Paul is appointed to make these truths known to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews. 

* o,, desire. 1 I *EXHORT therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, inter- 



Sf.cT. IX.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 271 

cessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men ; ^for "kings, and "g^^™ 6. lo. Jer. 
^for all that are in tauthority ; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable * Rom. 13. 1. 
life in all godliness and honesty. ^ For this is "good and acceptable in ^p^'/"""^* 
the sight ''of God our Saviour ; ^ who "will have all men to be saved, c Rom. 12. 2 ch. 
•^and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. ^ For ° there is one God, ^ j.^' j j grpj^^^ 
and ''one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ^ who i- 9. 
'gave himself a ransom for all: tto^be testified 'in due time, '' where- ^johns. le',^'. 
unto 'I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I "speak the truth in 1yJ'z\ 
Christ, and [11 lie not ;) "a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. /John 17. 3. 

■- -■ ^ •'2 Tim. 2. 25. 

g Rom. 3. 29,30. 

& 10. 12. Gal. 3. 

^7.-chap. 11.^,10 the end. /f Heb. 8. 6. & 9. 

The duty of prayer is again enjoined — Men are commanded to offer up public prayers ; 15. 

which are not to be confined to the synagogue, or the temple at Jerusalem ; but, if » 1^1^'- 20-28. 
oifered with devotion, are acceptable in every place — Christian women are exhorted to Epi,_ j. 7_ Tit. 
good works, and to silence — Their dress is to be consistent with their holy profession 2. 14. 
— The woman, on account of her transgression, is to be subject to the man — The curse | *-*''' atestimony. 
denounced against her will be mitigated on the condition of faith and holiness. ■'g xiiess 1 10 

^I WILL therefore that men pray "every where, 'lifting up holy ^J™'}'1' 
hands, without wrath and doubting : ^ in like manner also, that "wo- Gai. 4'. 4. iph. 
men adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and I'.z. 
sobriety ; not with *broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array ; ^^^{^'i'^{ 
1° but ''(which becometh v»'omen professing godliness) with good works, m Rom. 9. i. 
^^ Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection ; ^^but 'I suffer not '"^^°^- 3i-i3.& 
a woman to teach, ■'^nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in i^. 
silence. ^^ For ^Adam was first formed, then Eve. ^'^ And ''Adam was § 7_ 

not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression ; a Mai. 1.11. 
^^notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue 
in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. i- is. 

•' c IPet. 3. 3. 



15. 16. Gal. 1. 



John 4. 21. 
i Vs. 134. 2. Is. 



* Or, plaited, 
d 1 Pet. 3. 4. 
1 Cor. 14. 34. 



§8.-cAap.iii.i-7. ;ipS:.V2i: 

The qualifications of a Bishop, superintendent over several congregations, and of a ^ Gen. 1. 27. &2. 
Minister over one congregation, are described. 



18,22.1 Cor. 11. 
9. 



1 This "is a true saying. If a man desire the office of a 'bishop, he ''g c!)"' ^ 



11.3. 



a ch. I. 15. 



desireth a good "work. - A ''bishop then must be blameless, "the hus- 
band of one wife, vigilant, sober, *of good behaviour, given to hospital- 
ity, -^apt to teach ; ^ tnot ^given to wine, ''no striker, 'not greedy of filthy * Acts2or28., 
lucre ; but ^'patient, not a brawler, not covetous ; ^ one that ruleth well c Eph. 4.12. 
his own house, ^having his children in subjection with all gravity; 'lch.'5'.'i'^''' 
^ (for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take /2°Tim!?f24. 
care of the Church of God ?) ^ not ta novice, lest being lifted up with T Or, ""««arfy 

/ -^ ~ 1 (0 QUUTTBI 0,71(1 

pride 'he fall into the condemnation of the devil : " moreover he must ofcr wrong, as 
have a good report '"of them which are without ; lest he fall into re- /'vei'.'s! tu. i. 
proach "and the snare of the Devil. /-a Tim. 2. 24. 

i 1 Pet. 5. 2. 

j 2 Tim. 2. 24. 

7 •• Q TO '' Tit. 1.6. 

§ y. — Ckap. 111. fc^l3. t Or, one nncly 

The qualifications of the Deacons are enumerated ; their wives are to be examples to the ^"s'^h! j'g/""* 

people. m Acts 22. 12. 

R T ail, 1 C"o''. 5. 12. 

* Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongued, 'not i Thes. 4. 12. 
given to much v\nne, not greedy of filthy lucre ; ^ holding "the mystery "s.^e." 
of the faith in a pure conscience ; ^° and let these also first be proved ; , „ 

then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless : " even „ Acts e. 3. 
''so must their v/ives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all \l"6^-^^7\, 
things. ^- Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruhng their ^i. 
children and their own houses well. ^^ For "they that have *used the d Tit. 2. 3.' 
office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and %i.^^ '^'''"' ^^' 
great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus." " ofe^eNm"' 



272 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. [Part XIII. 

§ 10- § 10. — chap. iii. 14, to the end. 

°JLp.1'- 2^21,23. St. Paul encourages Timothy in his episcopal and ministerial duties by reminding him 
iKnapp&; Gries- of the sublimer doctrines of the Christian religion. 

riodafteT'^G^od" ^^ These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly ; 
and connect "the ^^ but if I tarry long, that thou may est know how thou oughtest to 
the next sen-" behave thyself "in the house of God, which is the Church of the hving 
awkward* Jon''-° God,'' the pillar and Aground of the truth. ^^ And without controversy 
the"present''punc- g^^^t is tiio mystery of godliness ; 'God was tmanifest in the flesh, 
w ',«"' ^''^'"^ "justified in the Spirit, 'seen of angels, -^preached unto the Gentiles, 

Wolfius says ri t i • i i i ; • i • i 

was most esteem- * Delieved ou m tho world, received up mto glorv. 

ed in his day, ' r to J 

(see Cures, iv. 447), seems preferable. Even Wakefield and the Improved Version think so. — Ed. * Or, stay. c John ]. 
14. 1 Jolm 1. 2. t Gr. manifested. d Matt. 3. 16. John 1. 32,33. & 15. 26. & 16. 8, 9. Kom. 1. 4. 1 Pet. 3. 18. 1 John 5. 

6, &c. e Matt. 28. 2. Mark 16. 5. Luke 2. 13. & 24. 4. John 20. 12. Eph. 3. 10. 1 Pet. 1. 12. / Acts 10. 34. &; 13. 46, 

48. Gal. 2. 8. Eph. 3. 5, 6, 8. Rom. 10. 18. Col. 1. 27,28. eh. 2. 7. ^Col. 1. 6, 23. It Luke 24. 51. Acts 1. 19. 1 Pet. 3. 22. 



a Job! 16^13 § ^ l.—chap. iv. 1-11. 

9 Thess. 2. 3. -^7 the Spirit of God St. Paul foretells the apostacy of the Christian Church, and describes 

P^""'-?''}' ^''' t^^ character of its corruptions ; intimating thereby that the Judaizing teachers were 

1 John 2.18. Jude some of those who were preparing its way — Timothy is cautioned against all tendencies 
A^i T?' 1 .n ^° these corruptions, and exhorted to inculcate the practice of virtue and piety, as the 
c 2 Tini. 3."l3. Only profitable and acceptable service of a Christian ;. and he is enjoined to enforce 

2 Pet. 2. 1. Rev. this important truth, although for so doing he will be reproached and persecuted. 

"^3? r' "g^lo"''^' ^ Now the Spirit "speaketh expressly, that 'in the latter times, some 
e Matt. 7. 15. ' shall depart from the faith, giving heed "to seducing spirits, ''and doc- 

9P?t.2.3. ' trines of devils ; ^ speaking "lies in hypocrisy ; -^having their conscience 
^?'cor!'7'.^28, seared with a hot iron: ^ forbidding °'to marry, ''««(/ commanding to 

2o'2?ife'b''i3'4 ^^stain from meats, which God hath created 'to be received ^with 
A Rom. 14. 3, 17. thanksgiving- of them which believe and know the truth. * For *every 

1 Cor 8 8 

i Gen.'i.'29. &9. crcaturc of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received 
j Rom. 14. 6. with thanksgiving ; ^ for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 
A^mlu^H ^ If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou 

2?.j 1 Cor. io.'25. shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, 'nourished up in the words 
I 2 Tim. 3. 14,15. of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. "^ But 
'20%' Tim'. 2. 16, "refuse profane and old wives' fables, and "exercise thyself rather unto 

23.^&4. 4.Tit. gQfjiii^ggg_ spoj. "bodily exercise profiteth *httle ; ^but godliness is 
"cor.Vs profitable unto all things, 'having promise of the life that now is, and 
*^o'r' ~f^'r °^ ^^^^ which is to come. ^ This ''is a faithful saying and worthy of all 

timJ. acceptation ; ^^ for therefore "we both labor and suffer reproach, be- 

? Ps! 37. '4. & 84. cause we 'trust in the living God, "who is the Saviour of all men, 

& 'm."!.' Mau. specially of those that believe. ^^ These "things command and teach. 

6. 33. & 19.29. ' 

Mark 10. 30. ■ ^ j , 

Rom. 8. 28. § 12. — chap. IV. 12, to the end. 

s I'cor ^^'ll 12 ^'•- ^^^^ gives Timothy directions as to his own conduct, and warns him to put away all 

( ch. 6. 17. subjects of speculative teaching — To become an example to the Church -To devote 

"lOT.'l^e^&c himself to the ministry, to reading, study, meditation, and self-government ; for in so 

V ch. 6. 2. doing he should save himself, eind be made the instrument of salvation to others. 

12 Let "no man despise thy youth; but ''be thou an example of the 

§ ]2. believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in 
a I Cor. 16. 11. purity. ^^ Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to 
i^Ti'tV7 iPet doctrine. " Neglect 'not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee 
5. 3.' ' ' ' --'by prophecy, 'with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. 
dlh.'i.'il'.'^' ^^ Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy 
Act3k6!_&8. profiting may appear *to all. ^^Take^heed unto thyself, and unto the 
doctrine ; continue in them : for in doing this thou shalt both ^save 



thyself, and ''them that hear thee. 



17. & 13. 3. & 
19. 6. ch. 5. 23. 
2 Tim. 1. 6. 
* Or, in all things, 

f Acts 20. 28. 

g Ezek. 33. 9. § 12.— chap. V. 1-16. 

''l C°oT.'9'22 "im Further directions are given to Timothy for the better success of his teaching— He is 

5. 20. instructed as to his conduct to the elders, to young men and women, and to widows 

who were maintained by the charity of the Church — None were to be admitted under 

sixty years of age, lest if younger women were received, and forbidden to marry, they 

might renounce Christianity, or bring disgrace upon the Christian name. 



Sect. IX.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 273 

^Rebuke "not an elder, but entreat him as a father; and the ^ ' 
younger men as brethren ; -the elder women as mothers ; the younger 
as sisters, with all purity. 

^ Honor widows Hhat are widows indeed. ''But if any widow have » ver. 5, le. 
children or nephews, let them learn first to show *piety at home, and *o^, kindness. 
^to requite their parents: ''for that is good and acceptable before God. 'n^jiatr'ili"' 
^Now^she that is a widows indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and Eph. 5. i.a.' 
■''continueth in supphcations and prayers ^night and day ; ^ but ''she f j ^o"; ^ 33 
that liveth tin pleasure is dead while she liveth. '''And 'these things / Luke 2. 37. & 
give in charge, that they may be blameless. ^But if any provide not ^ Acts 26.7. 
for his ow^n, -'and specially for those of his own thouse, *he hath ^ Jam. 5. 5. 
denied the faith, 'and is worse than an infidel. \ 2:t%'.tt 

^Let not a widow be *taken into the number under threescore H-&6. 17. 
years old, ""having been the w'ife of one man, ^° well reported of {q^ ■'w'^' ''^^'^' 
good works ; if she have brought up children, if she have "lodged t or, tindres. 
strangers, if she have "washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved Tit. Tie.' 
the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. ^^ But ' Matt. is. 17. 
the younger widows refuse ; for when they have begun to wax w^anton *J^^^^'^q <,i, 
against Christ, they will marry; ^^ having damnation, because they 3-2. 
have cast off their first faith ; ^^ and ■''withal they learn to be idle, wan- "neb! 13. 2. i Pet. 
derinsr about from house to house ; and not only idle, but tattlers also "*' ^' ,„ , „ 
and busybodies, speakmg thmgs which they ought not. ^"^ 1 'will 19. a. Lake 7. 
therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the 5, '14.' 
house, '^give none occasion to the adversary tto speak reproachfully. ? aThess. 3. ii. 
^^ For some are already turned aside after Satan. ^^ If any man or ^ ch.°6?i.Tit. 2. 
woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the ^• 
Church be charged ; that it may relieve ^them that are widows indeed, railing. "^ 

s ver. 3, 5. 



§ 14. — chap. v. 17, to the end. 
Timothy is directed in liis conduct towards the Elders, or the Pastors of the Church — 
Good ministers worthy of double honor and emolument — A suitable provision to be 
made by the Church for them — The Elders are to be reproved only on the fullest 
evidence, and then publicly, as a warning for others — Timothy is solemnly charged to 
be strictly impartial in his government, and to ordain Elders -ndth the greatest care and § 14. 

circumspection, after a faithful examination into their characters, that he may be pure a Rom. 12. 8. 
from any future act of guilt, or misconduct — St. Paul advises him, in a parenthesis, as 1 Cor. 9. 10, 14. 
L I,- u itu *^al. 6. 6. Phil, 

to ms neaitri. 2. 29. 1 Thess. 

^'' Let ''the elders that rule well ''be counted worthy of double honor, 13.^7; n.' "'''' 
especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. '^ For the 'Scrip- * Acts 28.10. 
ture saith, " Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn." "icoT.'g.g. 
''And, " The laborer is worthy of his reward." ^^ Against an elder re- ''D^ut'24' 14 15 
ceive not an accusation, ' but *before two or three witnesses. 2° Them Matt. 10.10.' 
^that sin rebuke befoie all, ^that others also may fear. e Dem. 19.15. 

2^1 ''charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the * oi, under. 
elect angels, that thou observe these things twithout preferring one '^Tit.'i^i"' ^^' 
before another, doing nothing by partiality. ^^ Lay 'hands suddenly on s Deut. 13.11. 
no man, ^neither be partaker of other men's sins. Keep thyself pure. 2Tim.'2.i4.& 
-^ Drink no longer water, but use a little wine ''for thy stomach's sake .V' -7, . 

o. . . ' .' f Or, wiuumt pre- 

and thine often infirmities. jkAcc. 

^^ Some 'men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment ; 's^ch. 4. m!^ ^^' 
and some men they follow' after. ^^ Likewise also the good works 0/" some -oT'I^ii^' 
are manifest beforehand ; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid. u Ps. 104. 15. 

I Gal. 5. 19. 



§ 15. — chap. vi. 1, 2. 
Because Christianity does not alter the relations of society, servants and slaves are to be 
commanded to pay due deference even to their heathen masters — They are more 
especially cautioned to pay the same obedience to their Christian masters, and not to 
permit their brotherly union as Christians to interfere with their known duties. 

VOL. 11. 35 



274 



THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 



[Part XIIL 



§ 15. 

a Eph. 6. 5. Col. 
3. 22. Tit. 2. 9. 

1 Pet. 2. 18. 

J Is. 52. 5. Rom. 
2. 24. Tit. 2.5,8. 
c Col. 4. 1. 

* Or, believing. 
d ch.4. 11. 

§ 16. 

a ch. 1. 3. 

i ch.l.l0.2Tim. 

1. 13. & 4. 3. 
Tit. 1. 9. 

c Tit. 1. 1. 

* Or, a fool. 

d 1 Cor. 8. 2. ch. 

1.7. 
t Or, sick. 
e ch. 1.4. 2 Tim. 

2. 23. Tit. 3. 9. 
J Or, gallings 

one of another. 
f 1 Cor. 11. 16. 

cii. 1.6. 
g 2 Tim. 3. 8. 
A Tit. 1.11. 2 Pet. 

2. 3. 
i Rom. 16. 17. 

2 Tim. 3. 5. 

j Ps. 37. 16. Prov. 

15. 16. & 16. 

8. Heb. 13. 5. 
k Job 1. 21. Ps. 

49. 17. Prov. 27. 

24. Eccles.5. 15. 
I Gen. 28. 20. 

Heb. 13.5. 
TO Prov. 15. 27. 
n ch. 3. 7. 
ch. 1. 19. 
p Ex. 23. 8. 

* Or, beeii se- 
duced. 



§ 17. 

a Deut. 33. 1. 
2 Tim. 2. 22. &3. 
17. 

* 1 Cor. 9. 25, 26. 
ch. 1. 18. 2 Tim. 

4. 7. 

c Phil. 3. 12, 14. 

ver. 19. 
d Heb. 13.23. 
e ch. 5. 21. 
/ Deut. 32. 39. 

1 Sam. 2.6. John 

5. 21. 

g Matt. 27. 11. 
John 18. 37. Rev. 
1.5. & 3. 14. 

* Or, profession. 
h Phil. I. 6, 10. 

1 Thess. 3. 13.& 

5. 23. 

i ch. 1. 11, 17. 
j Rev. 17. 14. & 

19. 16. 
k ch. 1. 17. 
I Ex. 33. 20. John 

6. 46. 

m Eph. 3. 21. 
Phil. 4. 20. Jude 
25. Rev. 1. 6. & 
i.U.&L 7. 12. 



§ 18. 

a Job 31. 24. Ps. 

52. 7. & 62. 10. 

Mark 10. 24. 

Luke 12. 21. 
* Gr. the unceV' 

tainty of riches. 
b Prov. 23. 5. 
c 1 Thess. 1. 9. 

ch. 3.15. & 4.10. 
d Acts 14. 17. Si. 

17.25. 
e Luke 12. 21. 

ch. 5. 10. Tit. 3. 

8. Jam. 2. 5. 
/ Rom. 12. 13. 
f Or, sociable, 
g Gal. 6. 6. Heb. 

13. 16. 



^ Let as many '^servants as are under the yoke count their own 
masters worthy of all honor, 'that the name of God and his doctrine 
be not blasphemed. ~ And they that have believing masters, let them 
not despise them, ^because they are brethren ; but rather do them 
service, because they are *faithful and beloved, partakers of the bene- 
fit. ''These things teach and exhort. 



§ 16.— chap. vi. 3-10. 
The Judaizing teachers condemned, who hold different doctrines, absolving men from 
their civil duties — They are reproved for their controversies and strifes of words, and for 
preferring their own temporal gain to the honor of God, and the advancement of his 
truth — Contentment is enforced in every station, from the vanity of all earthly pos- 
sessions — The great danger of an immoderate love of riches. 

^ If any man "teach otherwise, and consent 'not to wholesome words 
(even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ), 'and to the doctrine which 
is according to godliness, * he is *proud, ''knowing nothing, but tdoting 
about "questions and strifes of words, whereof coraeth envy, strife, 
railings, evil surmisings, ^ tperverse -^disputings of °men of corrupt 
minds, and destitute of the truth, ''supposing that gain is godliness. 
'From such withdraw thyself. 

^ But ^godliness, with contentment, is great gain. "^ For *we brought 
nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 
^ And 'having food and raiment let us be therewith content. ^ But 
'"they that will be rich fall into temptation "and a snare, and into many 
foolish and hurtful lusts, "which drown men in destruction and per- 
dition. ^° For ''the love of money is the root of all evil : which while 
some coveted after, they have *erred from the faith, and pierced them- 
selves through with many sorrows. 



§ 17.— chap. vi. 11-16. 
Timothy, as divinely inspired, is called upon to refrain from these evil practices, and to 
follow after godliness — St. Paul charges him, as in the presence of God, and in con- 
sideration of the great day of judgment, that he continue steadfast in the faith, con- 
scientiously discharging his office, and avoiding all worldly and sordid motives — The 
Apostle concludes by describing the great glory of Christ, which will be hereafter 
manifested. 

^^ But "thou, O man of God ! flee these things ; and follow after 
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness : ^^ fight 'the 
good fight of faith, 'lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also 
called, ''and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 
la I "give thee charge in the sight of God, •'^who quickeneth all things, 
and before Christ Jesus, ^who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good 
*confession ; ^* that thou keep this commandment without spot, unre- 
bukeable, ''until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: ^^ which in 
his times He shall show, who is *the blessed and only Potentate, ^the 
King of kings, and Lord of lords ; ^^ who 'only hath immortality, 
dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto ; 'whom no 
man hath seen, nor can see : '"to whom be honor and power everlast- 
ing ! Amen. 

§ 18.— chap. vi. 17-19. 
Timothy is charged to admonish those who are rich, not to trust in their uncertain poB- 
sessions, but in God, who is the giver of them — They are exhorted to be rich in good 
works, that they may prepare for themselves more durable and eternal blessings. 

^^ Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high- 
minded, "nor trust in *uncertain 'riches, but in 'the living God, ''who 
giveth us richly all things to enjoy ; ^^ that they do good, that 'they 
be rich in good works, A-eady to distribute, +wining ^to communicate ; 



Sect. XI.] THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 275 

^^ laying ''up in store for themselves a good foundation against the ^g's"' Luke 12. 
time to come, that they may 'lay hold on eternal life. 33. &16. 9. 

t ver. 12. 



§ 19. — chap. vi. 20, to the end. 
St. Paul ends as he began the Epistle, by again exhorting Timothy to be steadfast in the 
Christian doctrine, avoiding all philosophical and useless speculations, so strenuously 
advocated by the false teachers. § 19. 

^'^ O Timothy ! "keep that which is committed to thy trust, 'avoid- "J.'^i™A^i^'*" 
ing profane and vain babbhngs, and oppositions of science falsely so 3. 3. 
called: ^Hvhich some professing 'have erred concerning the faith. V?" 2Tim. ^ 
Grace be with thee ! [Amen.] "'m^'&s.q!'' 

[[The First to Timothy was written from Laodicea, which is the cch. 1.6,19. 
chiefest city of Phrygia Pacatiana.]] 

[end of the first epistle to timothy.] 



2 Tim. 2. 18. 



Section X. — St. Paul proceeds from Macedonia to Greece, or Achaia, '^ect^x. 

and continues there three Months. V. M. -57. 

Acts xx. 2, and begirming of ver. 3. J- P- 4770. 

- And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much '^Acim"'^' " 

exhortation, he came intoP Greece, ^ and there abode three months. 



haia. 
p See Note 15. 



Section XI. — St. Paul, having been informed of the Reception his 

First Epistle had met with from the Corinthians, writes his Second ^eci. xi. 

Epistle from Philippi, to justify his Apostolic Conduct, and vindicate V. iE. 58. 

his Authority, both of which had been impugned by a false Teacher. '^ J- P- 4771. 

Macedonia, 

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. or Achaia. 

§ 1. — chap. i. 1, 2. § 1. 

Introduction and Benediction of St. Paul. 1 ^ee Note 16. 

^ Paul, "an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timo- Eph. i'. i'. coi. 
thy our brother, unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, 'with i.'2Tim."i.'i; 
all the saints which are in all Achaia ! ^ Grace 'be to you and peace ^.^g''' ^' ^' ^°'' 
from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ ! c Rom. i. ?. 

I Cor. 1. 3. 

Gal. 1.3. Pliil. 

iS 2. — chap. i. 3-7. i. 2. Coi. i. 2. 

1 Thess. 1. 1. 
St. Paul blesses God for his support and deliverance from all his afflictions and dangers, 2 Thess! l. 2. 

because by his example others may be comforted under similar sufferings vrith the Philemon 3. 

same consolation. 

^ Blessed "be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the § 2. 

Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort ; "* who comforteth us in « Eph. i. 3. 

.1 Pet. 1. 3 

all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in 
any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of 
God ; ^for as 'the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation *A°^^^- ?•"''• 

4. iO. Coi. 1. 24^ 

also aboundeth by Christ. ^ And whether we be afflicted, 'it is for your c ch. 4. is. 
consolation and salvation, which *is effectual in the enduring of the * or, is wrought 
same sufferings which we also suffer : or whether we be comforted, it 
is for your consolation and salvation, '' (and our hope of you is stead- 
fast,) knowing, that "^as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye '^g^j^'l Y2 
be also of the consolation. 



§3. 



§ 3.— chap. i. 8-11. 

St. Paul relates his deliverance, by the power of God, from the imminent danger to 
which he was exposed at Ephesus — He acknowledges their prayers on his account. 

^FoR we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of "our trouble "icor^. 15.32. 
which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above ^ ^^' ^' 
strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life ; ^ but we had the » „ 
sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, j jer. 17. 5, 7. 



276 



THiE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIIL 



c a Pet. 9. 9. 
d Rom. 15. 30. 

Phil. 1. 19. 

Philemon 22. 
e ch. 4. 15. 



§4. 

ch. 2. 17. & 4. 
2. 
b 1 Cor. 2. 4, 13. 



c ch. 5. 19. 

d PhU. 2. 16. & 

4. 1. 1 Thess. 2. 

19. 20. 



but in God which raiseth the dead : ^^ who "deUvered us from so great 
a death, and doth dehver ; in whom we trust that he will yet deliver 
us ; ^^ ye also ''helping together by prayer for us, that 'for the gift 
bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given 
by many on our behalf. 

§ A.— chap. i. 13-14. 
In allusion to the calumnies of the false teacher, St. Paul rejoices in his sincerity and 
purity of conduct towards the Corinthians, which he declares to have been free from 
all selfish or interested motives — He trusts that all will acknowledge and glory in him, 
as some have already done, as they shall be his rejoicing in the day of the Lord. 

^^ For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in 
simplicity and "godly sincerity, ('not with fleshly wisdom, but by the 
grace of God,) we have had our conversation in the world, and more 
abundantly to you-ward. ^^ For we write none other things unto you, 
than what ye read or acknowledge ; and I trust ye shall acknowledge 
even to the end ; ^* as also ye have acknowledged us in part, '^that we 
are your rejoicing, even as ''ye also are ours in the day of the Lord 
Jesus. 



§5. 

a 1 Cor. 4. 19. 
b Rom. 1. 11. 
* Or, grace. 
e 1 Cor. 16. 5, 6. 



d ch. 10. 2. 
f Oi, preaching. 
e See Mark 1. 1. 



/ Heb. 13. 8. 
g Rom. 15. 8, 9. 

h lJohn2.20,27. 

i Eph. 1. 13. & 4. 

30. 2 Tim. 2. 19. 

Rev. 2. 17. 
j ch. 5. 5. Eph. 1. 

14. 
k Rom. 1. 9. ch. 

11.31. Gal. 1.20. 

Phil. 1. 8. 
I 1 Cor. 4. 21. ch. 

9. 3. & 12. 20. &. 

13. 2, 10. 
m 1 Cor. 3. 5. 

1 Pet. 5. 3. 
n Rom. 11. 20. 

1 Cor. 15. 1. 
ch. 1. 23. & 12. 

20, 21. &. 13. 10. 
p ch. 12. 21. 
g ch. 7. 16. & 8. 

22. Gal. 5. 10. 
r ch. 7. 8, 9, 12. 



§ 5. — chap. i. 15, to the end, and ii. 1-4. 
The false teacher having accused St. Paul of irresolution and carnal-mindedness, because 
he failed in his promised visit to the Corinthians, the Apostle shows his consistency 
in the uniformity of the doctrine which he taught, and appeals to the unction of the 
Holy Spirit, by which God had fully established his authority among them — He solemnly 
declares his true reason for delaying his visit proceeded from his wish to spare them — 
He assures them that he wrote in the deepest affliction, instead of coming to punish 
them, that he might have joy in their repentance, and convince them of the greatness 
of his love. 

^^ And in this confidence "I was minded to come unto you before, 
that ye might 'have a second *benefit ; ^^ and to pass by you into 
Macedonia, and "to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of 
you to be brought on my way toward Judaea. ^^ When I therefore was 
thus minded, did I use lightness ? or the things that I purpose, do I 
purpose ''according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, 
and nay nay ? ^^ But as God is true, our tword toward you was not 
yea and nay ! ^^ For 'the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached 
among you by us (even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus), was not 
yea and nay, ^but in him was yea, ^^ (for '^all the promises of God in 
him are yea, and in him Amen,) unto the glory of God by us. ^^ Now 
He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and ''hath anointed us, is 
God ; ^^ who *hath also sealed us, and ^given the earnest of the Spirit 
in our hearts. 

^^ Moreover ''I call God for a record upon my soul, 'that to spare 
you I came not as yet unto Corinth ! ^'^ not for "that we have dominion 
over your faith, but are helpers of your joy ; (for "by faith ye stand ;) 
1 but I determined this with myself, "that I would not come chap. ii. 1-4. 
again to you in heaviness. ^ For if I make you sorry, who 
is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by 
me ? ^ And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, ''I should have 
sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice ; 'having confidence in 
you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. '^ For out of much affliction 
and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears ; '^not that ye 
should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more 
abundantly unto you. 



§ 6. — chap. ii. 5-11. 
The Apostle here commands them to receive again the excommunicated person, for 
whom they have grieved, on his sincere repentance, and to show their love to him by 



Sect. XI.] THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 277 

a kind and friendly conduct, lest Satan should drive him to despair — St. Paul expects 
they will obey liim in removing the sentence, as they had obeyed him in inflicting it — 
He declares, that in both instances he acted in the name and authority of Christ. § o- 

^ But "if any have caused grief, he hath not ''grieved me, but in " y^°^- ^■^' 
part (that I may not overcharge) you all. ^ Sufficient to such a man 
is this *punishment, which was inflicted "of many ; '^ so ''that contrari- * ^'^^"f'''^ 5 
wise ve ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps it™. 5. 26. 
such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. ^ Where- "^ ^'''' ^' ^' 
fore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him ; ^ (for 
to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, 
whether ye be 'obedient in all things. ^° To whom ye forgive any ^g^''- '''■ ^^- ^ '" 
thing, I forgive also — for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, 
for your sakes forgave I it — tin the person of Christ;) ^^ lest Satan t ot, in the sight 
should get an advantage of us. For we are not ignorant of his devices. 

§ 7. — chap. ii. 12, to the end. 

St. Paul declares, as another reason for not having come to Corinth at the time appointed, 
his anxiety on account of Titus — He relates his success in Macedonia, and declares 
the great consequences of his preaching, both to those who receive and reject the 
Gospel — He ends with a severe reflection on the false teacher, and a profession of his 
own sincerity and disinterestedness. § 7. 

^^Furthermore, "when I came to Troas to preach Christ's Gospel, oActsie. 8. & 
and 'a door was opened unto me of the Lord, ^^ I 'had no rest in my j I'cor. le. 9. 
spirit, because I found not Titus my brother : but taking my leave of <^ <^''- '='• 5> 6. 
them, I went from thence into Macedonia. ^ ^ p"^' ^ "" 

^^ Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in f d,. 4. 3. 
Christ, and maketh manifest ''the savour of his knowledge by us in s'.'i"'^'^ ^-J^^- 

^ c »/ John y. oy 

every place ! ^^ For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, 'in 1 Pet. 2. 7', 8. 
them that are saved, and -^in them that perish: ^^ to ''the one we \i.*3°V6.' ^''' 
are the savour of death unto death ; and to the other the savour of i ch. 4. 2. & n. 
life unto life. And ''who is sufficient for these things! I'^For we are *q^ dmid'eccit- 
not as many, Hvhich ^corrupt the word of God : but as ^of sincerity, fii'iyyith. 
but as of God, in the sight of God speak we tin Christ. -'aV ' ^■■'^^' 

t Or, of. 

§ 8. — -chap. iii. 1-6. 

St. Paul here ironically inquires whether it is necessary for him also, as well as the false § 8. 

teacher, to come to them with letters of recommendation — He declares that they a ch. 5. 13. & 10 

themselves are his letters of recommendation, not written with ink, but with the Spirit ^' '^- ^ '-• ^^• 

b Acts 18 27 
of the living God; and consequently they were an evidence of God's delegated au- , „ „' „ ' 

thority to him in the ministry of the New Testament. d 1 cor. 3. 5. 

^Do "we begin again to commend ourselves ? or need we, as some e^^x^. 24. 12. & 
others, 'epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation f ps. 40. 8. Jer. 
from you ? - Ye 'are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read 19! febu.^le.' 
of all men : '^forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle "/o^'^n^ig^j ^,, 
of Christ ''ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit 2. le. 
of the living God ; not 'in tables of stone, but -^in fleshly tables of VhiK^s.^l".^"' 
the heart. 1 1 cor. 3. 5. & 

^ And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward ; ^not ^that Epiu°3.''7.'cor' 
we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves ; but I'xf^^i'. u 12. 
'our sufficiency is of God ; ^ who also hath made us able 'ministers of sTim. 1. 11. 
■'the New Testament — not "'of the letter, but of the spirit: for 'the ■'Mau.'^26i'28. 
letter killeth, but "the spirit *giveth life.'' Heb.8.6,8. 

' r- & J. j{o^_ 2. 27, 29. 

& 7. 6. 

"S 9. — chap. iii. 7, to the end. ' i^<""- 3- 20. & 

^ ^ ^ 4. 15. & 7. 9, 10, 

St. Paul declares, in opposition to the false teacher, the glorious superiority of the Gospel 11. Gal. 3. 10. 

dispensation — The veil which covered the transient and outward glory of Moses em- ™ -foh" 6. 63. 

blematically represented the obscurity and figurative nature of the Covenant of Death : ^, q ' • T.' ,1 

the ministers of tlie Covenant of the Spirit, by a lasting and greater glory, in the ^ ggg ^ote 17. 
abiding gifts and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, were enabled to unveil, to explain, and 
to preach every where the more glorious Covenant of Righteousness. 

VOL. II. X 



278 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIII. 

§ 9. 7 gp,p jf "^i^Q Ministration of Death, 'written and engraven in stones, 

i eT'm 1^28 ^^^ glorious, "so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly be- 

Deut. 10. i, &c. hold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance (which glory 

cBx. 34. 29, 30, ^^^ ^^ ^^ douc away) : ^ how shall not "^the Ministration of the Spirit 

d Gal. 3. 5. be rather glorious ? ^ for if the Ministration of Condemnation be glory, 

*3. 2i!' ' ' much more doth the Ministration ^of Righteousness exceed in glory ! 

^6^9' ^' ^^^' ^° ^^^ even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, 

* Or, boldness, by rcasou of the glory that excelleth. ^^ For if that which was done 

g Ex. 34. 33, 35. avs^ay was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious ! 

Gal. 3. 23'. ' ^^ Seeing then that we have such hope, ■'^we use great *plainness of 

'/3.'ii^i4.'john speech: I'^and not as Moses, ^who put a veil over his face, that the 

i2-40j^cts^. children of Israel could not steadfastly look ''to the end of that which 

8, '25. ch." 4. 4. ' is abolished. ^* But 'their minds were blinded: for until this day re- 

■'Rom.^ij.23, 26. uiaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testa- 

k Is. 25. 7. ment : which veil is done away in Christ ; ^^ but even unto this day, 

45"' ■ °'' ' when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart ; ^^ nevertheless -'when 

m } Cor. 13. 12. [^ shall tum to the Lord, ''the veil shall be taken away. ^"^ Now 'the 

"iTim.i'.ii. Lord is that Spirit : and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is lib- 

Kom. 8. 29. crty. ^^ But we all, with open face beholding ""as in a glass "the glory 

cou's. H).^^' of the Lord, "are changed into the same image from glory to glory, 

t Or, of tiieLord evcn as tby the Spirit of the Lord." 

the Sptnt, '' ■*■ 



s See Note 18. 



s 10. § 10. — chap. iv. 1-6. 

a ch. 3. 6. St. Paul shows that the glorious ministry entrusted to him fills him with hope and dili- 

*,^ri?'°'"7\^' gence — He desires to commend himself by a full manifestation of the truths of the 

* Gr shame Gospel, which can only be hid from the worldly-minded, who are blinded by their lusts 

Rom. 1.16. & 6. and passions — St. Paul declares that he seeks not his own glory — God having en- 

■ lightened his heart, that he might communicate the knowledge and glory of God, 

1 The'as. 2. 3, 5. which had been made manifest in Jesus Christ. 

''7?i4.^' *' ^"^ ^ Therefore seeing we have "this ministry, ''as we have received 

e ch. 5. 11. mercy, we faint not; ^but have renounced the hidden things of *dis- 

■'^ch.9?i5.2Thes3. houcsty, uot Walking in craftiness, "nor handling the word of God 

2- 10- deceitfully, but "^by manifestation of the truth "commending ourselves 

g John 12. 31. & ^ -^ ' , ■^ . . ^, • I .. f /-, 1 

14. 30. & 16. 11. to every man s conscience in the sight oi Crod. 

709''6''io'^john ^ ^^* ^^ ^^^ Crospel be hid, -^it is hid to them that are lost : ■* in 

12. 40. ch. 3. 14. whom ^the god of this world ''hath blinded the minds of them which 

'la've'r.V'"' believe not, lest 'the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, •'who is the 

j John 1. 18. & image of God, should shine unto them. ^ For ''we preach not our- 

]9 A^ &; 14 9 ^ 

Phii.2.6. Col. i. selves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and 'ourselves your servants for 

//i Cor Vis 23 Jesus' sakc. ^ For God, ""who commanded the light to shine out of 

& 10. 33. ' darkness, thath "shined in our hearts, to give "the light of the knowl- 

'■^^i!'^'^^'"^' edge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 

m Gen. 1, 3. 

f Gr. is he who 
hath. 
n 2 Pet. 1. 19. 



§ 11. — chap. iv. 7-11. 



o ver. 4. 1 Pet. 2. St. Paul declares, by comparing the ministers of the Gospel to earthen vessels, that God 

chose illiterate and insignificant men for his Apostles to show that the excellency of 

c 1 1 the power by which his Religion was propagated proceeded from God, and not from 

, Z , men — He enumerates the difficulties to which they were exposed, as a proof that their 

6 1 Cor. 2. 5. ch. deliverance from them did not proceed from themselves, but from God. 
1^ 9 

c ch. 7. 5. "^ But we have this treasure in "earthen vessels, Hhat the excellency 

"^g^rl'e^lmtkout of thc powcr may be of God, and not of us : ^ ive are "troubled on 
/ps.' 37! 24.""^' every side — yet not distressed; we are perplexed — but *not in 
"ch'^r's' 9 Gal despair ; ^ persecuted — but not forsaken ; ''cast down — but not de- 
6. 17. Phil. 3. 16. stroyed ; ^"always "bearing about in the body the dying of [the Lord] 



2Tim. 9. 11, 12. Jesus, •'^that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 



1 Pet. 4. 13. 



g. 



ch!'44.'22.' "For we which live ^are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, 
fcor. ^15^31 49. that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh 



Sect. XL] THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 279 

§ 12. — cliap. iv. 12, to the end. 
St. Paul shows that through faith in Clirist, and the hope of a glorious immortality, he 
is enabled to overcome all the difficulties and dangers of his Christian ministry — He 
tells them that for their sakes he endured these sufferings, that they, being con- 
vinced of his sincerity, might give thanks to God — He declares his conviction that his 
sufterings for the sake of the Gospel will procure for him a proportionate reward in 
heaven ; for wliich cause he looks not for the temporal advantages of this world, but 
for the eternal glories of the invisible state . § !*• 

^- So then "death worketh in us, but life in you. ^^ We having Hhe «'=''-i3-9- 

..^„., ,. . . c ■ ° i Rom. 1.12. 

same spirit ot laith, according as it is written, — apet. 1. 1. 

c Ps. 116. 10. 

" I beheved, and therefore have I spoken ; " 

we also believe, and therefore speak ; ^'^ knov^^ing that ''He which ''i coT'e^'iV ' 
raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall 
present us with you. ^^For 'all things are for your sakes, that ^the \]e.°co]'i!hl^' 
abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to ^ '^'™- 2- lo- 
the glory of God. •'ig'&g^nfil' 

^^ For which cause w^e faint not ; but though our outward man ^^^?'"- "• "^s- , 

• 1 - 1 • 1 • I 1 1 1 iTT-i I 1- . Eph. 3. 16. Col. 

perish, yet "the inward man is renewed day by day. "I' or our light 3. lu. iPet. 3. 
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more ex- ^ 'j^^^^^ ^ jg 
ceeding and eternal weight of glory: ^^ while 'we look not at the Rom. 8. is. 

o G c> J ^ 1 Pet. 1. 6. & 5. 

things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen : for the lo. ' ' ' 
things which are seen are temporal ; but the things which are not 's^y'^Heb^i'/'i' 
seen, are eternal. 

§ 13.— chap. V. 1-10. , 

St. Paul continues his argument by showing how greatly superior our heavenly liabi- 
tation will be to that which we at present dwell in — He asserts that God prepares us 
for this immortal state, and gives us his Spirit as a pledge of it — This consideration 
gives him boldness in his preaching, and makes liim vidlling to leave this body, that 
he may be present with the Lord ; but whether living or dying, his aim is to be 
accepted of God, to whom all are accountable. § 13. 

^ For we know that if "our earthly house of this tabernacle were Vy^'aplt! iJ'is, 
dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, '^• 
eternal in the heavens. -For in tliis Sve groan, earnestly desiring to ^ see"'iVote~i9. 
be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.' -^ If so be that c Rev. 3. is. & 
"being clothed we shall not be found naked. ^ For we that are in this ^ {^^'^ jg 53 
tabernacle do groan, being burdened : not for that we would be un- ^• 
clothed, but ''clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of "2.^10. ' " ^ ■ 
life. ^Now 'He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, ^-^^^^'-^'^{''14 
who also -^hath given unto us tlie earnest of the Spirit. '^ Therefore & 4. 30. 
we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the ^ch.Tk! i cor.' 
body, we are absent from the Lord; '^ (for "we walk by faith, not by i3-i2. Heb. n. 
sight:) ® we are confident, / say, and ''willing rather to be absent from a pihi. 1. 23. 
the body, and to be present with the Lord. ^ Wherefore we *labor, ^^/j^r^^'g™''- 
that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. ^° For 32. Rom. 14. lo. 
'we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, 'that every ■'if "'."Epiil^k^s.'" 
one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he Rev.22^^]2!^' 
hath done, whether it be good or bad. 



§ 14. — chap. V. 11-15. 

The Apostle, knowing the terrors of the future judgment, was more earnest in his en- 
deavour to preach the Gospel, and to persuade men to be Christians — He discharges 
his duty, as being manifest to God ; and he hoped also to the conviction of the Cor- 
inthians — He then defends himself from the attacks of the false teachers, tliat his 
converts might be provided with reasons for glorying in him as an apostle ; and de- 
clares that whether he preached the Gospel at the risk of liis life, and was therefore 
by the faction considered as mad, or whether he acted soberly in shunning persecution, § 14. 

it was for the sake of his disciples. a job 31. 23. 

^^ Knowing therefore "the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but jude'23.' ^' 



280 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIII. 

b ch. 4. 3. 'we are made manifest unto God ; and I trust also are made manifest 

c ch. 3. 1. -j^ your consciences. ^^ For "^we commend not ourselves again unto 

d ch. 1. 14. . 

*Gr. in the face, jovi, but give you occasion ''to glory on our behalf, that ye may have 

e ch. 11. 1, 16, 17. somewhat to answer them w^hich glory *in appearance, and not in 

/Rom. 5. 15. heart. ^-^ For 'whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God : or whether 

g Rom. 6. 11, 12. we be sober, it is for your cause. ^'^ For the love of Christ constraineth 

6. 19.' Gal. 2. 2o! US; bccausc we thus judge, that ^if One died for all, then were all 

1 Peri 2.' ■ dead ; ^^ and that He died for all, ^that they which live should not 

henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, 

and rose again. 



§ 15. — chap. V. 16, to the end. 

From the consideration that Christ died for all mankind, St. Paul proceeds to argue that 

from henceforth there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, Christ being no 

longer esteemed as a Jew according to the flesh — all who are united to Christ by faith 

§ 15. become new creatures — Their old and sinful practices have ceased — The advantages 

a Matt 1" 50 ^^^ blessings of this new state of being are derived from God alone, who has reconciled 

Joht\]5. 14. the world to himself by Christ Jesus, and has committed the word of reconciliation to 

3 7 8 Col 3' ^^^ Apostles — St. Paul, in Christ's stead, exhorts all men to come to God, and to 

11. accept the pardon which has been purchased for them through the atonement of his 

h John 6. 63. Son, who had been made the sin offering for mankind. 

16. 7. Gal. 6. 15. 16 Whekefore "heuccforth know we no man after the flesh : yea, 

d Gai'5"'6"&'6 though wc havc known Christ after the flesh, 'yet now henceforth 

15- knovv' we him no more. ^^ Therefore if any man ^be in Christ, *Ae is 

'es^.'n^Epii.g'. ''a new creature: 'old things are passed away ; behold ! all things are 

15. Rev. 21. 5. become new. ^^ And all things are of God, Avho hath reconciled us to 

Eph'^b. 16. ' himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of recon- 

?john2.\&4. cihation ; ^^ to wit, that ^God was in Christ, reconciling the world 

^^ unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them ; and hath 

tGr.puiinal tcommitted unto us the word of reconciliation. 

h Job. 33. 25. 20 jvjow thcu we are ''ambassadors for Christ, as 'though God did 

e.Eph'. 6. 20.' ' beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled 
i ch. 6. 1. to God ; ^^ for -'He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, 

■^Gai. 3.13. iPe't. that wc might be made ""the righteousness of God in him. 

2. 22, 24. 1 John 
3.5. 



k Rom. 1. 17. & § 16. — chap. vi. 1-10. 

St. Paul, as the ambassador of Christ, entreats the Corinthians not to receive the grace 

of God in vain, but to perform all that the Gospel requires — The Apostle, by describing 

his own sufferings, draws the picture of a faithful ininister of the Gospel — Thereby 
§ Id- proving the inferiority of the false teacher. 

oicor. 3. 9. iWe then, as "workcrs together with him, 'beseech woii also ''that 

h ch. 5. 90. ^ ^ %/ 

e Heb. 12. 15. JQ rcccivc not the grace of God in vain ; - (for He saith, ''I have heard 

d Is. 49. 8. thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured 

'i^cT.' 1^.\%'&L thee : behold now is the accepted time ! behold now is the day of 

10. 32. salvation !) •^ giving 'no oflence in any thing, that the ministry be not 

ch?4°2.' " ""' blamed : ^ but in all things *approving ourselves -^as the ministers of 

/I Cor. 4.1. God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, ^ in 

t Or, in ios«Ws ^stripcs, iu imprisonmcnts, tin tumults, in labors, in watchings, in 

/'T'i^Ti^i fa-stings ; ^by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, 

'i4.' ' ' by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, '^by 'the word of truth, by 

■ \^°io Ve 1 '^'^^ power of God, by ^the armor of righteousness on the right hand 

'e. ii, i3.'2TJm. and on the left, ^by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good 

k ch! 4. 2. & 5. report : as deceivers — and yet true ; ^ as unknown — and ''yet well 

11. & 11. 6. known ; 'as dying — and, behold ! we live ; ""as chastened — and not 

1. 9.°& 4. 1'oj'i. killed ; i° as sorrowful — yet alway rejoicing ; as poor — yet making 

m Ps. 118. 18. many rich ; as having nothing — and yet possessing all things. 



§ 17. — chap. vi. 11, to the end, and vii. 1. 
St. Paul declares his great love and affection for the Corinthians — Reproves them for their 



Sect. XL] THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 281 

want of love, and exhorts them, as liis cliildren, to have their hearts enlarged towards 
him as their spiritual father — He forbids them either to form marriages with infidels, to 
contract friendships, or to enter into any kind of familiar intercourse with them — God's 
promise to those who separate themselves from such unholy alliances should be their 
strongest motive to aim at perfection. § 17. 

^ O ye Corinthians ! our mouth is open unto you, "our heart is en- ° "=''• '''• ^• 
larged. ^- Ye are not straitened in us, but 'ye are straitened in your * '=''• i^- is. 
own boAvels. ^^ Now for a recompence in the same, (I ''speak as unto ' i^or. 4. 14, 
my children,) be ye also enlarged. 

!■* Be ''ye not unequally yoked together" with unbelievers: for Vhat '^ic'oT'5%^'&7. 
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? and what com- 39- 
munion hath light with darkness ? ^^ And what concord hath Christ "i^^m.^s! 2, 3. 
with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? I'^'"s%i8.2i. 

A ^ ^ HjCCJUS. lo. 1/. 

^^ And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols ? for -'^ye 1 cor. 10. 91. 
are the temple of the living God; as God hath ^said, — / /cor. 3.' le. & 

6. 19. Epii. 2! 21, 

" I will dwell in them, and walk in them ; 22. Heb. 3. 6. 

And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ^l^ v.' le.' 12.' Jer. 

■^Wherefore ''come out from among them, Ez'ek!'n. 20. &" 

And be ye separate, saith the Lord, ^i^zefh^s's^' 

And touch not the unclean thing ; & is. 9. ' " ' 

And I will receive you, ^^ and 'will be a Father unto you, V'i. Rev.'i8.''4 

And ye shall be my sons and daughters, ^ Jer. 31. 1, 9. 
Saith the Lord Almighty." 

' Having ■'therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse our- •'^'^Johns^'s^^' 
selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in 
the fear of God. 



§ 18. — chap. vii. 2-4. 
The Apostle entreats the Corinthians to acknowledge him as an apostle, and, by men- 
tioning his own claims to their affection, he insinuates the opposite conduct of the 
false teacher — He assures them he speaks not this to condemn them, but from the 
greatest love for them — He rejoices in their good dispositions and obedience. 

2 Receive us ; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no ^ ^^' 
man, "we have defrauded no man. ^I speak not this to condemn «jActs 20. 33. ch. 
yo7i : for 'I have said before, that ye are in our liearts to die and live * <=ii- 6. 11, 12. 
with you. * Great ^is my boldness of speech toward you, ''great is my ifn^'.^f. 
glorying of you : ^I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in 1. 14. ' ' ' 
I „..,. «^,.:k.,i.i<^;^i-. e ch. 1. 

2. 17. Col. 1.24. 



all our tribulation. ' '=''• ^- "• ^''"■ 



§ 19. — chap. vii. 5, to the end. 

St. Paul, as a proof of his affection, relates to the Corinthians his anxiety on their account, 

lest they should have been perverted by the false teacher — His joy on the arrival of 
Titus with the intelligence of their submission and love — He speaks to them of his 
First Epistle, and assures them that he ordered the incestuous person to be excommu- 
nicated, to show his great care of them — He commends their obedience, zeal, and 
repentance — He expresses the consolation he received from their conduct, and the 
joy of Titus on seeing their union and obedience. § 19. 

^FoK "when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, « ch. 2. 13. 
but 'we were troubled on every side ; "without were fightings — within * '=''■*• ^• 
were fears. ^ Nevertheless ''God, that comforteth those that are cast a ch."i. 4. 
down, comforted us by 'the coming of Titus ; ^ and not by his coming « see ch.2. 13. 
only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when 
he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind to- 
ward me ; so that I rejoiced the more. ^ For though I made you sorry 
with a letter, I do not repent, ^though I did repent ; for I perceive •'' <=''• ^- *■ 
that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a 
season. ^ Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sor- 
rowed to repentance : for ye were made sorry *after a godly manner, * aod!'""'^^'"^ '" 
VOL. II. 36 *x 



i ch. 2. 4. 



282 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIIL 

^■jUam. 12. 13. that JO might receive damage by us in nothing. ^^ For ^godly sorrow 

* Prov. 17. 22. worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of; ''but the sorrow 

of the world worketh death. ^^ For behold this selfsame thing, that ye 
sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you ! yea, 
what clearing of yourselves ! yea, what indignation ! yea, what fear ! 
yea, what vehement desire ! yea, what zeal ! yea, what revenge ! In 
all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. 
^^ Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that 
had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, 'but that 
our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you. 

^^ Therefore we were comforted in your comfort : yea, and exceed- 

; Rom. 15. 32. iugly the morc joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit 'was 
refreshed by you all ; ^^for if I have boasted any thing to him of you, 
I am not ashamed : but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so 
our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth ; ^^ and his 

^ Gr^^oweis, ch. f inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remem- 

* ch. 2. 9. Phil, bereth *the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye 
j^2Thesg 3 4 reccivcd him. ^^ I rejoice therefore that 'I have confidence in you in 

Philemon 8, 21. all thiugS. 



§ 20. — cJiap. viii. 1-15. 
St. Paul exhorts the Corinthians, by the example of the Churches in Macedonia, which 
were in very straitened circumstances, to contribute liberally to the relief of the 
Christian brethren in Judaea — He declares he does not give this injunction by com- 
mandment, because works of kindness must be voluntary, but hopes they will abound 
in them from the example and love of Christ — He calls upon them to complete the 
collections already begun without loss of time, according to their ability, as God 
regards the willingness of the giver more than the value of the gift — The amount of 
their liberality to be applied only to the poor brethren in Judcea, who in their turn may 
be able to supply the wants of the Corinthians. 

^ Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God be- 
§ 20. stowed on the Churches of Macedonia ; ^ how that in a great trial of 
a Mark 12. 44. afflictiou the abundaucc of'their joy and "their deep poverty abounded 
*ch'/n'"''^" ""^° ^^® riches of their *liberality : ^for to their power, (I bear record,) 
yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves ; * pray- 
ing us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift, and take 
b Acts 11. 29. & upon us 'the fellowship of the ministering to the saints ; ^ and this they 
25,' 26.' 1 Cor. le! did, not as we hoped, but first gave their ownselves to the Lord, and 
V'V'^h^is ^"^° "^ ^^ ^^® ^^^^^ ^^ God! ''insomuch that "we desired Titus, that 
18. ' ' 'as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same tgrace also. 
^ Ox, gift. lez. A, ■'Therefore, as ''ye abound in every thing, (in faith, and utterance, 
d 1 Cor. 1. 5. & and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us,) see 'that 
e^d/g 8 y^ abound in this grace also : ^ I -^speak not by commandment, but by 

/ 1 Cor. 7. 6. occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of 
g Matt. 8. 20. your love : ^ for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^that, 
Phil. 2.' 6, 7. though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through 
*p^'"^i9 r? ^^^ poverty might be rich : ^"and herein ''I give my advice. For 'this 
Matt.' 10." 42.' is expedient for you, who have beeun before, not only to do, but also 
Heb. 13. 'i6.' ' ^to be tforward a year ago : ^^ now therefore perform the doing of it ; 
-' "^^ ^■^■. ^ that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance 
k Marl 12T43, also out of that which ye have. ^"^ For ''if there be first a willing mind, 
44. Luke 21. 3. ^Y is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that 
he hath not. ^^ For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye bur- 
dened : ^^ but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance 
may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a 
I El. 16. 18. supply for your want, that there may be equality : ^^ as it is 'written, 
" He that had gathered much had nothing over ; and he that had 
gathered little had no lack." 



Sect. XI.] THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 283 

§ 21. — chap. viii. 16, to the end. 
St. Paul thanks God for having made Titus as aniious about them as he was — His dili- 
gence induced him to become the bearer of this Epistle — Tlie Apostle informs them 
that he sends with Titus a brother of great reputation, who had been chosen by the 
Macedonian Churches, as a witness of the administration of their gifts, that no sus- 
picion of blame might arise as to the disposal of the abundance entrusted to them — 
Another fellow-laborer is likewise sent, who is more than commonly active on the 
present occasion, from the report of their good dispositions — He instructs them how 
to answer the inquiries of the faction, and exhorts them to give to these messensrers 

and to the Churches a proof of their love, and of his confidence in them. 

& 21 

^^ But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the 
heart of Titus for you ! ^' for indeed he accepted "the exhortation ; but " "'"■ ^• 
being more forward, of his own accord he went unto you. ^^ And we 
have sent with him 'the brother, whose praise is in the Gospel, Jch. ii2. i8. 
throughout all the Churches ; ^^ and not that only, but who was also 
"chosen of the Churches to travel with us with this "^grace, which is <= icor. 16.3,4. 
administered by us ''to the glory of the same Lord, and declaration of *ver.' I^'ei 7. ch. 
your ready mind : "^^ avoiding this, that no man should blame us in ^- ®- 

^ . "^ . . ^. . . . d ch. 4. 15. 

this abundance which is administered by us : '^' providing 'for honest « Rom. 12.' n. 

things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. \^^^^'^'^^'^^ 

^- And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes 

proved diligent in many things, but now much more dihgent. upon the 

great confidence which t J have in you. ^^ Whether any do inquire of t or, he hath. 

Titus, he is my partner and fellow-helper concerning you : or our 

brethren he inquired of, they are -^the messengers of the churches — and f ^'"'- ^- ^• 

the glory of Christ. ^^ Wherefore show ye to them, and before the 

Churches, the proof of your love, and of our 'boasting on your behalf, g'^ch. 7. 14. & 9. 

§ 22. — chap. ix. 1-5. 

St. Paul continues his discourse, by reminding the Corinthians that he had boasted to 

the Macedonians of their willingness a year ago — Since which time being informed 
by Titus of their negligence in these things, he sends Titus and his companions to 
make ready the collections before his arrival, that he might not be ashamed of his 
boasting in them; and that what they gave might be done freely, and not, as it were, 
extorted from them as from persons of covetous dispositions. S 22. 

^ For as touching "the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for a Acts 11. 29. 
me to write to you. ^ For I know 'the forwardness of your mind, Tor 1 cor. w. 1.' ch. 
which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that ''Achaia was ready a /|.^' ^^\^' ^°" 
year ago: and your zeal hath provoked very many. 'Yet 'have I sent cch.s. 24. 
the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; ^^^'f" g"' 
that, as I said, ye maybe ready: *lest haply if they of Macedonia s. " ' ' ' 
come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) 
should be ashamed in this same confident boasting. ^ Therefore I *^Gr. '^^^• 
thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before isam.25.27. 
unto you, and make up beforehand your "^bounty, iwhereof ye had ^ o,^^hichhath 

been so much 
spoken of before. 



notice before, that the same might be ready as a nmtter of bounty, and i^^^'n^cA 
not as of covetousness. 



§ 23. — chap. ix. 6, to the end. 

St. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to liberahty, from the consideration that we shall be re- 
warded in another world according to our actions here — He admonishes them to give 
with cheerfulness — The power of God, by blessing their labors, to supply them with x 23. 

all the sufficiency of this world's goods, both for their own maintenance, and for their ^ p^^^ j^j g^ ^ 

works of charity — The joy of those relieved — Their gratitude to God. and prayers for 19. 17. & K. 9. 

their benefactors. ^ ^ bVJ'.ls^. 

^ But "this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also c Ex. 25. 2. & 

sparingly ; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bounti- n.' as. emIus. 

ftilly. ''Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him ^a! s! ch". s!"".' 

give; 'not grudgingly, or of necessity: for "God loveth a cheerful <? Prov. 11.24,25. 

giver. ^ And "^God is able to make all grace abound toward you ; that 4 19'. 



284 



THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIII. 



< Ps 112. 9. 



/ IB. 5S 


i. 10. 


g Hos. 

Matt. 


10. 12. 
6.1. 


* Or, liberality. 
Gr. simplicity. 
ch. 8. 2. 


h ch. 1 
15. 


. 11. & 


t ch. 8. 


14. 


j Matt. 


5.16. 


k Heb. 


13. 16. 


I ch. 8. 


1. 


m Jain. 


1.17. 



§ 24. 

a Rom. 12. 1. 
J ver. 10. ch. 12. 

5, 7, 9. 

* Or, m outward 
appearance. 

e 1 Cor. 4.21. ch. 
13. 2, 10. 
t Or, reckon, 
d Eph. 6. 13. 

1 Thess. 5. 8. 
e 1 Tim. 1. 18. 

2 Tim. 2. 3. 
/ Acts 7. 92. 

1 Cor. 2. 5. ch. 

6. 7. & 13. 3, 4. 
} Or, to Ood. 

g Jer. 1. 10. 
h 1 Cor. 1. 19. & 
3. 19. 

* Or, reasonings. 
i ch. 13. 2, 10. 

t ch. 2. 9. & 7. 
15. 



ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every 
good work : ^ as it is Vritten, — 

" He hath dispersed abroad ; 
He hath given to the poor : 
His righteousness remaineth for ever." 

^° Now He that -^ministereth seed to the sower, and bread for food, 
both minister and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of 
your ^righteousness ; ^^ being enriched in every thing to all *bounti- 
fulness, ''which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. ^^ For the 
administration of this service not only 'supplieth the want of the saints, 
but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God ; ^•^ whiles by 
the experiment of this ministration they ■'glorify God for your pro- 
fessed subjection unto the Gospel of Christ, and for your liberal *dis- 
tribution unto them, and unto all men ; ^^ and by their prayer for you, 
which long after you for the exceeding 'grace of God in you. ^^ Thanks 
be unto God ""for his unspeakable gift ! 



§ 2i.— chap. X. IS. 
St. Paul here particularly addresses the false teacher and his adherents, who had ca- 
lumniated him, by asserting that he was mild only when present, but bold in his letters, 
when absent — He now, though absent, ironically beseeches those who accuse him of 
walking after the flesh, that he may not when present have cause to prove his bold- 
ness — He declares the extraordinary powers conferred on him by God for the purpose 
of pulling down every thing opposed to the Gospel ; and asserts that he was prepared 
to show his miraculous power to punish disobedience, as soon as the obedience of 
the penitent among them should be complete. 

^ Now "I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness 
of Christ, ''who *in presence am base among you, but being absent 
am bold toward you : ^ but I beseech you, "that I may not be bold 
when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be 
bold against some, which tthink of us as if we walked according to 
the flesh. ^ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the 
flesh : ■* (for ''the weapons "of our warfare are not carnal, but -^mighty 
tthrough God ^to the pulling down of strong holds :) ^ casting ''down 
*imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the 
knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the 
obedience of Christ; ^and 'having in a readiness to revenge all dis- 
obedience, when ^your obedience is fulfilled. 



§ 25. 

a John 7. 24. ch. 

5. 12. & 11. 18. 
J 1 Cor. 14. 37. 

1 John 4. 6. 
c 1 Cor. 3. 23. & 

9. 1. ch. 11. 23. 

d ch. 13. 10. 
e ch. 7. 14. & 12 
6. 

* Gr. saith lie. 

f 1 Cor. 2. 3, 4. 
ver. 1. ch. 12. 5 
7, 9. Gal. 4. 13. ' 

g 1 Cor. 1. 17. & 
9. 1,4. ch. 11.6. 



^S 25.— chap. X. 7-11. 
St. Paul upbraids the false teacher for judging from outward appearances — He desires 
also to be acknowledged as the minister of Christ, boasts of the power imparted to 
him for edification, and again sarcastically refers to the calumniating reports of his 
opponent, whom he calls upon from the effects of his power, already seen, when ab- 
sent, in the punishment of the incestuous person, to conclude that when present it 
would be equally great. 

■'' Do ''ye look on things after the outward appearance ? 'If any man 
trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, 
that, as he is Christ's, even so are 'we [Christ's]. ^For though I 
should boast somewhat more ''of our authority, which the Lord hath 
given us for edification, and not for your destruction, 'I should not be 
ashamed : ^ that I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters ; 
1° (for his letters, *say they, are weighty and powerful, but -^his bodily 
presence is weak, and his ^speech contemptible ;) ^^ let such a one 
think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, 
such will we be also in deed when we are present. 



Sect. XI.] THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 285 

§ 26. — chap. X. 12, to the end. 
In a continued strain of irony St. Paul declares that he dare not compare himself to the 
false teacher, who measures himself only by himself, and commends himself for the 
things he had done at Corinth ; but, on the contrary, desires only to rejoice in the 
bounds prescribed to liim by God, in obedience to which he had now reached the Cor- 
intliians — He refuses to boast, like the false teacher, in the labors of other men, and 
hopes to preach the Gospel in those countries where it was never before preached ; for 
not he who glories in tlie works of others, but he who preaches to the glory of God, 
and who receives commendation of God, shown by the gifts of the Spirit, is approved. s 26. 

^■2 For "we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare our- och. a. i. &5. 
selves with some that commend themselves ; but they measuring them- 
selves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, 
*are not wise. ^^ But 'we will not boast of things without our measure, * Or, understand 
but according to the measure of the irule which God hath distributed to j ver.'is. 
us, a measure to reach even unto you : '^^ (for we stretch not ourselves t or, une. 
beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you : "for we are « i Cor. 3. 5, 10. 
come as far as to you also in preaching the Gospel of Christ :) ^^ not 
boasting of things without our measure, that is. '^of other men's labors ; ^ °"'' ^''■.^°" 
but havmg hope, when your taith is mcreased, that we shall be +en- i" yu. 
larged by you according to our rule abundantly, ^^ to preach the * °'' "^^" 

^ ° 1 ■■' J ■ 1°, ^ 1- , , c Is. 65. 16. Jcr. 

Gospel m the regions beyond you, ana not to boast m another man s 9. 24. 1 cor. 1. 
*line of things made ready to our hand. ^^ But ^he that glorieth, let /?„,-. 07. 2. 
him glory in the Lord. ^^For-^not he that commendeth himself is^Rom. 2. 29. 
approved, but 'whom the Lord commendeth. ^ '^°'- ^- ^■ 



§ 27. — chap. xi. 1-6. 
St. Paul, having been accused of commending himself, entreats the Corinthians on the 
present occasion to bear with it; as he fears that those whom he had converted to 
Christ, whom he was ansious at the judgment to present as a chaste margin to their es- § 27. 

poused husband, were beguiled from him by the false teacher — He urges, that, if their a ver. 16. ch. 5. 
pretended apostle preached to them any other Saviour or Gospel, or conferred on ^^' 
them any other Spirit, they might bear with his pretensions — He affirms, that he is wUhme. 
equal to the chief of Christ's apostles ; and that, though rude in speech, it was made J Gal. 4. 17, 18. 
manifest to them he was not deficient in the knowledo-e necessary for a minister of c Hos. 2. 19,20. 
the Gospel. " 1 Cor. 4.^15. 

^ Would to God you could bear with me a little in °my folly ! xVnd ^ ^ev. 21. 13. 
indeed *bear with me. ^ For I am 'jealous over you with godly jeal- /Gen. 3. 4. John 
ousy : for "I have espoused you to one husband, ''that I may present ^-Erh. 6.24. 
you 'as a chaste virgin to Christ ; ^ but I fear, lest by any means, as -^the ^^|J- j' 3'^^ 
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds 'should be ^•^''''- 1^:.^- 
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. ** For if he that cometh ^ Gai.'i. 7, 8. 
preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive t Or, with me. 
another Spirit, v.'hich ye have not received, or ''another Gospel, which 'ch. i2.'ii'. oai. 
ye have not accepted, ye might well bear twith him. .^j ^^^ j ^^ ^ 

^ For I suppose 'I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. 2. 1, 13. ch. io 
^ But though -'I be rude in speech, yet not 'in knowledge; l3ut 'we t Eph. 3. 4. 
have been throutrhlv made manifest among you in all things. ',';^\'*-,^-'?'^- 

^ - o •' & II. &I2. 12. 

§ 28.— chap. xi. 7-15. 
St. Paul explains his reason for not receiving any maintenance from the Corinthians — 
He declares it did not proceed from unkindness, as his enemies would suggest, but 
from Ms love for them, and that he might prevent the false teacher from imputing 
his exertions to temporal profit — Also, that the false teacher, who received gifts in 
private, might be compelled to lay aside this practice, and to follow the Apostle's ex- 
ample — Satan himself assuming the appearance of an angel of light, it ought not to , 
excite surprise, that the ministers of Satan should take upon themselves the office of 
the ministers or apostles of Christ. § 28. 

'' Have I committed an offence "in abasing myself that ye might be °i co*?. g^'e^s. 
exalted, because I have preached to vou the Gospel of God freelv ? ''^- ^°- ^^ 

RTiiiiz-ii II- " r- 7 1 . ' i Acts 20. 33. 

^1 robbed other Churches, takmg wages of them, to do vou service; ch. 12. 13. 
^ and when I vras present with you, and wanted, 'I was chai-geable to sTiieBs'. iis'.g. 



286 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIll. 

c^phii. 4. 10, 15, no man ; (for that which was lacking to me "the brethren which came 
d ch. 12. 14, 16. from Macedonia suppUed ;) and in all things I have kept myself ''from 

* g°"aV ■) <r being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself, i" As 'the truth 
shahnotbestof- of Chiist is in me, *no -^man shall stop me of this boasting in the re- 

/i cor™9. 15. gions of Achaia ! ^^ Wherefore ? ^because I love you not ? God know- 

g- ch.6. 11. &7. eth ! ^^ But what I do, that I will do, '' that I may cut off occasion 

ft i Cor. 9. 12. from them which desire occasion ; that wherein they glory, they may 

t Acts 15. 24. be found even as we. ^^ For such 'are false apostles, ^deceitful workers, 

Gai.'i. 7. &'e. transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. ^* And no marvel. 

^i?^tk \. ^^' For Satan himself is transformed into *an angel of light ; ^^ therefore 

g/g*""^"^"^®"' it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the 'minis- 

j ch. 2. 17. piiii. ters of righteousness : '"whose end shall be according to their works. 

3. 2. Tit. 1. 10, ° ° 

11. 

k Gal. 1. 8. 

I ch. 3. 9. § 2°).— chap. xi. 16, to the end. 

"* I • . • g^^ Paul again entreats the Corinthians to bear with his boasting — As those who are no 
, apostles glory after the flesh, it is necessary for the vindication of his apostolic char- 

acter, that he also should glory in his circumcision and Jewish extraction— He shows 
that the Corinthians had submitted too patiently to the overbearing disposition of 
others — He describes the conduct of the false teacher towards them — He affirms, in 
opposition to the reproach brought against him of being low born, weak, and ill-quali- 
fied to be an apostle, that if any had cause of boasting, he had cause also — He com- 
pares himself, in these respects, with the false teacher ; and shows his own superiority 
by an appeal to his labors and sufferings — his great anxiety for the Churches and in- 
dividuals, in sympathizing with the weak, and being zealously active in reclaiming the 
9 sa. misled — He glories in his weakness, particularly in his deUverance from Damascus, 

a ver. 1. cli. 12. that the power of God might be displayed. 

* Or, suffer. ^^ I "sAY again, Let no man think me a fool ; if otherwise, yet as a 
6 1 Cor. 7. 6, 12. £qqJ ^j-eccivc mc, that I may boast myself a little. ^"^ That which I 
d Phil. 3. 3, 4. speak, ''I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foohshly, 'in this 
c 1 Cor. 4. 10. confidence of boasting. ^^ Seeing ''that many glory after the flesh, I 
/Gal. 2.4. & 4. ^-jj glory also. ^^ For ye suffer fools gladly, 'seeing ye yourselves are 
g ch. 10. 10. wise ; ^^ for ye suffer, •'^if a man bring you into bondage, if a man de- 

* ^'"'ii' 3 vour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite 
Rom. 11.1.' Phil, you ou the face. ^^ I speak as concerning reproach, ^as though we had 

j^icor. 15. 10. been weak ; howbeit ''whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) 
k Acts 9. 16. & I am bold also. ^^ Are they Hebrews ? 'so am I. Are they Isra- 

20 23 & 21 11 

ch. 6.4, 5. ' ' elites? so am L Are they the seed of Abraham? so am L ^^ Are 
'3i'32'^'cif'i^*9 ^^^y niinisters of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more ; -'in labors 

10. & 4. 11. & 6. more abundant, ^in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, 
mDeut. 25. 3. 'm dcaths oft : ^"^ (of the Jews five times received I "forty stripes 
n Acts 16. 22. gg^yg Qj^g^ 25^}^yjgg y^^a.s I "beaten with rods, "once was I stoned, thrice I 
"p Act3 27. 41. ''suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep :) ^""in 
q Acts 9. 23. & journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, 'in perils by 

&,'i7.5.&2b 3. mine own countrymen, "^in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in 

io,^ii.^& ^.^3! perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false 
r Acts 14. 5. & brethren; ^^in weariness and painfulness, "in watchings often, 'in 
« Acts 20. 31. ch. hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. -* Beside 

^1 Cor 4 11 those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, "the 
a See Acts 20. carc of all thc Churches ! ^^ Who "is weak, and I am not weak ? who 

i8,&c.Rom.]. jg offended, and I burn not? ^o If I must needs glory, ""I will glory of 
V 1 Cor. 8. 13. & the things which concern mine infirmities. ^^ The ^God and Father of 

9 22 

w ch. 12. 5, 9, 10. our Lord Jesus Christ, "which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I 

z Rom. 1.9.&9. lie not ! ^- Li ^Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the 

Gai.i.2. iThes. city of the Damascenes with a garrison desirous to apprehend me: 

/kom. 9. 5. ^^ ^^^ through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and 

J ActB 9. 24, 25. escaped his hands. 



Sect. XL] THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 287 

§ 30. — chap. xii. 1-6. 
St. Paul declares, that, if compelled for their sakes to glory, he will do so, in the reve- 
lations and visions he had received : but personally he is determined only to glory in 
his weakness and sufferings ; for though he might do so in great truth, he forbears, 
lest any should form too high an opinion of him. 

^ It is not e.xpedient for me doubtless to glory.* I will come to § 30. 
visions and revelations of the Lord. ^ I knew a man °in Christ above * *^'- ^'^ ' "^^ 

come. 

fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I cannot tell ; or whether out a Rom. le. 7. ch 
of the body, I cannot tell : God knoweth), such an one 'caught up to /Acu^a'n ^ 
the third heaven. ^ And I knew such a man (whether in the body, or 
out of the body, I cannot tell : God knoweth), '^ how that he was caught 
up into "Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not flaw- <' Luke 23. 43. 
ful for a man to utter. ° Of such an one will I glory : ''yet of myself d ch'. 11. 30. 
I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. ^ For 'though I would desire ^^^- '°- ^- ^ '^• 
to glory, I shall not be a fool ; for I will say the truth : but Jioiv I for- 
bear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me 
to be, or that he heareth of me. 



§ 31. — chap. xii. 7-11. 
St. Paul asserts that his bodily infirmity, for which he had been reproached by the fac- 
tion, was sent to him by God, that he might not be too much exalted by the glorious 
revelations vouchsafed to him — It is not to be removed, because by his weakness the 
power of God is made perfect — On this account he rejoices in persecution, infirmities, 
&c. for in proportion to his weakness, the grace of God dwelling in him gives him 
strength — The conduct of the Corinthians has compelled him, thus reluctantly, to 
glory — They ought to have vindicated his apostleship, knowing he was in no respect 
inferior to the chiefest of the apostles. § 31. 

'' And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abun- °24.''&d!4'!i3f 
dance of the revelations, there was given to me a "thorn in the flesh ,"■, ., 7 t ^ 
(Hhe messenger of Satan) to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above is. m'. 
measure. ^ For 'this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might '"Jf.^y'^Matf'ae 
depart from me. ^ And He said unto me, " My grace is sufficient for 44. 
thee: for my strength is m.ade perfect in weakness." Most gladly eipet.4. 14. 
therefore ''will I rather glory in my infirmities, 'that the power of Christ / Rom. 5. 3. ch. 
may rest upon me. ^° Therefore -^I take pleasure in infirmities, in re- j,^' jg ^ 
preaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake : a ch. 11. 1, le, 
^for when I am weak, then am I strong. ^^ I am become ''a fool [in , ^i. n.s.Gai.a 
glorying;] ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been com- 6,7,8. 
mended of you : for 'in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apos- ■'15. 8^9. Eph. 3. 
ties, though •'I be nothing. ^' 



§ 32. — chap. xii. 12, to the end. 

St. Paul continues to justify his apostleship by his miracles, and the spiritual gifts he 
imparted — He inquires of them in what respect he had made them inferior to other 
Churches, except that he himself was not burdensome to them — He declares his in- 
tention ofvisiting them, and of still not being burdensome ; for, as their spiritual father, he 
seeks not the goods of his spiritual cliildren, but their salvation — He confutes the in- 
sinuations of his adversaries, charging him with craftily refusing to take money from 
them, by appealing to the disinterested conduct of Titus and his assistant — He affirms 
that his design in sending Titus to them was not as an apology for his not coming himself, 
(2 Cor. i. 23.), but to give the disobedient time to amend their lives — He expresses liis 
fear, that, when he does visit them, he will be called upon to lament over, and punish 
those who have not repented of the sins and impurities of which they had been 5 •^'^■ 

auiltv " ^°"'- '5- ^^' 

^""'•■'- _ ]9. ICor. 9. 2. 

1^ Truly "the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all ^j^-g-'^''-'* 
patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. ^^ For ''what is it * 1 cor. 1.7. 
wherein you were inferior to other Churches, except it be that T myself '^jj^°'^9^- ^^■'^^ 



was not burdensome to you ? Forgive me this wrong. ^"^ Behold ! d ch. 13. 1. 
"the third time I am ready to come to you : and I will not be burden- ^/^^H ^"q ^^3 
some to you : for T seek not yours, but you. ^For the children ought / 1 cor. 4. 14, is. 



288 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [Part XIII. 

not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. ^^ And 
^PhiT'a ^n^" ^' ^^ ^^^^ ^^^y gladly spend and be spent ''for *you ; though 'the more 
ft John 10. n. ch. abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. 

2 Tii^'a; 10.^* ^'^ But be it so, ^I did not burden you : nevertheless, being crafty, I 
* Gr. your souls, caught you with guilc. ^"^ Did *I make a gain of you by any of them 
' ch li ^9 ' ^^ whom I sent unto you ? ^^ I 'desired Titus, and vv^ith him I sent a 
k ch. 7. 2. "brother. Did Titus make a gain of you ? walked we not in the 

' '^''h^fi^'a'''^^ same spirit? walked we not in the same steps? 

n ch. 5. 12. ^^ Again, "think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you ? ° We speak 

"^"^■s-i-cii. before God in Christ: ^but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your 
p 1 Cor. 10.33. edifying. ^° For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as 
? 1 ^^^i^if-J'^- I would, and that 'I shall be found unto you such as ye would not ; 

lo! ' ' ' lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisper- 
r ch.2. 1,4. ings, swellings, tumults ; ^^ and lest, when I come again, my God ^will 
s ch. 13. 2. humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many Vhich have 

f 1 Cor. 5. 1. sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and 'forni- 
cation and lasciviousness which they have committed. 



§ 33. — chap. xiii. 1-4. 

St. Paul proceeds by assuring the Corinthians, that when he next visits them they shall 

be judged after the Law and the Gospel by the testimony of two or three witnesses — 

He reminds them of his former threat and punishment of the incestuous person, 

and assures all those who have already sinned, and those who continue in sin, that 

§ 33. they likewise will not be spared by liim ; more particularly as they require a proof of 

ffl ch 1" 14. Christ speaking by him, who already has shown liimself not in weakness, but in 

X See Note 21. strength, by the mighty works he hath enabled him to accomplish — Christ, though 

b Num. 35. 30. crucified in the weakness of his human nature, still lives by the power of God — We 

T<f "l'- ^M n *^8 ^'^° ^^^ weak in body with him, but the Apostle will show that they live with him by 

16. John 8. 17. the power of God, manifested in their punishment. 

c ch.io. 2. ^ This is "the third time I am coming to ^you : 4n the mouth of two 

d ch. 12. 21. or three witnesses shall every word be established. ^ I "told you before, 

/Man 10 20 ^^^ foretell you (as if I were present the second time, and being ab- 

1 Cor. 5. 4. ch. sent now), *to them "^which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, 

^icor. 9. 2. that, if I come again, "I will not spare: ^ since ye seek a proof of 

''i^"t' f 18^' Christ •''speaking in me, who to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty 

jRom. 6. 4. ^in you. ^ For ''though He was crucified through weakness, yet 'He 

j^see ch. 10. 3, hvcth by the power of God. For -'we also are weak *in Him, but 

* Or, with inm. wc shall llvc with Him by the power of God toward you. 



§ 34. — chap. xiii. .5-10. 

As the faction desired a proof of Christ's being with St. Paul, he now calls upon them 

to examine themselves, and see whether they possess those spiritual gifts which are 
the proof of Christ's presence — He hopes, that, although they should be without this 
proof, he should not be found wanting in supernatural powers, were it necessary for 
him to use them for their punishment when he came — He prays to God that they 
might conduct themselves properly, being much more anxious for their repentance, 
than that he should have an opportunity of exercising his proofs, and of showing his 
strengtii — He affirms that supernatural powers can only be exerted in support of the 
truth — For their perfection, St. Paul writes these things, that, when he is present with 
them, the miraculous powers imparted to him for the edification of the Church may 
not be used in severity. 
, J ,,' a 5 Examine "yourselves ; v/hether ye be in the faith, prove your own- 

al Cor. 11.28. J ' i H i t VAi • • • ., 

b Rom. 8. 10. selves : know ye not your ownselves, "how that Jesus Christ is in you ? 
c^icoT 9%7 — except ye be "reprobates. ^ But I trust that ye shall know that we 
d ch. 6. 9. are not reprobates. '^ Now I pray to God that ye do no evil ; not that 

'ch.*^n.'36.&']2. ""'6 s'^'Ould appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, 

5,9.10- though ''we be as reprobates. ^ For we can do nothing against the 

^\ Co" 4.^21!"' truth, but for the truth. ^ For we are glad, 'when we are weak, and ye 

ch-^2.3.& 10.2. are strong: and this also we wish — even •''your perfection. ^^ Therefore 
A Tit. 1.13. ^l write these things being absent, lest being present ''I should use 



Sect. XIIL] THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 289 

sharpness 'according to the power (which tlie Lord hath given me) to ' '=''■ ^°- ^■ 
edification, and not to destruction. 



§ 35. — chap. xiu. 11, to the end. 

St. Paul, havmcr tinished his reproofs to the faction, addresses the whole Church ; ffivino' 

them various directions — He concludes with salutations, and wath his apostolic bene- 5 >'"• 

diction. \^°I"-}Yy^- 

& lo. o. 1 Cor. 

"Finally, brethren, farewell, be perfect, be of good comfort, "be ^s^^Vet^' 
of one mind, live in peace : and the God of love *and peace shall be 3. s. 
with you ! ^"^ Greet 'one another with a holy kiss : ^^ all the saints 
salute you. " The ''grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of J 'i^?j- 1^- 20. 
God, and "the communion of the Holv Ghost, be with you all! i Pet. 5! 14. 
[[Amen.Jl 

[[The Second Epistle to the Corinthians was written from Philippi, 
a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas.]] 

[end of the second epistle to the CORINTHIANS.] 



J Eom. 15. 33. 
c Rom. 16. 16. 



cL Eom. 16. 24. 
e Phil. 2. 1. 



SECT. XII. 



V. M. 58. 

J. P. 4771. 
Section XIL — St. Paul returns from Achaia and Corinth to Macedo- Macedonia. 
nia, sending his companions forward to Troas. a ch. 9. 23. & 23. 

Acts xx. latter part ofver. 3, ver. 4, 5. acor. 11. 26. 

^ And "when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into *„-''•„ ^?,-?^-,'^,n 

" . 2/. 2. Col. 4. 10. 

Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia. "* And there accom- c ch. 19. 29. 
panied him into Asia, Sopater of Berea ; and of the Thessalonians, ^ ^'■^^ g'l coi 
'Aristarchus and Secundus : and "Gaius of Derbe, and ''Timotheus : 4. 7. 2 Tim. 4. 

' . - . . ' 12 Tit 3 12 

and of Asia, 'Tychicus and -'^Trophimus. ^ These going before tarried / ch.21.29.2 Tim. 
for us at Troas. ^■^''• 



Section XIIL — .S';'. Faul, in his ivay from Achaia to Macedonia, writes sect. xiii. 
from Corinth his Epistle to the Jews and Gentiles of Rome — to the 

Gentiles, to prove to them that neither their boasted Philosophy, nor , p .„ ' 

their moral Virtue, nor the Light of human Reason — and to the Jews, corinth. 

that neither their hnowledge of nor obedience to, the Law of Moses — — 

could justify them before God ; but that Faith in Christ alone was, ^ 

and always had been, the only way of Salvation to all ManJcind.^ ^ Ac^ts^^->%? 

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. Gfi?i.Y'iTim. 

r -, T ■ -, ^ 1. 11. & 2. 7. 

§ 1. — chap. 1. 1-7. 2 Tim. 1. 11. 

St. Paul affirms his apostolic power, and, showing the human nature of Christ by his ''■,^'^^q Pi ^5 
descent from David, and liis Divine nature by the resurrection, he declares that he c See on Acta 26. 
received his mission from Christ to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, of whom the 6. Tit. 1. 2. 
Church of Rome principally consisted, and he has therefore authority to address gg 0"!'] 3 g 
them. e Matt. 1. 6, 16. 

^ Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, "called to be an apostle, ''separated 2."3o! 2'Triii. 2. 
unto the Gospel of God, ^ which 'he had promised afore ''by his ^" 

_, •iTTioi- '3 -i-n T At ■ / John 1. 14. Gal. 

Prophets in the Holy Scriptures, -^ concerning his Son J esus Christ 4. 4. 

our Lord ("who was -'^made of the seed of David according to the flesh ; * ^'- i^termmed. 

\ ^ . • ff See Mark 1. 1. 

^ and *declared ''^^0 be the Son of God with power, according ''to the Acts 13. 33. 
spirit of hoUness, by the resurrection from the dead : ^ by whom Sve ^ Heb.^9. 14. 
have received grace and apostleship, tfor ■'obedience to the faith among lo.'ic'or.'is. 16. 
all nations, *for his Name ; ^ among whom are ye also the called of g.'iiph. s'.'s. 
Jesus Christ !) '' to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, 'called to be t or, to the otedi- 
saints ! ""Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord j ^cts 6.'7. ch. 
Jesus Christ ! i**- '^^■ 

' k Acts 9. 15. 

I ch. 9. 24. 1 Cor. 

§ 2.— chap. i. 8-17. i- 2- 1 Thess. 4. 

St. Paul rejoices at their faith — Expresses a great desire to visit them, that he might ■, „ , „ 

establish them by the imparting of some spiritual gift ; by which proof he and they 2 Cor. 1. 2. Gal. 

would be mutually strengthened and comforted in the faith of Christ — Being appointed ^' ^" 
VOL. £1 37 T 



290 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. [Part XIII 

§ 2. to preach the Gospel to all nations, he still desires to preach it to the Romans — First, 

a ICor. 1.4. Phil. because he affirms it to be the power of God unto salvation to the Jew, and also to the 

^',^i^°^%^'n'^' Gentile — Secondly, that in the Gospel alone is revealed the righteousness of God; and 

Philemon 4. ' the only condition of justification and acceptance with him, which is by faith, and not 

b ch. 16. 19. by works — Thirdly, on account of the superiority of the Gospel dispensation to the 

1 Thess. 1. 8. Law of Moses, or the light or law of conscience, both of which condemn to death, 
"l.is.'vhU l.^S. without any condition, all those who have sinned. 

d \cts%7^^' ^ First, "I thank my God, through Jesus Christ for you all, that 'your 

2 Tim. 1. 3. faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. ^ For "God is my wit- 
*j?hn'4. 23 ^4?'' ness, '^wliom I serve * with my spirit in the Gospel of his Son, that 

Phil. 3. 3. 'without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers ; 

/ ch^ir23 y> ^^ making -^request, if by any means now at length I might have a 

1 fhess. 3.' 10. prosperous journey (by ^the will of God) to come unto you. ^^ For 
*' '''""' *'^^' I long to see you, that ''I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, 
t Or, in you. ^o the end ye may be established; ^"^that is, that I may be com- 
i Tit. 1.4. 2 Pet. fortcd together twith you by 'the mutual faith both of you and me. 
•^h^ 15 23 ^^ Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that ^oftentimes I 
k se'e Acts 1(5. 7. purposed to como unto you, (but *was let hitherto), that I might have 
zph'tTn^^ some 'fruit tamong you also, even as among other Gentiles. '''I '"am 
J Or, in you. debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians ; both to the wise, 
m 1 Cor. 9. 16. and to the unwise : ^^ so, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach 
"Mark's! 38.^"' thc Gospel to you that are at Rome also. 

2 Tim. 1. 8. 16 Pqj. "J j^jjj j^qj. ashamcd of the Gospel [of Christ] : for °it is the 
"15.2?"^' ' ' power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth ; ''to the Jew 
p Luke 2. 30, 31, flrgt and also to the Greek. ^"^ For 'therein is the righteousness of God 

32. & 24. 47. ..... ~ 

Acts 3. 26. & 13. revealed from faith to faith : as it is 'written. — 

26, 46. ch. 2. 9. 

q ch. 3. 21. " The just shall live by faith." 

T Hab. 2. 4. John 

3. 36. Gal. 3. 11. 

Phil. 3. 9. Heb. § 3. — chap. i. 18, to the end. 

St. Paul shows that the Gentiles had a suflicient evidence of God and of his glorious 

perfections in the works of creation — To demonstrate that no man by the law of nature 

could obtain salvation, he enumerates the vices of the Greeks, who had attained to 

§ 3. the highest degree of human knowledge and wisdom — He asserts that they knew 

a Acts 17. 30. God, but concealed the knowledge of him, till their own hearts lost sight of the truth, 

Eph. 5. 6. Col. and they established the worship of the creature instead of the Creator — By their 

6 Acts 14 17 knowledge of God they were convinced of the punishment which awaited their 

* Or to them. crimes ; yet they continued in them, and encouraged others to do so likewise. 

f. John 1. 9. 18 Yon "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungod- 

'^Acts M.V7*&' liness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteous- 

17.27. ness. ^^ Because 'that which may be known of God is manifest *in 

^m^yfte.""'"'^ thcui ; for 'God hath showed it unto them ; ^^ (for ''the invisible things 

'jer'^''"°5 Ephf' of him fiom the creation of the world are clearly seen, being under- 

4. 17, 18. stood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and God- 

■^ Deut.°4"i6, head;) tso that they are without e.xcuse. ^i Because that, when they 

^^o'ls^le'^"' ^^"^^ ^0^1' they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but 

jer. 2! 11'. Ezek. 'bccamo vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was dark- 

29. ■ "'^ " ened : ^^ professing ^themselves to be wise, they became fools, ^^ and 

''wh(fV'23 changed the glory of the incorruptible ^'God into an image made like 

Acts 7. 42. Eph. to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping 

4. 18, 19.2Thes. , . ^ ' ' 1 a 

2. 11, 12. things. 

'/ThessV^4 ^* Wherefore ''God also gave them up to uncleanness through the 

1 Pet. 4.' 3.' lusts of their own hearts, Ho dishonor their own bodies •'between them- 
{ ^ Theses. Lg. selves ; ^5 who changed 'the truth of God 'into a lie, and worshipped 

iJohn5.2u. and served the creature tmore than the Creator, who is blessed for 
'io!'i4!l°i3^25. ever! Amen, ^e por this cause God gave them up unto '"vile affec- 

Amos 2. 4. tions ; for even their women did change the natural use into that 
i Le'v^i'ra^, which is against nature : ^'^and likewise also the men, leaving the natu- 

23-jEph. 5. 12. ral use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another ; men 
with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves 



Sect. XIII.] THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMAxXS. 291 

that recompence of their error which was meet. ^^ And "even as they "g^'^^i "' ^ 
did not like * to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over *or, to acknow- 
to ta reprobate mind, to do those things ^vhich are not convenient; ^ o^a min<i r<«<j 
-^ being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covet- o/jud^ent. 
ousness, maliciousness ; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, mahgnitj' ; " ^ ■ ■ • 
whisperers, ^"^ backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, 
inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ^^ without understand- * °h. 2!^!"^'*' 
ing, covenant breakers, twithout natural affection, implacable, unmer- q ch. 6. 21. 
ciful : ^- who ^knowing the judgment of God, (that they which com- '■jj^"!^'^' ^'' 
mit such things 'are worthy of death), not only do the same, ''but * ot, consent with 
*have pleasure in them that do them. 



them. 



§ 4. — chap. ii. 1—3. 

The Apostle, well knowing the readiness of the Jews to join in the condemnation of the 
GentUes for their sins, now endeavours to convince the Jews of sin, by declaring that 
they also are guilty of the same crimes, and that God's judgment passed in their Law 
against such crimes is known to be according to truth ; and that all those who commit 
them, whether Jews or Gentiles^ will not escape the final judgment of God. § 4. 

^ Therefore thou art "inexcusable, O man whosoever thou art that " ''^- ^- '^°- 
judgest ! ''For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; V^ fun'. 7^1%!' 
for thou that judgest doest the same things. - But we are sure that the Joi«i8.9. 
judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit 

such things. ^ And thinkest thou this, O man that judgest them which 

do such things, and doest the same ! that thou shalt escape the judg- 
ment of God ? 

§ 5. — chap. ii. 4-10. - . , 

The Apostle admonishes the Jews that their privileges will tend to their condemnation h q ea p h 

if they do not repent — He denies all distinctions between Jews and Gentiles in the 1. 7. & 2. 4, 7. ' 

judgment of God ; and affirms that the same punishments, and the same rewards, will * ch. 3. 25. 

be equally given both to the Jew and to the Greek. '^ ^' 

^ -^ ° . . . d Is. 30. 18. 

^ Or despisest thou "the riches of his goodness and forbearance and 2 Pet. 3. 9, 15. 
"long-sufTering ; '^not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to ^jam! 5.*.' ^' 
repentance ? ^ But after thy hardness and impenitent heart "treasurest ■^^^\l\Y'/yi 
up unto thvself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the la.Jer. ]7. 10.& 

3*'^ 19 Alatt 16 

righteous judgment of God, ^ who -'will render to every man according 27.' ch'. u. 19. 
to his deeds: ''to them who, by patient continuance in well doing, 2 cor'. 5'. to. 
seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: ^ but unto Y>\^^it^° 
them that are contentious and °'do not obey the truth, but obey un- ^ Job 24. 13. ch. 
righteousness, indignation, and wrath. ^ Tribulation and anguish upon g. 
every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew ''first, and also of the a Amos 3. 2. 
*Gentile ! ^° But 'glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh i Pet. 4.'i7.' 
good, to the Jew first, and also to the tGentile I *?'^^^'^J: 

= ' ' I 1 Pet. 1. 7. 

t Gr. Greek. 



§ 6. — chap. ii. 11-16. 
St. Paul declares that with God there is no distinction of persons — That all men shall 
be judged according to the degree of light and knowledge which they have received 
—That, not these Jews who profess the Law and are not doers of it, but the Gentiles, 
and all those who act up to it. without having received the later knowledge of it, wOl 
find favor with God at the great day, when all men shall be judged by the law of con- 
science, and of faith, according to the Gospel of God. \ g. 

^^ For "there is no respect of persons with God. ^^ For as many as ^ Dem. jo. 17. 
have sinned without law shall also perish without law : and as many Job 34. ig. Acta 
have sinned in the Law shall be judged by the Law ; ^^ (for 'not the e^E^h.'e^'g.^' 
hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers of the Law shall i°lyf'''^' ^ ^°'' 
be justified. ^^ For when the Gentiles, which have not the Law, do by & Matt. 7.21. 

• - . . 'J Jam 1 22 93 

nature the things contained in the Law, these, having not the Law, 25. 1 John's. 7. 
are a law unto themselves : ^^ which show the work of the Law written 



292 



THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 



[Part XIIL 



* Or, the con- 
science witness- 
ing with them. 

t Or, between 
themselves. 

c Eccles. 19. 14. 
Matt. 25.31. 
John 12. 48. ch. 

3. 6. 1 Cor. 4. 5. 
Kev. 20. 12. 

d John 5. 22. 
Acts 10. 42. & 
17. 31. 2 Tim. 

4. 1, 8. 1 Pet. 4. 
5. 

e ch. 16. 25. 

1 Tim. 1. 11. 

2 Tim. 2. 8. 



§7. 

a Matt. 3. 9. 

John 8. 33. ch. 

9. 6, 7. 2 Cor. 

11. 22. 
b Mic. 3. 11. ch. 

9.4. 
e Is. 45. 25. & 

48.2. John 8. 41. 
d Deut. 4. 8. Ps. 

147. 19, 20. 
e Phil. 1. 10. 
* Or, triest the 

things that differ. 
f Matt. 15. 14. & 

23. 16, 17, 19, 

24. John 9. 34, 
40, 41. 

£■ ch. 6. 17. 

2 Tim. 1. 13. & 

3.5. 
A Ps. 50. 16, &c. 

Matt. 23. 3, &c. 
i Mai. 3. 8. 
j ver. 17. 
k 2 Sam. 12. 14. 

Is. 52. 5. Ezek. 

36. 20, 23. 



§8. 

a Gal. 5. 3. 

i Acts 10. 34, 

35. 
c Matt. 12. 41, 

42. 
d Matt. 3. 9. 

John 8. 39. ch. 

9. 6, 7. Gal. 6. 

15. Rev. 2. 9. 
e 1 Pet. 3. 4. 
/ Col. 2. 11. Phil. 

3.3. 
g ch. 7. 6. 2 Cor. 
*3. 6. 
A 1 Cor. 4. 5. 

2 Cor. 10. 18. 

1 Theas. 2. 4. 



§9. 



in their hearts ; *their conscience also bearing witness, and their 
thoughts tthe meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another ;) ^^ in 
"the day when God shall judge the secrets of men ''by Jesus Christ, 
^according to my Gospel. 

§ 7.— chap. ii. 17-24. 
St. Paul shows that the mere knowledge of religion could not justify the Jew — The in- 
efficacy of the Mosaic Law for salvation is proved by the flagrant violations of it in 
the conduct of the Jewish Scribes and Rulers, who were the appointed instructors of 
the people — He proves the charge by passages from their own Scriptures. 

^"^ Behold ! "thou art called a Jew, and 'restest in the Law, "and 
makest thy boast of God, ^^ and ''knowest his will, "and *approvest the 
things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the Law ; ^^ and 
■'^art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them 
which are in darkness, ^'^ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of 
babes, "which hast the form of knowledge and of the ti-uth in the Law. 
^^ Thou ''therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? 
thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal ? ^^ Thou 
that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit 
adultery ? thou that abhorrest idols, 'dost thou commit sacrilege ? 
^^ Thou that ^makest thy boast of the Law, through breaking the Law 
dishonorest thou God ? ^* For the name of God is blasphemed among 
the Gentiles through you, as it is ''written. 



§ 8. — chap. ii. 2.5, to the end. 
St. Paul proceeds to show that circumcision, in which the Jews gloried, as the sign of 
their descent from Abraham, and their peculiar privileges of God's chosen people, 
would profit them nothing unless they kept the Law — By transgressing the Law, the 
Jew forfeited his privileges, and was in no better condition than the uncircumcised 
Gentile — The Gentiles, who perform the duties of the Law, will be accepted of God, 
and admitted into the number of his chosen people — He is not a son of Abraham who 
makes only an outward profession of religion ; but he only is a true son who is spiri- 
tually pure. 

^^ For "circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the Law : but if 
thou be a breaker of the Law, thy circumcision is made uncircum- 
cision. ^^ Therefore 'if the Uncircumcision keep the righteousness of 
the Law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision ? 
-^ And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the Law, 
"judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the 
Law ? ^^ For ''he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly ; neither is 
circumcision that which is outward in the flesh : ^^ but he is a Jew, 
"which is one inwardly ; and ^circumcision is that of the heart, ^(in the 
spirit — a7id not in the letter ;) ''whose praise is not of men, but of God. 



a Deut. 4. 7, 8. 

Ps. 147. 19, 20. 

ch. 2. 18. &. 9. 

4. 
b ch. 10. 16. Heb. 

4.2. 



§ 9. — chap. iii. 1-8. 
The Jews and Gentiles having been now equally convinced of sin by the Apostle, he 
proceeds to refute the prejudices of the Jews, by introducing one who inquires in 
what then the children of Abraham are favored more than the Gentiles ? The Apos- 
tle replies — " In having the oracles of God committed to them " — The Jew then in- 
quires, whether, because some of their nation did not believe in these oracles, their 
unbelief would annul the promises of God .' The Apostle, in answer, maintains that 
the truth and promises of God were confirmed by their unbelief; the frailty of man 
breaking the conditions on which they rested- — The Jew then asks, " If by their 
unbelief the righteousness of God is more abundantly displayed, would not God be 
unjust to punish them ?" — The Apostle shows that God cannot be unjust; because, if 
he were, how could he judge the world? — The Jew repeats the argument — The Apos- 
tle rejects it. by affirming that such conduct would be inculcating the practice of evil 
that good might ensue — The just condemnation of those who hold such an opinion. 

^ What advantage then hath the Jew ? or what is the profit of cir- 
cumcision ? ^ Much every way. Chiefly, because that "unto them 
were committed the oracles of God. ^ For what if 'some did not be- 



Sect. XIII.] THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 293 

lieve ? 'shall their unbehef make the faith of God without effect ? \^"g-^^^f[ 
^ God ''forbid ! vea, let 'God be true, but-^every man a liar; as it is 29.' 2 Tim. 2. ii 

c -.^ ■ i Job 40. 8. 

^vritten,— , j„h„ 3. 33. 

" That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, /^Ps. 62. 9. & ue. 

And mightest overcome when thou art judged." g ps. 51. 4. 

^ . ft ch. 6. 19. GaL 

^ But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what .^- ^^■ 
shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I 'speak jobs. 3.'&34. 
as a man.) ^ God forbid ! for then 'how shall God judge the world ? ■ Jh 5 20 &6 
' For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto 1. is. 
his glory ; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? ^ And not rather 

(as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), "Let 

us do evil, that good may come ? whose damnation is just. 



^^ 10.— chap. iii. 9-20. ^ ^ ^^- 

* Gr. charged, ch. 
The Jew now inquires whether they have not better claims than the Gentiles? — To 1. 28, &c.&:2. 

which question tiie Apostle again affirms what he has already stated, that both Jews ' ^'^' _ 

and Gentiles were equally under sin — The sin of the Jews proved from their own 22. 

Scriptures, which they allowed to be of divine inspiration — No man can be justified by b Ps. 14. 1, 2, 3. 

the Law either of Moses, or of natvire, which could give only the knowledge of sin ' 

and its condemnation. "^jg^- ^- ^- •^®''-^- 

^ What then? are we better than theyl Xo, in no wise: for we dVs.iAo.x 
have before *proved both Jews and Gentiles, that ''they are all under ^ prov. i. ie. is, 
sin : ^° as it is Hvritten, — ^^- '^'®- 

^ Ps. 36. I. 

" There is none righteous — no, not one ! a JoKnio.34. & 

^"^ There is none that understandeth, ■ i job 5. le. ps. 

There is none that seeketh after God ; i6!'^ch.T^2o. 

1^ They are all gone out of the way, _^^- ^■ 

They are together become unprofitable ; ''2."' ' 

There is none that doeth good — no, not one ! \hJ'i^^^it°of 

^^ Their 'throat is an open sepulchre ; ood. " 

With their tongues they have used deceit ; acVs i3.'39. Gai 

The ''poison of asps is under their lips ; I'plf 2%^9 ^tu. 

^* Whose 'mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 2-5-_ _ 

^^ Their -^feet are swift to shed blood, 

^^ Destruction and miserv are in their wavs : 

^' And the way of peace have theA" not known. ^ 

18 There 'is no" fear of God before" their eves." "iM? p^ih^: 

Heb. 11. 4, &c. 

1^ Now we know that what things soever '"the Law saith, it saith to b Joims. 46. 

them who are under the Law : that 'every mouth may be stopped, and j'^h'^i 2.1 Pet. 

•'all the world may become tguilty before God ! ^'^ Therefore *by the ^- 1"- 

deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight : for ^by throWhout. 

the Law is the knowledse of sin. e ch. 10. 12. Gai. 

3. 2s. Col. 3. 11. 

/ver. 9. ch. 11. 

§ 11. — chap. iii. 21-26. 32. Gal. 3. 22. 

The Law having entirely failed for justification, the Apostle declares that the only '^2*^8' fit 3 5 " 
method of justification is by faith in Jesus Christ, which is taught in the Law and the 7. 
Prophets, and ofiered alike to the Jews and GentUes. both of whom were equalh' con- ^ Matt. 2_0. 23. 
vinced of sin — And with God there was no respect of persons — Justification the free ]. ]4_ f x'jm. 2. 
sift of God to all. through faith, by the propitiation and redemption of Christ Jesus. 6. Heb. 9. 12. 
^ a •" • ■ • 1 Pet. ]. 18, 19. 

-1 BcT now "the righteousness of God without the Law is mani- * or,/oreor- 
fested, ''being witnessed by the Law 'and the Prophets ; ^ even the j L^^.'^ie. 13. 
righteousness of God luhich is ''by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and | John 2. 2. &. 
upon all them that believe. For ^there is no difference. '^^ For -^all j coi. 1. 20. 
have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ; ^^ being justified i Acts 13. 38, 39 
freelv 'bv his grace ^through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: . ^ ™" '. ''' 
^^ whom God hath *set forth 'to he a propitiation through faith •'in his over. 
blood, to declare his righteousness *for the n-emission of 'sins that ^ Beb^.f/il"/ 

VOL. II. ^T 



294 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. [Part XIH. 

are past, through the forbearance of God ; ^^ to declare, / say, at this 
time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him 
which beUeveth in Jesus. 

§ 12. — chap. iii. 27, to the end. 

St. Paul declares that all boasting is excluded, and concludes the argument by declaring 

that neither the Jew nor the Gentile, under the Gospel, can be justified excepting by faith 

alone, without any assistance from the works of the Law — The Gentiles as well as the 

Jews being equally regarded by God — The same means of justification are appointed 

§ 12- for both — The Law is established, or made perfect, by faith. 

"aX'. icJr'. Lst ^^ Where "is boasting then ? It is excluded. By what law ? Of 
31. Ephe3.2.9. works ? Nav, but by the law of faith ; ^^ therefore we conclude 'that 

b Acts ]3. 38 39. . . *^ 

ver. 20, 21, 22. ' a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law. ^^ Is he the 
ch. 8. 3. Gal. 2. q^^ ^£ ^Y^Q Jews ouly ? is he not also of the Gentiles ? Yes, of the 
" ch. 10. 12, 13^ Gentiles also. ^^ Seeing "it is one God, which shall justify the Circum- 
cision by faith, and Uncircumcision through faith. 

^^ Do we then make void the Law through faith ? God forbid ! 
_J yea, we establish the Law. 

§ 13. — chap. iv. 1-12. 
The Apostle proves that Abraham was not justified by the works of the Law — He hath 
not whereof to boast — His justification was of faith, of grace and favor — not of debt, 
as a reward due to his works— David testifies the same method of justification, from 
the fact, that Abraham was justified in uncircumcision, and that he afterwards received 
the sign of circumcision as the seal of his justification by faith, that he might become 
the spiritual father both of Jew and Gentile, who were to be alike entitled to justifica- 
S 13. lion on the equal condition of faith only. 

°3? g.^john s! 33' ^ What shall we then say that "Abraham, our father as pertaining 
39. 2 Cor. 11.22. to the flesh, hath found? "^ For if Abraham were 'justified by works, 
23. ' ■ ■ ' he hath whereof to glory ; but not before God. ^For what saith the 

'3*^6° jam ^2 23'' ^Scripture? " Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him 
See ver. 22. for rightcousness." '^ Now ''to him that worketh is the reward not 
reckoned of grace, but of debt ; ^ but to him that worketh not, but 
believeth on Him that justifieth 'the ungodly, his faith is counted 
for righteousness. ^ Even as David also describeth the blessedness of 
the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 
■=' saying,— 

/Ps. 32. 1,2. " Blessed ■'^are they whose iniquities are forgiven. 

And whose sins are covered ! 
^ Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin ! " 
^ Cometh this blessedness then upon the Circumcision only, or upon 
the Uncircumcision also ? For we say, that faith was reckoned to 
Abraham for righteousness. ^° How was it then reckoned ? when he 
was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision ? Not in circumcision, but 

g Gen 17. 10. in uncircumcisiou. ^^ And ^he received the sign of circumcision, a 
seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being un- 

*.i'",''/ i?-,^y''J;- circumcised ; that ''he misfht be the father of all them that be- 
lieve, though they be not circumcised, (that righteousness might be 
imputed unto them also :) ^^ and the father of circumcision to them 
who are not of the Circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps 
of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncir- 
cimicised. 

§ li.— chap. iv. 13-22. 
The Apostle continues his argument, by declaring to the Jews that the promise itself, 
which was given to Abraham, intimated that all the world should become his heirs 
through the medium of his faith — But that if only the Jews were to be the heirs to his 
promise, faith is made void, and the promise which was given on the condition of faith 
is cancelled — For the Law, without mercy, subjects the sinner to punishment — and 



d ch. 11. 6. 
« Josh. 24. 2. 



12, 16. Gal. 3. 7. 



Sect. XIIL] THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 295 

without the Law there can be no rule of duty, and consequently no sin — On this 
account the promise is given to faith — the free grace of God including both the natu- 
ral and spiritual children of Abraham — Abraham's justification in uncircumcision . 
proves the acceptance of the Gentiles — and the promise itself confirmed to Abraham, ^ 
as the father of many nations, establishes the claim of the Gentiles to all the blessings "GaK"3. 29. ' "' 
of redemption. j Gal. 3. 18. 

12 For the promise, that he should be the "heir of [the] world, was ^s'ao.' & vfsf' 
not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the Law, but through the 5°' g cor^r?^^' 
rii^hteousness of faith, i"* For 'if they which are of the Law be heirs, 9- ^ai. 3. w, 19. 
faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect ; ^^ because "the ^ ch. 3. 24. 
Law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. eOai. 3. 22. 
^^ Therefore it is of faith, that it might be ''by grace ; "to the end the •^g^-^^-^-'^''-^- 
promise might be sure to all the seed ; not to that only which is of gGen.n.5. 
the Law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, ^who is him. 
the father of us all, ^^ (as it is ^written, " I have made thee a father Vi'l'"' ^'^^' 
of many nations,") *before Him whom he believed, even God, ''who j ch.'g. 26. 1 cor. 
quickeneth the dead, and calleth those 'things which be not as jp^s. iPet. 2. 
though they were. J '^en- 15. 5. 

1^ Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the ''if.Ti'. Heb!'iL 
father of many nations, (according to that which was -'spoken, " So 1^.12. 
shall thy seed be !") ^^ and being not weak in faith, *'he considered not 1. 37, 45. neb. ^ 
his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, "' ^^' 
neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb : ^° he staggered not at the TTr~ 
promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory 
to God ; ^1 and being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, lo. 'e, 11.' 
'He was able also to perform. ^^ And therefore it was imputed to him '\:§%q ^- -^- ^ 
for righteousness. c is. 53. 5, 6. ch. 

° 3. 25. & 5. 6. & 

8. 32. 2 Cor. 5. 

§ 15. — chap. iv. 23, to the end. I Pei.^'i. 24'!'&; 

The circumstance of Abraham's acceptance with God through faith was recorded for 3. 18. Heb.9. 28. 

our sakes — to show us that the only means of salvation with God is through faith in j pe ""^i 2i ' 

his Son, who suffered for our sins, and rose again, as a pledge of our reconciliation, or 

justification. S If 

23 Now "it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to ^ j^ 33. 17. joi,n 
him ; ^^ but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe 'on gjj- ^^- <^''- ^- 2^' 
Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead ; ^^ who 'was delivered b Eph.s. 14. Coi. 
for our offences, and ''was raised again for our justification. c^jfhnio. 9 & 

14. 6. Ephes. 2. 

18. &3. 12. Hel). 
§ 16. — chap. V. 1-11. 10. 19. 

St. Paul proceeds by enumerating the great blessings and privileges which follow justifi- ^ ^ '-''"■• ^^- ^■ 

cation by faith — The Holy Spirit imparted to the Gentiles manifests the love of God „ ,, ' ' ' 

towards them, which is confirmed by Christ's dying for them while they were still Acis5. 41.2Cor. 

heathens — The Gentiles have then the same hope of salvation through Christ, and the :" j • V j ig 

same grounds for rejoicing in God, with the natural seed of Abraham, as they have been l Pet. 3. 14. 

reconciled to God by the same Atonement. ff •'■""• !• 3- 

1 Therefore "being justified by faith, we have 'peace with God /piX].'2o. 
through our Lord Jesus Christ, - (by "whom also we have access by j 2 cor. i. 22. 
faith into this grace ''wherein we stand ;) and "rejoice in hope of the EphW. 1'. 13, 14. 
glory of God. ^ And not only so, but ^we glory in tribulations also, *tZMme°'''^'''^'° 
^knowing that tribulation worketh patience; "* and '"patience, experi- Gai. 4. 4. 
ence ; and experience, hope; ^ and 'hope maketh not ashamed : "be- 2™'^' 
cause the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost ^/p^" g^'ig"' 
which is given unto us. ^ For when we were yet without strength, *in uohni ia.& 
due time ^Christ died for the ungodly. ''For scarcely for a righteous m W. 3. 25. Eph.- 
man will one die ; yet peradventure for a good man some would even f joh^f'/-i'' ^*' 
dare to die.- ® But 'God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while n ch. 1. 18. 
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ^ Much more then, being now „ ch. 8!32.' 
justified '"by his blood, we shall be saved "from wrath through him. /> scor. .5. 18,19. 

^n n o-r ^ ■ v -i i >i i i Eph. 2. 16. Col. 

'"iror II, when we were enemie.s. '^we were reconciled to God by 1.20,21. 



296 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. [Part XHI. 

the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be 

'h"*!? Vc'*4 ^^^^^ ''^y ^'^ ^^^^- ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^"'y *^' '^^* ^^ ^^^^ Py ^^ ^°^ through 
loj ii! ' our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the t Atonement. 

r ch. 9. ]7. & 3. 

29, 30. Gal. 4. 9. 

t Or, ReconcUia- § 17. — chnp. V. 12, to the end. 

2 Cor. 5." 18 ' 19. ^''^ P^-ul now lays down the doctrine of Original Sin — He shows that by the transgression 
of one man sin entered into the world, and the sentence of death was passed upon all 
men, for that all were afterwards born with a sinful nature — That death reigned, 
through the corruption of our nature, before the Mosaic Law was known — Adam, the 

type, the earthly head of the human race, communicated sin — Christ, the antitype, the 

spiritual head, communicated life and justiiication to all — The effects of Christ's obe- 
dience are greater than the effects of Adam's disobedience — By one offence Adam 
brought into the world transgression and death — By obedience Christ undid the evil 
of sin, and through the righteousness of faith restored to all mankind the free gift of 
life and pardon for man's offence, for both original and actual sin — The Law entered 
to give the knowledge of the guilt of sin — The grace and gift of God abounds, to 
deliver us from the condemnation of the Law — As sin has universally reigned, subject- 
ing all mankind to spiritual and temporal death, so shall also the grace of God reign, 
§,17. producing holiness unto eternal life. 

"i Cot" 15^21 ^^ Wherefore, as "by one man sin entered into the world, and 

J Gen. 2. 17. ch. ''death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, *for that all have 
* Or in whom, sinucd. ^^ For until the Law sin was in the world : but "sin is not 
e ch. 4.15. 1 John imputed when there is no law; ^^nevertheless death reigned from 
7. See Note 23. Adam to Moscs, cvcu ovcr them that had not sinned after the simili- 
d 1 Cor. 15. 21, tude of Adam's^ transgression, ''who is the figure of Him that was 

22, 45. fe) 3 & 

to come. 

^^ But not as the offence, so also is the free gift ; for if through the 

offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the 
'Matr2o"'i8 & §^^^ ^y gi't^ce, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded 'unto 
26. 28. many. ^^ And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift : for the 

judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many 
t Or, by one of- offeuccs uuto justification. ^^For if tby one man's offence death 

fence t 

reigned by one ; much more they which receive abundance of grace 

and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus 

X Or, hj one of- Christ. ^^ Therefore as Iby the offence of one iudp-ment came upon 

fence. . .*''-' '• 

*or,'byone ^^ xiiew to Condemnation; even so *by the righteousness of one the 
righteousness, y^-gg gij^ Came ^upou all men unto justification of life. ^^ For as by 
Heb. 2. 9. " one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience 

'^afool'&^i'i's!''' '^f One shall many be made righteous. ^° Moreover ^the Law entered, 
&7^8. Gal. 3. that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did 

h Luke 7. 47. mucli ''morc abouud ; ^^ that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so 
1 Tim. 1. 14. might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus 
Christ our Lord. 



§ 18. — chap. vi. 1-11. 
St. Paul, after having shown that by the one offence of Adam all men were condemned 
to death, inquires whether it were possible to preach, as they had been accused of 
doing (chap. iii. 8.), " that by the continuance of sin, the free grace of God to eternal 
life would be more abundantly given to man" — To confute this prevailing error, he 
affirms the obligation of Christian holiness from the rite of baptism, by which Christians 
were instructed, that, as Christ was crucified, and gave up his body as a sacrifice to sin, 
so those who are baptized unto him should consider their bodies as dead and buried 
with him unto sin, and as raised with him to newness of life, by the same quickening 
Spirit who raised the dead body of Christ from the grave — The old man, or the natural 
r -.Q man, being put to death with Christ, the power of sin is destroyed, and man is deliv- 

ered from its dominion — Those who are dead unto sin with Christ, will live with him 
a c . . .ver. . ^^^.^ q^^ ^^^ ^ — Which things the Romans are exhorted to consider, 
b ver. 11. ch. 7. >= 

4. Gal. 2.19. & 1 What shall we say then ? "shall we continue in sin, that grace 
c Col 3.3. 1 Pet. may abound? "God forbid! How shall we, that are Mead to sin, 
*~or are. ^'^^ ^"y logger therein ? ^ Know ye not, that 'so many of us as *were 

d 1 Cor. 15. 29. baptized into Jesus Christ ''were baptized into his death ? ^ Therefore 



Sect. XIII.] THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 297 

we are 'buried with him by baptism into death: that-Hike as Christ "^°\^:}^:„ 
was raised up from the dead by 'the glory of the lather, "even so we 6.14. acor. 13. 
also should walk in newness of life. ^ For 4f we have been planted ^ ■j^,,^ g. 11. & 
together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness n- 4o. 
of his resurrection ; '"knowing this, that -'our old man is crucified with \k, 23,24.^ ' 
him, that 'the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we , ph-,VJo u. 
should not serve sin. 'For 'he that is dead is tfreed from sin. j Gai. s.ao.'fc 
*Novv "if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live |pt!'4*'J!' coi. 
with him ; ^knovvino; that "Christ being raised from the dead dieth no ,^-^'^: „ 

^~^ ■ r\ . fi. Col 2 11 

more — death hath no more dominion over him. ^"For in that he ;i Pet. 4.1. 
died, °he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, ^he liveth unto ^gt. justified. 
God. ^^ Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be Mead indeed unto ""E^'^'ig"" 
sin, but 'aUve unto God through Jesus Christ [our Lord]. „ Hebigiar.ss. 



p Luke 20. 38. 
.2. 



§19.-a«^.vi. 12-14. ^--^^g 

St. Paul exhorts the Romans, as they are now by the death of Christ redeemed from the 

dominion of sin, not to suiFer sin again to reign over their mortal bodies, but to subdue 

them — He calls upon them to resist the tempting power of sin, and to surrender their 
souls and bodies to the service of righteousness unto God ; for they are no longer 
under the Law, which exacts a sinless obedience without mercy, but they are admitted 
into the dispensation of the Gospel, which gives pardon and grace. § 19- 

^^Let "not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should "nl'Jgg"'*' 
obey it in the lusts thereof; ^^ neither yield ye your ''members as i ch. 7. 5. coi.s. 
*instruments of unrighteousness unto sin ; but "yield yourselves unto /Gr.Trml or 
God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as ^ceapons.' 
instruments of righteousness unto God. ^"^ For ''sin shall not have %?2'4?&,4.2. ^'' 
dominion over vou : for ye are not under the Law, but under '^,<^'i; V ■!' s. &; 8. 

. J J .3. Gal. 5. 18. 

Grace. 

§ 20.— chap. vi. 15-18. 

The Apostle then inquires whether it was rational to suppose, as some did, that sin might 
abound, because the Jews were delivered ftom the Law (which exacted a perfect obedi- 
ence, without any condition of pardon), and were admitted into the Dispensation of 
Mercy — He afSrms, on the contrary, that under every dispensation, those who continue 
in sin are the servants of sin. and become subject to eternal death — Those only who 
are obedient to the faith of the Gospel receive the reward of righteousness, the free 
gift of eternal life — He rejoices that the Romans, who had been the slaves of sin, had 
now obeyed the form or mould of doctrine imparted to them in baptism, by which they 
were emancipated from its slavery, and were become the servants of rio-hteousness. § ^^■ 

^^ What then? shall we sin, "because we are not under the Law, " icor. 9.21. 
but under Grace? God forbid ! ^^ Know ye not, that 'to whom ve *,'^^"o ^,\^^- 
yield yourselves servants to obey, ms servants ye are to whom ye 2 Pet. 2. 19. 
obey ; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteous- 
ness ? ^^ But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but 
ye have obeyed from the heart 'that form of doctrine * which was « 2 Tim. 1. 13. 
delivered you ! ^^ Being then ''made free from sin, ye became the *wJr'e'denv^J." 
servants of righteousness. '^/^''"^•S^- 

^ 1 Lor. 7. lay. 

Gal. 5. 1. 1 Pet. 

§ 21. — chap. vi. 19, to the end. 
The Apostle, in reasoning with the Romans, employs allusions to their own-custems (the 
laws of slavery being familiar to them), that they might better comprehend the tyranny 

that sin had exercised over their bodies — He exhorts them, as they are now made free 

from sin, as they were before free from righteousness, to yield their members, which 
had formerly been employed in the service of sin, whose end was death, to the service 
of righteousness, whose end is eternal life. 

13 (I SPEAK after the manner of men because of the infirmity of 
your flesh.) For as ye have yielded your members servants to un- § 21, 
cleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity ; even so now yield your mem- a John 8. 34. 
bers servants to righteousness unto holiness. ^° For Avhen ye were *^''-^"^**«<™^- 

'--' *' 71CSS 

'the servants of sin, ye were free *from righteousness. ^^ What ''fruit t ch.7. 5. 
VOL. a. 3a 



298 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. [Part XIH. 

« ch. 1. 32. ha(j yg then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? for "the 

d Johns. 32. end of those things is death. ^^IBut now ''being made free from sin, 

and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto hohness, and 

'ch-'^s; i2."km. the end everlasting hfe. ~^ For ''the wages of sin^ is death ; but ■''the 

■'.^^^T ^. sift of God is eternal hfe through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

a See Note 24. ° & 

/ ch. 2. 7. & 5. 

17, 21. 1 Pet. 1. § 22.— chap. vii. 1-6. 

The Apostle, still further to convince the Jews of the inefficacy of the Law to justifica 
tion, affirms that the Law of Moses, like the law of marriage, was dissolved by the 
death of either party — That as they have been put to death by the Law in the body of 

Christ, they were at liberty to be married to another husband, even to Him, who, 

though put to death, was raised again from the dead, that with him they might 
live unto God— He asserts, that, before they were dead with Christ in the Flesh, their 
evil propensities, wliich were made manifest by the Law, subjected them to death — 
But they were now delivered from the power of the Law, having given up, with 
Christ, the fleshly body of sin, which held them bound under its curse, that they might 
serve God in the spiritual obedience of the Gospel, and not in the old ceremonies and 
• letter of the Law. 

1 Know ye not, brethren (for I speak to them that know the law), 
§ 22. how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth ? 
o 1 Cor. 7. 39. 2 Pqj. -^j^j^g wouiau which hath a husband is bound by the law to her 
husband so long as he liveth ; but if the husband be dead, she is 
b Matt. 5. 32. loosed from the law of her husband. ^ So then 'if, while her husband 
liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adul- 
teress ; but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law, so that 
she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. 
''i9!''& s^'is!*'' ^' * Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become "dead to the Law by 
cSi"^^' 14 ^'' *h^ body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to Him 
d Gal. 5. 22. who is raiscd from the dead, that we should ''bring forth fruit unto 
* gt. passions. God. ° For whcn we were in the Flesh, the *motions of sins, which 
/ch. 6. 21 .Gal. were by the Law, "did work in our members -'to bring forth fruit unto 
5. 19. Jam. 1. 15. (Jcath. ^ But now we are delivered from the Law, tthat being dead 
to thaC"' ™ wherein we were held ; that we should serve ° in newness of spirit, 
"W^'r^'J' and not in the oldness of the letter. 

e ch. 2. 29. 2 Cor. 

^3. 6. 



§ 23.— chap. vii. 7-12. 
The Apostle here supposes a Jew to inquire, whether the Law was the cause of sin ? to 

which he replies, that it could not be the cause of sin, because it prohibited sin — The 

evil propensity was in man, and the Law served only to discover it — St. Paul, to avoid 
giving offence, describes in his own person the state of the unregenerate Jew under 
the Law — He shows that the Law disclosed what was evil, and prohibited it — by whicii 
he sinful nature of man was strongly excited to disobedience and rebellion against its 
prohibitions — Wherefore the Law and the Commandment, as they prohibit sin, are 
holy, just, and good — But still, as the Apostle has implied, they lead to condemnation, 
§ 23. and not to salvation. 

och.3.20. ^ What shall we say then? Is the Law sin ? God forbid! Nay, 

*^e.°^^' "I had not known sin, but by the Law ; for I had not known *lust, 
h Ex. 20. 17. except the 'Law had said, " Thou shalt not covet." ^ But "sin, taking oc- 

20. 33. ch. 13. 9. casiou by the Commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupis- 
c^^.i-i^-^^- cence. For ''without the Law sin ivas dead. ^ For I was alive with- 
d 1 Cor. 15. 56. out the Law oucc : but when the Commandment came, sin revived, 
*Eiek.2o.n 13 and I died. ^^ And the Commandment, "which ivas ordained to hfe, 

21. 2 Cor. 3. 7. \ fouud to be unto death. ^^ For sin, taking occasion by the Command- 
■^ae^is?' I'xi m^' "fi^nt, deceived me, and by it slew me. ^^ Wherefore -^the Law is 

i-'8. holy, and the Commandment holy, and just, and good. 



§ 24. — chap. vii. 13-24, and former part ofver. 25. 

The Jew is now supposed to inquire, whether the Law, which is so good and holy, is the 

cause of their death ? to which the Apostle replies, that it is not the Law, but sin, 

which is the cause of death ; and the exceeding enormity of sin is manifested, when 

it subjected sinners to death by a Law, which was holy, just, and good — He affirms 



Skct. XIIL] THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 299 

that the Law itself promotes spirituality ; but to show its inefRcacy, for want of super- 
natural assistance, for sanctification, he represents, still in his own person, that the un- 
regenerate Jew, under the Law, was sold under sin, that is, without the power of 
escaping from its service ; and describes the two contending principles of the nature 
of man, which are always opposed to each other — Under the Law the carnal nature 
prevails over the inward man, or the spiritual nature — The Mosaic Law gives man the 
knowledge of liis duty, without the power of performing it, and he is brought into sub- 
jection to the law of sin and death — In this miserable condition the Apostle exclaims, 
'' Who then can deliver me from this body, wliich is sold, or is the property of sin ?" 
— ^He joyfully declares the only means of salvation to be the grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

^^ Was then that which is good made death unto me ? God forbid ! § 34. 
But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which 
is good ; that sin by the Commandment might become exceeding sin- 
ful. ^■*For we know that the Law is spiritual ; but I am carnal, "sold o i Kinjs 21. 20, 
under sin. ^^ For that which I do I *allow not; for 'what I would, iv! 1 Mac". 1. 15. 
that do I not ; but what I hate, that do I. ^'^ If then I do that which *p^''i'™."'' 
I would not, I consent unto the Law that it is good. ^~ Now then it b cai. 5. i7, 
is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. ^^ For I know 
that "in me (that is, in my Flesh,) dwelleth no good thing ; for to will 
is present with me, but hoio to perform that which is good I find not. 
^^ For the good that I would I do not ; but the evil which I would 
not, that I do. "^^ Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that 
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. ^^ I find then a law, that, when I 
would do good, evil is present with me. ^^ For I ''delight in the Law d Ps. 1. 2. 
of God after 'the inward man ; '^■^ but^I see another law in ^my mem- *Eph.°3. le! coi. 
bers, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into cap- ,^'^;^°' 
tivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ^^ O wretched man g ch. 6. 13, 19. 
that I am! who shall deliver me from t the body of this death ? ^^ I iOi,t!cisbody of 
"thank God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord ! a i cor. 15. 57. 



c Gen. 6. 5. & 8. 
21. 



§ 25. — chap. vii. latter part ofver. 25, andvm. 1-4. 
The Apostle declares that, although, while he remained under the Mosaic Law, with his 
tuind he desired to serve the Law of God, but, through the corrupt nature of his flesh, 
he served the law of sin — There is now no condemnation, in the New Covenant, to 
tiiose who believe in Christ, and walk under the influence of his Spirit — He proceeds 
to show the method by which man is delivered from the law of sin and of death — The 
Law not having the power either to pardon or to justify, through the degraded nature 
and corruption of the flesh, the Son of God, in the likeness of man, put sin to death in 
that body which had been made subject to death by the sin of the first man, by which 
the righteousness of the Law was fulfilled, and mankind were ransomed from its curse 
and power — The sacrifice of Christ enjoins on all conformity to the spirituality of the 
Law, destroying or making a sacrifice of sin in the flesh, if they would be sanctified, 
and made partakers of the Spirit of Christ. 

^^ So then with the mind I myself serve the Law of God ; but with § 25. 
the Flesh the law of sin. ^ There is therefore now no condemnation to 
them which are in Christ Jesus, [who "walk not after the Flesh, but « ™r- 4. Gai. 5. 

. . . . . 16 25. 

after the Spirit]. "^For 'the law of "the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus j johng. 36. ch 
hath made me free from ''the law of sin and death. ^ For "what the ?^^?'?"2-,*^^'-2- 

19. & 5. 1. 

Law could not do, in that it was weak through the Flesh, -^God send- c 1 Cor. 15. 45. 
ing his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh, and *for sin, con- /^°!;^'/"^. 

o ^ / a ch. 7. 94, 2o. 

demned sin in the Flesh ; "* that the righteousness of the Law might be e Acts 13. 39. ch. 
fulfilled in us, ^who walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. ig.^&K^Va^®' 

10, 14. ' ' 

/ Gal. 3. 13. 

§ 26.— chap. viii. 5-11. 2 Cor. 5. 2i. 

St. Paul contrasts the character of the Carnal and the Spiritual Man— The carnal man, *^lfor^^^'^ 
under the Law, was destitute of grace, unable to please God, and at enmity with him „■ ver. 1. 
— But Christians, who are guided by the Spirit of the Gospel into holiness, are sancti- 
fied and reconciled to God — Those who have not the Spirit have no part in Christ — ' 
The effects of the Spirit manifested in the life ; destroying the power of sin, producing 
Uie fruits of the Spirit, righteousness and holiness — And the same Spirit of God that 



300 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. [Part XHI. 

raised Jesus from the dead, dwelling in them, shall also quicken their mortal bodies, 
now under the curse of sin, and make them alive unto rig-hteousness, and raise them 
8 26. hereafter, as the body of Clirist was raised, to a life of glory. 

a John 3. 6. ^ FoR "they that are after the Flesh do mind the things of the 

i^Gai!5%" 25. Flesh ; but they that are after the Spirit, 'the things of the Spirit. 

* Gr. the minding *> For *to 'be camally minded is death ; but tto be spiritually minded 

so ver. 7! ' is life and peace. ''' Because tthe ''carnal mind is enmity against God ; 

""i^cjai^e' 8*"^' ^'^^ ^t ^^ ^^* subject to the Law of God, 'neither indeed can be ; ^ so 

^Gt.tiu minding then they that are in the Flesh cannot please God. 

tiTthf minding ^ ^ut ye are not in the Flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that-^the 

of the flesh. Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not ^the Spirit of 

e i'<^r.Vi4. Christ, he is none of his. ^° And if Christ be in you, the body is dead 

/ 1 Cor. 3. 16. & because of sin ; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ^^ But 

/john3.34.Gai. '^ ^^^ Spirit of '"Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, 

I'p' ^i''ii ' ^^' '^® ^'^^^ raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mor- 

h Acts 2. 24. tal bodies *by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 

i ch. 6. '4, 5. 

\%Z\t\\\ §27. -chap. Vm.\2-17. 

Ephes. 2. 5. rpj^^ Apostle continues his argument by affirming, that as the Spirit of God is now pro- 

his'SpiritT" mised to them in the Gospel, they are no longer obliged to live after the Flesh, which 

leads to eternal death ; but if, through the Spirit, they mortify the deeds of the Body, 

they shall attain eternal life — They are now delivered from the power and bondage of 

the Mosaic Law, and tlirough Grace are become the adopted children of God, and are 

enabled to address him as a reconciled Father, the Holy Spirit bearing witness with 
their spirit, that they are the sons of God ; and if sons, then heirs, and joint-heirs 
§ 27. with Christ of glory and immortality, if they jointly suffer with him. 

ach.6. 7, 14. ^^ THEREFORE, "brethren, we are debtors, not to the Flesh, to live 

ijer.6.Gal.6. ^^^^^ ^j^^ pj^^j^^ I3 p^^. jj^ ^^ j-^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ y^^^^^ ^^ ^j^^jj jj^ . ^^^ -^ 

6 Ephes. 4.22. ye, through the Spirit, do "mortify the deeds of the Body, ye shall 

OoI> Ot Ot 1 • 

d Gal. 5. 18. live. 

e 1 Cor. 2. 12. 14 Pq^ ij^g jfiany as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons 

/2Tim. 1.7. of God. 1^ For 'ye have not received the spirit of bondage again -^to 

1 John 4. 18. fgg^j. . \yy^^ yg havc received the ^spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, 
^5, 6." ' ^' ''Abba, Father ! i^ The 'Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, 
h Mark 14. 36. ^^^^ ^g g^j.g ^]^g children of God. ^'' And if children, then heirs ; ■'heirs 
\.5. Eph. 1.13. of God, and joint-heirs with Christ ; ""if so be that we suffer with him, 
•^cts^26. 18. that we may be also glorified together. 

^Gal. 4. 7. ' 

\^Li.'^i9^' § 28.— chap. viii. 18-23. 

2 Tim. 2. 11, 12. rpjjg Apostle, having now fully illustrated the blessings of the Gospel dispensation, 

which promises to the Jew and Gentile, through faith, both justification, sanctification, 
and a joint inheritance of glory and immortality with Christ, introduces the painful 
subject of persecutions for the Gospel's sake — He addresses himself more particularly 
to the Gentiles, as being the most exposed to them; and comforts them with the con- 
sideration that the transient sufferings of this life cannot be compared with the glory 
which shall be revealed to them hereafter ; a manifestation of glory which all mankind, 
even the heathens themselves, have earnestly desired and anticipated — For as mankind 
have been all subjected to mortality, not by their own act, but by reason of the trans- 
gression of their first parents, they have hope that they shall all be delivered from the 
bondage of corruption and the grave, and be admitted into the glorious happiness of 
the children of God — He further assures them they are not the only sufferers, for tlie 
whole creation travaileth in pain together, under the weight of Adam's transgression, 
hoping for deliverance ; and the Apostles themselves are groaning under the miseries 
§ 28 of life till their sonship shall be established in the redemption of their bodies. 

a 2 Cor. 4. 17. 18 Pqj^ J rcckoH that "ths sufferings of this present time are not 

4. 13." ' ' ' worthy to be com'pared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

^^Jt 3 2^ i^For 'the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the 'mani- 

d ver. 22. Gsn. 3. fcstation of the sons of God. ^° For ''the creature was made subject 

1^- to vanity (not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected 

the same,) in hope, ^^ because the creature itself also shall be delivered 

from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the chil- 



Sect. XIII.] THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 301 

dren of God. -'-For we know that *the whole creation 'groaneth and *ot, every crca- 
travaileth in pain together until now. ^^ And not only they, but our- Mufc le. is. 
selves also, which liave ^the firstfruits of the Spirit, '^even we ourselves « je^. jg. n 
groan within ourselves, ''waiting for the adoption — to wit, the 'redemp- /2Cor. 5. 5. 
tion of our body. ^ 2 cor'. 5. 2, 4. 

A Luke 20. 36. 

c nn 7 ■•• m m ^ Luke 21. 28. 

§ 29. — chap. viii. 24-28. Eph. 4. 30. 

St. Paul continues his argument, by affirming that man's salvation in this world, is the 
hope of the future deliverance which is given in the Gospel ; for what we possess is no 

longer hoped for — If therefore they have a firm hope in a glorious resurrection, they 

should be able calmly to endure the afflictions of life, waiting patiently its future bless- 
ings — Another ground of consolation is, that the Holy Spirit will assist them in their 
distresses, and guide them in their prayers ; making, himself, intercession for their 
deliverance in desires and groanings, not expressed, but comprehended and accepted 
by God. § 29. 

^^FoR we are saved by hope. But "hope that is seen is not hope ; "SCor.s.y.Heb. 

for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for ? ^^ But if we hope * M"'- 20. ^. 

for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. ^^ Likewise ^ zeJh. 12. 10. 

the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities ; for 'we know not what we ^p''- ^- ^^• 

, ,i r II c 1 r-, • • ■ 1,- , 1 • • d 1 Cliron. 28. 9. 

should pray lor as we ought, but the Spirit itseli maketh intercession ps. 7. 9. Piov. 
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. ^^ And ''He that & 'i?'. io!'& 20. ' 
searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, *because fihelt 2. T.' 
He maketh intercession for the saints 'according to the will of God. ^^"- ^- -^■ 
^^ And we know that all things work together for good to them that e 1 John 5. 14. 
love God, to them ^'who are the called accordins; to his purpose. /ci,. 9. 11,23, 

® ' ' 24. 2 Tim. 1. 9. 



§ 30. — chap. viii. 29, to the end. 

As a fui'ther encouragement to the persecuted Gentile converts, St. Paul affirms that all 
things, more particularly sufferings, work together for more abundant good to those 

who love God, to those who are called according to his merciful purpose — For those c 3Q 

whom he thus foreknew, he also did predestinate, or decree, to be conformed to the „ ,, „ ^ 

image of his Son (which they now were by suffering), that they might become his 17. Ps. 1. 6. Jer' 

chosen people — That the Gentiles, who were thus preordained, were called to the ^i^-^^'tj^-ji?^- 

ch. 11. 2. 2 TlTn. 

knowledge of the Gospel unto salvation, and those who obej'ed were justified, and 2. 19. 1 Pet. 1. 

those who persevei'ed were glorified — God having thus manifested his mercy towards ^■ 

them, and given his own Son to suffer for them, the Gentiles are exhorted not to sink ''"••' • 

under their afflictions, but rather to rejoice in them, as a pledge of their conformity to 2 cor. 3.18.' 

the image of Christ — " Whicii of their persecutors," St. Paul demands, " will be able P''"- •^■^-'• 

at the last day to bring an accusation against those whom God has justified ; and who , n ■ , \-' la 

will dare to condemn those for whom Christ had died, and intercedes ?" — He asserts, Heb. 1. 6. Rev. 

too, that neither injuries, nor afflictions, nor the troubles and dangers of this life, will ^' ^' 

be able to separate the chosen people of God from the love of Christ, through whom 34 ]i;pi,.'4. 4,' 

they have hitherto more than conquered. Heb. 9. 15. 

I Pet. 2. 9. 

^^ For whom "He did foreknow, 'He also did predestinate 'to be / 1 cor. 6. 11. 
conformed to the image of his Son, ''that he might be the first-born ^J°}''"J-l-'^- 

n T ^ ■ Eph. 2. 6. 

among many brethren. ^"Moreover whom He did predestinate, tliem /< Num. 14. 9. Ps. 
He also "called : and whom He called, them He also •'justified : and /^^.^'^'g jg 
whom He justified, them He also "glorified. ^^ What shall we then j see Mark 1. 1. 
say to these things ? ''If God be for us, who can be against us ? ^-He f ,'^'''^f^; „ 

. . ( Is. .50. 8, 9. Rgv, 

'that spared not his^own Son, but *dehvered him up for us all, hov/ 12.10,11 



m .Tub 34. 29. 
n Mark 16. 19. 

Keb. 

l.^c 



shall He not with him also freely give us all things ? ^^ Who shall lay 

any thing to the charge of God's elect? 'It is God that iustifieth ? coi. 3. i 

^* Who IS he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died ? yea rather, A i. 1 Pet! 3. 

that is risen again ? "who is even at the right hand of God? °M'ho also o~neb. 7. 2.5. & 

maketh intercession for us ? ^^ Who shall separate us from the love of 9-24. i John 2. 

Christ ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or na- p ps. 44. i:q. 

kedness, or peril, or sword ? ^^ (as it is ^'written, " For thy sake we are 

killed all the day long ; we are accounted as sheep for the slaugh- ? 1 Cor. 15.57. 

ter.") ^'^ Nay, 'in all these things we are more than conquerors, through 1 jo'hn "4. 4I& 5. 

him that loved us. ^® For I am persuaded, that neither Death, nor jj 

VOL, II 



1 Cor. 15.,30,31. 

2 Cor. 4. 11. 



4 , 5. P.ev. r2. 



302 



THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 



[Part XHI. 



r Eph. 1.21.& 
6. 12. Col. 1. 16. 
&2. 15. lPet.3. 
22. 



§ 31. 

a ch. 1. 9. 2 Cor. 

1.23. & 11.31. 

& 12. 19. Gal. 1. 

20. Phil. 1. 8. 

1 Tim. 2.7. 
b ch. 10. 1. 
e Ex. 32. Z'i. 
* Or, separated. 
d Deut. 7. 6. 
e Ex. 4.22. Deut. 

14. 1. Jer. 31. 9. 
/ 1 Sam. 4. 21. 

1 Kjngs 8. 11. 

Ps. 63. 2. & 78. 

61. 
g Acts 3. 25. 

Heb. 8. 8, 9, 10. 
■f Or, testaments. 
h Ps. 1^7. 19. 
i Heb. 9. 1. 
;■ Acts 13. 32. ch. 

3. 2. Eph. 2. 12. 
k Deut. 10. 15. 

ch. 11.28. 
I Luke 3. 23. ch. 

1.3. 
m Jer. 23. 6. 

Dan. 7. 13, 14. 

Matt. 11.27. & 

16. 28. & 28. 18. 

LukeJ.32. &10. 

2-2.Johnl.l.&3. 

35. & 5. 22, 27. 

& 12. 34. & 13. 

3. & 17. 2. 

Acts 2. 36. & 17. 

31. & 20. 28. 

Rom. 14. 9, 11. 

] Cor. 15.25,27. 

Eph. 1. 10, 21. 

Phil. 2. 9, 10. 

Heb. 1. 2, 8. & 

2. 8. 1 Pet. 3. 22. 

1 John 5. 20. 

Eev. 5. 13.&17. 

14. 



§ 32. 

a Num. 23. 19. 

ch. 3. 3. 
b John 8. 39. ch. 

2. 28, 29. & 4. 

12, 16. Gal. 6. 

16. 
c Gal. 4. 23. 
d Gen. 21. 12. 

Heb. 11. 18. 
e Gal. 4. 28. 
/ Gen. 18. 10, 14. 



Life, nor Angels, nor '^Principalities, nor Powers, nor Things present, 
nor Things to come, ^^ nor Height, nor Depth, nor any other creature, 
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord. 

§ 31. — chap. ix. 1-5. 
The Apostle, having now shown the full claim of the Gentiles to the privileges and bless- 
ings of the Gospel, cautiously introduces the subject of the rejection of the Jews — 
This truth he assures them, as in the presence of Christ, the Holy Spirit bearing him 
witness, fills him with so much grief and anguish, that, to prevent it, he would will- 
ingly be cut off himself from the visible Church of God, or submit to the temporal de- 
struction that awaited them for their disobedience, if by that means he could save his 
kinsmen according to the flesh — To conciliate them, and to engage their attention, he 
enumerates their glorious privileges. 

^ I "say the truth in Christ, I lie not, (my conscience also bearing 
me witness in the Holy Ghost,) "^ that 'I have great heaviness and con- 
tinual sorrow in my heart. ^ For "I could wish that myself were *ac- 
cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the 
flesh ; '' who "^are Israelites ; ^to whom pertaineth the adoption, and -^the 
glory, and ^the tcovenants, and ''the giving of the Law, and 'the ser- 
vice of God, and ^ the promises ; ^ whose 'are the fathers ; and 'of whom 
as concerning the flesh Christ came, ""who is over all God, blessed for- 
ever ! Amen. 

§ 32. — chap. ix. 6-9. 
The objection that had been already proposed (chap. iii. 3.), that the rejection of the Jews 
would be contrary to the veracity of God, the Apostle here again introduces, and fully 
answers — He affirms, that although the Jews are rejected, the promise of God would 
not fail — He assures them that all the cliildren of Abraham, according to the flesh, as 
in the case of Ishmael, were not Abraham's seed ; for in Isaac was his seed to be 
called — The word of the promise itself demonstrates that Abraham's seed according to 
the promise, not according to the flesh, are to be his spiritual children. 

^ Not "as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For 
'they are not all Israel, which are of Israel ; ''' neither, 'because they 
are the seed of Abraham, are they all children, but, " In ''Isaac shall 
thy seed be called:" — ^ that is, they which are the children of the 
flesh, these are not the children of God ; but 'the children of the pro- 
mise are counted for the seed. ^ For this is the word of promise, "At 
^this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son." 



§ 33. 

a Gen. 25. 21. 
4 ch. 4. 17. & 8. 

28. 
c Gen. 25. 23. 
* Or, greater. 
f Or, lesser. 
d Mai. 1. 2, 3. 

See Deut. 21. 

15. Prov. 13. 24. 

Matt. 10. 37. 

Luke 14. 26. 

John 1-2. 25. 



§33.— chap. \x.W-13. 
By the instance of Esau and Jacob, the Apostle proves that God's fidelity is not im- 
peached by the rejection of the Jews, as He has a sovereign right to elect, or call, ac- 
cording to his own good pleasure— The children, who were the representatives of na- 
tions, being yet unborn, could neither merit God's preference, nor deserve to be lefl 
out of his covenant — Such distinctions, therefore, evidently depend on God's free 
choice, and illustrate the purpose of God according to election. 

1° And not only this ; but when "Rebecca also had conceived by 
one — even by our father Isaac. ^^ For the children being not yet born, 
neither having done any good or evil, (that the purpose of God ac- 
cording to election might stand, not of works, but of ''Him that call- 
eth ;) 1^ it was 'said unto her, " The *elder shall serve the tyounger :" 
i^as it is ''written, " Jacob have I loved, but E.sau have 1 hated." 



§ 34:.— chap. ix. 14-18. 
The Apostle continues his argument by aflivming, that the free election of God, as it re- 
gards nations, is perfectly consistent with his justice, as He has a sovereign right to 
dispense his free-will blessings and mercies as He pleases ; which is illustrated in the 
instance of the Israelites of old, whose transgressions, as a nation, God, of his own free 
mercy, pardoned after they had worshipped the golden calf ; (E.xod. xxxiii. 19.) as He 
declared unto Moses — For man can never merit, or claim as a right, the mercy of God 



Sect. XIII.] THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 303 

— The Israelites, after their apostacy, might, had it been God's pleasure, continued as 
a nation, as the Egyptians were, for the purpose of demonstrating, in their destruction 
and punishment, the Almighty power of God, and his hatred of sin — The Apostle then 
intimates the rejection of the Jews, by asserting that the same free gift of mercy is still 
exercised, and the same exemplary punishment will be inflicted on those who continue 
and harden themselves in sin, resisting, as the Egyptians did, tlie evidences that were 
vouchsafed to them. § 34. 

^"^What shall we say then? "Is there unrighteousness with God? "a'chr'']?."?^.' 
God forbid ! ^^For He saith to 'Moses, " I will have mercy on whom •'"''I-^a*'?^ 
I will have mercy, and 1 will have compassion on - whom 1 will have h Ex. 33. i9. 
compassion." ^^ So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that 
runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. ^^ For ^the Scripture saith "g'^e'da/^s 8 
unto Pharaoh, " Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, 22. 
that I might show my power in thee, and that my Name might be de- 
clared throughout all the earth." ^^ Therefore hath He mercy on whom 
He will have mercv ; and whom He will, He hardeneth. 



§ 35.— c/iap. ix. 19-29. 
The Apostle here introduces a Jew, as saying, " If God acts thus, why does he then find 
fault? for who can resist his will, if he is determined to destroy nations?" — " Nay," 
answers the Apostle, " but who art thou that presumest to argue against the decrees 
of God ?" — He vindicates the justice of God's dealings towards the Jews and Gentiles, 
and shows his absolute power over nations, exalting one and rejecting another, by a 
reference to Jeremiah's type of the potter — He then applies the type more immediately 
to the present condition of the Jews and Gentiles — Tlie Jews, like the Egyptians, after 
continued proofs of God's forbearance, became vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, 
making known the power of God unto salvation — The believing Gentiles were prepared 
by their means for the glory of being admitted into the visible Church of God, and with 
the believing Jews were called to be God's people, and the vessels of his mercy — The 
same truths were predicted and enforced by their own ancient prophets. § 35. 

^^ Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth He vet find fault? for aachr. 20. c. 
"who hath resisted his will ? ^^ Nay, but, O man! who art thou that 13. D'an7'4. 35. ' 
*repliest against God ? 'Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed * or, answmst 
it. Why hast Thou made me thus ? ^^ Hath not the Spotter power over palsl wikooin 
the clay, of the same lump to make ''one vessel unto honor, and another ^f^ ^g' jg ^^^ 
unto dishonor ? ~^ What if God, wilhng to show his wrath, and to 9. iei-s. 
make his power known, endured with much long-suffering 'the vessels ''jef°]8^6.'wi«d 
of wrath tfitted ^to destruction? -■'and that He might make known is. 7. 
^the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had ''afore "^^ThessVp 
prepared unto glory . . . . ^^ even us, whom He hath called, 'not of the tor, mndeup. 
Jews only, but also of the Gentiles ? ^^ As he saith also in ^Osee, — /iPct. a.s.Ju.ie 

" I will call them my people, which were not my people ; ^i°7'cotf 27 

And her beloved, which was not beloved. a ch. 8. 28,29, 

26 And 'it shall come to pass, ^°' 

i ch. 3. 29. 

That in the place where it was said unto them, j hos.2. 23. 



' Ye are not my people ; ' , „ , ,„ 

■' ' ' k Hos. 1. 10. 



1 Pet. 2. 10. 

There shall they be called the children of the living God." 

-'^ Esaias also 'crieth concerning Israel, — ' ^^- lO-^-.ss- 
" Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, 

A "remnant shall be saved ! '" "''• "• •'^• 

2^ For He will finish tthe work, and cut it short in righteousness : tO''' tiw account. 

Because "a short work will the Lord make upon the earth," " i^-^s. 22. 

29 And as "Esaias said before, — ''.}^^^; ^- ^'""■ 
" Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, 

We ^had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha." ^J'-.P- ^^- ■''''"• 

' 5U. 4U. 



§ 36. — chap. ix. 30, to the end, and x. 1—3. 
The Apostle, having cleai-ly represented the rejection of the Jev/s, and reconciled it with 
the Divine truth and justice, introduces a Jew, inquiring, " Whether the Gentiles, 



304 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. [Part XHI. 

who have not followed after the nile of righteousness given in the Mosaic Law, have now 
attained to the righteousness of faith, and to the privileges of God's chosen people, 
while the Jews, who have followed the righteousness of the Law, have not attained to 
righteousness by faith in the Gospel ?" — The Apostle declares that the cause of their 
rejection was their want of faith, and their dependence on the works of the Law, 
which led them to look for justification from its observances, as had been predicted by 
one of their own prophets — The Apostle repeats his anxious desire that the Jews would 
believe and be saved — He confesses their zeal for the glory of the Law, but it was 
without the knowledge of the object and end of its rites — Their ignorance of the plan 
of God's salvation through faith made them endeavour to establish their own method of 
justification, through the sacrifices and ceremonies of the Law, and prevented them 
from submitting to the righteousness of faith, which God requires as the only means 
§ 36. of salvation. 

a^ch. 4. 11. & 10. 30 What shall we say then ? "That the Gentiles, which followed not 
i ch. 1. 17. after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, ''even the righteous- 
c^ch. 10.2. &11. jjggg which is of faith ; ^^ but Israel, "which followed after the law of 
d Gal. 5. 4. righteousness, ''hath not attained to the law of righteousness. ^^ Where- 
fore ? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works 
*icor!].'23.' of the Law. For "they stumbled at that stumbling stone ; ^■'as it is 
/ Ps. 118. «2. Is. Avritten 

8. 14. & 28. 16. wiLicu, 
IVfatt. 21. 42. 

1 Pet'. 2.' 6, 7, 8. " Behold, I lay in Sion a Stumbling stone and Rock of Offence : 
e <=•'• lo- 11- And ^whosoever believeth on Him shall not be *ashamed." 

* Or, covfounded. 

^Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel cimp. x. 1-3. 

[is], that they might be saved. ^For I bear them record 
^^Tlai^iH ''that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. ^For 
& 4. 17. See ch. they, being ignorant of 'God's righteousness, and going about to estab- 
t ch. i. 17. &9. "'sh their own ^righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the 

^"^ righteousness of God. 

j Phil. 3. 9. '^ 

§ 37.— chap. X. 4-13. 
In order to convince the Jews of their error, with regard to justification by their Law, 

St. Paul describes the nature of the righteousness which is required by the Law, and that 

which is required by the Gospel — He affirms that Christ himself was the end or the per- 
fection of the Law — the great object of all its rites and sacrifices — Moses has declared that 
by the Law none can be justified, because it was not possible for man to live up to its 
precepts — But the ha.w or principle of faith, as described by Moses (Deut. xxx. 11-14.), 
requires not those signs from heaven, which the Jews demanded, that Christ should de- 
scend again from heaven, and rise again from the dead, for the word was always nigh 
them, and power was given them to fulfil it — Thus it was with the Gospel, it requires a 
confession of our faith in Jesus Christ, and an inward conviction of the truth of his 
resurrection, producing righteousness of life— The Scripture has declared that none shall 
be ashamed or disappointed of their confidence, that the plan of redemption extends to 

S 37. all, both Jew and Gentile ; for all who believe in Christ and call upon him shall be saved. 

a Matt. 5. 17. "^ FoR "Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one 

4Lev.]8~5. Neh. ^'^^^ belicvcth. ^ For Moses 'describeth the righteousness which is of 

li^is^Tcff' *'^^ Law, " That the man which doeth those things shall live by 

3. '12'.' ' ' them." ^ But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this 
cDeut. 30. 19, Svisc, "Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven?" 

^^' (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) ^or. Who shall descend 

d Deut. 30. 14. jj^jQ ^|-,g (Jeep ? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) ® But 

Luke "12. 8. ' what ''saith it ? The word is nigh thee, even in thy moutii, and in thy 
/ is.'28. i6.\& heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach: ^ that 'if thou 

7^cr/33 ^'^' '^'^^'t confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine 
g ch. 3. 22. Acts heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 

28! ^' ^'''" ■ ^° (For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; and with the 

* Ac's 10. 36. ch. mouth confession is made unto salvation.) i' For the Scripture -^saith, 
5. ' ' " " Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed." ^^ For ^there is 

I Eph. 1. 7. & 2. j^Q difference between the Jew and the Greek : for ''the same Lord over 
; Joel 2. 32. Acta all 'is rich unto all that call upon Him. ^^ For ■'whosoever shall call 

2 21 

k Acta 9. 14. *upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved. 



Sect. XIII.] THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 305 

^ 38. — chap. X. 14, 15. 
From the prophecies of the New Testament, which were now fulfilling, St. Paul is led to 
vindicate his divine mission, and that of the other Apostles— He inquires how it was 
possible that these prophecies, which foretold the acceptance of the Gentiles, should be 
accomplished? for without the Gospel could be no salvation, and without preachers it 
could not have been proclaimed — As a Jew, he asserts that his prejudices would have 
prevented him from carrying the Gospel to the Gentiles, unless he had been divinely 
appointed to do so ; and he shows, according to the prophecy of Isaiah, their great 
success, and the happy reception which attended the messengers of salvation. 

1^ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed ? 
and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard ? § ^• 
and how shall they hear "without a preacher? ^^ and how shall they '^tu. 1.3, 
preach, e.xcept they be sent? as it is Hvritten, — 
" How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, 

And bring glad tidings of good things ! " 



5 l3. 52. 7. Nah. 
1. 15. 



§ 39. — chap. X. 16, to the end. 
Here the Jew is supposed to object, that a divine commission would have been attended 
with full success; whereas many did not obey the faith of the Gospel — To which St. 
Paul replies, that the Spirit of God had already foretold the event in the case of the 
Jews themselves — He asserts that Faith is produced by the means of preaching and 
hearing — by the command of God himself — and asks if they have not all heard the 
glad tidings of salvation ? — The Apostles have preached the Gospel to the Jew as well 
as the Gentile, fulfilling the words of the Psalmist, wluch he applied to the universal 
teaching of the heavenly bodies — " But," says the Apostle, " let me further ask if Is- 
rael did not know that the Gospel should be preached to the Gentiles ?" their Prophets 
having so plainly predicted the calling of the Gentiles, and their joyful reception of 
the Gospel, as well as the rejection of the Jews. " 

1^ But ''they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Esaias ''saith, — Ya. 

6 Is. 53. 1. John 

" Lord, who hath believed *our treport ? " 12. 38. 

* Gr. the hearing 

^'' So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. ''•^'"'• 

18 But I say, Have they not heard ? Yes, verily,— ^ OT,preacking7 

mi • c 1 ■ 11 1 . e Ps- 19- 4- Matt. 

" Iheir sound went mto all the earth, 24. 14. & 28. 19. 

And ''their words unto the ends of the world." coT 1. 6,23'. 

d See 1 Kings 18. 

1^ But I say. Did not Israel know ? First Moses ^saith, " I will provoke i". Matt. 4. 8. 
you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by-'^a foolish nation «ji'''5'J-32-2i.cii. 
I will anger you." ~°But Esaias is very bold, and ^saith, — /Tit. 3. 3. 

g Is. 65. 1. ch. 9. 

" I was found of them that sought me not ; ^''• 

I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me." 



21 But to Israel he ''saith. 



A Is. 65. 2. 



" All day long I have stretched forth my hands 
Unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." 



§ 40. — chap. xi. 1-6. 
St. Paul, after having thus positively declared the rejection of the Jews as a nation, com- 
forts them with the assurance that God has not totally cast away his chosen people — 
For, as in the days of Elias, there shall still remain a remnant of converted Jews, who, 
with the believing Gentiles, are elected through faith to be God's people, not by good 
works, but by the mere grace and favor of God. § 40. 

^I SAY then, "Hath God cast away his people? God forbid ! for 'I "jlr^i'si'^' 
also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin, b 2Cor. 11.22. 
^ God hath not cast away his people which "he foreknew. Wot ye ^'"'' ^' ^' 
not what the Scripture saith *of Elias? how he maketh intercession I'^Gr.inEUas? 
to God against Israel, "^saying, ^ " Lord ! they have killed thy prophets, ^ 1 Kings 19. 10, 
and digged down thine altars ; and I am left alone, and they seek my 
life." *But what saith the 'answer of God unto him? "I have re- ' ' '^'"S" '^- ^8- 
served to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee 
VOL. 11. 39 z* 



306 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. [Part XHL 

/ch. 9. 27. ^Q ^^g image oj Baal." ^Even-'^so then at this present time also there 

Vai.' 5'. 4'. See is a remnant according to the election of grace. ^ And ^if by grace, 

Deut. 9. 4, 5. lY^Q^ is it no more of works ; otherwise grace is no more grace. But 

if it be of works, then is it no more grace ; otherwise work is no 

more work. 



§ il.—chap. XI. 7-10. 
Tlie Apostle continues by asserting, that, tliough Israel, as a nation, had failed to obtain 
that justification and righteousness which they sought for in the works of the Law, 
the election of the chosen remnant who hath embraced the Gospel had obtained it, 
and the rest were blinded — had their eyes shut against the truth, fulfilling the predic- 
tion of Isaiah; also that of David likewise, who foretold the lamentable condition to 
which they were now reduced by the persevering hardness of heart, which converted 
their best blessings into curses, and snares, and the means of their punishment, by lead- 
ing them to expect a worldly Messiah— He predicted also that their unbelief would 
§ 41. bring them into a state of abject slavery and depression. 

a^ch. 9. 31. & 10. 7 W'hat then ? "Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for ; 
* Or, itardened, but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were *bhnded, ^ (ac 
i ig°29 10 cording as it is ^written, — 
t Or, remorse. " God hath givcn them the spirit of tslumber, 

c Deut. 29. 4. Is. Eycs "that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear ;)" 
Ezek. 12.2. ' unto this day. ^And David ''saith, — 

Matt. 13. 14. •' 

John 12- 40. " Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, 

Acts 28. 26 27» ^ 

d P8.69.22.' And a stumbhngblock, and a recompence, unto them; 

^°Let "their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. 
And bow down their back alway." 



§ 43.— cAop. xi. 11-16. 

To the question whetlier the Jews have so stumbled that they are irrecoverably fallen ? 

St. Paul replies, " by no means :" but by their rejection of Christ the calling in of the 
Gentiles was accelerated, and the very circumstance of receiving the Gentiles into 
covenant with God was intended for the good of the Jews, to excite in them an emu- 
lation of becoming partakers of the blessings of the Gospel — He predicts their final 
restoration, and argues, that if through their unbelief the riches of God's grace is mani- 
fested to the Gentile world, how much more will his grace and glory be magnified by 
their return ! He glories in the ministry entrusted to him to preach among the Gen- 
tiles, in the hope that by his means the Jews may be provoked to emulate the Gen- 
tiles, and the Gentiles be induced to respect the Jews — " For," he repeats, " if their 
fall was the occasion of the reconciliation of the heathen world to God, the resump- 
tion of the Jewish nation will still more be the means of establishing the truth of 
Christianity, and will cause as much joy in the world, as if they had been raised from 
the dead — For if a remnant of the Jews, the firstfruits who have believed, have been 
accepted of God, the whole Jewish nation will be so when they also believe — And if 
Abraham, the root of that nation, was accounted righteous through faith, so will his 
^ ^'^' branches be on the same conditions." 

"i^tfb-x ist " I SAY then, Have they stumbled that they should fall ? God for- 

ch. i^.^g.^"*' ^' bid ! but rather "through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, 

* Or, decay, or, for to provokc tlicm to jealousy. '^ Now if the fall of them be the 

J Acta 9.13. & riches of the world, and the ^diminishing of them the riches of the 

ch'is^irbd' Gentiles; how much more their fulness ! ^^ For I speak to you Gen- 

i.i6.&2!2,7', tiles, (inasmuch as 'I am the Apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine 

I'Tim.aV.' ' office,) " if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are 

V,^"' \ !r* my flesh, and 'might save some of them. ^^ For if the casting away of 

c 1 Cor. 7. IC. J ' o 11111 • • /■ 1 

& 9. 22. 1 Tim. them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving 01 them 
d''Lov.^2r'io.' ' be, but life from the dead ? ^^ For if ''the firstfruit be holy, the lump 
20™i.^^' ^^' ^^' is also holy : and if the root he holy, so are the branches. 

§ 43.— chap. XI. 17-24. 
St. Paul exhorts the Gentiles not to contemn or despise the Jews because they are at 
present cut oft' from being God's people ; from the consideration that they themselves, 
as a wild olive-tree, are grafted in among them, and are made partakers with them of 



Sect. XIIL] THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 307 

the root and fatness of the good olive-tree, deriving all their spiritual advantages and privi- 
leges from their root — that is, from tlie Abrahamic covenant — They are admonished not 
to exult in the preference which is now given to them — for the Jews fell for unbelief, 
and they stand by faith — therefore they should not be arrogant, but fear — For if God 
spared not the natural branches, it cannot be expected that he will spare them — They 
are commanded to remember the severity of God toward the Jews who fell, and his 
great mercy toward them, if they continue in his faith ; otherwise they also shall be 
cut off — And the Jews if they abide not in unbelief, shall be grafted in again — shall be 
restored to their forfeited privileges, which God in liis mercy is still able to do — For if the 
Gentiles, like a wild and fruitless scion, were grafted, contrary to the nature of things, 
into a good stock — were brought to the knowledge of God, and admitted into covenant 
with him — how much more possible is it that the natural branches, who have already 
received the Law and the Prophets, will be brought to the knowledge of salvation, and 
be grafted again into their own olive-tree ! § 43. 

^'^ And if "some of the branches be broken off, ^and thou, being a " Jer.n.ie. 
wild olive-tree, wert grafted in *among them, and with them partakest *Eph!'2^"i|^]3. 
of the root and the fatness of the olive-tree ; ^^ boast "not against the *0t, for them. 
branches ; but if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root " ^ *^"' ^°" ^' 
thee. ^^ Thou wilt say then. The branches were broken off, that I 
might be grafted in. ~° Well ; because of unbelief they were broken 
off, and thou standest by faith. ''Be not high-minded, but "fear ; '^^ for ^ '^^■^'^- ^^■ 

.' n ' ' f Prov. 28. 14. Is 

if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare 66. 2.'phii.2.'i2 
not thee. ^'^ Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God ! on 
them which fell, severity ; but toward thee, goodness, ■'^if thou con- -^gg^^g ^^-fi 
tinue in his goodness: otherwise "thou also shalt be cutoff. ^^ And g- John 15.' 2. 
they also, '"if they abide not in unbelief, shall be grafted in : for God ''^cor. 3. le. 
is able to graft them in again. ~'^ For if thou wert cut out of the olive- 
tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into 
a good olive-tree ; how much more shall these, which be the natural 
branches, be grafted into their own olive-tree ! 



§ U.—chap. xi. 25-32. 
St. Paul affirms that he would not have the Gentiles ignorant of the mystery of the fu- 
ture restoration of the Jews, lest they should think too highly of their own merits — He 
affirms that blindness in part only has happened unto Israel, till the Church of the 
Gentiles is fully completed, and then the Jews themselves will be brought to the 
knowledge of salvation, according to the predictions of their own prophets — And God, 
when he remits their sins, will take them into covenant again, and restore them to 
their forfeited privileges, (compare v. 27, Is. lix. 20, 21.) — The unbelieving Jews, being 
the enemies of the Gospel, were rejected of God in favor of the Gentiles — But, as 
it regards election, whereby they were originally chosen of God to be his peculiar peo- 
ple, they are beloved for their fathers' sakes — God's free gift, and the calling of Abra- 
ham's posterity, is not to be changed ; for as surely as the Gentiles had now obtained 
mercy through the disbelief of the Jews, so surely will the Jews who have not believed 
have the same mercy extended to them— For God has concluded both Jew and Gen- 
tile in unbelief; both of them being in turns disobedient to the light they possessed, 
that the free gift or pardon might be equally bestowed on all. 

^^FoR I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this § ^^• 
mystery, (lest ye should be "wise in your own conceits,) that *blind- "' '^^' ^^- ^^■ 
ness Hn part is happened to Israel, "until the fulness of the Gentiles i ver. 7°.Vcor. 
be come in ; ^^ and so all Israel shall be saved : as it is ''written, — ^- "• 

c Luke 21. 24. 

" There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, ^^'^^ t,. = 

A 1 I 11 11- /• T 1 d Is. 59. 20. See 

And shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; Ps. 14. ?. 

^'' For, "This is my covenant unto them, 'sL'sl^&c.'^Heb 

When I shall take away their sins." ^- ^- ^ i°- ^*'- 

^^ As concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes : but as f ug^ 7. g. & 9 
touching the election, they are -^beloved for the fathers' sakes. ^^ For ^- *= i"- ^^• 
the gifts and calling of God are ^without repentance. ^° For as ye ''in f Eph°2!2.^coi. 
times past have not tbelieved God, yet have now obtained mercy, 3. 7. 
through their unbelief: ^^even so have these also now not tbelieved, jor',o6eyeii 



JOS 



THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 



[Part XHL 



«■ ch. 3. 9. 

29. 

* Or, shut them 
all up together. 



^^^'•3- that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. ^^ For 'God hath 
*concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 



§ 45. 

a Ps. 36. 6. 
b Job H. 7. Ps. 

92.5. 
c Job 15. 8. Is. 

40. 13. Jer. 23. 

18. Wisd. 9. 13. 

1 Cor. 2. 16. 
d Job 36. 22. 
e Job 35. 7. & 41. 

11. 
/ 1 Cor. 8. 6. Col. 

1.16. 
g Gal. 1. 5. 

1 Tim. 1. 17. 

2 Tim. 4. 18. 
Heb. 13. 21. 

1 Pet. 5. 11. 

2 Pet. 3. 18. 
Jude 25. Rev. 
1. 6. • 

* Gr. him. 



§ 46. 

a 2 Cor. 10. 1. 

* Ps. 50. 13, 14. 
ch. 6. 13, 16, 19. 
1 Cor. 6. 13, 20. 
1 Pet. 2. 5. 

c Heb. 10. 20. 
d 1 Pet. 1. 14. 

1 John 2. 15. 
e Eph. 1. 18. & 

4.23. Col. 1.21, 

29. & 3. 10. 
/ Eph. 5. 10, 17. 

1 Thess. 4. 3. 
g ch. 1. 5. & 15. 

15. 1 Cor. 3. 10. 

& 15. 10. Gal. 2. 

9. Eph. 3. 2, 7,8. 
h Prov. 25. 27. 

Eccles. 7. 16. 

ch. 11. 20. 

* Gr. to sobriety. 
i 1 Cor. 12. 7, 11. 

Eph. 4. 7. 
j 1 Cor. 12. 12. 

Eph. 4. 16. 
k 1 Cor. 10. 17. 

& 12. 20, 27. 

Eph. 1. 23. & 4. 

25. 
I 1 Cor. 12. 4. 

1 Pet. 4. 10, 11. 
m ver. 3. 
n Acts 11. 27. 

1 Cor. 12. 10, 

28. & 13. 2. & 

14. ], 6,29,31. 
o Acta 13. 1. Eph. 

4. 11. Gal. 6. 6. 

1 Tim. 5. 17. 
p Acts 15. 32. 

1 Cor. 14. 3. 

q Matt. 6. 1, 2, 3. 
t Or, imparteth. 
;J Or, liberally. 

2 Cor. 8. 2. 
r Acts 20. 28. 

1 Tim. 5. 17. 
Heb. 13. 7, 24. 
1 Pet. 5. 2. 
s 2 Cor. 9. 7. 



§ 45. — chap. xi. 3-3, to the end. 
The Apostle concludes the whole of this important discussion with rapturous expressions 
of wonder and praise at the wisdom and goodness of God in his dealings with man- — 
He asserts that it is not possible for man to penetrate into the secret judgments and 
councils of God, that the election of either the Jews or the Gentiles is perfectly con- 
sistent with his justice, as no man can have a claim upon Him, who is the Author and 
efficient Cause of all things — By whom and through whom they all exist — Let God 
therefore in all his works be glorified for ever. 

^^ O THE depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of 
God ! "how unsearchable are his judgments, and 'his ways past finding 
out ! ^^ For Vho hath known the mind of the Lord ? or ''who hath 
been his counsellor ? ^^ or "who hath first given to him, and it shall be 
recompensed unto him again? ^^ For •'^of him, and through him, and to 
him, are all things : ^to *whom be glory for ever ! Amen. 



§ 46. — chap. xii. 1-8. 
St. Paul, having concluded the doctrinal part of his Epistle, enforces the necessity of a 
holy life, which these doctrines were intended to inculcate — He calls upon the Romans 
to present, instead of the animals that were offered to God in the Mosaic Law, their 
own bodies at his spiritual altar, a living sacrifice ; entirely consecrating them to God, 
which is the acceptable and reasonable service of a Christian — He exhorts them not to 
be conformed to the customs and sentiments of this world, but to be changed in the 
temper and dispositions of their minds — that they might fulfil in themselves, and prove 
to others, what is the perfect and acceptable will of God — St. Paul, by his apostolical 
office, warns them not to think too highly of themselves on account of their spiritual 
endowments — for although their qualifications may differ, they are the members of one 
body, indispensably necessary to each other — He admonishes them to use the respec- 
tive gifts entrusted to them diligently and faithfully. 

^ I "beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, 'that 
ye present your bodies "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, 
which is your reasonable service ; ^ and ''be not conformed to this 
world, but 'be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye 
may -^prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of 
God. ^ For I say, ^through the grace given unto me, to every man that 
is among you, ''not to think of himself more highly than he ought to 
think; but to think *soberly, according as God hath dealt Ho every 
man the measure of faith. ^For^as we have many members in one 
body, and all members have not the same office ; ^ so *we, being many, 
are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. ^ Hav- 
ing 'then gifts differing "'according to the grace that is given to us, 
whether "prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of 
faith ; ''' or ministry, let us wait on our ministering ; or "he that teacheth, 
on teaching ; ^ or ''he that exhorteth, on exhortation. 'He that tgiveth, 
let him do it twith simplicity ; '^he that ruleth, with diligence ; he that 
showeth mercy, "with cheerfulness. 



§ 



47. 

a 1 Tim. 1. 5. 

1 Pet. 1. 29. 

ft Ps. 34. 14. & 

36. 4. & 97. 10. 
Amos 5. 15. 
« Heb. 13. 1. 

1 Pnt. 1. 92. &. 
2. 17. &3. 8. 

2 Pet. 1. 7. 

* Or ^ in the love of 

the brethren, 
d Phil. 2. 3. 

1 Pet. 5. 5. 
e. I.ulie 10. 20. ch 
lieb. 10. 3fi. & 12. 



§ 47. — chap. xii. 9, to the end. 
St. Paul continues his practical exhortations, by recommending them to love one another ; 
to practise benevolence to all — to have humility, diligence, devotion, mutual sympathy, 
and to seek no revenge, but to overcome evil with good, — with other important moral 
duties. 

^ Let "love be without dissimulation : 'abhor that which is evil ; 
cleave to that which is good : ^^ he 'kindly aflfectioned one to another 
*with brotherly love ; "in honor preferring one another ; " not slothful 
in business ; fervent in spirit ; serving the Lord ; ^~ rejoicing "in hope ; 
^patient in tribulation ; ^continuing instant in prayer ; ^^ distributing 

. 5. 9. & 15. 13. Phil. 3. 1. & 4. 4. 1 Thess. 5. 16. Heb. 3. C. 1 Pet. 4. 13. f Luke 21. 10. 1 Tim. 6. 11. 
1. Jam. 1. 4. & 5. 7. 1 Pet. 2. 19, 20. g Luke 18. 1. Acts 2. 49. & 19. 5. Col. 4.2. Eph. 6. 18. 1 Thess. 1. 17 



Sect. XIII.] THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 309 

''to the necessity of saints ; 'given to hospitality. " Bless ^them which \^co°!g}l\ J-i 
persecute you : bless, and curse not. ^^ Rejoice *with them that do re- fg^'^i joim s' i? 
joice, and weep with them that weep. ^^ JBe 'of the same mind one iiTim. 3. 2. 
toward another; "'mind not high things, but tcondescend to men of ^!'i pel^lV'' 
low estate. "Be not wise in your own conceits. ^'' Recompense "to no j m*"- 5- 44. 
man evil for evil: ''provide things honest in the sight of all men : ^^if 23. 34. Acts 7. 
it be possible, as much as lieth in you, 'live peaceably with all men. Tvlt^i!'^'^' 
^^ Dearly beloved, ''avenge not yourselves ; but rathei- give place unto ;t''icor. 12. 26. 
wrath ; for it is "written, " Vengeance is mine ; I will repay, saith the i ch. 15. 5. 1 cor. 
Lord." -"^ Therefore 'if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, l^s^w^'i'veu' 
give him drink. For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his ^■^- 
head. ^^ Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Jer.'45. 5. 

t Or, be contented 
with mean things. 

§iS.-chap.^n.l-10. \^!''iL:l'!-5%i. 

The Jews, as the chosen people of God, refused to obey, or to pay tribute to magistrates "^''^ ^^- ^■ 

who were not of tlieir own nation, and, as they supposed, especially appointed by God jjatt/s. 39. 

— The Apostle charges them to submit to all civil authorities ; as all power, both Jewish 1 Thess. 5. 15. 

] Pet 3 9 
and heathen, is ordained and established by God — The condemnation of those who . ;.■,■ 
7 J p q\i^ 24. 16. 

resist the divine appointments — The advantages of a just administration — Rulers, as the 2 Cor. 8. 2i. 

ministers of God, have the power of protecting and rewarding the good, and, as the 9 Mark 9. 50. ch. 

servants of God, to punish those who commit evil — Submission is therefore necessary, i^] ' '^ ■ — 

not only from fear of temporal punishment, but for conscience' sake — They are also com- r Lev. 19. 18. 

manded to pay tribute ; as all civil magistrates are to be considered as ministers of God's ^'°X- ~^-rr^: 
f Ecclus. 28. 1, 

providence, devoting themselves to the duties of their office. — They are required to &c. ver. 17. 

render to all the honor due to their office and rank, although individually they do not s Deut. 32. 35. 

deserve it — To be just in the discharge of all their debts, so that they may owe no ■"'• "''^• 

t Ex '^3 4 5 
man any thing, but to love one another, which is the fulfilment and perfection of all Prov.~25. 21 '22. 

the commands of the Law that respect our neighbours. Matt. 5. 44. 

^ Let every soul "be subject unto the higher powers. For Hhere is 
no power but of God : the [powers] that be are *ordained of God. ^ 
^ Whosoever therefore resisteth ^the power, resistetli the ordinance of "^ipllWa, 
God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. * Prov. s. 15, le. 
^For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou 32. wi'sd.e. 3.' 
then not be afraid of the power? Mo that which is good, and thou *ol''ordcnd 
shalt have praise of the same ; "* for he is the minister of God to thee c tu. 3. 1. 
for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid ; for he beareth Vi^''''" ^^' ^ 
not the sword in vain ; for he is the minister of God, a revenger to 
execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. ^ Wherefore 'ije must needs * ^'^'^'''^- ^- ^■ 
be subject, not only for wrath, -Hsut also for conscience' sake. '^ For, for ■^ ^ ^"^'^ "' ^^' 
this cause pay ye tribute also : for they are God's ministers, attending 
continually upon this very thing. '' Render '"therefore to all their dues : "fijlrki^n!' 
tribute to v/hom tribute is due ; custom to whom custom ; fear to ^""''^ ^°- ^-^■ 

1 /. 1 ^ , 1 A ver. 10. Gal. 5. 

wnom tear ; honor to whom honor. i4. Coi. a. 14. 

® Owe no man any thing, but to love one another; for ''he that jamWs.^" 
loveth another hath fulfilled the Law. » For this, " Thou 'shalt "ot 'j^j;;^^"^ V'^''^'^- 
commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, [Thou uritt.' ig.'is. 
shalt not bear false witness,] Thou shalt not covet ; " and if there be ■'Mniifi^sg 
any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, 5?°/^%^}: 
namely, " Thou ^shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." ''■^ Love worketh s- s'. 
no ill to his neighbour : therefore *love is the fulfillina; of the Law. '' *"'"• ^-- '*''• 

^ o ver. 8. 



am. 



§ 49. — chap. xiii. IJ, to the end. 
As the Roman converts must have well known that this was the time of the Gospel dis- 
pensation, the light having begun to shine, the Apostle calls upon them to awake from 
their sleep of sin, as the eternal salvation of the Gospel, and the duties it requires, are 
better understood by them than when they first believed — He represents the darkness 
of the heathen world under the figure of a night which is far spent, and tlie Gospel as 
the light of a glorious day succeeding to it — He exhorts the Gentiles, therefore, to cast 
off the dresses in which the works of darkness were performed, and to clothe them- 
selves with the armor or habiliments of light — to renounce all their former habits and 



310 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. [Part XIII. 

sinful courses — to put on the Lord Jesus Christ; that is, to receive his Gospel, to imi- 
tate his example, to seek for heavenly things, and to make no provision for the Flesh, 
§ 49. to fulfil the lusts thereof 

''Eph'.''5; 14 ^' " ^^^ *'^^*' knowing the time, that now it is high time "to awake 
1 Thess. 5. 5, 6. Qut of sleep : for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 
^ p . . 1. o . 12 rpj^g night is far spent, the day is at hand ; 'let us therefore cast off 

« Eph.6. 13. the works of darkness, and 'let us put on the armor of light. ^^Let 

d Phil. 4. 8. ''us walk *honestly, as in the day ; 'not in rioting and drunkenness, -^not 
1 Fet.%'. 12.^^' ^" chambering and wantonness, ^not in strife and envying ; ^'^ but ''put 

* Or, decently. je ou the Lord Jesus Christ, and 'make not provision for the Flesh, to 

'^Z-^Lsf: Mfil the lusts thereof. 

1 Pet. 4. 3. 

■''Eph^s. 5.^' § 50.— c/iap. xiv. 1-12. 

g Jam. 3. 14. The Jewish converts at Rome supposing that the distinction between meats, which 

A Gal. 3. 27. Moses had commanded, as well as the Holy Days he had appointed, should be observed 

3. 10. ■ ■ ■ in the Christian dispensation, St. Paul calls upon the Gentiles, who were better in- 
t Gal. 5. 16. formed, to receive with kindness the Jewish converts who were thus weak in the faith, 

1 Pet.'2. 11. ^j^^ jjQj. |.g (Jispijtg these points — The Jews and Gentiles are exhorted not to despise or 

condemn each other — for God has received into his Church the Gentile, who indis- 
ci'iminately eats of all things ; and at the day of judgment will hold up or acquit all 
those who have acted in these indifferent matters according to their conscience— Men 
are not to live to themselves, but to Christ — They are not to condemn each other, for 
§ 50. we shall all be judged of God, to whom alone we are accountable. 

a ch. 15. 1, 7. 1 Him that "is weak in the faith receive ye, hut *not to doubtful dis- 

1 Cor. 8. 9, 11. . „ „ , ,. , , , , 111- 1 

&9. ^. putations. ^1* or one beheveth that he "may eat all things : another, 

*us'Z°ubtfli'''°^ ^ho is weak, eateth herbs. ^ Let not him that eateth despise him that 

thoughts. eateth not ; and 'let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth : 

10^25. iTim. 4. for God hath received him. * Who ''art thou that judgest another 

''co7Vi6^ man's servant ? to his own master he standeth or falleth : yea, he shall 

d Jam. 4. 12. bc holdeu up ; for God is able to make him stand. ^ One 'man esteem- 

*2*^i6 ^' ^°' ^'''' ^th one day above another ; another esteemeth every day alike : let 

^or,fuUyas- cvcry mau be tfully persuaded in his own mind. ^ He ■'^that tregardeth 

fG^hi. 10. the day, regardeth it unto the Lord ; and he that regardeth not the 

t Or, observeth. day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the 

g 1 Cor. 10. 31. Lord, for *^he giveth God thanks ; and he that eateth not, to the Lord 

1 Tim. 4. 3. ^ 

A 1 Cor. 6. 19, 20. he catcth not, and giveth God thanks. Tor ''none of us Hveth to 
f The9s^*5. 10. himself, and no man dieth to himself. ^ For whether we live, we 
iPet. 4. 2. live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: 

i 2 Cor. 5. 15. whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. ^ For 'to this 

j Acta 10. 36. end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be ^Lord 
both of the dead and living. ^^ But why dost thou judge thy brother ? 

h Matt. 25. 31, or why dost thou set at noueht thy brother ? For *we shall all stand 

32. Acts 10. 43. -^ to J 

&'i7. 31. 2bor. before the judgment-seat of Christ. ^Tor it is 'written, — 

5. 10. Jude 14, •' ^ 

15- " As I live, saith the Lord, 

2.^10. ' " ' ' " Every knee shall bow to Me, 

And every tongue shall confess to God." 
m Matt 12 .16 ^^ ^'^ ^hcu ""cvery one of us shall give account of himself to God. 

Gal. 6.' 5. i Pet. 

4. 5. 

§ 51. — chap. xiv. 13, to the end. 
From the consideration that we shall all render an account of our own actions, St. Paul 
entreats the Roman converts to forbear judging each other, and to be particularly cau- 
tious that they do not give occasion to a weak brother to stumble, or to offend ; for 
although no meat is unclean of itself, it is made so to him who thinks it unclean — 
They are to take care, therefore, that by their example they destroy not him for 
whom Christ died, and that the good liberty they enjoyed be not the cause of 
evil — For the kingdom of God does not consist in meat and drink, but in holi- 
ness, spiritual peace, and joy — They are to serve Christ by following such a 
course as will promote the peace and edification of each other, and not by the indul- 
gence of appetite run the risk of destroying the virtue of another — Those who have 
attained to a right faith concerning meats and days are not to make a display of it to 



Sect. XIII.] THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 311 

the injury of others — He indeed is happy who never subjects himself to condemnation 
by doing those things, wliich in themselves are lawful — He who believes certain meats, 
according to the Mosaic Law, to be unlawful, sins if he eats them ; because he does a 
thing which he believes to be unlawful, and thereby violates his conscience. 

^^Let us not therefore judge one another anymore: but judge §51. 
this rather, that "no man put a stumbUngblock or an occasion to fall « i cor. s. 9, 13. 

At 10 "^2 

in his brother's way. ^'^ I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, j Acts 10. 15. 
'that there is nothing *unclean of itself; but 'to him that esteemeth i^'J' !%'„"' 
any thing to be tunclean, to him it is unclean. ^^ But if thy brother 4. 4. tu. 1. 15. 
be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not tcharitably. ''Destroy ^ 1 coTTT 10. 
not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. t gt. common. 

i^Lef^not then your good be evil spoken of. I'-Tor^the kingdom ^Z'rHy.'^'^"'^^'' 
of God is not meat and drink ; but righteousness, and peace, and joy d 1 cor. 8. 11. 
in the Holy Ghost. ^^ For he that in these things serveth Christ ^zs ^f^^^fg^g 
acceptable to God, and approved of men. ^^ Let ''us therefore follow ^-scor. s. 21. 
after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith 'one may \l^\i'^' "" "''- 
edify another. ^^ For -'meat destroy not the work of God. ''All things i ch. 15.9. icor. 
indeed are pure ; 'but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. 5.'ii7 
^^ It is good neither to eat '"flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing J ^«f- ^^■ 
whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak, Vcfs'io^^is^ver. 
^^ Hast thou faith ? have it to thyself before God. "Happy is he that ^*- ^'^- ^- ^^- 

7 1 (^nr ft Q in 

condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth ! ^^ And he 11, la.' ' ' ' 
that *doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith : for *" ^ ^•"■- ®- 1^- 
"whatsoever is not of faith is sin. : ^,^t/Ji. 

andputtetli a 

_ 1 .« difference between 

^ 52. — chap. XV. 1-7. meats. 

Those who are strong in the faith are more particularly required to bear with the infirmi- " Tit. 1. 15. 
ties of the weak, and to attend not to their own gratification, but to the edification of 

their neighbour, as Chi-ist himself, by his own predicted example, has taught (Ps. Ixix. 

9.) — He assures them, that all that is recorded of the suiFerings of Christ, and of the 
saints in the Old Testament, were written for their instruction, that they through tlie ' 

Scriptures might obtain the same hope and the same consolation — He prays that they 
may act toward each other after the example of Christ, that they may without conten- 
tion unite in glorifying God, and receive and hold communion with each other in the 
same manner as Christ received them both into his Church, to the glory of God the 
Father. 



52. 



^ We "then that are strong ought to bear the 'infirmities of the weak, I ^ji" \^[ j' 
and not to please ourselves. ® Let ''every one of us please his neighbour c 1 cor. 9. 19,^. 
for his good ''to edification. ^ For "even Christ pleased not himself; 13. s! Phii. 2. 4, 
but, as it is ^written, " The reproaches of them that reproached Thee ^ ^,^ ^^ jg^ 
fell on me." ^For ^whatsoever things were written aforetime were eMatt. 26. 39. 
written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the 6?38. ' 
Scriptures might have hope. ^ Now ''the God of patience and conso- /ps. 69. 9. ^ 
lation grant you to be like minded one toward another ^according to '1 cor.'g. 9,~i6. 
Christ Jesus ; "^ that ye may 'With one mind and one mouth glorify God, 3. ]g[ n[ '"^ 
even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ! '^ Wherefore 'receive ye '\'=^?,- 12. ifi- 

*' 1 Cor. 1. 10. 

one another ""as Christ also received us to the glory of God. piiii. 3. le. 

* Or, after the 

example of. 
§ 53. — chap. XV. 8-13. i Acts 4. 24, 32. 

The Apostle here seems to have in view a probable objection that tlie Jew would make to 3 '^"- ^''•J' "^■ 
the admission of the Gentiles into the Church of Christ, because Christ had not preached 
to them — St. Paul affirms, that Jesus Christ was born a Jew, and became tlie minister 

of circumcision for the purpose of more eifectually accomplishing the promises made to 

the fathers, by which means the Gentiles also would have reason to glorify God for his 

mercy, according to the predictions of their own prophets, which clearly prove that 

God was determined from the beginning to make the Gentiles his people, as well as 

the Jews — The Apostle prays that God, who has given the Gentiles this hope, may fill § 53. 

them with all spiritual peace and joy in believing in Jesus Christ; and that all their a Matt. 15.24. 

hopes and expectations in him may be fulfilled by the power of the Holy Ghost. ^°^ ^oe'^fe^s" 

^ Now I say that "Jesus Christ was a minister of the Circumcision 46. 
for the truth of God, 'to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: 1.2b." 



312 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. [Part XHI. 

'/ 23" ^'*' ^^' ''^' ^ ^"^ '*^^* *'^^ Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy ; as it is 
d Ps. its. 49. ''written, — 

" For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, 
And sing unto thy name." 
e Dem. 32. 43. 10 ^jjjj ^gain 'hc saith,— 

" Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people ! " 
/Ps. 117.1. 11 And ^again,— 

" Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles ! 
And laud him, all ye people ! " 

^Eev.'s.'s.'&k ^^And again, Esaias ^saith, — 

16. ' 

" There shall be a Root of Jesse, 
And He that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles ; 
In Him shall the Gentiles trust." 

14. 17. '^'^ ^^ Now the God of hope fill you with all ''joy and peace in believing, 
that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost ! 



§ 54. — chap. XV. 14, to the end. 
The Apostle, having now completed the doctrinal and practical part of his Epistle, ad- 
dresses himself more particularly to the Gentiles — He is persuaded that they are so full 
of goodness and knowledge of God's design towards them, that they are able to ad 
monish each other ; yet he has made bold to write to them on account of his apostol 
ical office, which he had received from God, for the converting of the Gentiles, whom 
he now presents as an acceptable offering to God — He glories in the success of his own 
ministry — Christ working with him, and, by the power of the Holy Ghost, confirming 
both his doctrine and mission, by mighty signs and wonders — His anxiety to preach 
the Gospel where it was before unknown prevented him from having visited Rome, 
where it was already planted ; but now having nothing more to do, he hopes to see 
them on his way to Spain, and to be gratified by their company thitherward — He men- 
tions his intended journey to Jerusalem, to carry the contributions of his Gentile con- 
verts to the Jewish converts at Jerusalem, thereby hoping to reconcile them to each 
other ; as througli the means of the Jews the Gentiles were brought to the knowledge 
of spiritual things, they are bound to make a return of carnal things — He repeats his 
intention to visit them, after he has delivered up the contributions, endued with the 
gifts and blessings of the Gospel of Christ — He entreats them to pray earnestly for his 
deliverance from the unbelieving Jews, who sought to destroy him ; and that his sub- 
scription might be acceptable to the Christian Jews — His hope to see them, that they 
S 54. may be both strengthened by the imparting of spiritual gifts, and his benediction. 

aSPet. 1. 12. 1* And "I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye 

fiVcor.^s.^i 7 ^'^'^ ^""^ f'^l^ of goodness, 'filled with all knowledge, able also to admon- 

lo- ish one another. ^^ Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more 

c ch. 1. 5. & 12. boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, 'because of the 

Eph.'^s.V.s!' grace that is given to me of God, ^^that ''I should be the minister of 
d^ch.iLis.^ai. Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the Gospel of God, that "the 
"^offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by 
the Holy Ghost. ^'^ I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus 

sTiiT'^" Christ ^in those things which pertain to God; ^^for I will not dare to 

* Heb^Tr™' speak of any of those things ^which Christ hath not wrought by me, 
g Acts 21. 19. ''to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, ^^ through 'mighty 
ft^ch 1 5 &16 '^igns ^"d wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God ; so that from 

26. Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the 

'g'^cor.^io/Ji Gospel of Christ : ^^ yea, so have I strived to preach the Gospel, not 
j2Cor. 10. 13, where Christ was named, •'lest I should build upon another man's 
k ig. 52. 15. foundation : ~^ but, as it is ^written, — 

" To whom He was not spoken of, they shall see : 
And they that have not heard shall understand." 



2.7,8,9. 1 Tim, 

2. 7. 2 Tim. 1. 

11. Phil. 2. 17. 

e Is. 66. 20. Phil 



Sect. XIII.] THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. . 313 

"For which cause also 'I have been tmuch hindered from coming ^iTheslh.n, 
to you. ^^ But now having no more place in these parts, and ""having is. 
a great desire these many years to come unto you ; ^^ whensoever I oi%ft^nim^^^' 
take mv iournev into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see m Acts 19 21. 

J ■> 'niii 1 1-1 11 ver. 32. ch. 1. 

you m my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, 11. 

if first I be somewhat filled twith your company. " "^''" ^^- ^■ 

-^ But now "I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. -^ For ver.' S2. ' ^'™' 
''it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain ''.2o%^^l\'u 
contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. ^^ It hath p 1 cor. le. 1, 2. 
pleased them verily ; and their debtors they are. For 'if the Gentiles |^or-8. 1. &9. 
have been made partakers of their spiritual things, ""their duty is also ? ct- u- ". 
to minister unto them in carnal things. -^ When therefore I have per- ''Gah"' 1.' ^^' 
formed this, and have sealed to them ^this fruit, I will come by you s Phii. 4. 17. 
into Spain. ^^ And 'I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come ^"^p^ii' "\ 
in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ. v 2 cor. 1. 11. 

^^ Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, ^n'™'^"„o 
and "for the love of the Spirit, "that ye strive together with me in your * or, are disobe- 
prayers to God for me ; ^^ that '"I may be delivered from them that ^'^'^^ g ^ 
*do not believe in Judaea ; and that ""my service which I have for Je- y ch. 1. 10. 
rusalem may be accepted of the saints ; ^^ that ^I may come unto you « Acts is. 21. 
with joy, (^by the will of God,) and may with you be "refreshed. ^■^ Now Jam. 4. is. ' 
'the God of peace be with you all ! [Amen.] "2 cot'V^V^' 

2 Tim. i. 16. 

Philemon 7, 20. 

§ 55. — chap. xvi. 1-16. b ch. 16. 20. 

St. Paul recommends to the good offices of the Christians at Rome, Phebe, who was the g p°f' i3' n' 
bearer of this Epistle — He ereets Aquila and PriscLlla, whom he highly commends, and Phil. 4. 9._ 
the Church at their house — He salutes many of his Christian friends, some of whom g Thess 3' 16. 

, were probably his own converts, who were now settled at Rome. Heb. 13. 20. 

1 I COMMEND unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the 
Church \vhich is at "Cenchrea, ^ that *ye receive her in the Lord, as ^ 
becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsover business she hath j PhiK2.29.' 
need of you ; for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself ^ ^°^'^ ^' ^■ 
also. 

2 Greet Triscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus, ^ (who have ^g'^g^xhiiV w 
for my life laid down their own necks : unto whom not only I give 

thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles), ° likewise greet "^the d 1 cor. 16. 19. 
church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epenetus, who Phiiemon a. 
is 'the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ. "^ Greet Mary, who bestowed « ^ ^°'- ^^- ^=- 
much labor on us. ' Salute Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen, and 
my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also 
■'"were in Christ before me. ^ Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord. Z^*'- ^■^■ 
^ Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved. ^° Sa- 
lute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristo- 
bulus' *househoid. ^^ Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that * or, friends. 
be of the thousehold of Narcissus, which are in the Lord. ^^ Salute jOt, friends. 
Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Salute the beloved 
Persis, which labored much in the Lord. ^^ Salute Rufus "'chosen in ^2 John 1. 
the Lord, and his mother and mine. ^^ Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, 
Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them. 
1^ Salute Philologus, and Julias, Nereiis, and his sister, and Olympas, 
and all the saints which are with them. ^^ Salute ''one another with a Aicor. le. 20. 
holy kiss. The Churches of Christ salute you ! 1 The'ss. 5. 26, 

■' ' 1 Pet. 5. 14. 



§ 56. — chap. xvi. 17-2u. 
St. Paul again admonishes them to avoid divisions, and the persons that cause them ; for 
they serve not Christ by preaching his doctrine, being only anxious for worldly gain ; 
and, not having spiritual gifts, they by good words and fair speeches deceive or per- 
vert the hearts of the unsuspecting Christian converts — He rejoices in their present 
VOL. II. 40 AA 



314 ST. PAUL RAISES EUTYCHUS TO LIFE. [Part XIH 

§ 56. obedience, and exhorts them to continue to discern and to practise that which is good, 

a Acts 15. 1 5 ^^^ '■° ^^ P'^''^ °^ simple respecting evil ; that is, avoiding all false doctrines, or exam- 

24. 1 Tim. 6. 3. pies — He foretells the speedy destruction of the agents of Satan, who introduce divis- 

^J^SJ"' ^^'a^^' ions in the Church, and concludes with his benediction. 
2 iness. o. o, 

Tit ^3^10' ^' ^' ^^ Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them "which cause divisions 

2 John 10. and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned ; and 

"/Tim-Vs! 'avoid them. ^^ For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, 

d Col. 2. 4. but 'their own belly : and ''by good words and fair speeches deceive 

Tit. i.'io. * the hearts of the simple. ^^ For 'your obedience is come abroad unto 

^ch**i ^8 ^ ^^' "^^^ ' ^ ^™ §^^^ therefore on your behalf, but yet I would have you 

/ Matt. 10. 16. -^wise unto that which is good, and *simple concerning evil. ^^ And ^the 

* o*i°L!^^s G^^ of peace ''shall tbruise Satan under your feet shortly. 'The grace 

g ch. 15.33. of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you ! [Amen.] 

h Gen. 3. 15. 

i ver. 24. 1 Cor. 5 ^'^- — '^^^'P- ^^i. 21, to the end. 

ij'"?i^?*^°o't'''' "^^ Apostle, in a postscript, sends the salutations of several persons who were with him 

1 Thess'. 5! 23] — He sums up all, by ascribing glory to God, who alone has power to establish in the 

2 The^. 3. 18. true faith of Christ, without the Law of Moses ; which before was a mystery, kept secret 

(although the calling of the Gentiles was predicted), but is now made manifest by the 
commandment revealed to St. Paul by the everlasting God, that all nations by his 
preacliing might have the knowledge of the obedience of faith, that they might believe 



57. 



"00^1. 1 Phi] ^"^"^ obey — To God, who is only wise, to liim be glory for ever 

1; -x "/'Km.^i! ^^ TiMOTHETJs "my workfcllow, and 'Lucius, and "Jason, and ''Sosi- 

2. Heb. 13. 23. patcr, my kinsmen, salute you ! ^"^ I Tertius, who wrote this Epistle, 

the°Evangeiist' salute you in the Lord ! ^^ Gaius 'mine host, and of the Avhole Church, 

c^ct3^i7^5 saluteth you. ^Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and 

d Acts 20. 4. Q,uartus a brother. -* The ^grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with 

el Cor. 1.14. y^y ^11 ! AmCU. 

f A,ct5 19 2^ . . ■ ' . 

2Tim. 4. 20. ^^ Now ''to him that is of power to stablish you 'according to my 

^•.■'"|f • 20- 1 Thes. Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, ^according to the revelation 

h Eph. 3. 20. of the mystery, *which was kept secret since the world began, ^^ but 

2 Thess! 2! 17! 'now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the Prophets, accord- 

&3. 3. Jude24. jjjg to the commandment of the Everlasting God, made known to all 

i ch *^ 16 . o ' 

jEphTi. 9. &3. nations for '"the obedience of faith: ^^ to "God only wise, be glory, 

3^1, 5. Col. 1. through Jesus Christ for ever ! Amen. 

k 1 Cor. 2.7. [[Written to the Romans from Corinthus, and sent by Fhebe, servant 

coh i!' 26.^' of the church at Cenchrea.]] 

I Eph. 1. 9. r 1 

2Tim. 1. 10. [END OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.] 
Tit. 1. 2, 3. 

1 Pet. 1. 20. ^----— -—-——-— —-—^---— 



V. JE. 58. 
J. p. 4771. 



m Acts 6. 7. ch. 

1. 5. &15. 18. Section XIV. — From Macedonia St. Paul proceeds to Troas, where 

n 1 Tim. 1. 17. & . ^ ' 

6. 16. Jude25. he ruises jiiUtychus to lije. 

:^^^=3=::^= Acts xx. 6-12. 

SECT. XIV. ^ And we sailed away from Philippi after "the days of unleavened 

bread, and came unto them Ho Troas in five days ; where we abode 

seven days. '^ And upon "the first day of the week, when the disciples 

Troas. camc together ''to break bread, Paul, ready to depart on the mor- 

a Ex. 12714 15. I'ow, prcachcd unto them, and continued his speech until midnight. 

& 23. 15. 8 ^j^(j there were many lights 'in the upper chamber, where they were 

J ch. 16. 8. 2 Cor. . i .. ..i o a i^i . • .i • i ^ ■ 

2. 12. 2 Tim. 4. gathered together. ■' And there sat m the window a certam young 

/i Cot 16 2 ^^" named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep : and as Paul 

Rev. 1. 10. was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from 

I'^coV. io.'i6."& the third loft, and was taken up dead. ^° And Paul went down, and 

"ii^i'fs'' -'^fell on him, and embracing him said, " Trouble ^not yourselves ; for 

/ 1 Kings 17. 21. his life is in him." ^^ When he therefore was come up again, and 

eUM^'.^'. ^^^ broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break 

bSeeNote25. of day, SO he departed. ^~ And they brought the young man alive, 

and were not a little comforted.'' 



Sect. XVIII.] ST. PAUL'S FAREWELL OF THE EPHESIANS, 



315 



Section XV. — From Troas to Assos and MityJene. 
Acts xx. 13, 14. 
^^ And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intend- 
ing to take in Paul : for so had he appointed, minding himself to go 
afoot. ^* And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and 
came to Mitylene. 



Section XVI. — From Mitylene to Chios. ' 
Acts xx. heginning of ver. 15. 
And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios. 



Section XVII. — From Chios to Samos, and Trogyllium. 
Acts XK.part of ver. 15. 
And the next dav we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trog-yllium. 



Section XVIII. — From Trogyllium to Miletus ; vjhere St. Paul meets, 

and talies his Farewell of, the Elders of the Church at Ejjhesus. 

Acts xx. latter part of ver. 15, to the end. 

^^ And the next day we came to Miletus. ^^ For Paul had determined 
to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia ; for 
"he hasted, if it were possible for him, 'to be at Jerusalem "the day of 
Pentecost. 

^■^ And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of 
the Church.'^ ^^ And when they were come to him, he said unto them, 
'■' Ye know, "^from the first day that I came into Asia, after what man- 
ner I have been with you at all seasons, ^^ ser\'ing the Lord mth all 
humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell 
me 'by the lying in wait of the Jews ; ^° and how ^1 kept back nothing 
that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught 
you publicly, and from house to house, ^^ testifying '^both to the Jews, 
and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our 
Lord Jesus Christ. — And now, behold ! ''I go (bound in the Spirit) 
unto Jerusalem., not knowing the things that shall befall me there ; 
^^ save that 'the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds 
and afflictions *abide me. ^^ But •'none of these things move me, 
neither count I my life dear unto myself, 'so that I might finish my 
course with joy, 'and the ministry, "'which I have received of the 
Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God. ^^ And, now, 
behold ! "I know that ye all, among whom 1 have gone preaching the 
kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. -^ Wherefore I take you 
to record this day, that I am "pure from the blood of all meji ; ^' for ^I 
have not shunned to declare unto 3'ou all 'the counsel of God. 

^® " Take ^heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over 
the which the Lloly Ghost Miath made you overseers, to feed the Church 
of 'God,"^ which He hath purchased "with his own blood. ^^ For I 
know this, that after my departing "shall grievous wolves enter in 
among you, not sparing the flock ; ^° also "of your ownselves shall 
men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 
^^ Therefore watch, and remember, that ^by the space of three years I 
ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. "- And now, 
brethren. I commend you to God, and ^to the word of his grace, 
which is able "to build you up, and to give you ""an inheritance among 
all them which are sanctified. ^^ I 'have coveted no man's silver, or 
gold, or apparel : ^^ yea, ye yourselves know, "that these hands have 

M 1 Tim. 1. 20. IJohn 2. 19. a; ch. 19. 10. 1/ Heb. 13. 9. zch. 9.31. o ch. 26.18. Eph. 1. 18. Col. 1. 12, 
15. 1 Pet. 1.4. 6 1 Sam. 19. 3. 1 Cor. 9. 12. 2 Cor. 7. 2. & 11. 9. & 12. 17. e ch. 18. 3, 1 Cor. 4. 12. 1 Thess. 



SECT. XV. 

V. M. 58. 
J. P. 4771. 

Assos 
and Mitylene. 



SECT. XVI. 

V. M. 58. 

J. P. 4771. 

Chios. 



SECT. XVII. 

V. JE. 58. 
J. p. 4771. 

Samos 
and Trogj'Uium. 



SECT. XVIII. 

V. iE.58. 

J. p. 4771. 

Miletus. 

a ch. 18. 21. & 

19. 21. & 21. 4, 

12. 
b ch. 24. 17. 
c ch. 2. 1. 1 Cor. 

16.8. 
c See Note 26. 
d ch. 18. 19. & 

19. 1, 10. 
e ver. 3. 
/ ver. 27. 
g ch. 18. 5. 

Mark l.lo.Luka 

24. 47. ch. 2. 38. 
A ch. 19. 21. 
i ch. 21. 4, 11. 

1 Thess. 3. 3. 
* Or, trait forms, 
j ch.ai. 13. Rom. 

8. 35. 2 Cor. 4. 
16. 

k 2 Tim. 4. 7. 
I ch. 1. 17. 2 Cor. 
4. 1. 

m Gal. 1. 1. Tit. 

1.3. 
n ver. 38. Rom. 

15.23. 
ch. 18. 6. 2 Cor. 

7.2. 
p ver. 20. 
q Luke 7. 30. 

John 15. 15. 

Eph. 1. 11. 
r 1 Tim. 4. 16. 

1 Pet. 5. 2. 

s 1 Cor. 12. 28. 

t 3rr. Belsham 
would here read 
Lord, meaning 
the Father : but 
in Coloss. iii. 13. 
he would turn 
Christ into Lord, 
meaning the 
Father also. 
His design is 
manifest. — Ed. 
Eph. 1. 7, 14. 
Col. 1. 14. Heb. 

9. 12. 1 Pet. 1. 
19. Rev. 5. 9. 

d See Note 27. 
u See Heb. 9. 14. 
V Matt. 7. 15, 

2 Pet. 2. 1. 

&: 3. 24. Heb. 9. 
2. 9.2Thes3.3.8. 



316 



AGABUS PROPHESIES ST. PAUL'S IMPRISONMENT. [Part XIIL 



d Rom. 15. 1. 

1 Cor. 9. 12. 

2 Cor. 11.9, 
12. & 12. 13. 
Eph. 4. 28. 

1 Thess. 4. 11. 

&5. 14. 2Thes3. 

3.8. 
e ch. 7. 60. & 21. 

5. 
/ Gen. 45. 14. & 

46. 29. 
g ver. 25. 



ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. ^^ I 
have showed you all things, ''how that so laboring ye ought to support 
the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 
' It is more blessed to give than to receive.' " 

^^ And when he had thus spoken, he 'kneeled down, and prayed 
with them all. ^^ j/\nd they all wept sore, and ^fell on Paul's neck, and 
kissed him, ^^ sorrowing most of all for the words ^which he spake, 
that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him 
unto the ship. 



SECT. XIX. 

V. M. 58. 

J. P. 4771. 

Cooa, Rhodes, Pa- 

tara, and Tyre. 



SECT. XX. 

V. M. 58. 
J. P. 4771. 

Tyre. 

a ver. 12. ch. 20. 
23. 

e S6« Note 28. 
J ch 20. 36. 
c John 1. 11. 



SECT. XXI. 

V. M. 58. 
J. P. 4771. 

Ptoleraais. 



SECT. XXII. 

V. IE.. 58. 
J. P. 4771. 

Cssarea. 



a Eph. 4. II. 

2 Tim. 4. 5. 
b ch. 6. 5. & 8. 

26, 40. 
c Joel 2^28. ch. 2. 

17. 

d ch. 11. 28. 



e ver. 33. ch. 20. 
23. 



/ ch. 20. 24. 



Section XIX. — From Miletus, to Cods and Rhodes and Patara : 
whence St. Paul, together with St. Lulce, the Writer of the Book of 
the Acts of the Apostles, sails in a Phoenician vessel to Syria, and 
lands at Tyre. 

Acts xxi. 1-3. 
^ And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and 
had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day 
following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara. ^ And finding a 
ship sailing over unto Phoenicia, we went aboard, and set forth : ^ now 
when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed 
into Syria, and landed at Tyre ; for there the ship was to unlade her 
burden. 



Section XX. — St. Paul and St. Luke continue at Tyre seven Days. 

Acts xxi. 4-6. 
'^ And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days : "who said to 
Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.^ ^ And 
when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our 
way ; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and chil- 
dren, till we were out of the city ; and 'we kneeled down on the shore, 
and prayed. ^ And when we had taken our leave one of another, we 
took ship ; and they returned "^home again. 



Section XXI. — They proceed from Tyre to Ptolemais. 
Acts xxi. 7. 
And when we had finished our course, from Tyre we came to Ptol- 
emais. and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day. 



Section XXII. — From Ptolemais to Ccesarea, to the House of Philip 
the Evangelist — Agahus prophesies the near Imprisonment of St. 
Paul. 

Acts xxi. 8-14. 
^ And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and 
came unto Caesarea ; and we entered into the house of Philip "the 
Evangelist, Svhich was one of the Seven, and abode with him. ^ And 
the same man had four daughters, virgins, 'which did prophesy. ^° And 
as we tarried there many days, there came down, from Judsea a certain 
prophet, named ''Agabus ; " and when he was come unto us, he took 
Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, " Thus saith 
the Holy Ghost, 'So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that 
owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles." 
12 And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, 
besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. ^^ Then Paul answered, 
" What ^mean ye to weep and to break mine heart ? for I am ready not 
to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the 



Sect. XXIV.] ST. PAUL IS APPREHENDED AT JERUSALEM. 317 

Lord Jesus. ^* And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, ^say- ^ge'^'' Life n 
ing, '•' The will of the Lord be done ! " 2.&^2.42. 



SECT. xxni. 



Section XXIIL — St. Paul and St. Luke arrive at Jerusalem, and pre- 
sent themselves to St. James and the Church. V. M. 58. 
Acts x.xi. 15-26. J- ^- ^^'^l- 
15 And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to erusa^em. 
Jerusalem. ^"^ There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caes- 
area, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, 
with whom we should lodge. 

1^ And "when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received <^ '^^- 1^- '^• 
us gladly. ^^ And the day following Paul went in with us unto 'James ; * ch. is. i3. oai 

1. 19&29 

and all the elders were present. ^^ And when he had saluted them, 
"he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the '' -^^'J^^'-^'i^ 
Gentiles ''by his ministry. ~^ And when they heard it, they glorified d ch. i. it. eh. 
the Lord, and said unto him, " Thou seest, brother, how many thou- "''■~^' 
sands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all 'zealous of " iqI'^^gIx^^.u. 
the Law. ^^ And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the 
Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying, ' That 
they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the 
customs.' ^' What is it therefore ? the multitude must needs come 
together ; for they will hear that thou art come. ^'^ Do therefore this 
that we say to thee : we have four men which have a vow on them. 
Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with 
them, that they may ■''shave their heads ; and all may know, that those -^ig "c"' is^isf ' 
things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing ; but 
that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the Law. ^^ As touch- 
ing the Gentiles which believe, ^we have written, and concluded that ^ 
they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from 
things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from 
fornication." 

^^ Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with 
them, ''entered into the temple, Ho signify the accomplishment of the jNum. e. i3. 
days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every f see Note 29 
one of them.*' ■ - — 



Section XXIV. — St. Paul is apprehended by the Chief Captain of '_i_ 

the Temple, in consequence of a Mob, occasioned by some of the V.^E. 58. 
Asiatic Jews, ivho met St. Paul in the Temple. J- P- 4771. 

Acts Xxi. 27-36. Jerosalem. 

^'' And when the seven days were almost ended, "the Jews which a ch. 24. is. 
were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the 
people, and ''laid hands on him, ^^ crying out, " Men of Israel, help ! '"^'"•-^-^i- 
This is the man, 'that teacheth all men every where against the people, " <^h.24. 5, 6. 
and the Lavi^, and this place ; and further, brought Greeks also into 
the temple, and hath polluted this holy place." -° (For they had seen 
before with him in the city ''Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they sup- d ch. 20. 4. 
posed that Paul had brought into the temple.) 3° And 'all the city ech. 26. ai. 
was moved, and the people ran together ; and they took Paul, and 
drew him out of the temple ; and forthwith the doors were shut. 
^1 And as they went about to kill him, tidings came uato the chief 
captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar ; ^^ who -^im- /^c''- 23. 27. & 24. 
mediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them. 
And when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beat- 
ing of Paul. ^" Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and 
^commanded him to be bound with two chains ; and demanded who ^23"' 



318 



ST. PAUL'S DEFENCE BEFORE THE POPULACE. [Part XIIL 



ft Luke 23. 18. 
John 19. 15. ch. 
22. 22. 



he was, and what he had done. ^* And some cried one thing, some 
another, among the multitude. And when he could not know the 
certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the 
castle. 3^ And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was 
borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people ; ^^ for the multi- 
tude of the people followed after, crying, " Away ''with him ! " 



SECT. XXV. 

V. JE. 58. 
J. P. 4771. 

Jerusalem. 

a See ch.5. 36. 



b ch. 9. 11. &22. 
3. 



c cli. 12. 17. 



e ch. 21. 39. 

2 Cor. 11. 22. 

Phil. 3. 5. 
/ Deut. 33. 3. 

2 Kings 4. 38. 

Luke 10. 39. 
g ch. 5. 34. 
h ch. 26. 5. 
i ch. 21.20. Gal. 

1. 14. 
j Rom. 10. 2. 
k ch. 8. 3. & 23. 

9,10,11. Phil. 3. 

6. 1 Tim. ]. 13. 
I Luke 23. 66. ch. 

4.5. 
m ch. 9. 2. & 26. 

10, 12. 
n ch. 9. 3. & 26. 

12, 13. 



o ch. 9. 7. Dan. 
10.7. 



p ch. 9. 17. 
5 ch. 10.22. 
r 1 Tim. 3. 7. 
4 ch. 3. 13. & 5. 

30. 
t ch. 9. 15. & 26. 

16. 
« 1 Cor. 9. 1. & 

15. 8. ch. 3. 14. 

& 7. 52. 

V 1 Cor. 11.23. 

Gal. 1. 12. 
v> ch. 23. 11. 
X ch. 4. 20. & 26. 

16. 
y ch. 9. 38. lleh. 

10.22. 
z ch. 9. 14. Rom. 

10. IH. 
a ch. 9. 96. 

2 Cor. 19. 2. 
b ver. 14. 
c Matt. 10. 14. 



Section XXV. — St. Paul makes his Defence before the Populace. 
Acts xxi. 37, to the end, and xxii. 1-21. 

^^ And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief 
captain, " May I speak unto thee ? " Who said, " Canst thou speak 
Greek ? ^^ Art "not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest 
an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that 
were murderers ? " ^^ But Paul said, " I ''am a man which am a Jew 
of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city : and, I beseech 
thee, suffer me to speak unto the people." 

'^^ And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and 
'^beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made 
a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying, — 

^ " Men, ''brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make 
now unto you ! " ^ (And when they heard that he spake in the He- 
brew tongue to them, they kept the more silence ; and he saith,) •' " I 
'am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in CiHcia, 
yet brought up in this city, -^at the feet of ^Gamaliel, taught ''ac- 
cording to the perfect manner of the Law of the fathers, and 'was 
zealous toward God, •'as ye all are this day ; * and ''I persecuted this 
way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and 
women : ^ as also the high priest doth bear me witness, and 'all the 
estate of the elders ; "'from whom also I received letters unto the 
brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound 
unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. '^ And "it came to pass, that, as I 
made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, 
suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me ; '' and 
I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, ' Saul ! 
Saul ! why persecutest thou me? ' ^ And I answered, ' Who art thou. 
Lord ? ' And He said unto me, ' I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou 
perecutest.' ^ And "they that were with me saw indeed the light, and 
were afraid ; but they heard not the voice of Him that spake to me. 
^^ And I said, ' What shall I do, Lord ? ' And the Lord said unto me, 
' Arise, and go into Damascus ; and there it shall be told thee of all 
things which are appointed for thee to do.' ^^ And when I could not 
see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were 
with me, I came into Damascus. ^'^ And ''one Ananias, a devout man 
according to the Law, 'having a good report of all the 'Jews which 
dwelt there, ^^ came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, ' Brother 
Saul, receive thy sight! ' And the same hour I looked up upon him. 
1'' And he said, ' The 'God of our fathers 'hath chosen thee, that thou 
shouldst know his will, and "see that Just One, and "shouldst hear 
the voice of his mouth ; ^^ for ""thou shalt be his witness unto all men 
of 'what thou hast seen and heard. ^^ And now why tarriest thou ? 
arise, and be baptized, '-'and wash away thy sins, ''calling on the Name 
of the Lord.' 

" " And "it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, 
even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; ^^ and 'saw 
Him saying unto me, ' Make 'haste, and get thee quickly out of Jeru- 
salem ; for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.' ^^ And 



Sect. XXVIII.] ST. PAUL ARRAIGNED BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN. 319' 

I said, ' Lord! ''they know that I imprisoned and 'beat in every syna- <« ver. 4. ch. 8. 3. 

gogue them that behaved on Thee; ^Oand^when the blood of thy ^ *^'''^'- ^°- ^'■• 

martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and ^consenting ^ Luke 11. 48. 

[unto his death], and kept the raiment of them that slew him.' ^i And ^^-s-i-Kom.i. 

He said unto me, ' Depart, ''for I will send thee far hence unto the a ch. 9. 15. &.13. 
ri .-, , „ 2, 46, 47. & 18. 

(ientiles. e. & 26. 17. 

Rom. 1. 5. &n. 

^^^=^^^^===^= I 13. &15. ]6. 

Gal. 1. 15, 16. & 

Section XXVI. — On declaring his Mission to lyreach to the Gentiles, '^'lll''rm'i^. 

the Jews clamor for his Death. 2Tim. 1. li. 

Acts xxii. 22. 

And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their sect. xxvi. 

voices, and said, " Away "with such a fellow from the earth ! for it is y. JE. 58. 

not fit that 'he should live ! " , j. p. 4771. 

Jerusalem. 

Section XXVII. — St. Paul claims the Privilege of a Roman Citizen, a ch. 21. 36. 

Acts xxii. 23-29. b ch. 25. 24. 
^^ And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust ^=' 

into the air, ^'^ the chief captain commanded him to be brought into sect, xxvii. 
the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging ; that y "^50 
he might know wherefore they cried so against him. -^ And as they j p 4771 
bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Jerusalem. 
"Is "it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncon- ^ ^^^ — 
demned ? " ^^ When the centurion heard that, he went and told the 
chief captain, saying, " Take heed what thou doest ; for this man is a 
Roman." ^'^Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, " Tell 
me, art thou a Roman ? " He said, " Yea." ^^ And the chief captain 
answered, " With a great sum obtained I this freedom." And Paul 
said, "But I was free-born." ^^ Then straightway they departed from g see Note 30. 
him which should have *examined him ; and the chief captain also *,°^' '"'"'"'•'^'^ 
was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he 
had bound him. 



Section XXVIII. — St. Paul is brought before the Sanhedrin, who are sect^wiii. 
summoned by the Captain of the Temple. V. JE. 58. 

Acts xxii. 30, and xxiii. 1-10. J. P. 4771. 

^'^ On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty Jerusalem. 
wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him [from /ti.s bands], 
and commanded the Chief Priests and all their Council to appear, and 
brought Paul down, and set him before them. ^ And Paul, earnestly 
beholding the Council, said, " Men and brethren, "I have lived in all ''i''cm^.''4.^4: 
good conscience before God until this day." ^And the high priest, 4%°''^^i.^^^\% 
Ananias, commanded them that stood by him, Ho smite him on the Heb. 1.3.18. ' 
mouth. 3 Then said Paul unto him, " God shall smite thee, thou *jer^iofj.1'ohn 
whited wall ! for sittest thou to judge me after the Law, and 'com- ^^•^• 
mandest me to be smitten contrary to the Law ? " ^ And they that stood "o'em'. 25! 1^2. 
by said, " Pi.evilest thou God's high priest ? " s Then said Paul, " I •'"'"' ^- "^■' 
''wist not, brethren, that he vi'as the high priest; Tor it is "writtCR, '^'=h-24. n. 
' Thou Shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.' " J IZ^tw.^' 

^ But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and f pjf g^J^"^''- 
the other Pharisees, he cried out in the Council, " Men and brethren ! Judes. ' 
^l am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee ; 'of the hope and resurrection ■f^^ -''• ^- ^'''' 
of the dead I am called in question ! " '''And when he had so said, „^ ch! 24. 15,21. 
there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees ; to^'^' ^' ^ ^' 
and the multitude vv^as divided. ^ForHhe Sadducees say that there is a Man. kj. 93. 

•ii 1 • • 1 1 -n,T . . Mark 12. 18. 

no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit ; but the Pharisees confess both. Luke 20. 27. 



320 THE JEWS CONSPIRE AGAINST ST. PAUL. [Part. XIIL 

^ And there arose a great cry ; and the Scribes, that were of the Phari- 
'g'^';- 25- 25. & 26. sees' part arose, and strove, saying, " We 'find no evil in this man ; 
j ch. 22. 7, 17, t>ut ■'if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, [let *us not fight against 
God]." 1° And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, 
fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, com- 
manded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among 
them, and to bring him into the castle. 



18. 
k ch. 5. 39, 



SECT. XXIX. 



Section XXIX. — St. Paul is encouraged hy a Vision to persevere. 
Y. M. 58. Acts xxiii. 11. 

And "the night following, the Lord stood by him, and said, " Be of 
good cheer [Paul] ! for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so 



J. P. 4771. 

Jerusalem. 



'^^'ii.' ^' ^ ^^' must thou bear witness also at Rome 



_::_ ■ Section XXX. — In consequence of the Discovery of a Conspiracy to 

V. M. .58. Mil St. Paul, he is removed by Night from Jerusalem, through An- 

J. P. 4771. tipatris to Ccesarea. 

Csesare"!' AcTS xxiii. 12, to the end. 

~~~ ^^ And when it was day, "certain of the Jews banded together, and 

fl V6r. 21 30 ch 

25. 3. ' ■ ■ bound themselves *under a curse, saying, that they would neither eat 
* Or, with an oath nor drink till they liad killed Paul.' ^^ And they were more than forty 

of execration. i • i i • • . . 

i See Note 35. which had made this conspiracy ; ^^and they came to the Chief Priests 
and elders, and said, " We have bound ourselves under a great 
curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. ^^ Now there- 
fore ye, with the Council, signify to the chief captain that he bring 
him down unto you [to-morrow], as though ye would inquire some- 
thing more perfectly concerning him : and we, or ever he come near, 
are ready to kill him." 

^^ And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went 
and entered into the castle, and told Paul, " Then Paul called one of 
the centurions unto him, and said, " Bring this young man unto the 
chief captain ; for he hath a certain thing to tell him." ^^ So he took 
him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, " Paul the 
prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man 
unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee." ^^Then the chief 
captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and 
asked him, "What is that thou hast to tell me?" ^^ And he said, 
b ver. 12. " The 'Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldst bring down 

Paul to-morrow into the Council, as though they would inquire some- 
what of him more perfectly. ^^ But do not thou yield unto them ; for 
there lie in wait for liim of them more than forty men, wliich have 
bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink 
till they have killed him ; and now are they ready, looking for a prom- 
ise from thee." ^~ So the chief captain then let the young man depart, 
and charged him, " See thou tell no man that thou hast showed these 
things to me." 

^^ And he called unto him two centurions, saying, " Make ready 
two hundred soldiers to go to Csesarea, and horsemen threescore and 
ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night ; ^^ and 
provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe 
unto Felix the governor." 

^^ And he wrote a letter after this manner : — 

^'^ " Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Fehx sendeth 
t ch. 21. 33. & " greeting ! ^^ This ""man was taken of the Jews, and should have been 
^''' ^' " killed of them : then came I with an army, and rescued him, having 



Sect. XXXL] PAUL IS ACCUSED BEFORE FELIX. 321 

" understood that he was a Roman. ~® And ''when I would have known ^ "^^ ^- ^^■ 

*' the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into 

" their Council ; ^^ whom I perceived to be accused 'of questions of '^tii.' ^^' ^ 

" their Law, 'but to have notliing laid to his charge worthy of death or /ch. q6. 31. 

" of bonds. ^^ And °'when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait ^ ""' ^° 

" for the man, I sent straightv/ay to thee, and ''gave commandment to ''g"'"'^* s. &25. 

" his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. 

" Farewell ! " 

^^ Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and 
brought him by night to Antipatris. ^^ On the morrow they left the 
horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle. ^^ Who, when 
they came to Cassarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor, pre- 
sented Paul also before him. ^'^ And when [the governor] had read 
the letter, he asked of what province he was ; and when he understood 
that he was of 'Cilicia, ^^ " Pwill hear thee," said he, " when thine j °^' 24' jjo^ 
accusers are also come." And he commanded him to be kept in 25. 16. 

iXT JJ ■ J V. I 11 * Matt. 27.27. 

Herod s judgment-hall. 



Section XXXI. — St. Paul is accused of Sedition before Felix, sect^xxi. 
the Governor of Judcea — His Defence. V. M. 58. 

Acts xxiv. 1-21. J- P- 4771. 

^ And after "five days ''Ananias the high priest descended with the ^sarea. 
elders, and with a certain orator, named Tertullus, who informed the " ch. 21. 27. 
governor against Paul. ^ And when he was called forth, Tertullus be- 33. & 25. 2. ' 
gan to accuse him, saying, — 

" Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy 
" deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence, ^ we accept it 
" always, and in all places, most noble Felix ! with all thankfulness. 
" ^ Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray 
'' thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words. ^ For 
" "we have found this man, a pestilent /e//ow, and a mover of sedition e. 13. & i6.'2o." 
" among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the ^.^I'pet^^'ia, 
" sect of the ''Nazarenes ; ^ who ''also hath gone about to profane the ^^• 
"temple; whom we took, and would 'have judged according to our dch. 21.28. 
" Law. '' But ^the chief captain, Lysias, came upon us, and with great ' J"''" i^. 31. 
" violence took him away out of our hands, ^ commanding °his accus- '^"^{^^^^q 
" ers to come unto thee ; by examining of whom thyself mayest take 
" knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse him." 

^ And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so. 
^° Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, 
answered, — 

'• Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge 
unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself; ^^ be- 
cause that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but twelve days A^ver. n. ch. 21. 
since I went up to Jerusalem '"for to worship. ^^ And 'they neither i ch. 25. e. & 28. 
found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up -3^3^^,038 ^4 
the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city ; ^^ neither can ch. 9. 2. 
they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. ^'^ But this I con- f cl^2™22 &28 
fess unto thee, that after ^the way which they call heresy, so worship ss- 
I the ''God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in 'the '"e,''?.' & bs! 20^*^' 
Law and in the Prophets ; ^^ and "have hope toward God (which they « Dan. 12. 2. 
themselves also allow), "that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, „ ch. 23. i.' 
both of the just and unjust. ^^ And "herein do I exercise myself, to have p ch. 11. 29 30. 
always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toivard men . ^'^ Now 15. 25. 2'cor. 8. 
after many years ^1 came to bring alms to ray nation, and offerings ; '^^ ^i Qg 27 
^® whereupon 'certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the tem- 4^26.21.' 

VOL. II. 41 



322 



TRIAL OF PAUL BEFORE FESTUS. 



[Part Xttl. 



r ch. 23. 30. & 
25.16. 



pie, neither with multitude, nor with tumult ; ^^ who '"ought to have 
been here before thee, and object, if they had aught against me. ^" Or 
else let these same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, 
while I stood before the Council, ^^ except it be for this one voice, 
:^ch.23. 6. &28. that I cried standing among them, ' Touching 'the resurrection of the 
dead I am called in question by you this day ! ' " 



SECT. XXXII. 



V.iE. 58. 
J. P. 4771. 

Ceesarea. 



I See Note 34. 



16. 



Section XXXII. — After many Conferences with Felix, St. Paul is 

detained in Prison till the Arrival of Porcius Festus. 

Acts xxiv. 22, to the end. 

^^ And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowl- 
edge of that way, he deferred them, and said, " When "Lysias the 
chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of 'your 
matter." ^^ ^^d he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let 
b ch. 27. 3. &28. him have liberty, and 'that he should forbid none of his acquaintance 
to minister or come unto him. 

^* And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla 
(which was a Jewess), he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the 
faith in Christ. ^^ And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, 
and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, " Go thy way 
for this time ; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." 
^^ He hoped also that "money should have been given him of Paul, 
[that he might loose him :] wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and 
communed with him. 

^^ But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix' room ; and 
Felix, ''willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound." 



c Ex. 23. 8. 
d Ex. 23. 2. ch. 

12. 3. & 25. 9, 

14. 
ra See Note 35. 



sECT^xxiii. Section XXXIII. — Trial of St. Paul before Festus — He appeals 

to the Emperor. 
Acts xxv. 1-12. 

^ Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he 
ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem. ^ Then "the high priest and 
the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him, 
^ and desired favor against him, that he would send for him to Jeru- 
salem, 'laying wait in the way to kill him. '^ But Festus answered, that 
Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself would depart 
shortly thither. ^ " Let them therefore," said he, " which among you 
are able, go down with me, and accuse this man, "if there be any 
wickedness in him." 

^ And when he had tarried among them *more than ten days, he 
went down unto Caesarea ; and the next day sitting on the judgment- 
seat commanded Paul to be brought. ''' And when he was come, the 
Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, ''and laid 
many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not 
prove : ^ while he answered for himself, " Neither 'against the Law of 
the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I 
offended any thing at all." ^ But Festus, ^willing to do the Jews a 
pleasure, answered Paul, and said, " Wilt ^thou go up to Jerusalem, 
and there be judged of these things before me?" '^"Then said Paul, 
' I stand at Caesar's judgment-seat, where I ought to be judged. To 
the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. ^^ For ''if 
I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I re- 
fuse not to die ; but if there be none of these things whereof these 
accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. T appeal" unto 
Cassar ! " i^ Then Festus, when he had Conferred with the Council, 



V.^. 60. 

J. P. 4773. 

Caesarea. 

a ch. 24. 1. ver. 
15. 



b ch. 23. 12, 15. 



c ch. 18. 14. ver. 
18. 

* Or, as some 
copies read, no 
more than eight 
or ten days. 

d Mark 15. 3. 
Luke 23. 2, 10. 
ch. 24. 5, 13.^ 

e ch. 6. 13. & 24, 
12. & 28. 17. 



/ ch. 24. 27. 
g ver. 20. 



h ver. 25. ch. 18. 
14. & 23. 29. & 
26. 31. 



i ch. 26.32. & 28, 

19. 
n See Note 36. 



Sect. XXXV.] PAUL'S DEFENCE BEFORE FESTUS AND AGRIPPA. 323 

answered, "Thou hast appealed unto ^Caesar ; unto Ceesar shalt -^in treTedarativl 

thou go." form.-ED. 



Section XXXIV. — Curious Account given to Agrippa by Festus, of sect, xxxr. 
the Accusation against St. Paul. V. M. 60. 

Acts xxv. 13-22. J. P. 4773. 

13 And after certain days, King Agrippa and Bernice came unto csesarea. 
Csesarea to salute Festus. ^^And when they had been there many 
days, Festus declared Paul's cause unto the king, saying, " There "is ach. 24. 27. 
a certain man left in bonds by Felix : ^^ about ''whom, when I was at » vei. 2, 3. 
Jerusalem, the Chief Priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, 
desiring to have judgment against him. ^^ To ^whom I answered, ' It " ^•ei--4,5. 
is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before 
that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have 
licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.' 
1'^ Therefore, when they were come hither, "^without any delay on the d ver. e. 
morrow I sat on the judgment-seat, and commanded the man to be 
brought forth. '^ Against whom when the accusers stood up, they 
brought none accusation of such things as I supposed; ^'^hui'had ^^^■^■'^^•^ 
certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one 
Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. ^° And be- 
cause *I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether *Ot,i was doubt- 
he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters, hereof. "'"^"""^ 
21 But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the thearing of t oi, judgment. 
Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to 
Csesar." ^^ Then -^Agrippa said unto Festus, " I would also hear the / see ch. 9. 15. 
man myself." " To-morrow," said he, " thou shalt hear him." 



Section XXXV. — St. Paul defends his Cause before Festus and sect. xxxv. 
Agrippa — Their Conduct on that Occasion. „ '^nr. 

Acts xxv. 23, to the end, and chap. xxvi. j p 4773. 

^3 And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with cxsarea. 
great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief 
captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus' commandment Paul 
was brought forth. ^^ And Festus said, " King Agrippa, and all men 
which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom "all the '^ ^er.s, 3,7. 
multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, botli at Jerusalem, and also 
here, crying that he ought 'not to live any longer. ~^ But when I found * ch- 22. 22. 
that 'he had committed nothing worthy of death, ''and that he himself "^^'3^^'^'^^'^ 
hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send liim. ^^ Of whom d ver. 11, 12. 
I have no certain thing to write unto my lord ; wherefore I have brought 
him forth before you, and specially before thee, O King Agrippa ! that, 
after examination had, I might have somewhat to write. ^^ For it seem- 
eth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify 
the crimes laid against him." 

chap. xxvi. ^ Then Agrippa said unto Paul, " Thou art permitted to 

speak for thyself." Then Paul stretched forth the hand, 
and answered for himself: — 

^ " I think myself happy. King Agrippa ! because I shall answer for 
myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am ac- 
cused of the Jews ; ^ especially because I know thee to be expert in all 
customs and questions which are among the Jews. Wherefore I 
beseech thee to hear me patiently. 

^ " My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among 
mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews ; ^ which knew me 



324 PAUL'S DEFENCE BEFORE FESTUS AND AGRIPPA. [Part XIII. 

« ch. 92. 3. &23. from the beginning, (if they would testify,) that after "the most straitest 
Phil. 3.5. ' ' sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. ^ And ^now I stand and am 

/ch. 23. 6. judged for the hope of ° the promise made of God unto our fathers; 

^22. "is. & 26. 4. '^ unto which prornise ''our twelve tribes, instantly serving 'God *day 
i8.^i5.^2s°m"'7. ^nd night, ^hope to come ; for which hope's sake. King Agrippa ! I 
Is.' I^s.^fc V^M. ^™ accused of the Jews. ^ Why should it be thought a thing incredi- 
& 9. 6. & 40. 10. ble with you, that God should raise the dead? 

Jer. 23. 5. & 33. oTt-ii 

14, 15, 16. Ezek. ^"1 '^venly thought with myself, that 1 ought to do many things 

Dan. 9. 24. Mic.' coutrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. i° Which 'thing I also did 

Rom! 15.' sf m iri Jerusalem ; and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having 

2. 13. received authority "from the Chief Priests ; and when they were put 

t Luke 2. 37. to death, I gave my voice against them ; ^^ and "I punished them oft 

1 ThTss^'3°'io. ^^ every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme ; and being 

*Gi. night and excccdingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange 

■'phii 3 11 cities. 1- Whereupon °as I went to Damascus, with authority and com- 

4 john.16. 2. missiou from the Chief Priests, ^■'at mid-day, O king ! I saw in the 

,^T"^'}'^\ J way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining 

13. round about me and them which journeyed with me. '* And when we 

"L'^&.V^' ^^' were all fallen to the earth, 1 heard a Voice speaking unto me, and say- 
n oh. 22. 19. ing in the Hebrew tongue, ' Saul ! Saul ! why persecutest thou me ? it 
o^ch. 9. 3. & 22. jg i^^j.^ £qj. ^i^gg j^ j^-^]^ against the pricks.' ^^ And I said, ' Who art 

thou. Lord ? ' And he said, ' I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 

1^ But rise, and stand upon thy feet ; for I have appeared unto thee 

p ch. 22. 15. for this purpose, ^to make thee a minister and a witness, both of these 

things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will 

appear unto thee ; " delivering thee from the people, and from the 

q ch. ^. 21. Gentiles, 'unto whom now I send thee, ^^ to "^open their eyes, and ^to 

'7. Luke 1. 79. ' turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto 

2°cor^4.^4! Eph. God, 'that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and "inheritance among 

1. 18. 1 Thess. ti^em which are "sanctified by faith that is in me.' 

s 2 Cor. 6. 14. ^^ " Whereupon, O King Agrippa ! I was not disobedient unto the 

f.''coLi.^i3f' ^' heavenly vision ; ^° but "showed first unto them of Damascus, and at 

iPet. 2. 9,25. Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and ^Aen to the 

M Eph. 1.11. Col. Gentiles, that they should repent, and turn to God, and do "^works 

1. 12. meet for repentance. ^^ For these causes '•'the Jews caught me in the 

V ch 20 3^ 

w ch. 9. 2o~ 22, temple, and went about to kill me. ^^ Having therefore obtained help 
13' & 14 fe'ie" ^^ God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, 
&17, &'i8, &' saying none other things than those ''which the Prophets and "Moses 

19 & 20 & 21 

x Matt. 3'. 8. did say should come ; ^^ that 'Christ should suffer, and "that he should 
J/ ch. 21. 30, 31. be the first that s'hould rise from the dead, and ''should show light 
''44."ch. 24. 14. & unto the people, and to the Gentiles." 

28. 23. Rom. 3. 24 ^j^^j ^^ j^g ^j^^g gpake for hlmsclf, Festus said with a loud voice, 

ffi Johns. 46. "Paul, 'thou art beside thyself! much learning doth make thee mad." 

j^Luke 24. 26, 25 gy^ j^c Said, " I am not mad, most noble Festus ! but speak forth 

ci Cor. 15.90. the words of truth and soberness. ^^ For the king knoweth of these 

i.°5'. ' ' ^'^' things, before whom also I speak freely ; for I am persuaded that none 

d Luke 2. 32. Qf thcsc things are hidden from him ; for this thing was not done in a 

Vhn'io! 20. ' corner. ^'' King Agrippa, believest thou the Prophets ? I know that 

l.^i3'ii.%'t thou believest." ^^ Then Agrippa said unto Paul, " Almost thou per- 

!"• suadest me to be a Christian." ^^ And Paul said, " I^would to God, 

that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, 

and altogether such as I am, except these bonds." 

^" And when he had thus spoken, the King rose up, and the Gov- 
ernor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them ; ^^ and when they 
^ ch^-s. 29.& were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, " This ^man 
doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds." ^^ Then said Agrippa 
A ch.25. II. unto Festus, " This man might have been set at liberty, ''if he had not 
appealed unto Csesar." 



Sect. IV.] THE FOURTH JOURNEY OF ST. PAUL. 325 

• 1 STi'O'T' XXXVI 

Section XXXVI. — St. Paul, being surrendered as a Prisoner to the '. — 

Centurion, is prevented from completing this Journey, by returning V. ^. 60 

to Antioch, as he had usually done. ^-J- ^'"''^ 

Acts xxvu. 1., 

And when "it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they " <=''• ^- ^^' ^ 

delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a 

centurion, of Augustus' band." 



o See Note 37. 



PART XIV. 

THE FOURTH JOURNEY OF ST. PAUL. 



SECT. I. 



Section I. — St. Paul commences his Voyage to Rome as a Prisoner. '^ an 

Acts xxvii. 2. j p ^^yg 

And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to on the voyage to 
sail by the coasts of Asia ; one "Aristarchus,* a Macedonian of Thessa- — ' 

lonica, being with us. "^''^I'f'-, 

' ~ a See Note 1. 



Section II. — The Ship arrives at Sidon, from whence it proceeds to sect. ii. 

Cyprus. V. ^eTco. 

Acts xxvii. 3, 4. j. p. 4773. 

^ And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius "courteously suion. 

entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh « ch. 24.23. & as 

himself. "* And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under ^*'' 
Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. 



Section III. — After changing their Ship at Tyre, they proceed to sect. hi. 
Cnidus, Salmone in Crete, and the City of Lasea. V. ^E. 60. 

Acts xxvii. 5-8. J. P. 4773. 

^ And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we voyage to Rome. 
came to Myra, a city of Lycia. ^ And there the centurion found a ship 
of Alexandria'' saiHng into Italy ; and he put us therein. '''And when b see Note 2. 
we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against 
Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under *Crete, over against * o^ ^™'''J- 
Salmone ; ® and, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called 
The Fair Havens ; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea. ________ 



Section IV. — St. Paul warns the Master of the Ship of the Danger sect. iv. 
they were in — They attempt to reach Phenice in Crete. Y ~^qq 

Acts xxvii. 9-13. J. p. 4773. 

9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dan- voyage^Rome 
arerous, "because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them, '^tho fast was on 

Yn 1-1 1 ^, oi- I T • 1 1 ■ -11 1 . , the tenth day of 

i"and said unto them, " Sirs! 1 perceive that this voyage will be with the seventh 
*hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of aT^aV.' 
our lives." i' Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the * '^'"^ "'J'"'!'- 
owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by - 
Paul. ^^ And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the 
more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might 
attain to Phenice, and there to winter ; which is a haven of Crete, 

VOL. II. , BB 



326 



ST. PAUL IS SHIPWRECKED. 



[Part XIV. 



and lieth toward the south-west and north-west. ^^ And when the south 
wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, 
loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. 



SECT. V. 

V.^. 60. 

J. P. 4773. 

Voyage to Rome. 

* Or, beat. 
c See Note 3. 
d See Note 4. 



a Jonah 1. 5. 



5 ch. 23. 11. 
c Dan. 6. 16. 

Rom. 1. 9. 

2 Tim. 1. 3. 



d Luke 1. 45. 

Rom. 4. 20, 21. 

2 Tim. 1. 12. 
e ch. 28. 1. 

e See Note 5. 



/ 1 Kings 1. 52. 

Matt. 10. 30. 

Luke 12. 7. & 

21. 18. 
g 1 Sam. 9. 13. 

Matt. 15. 36. 

Mark 8. 6. 

John 6. 11. 

1 Tim. 4. 3, 4. 
h ch. 2. 41. & 7. 

14. Rom. 13. 1. 

1 Pet. 3. 20. 



t Or, cut the 
anchors, they left 
them in the sea, 
&c. 

fSeeNoteB. 



Section V. — The Ship is wrecked, but the Lives of all on hoard are 

saved, as St. Paul had foretold. 

Acts xxvii. 14, to the end. 

^* But not long after there *arose against it a tempestuous' wind, 
called Euroclydon.'' ^^ And when the ship was caught, and could not 
bear up into the wind, we let her drive. ^^ And running under a certain 
island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the 
boat ; ^^ which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding 
the ship ; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake 
sail, and so were driven. ^® And we being exceedingly tossed with a 
tempest, the next day they lightened the ship ; ^^ and the third day 
"we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. ^^ And when 
neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest 
lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. 

^^ But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, 
and said, " Sirs I ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have 
loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. ^^ And now 
I exhort you to be of good cheer ; for there shall be no loss of any 
man's life among you, but of the ship. ^^ For 'there stood by me this 
night the Angel of God, whose I am, and "^whom I serve, ^* saying, 
' Fear not, Paul ; thou must be brought before Caesar ; and, lo ! God 
hath given thee all them that sail with thee.' ^^ Wherefore, sirs ! be 
of good cheer ; ''for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told 
me. ^^ Howbeit "we must be cast upon a certain island." 

2^ But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up 
and down in Adria," about midnight the shipmen deemed that they 
drew near to some country; ^®and sounded, and found it twenty 
fathoms ; and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, 
and found it fifteen fathoms. ^^ Then fearing lest they should have 
fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished 
for the day. 

^° And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they 
had let down the boat into the sea, under color as though they would 
have cast anchors out of the fore-ship, ^^ Paul said to the centurion and 
to the soldiers, " Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved." 
^^ Then the soldiers cut off" the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. 

^^ And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take 
meat, saying, " This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried 
and continued fasting, having taken nothing. ^* Wherefore I pray you 
to take some meat ; for this is for your health ; for •'^there shall not a 
hair fall from the head of any of you." ^^And when he had thus 
spoken, he took bread, and ^gave thanks to God in presence of them 
all ; and when he had broken it, he began to eat. ^^ Then were they 
all of good cheer, and they also took so7ne meat. ^^ And we were in 
all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen ''souls. ^^ And when 
they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the 
wheat into the sea. 

^^ And when it was day, they knew not the land ; but they discov- 
ered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, 
if it were possible, to thrust in the ship. ^°And when they had 
ttaken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and 
loosed the rudder-bands,*^ and hoisted up the mainsail to the wind, 



Sect. VIII.] ST. PAUL ARRIVES AT ROME. 327 

and made toward shore. "^^ And falling into a place where twos seas f see Note 7. 
met, 'they ran the ship aground ; and the forepart stuck fast, and re- ' 
mained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence 
of the waves. 

•*'2 And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of 
them should swim out, and escape. '^•^But the centurion, willing to 
save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that they 
which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to 
land, ^"'and the rest, some on boards, and some on hroJcen pieces of 
the ship. And so it came to pass, ^that they escaped all safe to land, j ver. 99. 



Section YL— They land on the Island of Melita. sect^vi. 

Acts xxviii. 1-10. V. JE,. 60. 

' And when they were escaped, then they knew that "the island was j. p. 4773. 
called Melita.^ ^ And the 'barbarous people showed us no little kind- ^eiita. 
ness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of a ch. 27. 26. 
the present rain, and because of the cold. il'"'^n'",f' 

r ^ 1 • 1 1 " Eom. 1. 14. 

^ And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on 1 cor. 14. 11. 

. . Col. 3. 11. 

the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. ; g^g N^j^'g 
■* And when the barbarians' saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, c i. e. A(t7),or 
they said among themselves, " No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, gmme-Ail-wihl 
though he hath escaped the sea, yet Vengeance' sufFereth not to live ! " heathenlre'"'' 
^ And he shook off the beast into the fire, and ''felt no harm ; ^ how- .'Pf ''^"=;-;?°- 

' 'a Mark lb. lb. 

belt they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead Luke 10. 19. 

suddenly. But after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm 

come to him, they changed their minds, and "said that he was a god. « <^h- "• n- 

'^ In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the 
island, whose name was Publius : who received us, and lodged us /The Greek word 
three days courteously. ^ And it came to pass, that the father of Pub- ^' jam^'^tis" 
lius lay sick of a fever and of a 4)loody flux ; to whom Paul entered ''g.^'^'^'^j^g ^^^ ''■ 
in, and 'prayed, and 'laid his hands on him, and healed him. ^ So Luke 4. 40. ch. 
when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, 12! 9,28.' 
came, and were healed ; ^° who also honored us with many 'honors, and *^^l^ ^^-j?; 
when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary. 



SECT. VIL 



Section VII. — After three Months they sail to Rome. 

Acts xxviii. 11, to former part of ver. 14. *• -^^ ""• 

And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which ^- ^'' ' 

• , i-.i-i 1 ■ /~i, i-nii 1, loAi Voyage to Rome. 



1 See Note 11. 



had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux.'' ^^ And — 

landing at Syracuse,' we tarried there three days ; ^^ and from thence ^ ^^^ ^'""^ '" 
we fetched a compass, and came to Rhegium ; and after one day the 
south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli : ''^ where we 
found brethren, and were desired to tarry with them seven days. 



Section VIII. — St. Paul arrives at Rome, and is kindly received by ggcT. viii. 

the Rrethren. ~ . 

Acts xxviii. latter part of ver. 14-16. ^ p .„' 

^'* And so we went toward Ptome. ^° And from thence, when the Rome. 
brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum, 
and The Three Taverns; whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and 
took courage. ^^ And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered 
the prisoners to the captain of the guard ; but "Paul was suffered to "ay'.'bf^' ^' ^ 
dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him."" mSceNote]2. 



328 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. [Part XIV. 

SECT. IX. Section IX. — St. Paul summons the Jews at Rome, to explain to them 

V. iE. 60. the Causes of his Imprisonment. 

J. P. 4773. Acts xxviii. 17-29. 

Rome. 17 ^^jy \i came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief 

of the Jews together. And when they were come together, he said 

V asl^t ^^' ^^' "J^to them, "Men and brethren, "though I have committed nothing 

b ch. 21. 33. against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet 'was I dehvered pris- 

''24''i?& 25*8 ^^^^ from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans ; ^^ who, ^when 

&26.'3i. they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no 

d ch. 25. 11. cause of death in me. ^^ But when the Jews spake against it, ''I was 

constrained to appeal unto Caesar ; not that I had aught to accuse my 

nation of. ^" For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see 

*siJih.'— Ed. ^^' you, and to speak with you ; because that for the 'Hope of Israel I 

ch.26. 6, 7. g^jjj bound with ^this chain." ^^ And they said unto him, "We neither 

■^3'!'i.^& 4.^i.^&''" received letters out of Judasa concerning thee, neither any of the breth- 

16 ^& o*^™" ^' ^^^ ^^^^ came showed or spake any harm of thee. ^^ But we desire 

Philemon 10, 13. to hear of thcc what thou thinkest; for as concerning this Sect, we 

^24'"5"'i4' 1 Pet*"" know that every where *^it is spoken against." 

2. 12.' & 4.14. " 23 ^jj(j when they had appointed him a day, there came many to 
^ch"n 3^'&^i9 ^™^ ^"^^ '"® lodging; ''to whom he expounded and testified the king- 
8. dom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus 'both out of the Law 

t^_eeonc . o. , Qf ]^Qggg^ g^j-,(j Qy|. of the Prophcts, from morning till evening. ^^And 
''4'Vi9^9*' ^^' ■'^<5™6 believed the things which were spoken, and some believed 
not. 2^ And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, 
after that Paul had spoken one word, " Well spake the Holy Ghost 
*2L Ezek. i".±' ^J ''Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, ^^ saying, — 
Mark 4. 12. ' ' ' Go uuto this pcoplc, and say, 

jot'nil'. 4°o. Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand ; 

^°'"-"-^- And seeing ye shall see, and not perceive. 

^^ For the heart of this people is waxed gross. 
And their ears are dull of hearing. 
And their eyes have they closed ; 
Lest they should see with their eyes, 
And hear with their ears. 
And understand with their heart. 
And should be converted, and I should heal them.' 
2^ Be it known therefore unto you, that the Salvation of God is sent 
'ch.ls. «,147.*& 'unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it." ^9 And when he had 
&26'i7^f8^^' ^^'*^ these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among 
Rom. ii! u. themselves. 



SECT. X. 



Section X. — St. Paul writes his Epistle to the Ephcsians,^ to establish 

them in the Christian Faith, by describing, in the most animating 

V. M. 61. Language, the Mercy of God displayed in the Calling of the Gentiles 

J. P. 4774. through Faith in Christ, without being subjected to the Law of Moses, 

Rome. ^jj^ ^Q enforce upon them that Holiness and Consistency of Conduct, 

n See Note 13. ivhich is required of all who have received the linowledge of Salvation. 

THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 

§ 1. — chap. i. 1-14. 
After his individual and general salutation, St. Paul breaks forth into rapturous expres- 
sions of gratitude to God for the spiritual blessings he has bestowed on the Gentiles ; 
and for calling them according to his merciful design, that they might be holy and 
blameless, his chosen people — Predestinated to the adoption of children, through faith 
in Jesus Christ — By his blood they are redeemed, and their sins pardoned — not by the 
Mosaic Law, but through his abundant mercy — giving the apostles both wisdom in 
spiritual things, and prudence in the exercise of them, and revealing to them the 
mystery of his will (the admission of the Gentiles into his Church, without subjecting 



Sect. X.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 329 

them to the Jewish Law.) and the plan by which both Jews and Gentiles will be gath- § 1. 

ered together under Jesus Christ into one Church — Through Christ the believing Jews a 2 Cor. 1. 1. 

have obtained the spiritual inheritance promised to the spiritual children of Abraham, oc""'i 7' 

beino- predestinated or reelected according to the purpose of his own will, through ^ j q.^^ ^_ 2y_ 

faith in Christ ; that they, who were the first who believed in Christ, should be to the ch. 6. 21. Col. 1. 

praise of his glory, by imparting the knowledge of salvation to the world — In him the j p i i o -p-. 

Gentiles also have believed, when they heard from the apostles the word of truth — 1.4.' 

and by him the Holy Spirit, promised by the Father, was given, which is the earnest e 2 Cor. 1. 3. 
of the eternal inheritance of the Jews, and now of the Gentiles, till they together ob- 

tain the purchased possession of heaven, to the praise and glory of Christ. g_ jg, ' 

^ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ "by the will of God, Ho the saints •'^a^Thl'sf.' 2.^13. 
which are at Ephesus, 'and to the faithful in Christ Jesus ! ^ Grace ''be 2 T'in. l 9. 
to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus iPet. i. 2. &2. 
Christ. g I Pgt. ]_2o. 

^ Blessed 'be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who /i Luke 1. 75. ch. 
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly ^places in Christ ; coi. i. 22.' 
^ according as ■'He hath chosen us in him 'before the foundation of Tit.'2!i2^' ^' 
the world, that Ave should ''be holy and without blame before Him ; in J Rom. 8.29,30. 
love ^ having 'predestinated us unto ^the adoption of children by j john 1. 12. 
Jesus Christ to himself, ^according to the good pleasure of his will, f c"r.^6.''i8. 
^ to the praise of the elory of his grace, 'wherein He hath made us p^'\^-.?-, 

\ , ■ n ■ jl John 3. 1. 

accepted in '"The Beloved : ''in whom we have redemption through t Matt. 1. 26. 
his blood (the forgiveness of sins), according to "the riches of his ^c'rr.^i.' 21.' 
grace, ^ wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and ^^''- ^■ 
prudence, ^ having ^made known unto us the mystery of his will, ac- 5. 15.' 
cording to his good pleasure 'which He hath purposed in himself: '"ly'^'g' j Jj^"" '^ 
^° that in the dispensation of "^the fulness of times "He might gather 3.5. & 10. 17. 
together in one 'all things in Christ, both which are in theaven, and "Rom.%. 24. ' 
which are on earth — even in him. ^^ In "whom also we have obtained 9°]'2.'/p;t^iJ'' 
an inheritance, "being predestinated according to "the purpose of Him i^' i^- ^^v. 5.9. 
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, i^that ""we, ''24.T'9.'23'. ch. 
who first ttrusted in Christ, should ^be to the praise of his glory ; ^^ in Phif.t.^^' ^^' 
whom ve also trusted, (after that ye heard 'the word of truth, the p Rom. le. 25. 

•^ .^. aCh349 Col 

Gospel of your salvation ;) in whom also, after that ye believed, ye i.'se! ' 
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, ^"^ which ''is the earnest 'gTim' "9 
of our inheritance "until the redemption of ''the purchased posses- r oai. 4. 4. Heb. 
sion, "unto the praise of his glory. I'petf'L 20°' 

s 1 Cor. 3. 22,23. & 11. 3. ch. 2. 1.5. & 3. 15. t Phil. 2. 9, 10. Col. 1. 20. ^ Gi. the heavens. a Acts 20. IS. & 26. 18. 

Rom. 8. 17. Col. 1. 12. & 3. 24. Tit. 3. 7. Jam. 2. 5. 1 Pet. 1.4. v ver. 5. w Is. 46. 10, 11. z ver. 6, 14. 2 Thess. 2. 

13. t Oi, hoped. y Jam. 1. 18. : John 1. 17.2 Cor. 6. 7. a 2 Cor. 1. 22. ch. 4. 30. b 2 Cor. 1. ^. & 5. 5. 
c Luke 21. 28. Rom. 8. 23. ch. 4. 30. d Acts 20. 28. e ver. 6, 12. 1 Pet. 2. 9. 



§ 2. — chap. i. 15, to the end. 
St. Paul thanks God for their conversion, and prays that they may be further enlightened 
in the knowledge of the truth, and attain to the fullest conception of the blessings of 
the Gospel, and its glorious Author, by whose power Christ was raised from the dead, 
and exalted to supreme dignity and dominion in this world, and that which is to como 
— All things are subjected to Him, for the advantage of the Church — which is consid- S *■ 

cred more particularly as his body — of which he is the Supreme Head — The Church "'p^?'- ^- ^• 
receiving the fulness of its spiritual gifts and graces from Him who fills all persons in . j, , „ ' 
all places, and is all in all. Phil. 1. 3, 4. 

^^ Wherefore I also, ''after I heard of your faith in the Lord Je- iThess.'i. 2. 
sus, and love unto all the saints, ^^ cease ''not to give thanks for you, /jo^n 20. n^ 
making mention of you in my prayers ; ^^ that '^the God of our Lord d coi. 1. 9. 
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ''may give unto you the Spirit of *j2lw{edmu 
wisdom and revelation *in the knowledge of him : ^^ the "eyes of e Acts 26. is. 
your understanding being enlightened ; that ye may know what is ■'^the ^4"^' "' ^'^' ^ *' 
hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his ^inheritance g ver. 11. 
in the saints, ^^ and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to ''i^s'g^fe '2. 12! 
us-ward who believe, ''according to the working tof his mighty power, ^Gt. of the might 
^^ which He wrought in Christ, when 'He raised him from the dead, i Acts 2. 24, 33. 

VOL. II. 42 BB* 



330 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. [Part XIV. 

^Acts^ss'se. ^'^^ ^^^* ^^^ ^^ ^^i^ o^'^ right hand in the heavenly places, ^^ (far ''above 

coj- 3. ijjH^t). all 'principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name 

/£ Phil. 2.9, ]o. that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to 

coK 2. 10. Heb. comc ;) ^^ and ""hath put all things under his feet, and gave him "to be 

i! Rom. 8. 38. the head over all things to the Church, ^^ which °is his body, ''the fulness 

15. ' ' ' "' of him 'that filleth all in all. 

m Ps. 8. 6. See 

Miitt.28. 18. •■ T in 

1 Cor. 15. 27. § 3. — chap. 11. 1-10. 

, ■ "■ ■ .„ St. Paul, to excite the gratitude of the Ephesians, reminds them of the love of Christ, 

Col. 1. 18.' Heb. who hath quickened them, or filled them with his grace, when they were dead in tres- 

^- ^- passes and sins— He describes their character and conduct in their heathen state — Then 

"] Cor' 12' 12 ^^ '•''^ name of the converted Jews he acknowledges that they also, before their con- 

27. cli. 4. 12. &. version, followed the same course of life, so that they, as well as the Gentiles, had 

5 23 30 Col 1 . 

jg 2^ ■ ■ ' become naturally the children of wrath — But God, in his great mercy, of his own free 

p Col. 2. 10. grace, had provided for them the means of salvation, and had quickened them, or made 

q 1 Cor. 12. 6. both the Jews and Gentiles alive in Christ — alive from the death of sin to the life of 

11.' ' ' ■ ■ righteousness, and had raised them up together, or given to them, by his resurrection, 

the anticipation of their own, and by his exaltation, the hope that they, through him, 

may be received into heavenly places — thereby declaring the exceeding riches of his 

mercy and forgiveness through Christ Jesus — For by the mercy of God, through faith, 

were they saved ; not by works of the Mosaic Law, or merit of their own, lest any 
man should boast, but by the free gift and will of God — For they were his workman- 
ship, He himself having created them in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God 
had before decreed, by the influences of his Holy Spirit, they should have the power 
S "^^ • of performing. 

"coi'"^^i3^' ^ ^^^ "y^^ ^"^^ ^'^ quickened, 'who were dead in trespasses and 

i ver. 5. ch. 4. 18. sius, ^ (whcrciu 'iu time past ye walked according to the course of 
%! 22° coi."! 21! this world, according to ''the prince of the power of the air, the spirit 

&3^7. iJohn that now worketh in 'the children of disobedience; ^ among -^whom 
d ch. 6.12. also we all had our conversation in times past in ^the lusts of our flesh, 

e ch. 5. 6. Col. 3. fulfilling *the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and ''were by na- 
/ Tit. 3. 3. 1 Pet. ture the children of wrath, even as others; ^ but God, 'who is rich in 

''' ^■, , ,^ mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us) . . . . ^ even ^when we 

ff Gal. 5. 16. J ^ <j / ^ ^ 

*Gx. the wills, were dead in sins, hath ''quickened us together with Christ, (tby grace 
h Ps. 51. 5. Rom. ye are saved !) ^ and hath raised us up together, and made us sit to- 
i Rom. 10. 12. gether 'in heavenly places in Christ Jesus ; ''' that in the ages to come 

ch. 1. 7. ver. 7. jjg might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in "his kindness 
'ver."i'. ■ ' ' ■ toward us through Christ Jesus. ^For "by grace are ye saved "through 
*c^r2.V'i3.& f^ith ; and that not of yourselves, ''it is the gift of God : ^ not 'of 

3.1,3. ' works, lest any man should boast. ^^ For we are 'his workmanship, 
^^acir sel" Acts crcatcd in Christ Jesus unto good works, 'which God hath before 

Tit."; I"' ^' tordained that we should walk in them. 



I ch. 1. 20. 

™ Tit. 3. 4. ^ 4. — chap. ii. 11, to the end. 

'24.''2Tim. J? 9.' The Apostle, after having described the fallen state of the Jew and Gentile, desires the 

o Rom. 4. 16. Gentiles to remember that before they were converted they had no knowledge of 

p Matt. 1(5. 17. Christ — they were alienated from the privileges of the Jewisli people, without a part 

R°orn. io. 14 15 '" the covenant of promise made to Abraham ; without a well-grounded hope of par- 

17. ch. 1. 19. doyi of sin, or the immortality of the soul ; without God in the world — but now, by faith 

T>' ' '•» Oft 07 in Christ, them, who were far removed from the covenant of promise, God has brought 

28. & 4. 2. & 9. nigh by the blood of Christ, who has died for Jew and Gentile, and has become a peace- 

1 C*^ Y 09 30 offering, and has formed one Church out of the believers of both people ; and by his 

31. 2 Tim. i. 9! death in the flesh has abolished the Jewish ordinances that separated them, and were 

'^''- •'• ^- the causes of their enmity ; and has united them both in himself, as one new man, or 

""p^.^iob.^s! Is. one new body, making peace between them, that he might reconcile both to God by 

19. 25. & 29. 23. the atonino- sacrifice of his body ; having slain or destroyed the enmity between God 

3! 3^5^11' Cot."3. and man, produced by sin — and who, after his resurrection, preached, through his 

9. 2 Cor. 5. 5, apostles, peace and reconciliation, both to Jew and Gentile, and through him both have 

^tfg! 14.^*" access by the same Holy Spirit to the same Father— The Gentiles being no longer 

* ch. 1. 4. strano-ers, but incorporated with the Jews, are admitted into the same privileges with 

X Or, prepared. hig holy people ; belonging to his house, or visible Church, which is built upon the 

doctrine taught by the Prophets in the Old, and the Apostles in the New, Dispensation, 

Jesua Christ himself the corner-stone, connecting the Jews and Gentiles together in 



Sect. X.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 331 

the same buildino- — by whom the building, composed of Jews and Gentiles, fitly joined | 4. 

together, oroweth by the accession of new converts into a holy temple unto God — And ^ j ^^^^^ jo. 2. 

through Christ, they, his brethren, are builded together, that they may become the ch. 5. 8. Col. 1. 

habitation of God, his Spirit living witliin them. ^ ^^^ _^"_ ^ ^9 

11 Wherefore "remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in coi. 2. 11. ' 
the flesh (who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called 'the "j^^/ ^"' 
Circumcision in the flesh made by hands), ^^ that 'at that time ye were <^gSe^e^Ezek. 13. 
without Christ, "^ (being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and ^Ro^.g. 4, 8. 
stransers from 'the covenants of promise, ■'^having no hope, ^and / 1 Thess. 4. 13 
without God in the world,) ^^ but '"now in Christ Jesus ye who some- ^i^ji^J^-Ji 5. 
times were 'far off" are made nigh by the blood of Christ. ^'^For^he h cai. 3.28. 
is our Peace, *who hath made both one, and hath broken down the » acu 2. 39. ver 
middle wall of partition between ws ; 1= having 'abolished in ""his flesh jm^c. 5. 5^^ 
the enmity, even the Law of commandments contained in ordinances ; Acts lo.'se.' 
for to make in himself of twain one "new man, 50 making peace, col'l 20! 
i^and that he might "reconcile both unto God in one body by the i^Joim lo^ie. 
cross, ^having slain the enmity *thereby. ^'^ And came 'and preached , c^i 2. 14, .20. 
peace to you which were afar off", and ^to them that were nigli ; ^'^ for m coi. 1. 22. 
■'through him we both have access 'by one Spirit unto the Father. "cai.e'.'S. ch.4. 

1^ Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but ^^^-^^ ^ ^^ ^^ 
"fellow-citizens with the saints, and of "the household of God, "^^ and 22. ' ' 
"are buiU ^upon the foundation of the "Apostles and Prophets, Jesus ^g^o "cot. 2. i4. 
Christ himself being ^the chief corner-s^one ; ^Mn "whom all the *or, inidmseif. 
building fitly framed together groweth unto ''a holy temple in the '^tio'^Misl'lt 
Lord : ^'^ in 'whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of & w- se. Rom. 
God through the Spirit. r Ps. i48. 14. 

« John 10. 9. & 14. 6. Kom. 5. 2. ch. 3. 12. Heb. 4. 16. & 10. 19, 20. 1 Pet. 3. 18. t 1 Cor. 12. 13. cb. 4. 4. u Phil. 3. 20. 
Heb. 12. -2, 23. v Gal. 6. 10. ch. 3. 15. w 1 Cot. 3. 9, 10. ch. 4. 12. 1 Pet. 2. 4, 5. x -Matt. 16. 18. Gal 2. 9. Rev. 21. 
14. 7/ 1 Cor. 12. 28. ch. 4. 11. z Ps. 118. 22. Is. 28. 16. Matt. 21. 42. a ch. 4. 15, 16. 4 1 Cor. 3. 17. & 6. 19. 2 Cor. 6. 16, 
e 1 Pet. 2. 5. 



§5. 



§ 5.— chap. iii. 1-12. a Acts 21. 33. & 

, . , ... 28. 17, 20. ch. 4. 

St. Paul affirms, that for maintaining the admission of the Gentiles to the same privileges i. & 6. 20. Phil, 
as the Jews, without being bound by the Law of Moses, he was now suffering p ■'P'o^lg''^" 
imprisonment — a circumstance they could not doubt, as they had heard of the dispen- 2 Tim. l'. 8. & 

sation of orace committed to him on their account — That God. by immediate revelation, ?-^- Philemon 

^ • ./ ' 1, y. 

had revealed to him this doctrine ; as he had already told them (chap. i. 9, 10- and ii. j (j_.,]_ g. 12. Col. 
11, to the end) — that the Gentiles should be joint-heirs, united in one body with the 1- 24. 2 Tim. 2. 
Jews, and joint-partakers of his promise concerning Christ by the Gospel — of which ' 
he was made a minister, according to the effectual working of the free gift of grace, 13. 1 Cor.'4. 1. ' 
that he might preach the plan of salvation through Christ — That both Jews and Gen- <={;• 4. 7. Col. 1. 

tiles may have sufficient light to be able to comprehend the mystery of bringing all , ' o 1- it 
mankind to salvation through faith in Christ, which God till now hath kept hidden — 13.2. Rom. 12. 3. 
although, like the other dispensations, it was created or formed by Jesus Christ from ®^'' !• !*'• ^^''• 
the foundation of the world — That the manifold wisdom of God, gradually discover- a t- 22 17 21 
inof itself, miffht be made evident to the angelic spirits, by his dealino-s with the &26. 17, 18. 

Church according to the external arrangements or economy he made or constituted in /Gal. 1. 12. 

Christ Jesus, through whom we may freely address our prayers, and have access to ■^i''?™' i^' ^' 

God, in the full assurance of being heard through faith. . ,,„ \7. ' 

' o » fi ch. 1. 9, 10. 

1 For this cause I Paul, "the prisoner of Jesus Christ ''for you *^°« "''*"" *^" 
Gentiles — ^ if ye have heard of 'the dispensation of the grace of God i icor. 4. i.ch. 
''which is given me to you-ward, -^ how 'that -ty revelation *he made • ^cts lo. 28. 
known unto me the mystery, (as ''I wrote *afore in few words, Rom.ieasver. 
* whereby, when ye read, ye rnay understand my knowledge 'in the tch. a. 20. 
mystery of Christ,) ^ which -'in other ages was not made known unto 'ch''2^i4^'^^' 
the sons of men, 'as it is now revealed unto the holy apostles and mch. 2. is, 16. 
prophets by the Spirit; ^that the Gentiles 'should be fellow-heirs, and ofom.^io^ie. 
""of the same body, and "partakers of his promise in Christ by the p^uom.'i^i^' 
Gospel: '^ whereof °I was made a minister, ^according to the gift of ^^hT'19'coi 1 
the grace of God given unto me by 'the effectual working of his 29. ' 
power: — ®unto me, "^who am less than the least of all saints, is this ^nim.is.ii 



332 



THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



[Part XIV. 



s Gal. 1. 16. & 2. 
8. 1 Tim. 2. 7. 
2 Tim. 1. 11. 

; ch. 1. 7. Col. 1. 
27. 
u ver. 3. ch. 1. 9. 

Rom. 16. 25. 

ver. 5. 1 Cor. 2. 

7. Col. 1. 26. 
10 Ps. 33. 6. John 

1.3. Col. 1. 16. 

Heb. 1. 2. 
X 1 Pet. 1. 12. 
y Rom. 8. 38. ch. 

1. 21. Col. 1. 16. 

1 Pet. 3. 22. 
z 1 Cor. 2. 7. 

1 Tim. 3. 16. 
a ch. 1. 9. 
4 ch. 2. 18. 
c Heb. 4. 16. 



§6. 



a Acts 14. 22. 
Phil. 1. 14. 

1 Thes3. 3. 3. 
b ver. 1. 
c2Cor. ]. 6. 
dch. 1. 10. Phil. 

2. 9, 10, 11. 
e Rom. 9. 23. ch. 

1. 7. Phil. 4. 19. 

Col. 1. 27. 
/ ch. 6. 10. Col. 

1.11. 
g Rom. 7. 22. 

2 Cor. 4. 16. 

h John 14. 23. ch. 

2.22. 
i Col. 1. 23. & 2. 

7. 
j ch. 1. 18. 
* Rom. 10. 3, 11, 

12. 
I John 1. 16. ch. 

] . 23. Col. 2. 9, 

10. 
m Rom. 16. 25. 

Jude 24. 
n 1 Cor. 2. 9. 
ver. 7. Col. 1. 

29. 
J) Rom. 11. 36. & 

16. 27. Heb. 13. 

21. 



§7. 

a ch. 3. 1. 
Philemon 1,9. 
* Or, in the Lord, 
b Phil. 1. 27. Col. 

1. 10. 1 Thess. 

2. 12. 

c Acts 20. 19. 

Gal. 5. 22, 23. 

Col. 3. 12, 13. 
dCol. 3. 14. 
e Rom. 12. 5. 

1 Cor. 12.12,13. 
ch. 2. 16. 

/I Cor. 12. 4, 11. 
gch. 1.18. 
A 1 Cor. 1. 13. & 
8. 6. & 12. 5. 

2 Cor. 11. 4. 

j Jude 3. ver. 13. 
j Gal. 3. 27, 28. 

Heb. 6. 6. 
k Mai. 2. 10. 

1 Cor. 8. 6. & 12. 

6. 
I Rom. 11. 36. 



grace given, that "I should preach among the Gentiles 'the unsearch- 
able riches of Christ ; ^ and to make all men see what is the fellowship 
of "the mystery, "which from the beginning of the world hath been 
hid in God, ""who created all things by Jesus Christ ; ^^ to ^the intent 
that now ^unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places ''might 
be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God, ^^ according 
"to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, 
^^ in whom we have boldness and 'access ^with confidence by the faith 
of him. 



§ 6. — chap. iii. 13, to the end. 
St. Paul desires the Ephesians not to be discouraged by his tribulations on their account 
— as they are for their glory or advantage, proving his fidelity and firm conviction of 
the truth of the doctrine revealed to him concerning them — That they might not faint, 
St. Paul prays for them to God ; from whom all believers upon earth, and spirits in 
heaven, are named, that he would grant them, according to the riches of his free 
mercy, to be mightily strengthened by his Holy Spirit in their inner man, or soul ; 
that being rooted and founded in the love of Christ, they may be able to compreliend 
the infinite dimensions of the Christian Temple, or Church, which extends over all the 
earth, reaching to heaven, and is founded on the love of God and of Christ, which 
surpasses finite knowledge — that they may be filled with all the spiritual gifts of God — 
To strengthen the faith of the Ephesians who had already experienced the stronger 
power of God working in them, by the spiritual gifts imparted to them, he ends with 
a sublime doxology. 

^^ Wherefore "I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations 'for 
you, "which is your glory. ^'* For this cause I bow my knees unto the 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^^ of whom "^the whole family in 
heaven and earth is named, ^^ that He would grant you, 'according to 
the riches of his glory, -^to be strengthened with might by his Spirit 
^in the inner man ; " that ''Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ; 
that ye, 'being rooted and grounded in love, ^^ may ^be able to com- 
prehend with all saints '^what is the breadth, and length, and depth, 
and height ; ^^ and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowl- 
edge, that ye might be filled 'with all the fulness of God. 

^^ Now ""unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly "above 
all that we ask or think, "according to the power that worketh in us, 
^1 unto ^Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all 
ages, world without end ! Amen. 



§ 7. — chap. iv. 1-6. 
As an inducement to the Ephesians to attend to his exhortations, lie reminds them that 
he is now a prisoner of the Lord for their sakes — that he who is in bondage calls on 
them who are at liberty to walk worthy of the high privileges to which they are called 
— in subjection, meekness, patience, bearing with one another — that they may keep 
that unity which becomes those who are regenerated and influenced by one Spirit, join- 
ing them together in tliebond of peace — For in the Gospel of Christ there is no division 
— There is one body, or Church of Christ — one Holy Spirit animating that body — one 
hope of everlasting life — one Lord who is head of that body — one system of religion, 
and condition of salvation — one baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity — and one 
God — The Father of Jews' and Gentiles, who is above all, and pervades all — and 
through his Spirit is in all. 

^ I THEREFORE (the "prisoucr *of the Lord) beseech you that ye 
'walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, ^ with '^all low- 
liness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in 
love; •^endeavouring tojceep the unity of the Spirit ''in the bond of 
peace. ^ There "is one Body, and •'^one Spirit, even as ye are called in 
one "hope of your calHng; ^ one ''Lord, 'one faith, •'one baptism, ''one 
''God and Father of all, who is above all, and 'through all, and in 
you all. 



Sect. X.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 333 

§ 8. — chap. iv. 7-16. 
St. Paul shows that the same God who makes all mankind equal in their spiritual bless- 
inofs, has allotted to every man oiSces suitable to the exercise and nature of those gifts 
he has received, according to the words of David, (Ps. Ixviii. 18.) — Now this expres- 
sion that he ascended, implies that he descended first into the lower parts of the earth ; 
that he came down from heaven, and submitted to lie in the grave of death ; and that 
he. who descended, and humbled himself, is the same Divine Being who ascended into 
the heaven of heavens, that he might become the fountain of all blessings, and fill both 
Jews and Gentiles with the gifts and graces of his Holy Spirit, according to their dif- 
ferent functions — That he has instituted a variety of offices in the Church for its edifi- 
cation and perfection, till Jews and Gentiles are all converted to the Christian faith, 
and have attained to the true knowledge of the incarnation and atonement of the Son 
of God, till the Church as a body has arrived to the maturity of a perfect man, to the 
full measure of the spiritual stature, endued with all the fulness of the gifts of Christ 
— He exhorts them, therefore, to become steadfast in their faith, and not to be easily 
led astray by the deception and cunning craftiness of the Judaizing teachers, but to 
adhere to the doctrines of the Gospel, in that love and charity which it inculcates; S 8. 

that they may grow up as members of his body, who is the Head, even Christ ; by ^ R„in_ ig, 3 g_ 
whom the whole bod}' of Christians being joined together in one Church, and every 1 Cor. 13. 11. 
member fitted for its own ofiice or place, like the human body, grows to maturity by * ■''^- ^- ■'^• 
the proper exercise of the spiritual functions of its individual members. Col. 2. J5. 

'''But "unto every one of us is given grace according to the meas- *ot, a muitiui.de 
ure of the gift of Christ. ^ (Wherefore He 'saith, — ^ jo,,„ g/^g ^ 

6. 33, 62. 

" When he ascended up on high, "he led ^captivity captive, e Acts 1. 9, 11. 

And gave gifts unto men." \S™ihi^k7 

2R. is. l.'&9. 

° Now ''that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended [first] 24. 
into the lower parts of the earth? i" He that descended is the same fortfj^r 
also 'that ascended up far above all heavens, -^that he might tfill all g 1 Cor. 12. 2s. 
things.) ^^ And ° he gave some, Apostles; and some, Prophets; and A^Actsai.s. 
some, ''Evangelists; and some, 'Pastors and ■'Teachers; ^^for ''"the 2 Tim. 4.5. 

® . i Acts 20. 23, 

perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, 'for the edifying j Rom. 12. 7'. 
of ""the body of Christ; ^■^till we all come tin the unity of the faith, &icor. 12. 7. 
"and of the knowledge of "the Son of God, unto 'a perfect man, L''ch."". 23. c^oi. 
unto the measure of the *stature of the fulness of Christ : ^^ that we ^- '^'^■ 
henceforth be no more 'children, '"tossed to and fro, and carried about ^mA™^^''" 
with every "wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, ajid cunning "*^°'- "2- 2. 
craftiness 'whereby they lie in wait to deceive; ^^but tspeaking "the ^lOo,- Y4'2o.^ 
truth in love, "may grow up into him in all things, ""which is the Head, ,'^°'- ^- ^^• 
even Christ : ^^ from ""whom the whole body fitly joined together and is'g? 9 1 cor 
compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the ^-'- -°- 
effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of Ijiltt. 11. 7. 
the body unto the edifying of itself in love. jEom. le. is. 

•' •' ° 2 Cor. 2. 17. 

c n T '■ ^ -. o . t Or, being sin- 

5 9. — chap. IV. l/'-24. cere. 

The Apostle, in the name, and by the authority of Christ, commands the Ephesians to ^^q^^^'a'}!'' , 
renounce the vices which prevailed among the unconverted Gentiles, in the foolish- 25. 1 John 3, J8, 
ness and darkness of their minds, who are alienated from the principles of true religion, " cli. 1. 22. & 2, 
and have lost the divine life in the soul, by reason of their insensible obstinacy: who, 
being devoid of the sense of shame, had given themselves over to the grossest profli- 
gacy and uncleanness — But they, who have heard and received the doctrines of Christi- 
anity, are taught better things — They are required to put off the old man, or the 
unconverted, natural, and animal character, whose actions are regulated by the lusts ' ''• 

of the flesh, and to be renewed in the general temper and faculties of their minds, to "- ''''• 2- ii ~> 3. 
become new creatures, created again after the image of God, in righteousness and true 7. 1 pet. 4. 3. ' 
hoKness. i aom, 1. 21. 

^"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that °ye henceforth "^tiTl^fo^Gai 
walk not as other Gentiles v/alk, ''in the vanity of their mind, ^^ having 4. s. i fhess.4. 
'the understanding darkened, "'being alienated from the hfe of God eiiom. 1, 21. 
through the ignorance that is in them, because of 'the *bhndness of * Or, hardness. 
their heart : ^^ who -^being past feeling ^have given themselves over unto {. rI™'i'^04' ae, 
lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. -'^ But ye have "1^61.4.3. ' 



21. 

raCol. ]. 18. 
X Col. 3. 19. 



334 



THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



[Part XIV. 



h ch 1. 13. 

t Col. 2. n. &3. 

8, 9. Heb. 12. 1. 

1 Pet. 2. 1. 
7 ch. 2. 2, 3. ver. 

17. Col. 3. 7. 

1 Pet. 4. 3. 
k Rom. 6. 6. 
I Rom. 12. 2. 

Col. 3. 10. 
m Rom. 6. 4. 

2 Cor. 5. 17. 
Gal. 6. 15. ch. 6. 
11. Col. 3. 10. 

n ch. 2. 10. 
f Or, holiness of 
truth. 



not so learned Christ ; ^^ if ''so be that ye have heard Him, and have 
been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus : ^^ that ye *put off con- 
cerning -'the former conversation *the old man, which is corrupt 
according to the deceitful lusts ; ^^ and 'be renevi^ed in the spirit of 
your mind, ^'^ and that ye '"put on the new man, which after God "is 
created in righteousness and ttrue hohness. 



§ 10. 



a Zech. 8. 16. 

ver. 15. Col. 3. 

9. 
b Rom. 12. 5. 
c Ps. 4..4. & 37. 

8. 

d 2Cor. 2.10, 11. 

Jam. 4. 7. IPet. 

5.9. 
e Acts 20. 35. 

IThess. 4. 11. 

2 Tbess. 3. 8, 

11, 12. 
* Or, to distribute. 
/Luke 3 11 
g Matt. 12. 36. 

ch. 5. 4. Col. 3. 

8. 
h Col. 4. 6. 

lTheS3. 5. 11. 
^ Or, to edifij 

projitabUj. 
i Col. 3. 16. 
i Is. 7. 13. & 63. 

10. Ezek. 16.43. 

lThess.5. 19. 
k ch. 1. 13. 
I Luke 21. 28. 

Rom. 8. 23. ch. 

1. 14. 



§ 11. 

a Col. 3. 8, 19. 
b Tit. 3. 2. Jam. 

4. 11. 1 Pet. 2. 

1. 
c Tit. 3. 3. 
d 2 Cor. 2. 10. 

Col. 3. 12, 13. 
e Matt. 6. M. 

Mark 11. 25. 
/ Matt. 5. 45, 48. 

Luke 6. 36. ch. 

4.32. 
g John 13. 34. & 

15. 12. 1 Thess. 

4. 9. 1 John 3. 

11,23. &4. 21. 
h Gal. 1.4. &2. 

20. Heb. 7.27. 

& 9. 14, 26. Hl 

10. 10, 12. 

1 John 3. 16. 



§ 10.— chap. iv. 2S-30. 
The Apostle prhorts those who are thus renewed to put off the sin of lying and prevari- 
cation, which was countenanced by some of their heathen philosopliers — He desires 
them to consider themselves as one body, and not to let one member deceive another — 
He cautions them against anger, more particularly against its continued indulgence, 
which excites malice, and gives an opportunity to the Devil to tempt to sin — He pro- 
hibits stealing, which was partly permitted by the rabbins, provided a portion was 
given to the poor ; and commands them to act honestly, and to labor, that they may 
have to give to him that needeth — To abstain from all impure conversation, and to 
endeavour in their discourse to minister grace, and to edify those with whom they 
conversed — Not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, so as to banish him from them, for by 
his influence on their souls they are marked or sealed until the day of redemption from 
eternal death. 

^^ Wherefore, putting away lying, "speak every man truth witli 
his neighbour ; for 'we are members one of another. — ~^ Be "ye angry 
and sin not : let not the sun go down upon your wrath, ^^ neither 
''give place to the Devil. — ^^ Let him that stole steal no more ; but 
rather 'let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, 
that he may have *to give -^to him that needeth. — ^^ Let ^no corrupt 
communication proceed out of your mouth, but ''that which is good 
tto the use of edifying, 'that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 
^^ And ^grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, '^whereby ye are sealed 
unto the day of 'redemption. 



§ II.— chap. iv. 31, 32, and v. 1-14. 
The Apostle continues his practical exhortations, and again cautions them against those 
malignant passions which are likely to grieve or deprive them of the Holy Spirit of 
God — He prohibits anger in all its various modifications, and solicits tliem to be kind 
and obliging to each other, compassionate, forgiving injuries, on their acknowledgment, 
as God through Christ has forgiven them — To be imitators of God in these things, as 
his beloved children, every act of their life proceeding from love one to another for the 
sake of the exceeding love of Christ, who gave himself a sin offering and an atoning 
sacrifice to God for us — To make himself more explicit, and to show that the love he 
recommended was pure and benevolent, St. Paul immediately and forcibly prohibits 
fornication, and every kind of uncleanness, (to which the unconverted Ephesians were 
particularly addicted.) with every sort of indelicacy either in thought or conversation, 
as being inconsistent with the Christian character, which requires the language of 
praise and thanksgiving — St. Paul warns the Ephesians not to be deceived in these 
matters by their philosophers, who were the great promoters of such abominable prac- 
tices — The divine punishment will surely come upon them ; therefore they were not 
to be as formerly, partakers with them — While they were in darkness they were guiUy 
of the same enormities ; but now that they have attained to the light of the Gospel of 
Christ, they are required to act as children of the light, in the works of the Spirit, 
proving by their conduct what is acceptable to God ; having no communion whatever 
with the heathens in their worship ; but reproving them for their mysteries, which are 
performed in darkness and secrecy, and which it is dishonorable even to mention — All 
works of darkness have their exceeding sinfulness made manifest by the light — Since 
then the Gospel condemns and reveals to them the iniquity of these secret mysteries, 
the Gospel itself is light, which calls upon all who are in darkness, to awake and 
receive its light. 

■'I Let "all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and 'evil 
speaking, be put away from you, "with all malice: ^-and ''be ye kind 
one to another, tender-hearted, "forgiving one another, even as God 
for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. ^ Be •''ye therefore followers of 
God, as dear children ; ^and "walk in love, ''as Christ also hath loved 
us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God 



Sect. X.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 335 

*for a sweet-smelling savour. ^ But ^fornication, and all uncleanness, or ^^l"-^^"J^ ^^''• 
covetousness, ''let it not be once named among you, (as becometh is. 
saints,) ■* neither 'filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, "which are •^ i^c"; e! is! 
not convenient ; but rather giving of thanks. ^ For this ye know, that eh^4']g'^2o^" 
"no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, "who is an coi. 3. 5. 
idolater, ''hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. &c. 
^ Let 'no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these ^ ^^^^"''•^2 gj 
things '"cometh the wrath of God "upon the children of ^disobedience, eh. 4.'29." 
" Be not ve therefore partakers with them. ® For 'ye were sometimes ™ ^°'"^ ^' ^- , 

11 I u 1- I • 1 T 1 11 1) 1 -1 n ^ 1. 1 )i 1 Cor. 6. 9. Gal. 

darkness, but now are ye light ui the Lord : walk as children of light, 5. 19, 21. 
^ (for "the fruit of the [Spirit] is in all goodness and righteousness "^gC-oh 3. o. i Tun. 
and truth,) ^^ proving "^what is acceptable unto the Lord ; ^^ and ^have p Gai.o.ai.Rev. 
no fellowship with 'the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather "re- g jer. 29. s. 
prove them. ^^ For ''it is a shame even to speak of those things which l^^'^'''^^*' ^°^' 
are done of them in secret. ^^ But "all things that are t reproved are aThek 2. 3. 
made manifest by the light; for whatsoever doth make manifest is ^ ch".™. 2. 
light. ^^ Wherefore tHe ''saith. Awake thou that sleepest, and "arise *°'^ uyHeUef. 
from the dead ! and Christ shall give thee light. t is. 9.2. Matt. 

4. 16. Acts 26. 
18. Eom. 1. 2]. 

§ 12. — chap. V. 15-20. 4. is.' Til 3.' 3. 

The Apostle exhorts the Ephesians, as children of light, to walk circumspectly according , . ' c. -lo 

to the rules and doctrines of the Gospel ; not after the manner of the Gentiles, who 13. 4, 6.2 Cor. 

have no wisdom ; but as those who have been instructed in the true wisdom, improving- ?-J®' ^ !■ I- 
, ,. -,1 •• , ,,?! Thess. o. o. 

to the uttermost tiieir present time, that they may regam in some degree that wliich 1 John 2. 9. 

was lost ; because, from the trials and persecutions that surround them, both their life v Luke 16. 8. 

and liberty are in danger — In allusion to the Bacchanalian mysteries, he commands ^~" 

them not to be unwise, or become as madmen, but have such right knowledge of their ™ 

duty, as may enable them to perform it; that they may not on these heathen festivals pi,ii. i. 10.' 

be drunk with wine, which leads to dissoluteness, but, if they would rejoice, let them 1 Thess. 5. 21. 

be filled witii the Spirit of God ; and, instead of sing-ing profane and sinful sono's, let ,„','„',, 
... . . , , , , 1 • ; , • T , , • , . y iCor. 5. 9, 11. 

them join in spiritual psalms and hymns, not only with their lips but their hearts, giv- & 10. 20. 2 Cor. 

ingr thanks to God under every circumstance, through the prevailing name of Jesus o' J'*',? '^'"'^^" 

Chiist. ^ , E^,'^. 6. 21. & 

^^ See °then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, '^" ^^" ^^'-^-^ 

' (Z Le^'. 19. }7. 

^^ redeeming 'the time, 'because the days are evil. ^~ Wherefore "^be ye iTini. s.'ao.' 
not unwise, but ^understanding Avhat the will of the Lord is ; ^^and \e ""s! ^' '^' ^^ 
^be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the "^ J"''" 3-20,21. 
Spirit ; 1^ speaking to yourselves '"in psalms and hymns and spiritual |oV'/'W<-red. 
sono-s, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord : -"givincp jor, ir. 
'thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, ^ in the name i3!ii,'j2;icrr; 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. f-^^*- ^ '^'^^'^- 

e John 5. 25. 

Rom. 6. 4, 5 

§ 13.— chap. V. 21, /o the tnd. '*'■ ^- ^- '^°'- ^'^ 



The Apostle directs that every man yield his opinion, that the general peace may not be S 12. 

disturbed ; considering that God has commanded them to love one another — He pro- o Col. 4. 5. 

ceeds to the further illustration of their duty, in the more intimate connexions of life — * §''■,''■ ^i"; „ 

-^ ' c Lccies. 1]. 2. 

He exhorts wives to submit themselves, according to the ordinance of God, to their & 12. I. John 

own husbands, for the husband is the head or governor of the wife, as Christ is the Ji' ■*^' '^''' ^' 

^ ■ lo. 

head or governor of his body the Church ; and as Christ exercises authority over the i Col. 4. 5. 

Church, for its safetv and protection, in like manner is the husband to provide for, and 5. f'^!?' ^^'^'^ 
^ ' . ^ ' / i 1 Jies.s. 4. 3. 

protect, his wife ; and as the Church is subject to Christ, so is the wife required to yield & 5. 18. 

obedience to her husband — He exhorts husbands to love their wives, as Christ loved ^mVij'^'}'^ 

his spouse, the Church; and to show the devotedness of that love, he enumerates all 11,22.' Luke 21. 

that Christ has done and suffered for the Church, that he might fiirm it for himself, ,^ -,(, „. 

purified and perfect ; and then calls upon all husbands so to love their wives, and to 1 Cor. 14'. 26'. 

show the same zealous affection and anxiety for their spiritual welfare, as Christ did ^°\.?' ^^ ''^"'' 

for his body the Church — Then in reference to our first parents, he declares, that the i Ps.34. 1. Is. 

wife by marriage being made one flesh with the husband, this was a natural reason ?'lp7' ^°'; ^P 

why she should be loved and cherished by him, as the Lord nourishes his body the 2Tliess! ]! 3. ' 

Church, of which mankind are members; and as Adam's marriage was a figure of the ^ ^^' ^j"-^ a 

eternal union of Christ with believers, on whose account he left his Father ; so in the H. 



336 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. [Part XIV. 

S 13. same way shall a man leave his father and mother, and be inseparably united to his wife 
— The spiritual union of Christ with his Church is a great mystery ; but let every one, 

1 Pet! s! 5! as marriage is of divine institution, love his wife as a part of himself, and let the wife 

b Gen. 3. 16. see that she consider her husband as her superior and head. 

Col. 3. 18. Tit. 2^ Submitting "yourselves one to another in the fear of FGodl ; 

cch.6. 5. ^^ wives, ''[submit] yourselves unto your ovv^n husbands, 'as unto the 

dicor. 11. 3. Lord. ^^ For ''the husband is the head of the wife, even as 'Christ is 

^is^'coi^i'.ts*' th^ I^^^<^ of ^h^ Church, and he is the Saviour of-^the body. ^^There- 

/ ch. 1. 23. fore as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their 

^T^t^'a.^^"' ^' ^^"^ husbands "'in every thing. 

h Col. 3. 19. ^^ Husbands, ''love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, 

ilculo 28 ^"^^ 'gave himself for it, ^^ that he might sanctify [it] ; and cleanse it 

Gal. 1.4. & 2. -'with the washing of water *by the word, '^'' that 'he might present it 

j Johrf 3. 5. Tit. to himself a glorious Church, ""not having spot, or wrinkle, or any 

iJohns^'e."'^^' su'^h thing, "but that it should be holy and without blemish. ^^ So 

7c John 15. 3. & ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth 

zacor'n. 2. his wife loveth himself ; ^^ for no man ever yet hated his own flesh. 

Col. 1.22. but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church. ^"^For 

rciiti.4. °^6 are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. ^^ For 

Gen. 2.23. ^this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be 

icor. 6.15. & joined unto his wife, and they 'two shall be one flesh. ^^ This is a 

^66^2 24 great "mystery ; but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. 

Matt. 19. 5. 33 Nevertheless '^let every one of you in particular so love his wife 

q 1 Cor. 6. 16. cvBtt as himsclf ; and the wife see that she ^reverence her husband. 

o See Note 14. 

r ver. 25. Col. 3. 

19. 
« 1 Pet. 3. 6. 



a Prov. 23. 22. 
Col. 3. 20, 



§ 14. — chap. vi. 1-9. 
Children are commanded to obey their parents, who have a right to their gratitude and 
love, in obedience to that commandment which God gave to Moses, and to which, as 
§ l^^- a further encouragement, he has annexed the promise of temporal blessings— Fathers 

are to take care that by an excess of severity they do not provoke their children to 
4 Ex 20 12. disobedience and feelings of anger, but correct them, and educate them from their 

Deut. 5. 16. & earliest infancy in the subjection, precepts, and doctrines of the Gospel — Servants, of 

is' Ez'ek. 22 7 every rank, are commanded to be obedient to their masters, in all secular things; and 

Mai. 1. 6. to be cautious of giving offence, from a principle of duty to Christ — Servants are not 

Ma'tt"\'5 '4 ' ^° ^'^ satisfied with doing their duty only when they are subjected to the eye of their 

Mark 7. 10. master, as if their desire was to gain the favor of man ; but to do it from the motive of 

c Col. 3. 21. obedience to the will of God, cheerfully fulfilling the duties of their station as the 

d Gen. 18. 19. servants of Christ, and not as the servants of men only, knowing that from the Lord 
I/GUt, 4t 9. & ()• v' ' o 

7, 20.' & 11. 19. they will receive their reward — He entreats masters to act towards their servants in the 

TQ'?s'<'S^"fi' same conscientious and faithful manner, upon the same religious principles, avoiding 

&29. 17. "' ' punishment, knowing that they are accountable to their Master in heaven, who in 

e Col. 3. 22. judging his Creatures will show no respect of persons, whatever difference exists between 

1 Tim. 6. 1. Tit. .1 1 

2. 9. 1 Pet. 2. them here. 

^1' 1 Children, "obey your parents in the Lord : for this is right. 

Phil. 2.12. ' 2 fjQfiQj. 4i|y father and mother; (which is the first commandment 
VoL 3™22.^^' ^'^" wi^h promise ;) •^that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live 
A Col. 3. 22, 23. long on the earth. — ^And, "ye fathers, provoke not your children to 
'2^0"; s! 10. wrath: but ''bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the 

Col. 3. 24. Lord. — ^ Servants, 'be obedient to them that are your masters accord- 
■^.3^1]'.^"^^' ^°^' ing to the flesh, ^with fear and trembling, ^in singleness of your heart, 
A Col. 4.1. as unto Christ: ^ not ''with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as the 
*or, nwderating. gg^.^^nts of Christ, doing the will of God ; from the heart ^ with good 

I Lev. 2o. 43. . . ■ t « • ■ 

m.iohni3. 13. will doing scrvicc, as to the Lord, and not to men; ® knowing 'that 

t^som'eIea<f 6o(A whatsocvcr good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of 

your and their the Lord, ^whcthcr he be bond or free. — ^ And, ye '"masters, do the 

n wisii.6.7. sanie things unto them, *forbearing 'threatening: knowing "'that tyour 

Rom"2.^ii.^coi. Master also is in heaven, "neither is there respect of persons with him. 
3.25.' " ' ' 

§ 15.— chap. vi. 10-20. 

The Apostle, having instructed the Ephesians in their duties, and in the knowledge of 



Sect. X.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 337 

their higli calling, concludes his Epistle by beseeching them not to rely on their own 

strenoth for the performance of them, but to have and to trust in that spiritual strength 5 ^^■ 

wliich God alone can give — They are to clothe themselves with the whole armor of a ch. 1. 19. & 3. 

God, with the o-races of the Gospel, that being covered therewith, they may be able to ^ ' '',-,' 

... i^ ^ T\ -I {^ n ■ ^ Kom. is. r2. 

stand ao-ainst the crafty attacks and machinations ol the Devil : for their warfare is not a Cor. 6. 7. ver. 

only against the corruption of our own nature, or human beings, but with mighty ^- ^ Thesg. 5. 

spirits, once inhabiting celestial principalities, who are the rulers of the darkness which ^ Matt. 16. 17. 

pervades the world, and the highest orders of spiritual wickedness, who fell from their 1 Cor. 15. 50. 

heavenly places — Since they have such enemies to iight against, they are to take unto ***■■• ^'"""^ ™'^ 

them the whole armor of God, that they may be able to stand in the day of danger; J^^^^ g 33 ch 

and havinff exerted themselves to the uttermost, he prays that, at the end of their war- 1. 21. Col. a. 15. 

fare, they may be found standing in their ranks victorious — He urges them to prepare ^('^,"''®(?^of\ 

therefore for this combat by having their loins girt with the Gospel of truth, which will 14. 30. ch. 2. 2. 

enable them to discover their spiritual enemies — To provide the breastplate, or the *^"'' 1- ^^• 

principle of righteousness, which will defend them from their attacks, and to have their ^2,1^"^^^^ 

feet shod, that they may be prepared to withstand every difficulty that may obstruct + Or heavenly us 

their publishing the Gospel of reconciliation between God and man — Above all, they "h. 1. 3. 

are to take the shield of faith, the firm belief of the doctrines and promises of the Gos- „£, ii' ^' 

pel ; by which they will be fully protected from, and will be able to blunt or to arrest, „ g],_ 5 jg 

all the fiery darts, or deadly temptations of their adversaries, and to take also the helmet * Or, having over- 

of salvation, the hope of a complete deliverance, and hold in their hand the spiritual «"™« «''• 

sword, the word of God, revealed by his Holy Spirit. ''l2!35!l^Pe^."''^ 

^"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and "in the power /j^^^gg j-, 
of his might. ^^ Put ''on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able 2 cor.'e. 7. 
to stand against the wiles of the Devil. ^~ For we wrestle not "against j 13. 53^.^7. Rom. 
*flesh and blood, but against ''principalities, against powers, against ^°- ^^■ 
'the rulers of the darkness [of this world], against tspiritual wicked- i ro°\le 'wicked 
ness in thigh places. ^^ Wherefore -^take unto you the whole armor i^ '^^ly'^ 
of God, that ye may be able to withstand ^in the evil day, and 1 Thes's. 5. s. 
*having done all to stand. ^'^ Stand therefore, ^having your loins girt \^v!'i.\e^&: 
about with truth, and 'having on the breastplate of righteousness, ^- ^^- ^ ^®- ^^• 
^^ and ^your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace ; \om.''i2. 12.' 
^^ above all, taking ''the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to ^This^s. 17. 
quench all the fiery darts of 'the wicked ; ^''' and take the helmet of " Matt. qb. 41. 

. Mark 13. 33. 

salvation, and "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God ; p ch. i. le. Phii. 
^^ praying "always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and J- 4- 1 Tim. a. 
"watching thereunto with all perseverance and ^supplication for all ? Acts 4. 99. coi. 
saints ; ^^ and 'for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I l ^' ^ '^'^^^^' '^' 
may open my mouth ''boldly, to make known the mystery of the ' ^ ^'"'- ^- ^^■ 
Gospel;^" for which "I am an ambassador tin 'bonds ; that ttherein "I \ or °ua'diaL 
may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. « Acts 26. 29. & 

■1 i J ^ O r 28. 20. ch. 3. 1. 

Phil. 1.7, 13,14. 

2 Tim. 1. 16. & 

§ 16. — chap. vi. 21, to the end. lo. ' ' '^™°" 

That the Epheslans may be acquainted with his situation and circumstances at Rome, and t O''' "««''«i'/- 
in all probability being unwilling to trust the account of them to writing, St. Paul sends "p^■'j'^^■n■^■'■ 
Tychicus for this very purpose with his Epistle, that they may know from him what 1 Tlies's. 2! 9. 
relates to them both, and that he might comfort their hearts by the account he shall 

give them of the divine support afforded under his present tribulation — He concludes 

with an ardent prayer for the spiritual peace and mutual love of the brethren, founded 
on that faith which proceeds from God and Christ ; and prays that his grace may 
not only be with them, but with all believers who love in sincerity the Lord Jesus 
Christ. § 16. 

^^ But "that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, 'Tychicus, ° ?°'' l;^' 
a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known 2 Tim. i. 12. 
to you all things : ^^ whom 'I have sent unto you for the same purpose, ^ co, 4 g' 
that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts. 
^^ Peace he ''to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father, d 1 Pet. 5. 14. 
and the Lord Jesus Christ ! ^^ Grace he with all them that love our 
Lord Jesus "Christ *in sincerity ! [Amen.] ctu. 2. 7. 

[[Written from Rome unto the Ephesians by Tychicus.]] *Zl\Sn!'''"^' 

[end of the epistle to the EPHESIANS.] 

VOL. II. 43 cc 



338 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. [Part XIV- 



SEQT. XI. 

V. M. 62. 
J. P. 4775. 

Kome. 

§1. 

p See Note 15. 
a 1 Cor. 1. 2. 
6 Rom. 1. 7. 

2 Cor. 1. 2. 

1 Pet. 1. 2. 
e Rom. 1. 8, 9. 

1 Cor. 1.4. Eph. 
1. 15, 16, Col. 1. 
3. 1 Thess. 1. 2. 

2 Thess. 1. 3. 

* Or, mention. 

d Rom. 12. 13. & 
15. 26. 2 Cor. 8. 
1. ch. 4. 14, 15. 

e John G. 29. 

1 Thess. 1. 3. 

f Or, willjinishit, 
f ver. 10. 
J Or, T^e have me 

in your heart. 
g 2 Cor. 3. 2. & 

7.3. 
h Eph. 3. 1. & 6. 

20. Col. 4. 3, 18. 

2 Tim. 1.8. 
i ver. 17. 

j ch. 4. 14. 

* Or, 'partakers 
with me of grace. 

k Rom. 1. 9. & 9. 

1. Gal. 1. 20. 

1 Thess. 2. 5. 
I ch. 2. 26. & 4. 

1. 
m 1 Thess. 3. 12. 

Philemon 6. 
t Or, sense. 
n Rom. 2. 18. & 

12. 2. Eph. 5. 

10. 
t Or, try. 

* Or, di^er. 

Acts 24. 16. 

1 Thess. 3. 13. 

& 5.23. 
p 1 Cor. 1. 8. 
q John 15. 4, 5. 

Eph. 2. 10. Col. 

1. 6. 
r John 15. 8. 

Eph. 1. 12, 14. 



Section XI. — St. Paul writes his Epistle to the Philippians, to com- 
fort them under the Concern they had expressed on the Subject of his 
Imprisonment, to exhort them to continue m Union and Mutual Love, 
and to caution them against the Seductions of false Teachers, who 
had begun to introduce themselves among them.^ 

THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 

§ 1. — chap. i. l-ll. 
St. Paul, in conjunction with Tiniothy, addresses himself to all the saints at Philippi, \vitfa 
their bishops and deacons, and gives them his apostolical benediction — He thanks God 
for their conversion in every prayer he offers, vi'ith joy making prayer for their con- 
tinued blessings, and for their participation in the faith of the Gospel from the first day of 
his preaching it till now ; for he is confident that he who has begun a good work in 
them, will be completing it till the day of death — He tells them it is reasonable for him 
to hold this opinion of them, because they had remembered him in his bonds, (chap. ii. 25. 
iv. 14.) — He declares that his love for them resembles that which Jesus Christ felt for 
mankind; and he prays that their mutual love to each other, and love to God, may increase 
with the knowledge of God's perfections, and with their spiritual sense of his truth ; that 
by their own experience they may judge of every doctrine, by comparing it with those 
they had received : that they may be sincere in their profession of the Gospel, neither 
oflTending man nor God by their own apostacy till the hour of their death, having their 
whole life filled with holy actions and tempers, according to the doctrine of Christ, that 
God, through his Spirit working in them, may be glorified. 

^ Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints 
"in Christ Jesus which are at Pliihppi, with the bishops and deacons ! 
^ Grace ''be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the 
Lord Jesus Christ ! 

^ I "thank my God upon every *remembrance of you, '' always in 
every prayer of mine for you all (making request with joy), ^for ''your 
fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now ; ^ being confi- 
dent of this very thing, that he which hath begun 'a good work in 
you twill perform it ■'^until the day of Jesus Christ: '^even as it is meet 
for me to think this of you all, because tl have you °in my heart ; 
inasmuch as both ''in my bonds, and in 'the defence and confirmation 
of the Gospel, ^ye all are ^partakers of my grace. *^ For ''God is my 
record, 'how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. 
^ And this I pray, "that your love may abound yet more and more in 
knowledge and in all tjudgment ; ^^ that "ye may tapprove things that 
*are excellent, "that ye may be sincere and without offence ^'till the 
day of Christ ; " being filled with the fruits of righteousness, 'which 
are by Jesus Christ, "^unto the glory and praise of God. 



§ 2.— chap. i. 12-20. 
The Apostle next comforts them with the assurance that his long imprisonment has tended 
to promote the Gospel ; being made the means of causing it to be known in the empe- 
ror's palace, and all over Rome — That many Christian brethren, gaining confidence by 
his success and firmness, were now emboldened to preach it — Some indeed preach 
Christ for the purpose of division and envy, asserting him to be the long-predicted 
King of the Jews (Acts xvii. 3, 7.), a doctrine particularly offensive to the Romans, and 
some from goodwill and friendship to himself— The first preach Christ from contention, 
that they might provoke the Roman magistrates against him, thereby intending to add 
other rigors to his imprisonment; and the other from a sincere love of the Gospel, 
well knowing that he was sent to Rome for the purpose of defending it both by his 
sufferings and his preaching — He rejoices in the advancement of the Gospel, in what- 
ever way it be made known — His confidence that the knowledge of the nature of the 
Gospel will be made the means of his deliverance, through their prayers : and the Spirit 
of Jesus Christ supplying him with grace during his trials, before his persecutors, 
according to his earnest expectation and hope, that he may not be ashamed fully at this 
time to declare, as he had ever done, the truth of the Gospel, that Christ might be still 
magnified in his body, through his Spirit, whether by his release or by his death. 

12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things 
which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance 



Sect. XL] THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 539 

of the Gospel ; ^^so that my bonds *in Christ are manifest "in all tthe ^ • 

palace, and tin all other jjZaces, ^'* and many of the brethren in the * ch!4'.'^33*™*" 
Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak t or, cmsar's 
the word without fear. {o'Xaii others 

^^ Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and 'strife ; and some i ci.. 2. 3. 
also of good will. ^^ The one preach Christ of contention, not sin 
cerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds ; ^'' but the other of 
love, knowing that I am set for "the defence of the Gospel. ^^ What ° ''^'- ^' 
then ? notwithstanding every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, 
Christ is preaclied ; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. 
^^ For I know that this shall turn to my salvation ''through your "^ ^ ^°'- 1- "• 
prayer, and the supply of "the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ^o according to * ^'""- ^- ^■ 
my ■'earnest expectation and my hope, that ''in nothing I shall be -f ^°™- ^- ^^■ 
ashamed, but that Svith all boldness, as always, so now also Christ fEphle. 19^20. 
shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. 



§ 3. — chap. i. 21, to the end. 
The Apostle declares that his life belongs to, or is the property of, Christ, but that death 
would be to his own happiness — If his life is continued, the honor of Christ would he 
the fruit of his labors ; if therefore he had his own choice, he would hesitate which to 
prefer, having a desire to depart, and to be immediately with Christ, which is inex- 
pressibly better than continuing in this world, as far as he is himself concerned — But 
to continue in the flesh is more expedient for them ; and being convinced of this he is 
persuaded that his life will be continued for their furtherance in the way of salvation, 
and for their joy, arising from their faith, which will be strengthened by his deliverance, 
giving occasion for more abundant reason to rejoice in Jesus Christ, who had again 
restored him unto them — But whatever happens to him, their conduct should be con- 
sistent with the Gospel of Christ, that, whether he is with them or absent from them, 
he may hear that they stand fast in one spirit and with one mind, contending for the 
faith of the Gospel : and are not terrified at the persecutions to which they may be 
exposed by unbelievers ; as these are evident tokens of their own approaching destruc- 
tion, but to them are clear proofs of salvation, and that by the power of God himself — 
For to them it is graciously permitted, for the sake of Christ, not only to believe in him, 
but also to suffer for him, that they may more abundantly partake of his glory, being 
called to the same conflict with the adversaries of the Gospel, as they saw in him 
when he was with them at Philippi (Acts xvi. 19-40.), and now hear to be in him at 
Rome. 

^^ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. -^ But if I live in 



the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor : yet what I shall choose I wot § ^■ 

not. ^3 For "I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to 'depart, ffS"'^;!." 
and to be with Christ, which is tar better ; ■'* nevertheless to abide in 
the flesh is more needful for you. ^^ And 'having this confidence, I '"'^■^•^'^^ 
know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance <i 2 cor. 1. 14. & 
and joy of faith ; ^^ that ''your rejoicing may be more abundant in e Eph'. 4. 1. coi. 
Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. 2 J^- ^'^''Y'' 

-^ Only 'let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of / ch. 4. 1. 
Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may f jujes^^" 
hear of your affairs, -^that ye stand fast in one spirit, ^with one mind i2Thes3. 1. 5. 
''striving together for the faith of the Gospel ; ^^and in nothing terri- •'o-''rSr'| V,' 
fied by your adversaries: 'which is to them an evident token of per- ft"Acts5.4i. 
dition, ^but to you of salvation, and that of God ; ^^ for unto you 'it is ^<""-5-^- 
given in the behalf of Christ, 'not only to believe on him, but also to ^ cq,' g i 
suflTer for his sake — ^^ having ""the same conflict "which ye saw in me, « Acts le. 19, &o 

I 7 • 1 Thess 2 9 

and now hear to be in me. 

§ 4. — chap. ii. 1-11. 
The Apostle calls on the Philippians by all that was dear to them in their holy religion, 
by the consolation afforded them by the sufferings of Christ, by his love, by their fel- 
lowship with him through the Spirit, and by his compassion, to complete his joy, by 
being alike disposed to maintain the faith of the Gospel, having the same love towards 
each other ; having the same Spirit, and by him the same great object in view — For 



340 THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. [Part XIV 

§ 4. which end he cautions them never for the sake of distinction to oppose each other in 

a 2 Cor. 13. 14. the exercise of their spiritual gifts, but by a humihty of conduct, to show that they 

i Col. 3. 12. reckon others better than themselves — He cautions them to set a proper regard on the 

c o in J. 2y. gifts and interests of others, as well as on those which more immediately concern them- 

15. 5. 1 Cor. i . selves — that the same disposition should be in them as was in Christ Jesus, who 

10. 2 Cor. 13. 11. labored not for his own interest, but for the salvation of all mankind, who before his 

16.' & 4. 2. ' incarnation being in the form of God, or his visible glory (Deut. v. 23, 24.), divested 

1 Pet. 3. 8. himself of all his glory ; and he, who was before in the form of God, assumed the form 

e Gal. 5. 26. ch. of a servant, and being made in the likeness of man, he subjected himself to the lowest 

g' 14' ■ ' degree of humiliation for the sins of men, by submitting to the most ignominious death 

/ Rom. 12. 10. of the cross ; for which reason God has highly exalted his human nature, and hath 

Eph. 5. 21. 1 Pet. given him a name, which expresses a dignity beyond any other — the name Jesus, or 

1 Cor -10 24 Saviour of the world, who was to be acknowledged as the author of salvation, by the 

33. & 13. 5. angelic hosts of heaven, by the human beings of earth, and by fallen spirits under the 

A Matt. 11. 29. earth, that every intelligent being shall confess that Jesus Christ has an authority and 

1 Pet. 2. 21. preeminence over all. 

i joha"i.i,2. & ^ If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of 
l^bti^i^Ts ^' Jove, "if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any ''bowels and mercies, ^ fulfil 
Heb. i'. 3. "ye my joy, ''that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of 

''10,33^' ^ ■ one accord, of one mind : ^ let 'nothing be done through strife or vain- 

^ss's^Dan ^9' S^^'T ' ^^^ ^^^ lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than 
26. Mark 9. 12. thcmselves : ■* look ^not every man on his own things, but every man 

ii°"i2.i.SL4s. also on the things of others. ^Let ''this mind be in you, which was 
53^lf Ezek^sf ^^^*^ "^ Christ Jesus : ^ who, 'being in the form of God, ^thought it not 
8^\i^' ^ao'^bs' I'obb^^T to be equal with God: '^ but *^made himself of no reputation, 
Luke 22. 27. ' and took upon him the form 'of a servant, and "was made in the 

'Rom."i!'3! & 8. *likeness of men: ®and being found in fashion as a man, he hum- 
|- ^^^'j*- 4- Heb. bled himself, and "became obedient unto death, even the death of 

*or, Liit. the cross. ^ Wherefore God also "hath highly exalted him, and ^given 

"42' j"hnV% ^™ ^ name which is above every name : ^° that 'at the name of 
Heb. 5.8. & 12. Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in 

9 John 17. 1 2,5. earth, and things under the earth; ^^ and '^^Aa^ every tongue should 
Ac^ts2. 33.Heb. confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 



p Eph. 1. 20, 21. 

"'■'■/-• t ^ § 5.— chap. ii. 12-16 

g Is. 45. 23. See ^ ^ 

Matt. 28. 18. St. Paul exhorts the Philippians, that although he is not with them to remind them of 
Eom. 14. 11. their duty, they may continue to walk in the humility and disinterestedness of Christ, 

John 13 13 working out their own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God, 

Acts 2. 36. by his Holy Spirit inwardly working in them, who affords them, after his sovereign 

1 Cor 8 6 &12 pleasure, both the will and the power to accomplish their salvation — He cautions them 
3. that all things be done without murmurings and disputings, that they may be blame- 

less in themselves, and inoffensive to others, showing by their holy conduct that they 

are partakers of the divine nature, not meriting rebuke in the midst of a crooked and 

perverse generation of unbelieving Jews, among whom they shine as the heavenly 
luminaries, giving light to a dark world, holding out to all men the doctrine of eternal 
life, that he may have reason to rejoice at the day of judgment on their account, by 
which means it will appear that he has neither exerted his apostolic office, nor labored 
J. (. in vain. 

^ ^^ 15 12 Wherefore, my beloved, "as ye have always obeyed, not as in 

b Eph. 6. 5. my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your 

'^jl^cor.^3.^5. Q^yji salvation with 'fear and trembling : ^^ for 'it is God which worketh 

d 1 Cor. 10. 10. in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure, i* Do all things 

e^Rom' H^'i ''without murmuriugs and 'disputings ; ^^ that ye m.ay be blameless 

* or^dnccre. and *harmless, ^the sons of God, without rebuke, ^in the midst of '^a 

/^i^"^5^45. crooked and perverse nation ; among 'whom tye shine as lights in the 

g 1 Pet.' 2.' 12. world, 1'' holding forth the word of life ; that^I may rejoice in the day 

A Deut. 32. 5. ^f Christ, that *I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. 

i Matt. 5. 14, 16. 
Eph. 5. 8. ; 

t Or, shine ye. § 6. — chap. ii. 17, to the end. 

^f'Ph'Jss^'s^ig The Apostle, comparing the faith of the Philippians to an acceptable sacrifice presented 

ft Gal 2. 2. through his labors to God, assures them that he is willing and ready that his blood 

1 Thsss. 3. 5. should be poured forth as the libation on that sacrifice ; and should he be thus called 



J D. 
o 2 Tim. 4. 6. 



b Rom. 15. 16. 
c 2 Cor. 7. 4. 



Sect. XL] THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 341 

upon to suffer, he entreats them to rejoice with him that he is accounted worthy of so 
hio-h an honor — But he trusts to send Timotheus to them, that he may learn from him 
tlie exact state of tlieir affairs ; for he iinows no man who is so like himself in the 
interest he takes in their spiritual concerns ; for all the teachers seek their own interests 
and advancement rather than the interests of Jesus Christ — But they themselves have 
experienced the goodness of Timothy, who labored with him in their cares, as a son 
with a father, (Acts xvi. 1-3. xix. 22.) — him therefore he meant to send to them, as 
soon as he ascertained how his affairs will be determined ; but he still trusts, through 
the providence of God, to visit them shortly ; in the mean time he sends Epaphroditus, 
whom he highly commends ;. and he is further induced to send him with these despatches, 
because he longed to see them all, and was exceedingly dejected and troubled that 
tliey should have heard of his sickness — By his frequent preachings in Rome and its 
neighbourhood, and by his personal attendance on them, he has labored beyond his 
strength, risking his life, endeavouring to supply in his own person all the assistance 
they would have given him, had it been possible for them to have been present with 
him. 

^" Yea, and if °I be ^offered upon the sacrifice ''and service of your ^^^ 
faith, ^I joy, and rejoice with you all ; ^^ for the same cause also do forth. 
ye joy, and rejoice with me. 

^^ tBut I trust in the Lord Jesus to send ''Timotheus shortly unto "coi^l'.'ai.' 
you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state, t Or, j/oT-eorer. 
^° For I have no "man Hike minded, who will naturally care for your i ti^^'ss. 3. 2.' 
state ; -^ for all •'seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. " ^^- ^^- ^^■ 
^^ But ye know the proof of him, ° that, as a son wdth the father, he mJ.' ™ 
hath served with me in the Gospel. ^'^ Him therefore I hope to send /gi ^m. 10 24, 
presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me ; "^^ but ''I trust a Tim. 4. 10, 
in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly. ^icor. 4. 17. 

^^Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you 'Epaphroditus, my gxim'l'l' 
brother, and companion in labor, and •'fellow-soldier, *but your messen- a ch. 1.25. 
ger, and 'he that ministered to my wants ; ^^ for '"he longed after you ^ ^^ ^"°g ' 
all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had j piiiiemon2. 
been sick. ^'^ For indeed he was sick nigh unto death : but God had * ^ *^°'' ^- ^^ 
mercy on him : and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should cl. 4.'i8.' 
have sorrow upon sorrow. ^^ I sent him therefore the more carefully ; ™f^'^'?: ,„ 
that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that 1 may be the 1 Tiiess^ 5. 12. 
less sorrowful. ^^ Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness ; * or, wrsucA. 
"and *hold such in reputation. •^'^ Because for the work of Christ he oicor. le. 17. 
was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, °to supply your lack of 
service toward me. 

§ 7. — chap. iii. 1-11. 
St. Paul exhorts them to rejoice in their knowledge of the truth and promises of the 
Gospel — He cautions them to beware of the Jews, designated as they now were, cast 
out of the covenant by the same appellation which they formerly gave to the Gentiles 
— To beware of the evil laborers who corrupt the doctrines of the Gospel, of those who 
call themselves the circumcision, but are rather the concision cut off from the Christian 
Church — For they are the true circumcision who have embraced the Gospel, and wor- 
ship God not in the ritual observance of the Law, but in the spirit and perfection of it, 
making their boast in Christ Jesus, and having no confidence in any rite or ceremony 
prescribed by the Law — If, however, any of the Judaizing teachers have cause to boast 
of their outward rites and privileges, he has more reason to do so — He was circumcised 
on the eightli day, descended from the patriarch Jacob — from his most favored son — 
from Hebrew parents — and with respect to the Law, was educated in that sect most 
scrupulously attached to it — He gave proof of his zeal in the persecution of the Church, 
and concerning the righteousness which is placed in the exact observance of the Mosaic 
Law, and obedience to its outward precepts, he was blameless — But those things which 
he then considered liis gain, he counts now as loss ; and all things for which men value 
themselves, he counts as loss, because they cannot be compared to the excellency of 
the knowledge of salvation through Christ, for whose sake lie has suffered the loss of 
all worldly things, which are as the vilest refuse, that he may gain the promises of 
Christ, and be found a believer in him as a Saviour, not holding his own righteousness, 
which is of the Jewish Law, but that righteousness which is by faith in Christ's atone- 
ment, which God has ordained for the justification of sinners — That he may know him 
VOL. II. CO* 



342 THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. [Part XHL 

as his Saviour, to feel in himself the influential power of his resurrection, by dying as he 
did, a martyr to the truth of the Gospel, so that by any possible means he may attain 
§ ' • to a glorious resurrection from the dead. 

"ch.4°4.].^Thlss. ^ Finally, my brethren, "rejoice in the Lord ; to write the same 

5- 16. things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. 

s/is. ■ ■ ■ 2 Beware 'of dogs, beware of '^evil workers, ''beware of the Con- 

e 2 Cor. 11. 13. cision. "^ For we are 'the Circumcision, -^which worship God in the 

Gaf."'. 2. " spirit, and ^rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh ; 

*3o "e'je?" 4^4*^ * though ''I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man 

Rom. 2 29. & 4. thiukcth that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more : 

ii! " ' ' ^ circumcised 'the eighth day, 'of the stock of Israel, *of the tribe of 

■'^Rom! 7.' ef' ^^' Benjamin, 'a Hebrew of the Hebrews ; as touching the Law — a "Phari- 

ff Gal. 6. 14. see ; ^ concerning "zeal — persecuting "the Church ; '' touching the righ- 

'^21.*^°'" ^^' ^^' teousness which is in the Law — 'blameless. '' But '^what things were 

i Gen. 17. 12. gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. ^ Yea doubtless, and I 

A R*^""^ \^^" count all things but loss "for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ 

I 2 cor^ 11. 22. Jesus my Lord : for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and 

m Acts 23. 6. & do couut them but dung, that I may win Christ, ^ and be found in 

»i Acts 22. 3. him, not having 'mine own righteousness, which is of the Law, but 

Gal. 1. 13, 14. "that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is 

o Acts 8. 3. & 9i ^ ^ o 

1. of God by faith : ^^ that I may know him, and the power of his resur- 
p Rom. 10. 5. rection, and "the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable 
r Matt. 13.44. uuto his death ; ^^ if by any means I might '"attain unto the resurrec- 
* Is. 53. 11. Jer. tlou of the dead. 

9. 23, 24. John 

17. 3. 1 Cor. 2. 

2- «o'- 2- 2. § 8.— chap. ill. 12-16. 

t Rom. 10. 3, 5. , ^ , 

Rom 1 17 & The Apostle pursues his subject by assertmg, that they are not to suppose from what he 

3. 21, 22. & 9. has just said, that he considers himself to have attained already to all that he wishes to 

G^ I % 16 be, or had become already perfect; but that he is still pursuing after that perfection of 

V Rom. 6. 3, 4 5. character which the Gospel requires, in the hope that he may be able to apprehend that 

? ^0^'' ^<Sr'' height of excellence ; for which purpose alone he is apprehended or laid hold on by 

2. 11,' 12. 1 Pet. Christ Jesus, when he called him to the knowledge of his Gospel — He is far from con- 
*• 13. sidering himself as having attained to the holiness required of him ; but like those who 

JO Acts 2b. 7. contend for their own games, forgetting the progress he has already made, he is putting 

forth his whole strength in running towards those things that are before him, eagerly 

pressing forward in the appointed course of faith and holiness, to the glorious prize ol 

eternal life, proposed to him when called by Jesus Christ — He tells all who are fully 
instructed in the knowledge of divine things, to be equally anxious with him to obtain 
this glorious prize ; and God by his Spirit will reveal his truth unto them — But accord- 
ing to the knowledge to which they have already attained, all are to regulate their 
conduct, and have the same glorious object in view — the prize of eternal life through 
§ ^- Christ Jesus. 

° L^u""'/' ^^' ^^ Not as though I had already "attained, either were already 'perfect : 

c Ps! 45. 10. but I foflow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am 

2 co^r.^s. K. apprehended of Christ Jesus. ^^ Brethren, I count not myself to have 

d 1 Cor. 9.24,26. apprehended : but this one thing I do, 'forgetting those things which 

e?Tim 4 7 8 ^^^ behind, and ''reaching forth unto those things which are before, i"* I 

Heb. 12. i. ' "press toward the mark for the prize of ^the high calling of God in 

■^"cor^l'e. & Christ Jesus. ^^ Let us therefore, as many as be "perfect, '"be thus 

14.20. minded : and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal 

^ Rom Vie & 6^6^^ this unto you. ^'^ Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, 

15.5.' " ijet us walk ^by the same rule, '^^let us mind the same thing. 

j Gal. 6. 16. 

A ch. 2. 2. 



§ 9. — chap. iii. 17, to the end, and iv. 1. 
St. Paul exhorts them in all spiritual things to follow after him, to keep their attention 
steadily fixed on those who walk in holiness and suffijring, according as they have St. 
Paul, Epaphroditus, and Timothy for an example— For many teachers, he grieves to 
relate, walk very differently from him, endeavouring to incorporate the Jewisli rites 
with the Gospel, who are the opposers of the sacrificial death of Christ, whose end is 
perdition, whose God is their sensual appetites, who glory in the things which cause 
their shame, and whose whole minds are engrossed in earthly things — But they, unlike 



Sect. XI.] THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 343 

these Jewish teachers, do not mind eartlily things, for their thoughts and affections, as 
well as their real home and citizenship, was in Iieaven, from whence also they look for 
the Saviour of the world, who shall carry them thither, and shall alter the condition of 
their body, adjudged to death through sin, giving it a similar form to his own eternal 
and o-lorious body, according to that strong working by which he is able to conquer 
and subdue all things, even death and the grave, to himself — Therefore he entreats and 
charges all, as his beloved brethren, the objects of his strongest desires, his crown and 
rejoicino- in the Lord on that great day, to stand fast in all the doctrines of the Gospel, 
as it becomes those so tenderly beloved by him, and who have the expectations of so 
glorious a change. 5 "• 

^■^ Brethren, "be followers together of me, and mark them which "11^°'^^' i%^ 

walk so as ''ye have us for an ensample. ^® (For many walk, of whom ' '^'"'^'- ^- ^■ 

I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are ^ qJ\ j ^^ 

"the enemies of the cross of Christ: ^^ whose ''end is destruction, 21. &6. 12. ch. 

'whose God is their belly, and ■'^w hose glory is in their shame, ^who d 2cor.11. 15. 

mind earthly things.) 2° For ''our conversation is in heaven; 'from /jfo"^' ^ig^'jg 

whence also wedlock for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: ^^ who ] Tim. 6.5. Tit. 

Ill 
*shall change our vile body [that it may be fashioned] Uke unto his / hos.' 4. 7. 

glorious body, 'according to the working whereby he is able ""even to IS? e.Vi^' 

subdue all things unto himself. ^ Therefore, my brethren dearly be- g Rom. s. 5. 

loved and "longed for, °my joy and crown, so ''stand fast in the Lord, ^cof.'s.Vi'^' 

my dearly beloved ! i Acts 1. 11. 

j 1 Cor. 1. 7. 

1 Tliess. ]. 10. 

§ 10.— chap. iv. 2-9. '^''- ^- ^^• 

^ ^ Jcl Cor. 15. 43, 

St. Paul particularly beseeches Euodias and Syntychc, two Christian women of note, 48, 49. Col. 3. 4. 
supposed to be deaconesses in the Church at Philippi, who had differed in some point 1 John •'• 2- 
of doctrine or practice, to lay aside their dispute, and to be united in that mutual j nnf'is'oR 
friendship and love, which the Gospel requires ; and he entreats one, whom he calls 27. 
his true yoke-fellow, to assist those pious women, who labored with him in the Gospel " <=•'• 1- 8- 
with Clement also, and the rest of his fellow-laborers, whose names he is persuaded are " ^ *^°';p^' ''*' 
written in the Book of Life, although not mentioned by him^ — All are exhorted to rejoice 1 Thess. 2. 19, 
in the hope and privileges of the Gospel, in that spiritual happiness derived only ^''■ 
through Christ ; and again, he observes, it is their duty and interest to rejoice — Their ^ 
moderation in all the pursuits and enjoyments of life, and in tlie injuries and indignities 
to which they may be exposed, are to be visible in the whole of their conduct, for the 
Lord is at hand — He can quickly put an end to all temporal enjoyments, and all that 
they can suffer from their enemies — Whatever therefore occurs, they are to be anxiously 
distressed about nothing, but in every trouble and difficulty with solemn prayer and 
supplication, with thanksgivings for evils and dangers escaped, let their petitions be 
breathed out before God — and by these devotional exercises they will obtain that peace 
of God which can be explained by none, which shall guard their hearts and minds 
through Jesus Christ, undisturbed by the fear of suffering or of death— Finally, he 
exhorts them to the practice of every thing that is just, honorable, pure, and holy ; all § 10. 

that is calculated to promote the general good of mankind ; and is therefore worthy of a ch. 2. 2. &. 3. 
praise, and those things also in which they have been instructed by him, and have 
received by faitli as a revelation from God, and heard from his preaching, and seen in '' ^^ ° ^ '' 
his conduct while laboring among them ; and God, who is the author of peace, through 1.27.' 
the sacrifice of his Son, shall remain with them for ever. c Ex. 32. 32. Ps. 

69. 28. D:in. 12. 

^ I BESEECH Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, "that they be of the lluL io.qo.' 

same mind in the Lord. ^ And I entreat thee also, true lyoke-fellow, 8.T20. 12. &' 

help those women which ''labored with me in the Gospel, with Clement ?^S~^' ,, ,0 

also, and with other my fellow-laborers, whose names are in "the Book ci.. s.'i.TTh'es. 

c r -c 5. lU. 1 Pet. 4. 

01 Lite. 13. 

^ Rejoice ''in the Lord alway ! and again I say, Rejoice ! ^Let your ' ^'''''v' o "q"' 
moderation be known unto all men. 'The Lord is at hand ; ^ be ^care- i Pet. '4. 7.' 
ful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with seeVThess.'a. 
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God : '^ and ^the A^ 5- g.-, p^.^^^, 
peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts le.s. Matt. 6. 
and minds through Christ Jesus. 1 Pet. 5. 7. ' 

^ Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things Vom'."5a. coi. 
are *honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, ^- '^• 
whatsoever things are lovely, ''whatsoever things are of good report; a iThesriaa. 



344 THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. [Part XIV. 

if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these 

' R ^ 15 33 & thii^S^ • ^ those 'things which ye have both learned, and received, and 

16. ad 1 Cor.' 14. heard, and seen in me, do : and ^ the God of peace shall be with you. 

33. 2 Cor. 13. n. * •' 

1 Thess. 5. 23. 

Heb. 13.20. ^ „ , • in on 

§ 11. — Chap. IV. 10-yO. 
The Apostle, in returning to his own affairs, thanks God for their liberality to him, which 
had been for a time checked by want of opportunity, but was now revived by Epaph- 
roditus — At the same time he affirms, that he does not speak this for the purpose of 
obtaining further supplies for his own necessities, for he has learnt, under every cir- 
cumstance and privation, to be contented ; satisfied that the providence and goodness 
of God would determine the best for him — He has been fully initiated into the myste- 
ries of adversity and prosperity ; in all things he is instructed both to have food, and to 
be without it — to abound in the conveniences of life, and to be in want of its necessary 
supplies ; but he is enabled through Christ, that strengthened him, to do and to suffer 
all things ; but, notwithstanding these his feelings, they have acted well, consistently 
with their holy profession, and their love for him in sending him relief in his afHictions 
— And in this respect they have never been remiss, for in the beginning of the Gospel, 
when he left them, and went forth into Macedonia, they were the only Church, out of 
all those he founded, who communicated with him in the matter of giving him money, 
and his receiving money — For even in Thessalonica he was supported in his necessities 
by their contributions, and by his own labors (1 Thess. ii. 9.) — He does not, however, 
bring this to their remembrance, that he may incite them to send him another gift ; but 
because he wishes them to bear such fruit as shall abound to their account in the day 
of the Lord — For he has now all the necessaries of life, having received from Epaph- 
roditus the things they sent him, which he considers as a fragrant odor, an acceptable 
offering to God, who is well pleased at the assistance afforded his servants — And as 
they have given to him in his distress, God shall supply all their wants, according to 
his riches, in the blessings of Providence, grace, and glory — He concludes with a 
§ 11. doxology. 

o2Cor. 11. 9. 10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last "your care 

*0t, is revived, of Hic *hath flourishcd again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye 
lacked opportunity. ^^ Not that I speak in respect of want ; for I have 

b iTim.fi. 6, 8. learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. ^^ I "know 

V(S?!!'6?'io!'& both how to be abased, and I know how to abound : every where and 

11.27. jj^ ^n ^i^irigg J ajjj instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to 

d John 15. .5. abound and to suffer need; ^^I can do all things ''through [Christ] 

2 Cor. 12.9. which strcngtheneth me. ^^ Notwithstanding ye have well done, that 
c ch. 1.7. "ye did communicate with my affliction. 

^•^ Now, ye Philippians ! know also, that in the beginning of the 

/2 Cor. 11.8, 9. Gospel, wheii I departed from Macedonia, ■'^no Church communicated 

with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only ; ^^ for even in 

Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. ^^Not because 

fi' ?orn. 15. 28. J (Jesirc a gift ; but I desire ^fruit that may abound to your account. 

t Or, Thav'e re- ^^ But tl havc all, and abound : I am full, having received ''of Epaphro- 

ceivedaii. ditus thc things which ivere sent from vou, 'an odor of a sweet smell, 

/i ch 2 25 ^ . 

i Heb. 13. 16. ■'a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. 

j 2 Cor. 9. 12. 19 But my God ''shall supply all your need, 'according to his riches 

''sc'ofhh. in glory by Christ Jesus. ^° Now '"unto God and our Father be glory 

zEph. 1. 7.&3. for ever and ever ! Amen. 

16. 

m Eom. 16. 27. 

^^'- 1- ^- § 12.— chap. iv. 21, to the end. 

The Apostle sends salutations to every Christian at Philippi— He concludes with his 

usual apostolical benediction, sealed with an Amen, to show his sincerity in all the 
§ 12. things he had written to them. 

a Gal. 1.2. ^^ Salute cvcry saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren "which are 

b ch. 1.13. with me greet you. ^^ All the saints salute you, ''chiefly they that are 

e Rom. 16. 24. of CsBsar's houschold. -^ The "grace [of our] Lord Jesus Christ be with 
you all ! [Amen.] 

[[It was written to the Philippians from Rome by Epaphroditus.]] 

[end of the epistle to the philippians.] 



SECT. XII. 



Sect. XII.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 345 

Section XII. — St. Paul ivrites his Epistle to the Colossians^ in reply 
to the Message of Epaphras, to prove that the Hope of Man'' s Salva- 
tion is founded on the Atonement of Christ alone, and by the Estab- 
lishment of opposite Truths to eradicate the Errors of the Judaizers, 
who not only preached the Mosaic Law, but also the Opinions of the 
Heathen, Oriental, or Essenian Philosophers, concerning the Worship 
of Angels, on Account of their supposed Agency in Human Affairs, 
and the Necessity of abstaining from Animal Food. 

THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 

§ ]. — chap. i. 1-14. 
St. Paul begins his Epistle by assuring the Colossians that he was appointed an Apostle 
of Christ by the will of God — The salutation of Paul and Timothy, who do not cease 

praying, that the Colossians may be filled with a perfect knowledge of divine things, V. JE. 62. 

comprehending the spiritual wisdom of God, fruitful in every good work, increasing j_ p_ 4775, 

in experience of the knowledge of God's love and truth ; spiritually strengthened ac- Rome. 

cording to his glorious power, so that they may be able to bear all things with the 

greatest patience and long-suffering, and even with joy, feeling that by so doing they S J, 

please God — Giving thanks to God, who of his own free mercy, by the sanctifying , ggg j^^j^ jy 

influences of his Spirit, has qualified them to be partakers of the spiritual inheritance a Eph. 1. 1. 

prepared for those who dwell in the light of the Gospel — who has delivered them from b I Cor. 4. 17. 

the power of sin and ignorance, and hath translated us from the kingdom of darkness p 1' , o ' 

into the kingdom of light, governed by his dear Son — who has paid down the price of j i c 'j'4 

redemption in his own blood, even the remission of sins. Eph. 1. 16. Phil. 

^ Paul, "an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timo- ^ ^er. 9. Epii. 1. 
theus our brother, ^ to the saints ''and faithful brethren in Christ which ^^ Philemon 5. 
are at Colosse ! '^Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father g- 2 Tim. 4.8. 
[and the Lord Jesus Christ] ! ^ We "mve thanks to God and the Father '/*"■ ^■*- 

J ~ ji Matt 24. 14. 

of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, * since 'we heard of Mark 'le. '15 " 
your faith in Christ Jesus, and of ^the love which ye have to all the ve°rT23. " 
saints, ^ for the hope ^which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye 'j^^ifn'^j^'i^g 
heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel ; ^ which is come Phii- 1- u. 
unto you, ''as it is in all the world ; and 'bringeth forth fruit, as it doth •^Eph^s.!. Tit.2 
also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew ^the grace of God ^i- ^ fe^-^. 12. 
in truth : '' as ye also learned of ^Epaphras our dear fellow-servant, phiiemon'23. 
who is for you 'a faithful minister of Christ ; ^who also declared unto ^^^°'-\^-^^- 
us your "iove in the Spirit. ^ For "this cause we also, since the day we ^ Rom. 15. 30. 
heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire "that ye might be n Eph. i. 15, le. 
filled with ^the knowledge of his will, 'in all wisdom and spiritual /jcor. 1. 5 
understanding; ^^ that '^[ye] might walk worthy of the Lord ^unto all p Rom. 19. 2. 
pleasing, 'being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the yEpi,. i. s' 
knowledge of God ; ^^ strengthened "with all might, according to his ''j'^ly ■ ,^Vh ^''''" 
glorious power, "unto all patience and long-suffering "with joyfulness ; 2! 12! 
^^ giving ''thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be ^jT'^^j'^l^' 
partakers of ^the inheritance of the saints in lisrht ; ^^ who hath de- 2Cor. 9.8. ' 

- CD ^ ^ Phil 1 n Tit 

Hvered us from 'the power of darkness, "and hath translated us into 3. 1.' lieb.'ia. ' 

the kingdom of * his dear Son; ^'' in 'whom we have redemption ^^ ,, „ ,g . 

[through his blood], even the forgiveness of sins. e. 10." 

V Eph. 4. 2. 

v> Acts 5. 41. 

§ 2. — chap. i. 15-23. Rom. 5. 3. 

To prove to them the efficacy of Christ's death in obtaining pardon for the sins of man, ^^^P}'' ^' ^"^ *^''" 
the Apostle describes the divinity and supereminent dignity of Christ, who was the ^^^^ gg jg 

image or counterpart of the invisible God ; the Creator and Cause of all things that Eph. 1. 11. 

had a beginning, visible and invisible ; who created every thing both by and for him- ^^ Eph. 6. 12. 

self ; he existed before the creation of all created things ; and must have been there- 1 pe't. 2. 9.' 

fore the true and self-existing God ; and as his power created all things, so does it also a 1 Thess. 2. 12. 

preserve them — For as from him all being was derived, so also by him must it subsist, ^Pet. 1. 11. 

and he is the Head of the Church, which he considers his spiritual body — By his incar- kis'lme 

nation he is the first cause or beginning of the Church, and the first who rose from the Matt. 3. 17. 

dead in a glorified human form, that in all things, both in his divine and human nature, seeMafk ] 1 

he may have the preeminence — For it pleased the Father that in him all the majesty, 4 Eph. 1. 7. 

VOL. II. 44 



346 



THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. [Part XIV. 



§2. 



a 2 Cor. 4. 4. 

Heb. ].3. 
b Rev. 3. 14. 
e John 1. 3. 

1 Cor. 8. 6. Eph. 

3. 9. Heb. 1. 9. 
d Rom. 8. 38. 

Eph. 1. 21. ch. 

2. 10, 15. 1 Pet. 

3. 22. 

e Rom. 11. 36. 
Heb. 2. 10. 

/John 1. 1,3. 

& 17. 5. 1 Cor. 

8.6. 
g Eph. 1. 10, 23. 

6. 4. 15. & 5. 
23; 1 Cor. 11. 3. 

k Acts 26. 23. 

1 Cor. 15. 20, 23. 
Rev. 1. 5. 

* Or, amonjT all. 
i John 1, 16. &3. 

34. ch. 2.9. &3. 

11. 
I Or, maldng 

jteace. 
j Eph. 2. 14, 15, 

16. 
k 2 Cor. 5. 18. 
I Eph. 1. 10. 
TO Eph. 2. 1, 2, 

12, 19. & 4. 18. 
J Or, by your 

TOinf^ m wicked 

worlis. 
n Tit. 1. 15, 16. 
Eph. 2. 15, 16. 
p Luke 1. 75. 

Eph. 1. 4. & 5. 

27. 1 Thess. 4. 

7. Tit. 2. 14. 
Jude 24. 

o Eph. 3. 17. ch. 
2.7. 
r John 15. 6. 
s Rom. 10. 18. 
t ver. 6. 
u Acts 1. 17. 

2 Cor. 3. 6. & 4. 
1. & 5. 18. Eph. 
3. 7. ver. 25. 

1 Tim. 2.7. 



§3. 

a Rom. 5. 3. 

2 Cor. 7. 4. 
6 Eph. 3. 1, 13. 
c 2 Cor. 1. 5, 6. 

Phil. 3. 10. 

2 Tim. 1.8. &; 

2. 10. 

d Eph. 1. 23. 
e 1 Cor. 9. 17. 
Gal. 2.7. Eph. 

3. 2. ver. 23. 
* Or, fully to 

preach the word 
of Oodj Rom. 
15. 19. 
/ Bom. 16. 25. 

1 Cor. 2. 7. 
Eph. 3. 9. 

g Mutt. 13.11. 

2 Tim. 1. 10. 
h 2 Cor 2. 14. 
«• Rom. 9. 23. 

Eph. 1. 7. &. 3. 



power, and mercy of the Godhead should be made manifest, or dwell, and having by 
the blood of his cross made peace between God and man, and by this means broken 
down the wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles, he has reconciled them to him 
self, with all things in heaven and earth, whether they be men or angels, forming them 
into one holy and spiritual society — And the Gentiles, who were once alienated from 
God, and by their works proved the enmity of their minds towards him, he hath so 
reconciled through the death of his human body, that he may present them holy and 
blameless, free from all accusation in his sight, at the day of judgment, which he will 
surely do if they continue grounded in the faith of Jesus Christ, and settled in his 
doctrines ; not moved away by false teachers from the blessed hopes and promises of 
the Gospel, which has been preached both to Jew and Gentile, of which St. Paul was 
appointed a minister. 

^^ Who is "the Image of the invisible God, 'the Firstborn of every 
creature ; ^^ (for "^by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, 
and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or 
''dominions, or principalities, or powers ; all things were created "by 
Him, and for Him ;) ^'^ and ■'^he is before all things, and by Him all 
things consist ; ^® and ^He is the head of the Body (the Church) ; 
who is the Beginning, ''the Firstborn from the dead ; that *in all 
things He might have the preeminence ; — ^^ for it pleased the Father 
that'll! Him should all fulness dwell; ^'^ and, t having^ made peace 
through the blood of his cross, *by Him to reconcile 'all things unto 
Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in 
heaven. 

^^ And you, "that were sometime alienated, and enemies tin your 
mind "by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled ^^ in "the body of 
his flesh through death, ''to present you holy, and unblameable, and 
unreproveable in his sight ; ^^ if ye continue in the faith 'grounded 
and settled, and be ''not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, 
which ye have heard, 'and which was preached 'to every creature which 
is under heaven ; "whereof I Paul am made a minister. 



§ 3. — chap. i. 24, to the end, and ii. 1-7. 
St. Paul, as the minister of Christ to the Gentiles, assures them that he rejoices in his 
sufferings, according to the dispensation of the Gospel, which God gave to him for their 
benefit ; that he might accomplish the purpose of God, as predicted by his prophets- 
Even the mystery of redemption through faith to the Gentiles, which has been hid for 
many generations, but is now made fully manifest ; which is Christ dwelling in them, 
giving through his blood pardon for sins, and through his Spirit the hope of their glori- 
fication — Whom the apostles preach, warning all men of their sin and danger, and 
instructing them in all spiritual wisdom — For which end he labors, striving with all his 
might — As a proof of which, he wishes them to know the persecutions and sufferings 
to which he has been exposed for preaching the Gospel to the Gentile Church, to all 
the believing Gentiles — That knit together in love, and in the full assurance of the 
riches of Christianity, they may acknowledge the mystery of God through Christ, in 
the salvation of both Jews and Gentiles, in whom and in his Gospel are hid all the 
treasures of divine wisdom and knowledge — And he says this, that no man might de- 
ceive them with the sophistry or enticing words of human philosophy, for though in 
the body he was absent, yet through the Spirit he was with them, rejoicing, and 
beholding their regular order and discipline, and their steadfast faith — He encourages 
them, since they had embraced the Gospel of Christ, to persevere in his faith, that they 
might be rooted in him, building upon him all their hopes of pardon and salvation, and 
that, being established in the purity of his faith, as they had been instructed in it, they 
might abound more and more in its fruits, with thanksgiving to God for having called 
them to be partakers of its blessings. 

^^ Who "now rejoice in my sufferings ''for you, and fill up 'that 
which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for ''his body's 
sake, which is the Church : ^^ whereof I am made a minister, accord- 
ing to 'the dispensation of God which is given to me for you ; "to 
fulfil the word of God ; ^^ even ^the mystery which hath been hid from 
ages and from generations, ^but now is made manifest to his saints : 
^^ to ''whom God would make known what is *the riches of the glory 



Sect. XII.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 347 

of this mystery among the Gentiles ; which is Christ tin you, ^the hope t or, among you. 
of glory : -* whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every \ AltTao! 20 27 
man in all wisdom ; 'that we may present every man perfect in Christ ^i. 
[Jesus ;] -^ whereunto "I also labor, "striving "according to his work- Ephl's. s' .-er 
ing, which worketh in me mightily. mi cor 1- 10 

Chap. ii. 1-7. ^ For I would that ye knew what 'great ^conflict I have „ ch.2.1.' 

for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have <> Eph.i. i£ & 
not seen my face in the flesh ; -that 'their hearts might be comforted, j, ch! 1. 29. Phii 
'^being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance \- ^- ^ '''''*''^- 
of understanding, 'to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and t o^jmr, or, 
of the Father, and of Christ ; ^ *in 'whom are hid all the treasures of /^'^cor 1 e 
wisdom and knowledge. * And this I say, "lest any man should beguile ^ ch. 3. 14. 
you with enticing words. ^ For "though I be absent in the flesh, yet ^^g'.'' ^' ^' ''^' 
am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding "your order, and the * Or, wherein. 
""steadfastness of your faith in Christ. ^ As ''ye have therefore received '2^ gT e If i*^ 
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him : ''' rooted "and built up in «• ch. i. 9. ' 
him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding "acT.'n.'is^.' 
therein with thanksgiving. ^p*'- \^^-^^- 

~ ~ 6. ver. 8, 18. 

V \ Cor. 5. 3. 

r ^ 7 ■• o n r 1 Thes9. 2. ]7. 

^i.— chap. n. 9,-15. «,lCor.l4.40. 
The Apostle cautions them against the Judaizing teachers, who inculcate the worship of j; 1 Pet. 5. 9. 

angels, and the abstinence from animal food, which things are according to the tradi- y 1 Thess. 4. 1. 

tions of men, and the first elements of religion given in the Mosaic Law ; for their f t 9 oi w 

salvation is made complete in him, who is the supreme Head and Governor of all ere- & 3. 17. ch! 1.' 

ated things, of whatsoever rank — In whom, (and not to the angels,) they are also circum- ^^' 
cised, and enabled by the operations of the Holy Spirit, to renounce all the deeds of the 

sinful flesh — which is pointed out to them by that ordinance, which may be considered 

as the circumcision required by Christ in the Gospel, in which they are buried to sin 
under the water, as Christ was buried on account of sin under the earth, and have been 
raised with him out of the water unto a spiritual life, through the faith of the wonderful 
power of God, who also raised Christ to eternal life from the grave of death — And the 

Gentiles also, who were dead in sins, and in the uncircumcision of the flesh, has God § 4. 

made alive together with him through his Spirit, unto eternal life, blotting out the a Jer. 29.8. Rom. 

handwriting of ordinances, which was against both Jew and Gentile, and contrary to ^- •'''• ■^p'Vt\ 

their salvation, as it subjected them all to the curse of eternal death for sin ; and having 13.9.' 

despoiled the rulers and delegated powers of darkness of their dominion, he made a * Matt. ]5. 9. 

display of his conquest openly, by triumphing over their power in his glorious resurrec- n^ ' ' ' ^'^^' 

tion from the grave. c Gal. 4. 3, 9. 

^ Beware "lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain de- *ol~eiements. 
ceit, after 'the tradition of men, after 'the *rudiments of the world, d John 1. 14. ch. 
and not after Christ. ^ For ''in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the God- ^ j^i,,', j jg. 
head bodily; ^° and "ye are complete in Him, ^which is the Head of /Eph. ].2o,2]. 
all ''principality and power; ^Mn whom also ye are ''circumcised with ^^^W^^' 
the circumcision made without hands, in 'putting off the body [of the I oeut. lo. 16.& 
sins] of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, ^'^ buried^ with him in ^^om.l%%h[\. 
baptism ; wherein also '^ye are risen with him through 'the faith of ^^^ 
the operation of God, '"who hath raised him from the dead : ^^ and Eph. 4. 22.' ch. 
"you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, j Rom. 6. 4. 
hath He quickened together with him, having forgiven you all '« ch. 3. 1. 
trespasses; ^"^ blotting "out the handwriting of ordinances' that was 'y^^''' '■^^■'^^" 
against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, m Acts 9. 24. 
naihng it to his cross; ^^ and ''having spoiled 'principahties and "jf p'^- ^- ^' 5- ^' 
powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them oEph.2 is, le. 

■[ijj if;_ s See Note 18. 

p Gen. 3. 15. Ps. 

68. 18. Is. 53. 12. 

Matt. 12. 29. 

§5.-chap.u. 16-19. h'Soi'nit 

From the consideration that mankind are delivered from the power of sin and eternal 31- ^ 16. 11. 

death by Christ alone — The Apostle exhorts them not to allow any one to condemn g. 14. 

them as it concerns the distinctions between meats and drinks in the Mosaic Law, or in g Eph. 6. 12. 

respect of its festivals and Sabbaths — Which observances were only the types or t Of> *« himself. 



348 - THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. [Part XIV. 

shadows of good things to come, their substance being all fulfilled in the person of Christ, 
and in the spiritual blessings of his religion — And as Christ alone, by the sacrifice of 
the cross, has been made the Head and Governor of all things, and the means of salva- 
tion, he vparns them against being deceived by their false teachers or philosophers to prac- 
tise an aifected humility in the worshipping of angels, presumptuously intruding into the 
things of the invisible world, and puffed up with the empty knowledge of their own 
carnal minds — Not acknowledging Jesus Christ as the only Saviour and Governor of 
mankind, from whom his whole body, the Church, receiving spiritual nourishment and 
strength, united together, increases in grace and holiness, with the increase of the gifts 
§ 5. of his Holy Spirit. 

a^Kom. 14. 3, 10, 16 Lj,,p j,q jjjg^jj therefore "judge you *in ''meat, or in drink, or tin 

* or,for eating respect "of a holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: 

/Eom^'itT 17. " which ''are a shadow of things to come ; but the body is of Christ. 

1 Cor. 8. 8. 18 Lg^ «j-,Q jjjan tbeguile you of your reward, *in a voluntary humihty 

I Rom!r4'.l. ^iid worshipping of angels, intruding into those things -^which he hath 

Gal. 4. 10. jjQ^ seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, ^^and not holding ^the 

9. &io.'i.' ' Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourish- 

e ver. 4. ment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of 

t Or, jttd^e ^ , 
against you. VJUU. 

* Gr. being a voU 

untanj in humil- r r* i •• on j it i 

ity. ver. 23. 9 6. — chap. 11. 20, to Ihe end. 

A^!'''' i"''-,^' The Apostle, as they have in the body of Christ suffered the punishment of the Law for 

Eph i 15 16 ®"^> '^"'^'^ '^'^^ thereby delivered, or become dead to its power, inquires of them why they 

subjected themselves to ordinances taught by the authority and doctrines of men ; as 

if they were living under that dispensation from which by the death of Christ they had 

been made free — The abstinences prescribed by the doctrines of their philosophers and 

by their Judaizing teachers — touch not, taste not, handle not — relate to indifferent 

things, which perish in the corruption of the body, for which they were made — which 

doctrines, however, have an appearance or display of wisdom, being a worship founded 

on the will of man, voluntarily performed, and a supposed act of humility, mortifica- 

S 6. tion, and severity. 

a Rom. 6.3, 5. & 20 Wherefore if ye be "dead with Christ from 'the *rudiments of 
19. Eph. 2.15. the* world, %hy, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordi- 

* ^^- f- nances ? ^^ Touch ''not ! taste not ! handle not ! ^^ which all are to 

Or sl&ftiBTits m 

t See Note 19. pcrish with the using, ''after the commandments and doctrines of men ? 
oGai. 4. 3,9. 23 ^j^j^h ^things havc indeed a show of wisdom in ^will-worship, 
e Is 29! 13 ^"^ humility, and tneglecting of the body ; not in any honor to the 
Ma«. 15. 9. Tit. satisfying of the flesh. 



/ 1 Tim. 4. 8. 

g ver. 8, 18. § 7. — chap. iii. 1-11. 

t Or, punishing, rpj^g Apostle, having shown them that as they had been buried with Christ in the waters 
of baptism, in token that in the body of Christ they had fulfilled the curse of death, 
pronounced upon sin by the Law, and were thereby delivered from its power, now calls 
upon them, as they had been with Christ also figuratively raised from the waters of bap- 

tism, and become spiritually alive, to set their whole affections on heavenly things — For 

Christians are dead with Christ to sin, and to earthly things ; and their spiritual life, 
which emanates from him, who is invisible, is, as it were, hidden with Christ in God — 
and when, at the end of time, he shall appear, who is the source of their heavenly life, 
Christians also shall appear with him in glory — in glorious and immortal bodies — Hav- 
ing this hope, St. Paul exhorts them to mortify their earthly members — to deprive the 
animal man of its strength and ascendency, not yielding to its inordinate desires and 
passions, on account of which the wrath of God cometh on all ; not only on those who 
profess his religion, but on the children of disobedience — the heathen world — whose 
lusts and vices they also habitually practised when they lived among them : but now, 
as their life is in Christ, derived from him through his Spirit, the Apostle exhorts 
them to put away these vices of their earthly members, and all others to which they 
had been addicted ; and, as they had buried the old man in baptism, with all his 
corrupt affections and deeds, to put on the new man, which is re-made by God in 
spiritual knowledge and holiness, according to his image, in which man was first 
created — In this new spiritual creation there is no distinction of nation or of circum- 
stance — but Christ is life to all — He is in all by his Spirit, and reigns over and governs 
§ 7. all things. 

"■^Ti^'l'-f^^' ^ ^^ y® ^^^" ^^^ nsen with Christ, seek those things which are above, 



Sect. XII.] THE EPISTLE TO TPIE COLOSSIANS. 349 

where 'Christ sitteth on the right hand of God ; ^ set your *affection ''e^^\%o'!' 
on things above, not on things on the earth. ^For '')'e are dead, '^and *or, mind. 
your hfe is hid with Christ in God ; * when 'Christ, who is -^our hfe, ''^°i'% gg^-^^ g 
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him ^in glory. 20. 

^ Mortify ''therefore 'your members which are upon the earth; ^for- '^^-^^'■^■''- "^ 
nication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, *evil concupiscence, and«iJohn3. 2. 
covetousness, 'which is idolatry ; ^ for "which things' sake the wrath ■^{^"'"g" "" ^^' ^ 
of God cometh on "the children of disobedience: '''in "the which ye g- 1 cor. 15. 43. 
also walked sometime, when ye lived in them ; ^ but ''now ye also put ;, Kom. 8. is. 
off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, 'filthy communication gui. 5. 24. 
out of your mouth ; ^ lie "^not one to another, ^seeing that ye have put j Eph. 5. 3. 
off the old man with his deeds ; ^^ and have put on the new man which 1 1 Thess.4. 5. 
'is renewed in knowledge "after the image of Him that "created him : ' ^^^'^\^\^ 
^Hvhere there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircum- Eph. 5. 6. Eev. 
cision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free : "^but Christ is all, and in all. „ iph. 2. 2. 

Rom. 6. 19,20. & 7. 5. 1 Cor. 6. 11. Eph. 2. 2. Tit. 3. 3. p Eph. 4. 29. 1 Pet. 2. 1. Heh. 12. 1. J .m. 1. 21. q Eph. 4. 29. 
&5. 4. r Lev. 19. 11. Eph. 4. 25. 5 Eph. 4. 29, 24. « Rom. 12. 2. !4 Eph. 4. 23, £4. d Eph. 2. 10. to Rom. 10. 12. 

1 Cor. 12. 13. Gul. 3. 28. & 5. 6. Eph. 6. 8. x Eph. 1. 23. 



§ 8.— chap. iii. 12-17. „ Eph. 4. 2,,. 

He exhorts the Colossians, as those who were elected of God to the high privileges and *i V,'"'i^^g^' '*' 

blessings of the Gospel, to put on the spiritual character of the new man — to be pure 2 Pet. 1. 10. 

and holy in the service of God, as his beloved children, practising all the Christian '„9?,''^',^";, , 
, ,. . • 1 ,, , ,. , , Phil. a. ]. Eph. 

graces and dispositions, and over all these graces of the inward man, to put on love, 4. 2, 32. 

which is the perfection of the Christian character, uniting in itself every virtue — Then '^■J'^^'^\^}'oi' 

will that divinely-imparted peace, to the enjoyment of which they are called, reign in ♦ Or, complaint. 

their hearts, and, united in one body unto Christ, they will be thankful that they are ' i^'r. Belsham, 

sflvs L)r. iliirton* 

become partakers of these glorious privileges — The Word of Christ, the Gospel, which would here read 

they have received, will dwell in them, and they will constantly teach and admonish Lord,mKanws 

,,.„., . . . , . , . , , r > • 1 '"8 Father ; 

each other m all wisdom, singing with grace 111 their hearts unto the Lord m psalms, whereas in Acts 

hymns, and songs, as the Spirit inspired them — They are exhorted, whatever ihey did "''• '^ he would 

■ ,1 1 • • , • ■ n , ■ ,■ 1 ,, • , , '"•■" Gorf into 

— in all their conversation, and m every action ot their lives — to do all m the name and Lord, and have 

for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to offer their praises and thanks to God !i,'"'^^" Christ. 

i he reason it is 
the Father, in his name, and by his mediation, and not by that of angels. not very difficult 

^^PuT "on therefore, 'as the elect of God, holy and beloved, "bowels /john™r34. °' 
of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering ; f t^r.^w.^Eph. 
^^ (forbearing ''one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have fr^i^f^'; 4 g 
a *quarrel against any : even as 'Christ forgave you, so also (Zo ye ;) iTim. i. 5. 
^'' and above all these things, •'pw^ on charity, which is the ""bond of uoh'ni. 23. & 
perfectness ; ^^ and let ''the peace of God rule in your hearts, 'to the ^ 'Eph. 4.3. 
which also ye are called •'in one body ; *and be ye thankful. ''phn."^"' "' 

^^ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly ; in all wisdom, teach- '■. l^'''°,''c/\l\., 
ing and admonishing; one another 'in psalms and hymns and spiritual ^ 4. '4. 

^ . . . . k ch.2. 7. ver 17 

songs, singing '"with grace in your hearts to the Lord ; ^^ and "whatso- i i co7. 14. 20. 
ever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, mlh'.4.l^.' 
"giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Rra°.''i.^8'. Eph. 

5. 20, ch. I. 12. ' 

& 9. 7. 1 Thess. 

§ 9. — chap. iii. 18, to the end, and iv. 1. s.is. Heb. 13.15. 
The Apostle, from general directions for their Christian conduct, proceeds to exhort them, ~s~q 
on the same principles of love and obedience to Christ, to the performance of the rela- 
tive duties of life. (See Eph. v. 2.2, 23, and vi. 1-9.) 2. 5. l Pet73 l ' 

1^ Wives, "submit yourselves unto your [own] husbands, 'as it is fit * iph.'l.'l^as, 
in the Lord. ^^ Husbands, "love your wives, and be not ''bitter against fEph^V'af^' 
them. — -"Children, "obey your parents in all things: for this is well e Eph.5.24.&6.i. 
pleasing unto the Lord. ^^ Fathers, ^provoke not your children to anger, /Eph.V."4. 
lest they be discouraged. — ^^ Servants, 'obey ''in all things your mas- '^i^n'm.^^i.'^''' 
ters 'according to the flesh ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers ; J 'Vg~- ^- ^ ^''^■ 
but in singleness of heart, fearing God : ^^ and ^whatsoever ye do, do * ver. 20 
it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men ; 2"* knowing ''that of the j Eph!6.°6, 7.' 
Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance : 'for ye' serve the f i^coi.^7. 22. 

VOL. II, DT) 



350 



THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 



[Pari XIV. 



Lord Christ. ^^ But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong 
"Eph."^ 9. "pet. which he hath done : and ""there is no respect of persons. ^ Masters, 
i^if seeDeut. "give unto jour servants that which is just and equal ; knowing that 
n Eph. 6. 9. ye also have a Master in heaven. 



§ 10. 

a Luke 18. 1. 
Rom. 12. 12. 
Eph. 6. 18. 

1 Thess. 5. 17, 
18. 

b ch. 2. 7. & 3. 
15. 
c Eph. 6. 19. 

2 Thess. 3. 1. 
d 1 Cor. 16. 9. 

2 Cor. 2. 12. 
e Matt. 13. 11. 

1 Cor. 4.1. Eph. 

6. 19. ch. 1. 26. 

& a. 2. 
/ Eph. 6. 20. 

Phil. 1. 7. 
g Eph. 5. 15. 

1 Thess. 4. J2. 
It Eph. 5. 16. 
i Eccles. 10. 19. 

ch. 3. 16. 
j Mark 9. 50. 
k 1 Pet. 3. 15. 



§ 10. — chap. iv. 2-6. 
The Apostle commands all, in their different relations and stations in life, that they may be 
enabled to fulfil their respective duties, to persevere in earnest prayer to God, guarding 
against negligence and inattention, and, with thanksgiving, to acknowledge the blessings 
they had received — Praying also for the apostles, that God would open for them an op- 
portunity of preaching the mystery of the Gospel of Christ, the calling of the Gentiles 
through faith — for which very account he was now in bonds — that he may more effect- 
ually make this mystery manifest, and that he may have courage to speak as becomes 
his apostleship — He admonishes them to behave with prudence and discretion to those 
who are without the pale of the Christian Church (the unbelieving Gentiles and per- 
secuting Jews), avoiding persecutions, and steadily improving every present moment 
— Their conversation is to be holy and courteous, seasoned with the salt of cheerful- 
ness and spiritual wisdom, resisting the corruption of sin, that they may know how to 
answer both Jew and Gentile to their edification, and to their own security. 

^ Continue "in prayer, and watch in the same ''with thanksgiving ; 
^ withal 'Spraying also for us, that God would "^open unto us a door of 
utterance, to speak ^the mystery of Christ, •'^for which I am also in 
bonds : '^ that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. ^ Walk ^in 
wisdom toward them that are without, ''redeeming the time. ^ Let 
your speech be alway 'with grace, •'seasoned with salt, '^that ye may 
know how ye ought to answer every man. 



§ 11. 

o Eph. 6. 21. 

b Eph. 6. 23. 
c Philemon 10. 



d Acts 19. 99. & 

20. 4. & 27. 2. 

Philemon 24. 
e Acts 5. 37. 

2 Tim. 4. 11. 
/ch. 1. 7. 

Philemon 23. 
* Or, striving. 
g Rom. 15. 30. 
A Matt. 5. 48. 

1 Cor. 2. 6 & 

14. 20. Phil. 3. 

15. Heb. 5. 14. 

t Or, Jilled. 



§ 11. — chap. iv. 7, to the end. 
St. Paul sends Tychicus to relate to them in a more particular manner his situation and 
circumstances at Rome (See Eph. vi. 21.), with Onesimus, who would also give them 
every satisfactory information — He presents the salutations of the brethren who were 
with him by name, and desires them to receive Marcus with all respect and affection, 
and Justus (compare Acts xv. 38, 39. and 2 Tim. iv. 11.) ; for these only of the circum- 
cision had been his fellow-laborers in preaching the Gospel in sincerity at Rome, and 
who had been a consolation to him (compare Phil. i. 14-lri.) — All the Gentile teachers 
with St. Paul at Rome join in salutations — (Timothy joined in writing the letter) — He 
particularly mentions Epaphras, their faithful minister, as always striving in prayer for 
them with God — He desires them to salute in his name the Christians in Laodicea, 
with Nymphas, and the church that is in his house — and, after this Epistle had been 
publicly read among them, to take care that it shall be also read in the Church of the 
Laodiceans, and that the Epistle from Laodicea, which is supposed to have been the 
Epistle to the Ephesians, shall be read in their own Church — He encourages Archip- 
pus (officiating, perhaps, in the absence of Epaphras) in the work of the ministry com- 
mitted to him, and then authenticates the Epistle by writing the salutation in his own 
hand — (1 Cor. xvi. 21. and 2 Thess. iii. 17.) — He concludes with the apostolic bene- 
diction. 

■^ All "my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved 
brother, and a faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord ; ^ whom 
*'I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your 
estate, and comfort your hearts ; ^ with 'Onesimus, a faithful and be- 
loved brother, who is one of you : they siiall make known unto you 
all things which are done here. 

1" Aristarchus, ''my fellow-prisoner, saluteth you, and 'Marcus, sis- 
ter's son to Barnabas, touching whom ye received commandments, 
(if he come unto you, receive him ;) " and Jesus, which is called 
Justus, who are of the Circumcision : these only are my fellow-workers 
unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me. 
'- Epaphras, -''who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, 
always ^laboring ^fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand ''per- 
fect and tcomplete in all the will of God. '^ For I bear him record 
that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and 



Sect. XIII.] THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. 351 

them in Hierapolis. ^^Luke, 'the beloved physician, and-'Demas, greet ] 2Tim!4!io! 
you. ^^ Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and Philemon 24. 
*the Church which is in his house. ^^And when 'this Epistle is read ico™'i6.'i9. 
among you, cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodi- '■ ^ "^^^^^^ ^- ^■ 
ceans ; and that ye likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea. ^^ And 
say to "' Archippus, Take heed "to the ministry which thou hast re- ^ f!^'}^^'^^' 
ceived in the Lord, that thou fulfil it. ^*The "salutation by the hand « icor. 16.21. 
of me Paul. -^Remember my bonds. 'Grace be with you ! [Amen.] ^He'risV^^ 
[J^Written from Rome to the Colossians by Tychicus and Onesimus.]] j Heb. 13. 25. 
[end of the epistle to the colossians.] 



SECT. xin. 



Section XIIL — St. Paul writes his Epistle to his friend Philemon,'^ to 
intercede with him in favor of his slave Onesimus, who had fed from 
the Service of his Master to Rome, in ivhich City he had been con- 
verted to Christianity by means of the ApostWs Ministry. 

THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. 
§ 1. — vei'se 1-7. 
St. Paul, writing on a matter of private business, addresses Philemon as a friend, and not 
in the capacity and authority of an apostle — Timothy unites in the salutation to Phile- 
mon — to the beloved Apphia — to Archippus (Coloss. iv. 17.), and to the Church at liis 
house — His benediction — He tells Philemon that he thanked God always in his prayers 
for the increase of his faith towards Jesus Christ, and his love towards the Christian 
brethren ; and he prays also that the communication of his liberality, which is the fruit 
of much faith, may be efficacious in bringing others to the knowledge of every good V. JE. 62. 
disposition that is in him in Christ Jesus— for they themselves have much joy and con- j, p. 4775. 
solation in his love, more particularly on account of the poor saints who were driven Rome. 

from their homes in the name of Christ, and went about preaching the Gospel, whom 

the riches of Philemon had relieved. § 1- 

^ Paul, "a prisoner'^ of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto " ^'^'^ '^""^ ^''• 
Philemon our dearly beloved, 'and fellow-laborer, ^ and to our beloved °i. axi'm. i. 8. 
Apphia, and "Archippus ''our fellow-soldier, and to ^the Church in thy /ggg^jjifote 21 
house ! ^ grace ^to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord a phii. 2. 25. 
Jesus Christ! altuVls 

'^I "thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, ^ Rom. le.s. 
^ hearino: ''of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord iCor. 16.19. 
Jesus, and toward all saints ; ^ that the communication of thy faith may ^ Epii.i. le. 
become effectual 'by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in gTiJ^g^' /'f' 
you in Christ Jesus. '^For we have great joy and consolation in thy aeph. 1. is.coi 
love, because the bowels of the saints ^are refreshed by thee, brother. 



§ 2. — verse 8, to the end. 
St. Paul declares, on account of the love he bore to Philemon for his benevolent and kind 
exertions, that though, as an apostle of Christ, he might have commanded him to do 
what was fit in the affair he was about to mention, yet he prefers beseeching him, by 
his own love for him, and by that which he has shown to the saints, for his son Ones- 
imus, whom he has begotten to a spiritual creation, and has sent back again at his 
own desire — •' Do thou therefore," St. Paul entreats, " receive him into thy family, 
who is, as it were, my own bowels, my son, a part of myself — whom, being so useful to 
me, I would have detained with me, that he might have ministered to me, thy spiritual 
father, in my bonds for the Gospel ; and performed those offices which thou wouldst have 
done, if thou hadst been at Rome — but without knowing thy mind on the subject, I would 
not keep him with me, that the benefit conferred on me in pardoning him, should not be 
from necessity, but from thine own goodwill — For he departed for a season, that by the 
providence of God he may be restored to thee for ever: not now as a servant, but as a 
beloved brother in the Lord, and more particularly dear to me, but how much more to 
thee, as being thy property, and a part of thy family ; and now being made a member of 
thy heavenly family, the Church of thy house — If thou consider me a partner of thyaffisc- 
tion, receive him as myself, as he is, as it were, a part of me, and in receiving him thou 
receivest me — If he have wronged, or owe thee aught, place it all to my account : I will 
discharge all he owes thee ; and I promise to repay thee in mine own hand, as I do not 



1.4. 
i Phil. 1. 9, n. 
j 2 Cor. 7. 13 

2 Tim. 1.16. 

ver. 20. 



352 



THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. 



[Part XIV. 



§2. 

a 1 Thess. 2. 6. 

b ver. 1. 

c Col. 4. 9. 
d lCor.4. 15. 

Gal. 4. 19. 
y See Note 22. 



e 1 Cor. 16. 17. 
PhU. 2. 30. 

/ 2 Cor.' 9. 7. 

g So Gen. 45. 5, 

8. 
z See Note 23. 
h Matt. 23. 8. 

1 Tim. 6. 2. 
i Col. 3. 22. 
j 2 Cor. 8. 23. 



k ver. 7. 

I 2 Cor. 7. 16. 

m Phil. 1. 25. & 

2.24. 
n 2 Cor. 1. 11. 
Col. 1. 7. & 4. 

12. 
y Acta 12. 12, 

25. 
q Acts 19. 29. & 

27. 2. Col. 4. 10. 
r Col. 4. 14. 
s 2Tim. 4. 11. 
t 2 Tim. 4. 22. 



desire this favor to be granted me from the consideration of how much thou art in- 
debted to me, although thou owest me thine own self — thine existence as a Christian — 
let me therefore have profit from thee in the Lord — gratify the earnest longing of my 
soul in this, and receive him again into thy family — Having confidence in thy obedi- 
ence, from the knowledge I have of thy Christian excellencies, I wrote unto thee, in 
the full persuasion that thou wouldst do even more than I request '"—He sends the 
salutations of Epaphras, their minister, and others with him, and concludes with his 
blessing to Philemon, and the Church at his house. 

^ Wherefore, "though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee 
that which is convenient, ^ yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, 
being such an one as Paul the aged, 'and now also a prisoner of Jesus 
Christ ; ^° I beseech thee for my son ^Onesimus, whom ''I have begot- 
ten in my bonds : ^^ which in time past was to thee ^unprofitable, but 
now profitable to thee and to me ; ^^ whom I have sent again : thou 
therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels. ^^ Whom I would 
have retained with me, 'that in thy stead he might have ministered 
unto me in the bonds of the Gospel ; ^"^ but without thy mind would I 
do nothing, ^that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but 
willingly. ^^ For ^perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou 
shouldest receive him for ^ever ; ^^ not noAv as a servant, but above 
a servant, ''a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more 
unto thee, 'both in the flesh, and in the Lord ! ^^ If thou count me 
therefore -"a partner, receive him as myself. ^^ If he hath wronged thee, 
or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account. ^^ I Paul have written 
it with mine own hand, I will repay it : albeit I do not say to thee 
how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. -" Yea, brother, 
let me have joy of thee in the Lord : ''refresh my bowels in the Lord. 
^^ Having 'confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing 
that thou wilt also do more than I say. 

^~ But withal prepare me also a lodging : for "I trust that "through 
your prayers I shall be given unto you. ^'^ There salute thee "Epaphras, 
my fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus ; ^* ^Marcus, 'Aristarchus, '^Demas, 
"Lucas, my fellow-laborers. ^^ The 'grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be 
with your spirit ! [Amen.] 

[[Written from Rome to Philemon, by Onesimus a servant.]] 

[end of the epistle to PHILEMON.] 



SECT. XIV. 

V. M. 62. 
J. p. 4775. 

Jerusalem. 

§1. 

I See Note 24. 



Section XIV. — St. James writes his Epistle^ to the Jewish Christians 
in general, to caution them against the prevalent Evils of the Day — 
to rectify the Errors into which many had fallen by misinterpreting 
St. Paul's Doctrine of Justification, and to enforce various Duties, 

THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. 

§ l.—chap. i. 1-12. 
James addresses the Twelve Tribes, particularly the Jewish Christians, in their state of 
dispersion, wishing them all health and prosperity — As the unbelieving Jews desired 
to persuade their converted brethren, by applying to them the rewards and punish- 
ments annexed to their obedience or disobedience to the Mosaic Law, that their pres- 
ent afflictions were tokens of the divine displeasure — the Apostle shows the advantages 
resulting from afflictions, to produce in them patience and resignation to God's will — 
He exhorts them to patience, that they may, in allusion to the sacrifices of the Law, be 
perfect — If any under trials be deficient in this wisdom of patience, he is to ask it of 
God, who giveth all necessary good to every man. and who reproaches none for asking, 
and it shall be given to him — But then let him ask in a steady faith, fully persuaded 
that God is both able and willing to grant his petitions, not irresolute, nor divided in 
his own mind concerning the things for which he prays — for he who thus wavers 
between virtue and vice is like a wave of the sea, influenced by every succeeding im- 
pulse, and cannot expect to receive from God what he desires — A man of two minds 
is unstable in all his actions, and can attain to no degree of excellence — The poor con- 
verted Jew is encouraged to rejoice in his sufferings, for by them his Christian character, 



Sect. XIV.] THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. 353 

through faith, is exalted — but the rich man, to be ashamed of the emptiness and uncer- 
tainty of those things in whicli lie delights- and rather glory in his humiliation and 
suiferings for the sake of the Gospel — for his own life, and all his earthly possessions, 
are as transient, and as little to be depended on, as the flower of the field — and those 
whose happiness consists in them are subjected in a similar manner by diseases, and 
tlie vicissitudes of life, to be cut down, and wither in the midst of their glory — The 
man is blessed who stands in his temptation — for when his trials in this world are over, 
he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him, 

and suffer for liim. 

a According to 

^ "James, a 'servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, '^to the "'• ^"'■,"'1' ?"<'- 

. , ^ . , otiicrable judges, 

Twelve Tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting ! James the Less 

^ My brethren, 'count it all joy •'"when ye fall into divers temptations ; Lord's'brothe" 

3 knowing ^tJiis, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. "* But peTsonl^E'D. 

let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, i^^\^^Q^{f 

wanting nothing. J9- ^ 2. 9. Jude 

^ If ''any of you lack wisdom, 'let him ask of God, that giveth tQ all j i-it. i.i. 

}ne?i liberally, and upbraideth not ; and ■'it shall be given him. ^ But c Acts 26. 7. 

'■'let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like joim?'. 35'. Acts 

. 9^,^?(l 

a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. '''For let not that ipet. i.'i.' 
man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. ^ A 'double- ^f'^^W}'^- ^ 

■ 1 11 • I 1 • 11 1 • ActsS. 41. Heb. 

minded man is unstable in all Ins ways. 10. 34. 1 Pet. 4. 

^ Let the brother of low degree *rejoice in that he is exalted, ^° but / I'pet. 1. 6. 
the rich, in that he is made low ; because ™as the flower of the grass g R""". 5. 3. 
he shall pass away. ^^ For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning '11, la^^Prc'v. 2. 
heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and \ ...,,, 

■, P o ' ^ t Matt. 7. 7. & 

the grace of the fashion of it perisheth : so also shall the rich man 21. 22. Mark 11. 

CI • 1 • 10 -ni n n- 1 1 i i 24. Luke IL 9. 

tade away in his ways. ^'^ Blessed is the man that endureth tempta- joim 14. 13. & 
tion : for when he is tried, he shall receive "the crown of life, ^which . j^/gg jg "' 
the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 1 Jo''" s. 14, 15. 



k Mark 11. 24. 
1 Tim. 2. 8. 



§2.-c;^«p.i. 13-18. VL%1.^. 

The Apostle, fearing his expressions relating to temptations or afflictions, sent by God as * Or, glory. 
a trial of the virtue and faith of Christians, should be misinterpreted, condemns, in its m Job 14.2. Ps. 
other sense, that impious notion, which some of the unbelieving Jews and their Juda- ^'iqo n if 
izing teachers held, as a vindication of their grossest actions, that God tempts men to 103.15. Is. 40. 6. 
sin — He forbids any man to say, he is tempted or solicited to sin by God ; for God, who ^ -^^'^ p^^, ' ^ 
is all holiness, is incapable of being seduced by evil, neither can he thus tempt any 24. 1 John 2. 17. 
man — But every man is tempted to sin when he is allured by his own lusts, and enticed "Job 5. 17. 
by his own impure desires ; then lust having tempted the sinner to its embraces, bring- jjeb. 12. 5.' Rev. 
eth forth actual sin ; committing the evil purposes — and sin, when habitually confirmed, 3. 19. 
bringeth forth eternal death — They must not suppose therefore, that God is the author "g Tim.'4'8 ch 
of sin, or impels man to it — For God, instead of being the author of sin, is the author 2. 5. 1 Pet. 5. 4. 
of every good and perfect gift — God of his own will had created those who were Jews ivr'' t m oo ;t 
anew, in the Gospel of truth and holiness, that they might become the firstfruits of all jg. 28,' 29." ch. 2. 
his creatures who should be converted. ^" 

" Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God : for . g 

God cannot be tempted with *evil, neither tempteth he any man : * or cmu. 
'^^ but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, a job 15. 35. Ps. 
and enticed. ^^ Then "when lust hath "^conceived, it bringeth forth sin : ^ gee Note 26. 
and sin, when it is finished, 'bringeth forth death. 6 Rom. 6.21,23. 

I'^Do not err, my beloved brethren, i'' Every 'good gift and every '/co^.ty'!^' 

perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, d Num. 23. 19. 

''with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. ^^ Of 'his Mai. 3". e.'som. 



*'' 11.29. 



own will begat he us with the word of truth, -^that we should be a ^ johni.i3.&3. 
kind of ^firstfruits of his creatures. ?• 1 cor. 4 15. 

1 1 et. 1. 23. 



/ Eph. 1. 12. 



§ 3.— c/iop. i. 19, to the end. ffjer- 2. 3. Eev. 

To reprove the converted Jews, who were emulous of becoming teachers, and who were 

intemperate in their religious zeal, the Apostle exhorts those who are thus begotten of 

God in the Gospel of his Son, to be anxious and diligent to hear its doctrines, as laid 

down by the apostles, and slow to speak concerning the truth, waiting till they under- 

VOL. 11. 45 DD* 



354 



THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. 



[Part XIV. 



§3. 



a Eccles. 5. 1. 
i Prov. 10. 19. & 

17.27. Eccleg.5. 

2. 
c Prov. 14. 17. & 

16. 32. Eccles. 

7.9. 
d Col. 3. 8. 1 Pet. 

2. f. 
e Acts 13. 26. 

Kom. 1. 16. 

1 Cor. 15. 2. 

Eph. 1. 13. Tit. 

2. 11. Heb. 2. 3. 

1 Pet. 1. 9. 
d See Note 27. 
/ Matt. 7. 21. 

Luke 6. 46. & 

11. 28. Kom. 2. 

13. 1 John 3. 7. 
g Luke 6. 47, &c. 

See ch. 2. 14, 

&c. 
A 2 Cor. 3. 18. 
i ch. 2. 12. 
j John 13. 17. 
* Or, doing. 
e See Note 28. 
Jc Ps. 34. 13. & 

39. 1. 1 Pet. 3. 

10. 
/ Is. 1. 16, 17. 

&58. 6,7. Matt. 

25. 36. 
m Rom. 12. 2. ch. 

4. 4. 1 John 5. 

18. 



stand it ; and slow to wrath, not easily incensed — for the wrath, or the fierce conten- 
tions of men, on religious differences, do not promote the interests of the kingdom of 
heaven, do not work out in others the faith which God counts for righteousness — He 
calls upon them to put away all the filthiness of fleshly lusts, and vicious superfluity of 
words, and of anger, and receive with all meekness and gentleness the Gospel, which 
is engrafted on their own Law, and which is the means of saving their souls to eternal 
life — In opposition to the prevailing opinion of the Jews, who placed so much depend- 
ence on their knowledge of the Law, and on their regular attendance on the synagogue 
to hear the Law read, he exhorts them to be doers of the precepts of the Gospel, and not 
hearers of its word only — He who restraineth not his tongue, deceiving himself with 
the notion that his freedom from deeper vices will excuse him before God, and that 
railing against those who differ from him in religious opinions is acceptable to God, 
this man's religion is false — Pure religion consists in good works, and spiritual prin- 
ciples. 

^^ Wherefore, my beloved brethren, "let every man be swift to 
hear, 'slow to speak, 'slow to wrath. 2° For the wrath of man worketh 
not the righteousness of God. ^^ Wherefore ''lay apart all filthiness 
and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the en- 
grafted word, Vhich is able to save your souls.*^ 

^^But-'^be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving 
your ovv'n selves. ^^For^if any be a hearer of the word, and not a 
doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass : 
^^ for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway for- 
ge tteth what manner of i?ian he was. ^^ But ''whoso looketh into the 
perfect 'Lav/ of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forget- 
ful hearer, but a doer of the vi^ork, ^this man shall be blessed in his 
*deed.® ^^ If any man [among you] seem to be religious, and ''bridleth 
not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is 
vain. ^" Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, 
'To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, "and to keep 
himself unspotted from the world. 



V, 4. 

1 Cor. 2. 8. 

J Lev. 19. 15. 

Deut. 1. 17. & 

16. 19. Prov. 24. 

23. & 28. 21. 

Matt. 22. 16. 

ver. 9. Jude 16. 
* Gr. synagogue. 
■f Or, well, or, 

seemly. 
t John 7. 48. 

1 Cor. 1.26,28. 



§ 4. — chap. ii. 1-13. 
The administration of justice being in a most corrupt state at this time among the Jews, 
the Apostle reproves them for showing, as they were accustomed to do, partiality in the 
causes on which they were called upon to pass judgment — He cautions those who make 
profession of the faith or religion of our Lord, against making a distinction of persons 
on account of their rank, or other external circumstances, inwardly favoring one more 
than the other — This, he declares, is contrary to the Gospel of Christ, who hath chosen 
the poor of this world to be rich in all spiritual blessings, and has made them heirs of 
his eternal kingdom ; but that they have despised the poor man, although God has so 
enriched him, while by the rich they are oppressed, and dragged before their tribunals 
of justice, to be maltreated and punished for their faith, while they blaspheme the name 
by which they are called — But, if they fulfil the royal Law of Christ, according to the 
Scriptures (John xiii. 34. xv. 12.), they shall do well, and shall be guilty of no partiality 
— But if they have respect to persons in their judgment, they commit sin against God, 
and their brethren, and they are convicted as transgressors of the Lav/ — For he who 
oflfends in one particular point, he who kills by his iniquitous judgment, is guilty of all, 
for every precept is enjoined by the same authority — In giving judgment, then, they 
are so to speak and act, as those who shall be judged by the Law of liberty, which pre 
scribes for them a rule of life, and frees them from tlie guilt, power, and dominion of 
sin, teaching them, that, at the last day, judgment will be passed upon them according 
to the strictness of the Law, who have showed no mercy, but rather unjustly con- 
demned ; but that the mercy of God will triumph over judgment, to those who have 
showed mercy. 

1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, "the Lord 
of glory, with ''respect of persons. ^ For if there come unto your '*as- 
sembly a man Avith a gold ring, in goodly apparel ; and there come in 
also a poor man in vile raiment ; ^ and ye have respect to him that wear- 
eth the gay clothing, and say [unto him], Sit thou here tin a good place ; 
and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool : 
^ are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil 
thoughts ? 5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, 'Hath not God chosen the 



Sect. XIV.] THE GENEUAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. - 355 

poor of this world, ''rich in faith, and heirs of tthe kingdom 'which he ''iT"i'm.6^'i8." 
hath oromised to them that love him ? ^ but -^ye have despised the ii«>'- s- 9- 

r.^ ., £-11 ir-ji'it Or, that. 

poor. Do not rich men oppress you, 'and draw you belore the judg- ^ Ex.ao.e. 
ment-seats ? ' Do not they blaspheme that worthy Name by the which p®*"'8."i7.''' 
ye are called? ^If ye fulfil the royal Law according to the ''Scripture, lu"^/-!,-^ 
"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," ye do well : ^ but 'if ye la.sa.icir.a 
have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are ^convinced of the Law di. 1.12! 
as transo-ressors. ^° For whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet / ^ cor. 11. 22. 
oflend in one ;point, '^'he is guilty of %11. ^^ For *He that 'said, " Do not ^n.V.&. is. i2. 
commit adultery," said also, " Do not kill : " now if thou commit no /Lev. 19. is. 
adultery, vet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the Law. *'=>"• ?f- ^3- 

1 ^ 1111 * 1 1 ? ml T Kom. io. o, y. 

1^ So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be juaged by the Law oai. 5. 14. &6. 
of liberty. ^^ For "he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath ^ ^e,_ j, 
showed no mercy ; and "mercy trejoiceth against judgment. j [Or, oonmcted, 

Ed.] 

<§ 5.— chap. ii. 14, to the end. k Deut. 27. 26. 

^ ^ ' Matt. 5. 19. Gal. 

To show the Jews the absurdity of relying on the knowledge or the profession of the 3. 10. 

Gospel, without performing its precepts, as taught by some of their teachers, he aslcs f See Note 29. 
what advantage it is to a man to say he hath faith, and not works, or no Christian * ^jlill'f^id^'^^'' 
practice ? — An empty profession of faith is as ineffectual for justification, as good i y.s.. 20. 13, 14. 
wishes without good works are for relieving the wants of the destitute — The devils m eh. 1. 25. 
believe in God, but not to their justification ; for this conviction only increases their n Job 22. 6, &c. 
torment: they believe and tremble — But wouldst thou be convinced, the Apostle Matt' 6.15. & 
demands, that faith which has no influence on a man's actions is dead, utterly incapable 18. 35. &; 25. 41, 
of obtaining justification, ask thyself if our father Abraham was not justified by his 
works, Avhen he ofi^ered Isaac on the altar — his faith cooperated with his works — and jg. ' ' 

by his works, in obedience to the commands of God, his faith was manifested, and t or, glorieth. 
made perfect — By works, therefore, proceeding from faith, a man is justified ; and not 
by faith only, without works ; for there can be no more a true and saving faith without 
good works, than there can be a living human body without the soul. 5 5_ 

^^ What "doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath a Matt. 7. 26. ch 
faith, and have not works ? can faith save him ? ^^ If ''a brother or sis- j^ggejob 31. 19 
ter be naked, and destitute of daily food, ^^ and 'one of you say unto 20. Luke 3. ii. 
them. Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled ; notwithstanding ye "^ 
give them not those things which are needful to the body ; what doth 
it profit ? I'^Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being *alone. * Gt.hj itself. 

^^ Yea, a man may say. Thou hast faith, and I have works : — Show 
me thy faith twithout thy Vv'orks, ''and I will show thee my faith by ^J°™'if°/,^' 
my works. ^^ Thou believest that there is one God : thou doest well : ^or/i. 
°the devils also believe, and tremble. ^° But wilt thou know, O vain f Matfg'^gg 
man! that faith without works is dead ? ^^ Was not Abraham our M;irk 1. 24. & 5. 
father justified by works, ■''when he had offered Isaac his son upon the Xctsie. 17. & 
altar ? ^^ ISeest thou ^how faith wrought with his works, and by works /Gen. 22. 9, 12. 
was faith made perfect? ^■'and the ''Scripture was fulfilled which xor, nouseest. 
saith, " Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him io^ i gIu. \o'. q.' 
righteousness :" and he was called " The 'Friend of God." Rom.4. 3. cai. 

^* Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by j 2 chron.20. 7. 
faith only. ^° Likewise also -'was not Rahab the harlot justified by ^l'^^l'^\ H^b 
works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out u- si. 
another way ? ^"^ For as the body without the *spirit is dead, so faith * °'' '"'^''"'• 
without works is dead also. 



§ 6. — chap. iii. 1-12. 
St. James again cautions the Christian Jews not to undertake tlie ofiice of teacher, of 
which they were very desirous (1 Tim. i. 7.), before they were fully qualified, knowing 
that as teachers they would receive the greater condemnation ; for in many things they 
oifend all — If a man offend not in word, by false doctrine, or bitter railing, the same is 
a man well instructed in the Gospel, and is able also to bridle in the whole body — as it 
is more difficult to govern our tongues, than to avoid offending in our actions — By bits 
in horses' mouths the wliole body is turned round— ships, which though they be so 
great, are governed with a very small helm — even so the tongue is a little member, 



356 



THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. 



[Part XIV. 



§6. 

a Matt. 23. 8, 14. 
Eom. 2. 90, 21. 

1 Pet. 5. 3. 
b Luke 6. 37. 

* Or, judgment. 
c 1 Kings 8. 46. 

2 Chron. 6. 36. 
Prov, 20. 9. 
Eccles. 7. 20. 
1 John 1. 8. 

d Ps. 34. 13. 

Ecclus. 14. 1. & 

19. 16. & 25. 8. 

ch. 1. 26. 1 Pet. 

3.10. 

e Matt. 12. 37. 
/ Ps. 32. 9. 
g Prov. 12. 18. & 

15.2. 
h P3. 12. 3. & 73. 

8,9. 
t Or, wood. 
i Prov. 16. 27. 
7 Matt. 15. 11,18, 

19, 20. Mark 7. 

15,20,23. 
J Gr. wheel. 

* Gr. nature. 

■f Gr, nature of 

man. 
t Ps. 140. 3. 
I Gen. 1. 26. & 5. 

1. & 9. 6. 
% Or, hole. 



boasting great things, working mightily, and ruling over the whole man — Behold also 
how great a mass of wood a little fire kindleth — And the tongue is a fire kindling a 
mass of iniquity — So is the tongue among our members defiling our bodies with its 
iniquity ; speaking ill of God and man ; setting on fire the wheel or frame of our 
nature ; or the successive generations of man; being itself set on fire of hell, by the 
infernal spirit influencing the heart — Every nature of wild beasts, their strength and 
fierceness, the swiftness of birds, the poison of serpents, the exceeding great force of sea 
monsters, is tamed, and hath been tamed, by the reason and ingenuity of man ; but the 
tongue of man can no man tame — It is an unruly evil thing ; and like the tongue of a 
serpent or adder, it is full of deadly venom (Psalm cxI. 3.) — It is applied to the most 
opposite purposes — With it we bless God, even the Father of us all ; and with it we 
curse men, who are made after the similitude of God — From the same tongue, out of 
tlie same mouth, goetli both a blessing and a curse — Such inconsistency is not to be 
found in the natural world, where it would be considered contradictory and unnatural. 

^ My brethren, "be not many masters, 'knowing that we shall receive 
the greater * condemnation ; ^ for ^in many things we offend all. ''If 
any man offend not in word, ^the same is a perfect man, and able 
also to bridle the whole body. ^ Behold ! -^we put bits in the horses' 
mouths, that they may obey us ; and we turn about their whole body. 
* Behold also the ships ! which though they he so great, and are driven 
of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, 
whithersoever the governor listeth. ^ Even so ^the tongue is a little 
member, and ''boasteth great things. Behold, how great ta matter a 
little fire kindleth ! ^ And Hhe tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity ! 
So is the tongue among our members, that ■'it defileth the whole body, 
and setteth on fire the tcourse of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. 
'' For every *kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of 
things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of tmankind : ^ but 
the tongue can no man tame ; it is an unruly evil, ''full of deadly 
poison ! ^ Therewith bless we God, even the Father ; and therewith 
curse we men, 'which are made after the similitude of God : ^" out of 
the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these 
things ought not so to be. ^^ Doth a fountain send forth at the same 
tplace sweet water and bitter? ^^Can the fig-tree, my brethren, bear 
olive-berries ? either a vine, figs ? so can no fountain both yield salt 
water and fresh. 



§ 7. 

a Gal. 6. 4. 
6 ch. 2. 18. 
c ch. 1. 21. 
d Rom. 13. 13. 
e Rom. 2. 17, 23. 
/ ch. 1. 17. Phil. 

3. 19. 
* Or, natural, 

Jude 19. 
g \ Cor. 3. 3. 

Gal. 5. 20. 
■f Gr. tumult, or, 

unquielness, 
h 1 Cor. 2. 6, 7. 



§ 7. — chap. iii. 13, to the end. 
The Apostle exhorts the Jews, who were great pretenders to knowledge, particularly those 
who were teachers, to give proof of their wisdom by a holy life and conversation ; in 
all their actions showing the meekness and gentleness of true religion — But if they 
taught either the Law or the Gospel with bitter zeal against their opponents, they should 
not boast of their religious knowledge, for they lied against that truth which they 
pretended to teach — For this wisdom originates in the gratification of the earthly man 
and his sensual passions, and is the wisdom of devils ; for where there is fiery and in- 
tolerant zeal and animosity, there is confusion and disorder, irregularity, and every 
unchristian practice — But the wisdom which Christ himself, or the Spirit, brought 
down from above, is first pure from sensuality and earthliness, gentle and peaceable, 
(not contentious,) easy to be entreated to forgiveness, full of compassion to the afflicted, 
abounding in the good fruits of holiness and righteousness, without partiality in judg- 
ment, and without dissimulation and hypocrisy ; for all the opposite vices of which the 
Jews had been reproved — And this excellent and heavenly temper and wisdom, the 
fruit of the Christian religion, is sown, not in strife and contention, but in peace and 
concord, by those who practise and promote peace among mankind. 

^^ Who "is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you ? 
let him show out of a good conversation Miis works 'with meekness 
of wisdom. ^'^ But if ye have ''bitter envying and strife in your hearts, 
'glory not, and lie not against the truth. ^^ This ^wisdom descendeth 
not from above, but is earthly, *sensual, devilish. ^^ For *^where envy- 
ing and strife is, there is fconfusion and every evil work. "But ''the 
wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and 



Sect. XIV.] THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. 351 

easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, twithout partiality, t or, without 
'and without hypocrisy. ^^ And ^the fruit of righteousness is sown in iRoZj'a^. 
peace of them that make peace. l^i\]'ofnt 

18. ' 



§ Q.-chap. iv. I-IO. ^H^r-io.'-is'- 

Tlie Apostle, after having described the eSects of that wisdom which is from above, in- Ma*'- 5. 9. Phii 

sinuates that tlieir Ibrious zeal could not, as they asserted, proceed from the Spirit of I'l. " 
God, whose fruit was peace and harmony, but from that wisdom which is from beneath — 
the cause of all their wars and fightings proceeding from their own sensual appetites 

and passions, which war in their members against their knowledge and conscience — 

They lust for dominion over the heathen, and freedom from tribute, but their sensual 
desires are not gratified — They kill the heathen in tlieir zeal to destroy idolatry, but 
they cannot obtain this object of their earnest desire — They fight and war for dominion 
over them, yet their attempts are unsuccessful, because they do not ask if it is the will 
of God — And when they pray, they do not receive the things for which they petition, 

because they ask them for wicked purposes — They have broken their marriage contract § ^• 

with God, for loving the world more than him — And know they not that the inordinate * Or,brawlings. 

love of the present world is open enmity against God ? — Do they think that the Scripture ^^'^ pleasures. 

falsely condemns such a worldly temper (Rom. viii. 7.), that the Spirit of God, from ^j rq^ 7 33 

which the true wisdom proceeds, produces envy, covetousness, and worldly-minded- Gal. 5. 17. 1 Pet 

ness .' — By no means; for his Spirit gives greater degrees of grace, imparting humility ^ ^ ' 

and love to man, and moderation as to earthly things, according to the words of Scrip- j j^^^ ^y g ^35 

ture (Prov. iii. 34. Sept.) — They are called upon to submit to the dispensations and 12. Ps. 18. 41. 

the will of God, to resist the great enemy of their salvation, the author of their wars j'j5' je, ii 

and strifes — He will flee from them if they are holy in their conduct — To draw niffh to H- Mic. 3.4. 

God with pure, humble, and devout affections. ^ecn. /. u. 

c Ps. 66. 18. 

^TROM whence come wars and "lightmgs among you ? come they iJoims. 23. &. 
not hence, even of your llusts "that war in your members? ^Ye lust, * or,'pieasurcs. 
and have not: ye tkill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye dVs. 73.27. 
fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not : ^ ye ''ask, and re- ^ ^ •'°''" ^- ^^^ 
ceive not, "because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your 17? 14. bai. 1. 
*lusts. '* Ye ''adulterers and adulteresses ! know ye not that 'the friend- ^°' 
ship of the world is enmity with God? •'^whosoever therefore will be a 'fe's. 21. Num." 
friend of the world is [constituted] the enemy of God. ^Do ye think ]J; ^s- P'"'- 21. 
that the Scripture ^saith in vain, " The spirit that dwelleth in us t o^, envionsuj. 
lusteth ttoenvy ?" ^ But He giveth more grace ; wherefore He ''saith, — \is! ehfov^-j' 

34. & 29. 23. 

" God resisteth the proud, Lukef^^ 

But giveth grace unto the humble." i4- n- & is- 14 

= '^ ] Pet. 5. 5. 

'' Submit yourselves therefore to God : 'resist the Devil, and he will 'g^'j'j; I'pJt f. 
flee from you. ^Draw^nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. ^■ 
*Cleanse your hands, ye sinners ! and 'purify your hearts, ye ""double- ^^^^1""^^^^'^' 
minded ! ^Be "afflicted, and mourn, and weep : let your laughter be i iPet. 1. sa. 
turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 1° Humble "yourselves J^,"'"j^g^' 
in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. „ Matt.'s.^. 

Job 22. 29. 

Matt. 23. 12. 
§ 9.— C/W». iv. 11, 12. Luke 14. 11. & 

^ ' ' 18. 14. 1 Pet. 5. 

The Apostle cautions them against all detraction, more particularly the zealous Jewish 6. 

converts, against censuring and speaking evil of those who differ from them in religious 

opinions, and who thought themselves released from all obligation to the ceremonial 

Law; for those who condemn others for asserting their Christian liberty, speak in effect 

against the Christian law (he-v. xix. 16. Ps. xv. 3. Matt. vii. 1. Luke vi. 37.) § 9. 

" Speak "not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil "j^'f^'g' f' 
of his brother, 'and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the Law, and j Matt. 7. 1. 
judgeth the Law : but if thou judge the Law, thou art not a doer of r "„,■; I.' i!^i cor. 
the Law, but a judge. ^^ There is One Lawgiver, 'who is able to save *• ^■ 
and to destroy : ''who art thou that judgest another ? ^ ^^^^^ j^ ^ \^ 

§ 10. — chap. iv. 13, to the end. 
The Apostle next reproves them for placing too much dependence on all their worldly 
schemes and projects, and on the continuance of their life without taking into considera- 



358 THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. [Part XIV. 

tion its frailty and uncertainty ; acting as if all events were at their disposal — The folly of 
such conduct shown from the evanescent and fleeting nature of human life — He who 
§ 10. knows his duty, and does not perform it, to him his sin is aggravated. 

'^-Lakl'if'it&.c. ^^ ^° "^^ now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into 

* Or, For it is. sucli a city, and continuc there a year, and buy and sell, and get 

''lofl'lh^iio S^^^ '• ^* whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow ! (for what 

1 J t' o 1*7 ^® your life ? *It Hs even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and 

c Acts is! 21. then vanisheth away :) ^^ for that ye ought to say, 'If the Lord will, 

le^'r'^'Heb^'^ ^^ shall live, and do this, or that ; ^^ but now ye rejoice in your 

d 1 Cor. 5. 6. boastings. ''All such rejoicing is evil. ^'^ Therefore 'to him that knoweth 

^joirn 9.^4i.^& to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. 



15. 22. Rom. 1. 

20, 21, 32. & 2, c 1 -I 7 in 

17, 18, 23. § 11.— chap. V. 1-6. 

The Apostle having reminded the Jews of the uncertainty of this life, and of their pre- 
carious success in worldly pursuits, more particularly addresses himself to the unbelieving 
part of the nation, who were extremely addicted to covetousness, and to the amassing 
of wealth, and represents to them, with the spirit and energy of a prophet, the dreadful 
' desolation and calamities that were coming upon them, and to show the folly of trusting 

in these things which they must so soon lose — When the awful judgments of God 
pronounced against their nation shall be poured out, they will be plundered of their 
illgotten wealth — The cry of the laborers they have defrauded (Deut. xxiv. 14. Lev. 
xix. 13.) has ascended into heaven, requiring vengeance from the Deity — They have 
lived in the full indulgence of all their sensual appetites — They have pampered their 
hearts as beasts are fed for a day of slaughter — They have condemned and killed the 
§ II- Just One, and God has not as yet resisted them. 

"'hakl'el^-^' ^ Gro "to now, ye rich men ! weep and howl for your miseries that 

1 Tim. 6.9. gi^g^u come upon you. ^ Your riches are corrupted, and 'your garments 

Matt. 6. 2o! ch. are moth-eaten : ^ your gold and silver is cankered ; and the rust of 

c\om 2 5 them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were 

d Lev. 19. 13. fire ; "ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. ^ Behold ! 

Jer.la.^s."' ''the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is 

Ecdu^s 34 21 ^^ y*-*^ kept back by fraud, crieth: and 'the cries of them which have 

22. ' reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. ^ Ye -^have 

ffoh^i^ia^^' Ji"^6d in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton ; ye have nourished 

Amos 6. 1, 4. your hcarts, as in a day of slauofhter. ** Ye "have condemned and killed 

Luke 16. 19 25. . ^ 

iTiiii. 5. 6.' * the just; and he doth not resist you. 

g ch. 2. 6. 

§ 12.— chap. v. 7-12. 

^~^~ From the consideration that the unbelieving Jews had not as yet received the punishment 

which must necessarily follow on their unparalleled crimes, the Jewish Christians, who 

are persecuted by them, are exhorted, in imitation of their blessed Master, to await 

with patience the coming of the Lord, who will execute judgment on their nation, and 

"" provide the means of their deliverance — He desires them not to groan or to pray for 

* Or, Be long pa- vengeance against their persecutors, lest they also be condemned with them, for Christ 

wit/i'lon'ir pa- has alone the power of judging, and is about to execute it on the disobedient — Further 

tieitce. ^Q encourage them in faith and patience, St. James calls upon them to take the Proph- 

"j^^'s'^H^'g sts who had spoken to their fathers, by the authority of God, for their example of suf- 

6. 3. Joel 2. 23. fering affliction, and patience. 

6 Phil! 4. 5. Heb. '' *Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coining of the Lord. 

i'pet^^^T. Behold ! the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, 
t Or, Groaji, or, and hath long patience for it, until he receive "the early and latter 
cdi'TiT rain ; ^ be ye also patient ; stablish your hearts: ''for the coming of 
d Matt. 24. 33. tho Lord drawoth nigh. 
e\iaTt 5' 19. ^ tGrudge "not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: 

Heb. ii.'357&c. behold, the Judge ''standeth before the door ! i° Take, 'my brethren, 
■^Matt. 5. To, 11. the Prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an ex- 

^'^ ^ ample of suffering affliction, and of patience. ^^ Behold ! -^we count 

\ 10. ' ' ' them happy which endure : ye have heard of ^the patience of Job, and 
A Job 42. 10, &c. ] g^gj^ ;,^j^g gi^j pj- ^j-,g Lq,.^| ^]^^^ p^l^g Lord] is very pitiful, and 

t Num. 14. 18. „ , ' L J J I 

Ts. 103. 8. 01 tender mercy. 
jma. 5, 34, 19 jjyj above all things, my brethren, ^swear not, neither by heaven, 



Sect. XV.] ST. PAUL TEACHES TWO YEARS AT ROME. 359 

neither by the earth, neither by any other oath : but let your yea be 
yea ; and your nay, nay ; lest ye fall into condemnation. 

§ 1-3. — chap. V. 13, to the end. 
Under all the circumstances of life he recommends a correspondent feehng of devotion — 
In sickness and disease to send for the elders of the Church, •who possessed the gifts 
of healing, to pray over and to anoint them with oil, as the Jewish custom was, in the 
hope that, by a sincere repentance, their sin might be pardoned, and their disorder 
miracolously removed — The prayer of faith prevailing, the Lord Jesus will raise them up 
jig-ain in health, manifesting, b}' a sudden restoration, that the sins, for which they had 
been afiiicted, -were forgiven — They are admonished to confess their faults one to 
another, that they may obtain the pardon and the prayers of those they have injured — 
The prayer of a ricrhteous man, endued with the gift of healing (probably by the elder, 
ver. 14.), moved by the Spirit of God, is of great efficacy, and availeth much with God 
for the recovery of the sicli — Further, to excite them to fervent prayer, and to increase 
their confidence and faith in the miraculous interference of God, when for his glory, 
he adduces the instance of Elijah, who was a man of the same constitution and infirm- 
ities as themselves, and equally incapable of performing a miracle ; yet when he twice 
prayed with faith and fervency, in obedience to a secret impulse, God heard his prayer, 
and in both instances remarkably answered them — The gifts of healing and of per- § 13. 

forming miracles are much to be desired : but he who reclaims a sinner from the error a Eph. 5. 19. CoL 
of his way, shall produce a more higlily acceptable work than any miraculous cure , ' '' p ,r. - 
performed on the body ; for he shall save a soul from everlasting death, and shall cover i6. 18. 
a multitude of sins, God not inflicting punishment on those who have repented of o Is. 33. 24. Matt. 

their sins, and are turned to hiai. ii~\- 

' g See jSote 30. 

^^ Is any among you afflicted ? let him pray. Is any merry ? "let d Gen. 20. n. 
him sing psalms. ^^Is any sick among you ? let him call for the elders Dm.'^il.'ig, 
of the Church ; and let them pray over him, 'anointing him with oil in i'sam!'i'2!'i8.'^' 
the name of the Lord. ^^ And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, i5>i"?M^oS- . 

1 1 T 1 1 11 • I • c 1 • ^ 1 1 • 1 • 1 2 Kinss 4. 33. & 

and the Lord snail raise him up : and if he have committed sms, they is. 15; 2u. & 20. 
shall be foi-given? him. ^^ Confess your faults one to another, and pray n. &34. i5!&' 
one for another, that ye may be healed : ''the effectual fervent prayer ]t%l1'^'^\ 
of a righteous man availeth much. ^" Elias was a man ^subject to like i^J'Jljn's^'^j. 
passions as we are, and -^he prayed ^earnestly that it might not rain ; e Acts 14. 15. 
"and it rained not on the earth bv the space of three years and six { 1,''^'°^ ^^' ^" 
months: ^^and ''he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the ^Lu'ke4. 25. 
earth brought forth her fruit. ^^^ ^'°s^ i^- ^- 

^^ Brethren, 'if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert ijiatt. is. 15. 
him : -^ let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the i Rom. 11. 14.' 

''.-'' 1 Cor. 9. 22. 

eiTor of his way^shall save a soul from death, and *shall hide a multi- 1 Tim. 4.1c. 
tudeofsins. *i PeT'4 "s ^~- 

[end of the general epistle of JAMES.] 



Section XV. — St. Paul remains at Rome for txvo Years, during tvhich sect, xv. 

time the Jews do not dare to prosecute him before the Emperor.^ V. SL. G2. 

Acts xxviii. 30, 31. J- P- 4775. 

^^ And [Paul] dv/elt two whole years in his own hired house, and — ' 

received all that came in unto him, ^^ preaching "the kingdom of God, '' see Note 31. 

and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with V. 10." " ^ 

all confidence, no man forbidding him. 



360 



THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 



[Part XV. 



PART XV. 



FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE FIFTH AND LAST JOUR- 
NEY OF ST. PAUL, TO THE COMPLETION OF THE CANON OF 
THE WHOLE SCRIPTURES. 



SECT. I. 

V.^. 62 or 3. 

J. P. 4775 or 6. 

Rome. 

§1. 

a See Note 1. 
a Num. 12. 6, 8. 

J DeuU 4. 30. 

Gal. 4. 4. Eph. 

1. 10. 
c John I. 17. & 

15. 15. ch. 2. 3. 
d Ps. 2. 8. Matt. 

21. 38. &:28. 18. 

John 3. 35. 

Rom. 8. 17. 
e John 1. 3. 

ICor. 8.6. Col. 

1. 16. 
/ Wisd. 7. 26. 

John!. 14.&14. 

9. 2 Cor. 4. 4. 
Col. 1. 15. 

b See Note 2. 
g John 1. 4. Col. 

1. 17. Rev. 4. 

11. 
h ch. 7. 27. & 9. 

12, 14, 16. 
i Ps. 110. 1. Eph. 

1. 20. ch. 8. 1.& 

10. 12. & 12.2. 
1 Pet. 3. 22. 



§ 2. 

a Eph. 1.21. 

Phil. 2. 9, 10. 
h Ps. 2. 7. Acts 

13. 33. ch. 5. 5. 
c 2 Sam. 7. 14. 

1 Chron. 22. 10. 

& 28. 6. Ps. 89. 

20, 27. 
* Or, When he 

bringeth again* 
d Rom. 8. 29. 

Col. 1. 18. Rev. 

1. 5. 
e Deut. 32. 43, 

LXX. Ps. 97. 7. 

1 Pet. 3. 23. 
^ Gr. unto, 
f Ps. 104. 4. 



Section I. — St. Paul, ivhile waiting in Italy for Timothy, lorites the 
Key to the Old Testament, the Epistle to the Hehrews,^ to prove to 
the Jews, from their oivn Scrijytiires, the Humanity, Divinity, Atone- 
ment, and Intercession of Christ, the Superiority of the Gospel to 
the Law, and the real Object and Design of the Mosaic Institutions. 

THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 

§ 1. — clmp. i. 1-3. 
The Apostle begins by asserting, that the Jewish and Christian revelations were given by 
the same God, and infers, tlierefore, that they must agree together, and explain each 
other — The superiority of the Gospel is asserted, being given by the promised Son of 
God, the appointed heir of all things — Who, being the manifested Glory, and incar- 
nated Representation of the invisible Father Almighty, and sustaining the universe by 
his power, having made an atoning sacrifice of himself for the sins of men, had re- 
turned in his human nature to that majesty with tlie Father which was essential to his 
divine nature before the world was made. 

^ God, Avho at sundry times and "in divers manners spake in time 
past unto the fathers by the Prophets, ^ hath ''in these last days ""spoken 
unto us by his Son, ''whom He hath appointed heir of all things, 'by 
whom also He made the worlds ; ^ who (-Tjeing the brightness of his 
glory, and^ the express image of his person, and ^upholding all things 
by the word of his power,) ''when he had by himself purged our sins, 
'sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. 



§ 2. — chap. i. 4, to the end. 
To prove his proposition (the preeminence of Christ above all created beings), St. Paul 
asserts the divine character of the Son of God as distinct from, and superior to, the 
nature of the angels — His name is greater than theirs by inheritance, or natural right 
(Ps. ii. 7.) — He is an object of worship to angels (Ps. xcvii. 7.), who are his spiritual 
ministers and servants (Ps. civ. 4.) — His government extends over both worlds, and 
exists for ever; and for his love of righteousness, shown by his incarnation and death, 
he is anointed in his human nature with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, above all the 
prophets, priests, and kings who had preceded him, uniting the three offices in his own 
person — Still further to prove the superiority of Christ, and to remove the error that 
angels assisted in the formation of the world, he affirms in the words of David (Ps. cii. 
25-27.), that Christ created both the heavens and earth ; that these shall be done away 
with by him, and exchanged for new heavens and a new earth, but he shall remain 
unchangeable, and essentially the same to all eternity — Christ is greater than the 
angels, for to none of them has the Father himself given the character of Son (Ps. ii. 7.) 
and universal dominion : they are ministering spirits, subjected to him, and employed 
by him for the benefit of mankind. 

'' Being made so much better than the angels, as "he hath by inher- 
itance obtained a more excellent name than they. 

^ For unto which of the angels said He, at any 'time, — 
" Thou art my Son, 
This day have I begotten thee ? " 



And "again, - 



I will be to him a Father, 
And he shall be to me a Son ? 



^ *And again, when He bringeth in ''the First-begotten into the world, 
he "^saith, " And let all the angels of God worship him ! ^ And tof the 
angels He -^saith, — 



Sect. L] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 361 

" Who maketh his angels spirits, 
And his ministers a flame of fire." 

« But unto the Son 'He saith— ^ ^'- ^- ^' "■ 

' Thy throne, O God ! is for ever and ever : 

A sceptre of trighteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. jcr. rz^tom, 

^Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity ; or, straig une^s. 

Therefore God, even thy God, Miath anointed thee ''i.z/^Vio^lt 

With the oil of gladness above thy fellovv^s." i ps. loo. 25, &c. 

j Is. 34. 4. & 51. 
10 A„J 6. Matt. 24. 35. 

-^""' 2 Pet. 3. 7, 10. 

" Thoa, 'Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth ; j. ^l'_no. i. 

And the heavens are the works of thine hands : Mark if' se' 

^' They ■'shall perish — but Thou remainest : ■ Luke2o.'42.' 

And they all shall wa.x old as doth a garment ; , s.'' 

12 And as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, ' slfT, 2%"'pt. 

And they shall be changed : ^' m^l^'m^' 

But Thou art The Same, Dan. 3. 28. &7. 

And thy years shall not fail." Mwt. is! lo'. 

Luke 1. 19. & 2. 

^^But to which of the angels 'said He at any time, " Sit on my right 7']fc'^%^~23 
hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?" ^^Are 'they not all mRom. 8. 17. 
ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be "heirs ^.WfJuTj. 
of salvation ? 

§ 3. — chap. ii. 1-5. 

In application of the preceding argument, St. Paul shows the necessity of the utmost 
attention and obedience to the Gospel of Christ — He infers from the punishments in- 
flicted on the apostate Israelites of old, the greater condemnation of the apostates from 
the Gospel, which offered greater hopes of salvation, and was first revealed by Christ 
himself, and was afterwards confirmed to mankind by the Apostles, who had received 
it from him, God bearing his own testimony to its truth by miracles, and the gifts of 
his Holy Spirit ; and this testimony is superior to that of angels : for the future world, 
which the Gospel promises, is not put in subjection to angels, but to Christ. 

1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things 
which we have heard, lest at any time we should *let them slip. ^ For o Deut. 33. 2. 

.„, lai 1 1 i/>^ 11 ■ Ps. 68. IT. Acts 

if the word spoken by angels was steadiast, and every transgression 7. 53. Gai. 3. 19. 

and disobedience received a just recompence of reward ; ^ how "shall ^sf "De,if ^^'s. 

we escape, if we neglect so great salvation ! ''which at the first began tll-h'^''^'', 
to be spoken by the Lord, and was 'confirmed unto us by them that c ch. 10. 28, 20. 

heard him; '' God •'^also bearing them witness, ^both with signs and ^1-25. 

wonders, and with divers miracles, ''and tgifts of the Holy Ghost, *ac- Mark i. 14. 'ch. 

cording to his own will. ^\^^^ ^ ^ 
^ For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection ^ the world to /Mark le. 20. 

, r 1 Acts 14. 3. & 19. 

come, whereoi we speak. n. Rom. 15. is, 

19. 1 Cor. 2. 4. 

g- Acts 2. 22, 43. 
§ 4.— chap. 11. 6-9. ,, 1 Cor. 12. 4, 7, 

The Apostle, in allusion to the objections entertained by the Jewish doctors against the ^^' _ . 
divinity of Christ, proves, in the words of divine revelation (Ps. viii. 4-6.), that it had ]Or,distrHu&ins. 

been predicted that he who was God should visit man, and be made lower than the . F'^l'i-^^ 
^ . , 7 cn. o. o. y ret. 

angels, that all tilings might be subjected to him — At present all things are not sub- 3. 13. 

jected to him, wicked men and angels being unsubdued by his power; but Jesus, in 

the form of man, has tasted death for every one, and has been crowned with glory and 

honor; which are sufficient proofs that his power will finally prevail. 

^ But one in a certain place testified, "saying, — 

" What is man, that Thou art mindful of him ? § 4. 

Or the son of man, that Thou visitest him ? ''J°}> ]■ i^. Ps. 

o 4 Sec &, 144» 

■^ Thou madest him *a little Jower than the angels ; 3! ' ' 

Thou crownedst him with glory and honor, *i^^f<J'^.'"'^' 

VOL. II. 46 EE 



§ 3. 



* Gr. run out as 
Imkinir vessels. 



362 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [Fart XV. 



M'lcJraki: [And didst set him over the works of thy hands :] 

Eph^ 1. 22. ch. 8 Thou ^hast put all things in subjection under his feet." 

For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is 



1. 13. 

c 1 Cor. 15. 25, 
d Phil. 2. 7, 8, 9, 



t Or, by.' ' ' " not put under him. But now °we see not yet all things put under 
Acts 2. 33. him. 9 But we see Jesus, ''who was made a little lower than the angels. 



/ John 3. 16. & 
12. 33. Rom. 5, 



tfor the suffering of death 'crowned with glory and honor; that he 
l%or.\f5. ^y *-^® Srace of God should taste death ^for every man. 

1 Tim. 2. 6.' 

Rev. 5. 9. ' § 5- — chap. ii. 10, to the end. 

The Apostle shows the benefits accomplished by the incarnation and death of Christ — ^It 
was the means appointed by God for the redemption of man ; that both he who sancti- 

fies, or makes atonement, and those who are sanctified, may be of one nature ; for 

which cause David (Ps. xxii. 22, 25.) has predicted he is not ashamed to call them 
brethren — By his incarnation his brethren are admitted, as Isaiah (chap. viii. 18.) has 
foretold, to a new relation to the same heavenly Father — The children whom Christ 
was to save being of a mortal nature, it became necessary that Christ, who was to die 

. for them, should be of the same nature, and, as their representative, depose the Devil, 

who had the power of bringing in sin and death on all mankind, and deliver them from 
his bondage — For he took not hold of angels to redeem them, but he saved from de- 
struction the seed of Abraham — It was expedient for Christ to be made like to his 
brethren, that he might be a faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, enfor- 
cing his laws, worship, justice, and mercy ; and, at the same time, make an atonement 
for men; delivering them from the evil and power of sin, and obtaining for them, 
through his blood, a heavenly inheritance ; and having himself endured the trials 
and sufferings of the human nature, he is more effectually able to succour those who 
are tempted, and to judge of its weaknesses and imperfections — The inference is, that 
his incarnation and death are no arguments for his inferiority to prophets or angels — 
he took upon him the nature of man, for man's redemption, without any prejudice to 
§ 5. his divinity. 

a Luke 24. 46. 10 Yqi^ "it became Him, 'for whom are all things, and by whom are 

c Ac" 3. 15. & 5. ^^^ things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make ^the Captain of 
31. ch. 12. 2. their salvation ''perfect through sufferings. ^^ For 'both He that sanc- 
"^eh.^s.^!^" ^~' tifieth and they who are sanctified ■''are all of one : for which cause 
e ch. 10. 10, 14. ^He is not ashamed to call them brethren, ^^ saying, — 

/ Acta 17. 26. 

g Matt. 28. 10. " I ''will declare thy name unto my brethren, 

Rom. a'a"' In the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto Thee." 

h Ps. 22. 22, 25. ,„ . , ; 

2 Ps. 18.2.13. 12. " And 'again, — 

" I will put my trust in Him." 
j Is. 8. 18. And -'again, — 

\7'!t%'n,\t " Behold I and the children *which God hath given me ! " 

^Rom"! 8.' "phii. ^* Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He 

2- ''■ 'also himself likewise took part of the same ; ""that through death 

"55^ Col! 2^'i5.^' He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the 

2 Tim. 1. 10. Devil ; 15 and deliver them who "through fear of death were all their 
\om'!'8.'i5*' lifetime subject to bondage. ^'^ For verily *He took not on him the 

2 Tim. 1. 7. nature of angels ; but He took on him the seed of Abraham. 
*houlfangasT 1^ Wherefore in all things it behoved Him "to be made like unto Us 

MrliZTe^''^ brethren, that He might be ''a merciful and faithful High Priest in 
things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the 
people. 1^ For 'in that He himself hath suffered being tempted, He 

1,'^. " "' "■ is able to succour them that are tempted. 

q ch. 4. 15, 10. & 

5. 2. & 7. 25. 

§ 6. — chap. 111. 1-6. 
The Apostle, after having proved the superiority of Christ to angels, now shows his su- 
periority, as the Apostle and High Priest of the New Covenant, to Moses and Aaron, the 
apostles and high priests of the Old Covenant — Moses was faithful over the house of 
God, Num. xii. 7. (the Israehtes of old), as teacher, lawgiver, and prophet; bearing 
testimony in the types and ceremonies to Jesus Christ and his Gospel, who is entitled 



taketh hold. 
Phil. 2. 7. 
p ch. 4. 15. & 5, 



Sect. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 363 

to more glory than Moses, because he was the Lord and Builder of that House, of 
which Moses was only servant — Christians are now the house and family of Christ, if 
they continue in his faith, as the obedient Jews were the disciples and house of Moses. s Q, 

^Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of "the heavenly calhng, " coT'i^'s'^'e h 
consider Hhe Apostle and High Priest of our profession, [Christ] Jesus ; 4. i. Phii. 3. 14'. 
^ who was faithful to Him that *appointed him, as also "Moses was 2 Tim. i. 9. 
faithful in all his house. ^ For This Man was counted worthy of more ^^'"" VI' ,, 

•^ *' 1 1 1 M Kora. 15.8. ch, 

slorv than Moses, inasmuch as ''he who hath builded the house hath 2. n. & 4. 14. & 
more honor than the house. ^ (For every house is builded by some s.i'.&a'.n'.s^ 
man ; but 'he that built all things is God.) ^ And •'^Moses verily was ^■'^' ^^' , 
faithful in all his house, as *^a servant, for a testimony of those things 1 s;im. 12. e. 
which were to be spoken after; ^ but Christ as 'a son over his own "^Num. 12. 7. ver. 
house : •'whose house are we, *if we hold fast the confidence and the d zech. e. 19. 
rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. ^ jfph. 2 10 & 

3. 9. 'ch!l.2. 



§ 7. — chap. iii. 7, to the end. •' ^'''^' 

The Apostle applies this argument to the Hebrews, in the words of the Holy Ghost (Ps. Num. 12. 7." 
xcv. 7-lL) addressed by David to the Jews of his time — He then exhorts them to take Deut. 3. 24. 
care that there is not in them also an evil heart of unbelief, leading them to apostatize 31. ' " ' 
from the Gospel of Christ, and to exhort each other against the deceitfulness of sin, h Deut. 18. 15, 
that they should not prefer Egypt to Canaan, the bondage of the world to the service •'*' ^^' 
of God (Num. xiv. 3, 4.) — Those only who are steadfast in the faith can be par- ' ■'• ^' 
takers of the blessings of the Gospel — The necessity of perseverance, and of immediate •'g'^ ig^'^o'c ^'^ 6^ 
attention to it, is shown from the saying of the Holy Ghost, who calls upon them now 16. Eph. 2.21, 
by the Gospel, as he did the Israelites of old (Num. xiii. 26. and xiv. 1-31.), to enter ^W^l'"k^' ^^' 
into rest — There was a remnant then, as now, who believed, to whom the promises of j. ^^^ j^ .j 
God were fulfilled — Those who were disobedient and believed not, after repeated de- 10. 22. & 24. 13. 
monstrations of God's power, were for their infidelity excluded by an oath from the g3°"Jh"g 11 &' 
promised rest of Canaan (Joshua v. 6.) and perished in the wilderness (Num. xiv. 29.) 10. 35. 

— The Apostle here implies, that the natural seed of Abraham were heirs of his cove- 

nant only through faith. 

'Wherefore as "the Holy Ghost 'saith, — 5 7. 

„,.,..„,,.. « 2Sam. 23. 2. 

" To-day, if ye will hear his voice. Acts 1. le. 

^ Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, 7^*^'' ^^' ^' ^'^ 

In the day of temptation in the wilderness ; 
^ When your fathers tempted Me, 

Proved Me, and saw my works forty years. - 

^" Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, 

They do alway err in their heart ; 

And they have not known my ways. 
^1 So I sware in my wrath, ^ „ „,, . „ 

mi « 1 11 • Gt. If they shall 

They shall not enter into my rest. ««'e'-- 

c ver. 6. 

^^ Take heed, brethren ! lest there be in any of you an evil heart of <i vev. 7. 
unbelief, in departing from the living God ; ^^but exhort one another ^^^ns read! "For 
daily, while it is called To-day, lest any of you be hardened through ^^j;° ^:^(^ll ^^^^ 
the deceitfulness of sin ; ^^ (for we are made partakers of Christ, 'if iieard did pro- 

iiiii--f ^i ic i\ voke .' Did not 

we hold the beginning 01 our confidence steadiast unto the end;) aiiwiio came out 
^^ while it is ''said, " To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your jioseJ?"— e"] 
hearts as in the provocation." ^^ For 'some, when they had heard, did ]i"'24,^36.%t'ut. 
provoke ? howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses ? ^'^ But ^- 2^' ^^^ ^^■ 
with whom was He grieved forty years ? was it not with them that ■^^"^'Jt If. 
had sinned, •''whose carcasses fell in the wilderness ? ^^ And ^to whom 1 cf/.'i™g.^^' 
sware He that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that J"<i« ^■ 
believed not? ^^ So ''v.^e see that they could not enter in because of ^Deut"i.^34,^35 ■ 
unbelief. a ch. 4. 6. 

§ 8.— chap. iv. 1-13. 
The Apostle remarks on the typical signification of the rest of Canaan — From the con- 
sideration that the Israelites lost it through unbelief and obstinacy, he exhorts the 



364 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [Part XV. 

Hebrews to fear, lest they should also fall short of tlie promise they had received — The 
same Gospel was preached to the Israelites as to them, by the types and shadows of the 
Law, and by the Prophets ; but not being heard with faith, it did not profit them — 
That there is a rest for the faithful is evident from the words of Deut. xii. 9. and is 
predicted by David — That it is not the rest of God which followed the creation is cer- 
tain, for the Sabbath rest was instituted (Gen. ii. 2. Exod. xxxi. 17.) immediately after 
the foundation of the world ; and this oath was sworn long after, when the Israelites 
were in possession of the promised land, and with it of the Sabbath rest (Exod. xvi. 
23. XX. 8.) — But they to whom this rest was first promised not having entered into it, 
because of unbelief, it was repeated again by the Holy Ghost many ages after — So, as 
Joshua had not given them the intended rest when he put them in possession of Ca- 
naan, there certainly remains to believers another rest of God, a heavenly rest, prom- 
ised to the faithful (of which Canaan was the type,) not to be enjoyed in this life, but 
to be entered upon after its works have ceased, a Sabbath rest with God — They are 
admonished to use every exertion of body and mind to enter into the rest of God, and 
not, after the example of Israel of old, to fall short of it — He describes the word of God 
now preached to them as a living and all-powerful principle, taking vengeance, and 
more cutting than any two-edged sword, penetrating into the soul and spirit, irresisti- 
bly separating the accountable spirit from the sensitive soul of man, and searching the 
most secret thoughts of the heart — The omniscience of Christ, the Judge of man, to 
§ °- whom they must give account. 

a ch. 12. 15. 1 Lj,^ ttyg therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into 

his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. ^ For unto us 
*hcarinl^'"'^''^ ^^^ the Gospel preached, as well as unto them : but *the word 
t Or, because they prcachcd did not profit them, tnot being mi.xed with faith in them that 
t^fauhtT' ^ heard it. ^For ^we which have believed do enter into rest, as He 

ich.3. 14. =said, 

c Ps. 95. 11. cb. 

3. 11. " As I have sworn in my wrath, 

If they shall enter into my rest: " 

d Gen. 2. 2. Ex. altliough the works were finished from the foundation of the world. ^ For 

^Vs w^^^*^ He spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this ''wise, "And 
X oi, the Gospel God did rcst the seventh day from all his works." ^ And in this place 

was first preach- again, " If they shall enter into my rest." ^ Seeing therefore it remain- 
/ Ps. 95. 7. ch. 3. eth that some must enter therein, 'and they to whom tit was first 
* That is preached entered not in because of unbelief, ^ again. He limiteth a 

Joshua. certain day, saying in David, " To-day, after so long a time ; (as it is 

ioT keeping' of a '^said), To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." 

Sabbath. ° 8 pgj. jf * Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have 
foi^dMedlmce spokcn of another day.'' ^ There remaineth therefore a trest to the 
A 13.49. 2. Jer. peoplc of God. ^° For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath 

4f5^^i Peri.^"' ceased from his own works, as God did from his. ^^ Let us labor there- 
.^•'- fore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall °after the same example 

j EfT- 6. 17' Rev. of tunbehef. ^^ For the word of God is ''quick, and powerful, and 

1. 16. &2. 16. ^sharper than any ^two-edged sword,"^ piercing even to the dividing 
k 1 Cor. 14. 24, asuudcr of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is 'a dis- 

^- cerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart ; ^^ neither ' is there any 

90. 8. '&. 139. ii, creature that is not manifest in his sight : but all things m-e naked 
m^ob 26 6 & 34 "^^^^ opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. 

21. Prov. 15. 11! 



§ 9. — chap. iv. 14, to the end. 

The Apostle shows the superiority of the priesthood of Christ to that of Aaron and all 

other high priests, and, in allusion perhaps to the Jews, who encouraged the Hebrew 

Christians to apostatize, because the Gospel did not enjoin propitiatory sacrifices, he 

affirms that the High Priest of Christians is the Son of God, who has passed through 

the visible heavens with the sacrifice of himself, of which the Holy of Holies was a 

type — who, having taken the human into the divine nature, must ever feel for the in- 

§ 9, firmities of men, through whom all, instead of the high priest only, may approach the 

throne of grace, and, by the intercession of Christ, obtain seasonable assistance in the 

b ch! 7. 26. & 9. ^'"^^ °^ temptation. 

/see Mark 1 1 " Seeing then that we have "a great High Priest, Hhat is passed 
dor 10,^23. into the heavens, Jesus 'the Son of God, '*let us hold fast our profes- 



Sect. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 365 

siou. ^^For "we have not a High Priest which cannot be touched with «ji=-53. 3. ch.s. 
the feehng of our infirmities ; but Avas in all points tempted like as / Luke ^. as. 
toe are, 'yet without sin. ^'° Let ''us therefore come boldly unto the ^J ^J'^^^- f^^^^ 
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in 2. 22. 1 John 3. 
time of need. /ep^. 2. is. & 

3. 12. ch. 10. 19, 

§ IQ.—chap. V. 1-10. "^^' ~' 

After having declared the benefits of the priesthood and sacrifice of the Son of God, he 

compares the priesthood of Christ with that of Aaron, sho^ving that every hiffh priest 

was taken from among his brethren (chap. ii. 17.) and was appointed to mediate be- 
tween God and man, ofiering the gifts of the people in acknowledgment of God's bounty 
and providence, and the blood of animals as an atonement for sin ; who being of the 
same nature may compassionate the erring, and who for his own infirmities must ofier ■ 
a propitiatory sacrifice both for himself and the people — He connects this account of 
the otSces of the priesthood by afiirming, that as no man in the Jewish Church could take 
upon himself the dignity of a high priest, so Christ, the High Priest of the Christian 
Church, who possessed all the other qualifications, was also appointed to his office by God 
himself, who declared him to be his Son, as was evident from their own Scriptures (Ps. 
cs. 4. ii. 7.) — The Apostle asserts, that although Christ, the High Priest of the Gospel, 
was the Son of God, he was exposed in his human nature to the greatest and most 
agonizing suiierings, by which he learnt the difficulty men find in obedience under 
affliction ; and being made perfect as man by sufierino', he became the Autlior of sal- 
vation to all who obey him in his crucified human nature, and was constituted by God 
a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. § 10. 

^ For every high priest taken from among men "is ordained for men a ch. s, 3. 
'in thino;s pertainins; to God, ^that he may offer both o'ifts and sacri- * "^'l']!', • 

C5 ^ o ' .' ^ o c ch. S. 3, 4. & 

fices for sins ; ^ who *can "^have compassion on the ignorant, and on 9. 9. & 10. 11. 
them that are out of the way, for that 'he himself also is compassed ^ q^^ '^^ reason- 
with infirmity. -^ And ^by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, My bear with. 
so also for himself, to offer for sins. ^And °no man taketh this honor 15. """ 
unto himself, but he that is called of God, as ''was Aaron. « ch. 7. a?. 

^ So 'also Christ glorified not himself to be made a High Priest ; but -^y^^ie! e' fs,^' 
He that ^ said unto him, — ip'g^ y ^''•'^- '^■ 

'•- Thou art ray Son, ^1 j'™„\f7. 

To-day have I begotten thee." ft Ex. as. i. 

•' ° Num. 16. 5, 40. 

® As He saith also in another ''place, i john'8°'54.' 

7 ^5 '^ 7 ch 1 

" Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."' 5. ' "' " 

k Ps. 110. 4- ch. 

■^ Who in the days of his fiesh, (when he had 'offered up prayers and 7. 17,21'. 
supplications, ""with strong crying and tears unto Him "that was able '.^^^l^'.^jfa^rt'ii, 
to save liim from death, and was heard ■i'in "that he feared :)" ^though 36, 39. John 17. 
''he were a Son. yet learned he ^obedience by the things which he mPs. 23. 1. 
suffered ; ^ and "being made perfect, he became the Author of eternal jjf^' li'. 34^ 37' 
salvation unto all them that obey him ; ^° called of God, a High Priest, n Matt. 26. 53. 
'^after the order of Melchisedec. 1 0" for hi^ 

pietu. 

Matt. 26. 37. 

§ 11.— chap. V. 11, to the end, and vi. 1-3. ^!ark 14. 33. 

The Apostle, in a parenthetical digression, reproves them for their slowness of apprehen- joUn 12. 27. 
sion in spiritual matters ; that, instead of beincr teachers of others, as they ought to be, e See Note 5. 
they need themselves to be again instructed in the first elements of the oracles of God, p ch. 3. 6. 
the types and figures of the Old Testament, and are become such as require to be fed 1 ^'"'- -• ^• 
with milk, and not with strong meat — Those who know^ nothing but the letter of the '^^- ^ 1"- ■^ ^^• 
ancient oracles (represented as milk, because they were the first rudiments of religion) ^ ^.^^_ g_ ^y^^ g_ 
are babes in ignorance and growth, and are nnskilfiil in the doctrines of the Gospel, 20. 
which, being concealed under the figures and prophecies of the Law, are called strong 
meat, because they belong only to spiritual adults, whose faith they strengthen, and 
who. by having their spiritual senses constantly exercised, are enabled to discern the 
deep meaning of the oracles of God, and to distinguish between truth and falsehood — 
The Apostle therefore exhorts tliem to leave the Law, or the first principles of the 
doctrines of Christ, and gradually to advance in spiritual perfection (chap. v. 14.) — He 
will not now discourse on the Christian principles as taught in the ancient oracles 
VOL. II. ES* 



366 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [Part XV 

which are the foundation of religion — Repentance from works which merit death — Faith 
in God — The doctrine of baptisms, and the laying on of hands on the sacrifice as an 
acknowledgment that the offence deserved the death inflicted, or of the resurrection of 
the dead, and of eternal judgment — But he will show them, with God's assistance, the 
§ 11. more sublime truths of the Gospel, as typified by the Law and its sacrificial system. 

Vpet" s^e^" " ^^ whom "we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, 

b Matt. 13. 15. seeing ye are Mull of hearing. ^^ For when for the time ye ought to 
c ch. 6. 1. \^Q teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be 'the first 

d 1 Cor 319-« J ~ 

3. ■ ■ ' ■ principles of the oracles of God ; and are become such as have need 
*GT.hathnoex- of ''milk, and not of strong meat. ^-^For every one that useth milk *is 
e icor. 13. 11. uuskilful in the word of righteousness : for he is 'a babe. ^* But strong 
titTpft^'s. iTfieat belongeth to them that are tof full age, even those who by reason 
2- tof use have their senses exercised ^to discern both good and evil. 

1 cora.'^e.'Eph. ^ Therefore ^leaving *the principles of the doctrine of chap. vi. 1-3. 
i'of'oft'hab'it^' Christ, let us go on unto perfection ; not laying again the 

or, perfection.' fouudatiou of rcpcntance ''from dead works, and of faith toward God, 

2.^14,15.' °'' ^ of 'the doctrine of baptisms, ^ and of laying on of hands, ''and of 

^, F^'!' ^t:' ^Ho' ^^' resurrection of the dead, 'and of eternal iudgment. ^And this will we 

14. cli.5. 12. „^. J •. ^ ^ 

* Or, the word of do, it God permit. 

the beginning of 

Christ. 

h ch. 9. 14. 

i Acts 19. 4, 5. § 12. — chap. vi. 4-12. 

j Acts 8. 14, 15, rpjjg j^postle digresses to enforce the necessity of spiritual improvement, from the consid- 
k Acts 17. 31 32. eration that if they did not advance they would be in danger of apostatizing irrecover- 
l Acts 24. 25. ably — He declares that it would be impossible for those who have been thoroughly in- 

Rom. 2. 16. structed in the Christian religion, and made partakers of all its blessings, and were eye- 

ICor. 4. 19. ' witnesses of the powerful miracles by which it was confirmed, and the miraculous 

operations of the Holy Spirit, who have apostatized from the faith of Christ, to be re- 
newed again to an availing repentance — no stronger or higher evidence could be given 
them ; and, by renouncing the divine doctrine, they crucify the Son of God again, and 
publicly dishonor him, rejecting the only sacrificial offering — The Apostle, by analogy, 
shows that those who bring forth the fruits of holiness, corresponding to the spiritual 
advantages they have received, shall be blessed of God ; but those who bring forth the 
thorns and briers of sin and unbelief are rejected of him, whose end is to be burned as 
the barren soil is burnt up by the heat of the sun — They are encouraged to a firm ad- 
herence to the Gospel, from the consideration that God will not forget, but reward ac- 
cording to his promise, their work and labor of love, in ministering to the poor Chris- 
tians, which were proofs of their faith in him — He exhorts them to the same active 
faith and love to the end of their lives, to be imitators of the believing Gentiles, who, 
through faith in Christ, and patience, are now inheriting, in the Gospel Church, the 
§ 12. promises made to Abraham and to his seed through faith. 

°32'ch' lo' 26' "* Fo^ "^t i^ impossible for those ''who were once enlightened, and 

2 Pet. 2. 20, 21. have tasted of 'the heavenly gift, and ''were made partakers of the 
Ah°'i"o.^32. ' Holy Ghost, ^and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers 
'ii'Eh^i't^' ^^ '^^^^ world to come, '^ if they shall fall away, to renew them again 
d Gal. 3. 2, 5. ch. unto repentance ; •''seeing they crucify to themselves 'the Son of God 
c^ch.'2.5. afresh, and put him to an open shame. '' For the earth which drinketh 
/ch. 10.29. in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for 
g- See Mark 1. 1. ^^^^ #]^ whom it is drcsscd, ''receiveth blessing from God : ^ but "that 
h Ps'. 65. 10. which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing ; 
i Is. 5. 6. whose end is to be burned.'^ 

fSeeNotee. 9 But, bclovcd, we are persuaded better things of you, and things 

J Prov. 14. 31. ' ' .^ iin"r<7/~"J" i 

Matt. 10. 42. & that accompany salvation, though vi^e thus speak, ^"for^ljod is not 
2o! Rom?3?4. ' uiirighteous to forget ''your work and labor of love, which ye haA'e 
A^Thels.^i.Y' showed toward his name, in that ye have 'ministered to the saints, 
I Rom. 15. 25. and do minister. ^^ And we desire that '"every one of you do show the 
t^i2.'2Tinti^' same diligence "to the full assurance of hope unto the end : ^^ that ye 
^\ o « ,, be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience 

7/1 ch. 3. 6, 14. . . ' . '-' 

n Col. 2. 2. inherit the promises. 

ch. 13. 36. 



Sect. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 367 

§ 13. — chap. vi. 13, to the end. 
From the covenant made with Abraham the Apostle shows the necessity of faith and 
patience, and that not his cliildren by descent, but by promise, are made his heirs — 
He affirms, that Abraham liad long waited in faith and patience when he obtained the 
beginning of the promise made to him (Gen. xii. 2, 3. xvii. 1-8.) in the supernatural 
birth of Isaac ; and, after his faith had been fully tried in his offering up, God confirmed 
his promise to him, and to his seed, of having their faith counted to them for righteous- 
ness, by an oath (Gen. xsii. 16, 17.) — That liis believing posterity of all nations might 
be convinced of the unchangeableness of his purpose — by two things, the promise and 
the oath of God, which like him must be infinite and of eternal obligation, affording 
strong consolation to those who have fled for refuge in the hope of eternal life, promised 
through faith in the Gospel, which hope is the soul's anchor, fixed on Jesus, who is 
within the veil, gone before them into heaven with the sacrifice of liimself, and made a 
High Priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec. 

" For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could § 13. 
swear by no greater, "He sware by himself, ^'^ saying, "Surely blessing °pf ^"a-^o ^f' ^''• 
I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee." ^^ And so, after i. Vs."' 
he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. ^^ For men verily 
swear by the greater : and 'an oath for confirmation is to them an end * Ex. 22. 11. 
of all strife. ^'^ V/ herein God, wiUing more abundantly to show unto ^^0:^.^21. 29. 
"the heirs of promise ''the immutability of his counsel, 'confirmed it by * cr. interposed 
an oath: ^^that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible oiuh! '"'"'^ 
for God to he, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for 
refuge to lay hold upon the hope 'set before us : ^^ which hope we have /Ley. le. 1.5. ch. 
as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, -^and which entereth ^- ''■ 
into that within the veil ; -° whither ^the forerunner is for us elitered, "^i.^^fe 9'. 24! 
even Jesus, ''made a High Priest for ever after the order of Melchis- ''loI'&V.^i?^^'^' 
edec. 



§ 14. — chap. vii. 1-10. 
The Apostle resumes his subject — the superiority of the priesthood of Christ to Aaron, 
and endeavours to lead them on to perfection in the deeper mysteries of the Gospel by 
drawing a parallel between Melchisedec and Christ (Gen. xiv. 18.) — He shows that 
Melchisedec was without father or mother ; his descent or pedigree not being recorded, 
nor the end or the beginning of his life or priesthood mentioned — which, therefore, like 
that of the Son of God, may be regarded as perpetual — On account of his superior dig- 
nity, Abraham, the head of the patriarchs, paid him tithes — The priests were divinely 
appointed to receive tithes of their brethren the Levites ; not because they were supe- 
rior in descent, but as a portion for their maintenance (Numb, xviii. 21-31.) — But Mel- 
chisedec, who was not of the family of Aaron, as universal priest, received tithes of 
Abraham, and, as the representative of Christ, the high priest of the human race, 
blessed him who held the promises, (prefiguring through whom they were to be accom- 
plished.) by which act he manifested his superiority both as King and Priest — Under 
the Jewish Law, tithes are paid to men who are removed by death, constantly chang- 
ing; but under the patriarchal dispensation, he received them who has an endless life 
(Ps. ex. 4.), and therefore an unchangeable priesthood — Levi, who was commanded to 
receive tithes, was tithed and blessed by Melchisedec, in the person of Abraham, he 
being yet in the loins of his-father. S 14. 

^FoR this "Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the Most High « G^n. 14. is, 
God, (who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, 
and blessed him ; ^ to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all ; 
first being by interpretation, King of Righteousness, and after that 
also, King of Salem (which is, King of Peace) ; ^ without father, 
without mother, *without descent, having neither beginning of days, *Gr^ «"*'"""?"''?'■- 
nor end of life; but made like unto 'the Son of God,) abideth i see Mark i.i. 
a priest continually. ^ Now consider how great this man Avas, "un- c Gen. u. 20. 
to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils ! 
^ And verily ''they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office \^'""- ^^■^^' 
of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people 
according to the Law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out ^ or, pedigree. 
of the loins of Abraham : ^ but he whose tdescent is not counted e Gen. 14. 19. 
from them received tithes of Abraham, 'and blessed him that had the 3.°ic.' 



368 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [Part XV. 

promises. '^ And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the 
better. ^ And here men that die receive tithes ; but there he receiveth 
fch. 5. 6. & 6. them, -^of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. ^ And as I may so say, 
Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. ^^ For he 
was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him. 



§ 15. — chap. vii. 11-17. 
The Apostle shows the inferiority of the Levitical Law and Priesthood, by the substitution 
of another different system and order of priesthood — The Levitical Priesthood not being 
able to accomplish the perfection or object for which it was ordained, the pardon of sin 
by a sufficient atonement; another Priest was promised, after the typical and original 
priesthood of Melchisedec, (400 years before the Law,) and not after the priesthood of 
Aaron, which, being changed, requires also a change of the Law on which it was 
established — For Christ, of whom these things are spoken (Psalm ex. 4.), belongs to 
the tribe of Judah, which had no right to minister at a Jewish altar — And it is yet 
further evident that both the Law and the priesthood should be changed ; for it is pre- 
dicted that another priest shall arise, after the similitude of Melchisedec, who is consti- 
' tuted not according to the Law, which is suited to the carnal nature of man, producing 

death, but according to the power of a more perfect system, which promises an endless 
§ 15. priesthood and life, as God himself has testified. 

'^.9'^h'^-fK^"- " If "therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood (for 

18, 19. ch. 8. 7. 1 • 1 , • 1 I T N 7 /■ 1 1 t" 

under it the people received the Law), what further need was there 

that another Priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and 

not be called after the order of Aaron ? ^~For the priesthood being 

changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the Law. ^^ For 

He of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of 

which no man gave attendance at the altar ; ^* for it is evident that 

t Is. 11. 1. 'our Lord sprang out of Juda, of which tribe Moses spake nothing 

3.33.'Rom. 1.3. couceming priesthood. ^^ And it is yet far more evident : for that after 

Eev. 5. 5. ^j^g similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another Priest, ^^ who is 

made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power 

c Ps. 110.4. ch. of an endless hfe. ^'^ For He "testifieth, "Thou art a Priest for ever 

' ' ' ' ■ after the order of Melchisedec." 



§ 16.— chap. vii. 18-24. 

The Apostle declares the abrogation of the former law relative to the priesthood, on 
account of its weakness and unprofitableness for the purposes of man's redemption — 
The Law of Moses made no man perfect ; but the introduction of a better hope, and a 
better priesthood, perfected and completed the Law, and enables all, (and not the high 
priest only,) by the sacrifice of Christ, to approach before the altar of God — The priest- 
hood of Christ was consecrated by an oath, to show its immutability, and its superiority 
to that priesthood which was established without an oath for a time only, to be changed 
at God's pleasure; by which solemn oath, Jesus was made surety, or sponsor, of a 
better testament than that of Moses, in which there were many priests by reason of 
§ 16. death — But the priesthood of Christ, confirmed by an oath, cannot pass on to any suc- 

a Rom. 8. 3. Gal. cesser, because he lives for ever. 

i Acts 13. 39. ^^ For there is verily a disannuUing of the commandment going 

f8°'& 1' s^'cai' before for "the weakness and unprofitableness thereof, ^'■' (for 'the Law 
2. 16. ch. 9. 9. made nothing perfect,) *but the bringing in of "^a better hope did, by 

*tueCinJingtn, thc which ''wo draw nigh unto God. ^"And inasmuch as not without 
*cb e'^&s ^" °^^^ ^*^ '^'^^ made Priest : ^^ (for those priests were made t without 
6. " ' ' "an oath ; but This with an oath by Him that said unto 'him, — 

d Rom. 5. 2. Eph. 

cii^tteVib "The Lord sware and will not repent, 

19- • Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec :") 

f Or, withmd 

gearing of an 22 j^y gQ ffjuch ■''was Jcsus madc a surcty of a better testament, 
e Ps. 110. 4. ^-^ And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered 

■^iti'il'.ti^.' to continue by reason of death ; ^^but This Man, because he continueth 
J Or, w/i/c/i pass- evcr, hath tan unchangeable priesthood. 

etk not from ond 
to anotitgr. 



Sect. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 369 

§ 17. — chap. vii. 25, to the end. 
The Apostle applies the argument, by asserting that as the priesthood of Christ is un- 
changeable, as Christ ever lives in the body, he is able to save to the uttermost those 
who approach to God tlu-ough his mediation and intercession — Such a High Priest vs^as 
suitable to man, who was holy and merciful, undefiled by any sinful infirmity , separated 
from sinners and worldly occupations, and more exalted than all the angels of God, 
■who required not, as the Jewish priests, to offer a daily sacrifice for his own sins, and 
then for the sins of the people — He offered no sacrifice for himself, but for the people, 
once, on the cross — For the Law, which is imperfect, makes men high priests who are 
imperfect, and therefore need repeated sacrifices, but the word of the oath (Psalm ex.) 
which was five hundred years from the giving of the Lavr, constituted the Son a High 
Priest for ever, by which the priesthood of the Law was disannulled — The Apostle, 
throuo-hout, infers, that those who apostatized from Christianity to Judaism left the" 
perfect for the imperfect, and that which remained for ever for that which was now 
abrogated. § 17. 

^^ Wherefore He is able also to save them *to the uttermost that *0r, CTwmore. 
come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth "to make intercession "i Tim. 2. s.'ch. 
for them. ^^ For such a High Priest became us, ''who is holy, harmless, \\ 24- 1 John 2. 
undefiled, separate from sinners, "and made higher than the heavens ; » ch. 4. 15. 
^''' who need eth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, ^Kl^s.^i.'^"'' 
''first for his own sins, "and then for the people's: for -^this He did rfLev. 9. 7. & 
once, when he offered up himself. ^*^ For the Law maketh ^men high 3.'&9. 7. 
priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was l};^"-^^-}^- , 

• IT V 7 I [^ ) 1 • , 1 r /Kom. 6. 10. ch. 

smce the Law, maketh the oon, who is tconsecrated lor evermore. 9. i2,28.&io. 



12. 

g ch. 5. 1, 2. 



§ 18. — chap. Via.. 1-5. h ch. 2. 10. & 5. 

The Apostle asserts that of all the things he had discoursed on, the chief or principal was, , ' . , 

that Christians have a great High Priest, who is exalted to the throne of God, a minis- 
ter of the real Holy Places of the true Tabernacle, the Heavens ; which were erected 
by God, and not, as the Jewish tabernacle, by man — and as every high priest daily 
offers gifts and sacrifices on earth, it is essential that Christ, as a High Priest, should 
have some sacrifice also to offer in Heaven — On earth he could not have officiated as 
priest, as the family of Aaron were appointed to offer, in the Jewish temple, gifts ac- 
cording to the Law, w^hose ministrations are a shadow or copy of the ministrations of 
Christ in Heaven, as the tabernacle itself was a pattern of things in the heavens (Heb. 
ix. 23.) shown to Moses in the Mount. § 18. 

1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We "3^1 ""^iJ" i^'s^fc ' 
have such a High Priest, "who is set on the right hand of the throne 10. 12. &i2.'2. 
of the Majesty in the heavens; ^a minister *of Hhe sanctuary, and *(2>,vf'"''^ 
of "the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. ^ For » ch.°9. 8, 12, 24. 
■'every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices : wherefore " '=''•^•"• 
"it is of necessity that This Man have somewhat also to offer. "* For if j Eph.5.2. ch. 
He were on earth, he should not be a Priest, seeing that tthere are ^- "■ 
priests that offer gifts according to the Law : ^ (who serve unto the ex- frlLu"'' °" 
ample and ■''shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of -^9*^^' &Yo "i"' 
God when he was about to make the tabernacle : ^for, " See," saith He, g Ex. 2.5. 40. & 
" that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in Num.'s. 4. Acts 
the Mount.") 



7.44. 



§ 19. — chap. viii. 6, to the end 
The Apostle affirms that the Christian Priesthood is more excellent than the Levitical 
Priesthood, because it is established on better promises — the old covenant shadowing 
out, by temporal and secular blessings, the eternal and spiritual blessings of the new — 
Had it not been temporary and imperfect, there would have remained no occasion for 
another— The inefficiency of the Old Covenant, and the superior nature of the New, 
shown by God himself, when he reproved the Jews by his prophet Jeremiah (xxxi. 
31-34.) — The New Covenant was to be written on the hearts of men, influencing their 
actions, and not, like the Old, on stone — Instead of one family being set apart to teach 
their brethren (Deut. x. 8.), all shall be eligible to the office of instructor, to teach the 
forgiveness of sins and iniquities, through faith in the blood and sacrifice of Christ — 
God, having promised a New Covenant, hath made the former covenant old — Now 
that which has become useless, and has fallen into old age, is ready to disappear, or to 
cease to exist. 

VOL. II. 47 



370 



THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 



[Part XV. 



§ 19. 

a 9 Gov. 3. 6, 8, 

9. ch. 7. 23. 

* Or, testament. 

b ch. 7. 11, 18. 



c Jer. 31.31, 32, 
33, 34. 



d ch. 10. 16. 



t Gr. give. 
J Or, upon. 
e Zech. 8. 8. 



/ Is. 54. 13. 
John 6. 45. 
1 Jolin 2. 27. 



g Rom. 11. 27. 

ch. 10. 17. 
A 2 Cor. 5. 17. 

g See Note 7. 



§ 20. 
* Or, ceremonies. 
a Ex. 25. 8. 
b Ex. 26. 1. 
c Ex. 26. 35. & 

40. 4. 

d Ex. 25. 31. 
e Ex. 25. 23, 30. 

Lev. 24. 5, 6. 
■f Or, holy. 
f Ex. 26. 31, 33. 

& 40. 3,21. ch. 

6. 19. 
e Ex. 25. 10. & 

26. 33. & 40. 3, 

21. 

h Ex. 16. 33, 34. 
i Num. 17. 10. 
j Ex. 25. 16, 21. 

& 34. 29. & 40. 

20. Deut. 10. 2, 
5. 1 Kings 8. 9, 

21. 2 Chr. 5. 10, 
k Ex. 25. 18, 22. 

Lev. 16. 2. 

1 Kings 8. 6, 7. 
h See Note 8. 
I Num. 28. 3. 

Dan. 8. 11. 
m Ex. 30. 10. 

Lev. 16. 2, 11, 

12, 15, 34. ver. 

25. 



^ But now "hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how 
much also He is the Mediator of a better *covenant, which was estab- 
lished upon better promises. 

"^ For 'if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place 
have been sought for the second. ^ For, finding fault with them, He 
"saith, — 

" Behold ! the days come, saith the Lord, 

When I will make a new covenant 

With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah : 
^ Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers 

In the day when I took them by the hand 

To lead them out of the land of Egypt ; 

Because they continued not in my covenant, 

And I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 
10 Pqj. rfj]-j;g jg ij^g covenant 

That I will make with the house of Israel 

After those days, saith the Lord ; 

I will tput my laws into their mind, 

And write them tin their hearts : 

And 'I will be to them a God, 

And they shall be to Me a people : 
^^ And ^they shall not teach every man his neighbour, 

And every man his brother, 

Saying, Know the Lord : 

For all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest. 
^^ For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. 

And ^their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." 

1^ In ''that He saith, " A new covenant/' He hath made the first old. 
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.s 



§ 20.— chap. ix. 1-10. 
The Apostle shows, from the nature of the tabernacle, and the services performed therein, 
that they were typical of something better to be hereafter — With this view he reminds 
them of the furniture in that part of the tabernacle which represented the visible world, 
called holy (Exod. xxv. 26-40.), and that also which was placed in that part of the 
tabernacle separated by the second veil, called the Holy of Holies — The tabernacle 
being thus arranged by divine direction, the priests always performed the service of 
God in the first part of it, which figured the worship men offer on earth to the invisible 
Deity — In the second part the high priest entered only one day in a year, and there 
offered up the blood of a sacrificed beast for the sins of himself and the people (Levit. 
xvi. 14, 15.)— The Holy Ghost, by whom all this was appointed, thereby signifying that 
the way into God's immediate presence was not made manifest to men by the worship 
of the first tabernacle ; which figure or shadow of future things remained in the 
Apostle's time (in the temple service) — when gifts and sacrifices are offered which 
could not take away the guilt of sin from the mind — as they were the types only of the 
spiritual purity required when the worship of God should be reformed by the Gospel 
dispensation. 

^ Then verily the first covenant had also *ordinances of divine ser- 
vice, and a "worldly sanctuary. 2 For 'there was a tabernacle made; 
the first, therein was ''the candlestick, and 'the table, and the show- 
bread ; which is called the tsanctuary. ^ And •'^after the second veil, 
the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all ; ^ which had the golden 
censer, and ^the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, 
wherein was ''the golden pot that had manna, and "Aaron's rod that 
budded, and ^ the tables of the covenant ; ^ and ""over it the cherubim 
of glory shadowing the mercy-seat ; of which we cannot now speak 
particularly.'' ^ Now when these things were thus ordained, 'the priests 
went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of 
God ; '' but into the second went the high priest alone '"once every 



Sect. I.] THE EPISTLE TO TPIE HEBREWS. 3T1 

year, not without blood, "which he offered for himself, and for the \f^- ^- ^- ^ '^• 
errors of the people : ® the "Holy Ghost this signifying, that ^the way » ch. lo. 19, 20. 
into the Holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the First ^ ^t'l^'s^sh'ch. 
Tabernacle was yet standing : ^ which was a figure for the time then 7. is, 19. & 10. 
present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, 'that could not ^ Lev.11.2. coi. 
make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience ; ^■^'^- ^^ ^ ^^ 
^"ivhich stood only in ''meats and drinks, and 'divers washings, 'and ^ Ep"'o. 15. 'coi. 
carnal tordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation, -2°- "^^ ''• ^^■ 



§ 21. — chap. ix. 11-15. 
Havino- described the ineffectual ministrations of tlie Levitical priesthood in the earthly 
tabernacle, the Apostle shows tliat Christ was the High Priest of those good things or 
services which were thus prefigured ; having entered as High Priest with the sacrifice 
of his own blood, into the real holy places in heaven, and obtained for man everlasting 
remission of sin — If the ministrations of the Law, by divine appointment, served to 
cleanse the body for the tabernacle worship, and to redeem it from legal punishments, 
how much more will the blood of Christ, who being raised from the dead by the Spirit, 
and having offered his sacrificed body without blemish to God, possess power to purify 
the spirits of men (adumbrated by the cleansing of the body by the Law) from the 
pollution of sinful works, which merit death, and fit them for worshipping God in 
heaven; and on account of the efficacy of liis blood, Christ is the Mediator of the new 
covenant or contract between God and man ; making a real atonement for transoressions 



J Or, rites, or, 
ceremonies. 



§ 21. 

under the law of conscience and the Law of Moses, which the legal sacrifices could not "' '^''" ^' ^' 
accomplish, that the Gentiles, as well as tlie Jews, might receive the promised in- 
heritance. 



i ch. 10. 1. 
c ch. 8. 2. 
d ch. 10. 4. 

^^BuT Christ being come, "a. High Priest ''of good things to come, ^^^^ctsao. ^. 

'-' ^ ~ 3) ' Eph. 1. 7. Col. 

"by a greater and more perfect Tabernacle, not made with hands, that i- h. 1 Pet. 1. 
is to say, not of this building; ^"^ neither ''by the blood of goats and 5.9.'''^' 
calves, but 'by his own blood ; He entered in -^once into the holy •''J^gs' cii^io?'' 
place, 'having obtained eternal redemption for us. ^^ For if ''the blood ^o- 
of bulls and of goats, and 'the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, fLe".' ^6.^14 le 
sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: i"* how much more^shall the ; Num. 19. 2, n, 
blood of Christ, Svho through the Eternal Spirit 'offered himself with- j I'^pet. 1. 19. 
out *spot to God, "purge your conscience from "dead works °to serve Re°''5 V' 
the living God ! ^^ And ''for this cause 'He is the Mediator of the New k Rom. 1. 4. 
Testament, ""that by means of death, for the redemption of the trans- ^ifh's^s^it 
gi-essions that were under the First Testament, "they which are called ^- "• <='^- ''• ^'^■ 
might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. li'^chft^t. &\o. 



22. 



§ 22.— chap. ix. 16-22. " <=•'• ^- ^■ 

, , . , Luke 1. 74. 

The Apostle proceeds, by provmg that remission of sins could be obtained only by the Eom. 6. 13, 22. 

death of Christ — God, whenever he entered into covenant with man, having made the ^ ^''[' ■*" ^" 

death of an appointed sacrifice necessary to its ratification, thereby intimating that his ^ j^ ■Tsa&'s 

intercourse with man was founded on the sacrifice of his Son — He shows, from the prac- 6. &. 12. 24. 

tice both of God and man, that the death of Christ was necessary to the establishment of ^ I'o™- 3. 25. & 

the New Covenant, as no covenant was of force while the appointed sacrifice lived — ig. ' **'' " 

For which reason the covenant at Sinai, which was a renewal of that under which s ch. 3. 1. 

Adam was placed in Paradise, was not made without blood (Exod. xxiv. -5-9.) — The 

tabernacle also, and the vessels of the ministry, were consecrated to the service of God 

by the sprinkling of blood (Exod. xxix. 12.) — And the Law with this view appointed § 22. 

almost all things to be cleansed with blood (Lev. xvii. 11. Numb. xix. 2-10.), and with- * Or, ie brought 

oat the shedding of blood it allowed no remission of sin. "'■ 

, . aGal. 3. 15. 

'■^ t OR where a testament is, there must also of necessity *be the b ex. 24. e, &c. 
death of the testator; " for "a testament is of force after men are tor,p«nM. 
dead; otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth : 'jl^v. it. nf if,' 
18 whereupon 'neither the First Testament was tdedicated without ^^t' ,. . r , 
blood. " -bor when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people 49,51,52. 
according to the Law, 'he took the blood of calves and of goats, "with e S aiTiviatt 
water, and tscarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and ^e. k.' ' 
all the people, 20 saying, " This Is the blood of the Testament Avhich ^S'v.fifif 
God hath enjoined unto you." "^^ Moreover ^ he sprinkled lil<;ewise with fs.^ig."' ^■^' ^^ 



372 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [Part XV. 

blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 ^nd 
g Lev. 17. 11. almost all things are by the Law purged with blood ; and ^without 
shedding of blood is no remission. 



a ch. 8. 5. 
i ch. 6. 20. 



§ 2.3. — chap. ix. 23, to the end. 
The Apostle having demonstrated that there could be neither pardon of sin, nor admission 
into heaven, without the sacrifice of the death of Christ, it was necessary that the Tab- 
ernacle and its utensils, which were the earthly representations of celestial things, 
should be opened to man, and cleansed from defilement by the sacrifices of bulls and 
goats, whose substituted life typified the vicarious sacrifice of Christ, but the real 
heavenly places themselves could be opened only to man by the actual offering of the 
heavenly victim — Christ not being an earthly High Priest (viii. 4.) entered into heaven 
itself, presenting his crucified body there as the High Priest and Mediator between God 
and man, in the manifestation of the divine presence forever — His sacrifice, being more 
excellent than those of the Levitical priesthood (which were continued emblems of the 
same), required no annual repetition, or he must have suffered yearly since the world 
was formed — He offered himself once for all, in the last of the dispensations of God, 
and by his one sacrifice he fulfilled and put an end to the tj'pical sin offerings of the 
Mosaic Law (Dan. ix. 24.), subduing sin, and obtaining in the human nature pardon 
for all, by the sacrifice of his flesh — And as all men, on account of Adam's transgres- 
sion, are appointed by God once to die, and after that the judgment ; so Christ, as the 
second Adam, suffered death (v. 8, 9.), and made an atonement for the sins of the first, 
and through him of all mankind, that he might appear again as the High Priest of the 
human race, in the glory of the Shechinah (in allusion to the Jewish high priest on 
the day of purification, Numb. vi. 23-26. Luke i. 19-23.), to bless his people with eternal 
23. salvation. 

^^ It was therefore necessary that ''the patterns of things in the 

ch.8.2."' heavens should be purified with these ; but the heavenly things them- 

'^T^aT'/i h*' 2*'' ^^1^^^ ^i^h better sacrifices than these. ^* For ''Christ is not entered 

1^ ' ' into the holy places made with hands (which are the figures of ^the 

f ^"^2 h true) ; but into heaven itself, now ''to appear in the presence of God 

27. k lb. 10. ' for us. ^^ Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as "^the high priest 

1 pAf "^IS , ^ CD 1 

1 Cor ]o 11 entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others ; ^^ (for 
Gai.4.'4. Eph'. thcu must hc oftcn have suffered since the foundation of the world:) 

1 10 

ft Gen. 3. 19. ^^^ -^uow ^oucc in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away 

Eccies. 3. 20. sin by the sacrificc of himself. ^"^ And ''as it is appointed unto men 

*Eev?2o.'i2,i3. oucc to die, 'but after this the judgment : ^^so ■'Christ was once *of- 

■'/p'^'l'is' fered to bear the sins 'of many; and unto them that '"look for Him 

k 1 Pet. 2. 24. shall hc appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 

1 John 3. 5. 

I Matt. 26. 28. 

Rom. 5. 15. § 2i.— chap. X. 1-4. 

"2 Pet'. 5'. 12. The Apostle, having fully asserted the inefficacy of the typical representations and cere- 
monies of the Law, declares that as a shadow or faint adumbration of the spiritual and 

eternal blessings, which were to come by the Gospel, it can never by its emblematical 

sacrifices confer the real pardon of sin, which is fui'ther demonstrated from the annual 
repetition of the legal sacrifices, when the people's former sins were still remembered, and 
confessed as unpardoned, and unexpiated ; and the impossibility that the blood of ani- 
§ 24. mals could take away the sins of accountable moral agents. 

a coi.^.^n^ch. 1 For the Law having "a shadow ''of good things to come, and not 

jch.9. 11. the very image of the things, ""can never with those sacrifices which 

c ch. 9. 9. they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto ''per- 

fr'''J^" ,.7 feet. -For then *would they not have ceased to be offered, because 

* Or, they would •' 1 1 1 i 1 1 i • 

have ceased to he that the worshippcrs once purged should have had no more conscience 
o^cre , ecause, ^^ ^.^^ ^ 3 -g^^ ,.^^ thosc sacHfces there is a remembrance again made 

%^r' ^^'^^' ''^' of sins every year. ^ For ^it is not possible that the blood of bulls and 
/ Mic. 6. 6, 7. of goats should take away sins. 

ch. 9. 13. ver. ' 

11. 

§ 25. — chap. X. 5-10. 
The Apostle, in the words of David (Ps. xl. 6-8. Septuaglnt), points out the design of 
the legal sacrifices, and the manner in which Christ fulfilled them — it being impossible 
that sin could be removed, or the Divine Justice satisfied, by all the typical and atoning 



Sect. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 373 

offerings and sacrifices of the Law — A body was prepared for Christ, that he might do 
tlie will of God, to suffer and die for men, as was predicted in the volume of the Mosaic 
Law and Propliecies — Tlie Apostle argues from this prophetic Psalm, that as God has 
declared he willed no lonffer the sacrifices prescribed by the Law, and as Christ has 
fxilfilled them all by accomplishing man's redemption according to the appointed will 
of God, it is evident the first and typical sacrifices are abolished, that the only real and 
permanent sin offering of the Gospel may be established — the sacrifice of flesh in the 
body of Christ, which is the appointed will of God for the sanctification of men. 2 '^• 

^ Wherefore Avhen He cometh into the world, He "saith, — '^Iso^l', L^is. 

1. 11. Jer. 6. 20. 

" Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, - Amos 5. 21, s. 

But a body *hast thou prepared me : "fittlfme.'"^^ 

^ In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast had no pleasure. 
" Then said I, Lo, I come 

(In the volume of the book it is written of me) 

To do thy will, O God ! 

^ Above when he said, " Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and 
offering for sin Thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein ;" 
(which are offered by the Law ;) ^ then said he, " Lo, I come to do thy 
will, [O God !]" He taketh away the first, that he may establish the 
second. 1° By 'the which will we are sanctified 'through the offering '' ch^'isHi]^' 
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. c ch. 9. 12. 



§ 26.— chap. X. 11-18. 

The Apostle points out the difference between the efficacy of the legal sacrifices and the 

sacrifice of Clirist, and the difference between the Levitical Priesthood and the Priest- 
hood of Christ — The former were many, and made daily offerings, without being able 
to take away the smallest sin — But Christ, once for all, by his one offerinn-, which is 
for ever efficacious in the presence of God, has put away all sin, and has obtained 
eternal pardon and life for those who are sanctified by faith in this atonement, as is 
testified by the Holy Ghost (Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. and viii. 10-12.), and where a perfect 
pardon is obtained, whereby God is reconciled to man, there can be no need of any 
further sin offering ; consequently the Jewish ritual must be abolished. § 26. 

^^ And every priest standeth "daily ministering and offering often- "^jy"."'^?^- ^^ 
times the same sacrifices, 'which can never take away sins: ^'-but j ver.4. 
^This Man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat "= '^''- ^- ^- coi. 3. 
down on the right hand of God; ^■^from henceforth expecting ''till his dTs. 110.1. 
enemies be made his footstool. ^^ For by one offering 'he hath per- tcli^/^.'^o. 
fected for ever them that are sanctified. ^^ M^iereof the Holy Ghost '=''• ^- ^^^ 
also is a witness to us : for after that He had said before, — 

. IS " This ^is the covenant that I will make with them ^ch.'s^ih^h^'^' 

After those days, saith the Lord, 
I will put my laws into their hearts. 
And in their minds will I write them ; 
^" *And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." » some copies 

^ have, TJien he 

^^ Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. " ' ' 



§ 27. — chap. X. 19-25. 

The Apostle, having ended his doctrinal arguments, exhorts the Hebrews, as they have 
now full access to heaven itself, through the blood of Clirist, a great High Priest offering 
up his own sacrifice in heaven, the true house of God, to approach the throne of God 
with a sincere heart, and faith in the blood of Christ, spiritually cleansed (Num. six. 
2-10. Lev. xvi. 4. Num. viii. 7.), to be steadfast in the confession of their hope of eternal 
life, for God is faithful, who has promised it through Clirist ; assisting each other 
under trials, and exciting to love and good works : not absenting themselves from the 
worship of God, as some of the Christian Jews did, on account of persecution, or S ^'■ 

prejudice against the Gentile converts ; but exhorting and comforting one another the <J Eoj°. 5. 3. Eph 
more, as they see the judgments of God approach on the Jewish nation. * n 77, 

^^ Having therefore, "brethren, *boldness to enter 'into The Holiest J ch. 9. 8, 12. 
by the blood of Jesus, ^° by- "a new and living way, which he hath "14? e? ch! 9! s! 

vol. n. FF 



374 



THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 



[Part XV. 



I Or, new made. 
d ch. 9. 3. 
e ch. 4. 14. 
/ 1 Tim. 3. 15. 
g ch. 4. 16. 
h Eph. 3. 12. 
Jam. 1. 6. 

1 John 3. 21. 
i ch. 9. 14. 

j Ezek. .36. 25. 

2 Cor. 7. 1. 
k ch. 4. 14. 

I ] Cor. 1.9. & 

10. 13. 1 Thes3. 

5. 24. 2 Thess. 

3. 3. ch. 11. 11. 
m Acts 2. 42. 

Jude 19. 
n Rom. 13.11. 
Phil. 4. 5. 

2 Pet. 3. 9, 11, 

14. 



§ 28. 



a Num. 15. 30. 
ch. 6. 4. 
b 2Pet. 2.20, 21. 

c Ezek. 36. 5. 

Zcph. 1. 18. & 

3. 8. 2 Thess. 1. 

8. ch. 12. 29. 
d ch.2. 2. 
e Deut. 17. 2, 6. 

& 19. 15. Matt. 

18. 16. John 8. 

17. 2 Cor. 13. 1. 
/ ch. 2. 3. & 12. 

25. 
g See Mark 1. 1. 
h 1 Cor. 11. 29. 

ch. 13. 20. 
i Matt. 12. 31, 

32. Epli. 4. 30. 
j Deut. 32. 35. 

Rom. 12. 19. 
k Deut. 33. 36. 

Ps. 50. 4. & 135. 

14. 
I Luke 12. 5. 



§ 29. 



a Gal. 3. 4. 
2 John 8. 
b ch. 6. 4. 

c Phil. 1. 29, 30. 

Col. 2. 1. 
d 1 Cor. 4. 9. 
e Phil. 1. 7. & 4. 

14. 1 Thess. 2. 

14. 
/Phil. 1.7. 

2 Tim. 1. 16. 
g Matt. 5. 12. 

Acts 5. 41. Jam. 

1.2. 
* Or, that ye have 

in yourselves, or, 

for yourselves, 
h Matt. 6. 20. & 

19. 21. Luke 12. 

33. ITim. 6. 19. 
i Matt. 5. 12. Sc. 

10. 32. 
j Luke 91. 19. 

Gal. 6. 9. ch. 12. 

1. 
k Col. 3. 94. ch. 

9. 15. 1 Pet. 1. 

9. 
I Luke 18. 8. 

2 Pet. 3. 9. 
m Hab. 2. 3, 4. 
n Rom. 1. 17. 

Gal, 3. 11. 



tconsecrated for us, ''through the veil (that is to say, his flesh), ^^ and 
having "a High Priest over ■''the House of God ; ^^ let 'us draw near 
vi^ith a true heart ''in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled 
'from an evil conscience. And •'our bodies washed with pure water, 
^^ let *us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering ; (for 
'He is faithful that promised :) ^"^ and let us consider one another to 
provoke unto love and to good works, ^^ not "'forsaking the assem- 
bling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is ; but exhorting 
one another : and "so much the more, as ye see "the day approaching. 



§ 28.— chap. X. 26-31. 
The Apostle, from the fear that neglect of Christian communion should lead to apostacy, 
declares that for those who renounce Cliristianity, after having been convinced of the 
truth, there remains no other atonement for sin, but a dreadful expectation of judgment, 
which will destroy the Jewish nation, as the opposers of God (Num. xvi. 35. and 
2 Thess. i. 7, 8. which was fulfilled in the destruction of their temple and city by fire) — 
For if those who denied the divine authority of Moses' Law, who was only a servant, died 
without mercy (Num. xv. 30. Deut. xvii. 6.), how much more severely will they be 
punished who have rejected and treated with contempt the Son of God, and have 
counted his sacrificial blood, that ratified the new covenant of their redemption, as that 
of a common or unholy person, and who have insulted the Holy Spirit, by whose gifts 
the truths of the Gospel were confirmed ! — That the punishment of apostates is certain, 
is evident from the word of God himself, who has declared he will judge the ene- 
mies of his people (Deut. xxxii. 35, 36.) — And God, who lives for ever, can punish for 
ever. 

^^ For "if we sin wilfully ''after that we have received the knowledge 
of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, "^'^ but a certain 
fearful looking for of judgment and 'fiery indignation, which shall de- 
vour the adversaries. ^^ He ''that despised Moses' Law died without 
mercy "under two or three witnesses : ~^ of -'^how much sorer punish- 
ment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under 
foot ^the Son of God, and ''hath counted the blood of the covenant, 
wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, 'and hath done despite 
unto the Spirit of grace ! ^° For we know Him that hath^said, " Ven- 
geance helongeth unto me, I will recompense, [saith the Lord]." And 
*again, " The Lord shall judge his people." ^^ It 'is a fearful thing to 
fall into the hands of the living God ! 



§ 29. — chap. X. 32, to the end. 
As a further inducement to them to continue in the faith, he reminds them of the suffer- 
ings and persecutions they had overcome, when they were first enlightened by the 
Gospel — From the remembrance of which the Apostle admonishes them not to re- 
nounce their faith in Christ, but to have continued patience, that they may patiently 
suffer for the faith here, that they may receive the promise of eternal life hereafter — 
Further, to encourage them to perseverance, the Apostle reminds them, in the words 
of Habakkuli (chap ii. 3.), of the faithfulness of God in performing his promises of de- 
liverance, and that the just shall be preserved by his faith (fulfilled in the escape of the 
Christians from Jerusalem) — But those who through fear draw back from their faith in 
God, expose themselves to eternal perdition. 

^^ But "call to remembrance the former days, in which, ''after ye 
were illuminated, ye endured 'a great fight of afflictions ; ^^ partly, 
whilst ye were made ''a gazing-stock both by reproaches and afflic- 
tions ; and partly, whflst 'ye became companions of them that were so 
used. ^* For ye had compassion of me •'^in my bonds, and ^took joy- 
fully the spoiling of your goods, knowing *in yourselves that ''ye have 
in heaven a better and an enduring substance. "' Cast not away there- 
fore your confidence, *which hath great recompence of reward. ^^ For 
^ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, '^ye 
might receive the promise. ^"^ For 'yet a little whUe, and "He that shall 
come will come, and will not tarry. ^^ Now "the just shall live by faith : 
but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 



Sect. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 375 

2^ But we are not of them "who draw back unto perdition: but of 2 Pet. 2. 20,21. 
them that -"beUeve to the saving of the soul. ^1 Thess.s. 9. 

. 2 Thess. 2. 14. 



§ 30. — chap. xi. 1-7. 
As a fiirther inducement to the Hebrews to persevere in the faith and patience of the 
Gospel, the Apostle reminds them of the wonderful effects of justifying faith, exem- 
plified in the lives of their ancestors — He describes faith as " giving present subsistence 
to future thino^ hoped for," on the promises of God; and a clear demonstration to the 
mind of the reaUty of those revealed truths which have been, and which are to come — 
By this spiritual faculty their ancestors obtained from God an honorable testimony — At 
the beginning, the formation of the material universe, from no preexistent matter, was 
the subject of faith (Gen. i. 1.) — In every dispensation of God there has been but 
one appointed means of salvation — This is instanced in the Adamic covenant in the 
faith of Abel, who, by his accepted sacrifice, declares to this day the necessity of an 
atonement for reconciliation with God — In the translation of Enoch, which teaches 
that without a faith in the invisible God, and a correspondent life, it is not possible to 
please him — Noah, having faith in the revelation imparted to him by God, when there 
were no signs of the flood, prepared the ark, and, as the second common progenitor of 
man, became heir to tliis justification by faith, and his temporal deliverance typified the 
eternal redemption of all his spiritual children. 5 30. 

^Now faith is the ^substance of things hoped for, the evidence "of * o-r, ^mnd, or, 
things not seen. ^For 'by it the elders obtained a good report. '^nfi^t'explci^- 

^ Through faith we understand that ^the worlds were framed by the /roi7^°24 25 
Word of God. so that things which are seen were not made of things 2Cor. 4.'i8.'& " 

^ o ® 5 7 

which do appear. j ^er. 39. 

* By faith ''Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than '=^<=°- 1- J- p^- 
Cain, by which he obtained ^^dtness that he was righteous, God testi- ch'^i. 2. 2Pet. ' 
fying of his gifts : and by it he being dead ^yet tspeaketh. ^ 0^0.4.4. 

° By faith •'Enoch was translated that he should not see death ; and ^ •^°''° ^- ^^■ 
was not found, because God had translated him : for before his trans- Matt.' 23. 35. ch. 
lation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ^ But without faith j^or^tyetsvokm 
it is impossible to please Him : for he that cometh to God must be- "•/"• 
lieve that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently wL"d.'4.io. 
seek Him. II9? u""- ''• 

"By faith °Noah. being warned of God of things not seen as yet. g- Gen. e. 13, 22. 

. ■ ~ " Ecclus 4 17 

tmoved with fear, ''prepared an ark to the saving of his house ; by the t or, bdn^ w'anj. 
which he condemned the world, and became heir of 'the righteous- ^ 1 Pet. 3! 20. 
ness which is by faith. '' ^il' vi^.'^g. 

§ 31.— chap. XI. 8-19. 

Abraham, with whom God more particularly entered into covenant, had implicit faith in 

the promises of God, when he left his own country by the direction of God, in search 
of a land which he had never seen nor heard of — He dwelt in tabernacles in the land of 
promise, showing that he and his heirs had no fixed habitation on earth — by faith in the 
promises of God, Sarah became a mother, contrary to the common course of nature, by 
the supernatural birth of Isaac — Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob, continued steadfast 
in the belief of the promises, which they did not see fulfilled, believing that God would 
give them the numerous promised seed, and the heavenly rest of Canaan — These were 
strangers and pilgrims on earth, looking for the country in wliich their fathers dwelt, 
better than the earthly Canaan — Not Chaldea, which they had left, and might have re- 
turned to ; but in faith they sought for a heavenly inheritance and spiritual blessings 
(Acts vii. 2—5.) — Thev desired no earthly country, therefore God has assumed the title 
of their God (the God of the Hebrews) , and has prepared for them the heavenly city they 
sought — By faith Abraham laid Isaac upon the altar, though he had no other son to in- 
herit the promises, concluding that God would fulfil them by raising him from the dead 
. — from whence he received him as a type of the resurrection of the only-begotten Son 
of God — By this great exercise of his faith and piety he was made the pattern of all 
believers, fully illustrating the doctrine of justification by faith, and testifying that 
the patriarchs believed in the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection of the 
body, and that they rested not on temporal promises. S 31. 

®Bt faith "Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place a Gen. 12. 1, 4. 
which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed ; and he went ^'^*^''-^'^''^- 



376 



THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 



[Part XV. 



b Gen. 12. 8. & 

13. 3, 18. & 18. 

1,9. 
c ch. 6. 17. 
d ch. 12. ^2. & 

13. 14. 
e ch. 3. 4. Rev. 

21. 2, 10. 
/ Gen. 17. 19. & 

18. 11, 14. & 21. 

2. 
ff See Luke 1. 

36. 
ft Rom. 4. 21. ch. 

10.23. 
i Rom. 4. 19. 
j Gen. 22. 17. 

Rom. 4. 18. 
* Gr. according 

to faith. 
k ver. 39. 
i ver. 27. John 8. 

56. 
m Gen. 23. 4. & 

47. 9. 1 Chron. 

29. 15. "Ps. 39. 

12. & 119. 19. 

1 Pet. 1. 17. & 

2. 11. 
n ch. 13. 14. 
Ex.3. 6, 15. 

Matt. 22. 32. 

Acts 7. 32. 
p Phil. 3. 20. ch. 

13. 14. 
q Gen. 22. 1, 9. 
»• Jam. 2. 21. 
t Or, to. 
s Gen. 21. 12. 

Rom. 9. 7. 
t Rom. 4. 17, 19, 

21. 



§ 3-3. 

a Gen. 27. 27, 

39. 
J Gen. 48. 5, 16, 

20. 
c Gen. 47. 31. 
d Gen. 50. 24, 25. 

Ex. 13. 19. 
* Or, remembered. 
e Exod. 2. 2. 

Acts 7. 20. 

/ F,x. 1. 16, 22, 

g Ex. 2. 10, 11. 

h Ps. 84. 10. 

t ch. 13. 13. 

t Oi-,/or Chri.1t. 

j ch. 10. 35. 

h Ex. 10. 38, 29. 

& 12. 37. & 13. 

17, 18. 
I ver. 13. 



out, not knowing whither he went. ^ By faith he sojourned in [the] 
land of promise, as in a strange country, 'dwelhng in tabernacles with 
Isaac and Jacob, "the heirs with him of the same promise : ^° for he 
looked ''for a city which hath foundations, 'whose builder and maker 
is God. ^^ Through faith also -^Sara herself received strength to con- 
ceive seed, and ^was delivered of a child when she was past age, be- 
cause she judged Him 'faithful who had promised. ^^ Therefore sprang 
there even of one, and 'him as good as dead, ■'so many as the stars of 
the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innu- 
merable. 

^3 These all died *in faith, *not having received the promises, but 
'having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced 
them, and "'confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the 
earth. ^^ For they that say such things "declare plainly that they seek 
a country. ^^ And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from 
whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have re- 
turned ; ^^ but now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly. 
Wherefore God is not ashamed °to be called their God ; for ^he hath 
prepared for them a city. 

1" By faith 'Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac ; and 
he that had received the promises ''offered up his only-begotten son, 
^^ tof whom it was °'said, " That in Isaac shall thy seed be called : " 
'^ accounting that God 'was able to raise him up, even from the dead ; 
from Vi^hence also he received him in a figure. 



§ ^2.— chap. xi. 20-31. 
The appointed lieirs of the Abrahaniic covenant expressed the same strong faith in the 
promises of God — by faith in the divine impulse, Isaac foretold to his two sons the 
blessings wliich were to be bestowed on them and their posterity — By faith, his son Jacob 
blessed the sons of Joseph (Gen. xlviii. 16.) — Worshippers of God in prospect of admis- 
sion to the heavenly Canaan (Gen. xlvii. 31. and xlix. 30.) — In the full persuasion that 
God would give Canaan to Abraham and to his seed, Joseph, when ending his life, 
commanded that his bones might be carried with them from Egypt, that the promises 
might be fulfilled to him after his death (Gen. 1. 25. and Exod. xiii. 19.) — Moses was 
saved by the faith of his parents in the promises of God, who, judging from his 
appearance, or, as some suppose, from a revelation (Josephus, lib. ii. cap. 9. § 5-7.) 
concealed him without fear of the king's commandment — By faith in the promises of 
God, Moses liimself, as the type of the Great Deliverer, renounced all worldly dis- 
tinctions, preferring to suffer with the anointed people of God, as he looked for a 
hio-her reward in heaven — By faith he carried the Israelites out of Egypt, fearing God, 
who was invisible, rather than the wrath of Pharaoh, which was present to him — By 
faith he sprinkled the blood of the paschal lamb (E.xod. xii.), and by the same prin- 
ciple the Israelites passed through the Red Sea^By faith and obedience to the com- 
mand of God, the walls of Jericho miraculously fell down — Rahab, by faith in God, 
on account of the miracles he had wrought (Joshua ii. 10.), risked her life for the pro- 
tection of the spies, and perished not with the unbelievers at Jericho. 

20 By faith "Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 
21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, 'blessed both the sons of Jo- 
seph ; and "worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. ^~ By faith 
''Joseph, when he died, *made m_ention of the departing of the chil- 
dren of Israel ; and gave commandment concerning his bones. 

23 By faith "Moses, when he was born, was hid three m.onths of his 
parents, because they saw he was a proper child ; and they were not 
afraid of the king's •'"commandment. ^^ By faith °Moses, when he was 
come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter ; 
25 choosing ''rather to suffer affiiction with the people of God, than to 
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; 26 esteeming 'the reproach tof 
Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt : for he had respect 
unto^the recompence of the reward. ^^ By faith 'he forsook Egypt, 
not fearing the wrath of the king : for he endured, as 'seeing Him 



Sect. L] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 377 

who is invisible. ^^ Through faith "he kept the Passover, and the ""J^^' ^^- ^^' 

sprinkhng of blood, lest He that destroyed the firstborn should touch 

them. 

2^ By faith "they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land : which n Ex. 14. 22, 29. 
the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. 

3° By faith "the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were com- » Josh. 6.20. 
passed about seven days. ^jam/a. 25. ' 

^^ By faith ''the harlot Rahab perished not with them tthat believed t or, timt ,cere 

1 nil! -ii- •] disobedient. 

not, when 'she had received the spies with peace. q joshuai. 1. 



§ 33. — chap. xi. 32, to the end, and xii. 1, 2. . 

The Apostle, having shown the nature and efficacy of faith by many illustrious examples 

from the Adamic and Patriarchal dispensations, now proves that the same active prin- 
ciple of faith directed, in all their g-reat exploits, the judges, heroes, prophets, and 
kings, of the Mosaic dispensation — These all suifered and triumphed over the con- 
tempt and persecution of the world ; supported by a firm and lively faith in things 
Dot seen, and in the expectation of the promised glories of a future state — But they 
had not yet received the heavenly rest, and that glorious reward promised to Abraham § 33. 

and to his seed — God having provided a better revelation, and a better means of faith, a Judg. 6. 11. 
which made perfect all that had preceded, at the end of which all the spiritual children * ^"^=- *• ^• 
of Abraham, from the beginning to the completion of the Divine Economy, may be , . A' ,,' \ ' s^ 
collected into one Church, and be admitted together, after the resurrection, to the full 12. 7? 
perfection of the Gospel blessings (Rev. vi. 11.) — The Apostle, in application of these « 1 Sam. 16._1, 

arguments, exhorts them to imitate the faith and obedience of their eminent ancestors, , , ' ' " , 

f I Sara. 1. 20. & 
who will bear testimony for or against them, looking from worldly to spiritual things, to 12. -20. 

Jesus, who is the author, and by his own sufferings, the most perfect example of truth, g 2 Sam. 7. II, 

endurino- the cross for the glory and happiness of man's redemption. , ", 

^2 AxD what shall I more say ? for the time would fail me to tell of gj^^^^^-^g |t' 
"Gedeon, and of ''Barak, and of 'Samson, and of "^Jephthae ; of 'David jDan. 3. 25. 
also, and •''Samuel, and of the Prophets : ^^ who through faith subdued j 1 ?.am. 20. 1. 
kingdoms, Avrought righteousness, 'obtained promises, ''stopped the 2Kin|s6. le! 
mouths of lions, ^^ quenched Hhe violence of fire, ■'escaped the edge of ''iJ^lf^^'Jo. 
the sword, *out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, ^^- ^- »• 
'turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ^^ Women '"received their 1 sa^. 14. 13,^' 
dead raised to life again. And others were "tortured, not accepting fi'2%Im. e]'i, 
deliverance ; that they might obtain a better resurrection : ^^ and '^'^- . 
"others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover ^of 2 Kings'4. 35." ' 
bonds and imprisonment: ^''' they 'were stoned, they were sawn asun- "28 &''7 7 &c 
der, were tempted, were slain with the sword: ^they wandered about Acts 22. 25. 
'in sheep-skins and goat-skins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented, ! Genu's/ 20'. ^' 
^^ (of whom the world was not worthy :) they wandered in deserts, J?'- so- 2. & 37. 
and in mountains, and 'in dens and caves of the earth. q i'iangs2i. 13. 

^^ And these all, "having obtained a good report through faith, re- iSTsli'&^M. 
ceived not the promise : ^° God having *provided "some better thing \^- 
for us, that they without us should not be "made perfect. '^Matt"§. 4.' 

^ Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a * ^'"'.''- ^^- ■*• 
cloud of witnesses, ""let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which 19. 9."^' 
doth so easily beset us, and ^let us run 'with patience the race that is " ""■ ^' ^^■ 
set before us, ^ looking unto Jesus the t Author and Finisher of our faith ; ^ eh'. 7. ^. & 8. 
"who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising ^- q r, .^ 
the shame, 'and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 23. Rev. e. 11. ' 

X Col. 3. 8. 1 Pet. 

2. I. 

§ 3i.— chap. xii. 3-13. y 1 Cor. 9. 24. 

„ , , , . ,.,..,, Phil. 3. 13, 14. 

Further to encourage them, under persecutions and trials, to faith and patience, the j Rom. 12. 12. 

Apostle calls upon them to give particular attention to the greater sufferings of Christ, ^h. 10. 36. 

and reminds them of the exhortation of the Word of God (Prov. iii. 11, 12.), that t Or, Beginner. 

chastisements are tokens of the divine favor, proving that God considers them beloved Y\\i\ 2 8' &c. 

sons, and not as bastards, who are disregarded and neglected — Their earthly parents 1 Pet. 1. 11. 

corrected them for faults, and were reverenced under penalty of death (Deut. xxi. IS- *,^o' ni^'Jo'^i' 

21.) ; how much more important to be subject to the Father of spirits, that they may I'Pet. 3. 22. 

VOL. II. 48 FF* 



378 



THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 



[Part XV. 



§ 34. 

a Matt. 10. 24, 

25. John 15. 20. 
J Gal. 6. 9. 
c 1 Cor. ]0. 13. 

ch. 10.32,33, 

34. 
d Job 5. 17. Prov. 

3. 11. 
e Ps. 94. 12. & 

119. 75. Prov. 3. 

12. Jam. 1. 12. 

Rev. 3. 19. 
/ Deut. 8. 5. 

2 Sam. 7. 14. 

Prov. 13. 24. 

&19. 18. &23. 

13. 
g Ps. 73. 1. 

1 Pet. 5. 9. 
h Num. 16. 22. & 

27. 16. Job 12. 

10. Eccles. 12. 

7. Is. 42.5. & 57. 

16. Zech. 12. 1. 
* Or, as seemed 

goody or, Ttieet to 

tliem. 
j Lev. 11. 44. & 

19. 2. 1 Pet. 1. 

15, 16. 
j Jam. 3. 18. 
k job 4. 3, 4. Is. 

35. 3. See 

Ecclus.25.23. 
/ Prov. 4. 26, 27. 
■f Or, even. 
m Gal. 6. 1. 



§ 35. 

a Pa. 34. 14. 

Rom. 12. 18. & 

14. 9. 2 Tim. 2. 

22. 
b Matt. 5. 8. 

2 Cor. 7. 1. Eph. 

5.5. 

c 2 Cor. 6. 1. 
d Gal. 5. 4. 
* Or, fall from. 
e Deut. 29. 18. 

cli. 3. 12. 
/ Eph. 5. 3. Col. 

3. 5. 1 Thess. 4 

3. 
g Gen. 25. 33. 
A Gen. 27. 34,36, 

38. 
i ck G. 6. 
f Or, way to 

ciange his mind 



live for ever ? — These chastened them during the few days of this life, after their own 
will and convenience ; but God cliastens all for their advantage, that they may be 
made holy, and disciplined to righteousness; the peaceful fruit of God's chastise- 
ment — From these considerations he exhorts those who have been thus benefited by 
affliction, not to be discomforted, and driven away from Christ (Isa. xxxv. 3.). but to 
make every possible exertion under their temptations and afflictions, removing every 
obstacle tliat impedes their own and others' treading in the Christian path, that tliose 
who have been already alarmed by forsaking it, may not be totally prevented from 
proceeding on the road to Sion ; but be rather healed and restored from their falls and 
weaknesses. 

^ For "consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners 
against himself, ^lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. ^ Ye 
'have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin ; ^ and ye have 
forgotten the ''exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, — 

" My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, 

Nor faint when thou art rebuked of him : 
^ For Vhom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, 

And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." 

"^ If -^ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons ; for 
what son is he whom the father chasteneth not ? ^ But if ye be without 
chastisement, ^whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not 
sons. ^ Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected 
us, and we gave them reverence : shall we not much rather be in 
subjection unto ''the Father of spirits, and live ? ^^ For they verily for 
a few days chastened us *after their own pleasure ; but He for our 
profit, 'that we might be partakers of his holiness. " Now no chasten- 
ing for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous : nevertheless 
afterward it yieldeth^the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them 
which are exercised thereby. 

1^ Wherefore ''lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble 
knees ; ^^ and 'make tstraight paths for your feet, lest that which is 
lame be turned out of the way ; '"but let it rather be healed. 



§ 35.— chap. xii. 14-17. 
The Apostle exhorts them to cultivate peace, as far as possible, with all men, and 
Christian holiness of heart and life, carefully observing lest any among them show a 
disposition to apostatize from the Gospel, lest any poisonous plant spring up and cor- 
rupt many ; or any fornicator or profane person, who should abuse the liberty of the 
Gospel, such as Esau, who bartered his high blessings and privileges of the firstborn 
(Gen. XXV. 32. 34. Exod. xix. 22. Deut. xxi. 17.) for present and sensual gratifica- 
tions — The Apostle further insinuates, that as Esau found no change or repentance in 
his father's mind (Gen. xxvii. 33.) when he afterwards sought the blessing and domin- 
ion over his brethren (Gen. xxvii. 37.) with tears ; so, if they despise their heavenly 
birthrights by renouncing the Gospel, there would be no way left of regaining them. 

" Follow "peace with all men, and holiness, ''without which no man 
shall see the Lord : ^^ looking 'diligently ''lest any man *fail of the 
grace of God ; "lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, 
and thereby many be defiled ; ^'^ lest •'^there be any fornicator, or profane 
person, as Esau, *^who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. " For 
ye know how that afterward, ''when he would have inherited the 
blessing, he was rejected : 'for he found no tplace of repentance, 
though he sought it carefully with tears. 



§ 36.— chap. xii. 18-24. 
The Apostle shows the superiority of the birthrights of the spiritual children of Abra- 
ham, to those of his natural progeny, and therefore the greater sin of rejecting them, 
by contrasting the dispensation of the Law with that of the Gospel — Abraham's spirit- 
ual children, by faith in the Gospel, are not called to receive the Law, which was to 
prepare them for the earthly Canaan, to a mount capable of being touched, which 
burned with fire, and with those appalling signals of God's presence (Exod. xix.) 



Sect. 1.] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 379 

typical of his consuming anger against sinners, and the obscurity of the Law ; but 
they are called to receive the mild and gracious dispensation of grace, from Mount 
Sion (Actsi. 4.), which shall prepare them for worshipping in the Sion of the Chris- 
tian Church (Isa. Ix.), which is the city of the living God, of a heavenly, not of a 
worldly nature, including the whole family of heaven and earth, from the beginning 
to the end of time. § 36. 

^^ For ye are not come unto "the Mount that might be touched, and a Ex.iq. i9,i8, 
that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, ceut. 4.'ii.'& 
^^ and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words ; which voice they j4^ g "j™; ^• 
that heard ''entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any ^xim. i. ?. 
more: -"(for they could not endure that which was 'commanded, Deui.Ys, 25.& 
" And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, ^^^^\q jg 
or thrust through with a dart;" ^^ and so ''terrible was the sight! — <2Ex. ig.ie. 
that Moses said, " I exceedingly fear and quake : ") ^2 but ye are come " ^f^ ')^^^{^^''- 
'unto Mount Sion ; -^and unto the city of the hving God, the heavenly ib. ' 
Jerusalem; °'and to an innumerable company of angels;' ^^ to the {^^'J^-^^gg^g 
general assembly and Church of ''the firstborn, *which are * written in "ps. 63. n.' Jude 
heaven, and to God •'the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men i gee Note 9. 
*made perfect, ^''and to Jesus 'the Mediator of the New tCovenant, ft ex. 4. 22. jam. 
and to '"the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things "than i Luke irao 
thatofkheX. \Tt^-^""- 

* Or, enrolled. 

§ 37.— chap. xii. 25, to the end. J Gen. 18. 25. Ps. 

The Apostle, from the superior excellence of the Gospel Dispensation, entreats them ft Phil. 3. 12. ch. 
not to refuse the Mediator of this better covenant ; for if their forefathers were ^l- 40. 
destroyed in the wilderness for disobedience to Moses, who spake on the part of God jj'' ' ' 
to them on earth, their condemnation will be proportionalily greater, who turn away -f Or, Testament. 
from God, who speaks to them from heaven, by his Son, in the Gospel — At the giving m Ex. 24. 8. ch. 
of the Law his voice shook the earth — the power of heathen idolatry (Exod. xix. 18.), g"' ^' ■' °^'" ■'■■ 
but now, in the New Dispensation, according to the prediction of the prophet (Haggai „ q^^_ 4_ iq_ gi,_ 
ii. 6.), not only the idolatrous worship, but the Mosaic Economy, was also to be H- 4. 
shaken, which signifies the removal and change of those things constituted for a time, 

to make way for that better Dispensation which cannot be changed or shaken, which 

is to remain till the end of the world — From the unchangeable nature of the Gospel 
(Dan. vii. 18.), which, being the last dispensation of God, cannot be moved — St. Paul 
exhorts them to hold fast this heavenly gift, that they may serve God in the way that 
pleases him : for under the Gospel, as under the Law, God is a consuming fire to 
those who apostatize, and are disobedient to his will and commands. S "''• 

^^ See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For "if they escaped ".^''^-f^^A^^' 
not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we 29! 
escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven. ~^ Whose * ^^' ^^'l^' 
''voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, 'saying, " Yet k see Note' 10. 
once more I shake not the earth only, but also'' heaven." ^'' And this "^J^- 1?2- ^6. 

IMiitt. 24. 35. 

«i;orcZ, " Yet once more," signifieth ■'the removing of those things that 2 i'et. s.'io.' 

Rev ^1 1 

*are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot * or, mai/ be 
be shaken may remain. ^^ Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which ^''^^s"- 
cannot be moved, tlet us have grace, whereby we may serve God t^"'/.'"""'^''' 
acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ^^^ For 'our God is a con- "^J^^'^l'^^i &9 
suming fire. 3. ps! 50. 3. & ' 

° 97. 3. Is. 66. 15. 



§ 38. — chap. xiii. 1-6. 
The Apostle exhorts the Hebrews to brotherly love, to acts of charity and mercy, receiv- 
ing into their houses stranaers or travellers, after the example of Abraham and Lot 
(Gen. xviii. 3. xix. 2.) ; to have compassion for the sufferings of others, as those who 



2 Thess. 1. 8. 
ch. 10. 27. 



38. 



are liable to the same evils, and to purity of conduct, from the fear of God's judg- j Thess. 4. 9' 

ments — He admonishes them not to covet what Providence has given to another, but 1 Pet. 1. 22. <& 

to be content with those tilings which are given to themselves ; for God himself has 4' g_ j pgt_ 2'. 7. 

promised to protect and provide for them (Joshua i. 5. 1 Chron. xxviii. 20.) — Chris- lJohn3. l],&c. 

tians may with greater confidence apply this promise to themselves, and trust with , m '..'gs'ss" 

David, in poverty and affliction, on the omnipotence of God (Psalm cxviii. 6. LXX.) Eom. 12. 13. 

' Let "brotherly love continue. ^ Be 'not forgetful to entertain stran- 1 p™'4.V 



380 



THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 



[Part XV. 



c Gen. 18. 3. &; 

19.2. 
d Matt. 25. 36. 

Rom. 12. 15. 

1 Cor. 12. 26. 

Col. 4. 18. 

1 Pet. 3. 8. 
1 Cor. 6. 9. 

Gal. 5. 19, 21. 

Eph. 5. 5. Col. 

3. 5, 6. Rev. 22. 
15. 

/ Matt. 6. 25, 34. 

Phil. 4. 11, 12. 

1 Tim. 6. 6, 8. 
g Gen. 28. 15. 

Deut. 31. 6, 8. 

Josh. 1. 5. 

1 Chr. 28. 20. 

P3. 37. 25. 
A P3. 27. 1. & 56. 

4, 11, 12. & 118. 
6. 

i So Knapp punc- 
tuates. See the 
place quoted in 
the O. T.— Ed. 



§ 39. 

a ver. 17. 
* Or, are the 
guides, 
b eh. 6. 12. 
e John 8. 58. ch. 

I. 12. Rev. 1. 4. 
d Eph. 4. 14. & 

5. 6. Col. 2. 4,8. 
1 John 4. 1. 

e Rom. 14. 17. 

Col. 2. 16. 

1 Tim. 4. 3. 
/ 1 Cor. 9. 13. & 

10. 18. 
g Ex. 29. 14. 

Lev. 4. 11, 12, 

21. & 6. 30. &9. 

II. & 16. 27. 
Num. 19. 3. 

h John 19. 17, 18. 

Acts 7. 58. 
i ch. 11. 26. 1 Pet. 

4. 14. 
j Mic. 2. 10. Phil. 

3. 20. ch. 11. 10, 

16. & 12. 22. 
A: Eph. 5. 20. 

1 Pet. 2. 5. 
I Lev. 7. 12. Ps. 

50. 14, 23. & 69. 

30, 31. & 107. 

22. & 116. 17. 
m Ho3. 14. 2. 

t Gr. confessing 
to. 

n Rom. 12. 13. 
2 Cor. 9. 12. 
Phil. 4. 18. ch. 

6. 10. 



§ 40. 

e Phil. 2. 29. 

1 Thess. 5. 12. 

1 Tim. 5. 17. 

ver. 7. 
• Or, guide. 



gers : for thereby "some have entertained angels unawares. ^ Remem- 
ber ''them that are in bonds, as bound with them ; and them which 
suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. 

* Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled : T)ut Avhore- 
mongers and adulterers God will judge. ^ Let your conversation be 
without covetousness ; and ^be content with such things as ye have : 
for He hath ^said, " I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." ^ So 
that we may boldly ''say. The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear : 
What shall man do unto me V 



§ 39. — chap. xiii. 7-16. 
The Apostle, further to convince them that the promises of God never fail, desires them 
to remember the examples of the deceased teachers (perhaps James the apostle and 
James the bishop of Jerusalem) who presided over them, and to imitate their faith, 
considering the wonderful support they received at the end of their lives, when they 
suffered a violent death, in testimony of Jesus Christ, who is for ever unchangeable — 
On this account they are warned not to be carried away with various and unapos- 
tolical doctrines ; to have their hearts established in the efficacy of the sacrifice and 
death of Christ, for the pardon of sin, and not of the Levitical sacrifices of animals, 
appointed for meat, which cannot avail — Those who eat of the flesh of the sacrifices of 
the peace offerings and of the Law, trusting through them to be reconciled to God 
(Levit. xvii. 11-15.), have no right to eat of the sacrifice of the Christian altar; for, 
according to their own law, they are not to eat of any part of the animal whose blood 
had been offered as an atonement for sin, for the flesh of that animal was to be burned 
without the camp (Lev. xvi. 27.) — Christ, of whom this was the type, opened the 
heaven of heavens to man, by the sprinkling of his own blood (chap. xii. 24.), and 
offered his flesh as a living sacrifice without the gate of the city — He exhorts them so 
to follow Christ, making a living sacrifice of the flesh, renouncing this world, which 
is not their continuing city, and ofiering to God, through him, the only acceptable sac- 
rifice of praise and thankfulness, with acts of charity and mercy to man for Christ's 
sake. 

' Remembeb "thiem which *have the rule over you, who have spoken 
unto you the word of God ; Svhose faith follow, considering the end 
of their conversation. ^ Jesus Christ [is] "the same yesterday, and 
to-day, and for ever. ^ Be ''not carried about with divers and strange 
doctrines ; for it is a good thing that the heart be established with 
grace, 'not with meats, which have not profited them that have been 
occupied therein. ^° We •'^have an altar, whereof they have no right to 
eat which serve the tabernacle. 

^^ For the "bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the 
sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 
1^ Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his 
own blood, ''suffered without the gate. ^^ Let us go forth therefore 
unto Him without the camp, bearing 'his reproach ; i"* for ^ here have 
we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. ^^ By 'Him there- 
fore let us offer 'the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, "the 
fruit of our lips tgiving thanks to his Name. 

1^ But "to do good and to communicate forget not : for "with such 
sacrifices God is well pleased. 



§ 40.— cTiop. xiii. 17-21. 
The Apostle desires them to obey their lawful pastors and teachers, who are appointed to 
direct and govern them in spiritual things, and to give an account of their conduct to 
God — He desires their prayers also for himself, that he may be restored to them the 
sooner — That though they may not approve his doctrines, he has delivered them 
faithfully, ever anxious to fulfil the duties of his aposlleship — He solemnly prays that 
God, who brought back Jesus Christ from the dead, through the blood of his unchange- 
able Covenant, may make them perfect in every good work, through the influences of 
the Holy Spirit, given to them by Jesus Christ, to whom the glory of man's salvation 
is to be for ever ascribed. 

1^ Obey "them that *have the rule over you, and submit yourselves; 



Sect. II.] ST. PAUL VISITS ITALY, SPAIN, &c. 381 

for 'they watch for your souls, as they that must give account: that ^sffal'i.Vds 20. 
they may do it with joy, and not with grief ; for that is unprofitable ^^^^^- ^^ ^^ 
for you. i^Pray 'for us; for we trust we have ''a good conscience, in Eph. e. 19. coi. 
all things willing to live honestly: ^^ but I beseech you "the rather to 25. 2 Theses, f. 
do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. ^tTe^^coti. 

-° Now ■'the God of peace, 'that brought again from the dead our la! 
Lord Jesus, (''that great Shepherd of the sheep 'through the blood of f^^^^^T^^^sl 
the everlasting tcovenant,) ~^ make^you perfect in every good work to 1 Thess. 5. 23. 
do his will ; tworking ''in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, \om.'4.'2^4.'i\ 
through Jesus Christ : 'to whom be glory for ever and ever ! Amen. &'i5.^i5'"2'cor. 

4. 14! Giil. 1. 1.' 

Col. 2. 12. 

§ 41. — chap. xiii. 22, to the end. 1 Thess. 1. lo. 
The Apostle, in conclusion, beseeches the Hebrews not to be so prejudiced against him '^^' ' " 

as to prevent their receiving the brief instructions he has given them — He mentions Ezek. '34. 23. &; 

his desire of visiting them with Timothy — His salutation and benediction. 37. 24. Jolm 10. 

^^ And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation : for 25'. &'5.4. 
"I have written a letter unto you in few words. 'io!22;^' ^^''^^' 

^^ Know ve that ''our brother Timothy 'is set at liberty ; with whom, t or, testament. 

•C-L 1 u T -11 j 2 Thess. 2. 17. 

II he come shortly, 1 will see you. 1 Pet. 5. lo. 

^* Salute all them "^that have the rule over you, and all the saints, t Or, doing. 
They of Italy salute you. 25 Grace 'be with you all ! Amen. 'iltii.'s^' 

[[Written to the Hebrews from Italy by Timothy.]] 2 Tim.'4.'i8. 

[end of the epistle to the HEBREWS.] 



§ 41. 

Section II. — After his Liberation, St. Paul visits Itahi, Spain, f ] ^f • ^- ^^; 

7-. • • 77 TTT J^ J- ftlThess. 3. 2. 

Britain, and the hVest. c 1 Tim. 6. 12. 

[We cannot be certain what were the travels of St. Paul between his first and ''■ ''^^- ^' "• 
second imprisonment at Rome. The probable accounts must be collected from the 

remaining- testimony of the Second Epistle to Timothy, and tlie desire he had 

expressed in his Epistles written before his liberation. 

Bishop Pearson, witli many very eminent and learned theologians, has been of sect. ii. 
opinion, that when he left Italy he first proceeded to Spain, and the West. Bishop 
Stillingfleet, and, since his time, the learned Bishop Burgess in our own day, have V. M. 63-64. 
strenuously defended this opinion. J- P- 4776-7. 

In his Epistle to the Romans (chap. xv. 24.) he had long before expressed his 'Bri'tauf.'"' 

determination to go into Spain — " Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I 

will come to you : — for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my 
way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company." 

There appears to be sufficient traditional evidence to satisfy us that the Apostle 
eventually fulfilled his determination. 

The testimonies of the first six centuries either expressly record St. Paul's 
journey to the West and to Britain, or offer such evidence of the propagation of 
Christianity in Spain and Britain, as coincides with these testimonies. 

1. The first and most important is the testimony of Clemens Romanus, " the 
intimate friend and fellow-laborer of St. Paul." He says, that St. Paul, in preacliing 
the Gospel, went to the utmost bounds of the West, inl to riqi-iu jr^g diaeug. 
Tliis is not a rhetorical expression, as Dr. Hales supposes, but the usual designation 
of Britain. Catullus calls Britain " Ultima Britannia," and " Ultima Occidentis 
Insula." The West included Spain, Gaul, and Britain. Theodoret speaks of 
the inhabitants of Spain, Gaul, and Britain, as dwelling in the utmost bounds of 
the West, id; ttj; kaniqag ia/mlug. The connexion between Britain and the 

West will be seen in other passages quoted by Bishop Stillingfleet" ; and in the <^ ^^^S- -S""- 
following of Nicephorus' — ngog eansgiov wxeavdv elaSaliiv y.al r&g Bqeravlxag i HUt.l.W.c.A^ 
vr.aovg EvaYYeltaiuevog. The utmost bounds of the West, then, is not rhetorical apud Usher, 
language m itseit, tor it is a common appellation of Britain ; nor as applied to St. Bntan. p. 740. 
Paul, for it was said of others of the apostles. 

2. In the second century (A. D. 176), Irensus speaks of Christianity as propa- 
gated to the utmost bounds of the earth, I'wj neQiimv t^? 7?jc, by the apostles and 
their disciples ; and particularly specifies the churches planted {iv ruXg'lSsQlaig, 



382 ST. PAUL'S FIFTH APOSTOLICAL JOURNEY. [Part XV. 

c Lib. I. c. 2 & 3. and ^i> Kshoig) in Spain, and the Celtic nations'. By the Kilioc, were meant the 

^Ge^l"l ^t'™; P^°Pl6 of Germany, Gaul, and Britain''. 

5- 3- At the end of the second and the beginning of the third century (A. D. 193- 

220), TertuUian mentions, among the Christian converts, Hispaniarum omnes 
termini, et Galliarum diversce nationes et Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca, 

\ffc'T' '^"'^ Cliristo vera suhdita". Though Irenseus and TertuUian, in their testimonies, do not 
expressly mention St. Paul, yet the conversion of Britain to Christianity is recorded 
as the work of the apostles and their disciples. It is most interesting to find such 
writers speaking of their proximity to the origin of the Christian Church, and con- 
sequently of the perfect competency of their testimony. " Hesterni sumus," says 
TertuUian, "et vestra omnia adimplevimus, urbes, insulas, castella, municipia, 

f^poioget. c. 37. conciliabula, castra ipsa, tribus, Palatium, Senatum, forum^. 

4. In the fourth century (A. D. 270-340), Eusebiussays that some of the apostles 

^Evan^t. iii. c. P^-Ssed ovcr the ocean to the British isles, i>7il xu; y.ulovfisvug Bgeravlxag y-!jaovg^ : 

''• and Jerome, in the same century (A. D. 329-420), ascribes this province expressly 

to St. Paul, and says that, after his imprisonment, having been in Spain, he went 

£cc1es"and in from ocean to ocean, and that he preached the Gospel in the western parts''. In 

Amos, c. 5. ii^Q western parts he included Britain, as is evident from a passage in his Epita- 

t Gibson's Cam- , • -a/r ii ; 

den's Britt. p. phmm MarcellsB^ 

ixx. ed 1695. 5. In the fifth century (423-460), Theodoret mentions the Britons among the 

nations converted by the apostles ; and says that St. Paul, after his release from 
imprisonment, went to Spain, and from thence carried the light of the Gospel to 

4."i7. ^" ^ '™' other nations*. He says also that St. Paul brought salvation to the islands tJiat 
I Tom. i. inPs. lie in the ocean', rate iv tw nshxyEi, diay.ei/iei'uig j'Tjcrof? T'fjv (acpiXeiav nQoa-f^i'eYy.s. 
If there could be any doubt whether the British islands were meant by the island 
that lies in the ocean, we have, besides the passage of Nicephorus, before quoted, 
the following of Chrysostom, who thus describes them: xul ycto al BQerdvixai, 
rrjaoi. al T?j? &alixTTi]g ixxbg xslfjei'ai,, y.al iv avra oiaai, to ^ flxEavia, Trjg dvvufAiwg 

m OrM. Tom. iv. ^^5 ^^ff^jog '^aOovTO^. 

6. In the sixth century (560-600), Venantius Fortunatus says thus of St. Paul : 
Transit et Oceanum, vel qua facit insula portum, Qiiasque Britannus habet terras, 
quasque ultima Th.ule. This passage has been sometimes hesitatingly admitted, as 
if verse were necessarily the vehicle of fiction. But that the testimony of Venan- 
tius Fortunatus is not to be ascribed to the licence of poetical exaggeration, and 
that the language of Clemens, Jerome, and Theodoret, is neither ambiguous nor 

^gio-iaz^'cimnh hyperbolical", we may judge from an authority, which will not be suspected of 
vol. i. p. 3, note making any undue concessions in favor of the evidences of Christianity, but who 
was well acquainted with the political facilities which the Roman empire at that 
time afforded for the universal propagation of the Gospel: "The public highways," 
says Mr. Gibbon, " which had been constructed for the use of the legions, opened 
an easy passage for the Christian missionaries from Damascus to Corinth, and 

"di^e^&'c.'cftp. fro™ Italy to the extremity of Spahi or Britain"." 

XV. vol. ii. p. 358, To the ancient authorities here cited, we have to add the concurrence of 
the very learned and judicious modern writers referred to before. We may 

''ck^TB^itfinst ^^^ further, the testimony of Archbishop Parker'' : — " Paulum ipsum Gentium 
doctorem, cum aliis gentibus, tum nominatim Britannis, nunciasse post priorem 
suam Romae incarcerationem, et Theodoretus et Sophronius Patriarcha Hieroso- 
lymitanus affirmant. Hoc quod Pontificii incredibile atque adeo impossibile sta- 
tuunt, cum vero maxime cohasret : " and of Camden — " Certum est Britannos in 

^Ao'^eriilh^' ^P^^ Ecclesias infantia Christianam religionem imbibisse'," who cites Theodoret 
and Sophronius, and Venantius Fortunatus, in testimony of St. Paul's journey to 
Britain. Cave also, in his Life of St. Paul, quotes the same writers, and says, that 
by the island that lies in the ocean, Theodoret undoubtedly meant Britain. Such 
strength of ancient and modern authorities ought, if I may judge by my own 
convictions, to put the subject of St. Paul's preaching the Gospel in Britain beyond 
all controversy or doubt. 

The general evidence thus adduced by Bishops Stillingfleet and Burgess, 
appears to be quite sufficient to prove the fact, that St. Paul came to Britain ; but 
I cannot assent to the early date which is assigned to this event by Gildas, Jerome, 
and Eusebius. On this point it seems the authorities on which they depended led 
them into error. 

The testimony of Josephus is opposed to those of Jerome, Eusebius, and Gildas , 
and as he lived nearer to the times in question, and as the date assigned by him tc 



Sect. II.] ST. PAUL VISITS ITALY, SPAIN, &c. 383 

the recall of Felix is perfectly consistent with the other dates, and leaves sufficient 
time for all the Apostle's travels, before his second return to Rome, I consider the 
authority of Josephus preferable to that of the subsequent writers. The decision 
of the question depends on the date of the recall of Felix, and this cannot be 
certainly ascertained. 

Bishop Burgess has discussed the question of the dates of St. Paul's voyage to 
Rome, the recall of Felix, and the Apostle's subsequent tour to Spain and Britain, 
with his usual skill and learning. Among other reasons, for assigning the year 56 
to St. Paul's voyage to Rome, and consequently his release from imprisonment to 
the year 58, he mentions the following, which appear however to be capable of 
easy solution. 

1. Gildas says that Christianity was introduced into Britain before the defeat of 
the British forces under Boadicea. 

This might have been done by others than the apostles. 

2. An ancient British record informs us, that Caractacus returned from Rome 
to Britain in the year 58, A. D. and that the royal family introduced Christianity. 

St. Paul, therefore, might have been invited into Britain by some of the Britons, 
who may have seen his friends, and perhaps his Epistle, at Rome ; but it does not 
follow tliat he must . necessarily have accepted that invitation as early as 58, nor 
before his various other duties permitted. His deliverance from his first imprison- 
ment appears to have been the most favorable opportunity that presented itself. 

3. The removal of Pallas, the brother of Felix, in the second year of Nero, 
implies, that Felix would be removed about the same time. It appears from 
Tacitus [Annal. 1. 12.), tliat he was dependent upon his brother's power. 

It is not by any means certain that Nero would necessarily have recalled Felix 
on this account Felix had rendered great public service to the province in clear- 
ing it of robbers. On the contrary, Josephus tells us, that Pallas, even in the sixth 
year of Nero, obtained the pardon of his brother. The truth seems to be, that 
though Pallas was no longer a favorite, Iiis influence with Nero had not entirely 
declined at the Roman court — Agrippina, at least, retained her authority over 
Nero, and Pallas his influence with Agrippina, and by her means Felix may have 
been continued in his office. 

4. Josephus tells us that Nero pardoned Felix when Pallas was high in favor 
with him. This necessarily implies that it was early in the reign of Nero. 

It may mean when Pallas, though out of office, was more in favor than before — 
or when the revenge of Nero was satisfied with the death of Agrippina, and he 
began to look with more favor upon Pallas. 

The space between 63 and 68, the probable date of St. Paul's martyrdom, is 
amply sufficient for the remaining journeyings of St. Paul between his return from 
Britain and his martyrdom at Rome. 

It does not appear, from a careful examination of the dates of events that took 
place from 53, the year which Bishop Burgess would assign to the Epistle to the 
Romans, or to the beginning of 58, the latest and most usual date, that there is 
sufficient space to allow the journey to Britain. 

A very ingenious anonymous writer, in the 19th Number of the Classical Journal, • 
has attempted to reconcile the times of St. Paul's journeys, and the dates of the 
Epistles, with the supposition that Felix was recalled in 56. As I have adopted 
the opinion of Bishop Pearson, and prefer the authority of Josephus to that of 
Jerome and Eusebius, that the date was 62, I shall only observe that it appears to 
be impossible to reconcile the periods of the conversion of St. Paul — his return to 
Damascus — the council at Jerusalem — and the time unavoidably occupied by the 
planting of tlie several Churches with tliis early date of his first imprisonment. 

The venerable and leai-ned Dr. Hales, in his valuable Essay on the Origin and 
Purity of the primitive Church of the British Isles, and its independence of the 
Cliurch of Rome, considers Lies, or Lucius, to be the first person who established 
Christianity in Britain. It does not seem necessary to enter farther into his argu- 
ments than to observe, that he has succeeded in demonstrating the absurdity of 
venturing to come to any positive conclusions in tlie affirmative, especially as St. 
Paul has omitted all notice of his journey to Britain in his Second Epistle to 
Timothy. There still, however, appears to be sufficient evidence to justify my 
adoption of Bishop Burgess's opinion, that St. Paul preached in Britain, which is 
supported also by the authority of Parker, Camden, Usher, Stillingfleet, Gibson, Nel- 
son, Rowland, Collyer, and Bishop Pearson.] 



884 



ST. PAUL'S FIFTH APOSTOLICAL JOURNEY. [Part XV. 



SECT. III. 

V. JE. 63-64. 

J. P. 4776-7. 

Jerusalem. 



a LeClerc,H.E. 
An. 69, n. v. ap. 
Lardner, vol. iii. 
p. 52-3, observes 
this account of 
the son of Ana- 
nus : " CiuEe si 
vera sunt, non 
immerito Jose- 
phus rem divini- 
tus contigisse 
censuit." 



b Lardner's Sup- 
plcmeJit to the 
Credibility ; Lifo 
of St. Paul in 
fin. 



SECT. IV. 

V. JE 65. 

J. P. 4778. 

Antioch. 



Section III. — St. Paul then proceeds to Jerusalem. 

[From his journey to the West we may conclude that St. Paul went to Judsea, and 
probably to Jerusalem. In his Epistle to the Hebrews, he had declared this to be 
his intention. " Know ye," he says, Heb. xiii. 23., " that Timothy is set at liberty ; 
with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you." Dr. Hales thinks he could not 
venture to go up again to Jerusalem, as his life would thereby be uselessly endan- 
gered. It cannot however appear improbable, that the wretched state of confusion 
to which that miserable country had been brought, would have prevented any 
further judicial interference with the Apostle. He would now have heard, and 
have been deeply affected by, the mournful cry of Jesus, the son of Ananus — " A 
voice from the east, a voice against Jerusalem and the temple." This sad cry was 
begun four years before the commencement of the war, about the year 62 St. 
Paul had long foreseen the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, and this voice 
must have appeared to the Apostle, as the result of a divine or supernatural impulse". 

" We have seen," says L'Enfant and Beausobre, in their general preface to St. 
Paul's Epistles, p. 34, "that the Apostle was accustomed to go from time to time 
to Jerusalem, and to take the opportunity of the solemn festivals, so long as tlie 
temple subsisted. The Jewish Christians did not neglect the ordinances of the 
Law. St Paul himself did not neglect them, that he might give no offence to the 
Jews." " I readily assent," says Dr. Lardner, " to what they say about the 
Apostle's going to Jerusalem ; I would almost tliink that St. Paul was desirous to 
go thither, to praise God in his temple for the favorable circumstances of his 
imprisonment at Rome, and for his deliverance from it. St. Paul's case at Rome 
very much resembled what had happened to him at Corinth, after which we find he 
iiad a vow, and went from Corinth to Ephesus, and hastened to Jerusalem, (Acts xviii. 
9, 22.) In like manner I imagine, that now St. Paul went to Jerusalem, as soon as 
he could ; but he made no long stay there. It had not been his custom so to do 
since his conversion. 

" Having been at Jerusalem, I suppose that he visited divers Churches, which 
had been planted by him, and then returned to Rome''."] 



Section IV. — From Jerusalem to Antioch in Syria. 

[From Jerusalem it is probable St. Paul went to Antioch in Syria, he having always 
made this route in his former journeyings. This is Lord Barrington's opinion ; 
but Dr. Lardner thinks he went from Judsea to Ephesus, and there left Timothy, 
whom he had sent for two years before, to come to him from Ephesus to Rome. 
From Ephesus, Dr. Lardner thinks, he went to Laodicea and Colossi, and possibly 
returned to Rome by Troas, Philippi, and Corinth. I have preferred the opinion 
of Lord Barrington.] 



Section V. — From Antioch to Colossi. 



SECT. V. 



[St. Paul had promised Philemon to come to him at Colossi, ver. 22. — "Prepare 
V. JE. 65. me also a lodging ; for I trust, that through your prayers I shall be given unto you." 
J. P. 4778. ■y^e may conclude, therefore, that he visited Coloss6.] 

Colossi. 



SECT. VI. 

V. JE. 65. 
J. P. 4778. 

Pliilippi. 



Section VI. — From Colosse to Philippi. 

[The Philippians had liberally contributed to the support and comfort of St. 
Paul, while he was in prison at Rome, Phil. iv. 15, 16. And we may conclude 
that he would have endeavoured to go round by Philippi to thanlc them, and to 
confirm the Church, as he had expressed his intention of doing, Phil. i. 25. and 
ii. 24. 

Chap. i. ver. 25. — " And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and 
continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith." 

Chap. ii. ver. 24. — " But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly." 

Chap. iv. ver. 15, 16. " Now, ye Philippians, know also, that in the beginning of 
the Gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no Church communicated with me 
as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. 16. For even in Thessalonica ye 
sent once and again unto my necessity."] 



Sect. X.] 



ST. PAUL RETURNS TO ROME. 



385 



Section VII. — From PhilijJjn St. Paul goes to Corinth. 

[We Ivnow that he went to Covintli, for he left there Erastus sick (2 Tim. iv. 20.), 
which he could not do in his first journey to Rome, for then he did not go near 
(/Orinth, as we may justly infer from the account St. Luke gives us of his voyage.] 



Section VIII. — Fro7n Corinth to Troas. ' 

[From Corinth St. Paul goes to Troas, and there leaves his cloak and parchments 
(2 Tim. iv. 13.), for he cannot well be supposed to have left them there in his 
former voyage, when he had the collections to carry with him to Jerusalem ; and 
when he had hired a ship, on purpose to convey him, his things, and companions.] 



Section IX. — From Troas to Mihtum. 

[At what time St. Paul went to Miletum is uncertain. He left there Trophimns 
sick, (2 Tim. iv. 20.) As this is the next place he mentions after saying he had 
been at Troas, we are justified in referring it to the present period.] 



Section X. — From Miletum to Rome. 

[St. Paul now sails to Italy, and goes to Rome, where he finds a very different 
face of affairs from the time of his first being there. The Christian religion was 
now treated not only as a new, but as an impious, superstition, and the Christians 
as abominable people, who deserved to be hated of mankind. Suet. In JVer. c. 16. 
Tacit. Annal, 15, 44. Tliis, perhaps, was owing to the calumnies which the Jews 
spread of them every where, and which, perhaps, also the Gnostics, by this time, 
gave too much countenance to. Therefore St. Paul, as one of the chief of his 
sect, was cast into so close confinement, that Onesiphorus " with difficulty found 
him out," (2 Tim. i. 17.), and was in such danger, that no man stood by him, 
(2 Tim. iv. IG.) However, St. Paul made such an apology for himself and the 
Christian religion, that he was for some time delivered " out of the mouth of the 
lion," and the Christian religion became more fully known, (2 Tim. iv. 17.) During 
his second imprisonment at Rome, he sends Titus (who came hither with him 
from Nicopolis) to Dalmatia (2 Tim. iv. 10.), and after his first and second defence, 
he writes his Second Epistle to Timothy. That Epistle seems to have been directed 
to him in some place, from whence he was to take Ephesus in his way to Rome, 
as may be gathered from chap. iv. 14, 15, and iv. 19., from whence it would not be 
much out of his way to go by Troas to Rome ; as we may collect from ver. 13 ; 
and from whence he might bring Mark with liim, who is said to have been at Jeru- 
salem. I think it is probable that it might be about Lystra, which was Timothy's 
native place, and where possibly St. Paul left him (when he went from Jerusalem 
in his last journey to Rome) to stay with his friends, and be useful to the Churches 
in that neighbourhood. This seems to me the more likely, because he speaks " of 
the faith of his grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice," chap. i. which perhaps 
the thought of the place where he sent his letter might bring to his mind. I think 
thus also, viz. because he mentions his afflictions and persecutions in these coun- 
tries, and no other (chap. ii. 10, 11.), for the very same reason. His persecutions 
elsewhere, and some of which were as severe, or severer, Timothy knew; having 
been his companion in most of his travels since Timothy's conversion. That all 
this was done during St. Paul's second imprisonment at Rome will appear from 
the following considerations : — In the first imprisonment Timothy was a prisoner 
with him, and continued so afler St. Paul's release, (Heb. xiii. 21.) And St. Paul 
joins Timothy with him in three of the epistles he wrote in the first imprisonment ; 
and now Timothy was absent from him, (2 Tim. iv. 9-21.) Besides, in the first 
imprisonment, St. Paul was a prisoner at large in his own hired house ; all persons 
having free access to him, (Acts xxviii. 16-30.) When he wrote this Epistle, he 
was in such close custody, that Onesiphorus with difficulty found him out, (2 Tim. 
i. 17.) 

Finally, in the first imprisonment he writes, that he should soon be enlaro-ed, 
(Philip, i. 25. and ii. 24. Philemon ver. 22.) In this Epistle he tells Timothy that 

VOL. IT. 49 GG 



SECT. VJI. 

V. JE. 65. 
J. P. 4778. 

Corinth. 



SECT. viir. 

V. M. 65. 
J. P. 4778. 

Troas. 



SECT. IX. 

V. IE. 65. 

J. P. 4768. 

Miletunr. 



SECT. X. 

V. M. 65. 
J. P. 4778. 

Rome. 



THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 



[Part XV- 



" he is ready to be offered, and tlie time of his departure is at hand ; " that " he has 
fought the good fight, and finished his course," (2 Tim. iv. 1-8.) ; and though " God 
had delivered him out of the mouth of the lion (Nero or Helius Caesar) at Ms first 
defence," yet he does not add that he will deliver him out of it : but " from every 
evil work, and preserve him unto his heavenly kingdom," (2 Tim. iv. 16-19.), for at 
this time, he says, he had left Erastus in Corinth, and Trophimus sick at Miletum ; 
whereas, he could neither be at Corinth nor Miletum in his first voyage. — Lord 
Harrington's Miscellanea Sacra, vol. i. p. 98. 

" St. Paul," says Dr. Lardner, " though a prisoner, had lived very comfortably at 
Rome, and he there had great success in his services for the Gospel. It seems to 
me, that he now considered that city as the most proper place for him to reside in 
the remaining part of his life. It was the most conspicuous place in all the world, 
and the place of the greatest resort from all parts ; there he hoped to be more use- 
ful than in any other place."] 



SECT. XI. Section XL 

V. M. 65. 
J. P. 4778. 

Rome. 



-St. Paul is imprisoned at Rome in the general Persecu- 
tion by Nero. 

[The reasons which have induced me to conclude with the great majority of 
commentators, that St. Paul was twice, and not once only, imprisoned at Rome, 
are given in the preceding section. It seems probable, from 2 Tim. i. 15-17., tiiat 
the Apostle was imprisoned for some time at Rome during his second residence in 
that city : — 

" This thou knowest, that all they wliich are in Asia turned away from me ; of 
whom are Pliygellus and Hermogenes. 

" The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus ; for he oft refreshed 
me, and was not ashamed of my chain. 

" But when he was in Rome he sought me out very diligently, and found me."] 



SECT. XII. 

V.iE.65or66. 
J. P. 4778 or 9. 

Rome. 

§1- 

X See Note 21. 

a 2 Cor. 1.1. 
b Eph. 3. 6. Tit. 
1. 2. Heb. 9. 15, 
c 1 Tim. 1. 2. 



Section XII. — St. Paul, in the Anticipation of the near approach of 
Death, lurites his Second Epistle to Timothy,'' exhorting him as his 
last request to the faithful Discharge of his Duty, in all times of 
Apostacy, Persecution, and Dissension. 

§ 1. — chap. i. 1, 2. 
St. Paul, in his introduction, asserts his apostoHcal authority, and declares he hopes for 
eternal life through Jesus Christ, not by the Law of Moses. 

^ Paul, "an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according 
to 'the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, ^ to 'Timothy, my dearly 
beloved son ! Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and 
Christ Jesus our Lord ! 



§2. 

a Rom. 1. 8. Eph. 

1. 16. 
i Acts 22. 3. & 

23. 1. & 24. 14. 

& 27. 'Zi. Rom. 

1. 9. Gal. 1. 14. 
c 1 Thess. 1. 2. 

& 3. 10. 



§ 2.— chap. i. 3-12. 
St. Paul thanks God, whom he worships according to the manner of his ancestors, tliat 
he has a constant remembrance of Timothy in his prayers, that he is mindful of liis 
tears at their parting, or, as some suppose, when he was instructed by St. Paul in the 
Christian faith— He thanks God also for Timothy's undissembled faith, which he 
received from his progenitors— He calls upon liim to improve the gifts of the Holy 
Spirit, by exercising it in defence of the Gospel, at all seasonable occasions — For 
Christ having given his faithful followers the spirit of courage and wisdom, he ought 
not to be ashamed of the truth, which is the testimony of Christ; or of St. Paul, his 
prisoner, (as the Judaizing teacliers were,) but become a partaker of the afflictions of 
the Gospel in proportion to the ability given — God, having saved all mankind from 
the ruin of sin, has invited them to become his chosen people, according to his free 
grace and favor, which was ordained from tlie beginning of the world, but is now 
made manifest by Jesus Christ, who hath made death ineffectual, by the eternal life of 
the soul after death, and the incorruption of the body after the resurrection : wliich 
things are illustrated in his own person— His divine appointment to the apostleship, 
that he might instruct the Gentiles in the doctrines of salvation— His past and present 
persecutions on that account have not shaken his faith in Christ. 

3 I "thank God, ''whom I serve from my forefathers with pure con- 
science, (that 'without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my 



Sect. XII.] THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 387 

prayers night and day; ^greatly ''desiring to see thee, being mindful '^ch'*. 9,21. 
of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy ;) ^ when I call to remem- %. 6.""' 
brance 'the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy '''^"''^^•'- 

x-i • £■ 1 Thess 5 19 

grandmother Lois, and ^thy mother Eunice ; and I am persuaded that 1 Tim. 4.' 14. 
in thee also. '' ^°"'- ^- ^^■ 

^ Wherefore I put thee in remembrance ^that thou stir up the gift *ac"s'i. a. 
of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands : '^ for ''God i ^o™- 1- ^^■ 
hath not given us the spirit of fear ; 'but of power, and of love, and Vev.'T.'a.' ^' 
of a sound mind. ^Be^not thou therefore ashamed of *the testimony « Eph. 3. 1. pmi. 
of our Lord, nor of me 'his prisoner: '"but be thou partaker of the ^ 'coi. 1. 24. ch. 
afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God ; ^ who "hath '^■^\ 
saved us, and "called us with a holy calling, ''not according to our \\t. Tk. ' 
works, but 'according to his own purpose and grace, which was given "^ J''!*" j" "*■ '^• 
us in Christ Jesus ""before the world began : ^^ but 'is now made mani- p Kom. 3. 20. & 
fest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, 'who hath abolished ^j^"^ '^''^" ^' 
death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the rRom. le. 25. 
Gospel, ^^ (whereunto "I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, S'tu. i! 2! "'* 
and a teacher of the Gentiles ;) ^^ for "the which cause I also suffer ^ p«'- i- ^o- 
these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed; "for I know whom I ^Epha.g.'coi.i. 
have *believed, and am persuaded that He is able to "^keep that which 1 pet."i.^2o." 
I have committed unto Him ^against that day. « icor.15. 54, 

D -' 55. Heb. 2. 14. 

u Acts 9. 15. 

<5 3.— chap. i. 13, to the end, and ii. 1-7. Eph. 3. 7, 8. 

_, ^ , , . . 1 Tim. 2. 7. ch. 

St. Paul exhorts Timothy, in the midst of dangei-s and oppositions, firmly to hold fast the 4. 17. 

plan of salvation whicii he had received from him through faith, and love of Cln-ist; ^ Epii. 3. 1. ch, 

. .29 

and to keep the Gospel, which is deposited with him, pure, from all false doctrine, by i p . 4 19 

the Holy Spirit within him— He shows the necessity of steadfastness in the faith, by * or trusted. 

mentioning the defection of many Asiatic Christians, on account of his disgrace and x 1 Tim. 6. 20. 

suffering (chap. iv. 16.) — The Apostle prays that Onesiphorus, who still acknowl- y ver. 18. ch. 4. 

edged him and ministered to him in his prison, might be rewarded for his kindness, °" 

and that he may find mercy in the Lord Jesus in the day of judgment — The Apostle 

exhorts Timothy also to be strong in grace, and to commit those truths which he had 

received from St. Paul, and which had been confirmed by many witnesses, to men of c q 

approved fidelity, who, after his departure, may be able to teach others also — Like a 

true soldier, he is to keep himself unencumbered by secular occupations, that he may -[_ q\ fjgj,' ]q_ ' 

be devoted to the service of Christ ; for if any man contend in the public games, he is 23. Rev. 2. 25. 

not crowned unless he strive according to the prescribed rules — The husbandman *„^°™' ^' ^"^ ^ 

must first labor before he can partake of the fruits of the earth ; so also must the ^ j y^^ l 10 & 

Christian minister fulfil his functions in the manner appointed by Christ, and labor in 6. 3. 

his spiritual vineyard before he receives the promised reward — The Apostle desires "^ ''^- ^- ^■ 

him seriously to consider these things, and prays tliat the Lord will give him under- ' , r.,'™" „"„„' 

,..,,,.. a > r J a yi Tim. 6. 20. 

standmg m all religious matters. Rom. 8. 11. 

^^HoLD "fast 'the form of "sound words, ''which thou ha.st heard of '« Actsio. lo. 
me, 'in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus : ^"^ that ^good thing ] \i^^^_ 5, 7, 
which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost "'which dwell- k ch. 4. 19. 
eth in us. ^^ This thou knowest, that ''all they which are in Asia be ' i''"'<'™°° '''• 
'turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. nActs28. 20. 
^•^The Lord ■'give mercy unto *the house of Onesiphorus ; 'for he oft o^M^tt'£%i-4o. 
refreshed me, and ""was not ashamed of "my chain : ^'^ but, when he p 2 Thess. 1. 10. 
was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me ; ^^ (the Ju^h.'s. 10. 
Lord grant unto him "that he may find mercy of the Lord ''in that r iTim. 1.2. ch. 
day !) and in hov*? many things he 'ministered unto me at Ephesus, ^ EpJ,. e. 10. 
thou knowest very well. «ch. 1. 13. &3. 

cii'p- ii. 1. 1 Thou, therefore, 'my son, "be strong in the grace that is * or, by. 

in Christ Jesus ; ^ and 'the things that thou hast heard of « 1 Tim. 1. is. 
me *among many witnesses, "the same commit thou to faithful men, Vit.'hk '"" 
who shall be "able to teach others^ also. ^ Thou "^ therefore endure y ^^<= ^"'^ ^^• 
hardness, ""as a goc»:l soldier of Jesus Christ. ^ No '■'man that warreth 's.*^ ' ' ' 
entangleth himself with the affairs of this life ; that he may please him ^ ^V"'a'^?' 
who hath chosen him to be a soldier. ^ And ~if a man also strive for . icor.9.s5,26 



388 



THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. [Part XV, 



^°nkILV"«"or- masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. '^ tThe hus- 
tar&oflhe''^ bandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits. '^Consider 
/™'««- what I say ; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things ! 



§4. 

a Rom. 1. 3, 4. 

Acts 2..30. & 13. 

23. 
h I Cor. 15. 1, 4, 

20. 
c Rom. 2. 16. 
d Acts 9. 16. ch. 

1. 12. 
e Eph. 3. 1. Phil. 

1. 7. Col. 4. 3, 

18. 
/ Acts 28. 31. 

Eph. 6. 19, 20. 

Phil. 1. 13, 14. 
g Eph. 3. 13. 

Col. 1. 24. 
h 2 Cor. 1. 6. 
i 1 Tim. 1. 15. 
j Rom. 6. 5, 8. 

2 Cor. 4. 10. 
k Rom. 8. 17. 

] Pet. 4. 13. 
I Matt. 10. 33. 

Mark 8. 38. 

Luke 12. 9. 
m Rom. 3. 3. & 

9.6. 
n Num. 23. 19. 



§ 4.— chap. ii. 8-13. 
The Apostle desires Timothy to remember that the fundamental doctrine on which the 
Gospel is founded is the resurrection of Jesus in his human form from the dead, con- 
trary to that taught by HymenjBus and Philetus, who preached a figurative resurrec- 
tion only (ver. 18.) — He is now suffering as a malefactor, in bonds, on account of the 
Gospel ; but as his enemies cannot bind the Gospel, he patiently endures all things 
for the sake of the Gentiles, that they may also obtain the blessings of salvation ; for 
it is certain that those who die with Christ in the flesh will also live with him in 
glory : that those who suffer with him will reign with him ; but those who through 
fear deny him, he will deny also at the day of judgment — For though man may be 
unfaithful, God remains faithful to all his promises and threatenings, and cannot act 
contrary to himself. 

^ Remember that Jesus Christ "of the seed of David 'was raised from 
the dead ''according to my Gospel : ^ wherein ''I suffer trouble, as an 
evil-doer, "even unto bonds : ■'^but the word of God is not bound. 
^•^ Therefore °'I endure all things for the elect's sakes, ''that they may 
also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 
^^ It 'is a faithful saying. For ^if we be dead with him, we shall also 
live with him: ^^if'we suffer, we shall also reign with him: 'if we 
deny him, he also will deny us : ^^ if ""we believe not, yet he abideth 
faithful : "he cannot deny himself. 



§5 

a 1 Tim. 5. 21. & 
6. 13. ch. 4. 1. 

h 1 Tim. 1. 4. & 
6. 4. Tit. 3. 9, 
11. 



c 1 Tim. 4. 7. & 
e. 20. Tit. 1. 14. 



* Or, gangrene, 
d I Tim. 1. 20. 
e 1 Tim. 6. 21. 
/ 1 Cor. 15. 12. 
g Matt. 24. 24. 

Rom. 8. 35. 

1 John 2. 19. 
t Or, steady. 
h Nah. 1. 7. 

John 10. 14, 27. 

See Num. 16. 5. 
i ITim. 3. 15. 
j Rom. 9.21. 
k See Is. 52. 11. 
I ch. 3. 17. Tit. 3. 

1. 



§ 5. — chap. ii. 14-21. 
The Apostle commands Timothy to put the Ephesians in mind of these great motives to 
faithfulness, charging them, as in the presence of Christ, not to contend about words, 
to become himself a workman approved of God, seasonably distributing the word of 
truth, resisting all profane and empty declamations which lead to greater impiety, 
destroying the soul as a gangrene destroys the body — Such are the doctrines of Hy- 
menaeus and Philetus, who have greatly erred from the truth, asserting that the resur- 
rection was accomplished when men believed — Notwithstanding these defections, the 
Church of God being built on the foundation of the apostles (Eph. ii. 20.), their 
authority stands firm, having this inscription engraven on it (Num. xvi. 5, 26.), imply- 
ing it was as necessary for the safety of the Ephesians to depart from such iniquitous 
teachers, as it was for the Israelites to go from the tents of Korah and his companions, 
if they would avoid their punishment — In a great man's house there are vessels of 
gold and silver, and wood and earthen ware ; some to honorable, some to a dishonorable 
use; so in the House or Church of God, there are teachers of different characters, 
some engaged in the honorable work of the ministry, others in the dishonorable one 
of leading men into error — He who cleanses himself from such debasement will 
become a vessel of honor, consecrated and profitable to God's use, who is Head of tlie 
Christian Church. 

1' Or these things put them in remembrance, "charging them before 
the Lord 'that they strive not about words to no profit, hut to the 
subverting of the hearers. ^^ Study to show thyself approved unto 
God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing 
the word of truth. ^^ But "shun profane and vain babblings ; for they 
will increase unto more ungodliness, ^'' and their word will eat as 
doth a *canker : of whom is ''Hymenaeus and Philetus ; ^^ who ^con- 
cerning the truth have erred, -^saying, " That the Resurrection is 
past already ; " and overthrow the faith of some. ^^ Nevertheless 
^the foundation of God standeth tsure, having this seal, " The Lord 
''knoweth them that are his." And, " Let every one that nameth the 
name [of Christ] depart from iniquity." ^° But 'in a great house there 
are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of 
earth ; ^and some to honor, and some to dishonor. ^^ If *'a man there- 
fore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanc- 
tified, and meet for the master's use, and 'prepared unto every good 
work. 



§7. 



Sect. XII.] THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 389 

§ 6. — chap. ii. 22, to the end. 
That Timothy might hecome a vessel consecrated to the use of God, St. Paul admon- 
ishes Iiim to refrain from all youthful passions, the lust of ambition and power, and 
diligently to pursue righteousness, fidelity, love to God and man, and peace with all, 
particularly those who liave a pure desire to glorify God's name — to reject the foolish 
notions and practices of the Judaizers — To use no violent methods, to be gentle, prac- c r. 

tising the virtues lie recommends — in meekness instructing opposers, if by God's 
grace they may be brought to the acknowledgment of the truth— Being taken alive j ^'^"^'^14'^' 
by the servant of God from the snares of the Devil, the errors and sensuality of the iCor. 1. 9.' 
Judaizers, that they may be preserved from destruction, and awake from the intoxica- c 1 Tim. 1. 5. & 

tion of sin, that they may see their danger, and know and do the will of God. , ; ^2,: , ^ „ 

' •' -' o ' ^ I Tim. 1. 4. Sl 

^^Flee also youthful lusts : but "follow righteousness, faith, charity, I'J-f^Wi 3 

peace, with them that ''call on the Lord ""out of a pure heart. ^^ But 9- 

''foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender fJ'Tim.%2 3. 

strifes : ~* and 'the servant of the Lord must not strive ; but be gentle Tit- 3.9. 

unto all men, ■'^apt to teach, *patient, ~^ in "meekness instructing those „ qI("1 j"'''"°' 

that oppose themselves; ''if God peradventure will give them repentance "{J™-^-^^ 

ho the acknowledging of the truth ; ~^ and that they may trecover h Acts s. 22. 

themselves ■'out of the snare of the Devil, who are ttaken captive by '„^ T™•.p^*:''''• 
, . , . .,, i .* J. 7. lit. 1. 1. 
hnn at his will. t gi-. awake. 

j 1 Tim. 3. 7. 

§ 7.— chap. iii. 1-5. i ^'- '"''"' "'''■'• 

The Apostle here alludes to the grand apostacy predicted (2 Tliess. ii. 3-12. 1 Tim. iv. 

1-5.), and describes the pernicious influence of corrupt doctrines on the morals and 
hearts of men. 

^ This know also, that "in the last days perilous times shall come. 4. s.'-Tpet. iV.' 
2 For men shall be ''lovers of their own selves, ^covetous, ''boasters, jJdt'is!' ^^" 
'proud, -^blasphemers, ^disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, * ^^''^- 2- 21. 
^without ''natural affection, *truce-breakers, *false accusers, ■'inconti- ^judVio! 
nent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, * traitors, ''heady, e 1 Tim. 6.4. 
high-minded, 'lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God ; ^ having ^ipiTo]'^,' 
a form of godhness, but '"denying the power thereof. "From such ^'"^° ^°- 

i^ > , J ^ i „ Rom. 1. 30. 

turn away. a ro,„. 1. 31. 

i Rom. 1. 31. 

§ Q.—chap. iii. 6-9. * °[; '^^f^'^^'''- 

St. Paul describes the character of the Judaizing teachers, who by their doctrines were j 2 Pet. 3. 3. 

preparing the way for this apostacy, and compares them to Jannes and Jambres, two k 2 Pet. 9. 10. 

of Pharaoh's principal magicians, who opposed Moses by false miracles (Exod. vii. 10- L^ij''' ^^ ^h . 

22.), in the same way as the former did the Gospel — But the Apostle predicts they Jude4,~i9. ' 

shall not be permitted to prevail, or to proceed much further, for their folly, or impos- m 1 Tim. 5. 8. 

ture, shall become as evident as that of the magicians of Eo-ypt. '^'''' ^' ^''• 

. . ° 71 2 TI1CS9. 3. 6. 

^ For "of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead cap- iTim. e.'s.' 

tive silly women, laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ^ ever 

learning, and never able 'to come to the knowledge of the truth. ^ Now 
""as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the ^ ' 

truth: ''men of corrupt minds, *reprobate concerning the faith. ^ But "Tit^^i.'ii.' 
they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto *i Tim. 2.4. 
all men, 'as theirs also was. ^ ^^/^ ^' ^ 

* Or, of no }adg~ 

§ 9.— chap. iii. 10, to the end. 28™2 cJ^Ts. 5. 

The Apostle, having shown the character of the wicked Judaizers, declares liis own Tit. 1. 16. 
example and doctrine, by which the true doctrine may be as easily ascertained, as in *i?''^^n ■*?; ^ 
the preceding case of Moses and the magicians — He mentions his persecutions and 
dangers (Acts xiii. 50-52.; xiv. 5, 6, 19-21.), from which he had been miraculously 
preserved ; and asserts that all in the apostolic age, who live according to the pure 
Christian doctrine, v/ill be persecuted — The false teachers will escape by living 
ungodly, increasing in wickedness, deceiving others and themselves willingly — Tim- 
othy is entreated to adhere steadfastly to the Christian doctrines, knowing that he has 
been instructed in them by an inspired Apostle, and from his earliest infancy had 
been acquainted with the writings of Moses and the Prophets (Matt. xxii. 29. John v. 
39. X. 35.), which, typifying and predicting the great truths of the Gospel, were able 
to make him wise unto salvation, by confirming him in the faith of Jesus Christ — For 
VOL. II. - GG'*' 



390 



THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 



[Part XV. 



§ 9. 

* Or, thou hast 

been a diligent 

follower of. 

Phil. 2. 23. 

1 Tim. 4. 6. 
a Acts 13. 45, 50. 
b Acts 14. 2, 5. 
c Acts 14. 19, &c. 
(I Ps. 34. 19. 

9 Cor. ]. 10. ch. 

4.7. 
e Ps. 34. 19. Acts 

14. 22. Matt. 16. 

24. Josh. 17. 14. 

1 Cor. 15. 19. 

1 Thess. 3. 3. 
/ 2 Thess. 2. 11. 

1 Tim. 4. 1. ch. 

2. 16. 
g ch. 1. 13. & 2. 

h John 5. 39. 
i 2 Pet. 1. 20, 21. 
j Kom. 15. 4. 
S: 1 Tim. 6. 11. 
f Or, perfected. 
ch. 2. 21. 



the Old Testament is divinely revealed, profitable for teaching the doctrines of tlie 
Gospel, for confuting those who should deny them, for correcting erroneous opinions, 
and for instructing mankind in the nature of the Gospel dispensation (Luke xxiv. 27. 
John V. 39-46.) — The Christian minister is made perfect m his religious knowledge 
and duties, and qualified for his important office of teaching, by rightly understand- 
ing the Jewish Scriptures. 

10 gp.j, *thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, pur- 
pose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, ^^ persecutions, afflictions, 
which came unto me "at Antioch, 'at Iconium, 'at Lystra ; what perse- 
cutions I endured : but ''out of them all the Lord delivered me. ^^ Yea, 
and 'all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 

^^ But -^evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving 
and being deceived. ^^ But 'continue thou in the things which thou 
hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast 
learned them; ^^and that from a child thou hast known ''the Holy 
Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through 
faith which is in Christ Jesus. ^'^ All 'Scripture is given by inspiration 
of God,^and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
instruction in righteousness : ^'^ that *the man of God may be perfect, 
tthroughly furnished unto all good works. 



§ 10. 

a 1 Tim. 5.21. & 

6. 13. ch. 2. 14. 
4 Acts 10. 42. 

c 1 Tim. 5. 20. 

Tit. 1. 13. & 2. 

15. 
d 1 Tim. i. 13. 
e ch. 3. 1. 
/ 1 Tim. 1. 10. 
g ch. 3. 6. 
h 1 Tim. 1. 4. & 

4. 7. Tit. 1. 14. 
i ch. 1. 8. & 2. 3. 
j Acts 21. 8. Eph. 

4. 11. 
* Or fulfil, 

Rom. 15. 19. 

Col. 1. 25. & 4. 

17. 
k Phil. 2. 17. 
I Phil. 1. 23. See 

2 Pet. 1. 14. 
m 1 Cor. 9. 24, 

2.";. Phi). 3. 14. 

1 Tim. 6. 12. 

Ilob. 12. 1. 
n 1 Cor. 9. 25. 

Jam. 1. 12. 

1 Pet. 5. 4. Rev. 

2. 10. 
ch. 1. 12. 



10.— chap. iv. 1-8. 
The Apostle, having reminded Timothy of the great advantages he enjoyed, and the 
duties of the Christian minister, charges him in the presence of God, and as he hopes 
to appear before the tribunal of Jesus Christ, to be diligent and faithful in his office — 
to proclaim the doctrine of Christ crucified, at all times and seasons ; patiently con- 
futing, rebuking, and comforting, as occasion requires — for in the time of the apostacy 
they will not endure the practical truths of the Gospel, but will multiply to them- 
selves teachers after their own desires and lusts, turning from the Christian doctrines, 
to listen to fables and delusions — St. Paul entreats Timothy to be vigilant in opposing 
the beginnings of these corruptions — Patiently to submit to persecution, and faith- 
fully to discharge all the duties of his ministry, as he himself is soon to be put to 
death (Philip, ii. ]~.) — He is not discouraged, for he has kept the faith of Christ 
uncorrupted, and expresses his strong confidence that he shall receive the glorious 
reward at the day of judgment. 

^ I "charge thee [therefore] before God, and [the Lord] Jesus 
Christ, 'who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and 
his kingdom ; ^ preach the word ; be instant in season, out of season ; 
reprove, ""rebuke, ''exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. ^ For 
"the time will come when they will not endure •'sound doctrine ; ^but 
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having 
itching ears ; ^ and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and 
''shall be turned unto fables. ^ But watch thou in all things, 'endure 
afflictions, do the work of 'an evangelist, *make full proof of thy 
ministry. 

^ For 'I am now ready to be offered, and the time of 'my departure 
is at hand. '' I "have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I 
have kept the faith : ^ henceforth there is laid up for me "a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me 
"at that day ; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love 
his appearing. 

§ 11. — chap. iv. 9-15. 

The Apostle desires Timothy to come to him, accompanied by Mark the Evangelist — 
perhaps that they may witness his death, and be confirmed in the faith — He shows 
that he is now left with only Luke, as Demas hath forsaken him in his extremity, 
from the fear of persecution — He sends Tychicus to Ephesus, to release Timothy, and 
desires him to call at Troas — He mentions the opposition of Alexander the copper- 
smith (Acts xix. 33.), and cautions Timothy against him, as a constant and incorri- 
gible opposer of Christianity (1 Tim. i. 20.) 



Sect. XIIL] THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 391 

^ Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me : ^° for "Demas hath for- § U- 
saken me, 'having loved this present world, and is departed unto a coi. 4. 15. 
Thessalonica ; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. ^^ Only ^Luke j ^ 'iZl\. 15. 
is with me. Take ''Mark, and bring him with thee : for he is profit- c see ch. 1. 15. 
able to me for the ministry. ^^ And "Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. pMiemonk. 
^^ The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest. bring i Acts 12. 25. & 

^ 15 37 Col 4 

with thee, and the books, hut especially the parchments. ^^ Alexander io. ' 
■^the coppersmith did me much evil ; 'the Lord reward him according ^^fg^coi^^?^" 
to his works : ^^of whom be thou ware also, for he hath greatly with- Tit.s. 12! 
stood *our words. •^iTimi' i'. 20. 

g 2 Sam. 3. 39. 

§ \2.—c}iap. iv. 16-18. g; f- ^- ^^"• 

The Apostle acquaints Timothy that in his first defence he was forsaken hy his fellow- * or, our preach- 
laborers through fear — He prays for their forgiveness — but the Lord stood by him, ings- 
and strengthened him (Luke xxi. 15.) that the Gospel might be fully known, and that 

all the Gentiles might hear the boldness with which their privileges had been 

asserted — He was dehvered from that great danger (Psalm sxii. 21.) — He does not 
expect to be delivered on the present occasion — but he feels assured he shall be pre- 
served from betraying his faith and constancy, and that the Lord will bring liim into 
his heavenly kingdom — His doxology is addressed to the Lord Jesus, as a Divine c i.-> 

Being. 

^^ At my first answer no man stood with me, "but all men forsook j Acts 7. co. 
me ; (^I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge !) ^'^ notwith- '^]^'^l^^\ ^^^ 
standing 'the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me ; ''that by me 27. 23. ' 
the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might ''2^''j7,V.^e^i 
hear : and I was delivered 'out of the mouth of the Lion. ^^ And -^the 3. 8. 
Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto ^2Pet72. 9.' 
his heavenly kingdom : ° to whom be glory for ever and ever ! Amen, f ^^- ^~^- ''• 

Ga]. ]. .5. Heb. 

§ 13. — chap. iv. 19, to the etid. 

The Apostle sends his salutations, and repeats his desire that Timothy should come to 

him speedUy — He prays that Jesus Christ may be with his spirit, and ends with his r 10 

usual benediction. 

a Acts 18.9. 

^^ Salute "Prisca and xlquila, and the 'household of Onesiphorus. Kom. le. 3. 
^oErastus 'abode at Corinth: but ''Trophimus have I left at Miletum ^^Tim. j.ie. 
sick. 21 Do 'thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus greeteth ''Kom!]6.'23.' 
thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren. ^~The "^ •^'^'^ ^°- ^- *" 
'Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you ! Amen. ^ ^g, 9 
[[The Second Epistle unto Timotheus, ordained the first bishop of / oai. 6. is. _ 
the Church of tlie Ephesians, was written from Rome, when Paul /g" "^arj^ero 
was brought before "^Nero the second time.Tl or, the Emperor 



[exd of the second epistle to timothy.] 



J^ero. 



Section XIIL — St. Peter writes his first Epistle'^ to the Jexos, icho, in 
the time of Persecution, had taTcen Refuge in the heathen Countries 
mentioned in the Inscription ; and also to the Gentile Converts, to 
encourage them to suffer cheerfully for their Religion, and to enforce 
upon them the JSecessity of leading a holy and blameless Life, that 
they may put to shame the Calumnies of their Adversaries. 

THE FIPv,ST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 



SECT. XIII. 



V. ^. 65ort> 
J. P. 4778 or 9 

Home. 



§ 1. — chap. i. 1, 2. 
The Apostle's address and benediction to the Jews and Gentiles, who were elected ac- 
cording to the foreknowledge of God, revealed by the prophets, to become, through 
the influences of the Holy Spirit, obedient to the Gospel, whereby they are made par- t 1 

takers of all the blessings which proceed from the atoning blood of Christ. ^ „ 

- '^ => z See ^ote 23. 

^ Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers "scattered a John 7._a5. 
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, -elect JamVui'. ' 



392 THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. [Part XV. 



b Bom. 8. 29. & 
11. -2. Eph. 1. 4, 
ch. 2. 9. 

c 2 Tliess. 2. 13, 



''according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, 'through sanctifi- 
cation of the Spirit, unto obedience and ''sprinkhng of the blood of 
"d He'rio! 22.'& Jesus Christ ! "grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied ! 

12. 24. 

% pLT.' l 2.' § 2.— chap. i. 3-12. 

Jude2. The Apostle blesses God for the spiritual birth of the Jews and Gentile.s to a hope of life 
after death, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, tliat they might partake of an 
inheritance not to be destroyed — In the hope of this salvation they should greatly re- 
joice, though grieved with various afflictions, which are necessary for the proving of 
^ ■ their faith, the trial of which was more profitable than that of gold, as it procures for 
a 9 Cor. 1. 3. them everlasting glory and praise at the coming of Jesus Christ, in whom, thouo-h not 
' . ' ' ' seen, they greatly rejoice as a Saviour, knowing that they shall receive from him the re- 
^ „ ' " ' ward of their faith — the salvation of their souls ; which salvation the prophets predicted, 
c Jolin 3. 3 5. diligently searching to ascertain the period of time and people referred to by the Spirit of 
Jam. 1. 18. God, which testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and the glories and blessings 
''i '■Ti'"' ''a ^Td which should attend them — To whom also the Holy Spirit revealed that it was not to 
ch. 3. 21. ' ' themselves, but to a people of a future time, that they ministered the things now declared 
e ch. 5t 4. to the world by the apostles, who were endowed for that purpose by the same Holy 
/ Col. 1. 5. Spirit, which mysteries the angels, as well as men, desire to contemplate, Exod. xxv. 20. 

tor"/J)Ms. ^Blessed "be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which 

^ John 10. 98, 'according to his *abundant mercy '"hath begotten us again unto a 

is! Jude'i. ' "' lively hope ''by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ^ to an 
'' Ma"-|-i|. inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, "and that fadeth not away, 

2. Cor. 6. lo'. ch. ■''reserved in heaven tfor you, ^who ^are kept by the power of God 
i 2 Cor. 4. 17. through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time : 

ch. 5. 10. 6 wherein ''ye greatly rejoice, though now 'for a season, (if need be,) ■'ye 

i Jam. 1.3J12. are in heaviness through manifold temptations ; " that '"the trial of your 

'=''-^-^2- faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though 

66. 10. Pro'v. iV. 'it be tried with fire, ""might be found unto praise and honor and glory 

o T ^Q -ij-. ^ ' CD ^ I ^ CD J 

zech. 13. 9.' at the appearing of Jesus Christ — ® whom "having not seen, ye love ; 

^r"'^ ^9^7 10 "''^ whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice Vi'ith 

1 Cor. 4. 5.' joy unspeakable and full of glory ; ^ receiving ^the end of your faith, 

n 1 John 4. 20. ^veji the salvation of your souls. ^^ Of 'which salvation the prophets 

John 20. 29. have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace 

Heb. 11.' 1,27. that should come unto you : ^^ searching what, or what manner of time 

p Rom. 6. 32. '■ji-Kg Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified 

'Dan?2. 44. Hag. bcforchand "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow : 

%l[^lfyii'. ^^' ^^ unto 'whom it was revealed, that "not unto themselves, but unto 

2Pet.hi9'2o '^s they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you 

21- ' ' by them that have preached the Gospel unto you with "the Holy Ghost 

Vpet.'i.'sii. sent down from heaven ; '"which things the angels desire to look into. 

s Ps. 22. 6. I8. 

53.3,&c. Uan. 1 o 01 

9. 26. Luke 94. § 3. — chap. 1. 13-21. 

Joiin 19. 41. ' The Apostle calls upon them, from the consideration of the blessings obtained by the 

Acts 96. 22, 23. sufferings of Christ, to take courage under all their trials, supported to the end of their 

*l2''q' %"'^' ^ \\-ves by the hope of eternal life, promised them at the day of the revelation of Cluist, 

u lieb. 11. 13 39 avoiding the lusts practised by them in their unconverted state, and imitating the holi- 

40. ness of God, who has called them to be his children, as it is written by Moses (Lev. 

V Acts 9. 4. j-ix. 2. 1 Pet. V. 10. ii. 21. and iii. 9.) — And as every man will be judged according to 

^i^n'.S^lx'sc ]9. his individual works, without distinction of persons, they are admonished to pass the 

5, 6.' Eph. 3. 10. time of their sojourning on earth in religious fear, and so much the more, as they were 

delivered from the hereditary superstitions and traditions, or vicious rites of worship, 

they had received from their fathers, by the blood of Christ, as of a sin offering, without 

5 ^' blemish, appointed in the divine purpose before the foundation of the world, and typified 

°jp»''® 1^^'35- by the legal sacrifice; but was made manifest in the last, or the Gospel dispensation, 

Lukegi.M. to the Gentiles also ; who, through faith in the divine mercy, displayed in this sacrifice 

Kom. 33. 13. of Christ, believe in God, who raised him from the dead, and exalted him to celestial 

ch'!'4? 7.' & .5.' 8.' glory, that their faith being established in the fulfilment of God's promises, their hope 

* Gr. perfectly. of eternal glory through Christ might be in God. 

'I'cor! h 7.^"' ^^ Wherefore "gird up the loins of your mind, ''be sober, and hope 

2Thess.'i."7. «to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you "at the reve- 
ri^E^om. 12. 2. ch. j^^.^^ ^^ j^g^^^ Christ. '* As obedient children, "not fashioning your- 



Sect. XIII.] THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 393 

selves according to the former lusts 'in your ignorance : ^^' but ■''as He ''i^'','^3"'/''5 
which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conver- /Luke 1.74,75. 
sation ; ^^ because it is "'written, " Be ye holy ; for I am holy." ^'' And ? Thesli 4. 3, 4, 
if ye call on the Father, ''who without respect of persons judgeth ac- l'^Ji%!ii}*' 
cording to every man's work, 'pass the time of your ^sojourning here in g Lev. 11. 44. & 
fear : i** forasmuch as ye know *that ye were not redeemed with cor- ^ ceut. 10. 17. 
ruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation 're- e"„'/2'i^' 
ceived by tradition from your fathers ; ^^ but '"with the precious blood i 2 cor. 7. 1. 
of Christ, "as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: ^"who la.'as.' 
"verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but -^ |e*b?iL'i3. ch. 
was manifest ''in these last times for you, ^^ who by him do believe in /ie^ 6 20 & 
God: 'that raised him up from the dead, and '^gave him glory; that '-^a. 

I , ■ o o J ? 2 Ezek 20 18 

your faith and hope might be in God. ch. 4.3. ' 

•^ 10 m Acts 20. 28. 

-- Eph. 1.7. Heb. 

§ 4:.— chap. i. 22, to the end. f 12, i4. Rev. 

The Apostle exhorts those who have their hearts purified from fleshly lusts by believing m Ex. 12. 5. Is. 

in Christ Jesus, to love one another, not in deceitful forms and expressions, but with a 3g] j cor 5 7 

pure heart, unmixed witli carnal passions, as brethren born again, not by virtue of any o Rom. 3. a.'i. & 

descent from human parents, but by a divine and heavenly principle, the doctrine of 3 'g^^'i co^''i 

the livino- God, which remains for ever. 26. a Tim. 1. 9, 

. 10. Tit. 1. 2 3. 

~- Seeing ye "have purified your souls in obeying the truth through Rev. 13. 8."' 
the Spirit unto unfeigned 'love of the brethren, see that ye love one 1.10! Heb. 12. 
another with a pure heart fervently ; ~^ being 'born again, not of cor- ^^ck^l'. 24. 
ruptible seed, but of incorruptible, ''by the word of God, which liveth *■ *^^^^ ~^* ^'^■ 
and abideth [for everj. 2* *For, — 

" All 'flesh is as grass, § 4. 

And all the glory of man as the flower of grass. " Rom.''i2.% 10. 

The grass withereth, and the flower [thereof] falleth away: it^'^^Vs^' 

-^ But ■''the word of the Lord endureth for ever." Heb. 13. 1. ch. 

2. 17. & 3. 8. & 

^And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you. t'^oht s.^is^'J" 

4. 7, 21. ' 

§ 5.-chap. n. 1-10. c^Johm. 13. & 

The Apostle exhorts them to lay aside all the evil dispositions of their former nature, '^j^j^' \' q^' 
and, as infants born again by divine grace, earnestly to desire the unadulterated milk * or For that. 
of the Gospel, that their regenerated nature may be nourished to maturity, seeing they e Ps. 103. 15. Is. 
have already tasted the goodness and excellency of the Lord in their second or spiritual ^"^ ^'^?}' ^^' 
birth (Ps. xxxiv. 8.) — To whom coming, by faith, as to a living Foundation-stone, they / Ps.'i02. 12, 26. 
are built upon him, partaking of his life, so as to make a spiritual temple, forming a J^- '{^- ^- I^uke 
company of priests (Exod. xix. 6. Rev. i. 6.), appointed to offer sacrifices of prayer and g j'olm'l. 1, 14. 
praise through Christ, according to Isaiah (xxviii. 16.), who has declared that in Sion a ^ •'''''" ■'• ^1 ^■ 

chief Corner-stone should be laid, chosen and honorable, for the foundation of the New 

Temple of God, uniting the two sides of the building, botli Jews and Gentiles, in one § 5. 

Church (Eph. ii. 21.) — Those who believe belong to this building; but to the disobe- a Epli. 4. 22,25, 
dient it is written (Psalm cxviii. 22.), that this rejected Foundation-stone is become t/'i^in^V ^j 
the head of the corner of God's New Temple, and a stone of stumbling to those who 1. 21. & 5. 9. 
believe not in Christ, against which they shall fall, and be broken, as predicted by ."'^j *:~jg , 
Isaiah (viii. 14, 15.) — The Apostle describes the high privileges of Christians, by the titles Mark 10. 15. 
formerly given to the Jewish Church, to all who were taken into covenant with God. ^°^' \i'zQ 

^ Wherefore "laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, J^\'^^^^\ g 
and envies, and all evil-speakings, ^ as 'new-born babes, desire the wei'- s- 12, 13. 

c ■^^ e ,^ ■, ^ ■, ^ , , o -^ i rf Ps. 34. 8. Heb. 

Sincere milk 01 the word, that ye may grow thereby: •^11 so be ye 6.5. 
have ''tasted that the Lord is gracious. '^ To whom coming, as unto a ^Matt. 21. 42. 
Living Stone, 'disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, ajid /^'p'h.'*2.''2i 22. 
precious, ^ ye ■''also, as lively stones, *are built up °a spiritual house, ''a * or, be ye buut. 
holy priesthood, to offer up 'spiritual sacrifices, ^acceptable to God by f Sfci.^g.^ ee. 
Jesus Christ. ^ 'Wherefore also it is contained in the ''Scripture, — t hos "14^2 Mai 

• c^• 1. n.Eom.'l2.1." 

" Behold, 1 lay in Sion .Heb. 13. 15, le. 

A chief Corner-stone, elect, precious: "'nl'' 

And he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded." 'Rom.^9.^33. 

VOL. II. 50 



394 



THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. [Part XV. 



t Or, an honor. 

1 Ps. 118. 22. 
Matt. 91. 42. 
Acts 4. 11. 

m Is. 8. 14. 

Luke 2. 34. 

Eoin. 9. 33. 
n 1 Cor. 1. 23. 
e Ex. 9. 16. Kom. 

9. 22. 1 Thess. 

5. 9. Jude 4. 
p Deut. 10. 15. 

ch. 1.2. 
q Ex. 19. 5, 6. 

Kev. 1.6. & 5.10. 
r John 17. 19. 

1 Cor. 3. 17. 

2 Tim. 1. 9. 

X Or, a purchased 
people. 

s Deut. 4. 20. & 
7. 6. & 14. 2. & 
26. 18, 19. Acts 
20. 28. Eph. 1. 

14. Tit. 2. 14. 

* Or, virtues. 
t Acts 26. 18. 

Epli. 5. 8. Col. 

1. 13. 1 Thess. 
5. 4, 5. 

u Hos. 1.9,]0.& 

2. 23. Rom. 9. 
25. 

§ G. 

a 1 Cliron. 29. 

15. Ps. 39. 
12. & 119. 19. 
Heb. 11. 13. ch. 
1. 17. 

h Pvom. 13. 14. 

Gal. 5. 16. 
c Jam. 4. 1. 
d Rom. 12. 17. 

2 Cor. 8. 21. 
Phil. 2. 15. 
Tit. 2. 8. ch. 3. 
16. 

* Or, lohcrcin. 
e Matt. 5. 16. 
/ Luke 19. 44. 
g Matt. 22. 21. 

Rom. 13. 1. Tit. 

3. 1. 

ft Rom. 13. 4. 
i Rom. 13. 3. 
j Tit. 2.8. vcr.12. 
k Gal. 5. 1, 13. 
f Gr. having. 
I 1 Cor. 7. 22. 
J Or, Esteem. 

Rom. 12. 10. 

Phil. 2. 3. 
m Heb. 13. 1. ch. 

1.22. 
n Prov. 24. 21. 

Matt. 22. 21. 

Rom. 13. 7. 



'' Unto you therefore which beheve he is tprecious : but unto them 
which be disobedient, ('the Stone which the builders disallowed, the 
same is made the head of the corner,) ^ and ""a stone of stumbling, 
and a rock of offence : "even to them which stumble at the word, 
being disobedient ; "whereunto also they were appointed. ^ But ye are 
^a chosen generation, 'a royal priesthood, "^a holy nation, ta "peculiar 
people ; that ye should show forth the *praises of Him who hath called 
you out of 'darkness into his marvellous light ; ^^ which "in time past 
were not a people, but are now the people of God ; which had not 
obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 



§ Q.—clmp. ii. 11-17. 

The Apostle, in allusion to the Israelites of old (Heb. xi. 13.), calls on them, as strangers 
and pilgrims (which they literally were in Asia, Pontus, &c.), having no inheritance on 
earth, to seek for a heavenly country, to abstain from carnal lusts, which bring into 
captivity or destroy the soul, living in such a manner that the calumnies of their ene- 
mies may be confuted by their good works — To submit to every human constitution of 
government for the Lord's sake, that they may put to silence the ignorance of those 
foolish men, who asserted that their religion made them averse from subjection to kings 
and magistrates — As the chosen people of God, the Jews boasted of being freemen, 
governed by their own laws : in reference to whicli, the Apostle calls upon them to be 
governed inwardly by the laws of their religion, but not to use their liberty as a cover- 
ing for rebellion, as the Jews did, but as the servants of God. 

^^ Dearly beloved, I beseech you "as strangers and pilgrims, ''abstain 
from fleshly lusts, "which war against the soul ; ^^ having ''your conver- 
sation honest among the Gentiles: that, ^whereas they speak against 
you as evil-doers, "they may by your good works, which they shall 
behold, glorify God ^in the day of visitation. ^■^ Submit ^yourselves to 
every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake : whether it be to the 
king, as supreme ; ^* or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by 
him '"for the punishment of evil-doers, and 'for the praise of them that 
do well ; ^^ (for so is the will of God, that ^' with well-doing ye may put 
to silence the ignorance of foolish men :) ^^ as 'free, and not fusing 
your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as 'the servants of God. 
^"^ tHonor all men : "love the brotherhood : "fear God : honor the king. 



§ 7. 

a Eph. 6. 5. Col. 
3. 23. 1 Tim. 6. 

1. Tit. 2. 9. 
b Matt. 5. 10. 

Rom. 13. 5. ch. 

3. 14. 
* Or, thank. 

Luke 6. 32. ver. 

90. 
c ch. 3. 14. & 4. 

14, 15. 
t Or, thank. 
d Matt. 16. 24. 

Acts 14. 22. 

1 Thess. 3. 3. 

2 Tim. 3. 12. 
e ch. 3. 18. 

J Some read, /or 
you. 
/John 13.15. Phil. 

2. 5. 1 John 2. 6. 
g Is. 53. 9. Luke 
i Luke 23. 40. * 
I Is. 53. 5. m 



§ 7. — chap. ii. 18, to the end. 
The Apostle exhorts domestic Slaves and Servants to obey their Masters with submission 
and reverence, even the severe and perverse, not suffering their obedience to depend 
upon the characters of those they serve — To suffer for well-doing, after the example 
of Christ, who suffered for them that they might follow in his footsteps — In whom was 
no sin (Isa. liii. 6.) — Who bore the punishment due to sin, that he might deliver man 
from its power. 

^^ Servants, "be subject to your masters with all fear ; not only to 
the good and gentle, but also to the froward. ^'-^ For this ''is *thank- 
worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering 
wrongfully. 2° For "what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your 
faults, ye shall take it patiently ? but if, when ye do well, and suffer 
for it, ye take it patiently, this is tacceptable with God. ^^ For ''even 
hereunto were ye called, because "Christ also suffered tfor us, ^leaving 
us an example, that ye should follow his steps: ^^who °'did no sin, 
neither was guile found in his mouth ; ^^ who, "when he was reviled, 
reviled not again ; when he suffered, he threatened not ; 'but *com- 
mitted Amse//to Him that judgeth righteously ; ^'' who ^his own self 
bare our sins in his own body ton the tree, ''^that we, being dead to 
sins, should live unto righteousness ; 'by whose stripes ye were healed. 
^^ For '"ye were as sheep going astray ; but are now returned "unto 
the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. 

23. 41. John 8. 46. 9 Cor. 5. 21. Heb. 4. 15. A Is. 53. 7. Matt. 97. 39. John 8. 48, 49. Heb. 12. 3 

Or, committed his cause. j Is. .53.4, 5, 6, 11. Matt. 8. 17. Heb. 9. 28. f Or, to. 7i Rom. 6. 9, U. & 7. 6. 
Is. 53. 0. Ezek. 34. 6. n Ezek. 34. 23. & 37. 24. John 10. 11, 14, 16. Heb. 13. 20. ch. 5. 4. 



Sect. XIII.] THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OP PETER. 395 

§ 8. — chap. ill. 1-7. 
St Peter proceeds by enforcing on tlicm tlie higher relative duties — He enjoins Chris- 
tian wives to submit to their husbands, althougli tliey were heatliens, tliat they may 
gain them over by their lioly conduct to the love and practices of tlie Gospel — To secure 
their liusbands' affection, let them not confine tlieir adorning to their outward persons 
only, but rather to the inner or hidden soul, after the example of Sara, who acknowl- 
edged her subjection to Abraham, by calling him lord, whose daughters they are as 
long as they act consistently with their Christian character — Christian husbands are 
commanded to conduct themselves towards their wives as becomes those who have 
been instructed in the duties of the Christian religion. § 8. 

^ Likewise, "ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands: aicor. 14.34. 
that if any obey not the word, *they also may without the word ^be s.Vs. Tit~2. 5. " 
won by the conversation of the wives : ^ while ''they behold your chaste ' \ ^°''- ''■ ^^■ 
conversation ro?;^/ec/ with tear. "'Whose adorning, let it not be that 1 cor. 9. 19-22. 
outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of "^ '^^;J^- -^^^ 
putting on of apparel ; '^ but let it be ■'^the hidden man of the heart, in Tit. 2. 3,"'&c. 
that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet ■'"^ifo^^l. 29' &7 
spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. ^ For after this man- —. 2 cor. 4. le. 
ner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned f^^. j,;;;^',.*/ 
themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands ; '' (even as a i Cor. 7. 3. 
Sara obeyed Abraham, 'calling him lord ;) whose *daughters ye are, as s.^'ig.''' ~°' '^°" 
long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. j icor. 12. 23. 

_p . •' . . .' , 1 Thess. 4. 4. 

''Likewise, ''ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, j gee Job 42. s. 
giving honor unto the wife, 'as unto the weaker vessel, and as being ^'''/g' jg^^'^''' 
heirs together of the grace of life ; •'that your prayers be not hindered. 



§ 9. — dmp. ill. 8-17. 

The Apostle, in conclusion, exhorts all, married or unmarried, to Christian unity, com- 
passion, and love, returning evil and reproaches with blessings — Acting always accord- 
ing to the dictates of their conscience, that those who falsely speak against them as ^ 9. 
evil-doers, may be put to shame by their good behaviour in Christ — If the will of God ^ Rom. 12. 16. & 
appoint them sufferings, it is better to suffer for doing well, than for doing evil. 15- 5- P'"'- 3. 

^Finally, ''be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of an- * OT,iovingto 
other, *love as brethren, 'be pitiful, be courteous ; ^ not 'rendering evil roi^Io^i'o. 
for evil, or railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing: knowing that Heb-i5. i.ch.2. 
ye are thereunto called, ''that ye should inherit a blessing. * coi. 3. 12. Eph. 

^° For 'he that will love life, and see good days, '20."^' Mku^'s^ 

Let-^him refrain his tongue from evil, ?9- Rom. 12. 14, 

A 1 1 • 1- 1 1 1 -1 ^^- icor. 4. 12. 

And his lips that they speak no guile : 1 Thess. 5. 15. 

^^ Let him "eschew evil, and do good : ^ '^^'^"- ^^- '^^• 

. e Ps. 34. 12 &c. 

Let ''him seek peace, and ensue it. / jam. i. 26. ch. 
^^ For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, i4.^5.~~ ^''''' 

And 'his ears are open unto their prayers : g ps. 37. 27. is. 
But the face of the Lord is tagainst them that do evil. li. ' ' 

^^ And •'who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which i-i- lo.Heb. 12. 
is good ? ^^ But ''and if ye sutler for righteousness' sake, happy are i john9.31.jam. 
ye ! and 'be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled ; ^^ but sane- ^: ^^^ 

• r I T /~< 1 • 1 T Gr- upon. 

tity the Lord God m your hearts. j Prov. le. 7. 

And '"be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh r°J^'8^.2J; 
you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and tfear ; /t Matt. 5. 10,11, 
^^ having "a good conscience, "that, whereas they speak evil of you, as 4714. 'jam. 1. 
of evil-doers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good ^^^J g j^ jg 
conversation in Christ. ^'^ For it is better, if the will of God be so, that J^r. i. s.'john 

14. I 27. 

ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. ,„ Ps.'iig. 46. 

Acts 4. 8. Col. 

4. 6. 2 Tim. 2. 

§ 10. — chap. ill. 18, to the end. 25. 

The Apostle, in a kind of digression, that their sufferings migrht not be reo-arded as a I Or, reference. 

token of God's displeasure, encourages them with the consideration of the sufferings „.^ ' ' ,' ., 
- ' "^ ° Tit. 2. 8. ch. iJ. 

of Christ, who, though perfectly righteous, suffered for the sins of others, that he might 12. 



396 THE r-IRST EPISTLE GENERAL OP PETER. [Paet XV, 

bring man to God — He was put to death in his human nature, but was made alive 
again by the Spirit of God ; by which Spirit, giving spiritual power to Noah, he 
preached to those spirits which were now shut up or reserved, as it were, in prison 
under the divine justice, to receive the punishment due to their sins — The long-sulter- 
ing of God delayed 120 years, to see if they would repent and be saved, while the ark 
§ 10. was preparing (Gen. vi. 3.), when the family of Noah, who believed, was saved by 

a Rom. 5. 6. water, which was a figure of the salvation of the family of Christ, in the ark of the 

Heb. 9. 26, 28. Church, by the waters of baptism, by which they are admitted into a new state of 

ch. 9.21. & 4.1 ' r- 7 J J 

, g' .„ . being, and saved from the grave, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ ; who having 

Col 1 21 2-T gone into heaven, angels and every denomination of beings, both in heaven and earth, 

d Rom. 1. 4. &. 8. are subjected to him, that he may bestow salvation on all who believe in him. 

e ch. 1. 12. & 4. ^^FoK Cluist also hatli "once suffered for sins, the just for the un- 

6- just, that he might bring us to God : 'being put to death ^in the flesh, 

g.^&ei. i. ' but ''quickened by the Spirit ; ^^by Avhich also he went and '^preached 

^^Gen. 6. 3, 5, \x\i\_o the Spirits -^in prison ; 2° which sometime were disobedient, ^when 

A Heb. u. 7. once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while '^the 

i Gen. 7.7. & 8. ark was a preparing, * wherein few (that is eight) souls were saved by 

3 Eph. 5. 26. water. ^^ The ^like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save 

a See Note 24. US, ^(not the putting away of ''the filth of the flesh, 'but the answer 

*Rom^io 10 °f ^ good conscience toward God), ""by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: 

m ch. 1. 3. ^~ who is gone into heaven, and "is on the right hand of God ; "angels 

"R^mTw" ^^^ authorities and powers being made subject unto him. 

Eph.'l.'20.'Col. 

3.1. Heb. 1.3. 



„ ,, .. ^o 10 § 11- — chap. iv. 1-6. 

See Matt. 28.18. ^ '^ 

Rom. 8.38. Christ having suiFered a painful death in the flesh for man, the Apostle calls upon them 

EphT'l. 21. " to crucify also the flesh, for they that have mortified the flesh have ceased, or are dead 

to sin, living the remainder of their lives not according to its lusts, but agreeably to the 

will of God — For too much of their past life has been passed in the shameful abomin- 

^ ations and vices to which the Gentiles were addicted, who are now astonished, and 

a ch. 3. 18. calumniate them for not continuing in the same profusion of riot, forgetting they are 

*^°"V ^■,^' T', accountable to him who will judge both the righteous and the wicked — For which 

Gal. D. 24. Gol. 111/-. -i 1 11. 

.?. 3, 5. cause the Gospel was preached to the Gentiles, who were dead m trespasses and sins, 

c Rom. 14. 7. ch. that those who believed might be judged or condemned by men who are governed by 

the flesh, although they live according to the will of God in the spirit. 



2. 1 
d. Gal. 2. 20. ch. 



1- "■ 1 FoRASjnjcH then '^as Christ hath suflTered for us in the flesh, arm 

^Rom?6!ii! yourselves likewise with the same mind, (for 'he that hath suffered in 

ja^.'i.^isf' the flesh hath ceased from sin ;) ^ that "he no longer ''should live the 

/Ezek. 44. 6.& rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, 'but to the will 

so! ■ "^ ^ ■ of God. ^ For -^the time past of our life may suffice [us] °'to have 

'^i^'i ThesL^.^' wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, 

5. Tu. 3. 3. ch. lusts, excess of wine, revelhngs, banquetings, and abominable idola- 

A Acts 13. 45. tries : "* wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the 

&18. 6. ch.3. gg^^e e.xcess of riot, ''speaking evil of you : ^ who shall give account to 

t Acts 10. «2. & Him that is ready Ho judge the quick and the dead. ^ For, for this 

loj 12! 1 c™'. 15] cause •'was the Gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they 

1! jam.^s^™' ^' might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to 

j ch. 3. 19. God in the Spirit. 



c j2. § 12. — cha-p. iv. 7-11. 

Matt. 24. 13, The Apostle comforts them with the assurance that the power of their bitter persecutors 
^4. Kom. 13. 12. would soon be destroyed, in the approaching destruction of the Jewish people and 
10. 25.'ja'm. 5.' polity, and admonishes them, that they may be saved from it to watchfulness against all 
8-2Pet. 3.9, 11. impurity, and to prayer; having fervent love, which leads to bearing or blottmg out 

1 Tir .. tie l^ tile faults of each other ; and in this time of persecution to be hospitable one to another, 

Matt. 2o. 41. ' ... ,. , .„ 

Luke 21. 34. not regarding the inconvenience, every man ministering according to the gifts ol 

^t k.'h'i^' ^ providence and grace which he may have received from the Lord — If any discourse on 

c Heb. 13. 1. Col. God's word, let him do so according to the oracles of God — If any minister to the 

3. 14. necessities of the poor, let him do so as of the means which God has bestowed on him, 

^ ^X^"'}^'}'^' ffivinij God the fflory through Jesus Christ. 

1 Cor. 13. 7. S '= 6 J' = 

Jam. 5.20. '' BuT "the end of all things is at hand. 'Be ye therefore sober, and 
watch unto prayer. ^ And 'above all things have fervent charity among 



* Or, will. 
e Rom. 12. 13 



Heb. i3.1. ' yourselves ; for ''charity *shall cover the multitude of sins. ^ Use 'hos- 



Sect. XIIL] THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 397 

pitality one to another, Avithout grudging, i" As "every man hath ■^^iJj^'g/'jVj'^- 
received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, ''as good Piiiiemon 14. 
stewards of 'the manifold grace of God. "If •'any man speak, let him ^1 cT.'l^V." 
speaJc as the Oracles of God ; *if any man minister, let him do it as of ''^''l^%\- f^-^^ 
the abihty which God giveth. That 'God in all things may be glori- is! 42.' i cor. 4. 
fied through Jesus Christ ; '"to whom be praise and dominion for ever ^ / cor.'iQ. '4. ' 
and ever! Amen. .■^/'''oo o\ 

J Jer. 23. 22. 

§ V3.—chap. iv. 12, to the end. k Rom. 12. 6, 7, 

„ ^ , , , . . 8. 1 Cor. 3. 10. 

The Apostle cautions the Christians not to be surprised at the calamities and persecutions j j;pj,_ 5^ og_ eh. 
coming upon them, which were intended as the trials of their faith; but rather to 2.5. 
rejoice, as by them they are made partakers of the sufferings of Christ, that they may f"- 1 Tim. P. 16. 
be glorified with him — They are happy who are reproached for being Cluristians, for the i.e.' 
Divine Spirit, which rested on Jesus, rests also on them : by their persecutors Christ is 
blasphemed, but by their sufferings he is honored — On which account he admonishes 
them not to suffer for any crime of their own (mentioning those to which the unbeliev- c i g 

ing Jews were addicted), which brings neither glory nor reward — But if any suffer for „ 

being a Christian, let him not be ashamed, however ignominious the punishment, but ch. 1. 7. 
let him rather glorify the Lord, who also suffered for being holy — The time is now 6 Acts 5. 41. 
come for the punishment of the Jews as a nation, which is to begin at the house of "• ' 
God (John xvi. 2. Matt, xxiii. 35. Ezek. ix. 6.) ; and if it begin first with the believing g ^or! l! 7. & 4. 
Jews, what fearful destruction will come upon those who obey not the Gospel ! — And Ip- Phil. 3. 10. 
if Christians shall, with extreme difficulty, escape from the judgment of God on Jeru- 3 Tim'. 2. 12. ch. 
salem, how shall the ungodly and sinners hope for deliverance ? — the Apostle enjoins 5- Ij 10- ^'^^- ^■ 
Gentiles as well as Jews, who suffer for righteousness' sake, to commit their lives to ' 
God as to a faithful Creator, who will regard them as his creatures and children, giving 
them eternal life, if they continue in well-doing. 2 Cor.' 12. 16. 

^^ Beloved, think it not strange concerning "the fiery trial which is 2!"i9',2'o."&°3'.' 
to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: ^^^Qt »-^ o 10 &3 
'rejoice, inasmuch as "ye. are partakers of Christ's suflerings ; ''that, le. 
when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding | i''Thes^s'!4. ii. 
joy. ^*If 'ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye ! for 1 Tim. 5. 13. 
the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you : •''on their part he is ! ^'^^^o^'jo^'jer 
evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. ^^But ''let none of you ^^■^■q'^Qh}-,- 
suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, ''or as a busy- 3. 5. ' ' ' 
body in other men's matters: ^''yet if any man suffer as a Christian, fL^ke^w 12 m 
let him not be ashamed ; 'but let him glorify God on this behalf, m Prov. 11. .31. 
^^ For the time is cootc •'that judgment must begin at the House of ,j^r,''''3f'5^i'uke 
God : and *if it first beo-in at us, 'what shall the end be of them that 23. 46. 2 Tin.. 1. 

obey not the Gospel of God ! ^^ And "'if the righteous scarcely be "" 

saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear ! ^^ Wherefore, 

let them that suffer according to the will of God "commit the keeping § 14. 

of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. a Phiiemon 9. 

6 Luke 24. 48. 

, ., . , , . • Acts 1.8, 22. & 

§ 14. — chaiJ. V. 1-4. 5. 32. & 10. 39. 

The Apostle exhorts the elders, as one who was an eyewitness of the sufferings of Christ « Kom. 8. 17, 18. 

(in the garden, at his apprehension, and in the high priest's hall), and a beholder and , j^jj^ gj " j^ jg 

partaker of the glory of the Transfiguration, faithfully to feed the flock of Christ, dis- 17. Acts 20. 28. 

charging the office of bishops, or superintendents, in these times of persecution, not by * Or, as much as 

reason of importunity, but willingly ; not for the sake of a maintenance, but with an "' i/""'-'- 

active desire to promote the glory of God— Not lording it over the flocks, which are the f i rpi^'_ 3. 3 'g, 

heritage of God, but being to them ensamples of humility and every Christian grace — Tit. 1. 7. 

And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, to whom the flocks belonjr, they who have g Ezek. 34. 4. 

to? ./ Mutt. 20 25 26 

discharged their duties shall receive from him a crown of glory. 1 cor. 3.' 9. ' 

'The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also ''an ^^°^'^'^'^:. 

. /I 7 . '' . t ^^j overruling 

elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also "a partaker /( Ps. 33. 12. & 
of the glory that shall be revealed : ^ feed ''the flock of God *which is Jpj'j^'g j^ 
among you, taking the oversight thereof, "not by constraint, but will- sThess. 3.9. 
ingly ; ^not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind ; ^neither 'as tbeing Tit. 2.' 7.' 
lords over ''(tocZ's heritage, but 'being ensamples to the flock. ^And {^^''^J'^^^^g^^ 
when -'the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive *a crown of 2 Tim. 4.' s 
glory 'that fadeth not away. ; ^Z\. 4. " 

VOL. II. KH 



25. 



398 



THE SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. [Part XV. 



§ 15. 

a Rom. 12. la 

Eph. 5. 21. 

Phil. 2. 3. 
b Jam. 4. 6. 
c Is. 57. 15. & 66. 

2. 
d Jam. 4. 10. 
c Ps. 37. 5. & 55. 

22. VVisd. 12. 13. 

Matt. 6. 25. 

Luke 12. 11,22. 

Phil. 4. 6. Heb. 

13.5. 
/ Luke 51. 34, 36. 

1 Thess. 5. 6. 

ch. 4. 7. 
g Job 1. 7. & 2. 

2. Luke 22. 31. 

Kev. 12. 12. 
h Eph. 6. 11, 13. 

Jam. 4. 7. 
i Acts 14. 22. 

1 Thess. 3. 3. 

2 Tim. 3. 12. ch. 
2. 21. 

j 1 Cor. 1. 9. 

1 Tim. 6. 12. 
k 2 Cor. 4. 17. ch. 

1.6. 
I Heb. 13. 21. 

Jude 24. 
m 2 Thess. 2. 17. 

&3. 3. 
7! ch. 4. 11. Eev. 

1.6. 



§ 15. — chap. V. 5-1 1. 
The Apostle commands those who hold inferior offices in the Church to submit to the 
elders, and then calls on them all indiscriminately to be subject, or to strive and serve 
each other in the relative situation in which they stand, to be clothed, guarded, and 
protected by humility — As God opposes himself to the proud, they should humble 
themselves, and patiently submit to lais dispensations under every danger and affliction, 
casting all their anxiety on God, wlio interests liimself for them (Ps. Iv. 22.), being 
anxious only for the government of their passions, temperate, and always watchful over 
themselves, because their spiritual adversary is going about in this time of their trials 
and calamities, seeking whom he may swallow down, hoping to make them apostatize ; 
whom they must stand against, steadfast in the faith of the Son of God, knowing that it 
is the portion of Christ's disciples to suffer persecution from men and devils — The 
Apostle prays to God to strengthen and to make them perfect in the faith of Christ. 

^ Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder : yea, "all 
of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility ; for 
'God resisteth the proud, and "giveth grace to the humble. ^ Humble 
''yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may 
exalt you in due time. '^ Casting "all your care upon Him ; for He 
careth for you. ^ Be -'^sober, be vigilant ; because ^your adversary, the 
Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour : 
^ whom ''resist steadfast in the faith, 'knowing that the same afflictions 
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world, 

^^ But the God of all grace, ^who hath called us unto his eternal 
glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered *a while, 'make you 
perfect, ""stablish, strengthen, settle you. ^^ To "Him be glory and do- 
minion for ever and ever ! Amen. 



§ 16. 

a 2 Cor. 1. 19. 
b Heb. 13. 22. 
c Acts 20. 24. 

1 Cor. 15. 1- 

2 Pet. 1. 12. 

d Acts 12. 12, 

25. 
e Eom. 16. 16. 

1 Cor. 16. 20. 

2 Cor. 13. 12. 
1 Thess. 5. 26. 

/ Eph. 6. 23. 



§ 16. — chap. V. 12, to the end. 
The Apostle informs them that he sends this Epistle by Silvanus (the same as Silas, Acts 
XV. 40. and xvi. 19.) , he writes to them as he considers briefly, testifying to them that 
it is the genuine Gospel of Christ which has been preached — He desires them to salute 
each other, in testimony of their Christian love, and concludes with his apostolical 
benediction. 

12 By "Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have 
'written briefly, exhorting, and testifying ""that this is the true grace of 
God wherein ye stand. ^^ The church that is at Babylon, elected to- 
gether with you, saluteth you ; and so doth ''Marcus my son. i"* Greet 
'^ye one another with a kiss of charity. •'^Peace be with you all that are 
in Christ Jesus ! [Amen.] 

[end of the first epistle general of peter.] 



SECT. XIV. 

V. M. 66. 

J. p. 4779. 

Rome. 

§ 1. 

b See Note 25. 



Section XIV. — St. Peter, under the impression of approaching Martyr- 
dom, ivrites to the Jeivish and Gentile Christians, dispersed in the Coun- 
tries of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, &fC., to confirm the Doctrines 
and Instructions of his former Letter, to caution them against the Errors 
of the false Teachers, by reminding them of the Judgments of God on 
Apostates, and to encourage them under Persecution, by the Considera- 
tion of the happy Deliverance of those who trusted in him, and the 
final Dissolution both of this World and of the Jeivish Dispensation.^ 

THE SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 

§ 1. — chap. i. 1-11. 
The Apostle's address and benediction — He is commissioned an apostle both to Jews and 
Gentiles, by Jesus Christ, who has endowed the apostles with divine power by the 
gifts of the Holy Spirit, to enable them to bring men to a godly life, which is obtained 
through the knowledge of Christ Jesus (John xvii. 3.), who has called them to the 
glory of being his apostles, and infused into them strengthening energy and courage 
for that purpose, committing to them all the glorious promises of the Gospel, that man 
might become again a partaker of the holy and immortal nature, having escaped the cor- 



Sect. XIV.] THE SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 399 

ruption of the world through lust — To join to their faith true fortitude and resolution 
of mind under persecution, with increasing knowledge of the doctrines of Christ — And 
to knowledge, naoderation in all earthly enjoyments, patience under afflictions, and 
piety towards God — And to piety, love of their Christian brethren ; and to love of the 
brethren, love to all men, not excepting their enemies — If these things abound in them, 
they will be neither inactive nor unfruitful in good works — But he who is deficient in 
good works, and active Christian graces, is wilfully blind, shutting his eyes against the 
lio'ht, assuming a forgetfulness of his baptismal vow to purify himself from his old sins 
— Seeing that this is the case with many, they are exhorted more earnestly to labor, to 
make sure their calling and election by the Gospel, to be the sons of God and his 
Church, by doing good works through faith ; which things if they practise, God will 
support them by his grac_e,and minister to them an honorable and triumphant entrance 
into his everlasting kingdom. 

^ *SiMON Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to *°^^^%"'^-^- 
them that have obtained "like precious faith with us through the „ ^^^ j ig_ 
righteousness tof God and our Saviour Jesus Christ ! ^ grace ''and peace %'^^''4\^^if 
be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus i- 4. 

T r, •' ° " ^Gr.nfourGod 

our l^OrCl ; and Saviour 

^According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that Tit. 2. 13. 

, . b Dan. 4. 1. & 6. 

pertain unto life and godliness, 'through the knowledge of Him ''that as. i Pet. i. 2. 
hath called us tto glory and virtue ; ^ (whereby "are given unto us ^ "^^n'^i 3 
exceeding great and precious promises; that by these' ye might be <f 1 thsss. 2. 12. 
•^partakers of the Divine Nature, "having escaped the corruption that ^m. oTim'^g. 
is in the world through lust;) ^and beside this, '"giving all diligence, ipc'-S-S- &3. 
add to your faith virtue; and to virtue 'knowledge; "and to knowl- jor, %. 
edge temperance ; and to temperance patience ; and to patience ^ ^ p°^" g" Jg 
godhness ; '''and to godhness brotherly kindness; and ^ to brotherly Eph. 4. 24. 
kindness charity. ^ For if these things be in you, and abound, they uoims. 2." 
make you that ye shall neither be *barren '^nor unfruitful in the knowl- s ""I'' ?■ jg' ^"^ 
edge of our Lord Jesus Ciirist ; ^ but he that lacketh these things 'is ^ 1 pet. 3. 7. 
blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was "purged j Gai 0. 10. 
from his old sins. 1° Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence "to & 5. 15.' i Johk 
make your calling and election sure : for if ye do these things, °ye shall * ^^ \^i^_ 
never fall. ^^ For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abun- ^ John 15. 2 



ch. 3. 17 

c See Note 20. 



dantly into the everlasting kingdom'' of our Lord and Saviour Jesus n'john2.9, n. 

Christ. m Eph. 5. 26. 

Heb. 9. 14. 

I John 1. 7. 

^S 2. — chap. i. 12, to the end. n i Joim 3. w. 

As the practice of Christian virtues through faith is the only way by which they can 
enter into Christ's kingdom, St. Peter declares that he thinks it suitable to his apostle- 
ship, as long as he is in the body, to remind them of these truths, in which they are 
already established, and to stir them up to the practice of them; and knowing that his 

death is soon to take place (John xxi. 18, 19.), he endeavours, by thus writing to them, 

to enable them to have these things, after his going out of the body, always in their 
remembrance — For they did not publish cunningly-devised fables, after the manner of 
the heathen, concerning the appearance of their gods on earth in the human form, when 
they made known to them the power and the appearance of Jesus Christ ; whose 
majesty he himself, with James and John, witnessed in the Holy Mount, when God, 
from his magnificent glory, declared him to be his Son ; which voice, and the Trans- 
figuration of his person, confirmed the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning 
Christ, to which they are to pay attention, as the light that guided mankind, during 
their state of spiritual ignorance, till the day of the Gospel should dawn, and the mom- 
ing-star of righteousness arise in their souls — Knowing that no prophecy is of private 
impulse or invention ; for prophecy was not brought of old to the minds of those that § 2. 

uttered it by the will of man ; but holy men of God declared the purposes of his will a Rom. 15.14, l.'i. 
as they were borne on or inspired by the Holv Ghost. Pliil. 3. l. oh. 3. 

12 Wherefore "I will not be negligent to put vou always in remem- Jo'^es. 

/>! Ppt 'i 1^ 

brance of these things, 'though ye know them, and be established in ch. s. n.' 
the present truth. '^^ Yea, I think it meet, ''as long as I am in this <; 2Cor. 5. 1,4. 
tabernacle, ''to stir you up by putting you in remembrance ; ^'^ knowing ^ gee Deiit. 4. 
"that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as ^our Lord Je- 2 Vhn". t. e!' "' 
sus Christ hath showed me. ^^ Moreover I will endeavour that ye may /John 21. is, 19. 



400 



THE SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. [Part XV, 



g 1 Cor. ]. 17. & 
2. 1, 4. 2 Cor. 2. 
17. & 4. 2. 

h Matt. 17. 1, 2. 
Mark 9. 2. John 
1. 14. IJohnl. 

I. & 4. 14. 

d See Note 27. 

t Bfatt. 3. 17. & 

17. a. Mark 1. 

II. & 9. 7. 
Luke 3. 22. & 9. 
35. 

j See Ex. 3. 5. 

Josh. 5. 15. 

Matt. 17. C. 
h Ps. 119. 105. 

Jolin 5. 35. 
I Rev. 2.28. & 

22. 16. See 

2 Cor. 4. 4, 6. 
T» Rom. 12. 6. 
e See Note 28. 
n 2 Tim. 3. 16. 

1 Pet.,1. 11. 
* Or, at any time. 
2 Sam. 23. 2. 

Luke 1. 70. 

Acts 1. 16. & 3. 

18. 



§3. 

a Deut. 13. 1. 
4 Matt. 24. 11. 

Acts 20. 30. 

] Cor. 11. 19. 

1 Tim. 4. 1. 

2 Tim. 3. 1, 5. 
1 .lolm 4. 1. 
Jucle 18. 

c Jude 4. 

d ] Cor. 6. 20. 

Gal. 3. 13. Epii. 

1.7. Hob. 10.29. 

1 Pet. 1. 18. 
Rev. 5. 9. 

c Pliil. 3. 19. 
* Or, Uscivions 

tcaijs, as some 

copies read, 
/ Rom. 16. 18. 

2 Cor. 12. 17, 
18. 1 Tim. 6. 5. 
Tit. ].ll. 

g 2 Cor. 2. 17. 

oil. 1. 16. 
h Deut. 32. 35. 

Jude 4, 15. 
i Job 4. 18. Jude 

6. 
;■ Jobn 8. 44. 

1 John 3. 8. 
k Luke 8. 31. 

Rev. 20. 2, 3. 
I Gen. 7. 1,7,23. 

Heb. 11.7. 

1 Pet. 3. 20. 
m 1 Pet. 3. 19. 
n ch. 3. 6. 
o Gen. 19. 24. 

Deut. 29. 23. 

Jude 7. 
p Num. 26. 10. 
} Gen. 19. 16. 
r Wisd. 19. 17. 

s Ps. 119. 139, 
1.58. Ezek. 9. 4 

t Vs. 34. 17, 19. 
1 Cor. 10. 13. 

u Jude 4, 7, 8,10, 
16. 

•f Or, dominion. 



be always able after my decease to have these things in remembrance. 
1^ For we have not followed ^cunningly-devised fables, when we made 
known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but 
''were eyewitnesses of his'' Majesty. ^'' For he received from God the 
Father honor and glory, when there came such a Voice to him from 
the Excellent Glory, " This 4s my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased." ^^ And this Voice which came from heaven we heard, when 
we were with him in ^the Holy Mount : ^^ we have also a more sure 
word of prophecy ; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto 
^a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and 'the 
day-star arise in your hearts : ^"knowing this first, that "no prophecy 
of the Scripture is of any private'^ interpretation. ^^ For "the prophecy 
came not *in old time by the will of man ; ''but holy men of God spake 
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 



§ 3.- — chap. ii. 1-9, and paH ofver. 10. 
The Aposlle foretells, that as there were false prophets among the Jews who perverteu 
many, denying God, who had redeemed them from the bondage of Egypt, so there shall 
be false teachers in the Christian Church, who will covertly introduce their heresies of 
destruction, denying the Lord who had bought them from the bondage of sin and death 
with his blood (Exod. xv. 16. Deut. xxxii. 6.), bringing on themselves destruction — 
They will be followed by many, who by their vicious lives will cause the Gospel to be 
blasphemed, making a merchandise of souls, whose punishment, denounced from the 
beginning against sin, lingers not, but will soon overtake them — For God spared not 
the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell, confining them, till the day of judg- 
ment, in a place of wretchedness and darkness, from which they could not escape; and 
spared not the old world, nor the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but made them an 
example of the punishment to be inflicted on the ungodly at the last day — From the 
miraculous deliverance of Noah and Lot, the Apostle proves that God would as surely 
deliver from trials and dangers those who trust in Him, and are his faithful servants, 
as He would destroy with an everlasting destruction tlie false teachers and the dis- 
obedient. 

^ But "there were false prophets also among the people, even as 
''there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in 
damnable heresies, even ^denying the Lord ''that bought them, "and 
bring upon themselves swift destruction : ^ and many shall follow 
their *pernicious ways, (by reason of whom the way of truth shall be 
evil spoken of ;) ^ and ^through covetousness shall they with feigned 
words "'make merchandise of you : ''whose judgment now of a long 
time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. * For if God 
spared not Hhe angels ^that sinned, but *cast them down to hell, and 
delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment ; 
^ and spared not the old world, but saved 'Noah the eighth person, ""a 
preacher of righteousness, "bringing in the flood upon the world of the 
ungodly ; "^ and "turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes 
condemned them with an overthrow, ''making them an ensample unto 
tliose that after should live ungodly ; '' and Melivered just Lot, vexed 
with the filthy conversation of the wicked, ^ (for 'that righteous man, 
dwelling among them, "in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul 
from day to day with their unlawful deeds ;) ^ [theij] the 'Lord know- 
eth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the 
unjust unto the day of judgment to be punLshed ; ^" but chiefly "them 
that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise tgov 
ernment. 

§ 4. — chap. ii. part ofver. 10, and 11-16. 

The Apostle describes the character of the false teachers, who, like brute beasts, following 

the instinct of their animal nature, made to be taken and destroyed on account of their 

destructiveness, blaspheming what they do not understand, shall perish in their own 

corrupt doctrines and practices — They make an open display of their vices — They are 



Sect. XIV.] THE SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 401 

o-uilty of sensuality at their love-feasts — They beguile souls not estabhshed in the faith, 
with the idea that the Lord's Supper was instituted to promote carnal love, and are 
expert in all the arts of seduction and fraud — Following in the way of Balaam, who 
(Numb. xsxi. 16. Rev. ii. 14.) acted contrary to liis knowledge and conscience, that he 
might obtain the promised hire of unrighteousness. § 4. 

^"Presumptuous "are they self-willed, they are not afraid to speak j j^^^g' 
evil of dignities ; " whereas 'angels, which are greater in power and * some read, 
mio-ht, bring not railing accusation ^against them before the Lord. "i^S!''''™" 
^2 But these (as ^natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed) <; Jer. la. 3. Juda 
speak evil of the things that they understand not ; and shall utterly ^ phu. 3. 19. 
perish in their own corruption : ^-^ and ''shall receive the reward of un- e see Eom. 13. 
righteousness. As they that count it pleasure 'to riot in the day time, ^ju^eia. 
(•''spots they are and blemishes!) sporting themselves with their own ^icor. n.20, 
deceivings while "they feast mth you ; i-* having eyes full of tadultery, ^ q, ^„ ^^j. 
anJ that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: ''a heart .^j'""*" , 
they have exercised with covetous practices : cursed children ! ^^ which ^ ^^^.^2.5,1, 
have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way f^' ^s, as. Jude 
of 'Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness ; 
^6 but was rebuked for his iniquity — the dumb ass speaking with man's 
voice forbad the madness of the prophet. 



§ 5. — chap. ii. 17, to the end. 
The Apostle compares the false teachers to wells without water, to clouds which promise 
rain. but. ending in a tempest, destroy instead of fulfilling the expectations of man, who. 
by permitting all kinds of lasciviousness, allure those to become their disciples, who 
nad separated themselves from the heathens — They promised the liberty of gratifying 
their lusts without restraint, while their own conduct proved them the slaves of cor- 
ruption — For he who is overcome by his lusts is by them enslaved — To those who have 
been converted by the knowledge of the Gospel from the idolatry and lasciviousness of 
the heathen world, and are again, entangled with them, their latter pollutions will be 
more fatal than the first ; for they have sinned against greater spiritual light and 
privileges. § 5. 

^" These "are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a « Ju^e 12, 13. 
tempest ; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. ^^ For j jude le. 
when Hhey speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through "j^f^g'/^g'^''" 
the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, tliose that "were * ot,for a lutie, 
*clean escaped from them who live in error : ^^ while they promise Boml^ead! "^ 
them ''liberty, they themselves are 'the servants of corruption ; for of d GuI. 5. 13. 
whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. ^° For ^^john s. 3V 
-''if after they "have escaped the pollutions of the world ''through the Rom. 6.i6._ 
knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again en- mk" 11. aef ' 
tangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than I^io.let'at.^' 
the beginning. ^^ For 'it had been better for them not to have known g cii. 1. 4. ver. 
the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from j ^ii. 1.2. 
the holy commandment delivered unto them. '^^But it is happened i Luke 12. 47,48 
unto them according to the true •'proverb, "The dog has turned to his 22. " ' ' 
own vomit again ; " and, " The sow that was washed, to her wallowing ^ ^"'''- ^^- ^^• 
in the mire." 

§ 6. — chap. iii. 1-7. 
The Apostle shows that his design in writing his two Epistles was to remind thejn of the 
predictions of the ancient Prophets (Dan. xii. 2.), and of the doctrines and instructions 
of the apostles founded on them, knowing that the Prophets foretold the appearance 
of false teachers, who should deny the coming of Christ to judge the world (Jer. xvii. 
1.5. Ezek. xii. 22-27. Jude 14, 15. Dan. xii. 2.), wilfully ignorant that the firmament, or 
atmosphere, and the earth, were formed by the word of God out of water ; by means of 
which, owing to the wickedness of man, it had been already destroyed — That the present 
earth and its atmosphere, which exist by the same means, are liable to the same destruc- 
tion from the same cause ; but they are treasured up, and preserved from a deluge of 
water, that they may be consumed by a deluge of fire, at the day of retribution and 
judgment. 

VOL. II. 51 HH* 



402 THE SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. [Part XV, 



a ch. 1. 13 
b Jude 17. 



6. 1 This Second Epistle, beloved, I now write unto you ; in both 

which °I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance : ^ that ye 
iThnTl 1. may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the Holy 
^IdTii' ^' Prophets, ''and of the commandment of us the Apostles of the Lord 
d ch 2. 10. and Saviour : ^ knowing "this first, that there shall come in the last 
*i7!'i5 ^i'zek'h. days scoffers, ''walking after their own lusts, ^ and saying, ^Where is 
S' Luki']^' 45' ^'^^ promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things 
/ Gen. 1. 6, 9. continuc as they were from the beginning of the creation. 
11.' 3.' ' ^ ' ^ For this they willingly are ignorant of, that, -^by the word of God, 

* Gr. consisting, thc heavciis wcrc of old, and the earth ^standing ^out of the water 
'^me^^coi.'i. ^^^ ^^ the water ; *" whereby Hhe world that then was, being over- 
ly, flowed with water, perished : ''' but Hhe heavens and the earth, which 
'22, 23. ch. 2. 5! are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto •'fire against 
i ver. 10. the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 

2 Thess. 1. 8. 

§ 7.— chap. iii. 8-13. 
The Apostle exhorts the Christian brethren not to be deceived by the scoffers, who 

inferred from God's delay that he wanted the power or the inclination to fulfil his 

promises — but to remember that no finite duration bears any proportion to the eternity 
of God ; — that no period of time can change his purposes (Psalm xc. 4.) — That the 
coming of the Lord is not delayed for the reason assigned by these teachers ; but 
from his long-sufl^ering, and unwillingness that any should perish — The day of the 
Lord, however delayed, will surely and suddenly come, and will break in upon men 
as a thief in the night (Matt. xxiv. 43.), when the whole atmosphere, with its vapors, 
shall pass away by the application of fire, with tremendous noise and explosions, and 
the elements of which they are composed being ignited and separated, the whole 
material fabric, with all its works of nature and art, shall be utterly burned — Seeing 
that all earthly things shall be dissolved, they have the most powerful incentives to 
holiness of life, and piety towards God ; earnestly desiring, instead of fearing, the 
coming of the day of God, when this mundane system shall be melted; for they, 
according to the promise God made to Abraham and to his spiritual seed (Rom. iv. 
13-lC. Isa. Ixv. 17-23. and Ixvi. 22.) are to look for new heavens and a new earth 
(Rev. XX. 11. and xxi. 1.), the endless abode of blessed spirits. 

® But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is 

lo.'s?. ■ ■ " ' .^yith i\iQ Lord as a thousand years, and "a thousand years as one day. 

"i^Pefb.^lb. ^ The ''Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count 

ver. io. slackness ; but 'is long-suffering to us-ward, ''not willing that any 

'^32:'& #ih' should perish, but 'that all should come to repentance, i" But •''the day 

e Rom. 2. 4. of the Lord will come as a thief [in the niglit] ; in the which °'the 

/Ma'tt."2~4.43. hcaveus shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall 

I'Thess.'s!^ melt with fervent heat ; the earth also and the works that are therein 

Rev. 3. 3. & 16. g^g^JJ ^g bumcd Up. 

g Ps. 102.26. Is. " Seeing then tJiat all these things shall be dissolved, what manner 
i: MaJk'k~3i. of persons ought ye to be 'in all holy conversation and godliness! 
HrhiT.Eev. ^^ looking 'for and "hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein 
20. ii.&2i_.i.' the heavens being on fire shalPbe dissolved, and the elements shall 

*/cor.'i.'7.%it. *melt with fervent heat, i^ Nevertheless we, according to his promise, 
^- ^^- . look for 'new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 

* Or, hasting- the 

coming-. 

;^Ps. 50. 3. Is. 34. ^ 8.—chap. iii. 14, to the end. 

l Mic. 1.4. ver. ^g ^u Christians are promised the inheritance of the everlasting Canaan, the new 

l^Is 65 17 &G6 heavens and the new earth (Luke xx. 35.), the Apostle admonishes them earnestly to 

92.' Rev. 21. 1, ' endeavour to be found of Christ, the Judge of quick and dead, holy, innocent, and 

^''- useful in their lives, and at peace vnth him— They are to consider the delay of his 

coming as a proof of his design that all men should be saved; as Paul, by divine 

inspiration, has written to them (Ephes. ii. 3-5. Coloss. i. 21. 1 Thess. iii. 13. iv. 14- 

18. 2 Thess. i. 7-10. Titus ii. 13.)— Resurrection of the dead (1 Cor. xv. 22. Phil. iii. 

20, 21.)— Burning of the earth (2 Thess. i. 8.)— Heavenly country, abode of the 

righteous (1 Thess. iv. ]7.Heb. iv. 9. and xii. 14, 18, 24.)— General Judgment (Rom. 

xiv. 10.), among which things some are diflicult of comprehension to man, which the 

unlearned and unestablished in the faith distort, with other portions of Scripture, to 



a Ps. 90. 4. 



Sect. XV.] THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JUDE. 403 

their own destruction — corrupting the morals of men — But they, having been fore- 
warned by the apostles and prophets of these erroneous doctrines, are to be on their 
guard against them, daily increasing in the knowledge of the doctrines of Jesus 
Christ, and as rendering glory to him now, and to tlie day of eternity. § °- 

^■* Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, "be '^ilU's.'ntt 
diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and {3" ^^''Is " "^^ 
blameless, ^^ and account that ''the long-suffering of our Lord is salva- j Eom. 2. 4. 
tion ; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom ^^'^^•^■^°-^^''- 
given unto him, hath written unto you; ^''as also in all his Epistles, cKom. 8.19. 
'speaking in them of these things : in which are some things hard to 1 Thessi^i. 15. 
be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as ''ch^Y'^ia^' ^' 
they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction. c Eph. 4. 14. 

^^ Ye therefore, beloved, ''seeing ye know these things before, ^be- til'. ^*'' ^^' ^ 
ware ! lest ye also, being led away with the error of the v/icked, fall f^p^- 1- 1^- 
from your own steadfastness : ^® but ■''grow in grace, and in the knowl- g 2 Tim. 4. is. 
edge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. °To him be glory both 
now and for ever ! Amen. 

[end of the second epistle general of peter.] 



Kev. 1. 6. 



sect. XV. 


V. ^. 66. 


J. P. 4779. 


Syiia. 


- §1: 


f See Note 29. 



Section XV. — Jude writes his Epistle to caution the Christian Church 
against the dangerous Tenets of the false Teachers, who had now 
appeared, subverting the Doctrine of Grace to the encouragement of 
Licentiousness — and to exhort them to a steadfast Adherence to the 
Faith, and to Holiness of Life. ^ 

THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JUDE.- 

§ 1. — verse 1, 2. 

The Apostle addresses his Epistle to all who are called and preserved and consecrated 

to God through faith in Jesus Christ — His benediction. 

^ JuDE, the servant of Jesus Christ, and "brother of James, to them '^Actsi^ii.^' 
that are sanctified by God the Father, and ''preserved in Jesus Christ s John n. ii, 12, 
and 'called ! ^ Mercy unto you, and ''peace, and love, be multiplied ! ^ ^'^^ 17 

d 1 Pet. 1. 2. 

§2.-verse 3-lL 2 Pet. 1.2. 

The Apostle, having heard of the pernicious doctrines of the false teachers, exhorts 
Christians strenuously to contend for the faith which had been delivered to the 
apostles and prophets by Jesus Christ through the Spirit — For some ungodly men 

had crept into the Church, who taught that the goodness of God was so great, that 

men might sin with impunity, if they possessed faith, denying both the Father and Son 
(1 John ii. 22.), whose condemnation was foretold b}' the divine Law from the very 
beginning — To confute these dangerous doctrines, the Apostle reminds them of the 
punishment inflicted even on the chosen people of God for their sins (compare Numb, 
siv. 23. with Heb. iii. 18, 19.), of that reserved for the angels, who, discontented with 
their station, attempted to advance themselves, leaving their assigned habitations, and 
of the utter and eternal destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah — He shows 
that these false teachers, and their followers, by the same sins of unbelief, disobe- 
dience, and licentiousness, will bring upon themselves the same punishment — these 
-blaspheme, or revile, all established authority ;. although Michael, the archangel, so 
much greater than they, did not bring a railing accusation even against the Devil, 
but left him to the judgment of God — They revUe laws and magistrates, not knowing 
their use and origin ; are governed as brute beasts by instinct, destroying themselves 
by the indulgence of their animal propensities — They have followed after the example 
of Cain, destroying the souls of their brethren — Of Balaam, by corrupting the word 
of God for gain — Of Korah and his party, by opposing the apostles and ministers of 
Christ, as they did Moses and Aaron ; and they shall as surely perish, as Korah and § 2. 

his associates did. ^ -j-jj_ j 4_ 

2 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you "of the com- *,P|;ii. i 27. 
mon salvation, it was neediul for me to write unto you, and exhort 6. 12. 2 Tim. 1. 
you that 'ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once ^ e^, 2.' 4.' 
dehvered unto the saints. "* For ''there are certain men crept in un- ^ Pet. 2. 1. 
awares, ''who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, un- '^i^^^;l's!'^ 



2 Pet. 2. 6. 8 " 

\ Gr. oi/ier. 
n 2 Pet. 2. 10. 



404 ' THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JUDE. [Part XV. 

fTu'^oVHeb Sodly men, 'turning -^the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and 
12. is".' ' ' ^denying the only Lord [God], and our Lord Jesus Christ. 

^2 Pet. 2.\^.' ^ I will therefore put you in remembrance, (though ye once knew 

iJoim2.22. this,) how that ''the Lord, having saved the people out of the 

A 1 Cor 10 9 .^ ^ ^ 

i Num. 14. 29 ^^^''^ of Egypt, aftcrward 'destroyed them that believed not ; ''and the 
wh^=>T'}ieb s'' ■'^ng^ls which kept not their *first estate, but left their own habi- 
17, 19- tation, 'iie hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, 'unto the 

j Johns. 44. judgment of the great day : ^ even as "'Sodom and Gomorrha, and the 

* Ot, principality, •" . .^ , ^. . •' ... , ~ . . 

It. 2 Pet. 2. 4. Cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to lornication, 

1 Rev. 20. 10. and going after tstrange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering 
'i)eut"'29.'23!* tlic vengcaiice of eternal fire. 

Likewise "also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise do- 
minion, and "speak evil of dignities. ^ Yet ^Michael the archangel, 

Ex. 22. 28. when contending with the Devil he disputed about the body of Moses, 
''12'T' Rev.^12? ^durst not bring against him a railing accusation, s but ''said, "The 

7- . Lord rebuke thee ! " ^^ But ^these speak evil of those things which they 

g see^Note 30. know not : but wliat they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those 

r Zech. 3. 2. thiiigs they corrupt themselves. ^^ Woe unto them ! for they have gone 

s 2 Pet. 2. 12. \y\ the way 'of Cain, and "ran greedily after the error of Balaam for 

*i jo"hn 3. 12. reward, and perished "in the gainsaying of Core.*' 

u Num. 22. 7, 21. 

2 Pet. 2. 15. 

■V Num. 16. 1, &c. § 3.— ^erse 13-16. 

h See Note 31. The Apostle tells the Christians that these teachers are a disgrace to their love-feasts, 

pampering their appetites — He compares them to clouds without water (Deut. xxxii. 

2.), their office promising good doctrine, yet giving none ; carried about by their pas- 
sions ; so diseased themselves, that their doctrines must be corrupt ; naturally and 
spiritually dead ; rooted out as barren ; fierce and violent, as the waves of the sea, 
foaming out their own wickedness ; unsettled and irregular in their conduct (Rev. i. 
16. and ii. 1.), and being destitute of light, they are reserved for eternal darkness; 
against whom also (according to the ancient tradition) Enoch the seventh from Adam 
(to distinguish him from Enoch the son of Cain, who was the third) prophesied, when 
he predicted the condemnation of the wicked in his own time, and their destruction 
by the deluge — For these false teachers, like the antediluvians, murmur at the allot- 
ments of Providence and the restraints imposed on them ; but they are also proud and 
rebellious, flattering men for their own gain. 

h 1 Cor! 11. 21. ^^ These "are spots in your ''feasts of charity, when they feast with 

<= Pro^-|5- 14. you without fcar, feeding themselves ; ^clouds they are without water, 

d Eph! 4.' 14'. ''carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, 

e Matt. 15. 13. twice dead, "plucked up by the roots ; ^^ raging ^waves of the sea, 

"Cpiifhs^'ig. ^foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, ''to whom is reserved 

A 2 Pet. 2. 17. the blackness of darkness for ever. ^"^ And Enoch also, * the seventh 

i Gen. 5. 18. £.^j^ Adam, prophesied' of these, ■'saying, — 

1 See Note 32. ' I r j j ^ 

^Eln^i'^lo^' " Behold ! the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, 
Man' 25' 31 ^^ ^^ execute judgment upon all, 

2 Thess.'i. 7. And to couviuce all that are ungodly among them 

Of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, 
k 1 Sam. 2. 3. And of all their *hard speeches 

liT'ui\% Which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." 

1^ These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts ; 



§3. 



13, 



I 2 Pet. 2. 18. and 'their mouth speaketh great swelling words, '"having men's persons 



TOProv.28.21. in admiration because of advantage. 

Jam. 2. 1, 9. 



§4.— vcm 17-23. 
The Apostle exhorts them, instead of following the false teachers, to remember the 
doctrmes taught them by the apostles, who had also foretold the coming of these 
lascivious scoifers (2 Pet. iii. 2.), who, separating themselves from the true disciples of 
Christ, on the pretence of greater illumination, are mere animal men, not having the 
Spirit — But Christians are to establish themselves and each other in the doctrines of 
Christ and the Apostles, which make men spiritual and holy, praying to God under 



Sect XVI.] MARTYRDOM OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL. 405 

the influence of tlie Holy Ghost, keeping themselves in constant love towards God, S 4- 

expecting pardon from Christ, together with eternal life — They are to malie a differ- o 3 Pet. 3. 2. 

ence between those who have been seduced by ignorance and weakness, and those 6 1 Tim. 4. 1. 

who have erred from pride and corruption of heart — They are gently to reprove the 4 3 .j pet/.2. 1 
former, and save others from the destruction of sin, by the power of terror, retaining ^ 3. 3. 

the greatest hatred of their sins, lest they also should be infected by them. 'jT'^'k' ' it'l' 

" But, "beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before io°Heb"o%^ 
of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ ; ^^ how that they told you j. 1 cor. 2. 14. 
'there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their ^'^cl{\^^' 
own ungodly lusts. 1 Tim. 1. 4. 

^^ These be they Svho separate themselves, ''sensual, having not the '^ErTe. is. ' 
Spirit. -'^ But ye, beloved, 'building up yourselves on your most holy s'^P^'^- ^ ^2 
faith, -Spraying in the Holy Ghost, ^^ keep yourselves in the love of /(Rom. 11. m. 
God, 'looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal ^^'l^^^l'll' 
life. ^- And of some have compassion, making a difference ; ^-^ and icor. 3.15. 
others ''save with fear, 'pulling them out of the fire; hating even ^' the ^ zech. 3. 4,5. 
garment spotted by the flesh. ^''''- ^- '*• 



§ 5. — verse 24, to the end. 

The Apostle concludes by recommending them to God, who alone can preserve them from 
the contagion of sin and error, and with his doxology to God our Saviour, whose glory 
and power will last throughout all time and eternity. § 5. 

^"^ Now "unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and Ho pre- '^■i'^^^}^^' 
sent you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, * coi. 1. 22. 
^^ to "the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion "^i^™; \''i7^'& 
and power, both now and ever ! Amen. 2.3. 

[end of the general epistle of jude.] 



SECT. XVl. 

V. M. 60. 
[As tlie Scripture is silent with respect to the martyrdom of St. Peter at Rome, J- P- 4779. 



Section XVL — Martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paid. 



many Protestant writers, Salinasius, Spanheim, Dr. Barrow, with Bishop Marsh, in 
his Comparative View of the Churches of England and Rome, have endeavoured to 
prove that St. Peter was never in that city. Upon this point we have already 
made some observations ; the evidence from the fathers is too decisive to permit us 
to suppose there was no foundation for the general tradition that he was martyred 
m that city ; neither are we even justified in attempting to weaken that evidence 
of the fathers, which we are willing to receive in other instances, when it confirms 
our opinions. The arrogant claims of the Church of Rome, that the bisliop of that 
city is entitled, as the successor of St. Peter, to a spiritual supremacy over the other 
Churches and bishops of the Christian world, has not the shadow of support in Scrip- 
ture, nor any solid foundation among the fathers of the three first centuries ; as the 
learned ornament of the English Church, Bishop Jewell, has abundantly demon- 
strated. It cannot then be necessary to reject the authority of early ecclesiastical 
history, because its testimony has been perverted by a corrupt and apostate Church. 
The original authorities, upon which the belief that St. Peter was martyred at Rome 
about this time, are given at length by Dr. Hales. They are selected from Euse- 
bius, and references are given to Dr. Lardner, wherever the passages had been pre- 
viously selected by that theologian. He quotes Clemens Romanus, Epist. 1. ad 
Corinth, sect. 5. — Cotelerius, Patres Apost. vol. i. p. 148 — Dionysius, bishop of Cor- 
inth — Euseb. Eccles. Hist. lib. xi. cap. 25, p. 68 — Irenseus, bishop of Lyons— Pear- 
son, De annis primorum Roma Episcoporum, cap. 2 — Bishop Burgess's First Letter, 
p. 10 — Tertullian of Carthage — Lardner, vol. ii. p. 2G8 — Tiie Presbyter Caius, 
Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. cap. 25, p. 67 — Origen. Euseb. Hist. Ec. lib. iii. cap. 1, or 
Lardner, vol. vi. p. 541 — Lactantius, Lardner, vol. vi. p. 541 — Eusebius, bishop of 
Csesarea, Lardner, vol. vi. p. 544 — Ephrem. Syrus, Lardner, vol. iv. p. 437 — Jerome, 
Lardner, vol. vi. p. 544 — Chrysostom, Lardner, vol. vi. p. 544 — Theodoret, Lard- 
ner, vol. v. p. 201 — ^Isidore, Lardner, vol. v. p. 309 — Nicephorus, Basnage, Anon. 
42. Num.10. Lardner, vol. vi. p. 543— Simeon Metophrastes, Coteler. Pat. Apos. 



Kome. 



406 



DESTRUCTION OP JERUSALEM. 



[Part XV 



vol. i. p. 148. Not. 39 — the united testimony of which is amply sufficient to warrant 
our reception of the general tradition, which is well given by Cave. 

Some circumstances are related which are not supported by the best author- 
ities, and which have too much the appearance of legendary fable. Our Lord, it 
is said, appeared to St. Peter as he was making his escape over the walls of Rome, 
at the request of the disciples, and told the Apostle that he was coming to Rome 
to be again crucified. St. Peter understood this as a reproof, and returned to pris- 
on and to death. The stone on which our Lord stood when he talked with St. 
Peter, bore, it is added, the impression of his feet, and has ever since been preserved 
as a sacred rehc ; it is still in the Church of St. Sebastian the Martyr. 

Omitting all such narratives, there is sufficient evidence to induce us to 
receive the common opinion, that, having saluted his brethren, and taken his fare- 
well of St. Paul, he was brought out of prison, and led to the top of the Vatican 
mount, where he was to be crucified. On his arrival there, he entreated the favor 
of the officers, that he might not be crucified in the usual manner, but with his head 
downwards, for he was unwortliy to suifer in the same manner, in wliich our 
Lord had suffered. 

There is sufficient traditionary evidence also, to render it highly probable that 
the anticipations of St. Paul were realized, and that he was sacrificed in the reign 
of Nero. Three of the soldiers who conducted him to execution are said to have 
been converted by liis discourse, and became themselves martyrs for the faith. 
He was beheaded with a sword, crucifixion being esteemed a death too disgraceful 
for a Roman citizen. Some have asserted that he suffered on the same day with 
St. Peter ; others, that he was executed the year after ; others, that several years 
elapsed before his death. Bishop Pearson is of opinion that St. Paul was martyred 
during the absence of Nero in Greece, when the command of the pretorian guards 
was left to Tigellinus, and the government of the empire to Helius Cfesarianus, 
one of the most profligate and abandoned men of that wicked age. Clemens Ro- 
manus affirms, that St. Paul suffered death under the governors, and not under 
Nero ; and Bishop Pearson places the utmost confidence in his testimony. 

Cave quotes in confirmation of the tradition concerning St. Peter, Orig. lib. iii. 
in Genes, apud Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. i. p. 71 ; Hieron. de Script. Eccl. 
in Petr. p. 262 ; Heges. p. 279 ; Prudent. Peristeph. Hymn. xi. in Pass. Petri, et 
Pauli ; and Chrysostom, Serm. in Petr. et Pauli, p. 267, t. 6, and an equal num- 
ber respecting St. Paul — See his Lives of the Apostles, and the Account in Dr. Lard- 
ner's Supplement to the Credibility. 

As our Lord's prediction concerning the death of St. Peter is recorded in one of 
the four Gospels, it is very likely that Christians would observe the accomplishment 
of it, which must have been in some place ; and, among Christian writers of ancient 
times, no other place was named beside Rome ; nor did any other city ever glory 
in the martyrdom of St. Peter. There were in the second and third centuries dis- 
putes between the bishop of Rome and other bishops and Churches, about the time 
of keeping Easter, and about the baptism of heretics, yet none denied the bishop 
of Rome to have what they called the chair of St. Peter. 

Eusebius, both in his Demonstration and in his Ecclesiastical History, bears wit- 
ness to the same things — not now to insist on his Chronicle. In the former he says, 
" that St. Peter was crucified at Rome, with his head downwards, and St. Paul be- 
headed." In his Ecclesiastical History, speaking of Nero as the first persecutor of 
the Christians, he says, " that he put to death the apostles, at which time St. Paul 
was beheaded at Rome, and St. Peter crucified, as history relates. And the ac- 
count," he says, " is confirmed by the monuments still seen in the cemeteries of that 
city, with their names inscribed upon them." And in another chapter of the same work 
he says, "that Linus was the fii-st bishop of Rome after the martyrdom of Paul and 
Peter." It is needless to refer to any more of the many places of this learned 
bishop of Csesarea, where he appears to have been fully persuaded, that tliese two 
Apostles accomplished their martyrdom at Rome.] 



SECT. XVII. 

V. M. 70. 

J. P. 4783. 

Jerusalem. 



Section XVII. — Destruction of Jerusalem. 

[Our Lord had solemnly declared, " All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be for- 
given unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven in 
this world," &c. The expression, " in this world," may possibly refer to the destruc- 



Sect. XVIIL] THE REVELATION. 407 

tion of Jerusalem. After the ascension of Christ, the Jews lived under the miracu- 
lous dispensation of the Holy Spirit, which constantly appealed to them by miracles 
and by prophecy, as it had occasionally done among- their fathers. They persevered, 
however, for forty years, wilfully and obstinately rejecting the truth of God, till the 
prediction of their rejected Messiah was fulfilled, and wrath came upon them to SECT, xviri. 
the uttermost. The accounts which are given to us by Josephus of the dreadful y ^ gg 
devastation of their country, the famine and bloodshed, the distress and total ruin j_ p 4799. 
of the whole nation, by which the prophecies of Moses and Christ were fulfilled, Patmos. 
are so familiar, that it cannot be necessary to enter into the narrative. The fall of 
Jerusalem has left this memorable lesson to the world — that nations and churches, ^ ' 

however highly they may have been favored by the protecting providence of God, will ^jj^ij^s 33 ^ 
assuredly be laid aside, and fall from their political greatness, if they neglect the 8. 26. & 12. 49. 
service and obedience of Him by whom kings reign, and empires flourish or decay. ' ''^- ^- ^- ^'^^- ^■ 

= d 1 Cor. 1. 6. 

ch. 6. 9. & 12. 

Section XVIII. — St. John writes the Apocalypse to supply the Place n. ver. 9. 
of a continued Succession of Prophets in the Christian Church, till tl^^l^^^l'^^ ^^^ 
the second Coming of Christ to judge the World J^ 22. 7. 

g Rom. 13. 11. 

THE REVELATION [OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE.] 4?7.d;.y.ro.'- 

§ 1. — chap. i. 1-3. g 

All mankind are commanded to study the Apocalypse. 

^ The Revelation of Jesus Christ, "which God gave unto him, to 
show unto his servants things which 'must shortly come to pass ; and 
'He sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John : ^ who lo-cii. 3. i. &4. 
''bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, a John 8. h. 
and of all things 'that he saw. ^ Blessed ^is he that readeth, and they 3 Z^™- ^- ^^' '^''• 
that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are c 1 cor. is. 20. 
written therein : for ^the time is at hand. /Eph. 1.20. ch. 

17. 14. '&. 19. 16. 



a Ex. 3. 14. ver. 



b .Tohn 1. 1. 

c Zech. 3. 9. & 4. 



X n 7 • yf o £ John 13. 34. & 

§ 2.— chap. 1. 4-8. ^15. 9. Gal. 2. 29. 

St. John salutes the Churches, and asserts the Deity of their Saviour, who should come li Heb. 9. 14. 

to judge the world. . V^''" i' '^" 

. . . J 1 Pet. 2. 5, 9. 

^ John to the Seven Churches which are in Asia ! Grace be unto ^i'- s- lo- & 20. 
you, and peace, from Him "which is, and ''which v/as, and which is to j 1 Tim. e. ic. 
come ; 'and from the Seven Spirits which are before his throne ; ^ and "pet^4' n'& 
from Jesus Christ, '^loho is the Faithful Witness, and the Tirst-begotten s. 11. 
of the dead, and -^the Prince of the kings of the earth ! Unto Him ^liu.'ai^. & 
^that loved us, ''and washed us from our sins in his own blood, ^ and 26. 64. Acts 1. 
hath 'made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; •'to him zzech. 12. lo. 

• • T f IQ ^7 

be glory and dominion for ever and ever! Amen. '''Behold ! 'He ^"is"4j'4 ^44 
cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and 'they also e. &4812. ver. 
which pierced Him : and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because siie. '&22!i3. 
of Him. Even so, Amen. ® I ""am Alpha and Omega, [The Beginning ^'^^^^,_ 4 (.,, 4 
and The Ending,] saith the Lord, "which is, and which was, and 8j^&]i-i7.& 
which is to come. The Almighty. 



§ 3. — chap. i. 9, to the end. § 3 

St. John relates the appearance of Christ to him in the Isle of Patmos, and his prophetic a Phil. 1. 7. & 4. 

commission. ^■'' "~ '^'"'' ^- ^• 

.J Rom. 8. 17. 

^ I John (who also am your brother, and "companion in tribulation, sTim. 2. 12. 
and 'in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ), was in the isle that ''y';''' '^' ^' ^'*"'' 
is called Patmos, 'for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus d Arts lo. in. 
[Christ]. ^° I "^was in the Spirit on 'the Lord's day, and heard behind 4. 3?& li.'s.V 
me ^a. great voice, as of a trumpet, ^^ saying, " I ^am Alpha and Omega, ^\'2^^'^ ^g 
''The First and The Last: " and, " What thou seest, write in a book, 'Acts^.V: ' 
and send it unto the Seven Churches which are in Asia; unto Ephe- /ch. 4. i.&io 
sus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and ^'^^^ g 
unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea." a ver. 17. 



408 THE REVELATION. [Part XV. 



t ver. 20. Ex. 25. 
37. Zech. 4. 2. 



^^ And I turned to see the Voice that spake with me ; and, being 

jch.2. 1. turned, 'I saw seven golden candlesticks, ^^ and ■'in the midst of the 

/,: Ezek. 1. 26. sevcn candlesticks * 0^6 like unto the Son of Man, 'clothed with a 

Dan. 7. 13. & JO. i /. m • ^ • i 

16. See John 1. garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden 

z Dan. 10.5. girdle. ^^ His head and "his hairs were white like wool, as white as 

m ch. 15. 6. snow ; and "his eyes were as a flame of fire ; ^^ and ''his feet like unto 

Dan. 10. 6. ch. ^"6 brass, as if they burned in a furnace ; and 'his voice as the sound 
2. 18. & 19. 1-2. of many waters. ^"^ And lie had in his right hand seven stars : and 

^Dan!ib.6. ch. 2. "out of his mouth weut a sharp two-edged sword: 'and his counte- 

^Ezek 43 2 naucc was as the sun shineth in his strength. ^'' And "when I saw him, 

Dan. 10. 6. ch. J fell at his feet as dead ; and "he laid his right [hand] upon me, say- 

r ver72o. ch. 2. i^g [uuto me], " Fear not ; "1 am The First and The Last, ^® I "am he 

8^13^49 2 E h ^^^^^ liveth ; and was dead, and behold ! ^I am alive for evermore, 

6. 17. Heb. 4. 12. [Amen ;] and ""have the keys of Hell and of Death. " Write "the 

ch 2 1'^ 16 & 

19! 15, 21. ' things which thou hast seen, and Hhe things which are, ^and the things 

'lo.^L*^^' ^^' ''^ which shall be hereafter ; ^° the mystery ''of the seven stars which thou 

B Ezek. 1.28. sawcst in my right hand, "and the seven golden candlesticks. The 

^mTo.^" ^^' ^ seven stars are ■'the angels of the seven churches ; and ^the seven 

w Is. 41 4. & 44. candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. 

6. & 48. 12. ch. 

2. 8. & 22. 13. 

ver. 11. . . , .. , „ 

1 Rom. 6. 9. § ^.—chap.n. 1-/. 

y ch. 4. 9. & 5. Address to the Church at Ephesus, and to all Churches which are beginning to apostatize, 

z Ps. 68. 20. ch. ^ " Unto the Angel of the Church of Ephesus write : — These things 

^'*' ^\„ , saith "He that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, 'who walketh 

a ver. L2, &c. , . . ^ 

b ch. 2. 1, fee. in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks ; ® I 'know thy works, 

c ch. 4. 1, &c. and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them 

e Jer. 12. Avhich are evil : and ''thou hast tried them 'which say they are apostles, 

/ Mai. 2. 7. ch. and are iiot, aud hast found them liars : ^ and hast borne, and hast 

£■ Zech. 4. 2. patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast ■^not fainted. 

Phi"''>^'i5^' '^ Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy 

first love. ^ Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and 

§ 4. repent, and do the first works ; ^or else I will come unto thee quickly, 

ach. 1.16,20. and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 

'"^'l'^^' n ^ But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of ''the Nicolai'tanes, 

i3,'i9'. ch. 3. 1,' which I also hate. 

d 1 John 4. 1. ^ " He 'that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the 

e 2 Cor. 11. 13. Churchcs : — To him that overcometh will I give -'to eat of ^the tree of 

2 Pet. 2. 1. . . 

/ Gal. 6. 9. Heb. Hfe, wliicli is in the midst of the Paradise of God. 

12. 3, 5. 

g Matt. 21. 41, 

43. § 5.— chap. ii. 8-11. 

A ver. lo. ^ Address to the Church of Smyrna, and to all Churches under persecution and affliction. 

13. 9, 43. ver. 11, ^ a ^^j-p ^j^jq ^]^g Anfifel of thcChurch in Smyrna write : — These 

17 29 cli 3 6 

13^ 2-2'. &'i3! 9! things saith "The First and The Last, which was dead, and is alive ; ^ I 

i r'^Vg^^ 'know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art "rich,) 

^ " " and IJcnow the blasphemy of ''them which say they are Jews, and are 

§ .5. not, 'but are the synagogue of Satan. ^° Fear ■'^none of those things 

a ch. 1. 8, 17, 18. which thou shalt suffer. Behold ! the Devil shall cast some of you 

b ver. 2. jj^^Q prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have tribulation ten days : 

'"iTini. b^iV ^be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee 'a crown of life. 

dTom'^'n 28 ^^ " He 'that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the 

29 & 9. 6. ' ' Churches : — He that overcometh shall not be hurt of •'the second 

c ch. :'. 9. 

/ Matt. 10. 22. 

g Matt. 24. 13. 

/( Jam. 1. 12. ch. § 6. — cJiap. ii. 12-17. 

■ „ Address to the Church of Perffaraos, and to all Churches which, by relaxinor their disci- 

ver. 7. ch. 13. fe > t j o 



death. 



9_ ' ' " ' pline, have admitted erroneous teachers. 

j^ch 20.H.&21. 12 a ^^^ ^Q (.|-,g Angel of the Church in Pergamos write : — These 



Sect. XVIIL] THE REVELATION. 409 

things saith "He which liath the sharp sword with two edges ; ^^ I § S- 

''know thy works, and where thou dwellest, everi ^ where Satan's seat ^'^''"^^^^ 
is: and thou holdest fast my Name, and hast not denied my faith, cyei'.Q'. 
even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was <z Num. 24. 14. & 
slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. '■^ But I have a few things 2Pet. 2. 15. 
against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of "'"'*'' "' . 

~ . 6 ver. 90. Act3 

''Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the chil- is. 29. 1 coV. s. 
dren of Israel, 'to eat things sacrificed unto idols, -^and to commit 26. ' ' ' 
fornication. ^^ So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine ^of the f^ ^°'- ^- "> 
Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. ^^ Repent ; or else I will come unto g ver. c. 
thee quickly, and Svill fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Vxh"=^-i s 
^' '• He 'that hath an ear. let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the ch. 1. le. L 19. 

■' _ ^ J- . 15 21 

Churches : — To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden ^ ^,er. 7, n. 
manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone -'a new name j^^- 3- 12. & 19. 
written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. 



§ 7. — chap. ii. 18, to the end. 
Address to the Church at Thyatiia, and to ail Churches which retain the profession of § 7. 

the true faith, and abound in many respects in good works, yet still permit immorality ^ see JIarkl. 1. 

and idolatry to continue among them. j ch. 1. 14, 15. 

IS u ^y,j^ yjj|-Q tj^g Angel of the Church in Thtatira write : — These ^7^-^' ,r ^1 

J^ ax Kings 16. 31. 

things saith "the Son of God, ^vho hath fhis] eves like unto a flame & 21.25. 

^ . . L J .' 2 Kin'^s 9. 7. 

of fire, and his feet are like fine brass ; ^^ I 'know thy works, and char- e Ex. 34. is." 
ity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works ; and the f^^J^'io^'ii^' 
last to be more than the first. ^° Notwithstanding I have fa few thingsl 20. ver. 14. 
against thee, because thou sufFerest that woman ''Jezebel, which calleth g.'o™' " '" ' 
herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants 'to commit g 1 sam. le. 7. 
fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. -^ And I gave her 29. it! 2 chr.'e. 
space -^to repent of her fornication ; and she repented not. -'Behold! h'. lo.' & n.^^o! 
I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her f'-a^'.^^'Actu 
into gi-eat tribulation, except they repent of their deeds, ~^ and I will 24. Eom. 8. 2V. 
kill her children with death : and all the churches shall know that °I am ^uufle^lv. 
He which searcheth the reins and hearts ; and *! will give unto every fi'^i'^co^' f \q' 
one of you according to your works. ^"^ But unto you I say, and unto ^ai.e. 5. 

, , J . '■ "■ ' . Co. 20. 12. 

the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which i Acts 15. 28. 
have not known the depths of Satan, (as they speak.) I Hvill put J ^h. 3. 11. 
upon you none other burden ; ^^but -'that which ye have already hold ij°oh"n3.23. 
fast till I come. '^^^^so. 

26 " And he that overcometh, and keepeth ''my works unto the end, 1 cor. 6. a. ch. 

. - 3 ^1. & 20. 4. 

'to him will I give power over the nations ; -'' (and "he shall rule them ^'ps 2. g 9". 

with a rod of iron ; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to f^o'lh^"5 
shivers, even as I received of my Father ;) ^^ and I will give him "the & 19. is 
morning star. ^^ He "that hath an ear, let him hear Avhat the Spirit 
saith unto the Churches ! ^■er.7. 



n 2 Pet. 1. 19. ch. 
22. 16. 



§ 8. — chap. iii. 1-6. § 8. 

Address to the Church of Sardis, and to all Churches which permit their zeal and faith- ^ ^h. 1. 4. 16. 

fulness to decline. 4. 5. &. 5. 6. 

^"AxDunto the Angel of the Church in Sardis write: — These (. Eph.k 1,5. 
things saith He "that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven ^"^^'W^ 
stars; 'I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, 'and sTim. 1. is.' 
art dead. ^ Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that ^'"' , ' 

" ~ e ver. 19. 

are ready to die. For I have not found thy works perfect before / jiatt. 24. 42, 
God. ^Remember ''therefore how thou hast received and heard, and tiirtis.'ss! 
hold fast, and 'repent. -Tf therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come {'^'ifess.' 5.^2^6' 
[on thee] as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come ^^".^^ 3. 16. k. 
upon thee. ^Thou hast ° a few names even in Sardis which have not ^^ Acts 1.15. 
VOL. II. 52 II 



410 THE REVELATION. [Part XV. 

ftjude23. ''defiled their garments ; and they shall walk with me 'in white : for 

ii!'&'7.'9, 13. they are worthy. 
■'" "J^' ^^; ®' „ ^ "He that overcometh, •'the same shall be clothed in white raiment : 

69. 28."' ' ■ and I will not *blot out his name out of the 'Book of Life, but '"I will 

^ la^i'. &.%%'. confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. ^ He "that 

& 20. 12. &. 21 }ja,th an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches ! 



m Matt. 10. 32. 

^"•'^ i~- ^- § 9.— chap. iii. 7-13. 

n ch. 2. 7. y r 

Address to the Church at Philadelphia, and to all Churches which act with zeal and 
fidelity, according to their opportunities and power. 

§ 9- '' " And to the Angel of the Church in Philadelphia write : — These 

a Acts 3. 14. things saith "He that is holy, 'He that is true. He that hath 'the key 

ver.^M" cii. 1. 5. of David, ''He that openeth, and no man shutteth ; and 'shutteth, and 

& 6. 10. & 19. j^Q j^g^j^ openeth ; ^ I •'^know thy works : behold ! I have set before 
c 13.92. 22. Luke thcc %n Open door, and no man can shut it : for thou hast a little 
d Matt.'^ie.ig. strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my Name, 
e Job 12. 14. 9 Behold! I will make ''them of the synagogue of Satan, which say 
■^ 7col- iG 9 ^'^^y ^^^ Jews, and are not, but do lie ; behold ! 'I will make them to 

2Cor. 2. 12. come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved 
^it^49 23 &60 ^^66. ^^ Because thou hast kept the word of my patience,^! also will 

14. keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon *all the 

1 Luke 21' world, to try them that dwell'upon the earth. "Behold!'"! come 
I Is. 94. 17. quickly : "hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 
"i^3''&22'^7''i2 ^^" ■'■■''■ '™ ^'^^* overcometh will I make °a pillar in the temple of my 

20. ' ' God, and he shall go no more out : and I will write upon him the 
n^ver. .c .2.10, j^^^^q ^f j^y God, ahd the name of the city of my God, which is ^New 
iKingg7. 21. Jerusalcm, which cometh down out of heaven from my God; 'and 1 

n.'sc'ii. i.'&^' iv ill write upon him my new name. ^•'He 'that hath an ear, let him 
p Gai.4. 2R. ^^^^^ what tlic Spirit saith unto the Churches ! 

Heb.'l2'. 22. oh. 

21. 2, 10. 

q ch. 22. 4. § 10. — chop. iii. 14, to the end. 

T ch. a. 7. Address to the Church at Laodicea, and to all Churches which are wealthy, proud, and 
lukewarm. 

^^ " And unto the Angel of the Church *of the Laodiceans write : — 
§ 10- "These things saith the Amen, Hhe faithful and true Witness, 'the 
IS' 65.""' Beginning of the creation of God ; is I "know thy works, that thou art 
ich. 1. 5. &19. neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot! i'' So then be- 
11.&22.6. ver. ^.g^ygg ^j^^y ^j.^- Jukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee 
c Co!. 1. 15. out of my mouth. ^'' Because thou sayest, 'I am rich, and increased 
e rira \ 8 ^^^'^ goods, aud have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art 

1 Cor. 4". 8. wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked ; ^^I counsel 
■^13.' 4^4^.' & 25.%'.' thee •'^to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; 
g- 2 Cor. 5.3. ch. and ^white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame 

& 19! 8. ' ' of thy nakedness do not appear ; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, 

Vrot^i^ii 12. *h^* ^^^^^ mayest see. i" As ''many as I love, I rebuke and chasten : 

Heb. 12. 5,'6. be zealous therefore, and repent. ^''Behold ! 'I stand at the door, and 

i Cunt. 5. 2. knock : ^if any man hear my voice, and open the door, *I will come in 

j Luke 12. 37. to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 
"rttt\tf8 ^^"To him that overcometh 'will I grant to sit with Me in my 

Luke 22. 30. throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in 

2 'iMmJ. 12. ch. his throne. ^2 He '"that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith 
unto the Churches ! " 



. 96, 97. 
m ch. 2. 7. 



§ 11. — chap. iv. 

The visions of St. John begin with a representation of the whole creation uniting in the 

worship of Jesus Christ the God of Christianity. 

1 After this I looked, and, behold ! a door was opened in heaven ; 



Sect. XVIIL] THE REVELATION. 411 

and "the first voice which I heard ivas as it were of a trumpet talking § H- 
with me ; which said, " Come 'up hither, "and I will show thee things ", •=['• J; ^°i 

1-111 r Ti '=' ch. 11. 12. 

which must be hereafter. c ch. 1. 19. & 22. 

^ And immediately "^I was in the Spirit : and, behold ! ^a throne was ^'^^ ^ 10 & 17 
set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. "*And He that sat was to 3. &21. lo. 
look upon like a jasper and a sardine-stone : ^and there teas a rain- ^ li.' Ezli^T/ze!' 
bow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. * And ^ i"- ^- °''"- ''- 
^round about the throne were four and twenty seats : and upon the / Ezek. 1. 28. 
seats I saw four and twenty Elders sitting, ''clothed in white raiment ; s <=•'• "-^s. 
'and they had on their heads crowns of gold. ^And out of the 'ii.'& 7. 9, 13, 
throne proceeded ■'lightnings and thunderings and voices: ''and there Z'*'*'^^'"" 
were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which 'are the j d,. s. 5. & ig 
Seven Spirits of God ; ^ and before the throne there was ™a sea of ^^• 
glass like unto crystal; "and in the midst of the throne, and round '201^.4.20! 
about the throne, were four Beasts full of eyes before "and behind, lech.' 4.' 2!^" 
■'And ''the first Beast was like a lion, and the second Beast like a calf, '^'■g^g'*-'^^-'- 
and the third Beast had a face as a man, and the fourth Beast was mEx. ss. s. ch. 
like a flying eagle. ® And the four Beasts had each of them 'six wings „ ^^"'^ j g 
about him ; and they were full of eyes "^within : and *they rest not day ver. s. ' 
and night, saying, "Holy ! "holy! holy! 'Lord God Almighty ! "which ^Eze™'i~'iu'. ^"^ 
was, and is, and is to come ! " ^ And when those Beasts give glory and y^i^.^if/o. 
honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, "who liveth for ever ^I2,ut°a)i"^'"h''^ 
and ever, ^"the "four and twenty Elders fall down before Him that sat fiuiofeycs.-ED.] 
on the throne, ""and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, ^and * Gr. deij imvc no 
cast their crowns before the throne, saying, " " Thou ^art worthy, O /SS. 3. 
Lord! to receive glory and honor and power: "for Thou hast created jj^cii \' 4 
all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created ! " "m'^ 15^7'^ ^' 

10 ch. 5. 8, 14. 

§ 12.— chap. V. 1-3. ^jZ± 

St. John sees in his vision a book with seven seals, containing the future history of the z cli. 5. 12. 

Church of God, which no human being was able to open. 17^ 04 gpf, 3_ 

1 And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne "a %^e!' ^' ^'^' '"''' 

book written within and on the back side, ^sealed with seven seals. 

^ And I saw a strong Angel proclaiming with a loud voice, " Who [is] § 12. 
worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?" •'And no a Ezek. 2. 9, 10. 
man "in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to *i2''4~^'"' °^"' 
open the book, neither to look thereon. ' "<"■• ^^■ 



13. — chap. V. 4, to the end. 



13. 



The Son of God, represented under the figure of a lamb in tlie act of being sacrificed, Heb.V. 14.' 
opens the book, to explain to the Church the history of its providential government to * Is. 11. 1, ]0. 
the end of time ; — the whole creation renew their praise and homage to the sacrificed 22. 16. ' 
Lamb of God. c ver. I. ch. 6. 1. 

* And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and i. 29, sR.'iPet. 
to read the book, neither to look thereon. ^ And one of the Elders ver. 9/12. 
saith unto me, " Weep not: behold ! "the Lion of the tribe of Juda, ^^^-ech.3. 9.&4. 
'the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, 'and to loose the •'''=';• "l- ^„- 

1 xi r)) ^ch. 4. 2. 

seven seals thereof. a ch. 4. s, 10. 

^ And I beheld, and, lo ! in the midst of the throne and of the four \.''~' 
Beasts, and in the midst of the Elders, stood ''a. Lamb as it had been * pj; TihS'ch. 
slain, having seven horns and "seven eyes, which are ^the Seven Spirits ,/p^' ^5 3 ^,^ 
of God, sent forth into all the earth. '''And he came and took the ^^^'l;^^ j, 
book out of the right hand °'of Him that sat upon the throne. ^ And m ver.'c. " 
when he had taken the book, ''the four Beasts and four and twenty "Rom." 3. 24. ' 
Elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them 'harps, l.^l'sph'/hi. 
and golden vials full of *odors, -'which are the prayers of saints; ^ and 9°jb^i"et^\''''' 
'^they sung a new song, saying, " Thou 'art worthy to take the book, is, i9. 2 Pet. 9 
and to open the seals thereof; "for thou wast slain, and "hast re- ch. 14"" 



412 THE REVELATION. [PauxXV. 

25. cii. 7 9. & ' deemed us to God by thy blood "out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
pEx'w^G^' people, and nation ;'" and ''hast made us unto our God kings and 

1 Pet- 2- 5, 9. priests ; and we shall reign on the earth." ^^ And I beheld, and I heard 

&"22.'5! ' ' the voice of many angels 'round about the throne and the Beasts and 
'p""" *•*'•'• the Elders : and the number of them was '^ ten thousand times ten 

7. lb. Heb'. 12. ' thousand, and thousands of thousands ; ^^ saying "with a loud voice, 
s ch. 4. 11. " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and 

t Phil. 2. 10. ver. wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing ! " ^^ And 
jt^ichr. 29. 11. 'every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the 

Rom. 9. 5. & 16. earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I sav- 

27. 1 Tim. 6. 16. . ;, -r»i . „ , , , , ■, , tt- i 

1 Pet. 4.11. &5. mg, " Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that 
I chl'e. 16. & 7. sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." ^^ And 

1"- '"the four Beasts said, " Amen." And the [four and twenty] Elders fell 

2ch.4. 9 10 down and worshipped [Him ""that liveth for ever and ever]. 



— = " § 14. — chap. vi. 1, 2. 

The First Seal is opened — The vision which follows announces the general conquest of the 
5 ■'•4' Gospel over Jews and Gentiles. 

b ch 4 7' ^' ^ ^ ^^^ "■'■ ®^^ when the Lamb opened One of the Seals, and I heard, 

c zech. 6.3. ch. as it wcrc the noise of thunder, ''one of the four Beasts, saying, " Come 
dPB^45. 4 5. ^"^ ^ee ! " ^ And I saw, and behold "a white horse ! ''and He that sat 
Lxx. on him had a bow ; 'and a crown was given unto him : and he went 

e^zech. 6. u. ch. f^^^]^ conquering, and to conquer. 



a ch. 4. 7. 
b Zech. C. 2. 



§ 15. — chap. vi. 3, 4. 
j5 The Second Seal is opened — The savage persecutions and total dispersion of the Jews, 

under Trajan and Adrian, are announced. A. D. 102 to A. D. 138. 

^ And when He had opened the Second Seal, "I heard the second 
Beast say, " Come [and see] ! " * And Hhere went out another horse that 
ivas red ; and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace 
from the earth, and that they should kill one another : and there was 
given unto him a great sword. 



§ 16. — chap. vi. 5, 6. 

The Third Seal is opened — The peace and plenty of the reign of the Septimian family 

§ 16. are announced. A. D. 193 to A. D. 235. 

a ch. 4. 7. 5 ^j^jj when He had opened the Third Seal, "I heard the third Beast 

* The'wordcAffi- Say, " Comc [and see] ! " And I beheld, and, lo ! ''a black horse ! and he 

mte signifieth a ^]^^^ gg^|. ^^j^ j^jj^ j^j^^j g^ pg^j,. of balaucBS iu his hand. "^ And I heard a 

measure contain- r -n a ■ 

ing one wine voicc in the midst of the four Beasts say, " A ^measure of wheat for a 
twelfth part of a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny ; and ''see thou hurt 
cTh.'g. 4. i^ot the oil and the wine." 



§ 17. — chap. vi. 7, 8. 

The Fourth Seal is opened — The cruel wars, the famines, persecutions, and pestilences, 

which prevailed in the reigns of Maximin, Decius,and Valerian, are announced. A. D. 

§ ^'^- 255 to A. D. 271. 

'^ "^^ "*• ''■ '^ And when He had opened the Fourth Seal, "I heard the voice of 

b Zech. 6. 3. ^j^g iovLxih Beast say, " Come [and see] ! " ^ And ''I looked, and behold 

a pale horse ! and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell fol- 

*or, to/iirn. lowed with him. And power was given * unto them over the fourth 

d 2 Esd. 15. 5. P^^i't of the earth, 'to kill with sword, and with hunger, ''and with death, 

e Lev. 26. 23. 'and with the beasts of the earth. 



§ IQ.—chaj). vi. 9-11. 
The Fifth Seal is opened — The last heathen persecution of Christianity, and the appre- 
§ ^°' hensions of the Christians are announced. A. D. 286 to A. D. 304. 



a ch. 8. 3. &L 9. 



13.&14! 18. ■ ^ And when He had opened the Fifth Seal, I saw under "the altar 



Sect. XVIIL] THE REVELATION. 4I3 

Hhe souls of them that were slain 'for the word of God, and for ''the * "^^ 2°- ^• 
testimony which they held : i"and they cried with a loud voice, 'say- "^l'^-^ \ g ^^ 
ing, " How long, O Lord, -^holy and true ! ^dost Thou not judge and li.n.'&h'.io. 
avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? " " And ''white robes !. ^^^^f^^''' ^' ^^' 
were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, g ch. n.'w.sc 
'that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants /"j^^g 45^7. 
also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should 9- 1*- 

I r 1,-n J •' i Heb. 11.40. ch, 

be lulnlled. , 14.13. 

§ 19. — chap. vi. 12, to the end, and chap. vii. 

The Sixth Seal is opened — The convulsions of tlie Roman empire are represented at the 
final overthrow of paganism, and the triumphant establishment of the Christian Church 
in its place — In this part of the vision also is pointed out the eternal happiness of the 
early martyrs, and the praise which they render to God and the Lamb. A. D. 323. § 19. 

^^ And I beheld, when He had opened the Sixth Seal, "and, lo ! there ° "''• ^^- ^^■ 
was a great earthquake ! and 'the sun became black as sackcloth of '&°3°',| ^l'^^' 
hair, and the moon became as blood ; ^^ and "the stars of heaven fell |^- ^s- Acts 2. 
unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her *untimely figs, when she c ch. 8. 10. &9. 
is shaken of a mighty wind ; ^'^ and ''the heaven departed as a scroll A 

1 ■•nil 1 e • 1 • 1 1 * Or, green figs. 

when it IS rolled together ; and every mountain and island were moved d ps. 102. 26. is. 
out of their places ; ^^and the kings of the earth, and the great men, s^; 4. Heb. 1. 12, 
and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mi2;hty men, and « Jer. 3. 23. &4. 

I ' o ./ ' 24. ch. 16. 20. 

every bondman, and every freeman, -'^hid themselves in the dens and / iJ. 2. 19. 
in the rocks of the mountains ; ^^ and 'said to the mountains and rocks, ^L"°g23'''3^o (.,, 
" Fall on us ! and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the 9-6. 
throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb ! " For ''the great day of his VepiJ.^i.^if &c. 
wrath is come ; 'and who shall be able to stand ? " ci,. ik.m. ' 

<=^^p- '^"- ^ And after these things I saw four Angels standing on ' ^' 

the four corners of the earth, ^holding the four winds of the J ^'^^■''- 2- 
earth, ''that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, '' <=''• ^ 4. 
nor on any tree. ^ And I saw another Angel ascending from the east, 
having the seal of the living God : and he cried with a loud voice to 
the four Angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 
^ saying, " Hurt 'not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have ^ <^h. 6. 6. & 9. 4. 
"sealed the servants of our God "in their foreheads ! " ^ And °I heard '^^I'l^' °- ■*• ''''• 
the number of them which were sealed : and there were sealed ''an « eh. 22. 4. 
hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children '"'^{^\^''{ 
of Israel. ^ Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the 
tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad 
were sealed twelve thousand. ** Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve 
thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. 
Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. '' Of the tribe 
of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were 
sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve 
thousand. ® Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of 
the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of 
Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. 

^ After this I beheld, and, lo ! 'a great multitude, which no man ? Rom. 11.25. 
could number, ""of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, '' <'''• ^- ^• 
stood before the Throne, and before the Lamb, 'clothed with white V'V ^; ^«' \^v '^ 

1 A 1 . 4. 4. & 0. 11. 

robes, and palms in their hands ; ^" and cried with a loud voice, saymg, vor. 14. 

" Salvation 'to our God "which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the 'n!jer .^3.^23!^ 

Lamb ! " " And "all the angels stood round about the throne, and ^g\}'^- ^- ''^• 

about the Elders and the four Beasts, and fell before the throne on u ch. 5. 13. 

their faces, and worshipped God, ^^ saying, " Amen : "'Blessing, and 

glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and 

might, be unto our God for ever and ever ! [Amen.] " ^^ And one of the 

VOL. II. II* 



V ch. 4. 6. 

ro ch. 5. 13, 14. 



414 THE REVELATION. [Part XV. 

X ver. 9. Eldevs answered, saying unto me, " What are these which are arrayed in 

V ■ ■ ■ ' "^white robes ? and whence came they ? " ^* And I said unto him, " Sir, 

V M^'/johl^i' ^^^ knowest." And he said to me, " These ^are they which came out of 
7. ch. 1. 5. ' great tribulation, and have 'washed their robes, and made them white 
4, 5. ■ ■ ' in the blood of the Lamb. ^^ Therefore are they before the throne of 

%5^-g4- 5' 6- '='^- God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and He that sitteth 
J Is. 49. 10. on the throne shall "dwell among them. ^^ They 'shall hunger no more, 
"gj'-^^^^- ^- '=''• "neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any 
d Ps. 23. 1. & 36. heat: ^''for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne ''shall feed 
14. ° " ■ ' them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters ; ^and God 
€^is.25. 8. ch. 4. shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." 

§ 20. — c/iop. viii. 1-5. 

The Seventh Seal is opened — Seven Angels, with the seven trumpets, appear in heaven 
— The grateful prayers of the Christians who are now at rest, and the acceptance of 
their prayers, are announced, with the approaching desolation of tlie Empire by the 
Barbarians. 

J Tob!i2. 15. ^ -^ND "when he had opened the Seventh Seal, there was silence in 

Matt. ^18. 10. heaven about the space of half an hour, ^And''I saw the Seven An- 

c 2 ciiron. 29. gcls which stood bcforc God ; ^and to them were given seven trum- 

*^~^^',,-,, .^ pets. ^And another Angel came and stood at the altar, having a 

* Or, ado, it to tie -i ° . . i i 

■prayers. goldeu ccuscr ; and there was given unto him much incense, that he 

d ch. .5. 8. should *offer it with ''the prayers of all saints upon "the golden altar 

6. 9.' ' ' ' which was before the throne. ^ And ^the smoke of the incense, wJiich 

■'^Luket^'io came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the 

^ Or, upon. Angel's hand. ^And the Angel took the censer, and filled it with fire 

g ch. 16. 18. of the altar, and cast it tinto the earth : and "there were voices, and 

I Kin™s"i9.'ii. thunderings, and lightnings, ''and an earthquake. 

Acts 4. 31. 



20. 



§ 21. — chap. viii. 6, 7. 

A new aera of the overthrow of the Roman power, which had hitherto depressed the Man 
of Sin, now commences with the sounding of the seven trumpets — The First Trumpet 
sounds — The prodigies which ensue prefigure the invasion of the Roman Empire by 
the barbarous nations of tlie North. A. D. 323 to A. D. 412. 

^ And the Seven Angels which had the seven trumpets prepared 
§ ^1' themselves to sound. 
aEzek.38.22. '^ The First [Angcl] sounded, "and there followed hail and fire 
5 ch. 16. 2. mingled with blood, and they were cast ''upon the earth : and the third 

e^ts. 2. 13. ch. 9. p^j.^ c^^ ^j.ggg ^^g burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. 



§ 22. 



a Jer. 51.25. 



§ 22.— chap. viii. 8, 9. 
The Second Trumpet sounds — The Vandals and Alani under Genseric destroy the 
political power of the Western Roman Empire. A. D. 395 to A. D. 455. 
^ And the Second Angel sounded, "and as it were a great mountain 
Amos 7. 4. burning with fire was cast into the sea: 'and the third part of the sea 
cEzek°i4.]9. 'became blood ; ^ and ''the third part of the creatures [which were] 
d ch. 16. 3. in the sea, and had life, died ; and the third part of the ships were 
destroyed. 

§ 23.— c/iop. viii. 10, 11. 
The Third Trumpet sounds— The deposition of Augustulus, tlie last Roman Emperor of 
the West, or the apostacy or corruption of ambitious churchmen, or the prevalence of 
the opinions of Augustine, which more than any otliers have embittered the waters of 
§ 23. life, and destroyed Christian union, may be here prefigured. A. D. 455 to A. D. 476. 

a Is. 14. 12. ch. 10 ^jjjj ^}^g Third Angel sounded, "and there fell a great star from 
/ch!i6.4. heaven, burning as it were a lamp, 'and it fell upon the third part of 
c Ruth 1. 20. the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. ^^ And ''the name of 
%%}li^:lt the star is called Wormwood: ^and the third part of the waters 



Sect. XVIIL] THE REVELATION. 415 

became wormwood ; and many men died of the waters, because they 
were made bitter. 

§ 2i.—chap. viii. 12. 
The Fourth Trumpet sounds — The wars in Italy between the conquerors of Rome, the 
generals of Justinian, and the Goths, and the Establishment of the Exarchate of Ra- 
venna, wliicli annihilated all the remaining authority of Rome, are now predicted to 
A. D. 606. § 24. 

^^ And "the Fomlh Angel sounded, and the third part of the sun °a^"os?8!9. 
was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the 

stars ; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone 

not for a third part of it, and the night hkewise. 



§ 2.5. — chap. viii. 13. 
Another memorable period in the history of mankind is now ushered in — The general 
corruption among Christians and the political weakness of the Empire prepare the 
way for the Two Great Apostacies, which should continue for the space of 12G0 years, 
and rise together in the Eastern and Western Empires. A. D. 606. § 25. 

13 (And I beheld, "and heard an Angel flying through the midst of °j^';- "• '^^ ^ ^^■ 
heaven, saying with a loud voice, " Woe ! 'woe ! woe ! to the inhabiters b ch. 9. 12. & 11. 
of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the 
three Angels, which are yet to sound !)" 



§ 26.— chap. ix. 1-11. 

The rise, progress, and eventual overthrow of the two Synchronical Apostacies of the two 

great enemies of the peace, knowledge, and happiness of mankind. Popery and Ma- 

hometanisra, are described by the two first woe trumpets, and by the tliird woe trumpet, 

as far as the sixth vial, which was poured out under the latter — The Fifth Trumpet, 

or first woe trumpet, is sounded — The fall of a star — the corruptions of the Eastern 

Church, introduces the apostacy of Mahomet, and the Saracens, who conquer the erro- r nc 

neous Christians 150 years — A. D. 606 to A. D. 762." 

n See Note 33. 

1 And the Fifth Angel sounded, "and I saw a star fall from heaven a Luke lo. is. 
unto the earth ; and to him was given the key of 'the bottomless pit, j'^Lukes 31 ch 
^ and he opened the bottomless pit. And "there arose a smoke out of n. 8.&20. 1. 
the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were ^ j^^, j 0' 10 
darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. ^ And there came out 
of the smoke ''locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given d Ex. 10. 4. 
power, 'as the scorpions of the earth have power : * and it was ^ "er" 10. 
commanded them -^that they should not hurt ^the grass of the earth, /ch. 0. 6. &7. 
neither any green thing, neither any tree ; but only those men which ^ "^i, § 7 
have not ''the seal of God in their foreheads. ^ And to them it was a ch. 7. 3. 
given that they should not kill them, 'but that they should be tormented ^^Ezek.'9^\ 
five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, »<=h. 11. 7. ver. 
when he striketh a man. ^ And in those days ^'shall men seek death, j job 3. 21. is. 9. 
and shall not find it ; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from g^'iu"' ^" ^' ''''' 
them. ■* And '^the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared /; Joei2.4. 
unto battle ; 'and on their heads we?-e as it were crowns liJve gold, ' ^'^''' ^' ^"' 
'"and theii- faces were as the faces of men ; ^ and they had hair as the "* °*"' ^' ®" 
hair of women, and "their teeth were as the teeth of lions ; ° and they " ^°''^'^-^- 
had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron ; and the sound of 
their wings was °as the sound of cliariots of many horses running to " ""^ ■•>>>• 
battle. 1° And they had tails hke unto scorpions, and there were 
stings in their tails : ^and their power was to hurt men five months. ^ ™''' ^' 
" And 'they had a king over them, which is '"the Angel of the ^ ^^'l''-^' ''^' 
Dottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in 
the Greek tongue hath his name *Apollyon. *lDeltrol!^l''^' 



§ 27. — cJiap. ix. 12, to the end. 
The Sixth Trumpet sounds after a long interval — The four sultanies of the Mahometan 



416 



THE REVELATION. 



[Part XV. 



§ 27. 
a ch. 8. 13. 



b ch. IG. 12. 
* Or, at. 

c Ps. 68. 17. Dan. 

7. 10. 
d Ezek. 38. 4. 
e ch. 7. 4. 



/ I Chr. 12. 8. 
Is. 5. 28, 29. 



g Is. 9. 15. 



h Deut. 31. 29. 
i Lev. 17. 7. 

Deut. 32. 17. Ps. 

106. 37. ICor. 

10. 20. 
j Ps. 115. 4. & 

135. 15. Dan. 5. 

23. 
k ch. 22. 15. 



§ 28. 

a Ezek. 1. 28. 
6 Matt. 17. 2. ch. 

1.16. 
c ch. 1. 15. 
d Matt. 28. 18. 

e ch. 8. 5. 



/ Dan. 8. 26. & 
12. 4, 9. 



fl- Ex. 6. 8. Dan. 

12.7. 
h Neh. 9. fi. ch. 

4. 11. & 14. 7. 

i Dan. 12. 7. ch. 

16 17. 
j ch. 11. 15. 



k ver. 4. 



i Jer ]5. 16. 
Ezek. 2. 8. & 3. 
1,2,3. 

TO Ezek. 3. 3. 
n Ezek. 2. 10. 



power, whose capitals were Bagdad, Damascus, Aleppo, and Iconium, begin to leave 
their territories near the Euphrates, and attacli the Christians, their first victory being 
gained in 1281 — Tliey destroy the Greek Empire, for which they had been prepared, 
1453 — Tlieir last acquisition of territory was made in 1672. 

^^ One "woe is past ; and, behold ! there come two woes more 
hereafter. 

^^ And the Sixth Angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the 
four horns of the golden altar which is before God, ^'^ saying to the 
Sixth Angel which had the trumpet, " Loose the four Angels which are 
bound 4n the great river Euphrates." ^^And the four Angels were 
loosed, which were prepared *for an hour, and a day, and a month, 
and a year, for to slay the third part of men. ^^ And "the number of 
the army ''of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand : 
^and I heard the number of them. ^^ And thus I saw the horses in 
the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and 
of jacintb, and brimstone ; %nd the heads of the horses were as the 
heads of lions ; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and 
brimstone. ^^By these three was the third part of men killed, by the 
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of 
their mouths. ^^ For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails : 
^for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them 
they do hurt. ^"And the rest of the men which were not killed by 
these plagues, ''yet repented not of the works of their hands, that 
they should not worship 'devils, ■'and idols of gold, and silver, and 
brass, and stone, and of wood ; which neither can see, nor hear, nor 
walk : 2^ neither repented they of their murders, *nor of their sorceries, 
nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. 



§ 28. — chap. X. 
The history of the Eastern Empire having been predicted, the prophecy proceeds to the 
history of the Western Empire during the same period of 1260 years — This portion of 
the propliecy is given to St. John by another Angel, as a separate book, to distinguish 
it from the events predicted by the two woe trumpets. 

^ And I saw another mighty Angel come down from heaven, clothed 
with a cloud, "and a rainbow was upon his head, and Miis face was as 
it were the sun, and "^his feet as pillars of fire, ^ and he had in his hand 
a little book open ; ''and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his 
left foot on the earth, ^ and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion 
roareth. And when he had cried, 'seven thunders uttered their 
voices. ^And when the seven thunders had uttered [their voices], I 
was about to write : and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, 
" Seal ■'^up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write 
them not." ^ And the Angel, which I saw stand upon the sea and 
upon the earth, ^lifted up his hand to heaven, ^and sware by Him 
that liveth for ever and ever, ''who created heaven, and the things that 
therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the 
sea, and the things which are therein, 'that there should be time no 
longer ; '^ but ^in the days of the voice of the Seventh Angel, when he 
shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he 
hath declared to his servants the prophets. ^ And *the voice which I 
heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, " Go a7id take the 
little book which is open in the hand of the Angel which standeth 
upon the sea and upon the earth." ^ And I went unto the Angel, and 
said unto him, " Give me the little book." And he said unto me, " Take 
'it, and eat it up ; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in 
thy mouth sweet as honey." ^° And I took the Uttle book out of the 
Angel's hand, and ate it up ; '"and it was in my mouth sweet as 
honey ; and as soon as I had eaten it, "my belly was bitter. ^^ And he 



Sect. XVIIL] THE REVELATION. 417 

said unto me, " Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and 
nations, and tongues, and kings." 

§ 29.— chap. xi. 1-14. ^ 
The Little Book, containing the prophetic history of the Western Church, is divided 

into five portions — Tlie First Portion represents the separation between nominal and a Ezek. 40. 3, 

spiritual Christians — tlie contempt, and general neglect and hatred of the Scriptures clf.'si? 15. ' ' 

and their right interpreters, under the description of Two Witnesses prophesying in j nu^. 23. 18. 

sackcloth — It is predicted that these Witnesses will prophesy nearly 12G0 years, c Ezek. 40. 17, 

till the approaching close of their testimony in sackcloth, when they will be killed, 20. 

and rise again, and triumph over those who rejoiced at their death — This will take '' 1 "" ' 

place before the sounding of the seventh trumpet — This portion of the Apocalypse is gi. 24. " 

very obscure : it may be that it is a general introduction to the contents of the little e Dan. 8. 10. 

book. A. D. 606 to A. D. 1866. i M=i<=- 3- 5J- 

^ And there was given me "a reed hke unto a rod: and the Angel ^ ot, i wu'i g-ive 

stood, saying, " Rise, 'and measure the temple of God, and the altar, l'^",f'i*^thfy^' 

and them that worship therein ; -but 'the court which is without the may prophesy. 

temple *leave out, and measure it not ; ''for it is given unto the Gen- f eh" lo! lo. 

tiles ; and the holy city shall they 'tread under foot -^forty and two i ch. 12. 6. 

mnnthq j Ps. 52. 8. Jer. 

mOni.lS. 11. 16. Zech. 4. 

^ " And 11 will ffive power unto my tv/o ^witnesses, ''and they shall 2' "' ^''• 

1 1 11 117 1 1 1 1 1 • '^ 2 Kings 1. 10, 

prophesy a thousand two hundred ana threescore days, clothed m 12. jer. 1. 10. & 

sackcloth. ^ These are the^two olive trees, and the two candlesticks i'Hos.e^s! 

standing before the God of the earth. ^And if any man will hurt them, ' Num. le. 29. 

*fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies ; 'and 'jam^sTiV.'iV. 

if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. ^ These « Ex. 7. 19. 

"have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their proph- " ^"^V^,■ ^,^' . 

1 ni 1 111 ^ '. ;) ch. 13. 1, 11. &. 

ecy ; and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite 17. 8. 

the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. '' And when they I ca/ 7%! 

'shall have finished their testimony, ^the Beast that ascendeth 'out of zech. 14. q. 

the bottomless pit ^shall make war against them, and shall overcome *i%'.&"i8. to."' 

them, and kill them. ^ And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of «^Heb^i3. 12. ch. 

^the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, 'where „ ch. 17. is. 

also our Lord was crucified. ^ And "they of the people and kindreds » Ps. 79. 2, 3. 



w ch. 12. 12. & 
13.8. 



and tongues and nations sliall see their dead bodies three days and a 
half, "and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 1° And x Esth. 9. 19, 29. 
'"they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make '■' ";''■ ^''- ^°- 
merry, ^and shall send gifts one to another ; ^because these two proph- a Ezek. 37. 5, 9, 
ets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. ^^ And ""after three days ^''' "• 

b Is. 14, 13. ch 

and a half "the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they 12. '5. ' 
stood upon their feet ; and great fear fell upon them which saw them, ^^^g^"' ^" ^'^'■^ 
^" And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come d 2 Kings 2. 1,5, 
up hither ! ''And they ascended up to heaven 'in a cloud ; ''and their ^ ^h 6 12 
enemies beheld them. ^^ And the same hour 'was there a great earth- /ch. le. 19. 
quake, ^and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were ijf^';"'!,™?'^ 
slain tof men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, °'and ^ josh. 7. 19. ch. 
gave glory to the God of heaven. ^'^' ''' ^ ^^' "*' 

"" The ''second woe is past; a/itZ, behold ! the third woe cometh la. '&'i5.'i. 
quickly." 



§ 30.— cAajo. xi. 1.5-18. 

The Seventh Trumpet sounds — The rejoicing of the universal Church at the anticipated c gQ 

triumph of the Witnesses, at the end of the 1260 years. , ,„ „ 

'^ ' ■' . " ch. 10.7. 

^^ And ''the Seventh Angel sounded ; 'and there were sreat voices j is. 27. is. ch. 

1 r 1 7 Br 10 (i 

in heaven, saying, " The 'kingdoms of this world are become the king- ^ ^h. 12. lo. 

doms of our Lord, and of his Christ ; ''and he shall reign for ever and d Dan. 2. 44. & 7. 

14 18 '^y 
ever!" ^^ And ''the four and twenty Elders, which sat before God on « ch.4.'4. &5. 8. 

their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, ^''saying, " We ^.^\'^' 

give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, •'^which art, and vtast, and s.&ie.'s." 

VOL. II. 53 



418 THE REVELATION. [Part XV 



g ch. 19. 6. art to come ! because Thou hast taken to thee thy great power, «^and 

. p"j :^ g jy hast reigned ! ^^ And ''the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, 

ch. 6'. lb. ' ■ ^and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou 

ich 13 to & shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, 

18.6. ■ and them that fear thy name, ^ small and great; *and shouldest destroy 

* Or, corr^tt. them which *destroy the earth. 



§ 31. — clia-p. xi. 19. and xii. 

The Second Division of the little book — Under the figures of a woman bringing forth 

with pain a Man-Cliild, and being driven by a Dragon with seven heads and ten horns 

into the wilderness, is prophesied the persecution of the Church of Christ, which 

brings forth true and faitliful Christians, by the evil Spirit, which first introduced evil 

S <^1- into this world — This contest continues also 1260 years, from 606 to 1866. 

a ch. 15. 5, 8. 19 p^^^ a^^ temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was 

j^cii.8. 5. & 16. gggjj jj-, his temple the ark of his testament : and ''there were hghtnings, 
c chtie. 21. and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, "and great hail. 
*or, sign. 1 And there appeared a great *wonder in heaven ; a Woman clothed 

with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a 
d Is. 66. 7. Gal. crowu of twclvB stars : - and she being with child cried, ''travailing in 
fOr, ii<rn. birth, and pained to be delivered. ^ And there appeared another twon- 

e ch. 17.3. der in heaven ; and behold ! *a great red Dragon, ^having seven heads 

/ch. 17. 9, 10. aj^(] iQTf^ horns, 'and seven crowns upon his heads ; '^and "his tail drew 
f ch.9.10,19. the third part 'of the stars of heaven, ^and did cast them to the earth, 
i ch. 17. 18. And the Dragon stood ^before the Woman which was ready to be de- 
i ve^. 2. livered, 'for to devour her child as soon as it was born. ^ And she 

I Ex. 1. 16. brought forth a Man-Child, "who was to rule all nations with a rod of 
'27^&~i9^'i5'' ^' "°'^ • ^"*^ '""^^ Child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 
n ver. 4. ^ And "the Woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place 

och. 11.3. prepared of God, that they should feed her there °a thousand t\i'o 

hundred and threescore days. 
pD^n. 10. 13,21. ■''And there was war in heaven : ^Michael and his angels fought 
? ver. 3. ch. 20. 'agaiiist the Dragon; and the Dragon fought and his angels, ^ and 

^" prevailed not ; neither was their place found any more in heaven ; 

'joim lo^s/^' ^ ^'^'^ ^^^ great Dragon was cast out, "that old Serpent, called the 
s Gen.3. 1,4. ch. Dcvil, and Satan, 'which deceiveth the whole world : "he was cast out 
«^ch^2o 3 "^^^ ^^^ earth, and his angels were cast out with him. ^° And I heard 

tt ch.9. 1. a loud voice saying in heaven, " Now "is come salvation, and strength, 

I! ch. 11. 15. &; and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ! for the 
jojobi. 9. &2. Accuser of our brethren is cast down, '"which accused them before 

5. zech. 3. 1. Qyj. Q.Q J (jg^y g^j^jj ulght. ^^ Aud ""thcy overcame him by the blood of 

37. &;'i6!2o.' ' the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; ^and they loved not 
3/ Luke 14. 26. their livcs unto the death, i- Therefore ""rejoice, ?/e heavens, and ye 
%9.°i3."ch.'i8." that dwell in them! "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the 
fl^ch 8 13 & 11 ^^^ • ^^'^ ^^^ Devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, ''be- 

10. ' ' ' " cause he knoweth that he hath but a short time." 
* '^''" ^°" ^' 13 And when the Dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he 

i Ex! 19. 4. persecuted 'the Woman which brought forth the Man-Child. " And 

i^Mac. 2. 29,30, a^^ ^j^^ Womau wcrc given two wings of a great eagle, 'that she might 
e ver. 6. fly -^into the wildemcss, into her place, where she is nourished ^for a 

■^ DanVk & time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the Serpent. ^^ And 

IS-'''- the Serpent ''cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the Woman, 

A Is. 59. 19. ^^y jjg might cause her to be carried away of the flood. ^^ And the 
earth helped the Woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swal- 
'ii.^Ti&ix?" lowed up the flood which the Dragon cast out of his mouth. ^'^ And 
; ch. 14. 12. the Dragon was wroth with the Woman, 'and went to make war with 
^/john's.'id. ch. the remnant of her seed, -'which keep the commandments of God, and 

& Ij.^i.'*' ^' ^' have ''the testimony of Jesus Christ. 



Sect. XVIII.] THE REVELATION. 419 

§ 32.— chap. xiii. 1-10. § 32. 

The Third Division of the little book, in which the agent of the evil Spirit, which per- a The Editor 

secuted the true Church of God 1260 years, is described by characteristics exclusively ]^^?^ ""^ oppor- 

•^ ' "^ tunity to say, 

apphcable to the power of "Rome. once for all, that 

I And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw 'a Beast rise up appUclTion of ^ 
out of the sea, 'having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten ^re t^^te diffe'r- 
crowns, and upon his heads the *name of Blasphemy. ^ And ''the Beast M*/x"™'l°end?^ 
which I saw was hke unto a leopard, 'and his feet were as the feet of ^'■^y°)°^^^^^ 
a bear, •'"and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And ^the Dragon gave the book, that a 
him his power, ''and his seat, *and great authority ; ^ and I saw^ one of " (to^ wiic//° 
his heads •'as it were twounded to death ; and his deadly wound was Tometo'p'Ss.^he 
healed. And *all the world wondered after the Beast, * and they [o'a'L^°"thg^|,° ^^ 
worshipped the Draa'on which gave power unto the Beast ; and they that its appiica-' 
worshipped the Beast, saying, " Who 'is like unto the Beast? who is extensive than u 
able to make war with him ? " ^ And there was given unto him a "'mouth prefe°fthe h^- 
speaking great things, and blasphemies ; and power was given unto ^e^'sM Lf.^"^ 
him tto continue "forty and two months. ^ And he opened his mouth * Dan. 7. a, 7. 
in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, "and his tabernacle, "s^f^.^' ^ ^^" 
and them that dwell in heaven. '^ And it was given unto him ''to make * or, name^. ch. 

• 17 3 

war with the saints, and to overcome them: 'and power was given ^^Dan. 7. 6. 
him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. ® And all that dwell e Dan. 7.5. 
upon the earth shall worship him, '^whose names are not written in/Dan. 7. 4. 
the Book of Life of the Lamb slain 'from the foundation of the world, f l^[ jg' jo_ 
^If 'any man have an ear, let him hear. ^° He "that leadeth into cap- i ch. 12. 4. 
tivity shall so into captivity : ^he that killeth with the sword must be { X®^" ^^'. '■*• 
killed with the sword. "'Here is the patience and the faith of the i-ch. 17. s. 
saints. ' '^ ^\^^: „ 

m Dan. 7. 8, 11, 

25. & 11. 35. 

§ 33.— chap. xiii. U, to the end. t °'' '" "^' """"• 

y r > „ ^h. 11. 2. & 12. 

The Fourth Division of the little book, in which is represented the spiritual dominion 6. 

of the Church of Rome, supported and sanctioned by the secular powers of Europe o John 1. 14. Col. 

during 1260 years. ~'" _ ,, , 

= •' p Dan. 7. 21. ch. 

II And I beheld another Beast "coming up out of the earth; and n. 7. &12. n. 
he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon ; ^'^ and he «j^|'-"-i^-'^"- 
e.xerciseth all the power of the first Beast before him, and causeth the »• ex. 32. 32. 
earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first Beast, 'whose Phii.' 473. 'ch. 3. 
deadly wound was healed ; ^-^and 'he doeth great wonders, '*so that he &,2i%l'^'^''' 
maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. « ch. n. 8. 
"And 'deceiveth them that dwell on the earth -T^y the means 0/ those ^^j'j'JsJi. 
miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the Beast; saying c^Gen. 9- 6. Matt. 
to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an Image to w ch. 14. 12. 

the Beast, which had the wound by a sword, 'and did live. ^^ And he 

had power to give *life unto the Lnage of the Beast, that the Image of ^ ^^" 
the Beast should both speak, ''and cause that as many as would not I ^gr/s! ^" 
worship the Image of the Beast should be killed. '^^ And he caused all, "J'XTiP^}^^,^ 
both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, tto 'receive a mark aThess. 2. 9. 

. . • ch. 16, 14 

in their right hand, or in their foreheads ; ^"^ [and] that no man might <? iKings'is. ss. 
buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or ^ the name of the Beast, 'or the 12.^'°"° ^' ^°' 
number of his name. ^^ Here 'is wisdom ; let him that hath under- ''20!'' ^' ^' ^ ^'^' 
standing count "the number of the Beast : "for it is the number of a •''j^Thess. 2. 9, 
man, and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. ^^ 2 Kings 20. 7. 

* Gr. breath. 

!i ch. 16. 2. & 19. 

r o^ I. • 1 10 20. & 20. 4. 

^ 34. — chap. XIV. 1-1.3. ■ ^ . ■ , 

^ \ ^ T Gr. to give tliem. 

The Fiflh Division of the little book contains a representation of the depressed condi- i ch. 14. 9. & 19. 
tion of the spiritual Church of God during the 1260 years — The Reformation by .'^^- ^,^*i' ^' 
Luther — The present efforts of Protestants to enlighten mankind, and a future still more /; ch. 15. 2.' 
successful opposition to Popery, are probably predicted under the representation of ^ '^\H:^'^ 
three Angels appealing to mankind. n ch. 21. 17. 



420 



THE REVELATIOiSr. 



[Part XV 



§ 34. 

a ch. 5. 5. 
I ch. 7. 4. 
c ch. 7. 3. & 13. 

16. 
d ch. 1. 15. & 19. 

6. 
e ch. 5. 8. 
/ ch. 5. 9. & 15. 

3. 
g ver. 1. 
/i 2 Cor. 11. 2. 
j ch. 3. 4. & 7. 

15, 17. & 17. 

14. 
j ch. 5. 9. 
* Gr. were beuglit. 
k Jam. 1. 18. 
I Ps. 32. 2. Zeph. 

3. 13. 

in Eph. 5. 27. 

Jude 24. 
?i ch. 8: 13. 
Eph. 3. 9, 10, 

11. Tit. 1. 2. 
p ch. 13. 7. 
5 ch. 11. 18. & 

15. 4. 
r Neh. 9. 6. Ps. 

33. 6. & 124. 8. 

& 146. 5, 6. 

Acts 14. 15. & 

17. 24. 
s Is. 21. 9. Jer. 

51. 8. ch. 18. 2. 
t Jer. 51. 7. ch. 

11. 8. & 16. 19. 

& 17. 2, 5. & 18. 

3, 10, 18, 21.&; 

19.2. 
K ch. 13. 14, 15, 

16. 
V Ps. 75. 8. Is. 

51. 17. Jer. 25. 

15. 
w ch. 18. 6. 
X ch. 16. 19. 
y ch. 20. 10. 
z ch. 19. 20. 
a Is. 34. 10. ch. 

19.3. 
b ch. 13. 10. 
c ch. 12. 17. 
d Eccles. 4. 1, 2. 

ch. 20. 6. 

e 1 Cor. 15. 18. 

1 Thess. 4. 16. 
f Or, from hence- 
forth saith the 

Spirit, Yea. 
f 2 Thess. I. 7. 

Heb. 4. 9, 10. 

ch. 6. 11. 



^ And I looked, and, lo ! "a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and 
with him *a hundred forty and four thousand, "having his Father's name 
written in their foreheads. ^ And I heard a voice from hsaven, ''as the 
voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder ; and 1 
heard the voice of 'harpers harping with their harps, ^ and ■'^they sung 
as it were a new song before the Throne, and before the four Beasts, 
and the Elders ; and no man could learn that song ^but the hundred 
and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 
^ These are they which were not defiled with women, ''for they are 
virgins : these are they 'which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. 
•'These *were redeemed from among men, ''being the firstfruits unto 
God and to the Lamb ; ^ and 'in their mouth was found no guile, for 
"they are without fault [before the throne of God]. 

^ And I saw another Angel "fly in the midst of heaven, "having the 
everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, ^and 
to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, '' saying with a 
loud voice, " Fear 'God, and give glory to Him ! for the hour of his 
judgment is come : "^and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, 
and the sea, and the fountains of waters." 

^ And there followed another Angel, saying, " Babylon "is fallen ! 
is fallen ! 'that great city, because she made all nations drink of the 
wine of the wrath of her fornication." 

^ And the Third Angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 
" If "any man worship the Beast and his Image, and receive his mark in 
his forehead, or in his hand, ^'^ the same "shall drink of the wine of the 
wrath of God, which is "poured out without mixture into ""the cup of 
his indignation ; and ^he shall be tormented with ^fire and brimstone 
in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. 
^^ And "the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever : and 
they have no rest day nor night, who worship the Beast and his image, 
and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." 

^-Here 'is the patience of the saints, "[here are they] that keep the 
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. ^•'And I heard a voice 
from heaven saying unto me, " Write, ''Blessed are the dead 'which die 
in the Lord, tfrom henceforth ; " (" Yea," saith the Spirit ;) " that ^they 
may rest from their labors ; and their works do follow them." 



§ 35. 

a Ezek. 1. 26. 

Dan. 7. 13. 

See John 1. 51. 

ch. 1. 13. 
b ch. 6. 2. 
c ch. 16. 17. 

d Joel 3. 13. 

Matt. 13. 39. 
e Jer. 51. 33. 

ch. 13. 12. 
* Or, dried. 



f ch. 16. 8. 

g Joel 3. 13. 



§ 35. — chaj). xiv. 14, to the end, and xv. 1-4. 
The contents of the little book having been related, the prophet proceeds to the sound- 
ing of the third woe trumpet, when the Seven Vials are to be poured out, or the seven 
thunders to sound, which the angel forbade St. John to write (Rev. x. 4.) till he had 
revealed the predictions of the little book — It was declared (chap. x. 7.) that the mys- 
tery of God should be completed in the days of the voice of the Seventh Angel — The 
terrible events which shall precede the establishment of the kingdom of Christ, at 
the end of the 1260 years, are related under the emblems of the vintage, and the 
harvest of the wrath of God ; and the triumph of the Church of God, after the com- 
pletion of his judgments, is anticipated. 

^* And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud 
One sat "like unto the Son of Man, 'having on his head a golden 
crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. ^^ And another Angel "came out 
of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, 
" Thrust ''in thy sickle and reap ! for the time is come for thee to reap ; 
for the harvest "of the earth is *ripe." ^'^ And he that sat on the cloud 
thrust in his sickle on the earth ; and the earth was reaped. 

^'' And another Angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, 
he also having a sharp sickle. ^^ And another Angel came out from the 
altar, ■'^which had power over fire ; and cried with a loud cry to him 
that had the sharp sickle, saying, " Thrust '^in thy sharp sickle, and 



Sect. XVIIl.] THE REVELATION. 421 

gather the clusters of the vine of the earth ! for her grapes are fully * ^h. 19. is 
ripe." ^^ And the Angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered ^i/is. " 
the vine of the earth, and cast it into ''the great winepress of the ^^''^h.^n. 8. Heb. 
wrath of God. ~° And 'the winepress was trodden -'without the city, ^ ch. 19. 14. 
and blood c'ame out of the winepress, *even unto the horse-bridles, by «ch. 19. 1, 3. 
the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. »n ch. le. i.&pi. 

chap. XV. ]-4. ^ And 'I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvel- % ch. 14. lo. 

lous, "'seven angels having the seven last plagues ; "for in "^^^ *• ^ ^ ^i. 
them is filled up the wrath of God. ^ And I saw as it were °a sea of p Matt. 3. 11. 
glass ''mingled with fire : and them that had gotten the victory over 1 <^^^- is. is, le, 
the beast, 'and over his image, and over his mark, ajicl over the num- ^ ^.i', 5 g ^ j^ 
ber of his name, stand on the sea of glass, ''having the harps of God. 2. 
^And they sing 'the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song *3i.''3d.''ciV. il^s. 
of the Lamb, 'sayino;, — t Deut. 32. 4. 

' •' °' . PS.111.2.&139. 

" Great and marvellous are thy works ! Lord God Almighty ! i4- 

Just "and true are thy ways, thou King of tsaints ! "hos". u.'^. Jh. 

^ Who "shall not fear thee, O Lord ! and glorify thy name ? /*;■ ^- . 

m; 111 a ^ J f Or^ nations, or, 

r or i nou only art holy : ages. 

For ""all nations shall come and worship before Thee ; "lei'jen'io^'?!^' 

For thy judgments are made manifest." w is.eo. aa. 



§ 36. — chap. XV. 5. to the end, and xvi. 1. 
The seventh woe trumpet, which was described, in the first part of the vision concern- 
ing the 1260 years, as sounding after the completion of the progress of the Mahometan 
powers, (which finally ceased in 1698, Rev. xi. 15-19.), and which closed the pro- 
phetic history of the Eastern Empire, till the time of the overthrow of that religion, 
now sounds ; and Seven Angels are represented as preparing the vials of God's wrath, 
to punish the earth, the Mahometan, Papal, and Infidel powers, before the day of 
universal Christianity begins. A. D. 1698 to A. D. 1860. § 36. 

^ And after that I looked, and, behold ! "the temple of the taberna- '^Num^i'. 50. ^"^ 
cle of the testimony in heaven was opened ; ''and 'the Seven Angels j ver. 1. 
came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, '^clothed in pure ''■^^l'i,^%\j' 
and white hnen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles, is. ch. 1. 13.' 
"^ And ''one of the four Beasts gave unto the Seven Angels seven golden ^ ^ Tits! 1 9 
vials full of the wrath of God, 'who liveth for ever and ever. ^ And ^^- 4- s- '&■ lo- 
^the temple was filled with smoke ^from the glory of God, and from /&. 40. 34. 
his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple till the seven 2 chron ^5 ^14. 
plagues of the Seven Ansrels were fulfilled. i^- ^- ''• 

O 'T'i 1 ft 

^ And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying ''to the Seven f~^ j'^^j ' ' 
Angels, " Go your ways, and pour out the vials 'of the wrath of God i ch. 14.10. & 15. 
upon the earth ! " ^" 

§ 37. — chap. xvi. 2. 
The First Vial is poured out, and the harvest of the wrath of God begins — Some severe 
calamity, between the completion of the progress of Mahometanism and tlie approach- 
ing end of the 1260 years is predicted — We consider the pouring out of this vial to be 
predictive of the French Revolution ; that event being the most terrible calamity 
which has hitherto happened to the votaries of the Papal religion, which in its effects 
is still agitating the whole civilized v.'orld — The sore, which is predicted as afflicting 
the Papacy, maybe Infidelity. A. D. 1789 to A. D. 1791. § 37. 

And the First went, and poured out his vial "upon the earth ; and " "^^ g g 
'there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men '^which had the c ch. 13. le, iv. 
mark of the Beast, and upon them ''which worshipped his Lnage. d ch. 13. 14. 



§ 38. — chap. xvi. 3. 

The Second Vial is poured out — The sea becomes blood — This figure may describe the 
sanguinary wars and massacres whicli then afflicted the world, A. D. 1791 to 
A. D. 1794. § 38- 

And the Second [Angel] poured out his vial ''upon the sea ; and it <* <=''• ^- ^■ 

VOL. II. JJ 



422 THE REVELATION. [Part XV. 

"^u'l'a^'^^' ''became as the blood of a dead man; "and every living soul died in 

c cn« Oi \Jt 1 

tlie sea. 



a ch. 


. 8. 10. 


J Ex 


.. 7. 20. 


c ch. 


15. 3. 


d ch, 
4.8 


, 1. 4, 8. & 
. & 11. 17. 


c Matt. 2,3. 34, 
35. ch. 13. 15. 


/ch. 
20. 


a. 18. & 18. 


gls. 


49. 25. 


h ch. 


. 15. 3. 


t ch. 

10.. 


13.n0. & 14. 
k. 19. 2. 




§ 40. 


a ch. 


8. 19. 


b ch. 

14. : 


9. 17, 18. & 
18. 


*Or, 


bicrned. 


c ver 


. 11,21. 


d Dan. 5. 22, 23. 

ch. 9. 20. 


e ch. 

14.: 


11. 13. & 




§ 41. 


a ch. 


13.2. 


6 ch. 


9.2. 


c ch. 


11. 10. 


d vei 


■. 9, 21. 


e ver 


.2. 


/ ver 


.9. 



§ W.—chap. xvi. 4-7. 
The Third Vial is poured out, the rivers and fountains become blood — By these emblems 
may be denoted the pollutions of Infidelity on the sources of knowledge, and the 
devastations of the lesser states of Europe during the revolutionary wars, A. D. 1794 
39. to A. D. 1801. 

'' And the Third [Angel] poured out his vial "upon the rivers and 
fountains of waters ; 'and they became blood. ^ And I heard the Angel 
of the waters say, " Thou "art righteous, [O Lord !] ''which art, and wast, 
and shall be, because Thou hast judged thus ! '^ for Hhey have shed 
the blood -'^of saints and prophets, °'and Thou hast given them blood to 
drink ; for they are worthy I " ^ And I heard another out of the altar 
say, " Even so, ''Lord God Almighty, 'true and righteous are thy judg- 
ments ! " 

§ 40.— chap. xvi. 8, 9. 
The Fourth Vial is poured out — The world is represented as scorched with the heat of 
the sun — As this is the well-known emblem of sovereignty, the empire of Napoleon 
may be represented. A. D. 1801 to A. D. 1814. 

^ Anb the Fourth [Angel] poured out his vial "upon the sun ; ''and 
power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. ^ And men were 
*scorched with great heat, and "blasphemed the name of God, which hath 
power over these plagues : ''and they repented not Ho give Him glory. 



§ 41. — chap. xvi. 10, 11. 
The Fifth Vial is poured out — The votaries of the Papacy are represented in a distressed 
and agonized condition — We are now living under this vial — Possibly by this emblem 
may be intended the hatred of Papal Rome to that increasing and irresistible progress 
of knowledge, which demonstrates the absurdites and errors of the Papal religion, 
witliout producing reformation and repentance. 

^° And the Fifth [Angel] poured out his vial "upon the seat of the 
Beast ; 'and his kingdom was full of darkness ; "and they gnawed their 
tongues for pain, ^^ and ''blasphemed the God of heaven, because of 
their pains and "their sores, ^and repented not of their deeds. 



§ 4:2.— chap. xvi. 12-16. 
The Sixth Vial is poured out — By this time the end of the 1260 years approaches — Tlie 
emblems under this vial represent the nearer, though still gradual downfall of the 
Turkish Empire, the preparation for the restoration of the Jews, and the commence- 
ment of the great confederacy of the Antichristian powers against the Church of 
§ 42. Christ in Palestine, under the influence of evil principles or false religions. 

° <=''• ^- "■ 1^ And the Sixth [Angel] poured out his vial "upon the great river 

&51. m. ' ' Euphrates ; ''and the water thereof was dried up, "that the way of the 

c Is. 41. 2, 25. kings of the East might be prepared. ^^ And I saw three unclean 
3. ° " ■ ' ' ''spirits like frogs co7ne out of the mouth of "the Dragon, and out of the 

e ch. 12. 3, 9. mouth of the Beast, and out of the mouth of ^the False Prophet ; 

/^ch.i9.2o.&20. 14 ^fQj. ^they are the spirits of devils, ''working miracles;) which go 

g-iTim. 4. 1. forth unto the kings of the earth, 'and of the whole world, to gather 

Jam 3 15 ^ •' o 

A2Thess.2. 9. themto^tho battle of that great day of God Almighty. ^^ (Behold ! 
19.' 20.' "'^' ^'^"'^ 'T come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his 
i Lnkc 2. 1. garments, 'lest he walk naked, and they see his shame !) ^^ And '"he 
^is.'&^io%^^^' gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue 
k Matt. 24. 43. Armageddou. 

1 Thess. 5. 2. = 

2 Pet. 3. 10. ch. 

.^'^' , „ , § 43.— chap. xvi. 17, to the end. 

I 2 Cor. 5. 3. ch. 
3. 4,18 ' ' The Seventh Vial is poured out — The 1200 years are now past — The vintage of the 

mfOr, they.— wrath of God, long predicted by the ancient propliets, now begins — Great convulsions, 

long wars over the earth — The decision of the long contest between good and evil 



Sect. XVIIL] THE REVELATION. 423 

now arrives — the union of the false religions of the Papacy and Infidelity against 
the remnant of the Church, against the Jews who assemble for their long-promised 
restoration, and against the great maritime nation, probably England, till the battle 
of Armageddon, in Palestine, now takes place. It is probable that many years may 
be included under this vial. § 43. 

^''And the Seventh Angel poured out his vial into the air ; and ° '^''- ^^- ^• 
there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, & I'l. 19'. 
saying, " It "is done ! " ^® And 'there were voices, and thunders, and ^p'^jo^i 
lightnings ; ^and there was a great earthquake, ''such as was not since ^ d,. 14. e. & 17. 
men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. ^^• 
^'^ And ^the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of g- ig. 51. n, 23. 
the nations fell : and great Babylon ^came in remembrance before eh!i^]o!' ^^' 
God, ^to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his a ch.e. h. 
wrath. ^° And ''every island fled away, and the mountains were not ! '^^- "• ^^■ 
found. ^^ And 'there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every ^ seeE.^. 9. 23, 
s?'o?!e about the weight of a talent: and •'men blasphem.ed God be- ^'^'^^^ 
cause of ''the plasfue of the hail ; for the plague thereof was exceed- 
ing great. , „, „ 

° <= a cli. 91. 9. 

t ch. 16. 19. & 
<S U.—chap. xvii. 18. 16, 17, 19. 

c Nah. 3. 4. ch. 
After the general annunciation of these great events, the Prophet is shown the history 19. 2.' 

and state of the Papacy before its final overthrow. d Jer. 51. 13. ver. 

1 And there came "one of the Seven Angels which had the seven ^ ch. is. 3. 
vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, " Come hither ; 'I will show ^ ^"q^Y^{q''\- 
unto thee the judgment of 'the great Whore ''that sitteth upon many g ch. 12. 6,14! 
waters : ^ with %vhom the kings of the earth have committed fornica- ^' '^''- ^'^^ ^• 
tion, and -^the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the \ ^^'^ g" 
wine of her fornication." ■^ So he carried me away in the Spirit ''into t ver. 12. 
the wilderness : and I saw a Woman sit ''upon a scarlet-colored beast, ' '^^ ^^'}j^'}^' 

c \-i r ■ rill ■!• 11 iz 1 AAi"^ Pan. II. 08. 

lull 01 'names oi blasphemy, ■'havmg seven heads and ten horns. '*And *Gr.giided. 
the Woman 'was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, '"and *decked m Jer. si. 7. ch. 
with gold and precious stones and pearls, "having a golden cup in her „ ci,. i4. s. 
hand "full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication, ^ and upon paThess. 2. 7. 
her forehead was a name written, "Mystery, ''Babylon 'the Great, "s^&ie. 19. & 
'"the Mother of f Harlots and Abominations of the Earth." ^ And ■'^i ^'J Vt" ,g 
I saw "the Woman drunken 'with the blood of the saints, and with the 2. ' ' ' 
blood of "the martyrs of Jesus : and when I saw her, I wondered with t Or, fornications. 

. . . •' s ch. 18. 24. 

great admiration. t ch. 13. is. & le. 

'''And the Angel said unto me, "Wherefore didst thou marvel? I ^\ ^ „ ,„ „ 

11 ch. 0. 9 10. oc 

will tell thee the mystery of the Woman, and of the Beast that car- 12.11.' 

rieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. ^The Beast that '"j|^''-i'- '•&i3. 

thou sawest was, and is not, and "shall ascend out of the bottomless « ch. 13. 10. ver. 

. ■ . 11 

pit, and ""go into perdition ; and they that dwell on the earth ""shall ^ eii. is. 3. 

wonder, ^whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the v ch. 13. s. 

foundation of the world, when they behold the Beast that was, and is I ^',^' ^3' \^' 

not, and yet is. ^And 'here is the mind which hath wisdom. "The jver. 8. 

seven heads are seven mountains, on which the Woman sitteth ; i°and "z^""; i'^,g jg 

[there] are seven kings. Five are fallen, and one is, and the other is 21- ch. ia. 1. 

not yet come ; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 29. ig.' 

'1 And the Beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of ''P'', "'"^j''^, 

the seven, ''and goeth into perdition. ^^ And "the ten horns which thou timtdrejnuhhim, 

sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet ; but Vnichosenlnd 

receive power as kings one hour with the Beast. ^^ These have one ^o"ltifmcXL~ 

mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the Beast. ^^ Tliese ^°-^ 

. ^ / Deut. 10. 17. 

''shall make war with the Lamb, 'and the Lamb shall overcome them ; iTim'.e.'is. ch. 
(for -^he is Lord of lords, and King of kings ;) "'and they that are with j'eJ.%o. 44, 45. 
Him are called, and chosen, and faithful." ^^And he saith unto me, ch. 14. 4. 
"The ''waters which thou sawest, where the Whore sitteth, 'are peo- j'ch!i3. 7.'" 



424 THE REVELATION. [Part XV. 

pies, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. ^^ And the ten horns 
■'ch"i6.''i2?'^' which thou sawest upon the Beast, ^these shall hate the Whore, and 
k Ezek. 16. 37- shall make her desolate *and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and 'burn 
I ch.w. s! '^^'" w^^'^ fii'^* ^^ ^^^ '"God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and 

m 2 Thess. 2. 11. to agree, and give their kingdom unto the Beast, "until the words of 
"ch'i6.'w. ^°^ ^^^'^ ^^ fulfilled, 18 And the Woman which thou sawest "is that 
p ch.12.4. great city, ^which reigneth over the kings of the earth." 



§ 45. 

a ch. 17. 1. 

6 Ezek. 43. 9. 

c Is. 13. 19. & 21 
9. Jer. 51. 8. ch, 



§ 45. — chap, xviii. 
The Downfall of the Papacy and Irreligion is described at length. 

1 And "after these things I saw another Angel come down from 
heaven, having great power ; ''and the earth was lightened with his 
glory. ^ And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, " Babylon 

14- 8- ^the great is fallen ! is fallen I and ''is become the habitation of devils, 

8. & 34, 14. jer! sud the hold of every foul spirit, and 'a cage of every unclean and 

^is M 23^&34 li^teful bird. ^ For all nations ^have drunk of the wine of the wrath of 

11. Mark 5. 2, 3! hcr fomicatiou, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication 
fch. 14. 8. & 17. ^jj^j^ i^gj.^ ^and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the 
g ver. 11, 15. Is. *abundance of her delicacies," 

* Or, power. ^ And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, " Come '"out of her, 

A Is. 48.20. & 53. my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive 

si! 6, 45. 2 Cor. not of her plagues ; ^ for 'her sins have reached unto heaven, and -'God 
i Gen 18 "0 21 hath remembered her iniquities. ^ Reward *her even as she rewarded 

jer. 51. 9. you, and doublc unto her double according to her works : 'in the cup 

;• ch. 16. 19! which she hath filled, "'fill to her double : '^ how "much she hath glori- 
^o^is^ag^'&'si' ^^^ herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give 

24,49.' 2 Tim. 4. hcr. For she saith in her heart, I sit a "queen, and am no widow, 
I cii. 14. 10. and shall see no sorrow ; ® therefore shall her plagues come ''in one 
m ch. 16. 19. day — death and mourning and famine ; and 'she shall be utterly burned 
\c!'^ ■ - • ' with fire : ^for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. 
"ze'h^b^'is" ^ " ^^^ '^^^^ kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and 

p Is. 47. 9. ver. lived deliciously with her, 'shall bewail her, and lament for her, "when 

^cii 17 16 *hey shall see the smoke of her burning, ^^ standing afar off for the 
r Jer. 50. 34. ch. fcar of hcr tormcut, saying, Alas ! "alas ! that great city Babylon ! that 

^EzUk 26 16 ™^ghty city ! "for in one hour is thy judgment come ! 

17. ch. 17. 2. ' 11 '< And ""the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her ; 
t7e'r. 50. 46. for uo man buyeth their merchandise any more — i- the "merchandise 
K ver. 18. ch. 19. of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, 
„ ie.2i. 9. ch. and purple, and silk, and scarlet — and all tthyine wood, and all man- 

14. 8. j^gj. vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and 

r E^ek. 27. 27- of brass, and iron, and marble — '"and cinnamon, and odors, and 

36. ver. 3. oiutmcnts, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and 

t Or ^el. wheat, and beasts, and sheep — and horses, and chariots, and tslaves, 

X Or, bodies. and "souls of men. '^ And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are de- 

I Ezek. 27. 13. parted from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are 

departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. '^ The 

a ver. 3, 11. "merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand 

afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, '^ [and] say- 

ich. 17.4. jj^g^ Alas! alas! that great city, ''that was clothed in fine hnen, and 

purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and 

d Is. 23. 14 pearls ! '^'' for 'in one hour so great riches is come to nought ! 

^''''k^27^3o " And ''every shipmaster, and aU the company in ships, and sailors, 

31. ver. 9.' ' and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, '"^ and 'cried when they 
'^'^ioshiG ^^^ *he smoke of her burning, saying. What ^cit)j is like unto this 

isam. 4. 19. great city ! ^^ And ^they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping 

27. 36. ' ' and wailing, saying, Alas ! alas ! that great city, wherein were made 



Sect. XVIIL] THE REVELATION. 425 

rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness ! "for in 'H'^^f-^ ^^g 
one hour is she made desolate ! -^f' ^,"' ^^' n^\ 

^° " Rejoice 'over her, thou Heaven ! and ye holy Apostles and Proph- •'ch"i9. 2.' ' 
cts ! for -'God hath avenged you on her." f ch.'ll.'a &. le. 

~i And a mighty Angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and ^ "fg. 24. g. j^r. 
cast it into the sea, saying, " Thus *vvith violence shall that great city ^Igfo^g^ek 
Babylon be thrown down, and 'shall be found no more at all. ^^ And 20.13.' 
"the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, " j".' yfk. & 16. 
shall be heard no more at all in thee — and no craftsman, of whatso- sa.*!]^' ^°' '^ 
ever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee — and the sound of a ^ o ^^n^fg 22 
millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee — -^ and "the light of a Nah- 3! 4. ch. 
candle shall shine no more at all in thee — and "the voice of the bride- r cii. 'n.'e. 
groom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee — for ''thy ' ' 

merchants were the great men of the earth ; 'for by thy sorceries were § 46. 
all nations deceived. ^'* And ''in her was found the blood of prophets, a oh. u. 15. 
and of saints, and of all that Vere slain upon the earth." io,'i2.'& 12. 16. 

c ch. 15. 3. & 16. 
7. 

§ i6.—chap. xix. 1-10. ^ Pl^J-n^^- ,f ^„ 

^ -^ . ch.6.10.& 18.20. 

Reioiciaor of the spiritual Church over the Downfall of its idolatrous and persecutinff e Is. 34. 10. ch. 

PTiPtnips " 14.11. & 18.9,18. 

enemies. j. ^.^^ ^_ ^^ g_ _^Q^ 

^ And after these things "I heard a great voice of much people in /i chVon. le. 
heaven, saying, " Alleluia ! 'Salvation, and glory, [and honor,] and ^■g^g\^f^\. 
power, unto the Lord our God ! ^ for "true and righteous are his judg- ft Ps.' 134. i. & 
ments ; for he hath judged the great Whore, which did corrupt the i ch''.' li. is. & 20. 
earth with her fornication, and ''hath avenged the blood of his servants j E'zek. 1.24. & 
at her hand." ^ And again they said, " Alleluia 1 " and 'her smoke rose /eii^L^isM.' 
up for ever and ever. "^And-^the four and twenty Elders and the four & 12. 1'o. & 21. 
Beasts fell down and worshipped God, that sat on the throne, saying, i Matt. 22. 2. & 
"Amen! "Alleluia!" ^ And a voice came out of the throne, saying, 2?'Eph. 5. 32. 
" Praise ''our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear Him, 'both small J Ps!^45^'i3', 14. 
and ereat ' " Ezek. le. 16. 

^ And^I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the *or, bright. 

o^ . , n Ps. 132. 9. 

voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Matt. 22. 2,3. 
"Alleluia! for *the Lord God omnipotent reigneth ! ^Let us be glad p^ch^lilsi&^il. 
and rejoice, and give honor to him : for 'the marriage of the Lamb is * Acts'1'0^'26. & 
come, and his wife hath made herself ready ; ^ and "to her was granted ^- 1**- 15- ''^■ 
that she should be arrayed in fine hnen, clean and *white : (for "the « i'joims. 10. 
fine hnen is the righteousness of saints.)" t^'cTh/'burden 

^ And he saith unto me, " Write, "Blessed are they which are called prop"he1y":''th'is 
unto the marriage supper of the Lamb ! " And he saith unto me, tj^e'ln'^'i "lid 
" These ^are the true saying-s of God." ^^ And 'I fell at his feet to wor- *•'« ancient pro- 

,.,. ,, ..-'" nr7 7- T icii phets, and John 

snip him ; and he said unto me, " bee thou do it not ; 1 am thy lellow- had aii substan- 
servant, and of thy brethren °that have the testimony of Jesus : worship duty! and w^re 
God ! (For the testimony of Jesus is 'the spirit of prophecy.)" yZtZVrelh- 



ren Ed. 



§ 47. — chap. xix. 11, to the end. r >~ 

Probable visible manifestation of the Son of God at the final overthrow of evil, as he had . ,- ^ 

'a ch. lo. 5. 
appeared to the Patriarchs, and to the Apostles after his resurrection — and the com- j ch. 6. 2. 

mencement of a new dispensation, and the triumph of a spiritual Church. ^ j*'" j ; ^|' 

^^And"! saw heaven opened, and behold, ''a white horse! and He j-^h's^l"'^^"^®' 
that sat upon him was called 'Faithful and True, and ''in righteousness ? ch. 2. 17. ver. 
He doth judge and make war ; ^^ his 'eyes were as a flame of fire, •''and a is. 63.2,3. 
on his head were many crowns ; 'and He had a name written, that \jo'hn5.7. 
no man knew, but He himself; "and ''He was clothed with a vesture { M'at^al^. ch. 
dipped in blood: and his name is called 'The Word of God, i"* And ^V'lfl'^' 
■'the armies tvhich were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, 2Thess. 2. s. 
*clothed in fine linen, white and clean. ^^ And 'out of his mouth goeth 21.' 
a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations, and "He '"si.^'h.'sV' 
VOL. II. 54 JJ* 



426 THE REVELATION. [Part XV. 

n 13.53.3. ch.u. shall I'ule them with a rod of iron; and "He treadeth the winepress 
ver. 12. of the fiorceness and wrath of Almighty God. ^^ And °He hath on his 

p Dan. 2.47. vcsturc and on his thioh a name written, "King ''of kings, and Lord 

1 Tim. 6.15. ch. ,, " ' 

17. 14. or LORDS. 

^^ And I saw an Angel standing in the sun ; and he cried with a 
5 ver. 21. loud voice, Saying 'to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, 

r Ezek. 39. 17. a Come 'and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the Great 

^20^^^''' ^^ ^^' ^^^ > ^^ ^^^^ y^ ™^y ^^^ t'^® ^^^'^ °^ kings, and the flesh of captains, 
and the flesh of mighty men, and, the flesh of horses, and of them that 
sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small 
and great." 
« oil- 16. 16. & 17. 19 And 'I saw the Beast, and the kings of the earth, and their ar- 
mies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the 
u ch. 16. 13, 14. horse, and against his army. ^^ And "the Beast was taken, and with 
him the False Prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which 
" '^Y''^' jg'^l' he deceived them that had received the mark of the Beast, and "them 
Dan. 7.'ii." that Worshipped his image. '"These both were cast alive into a lake 
^gj''gi'^- ^"^ *" of fire ^burning with brimstone. ^^ And the remnant ^were slain with 
y ver. 15. thc swoi'd of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out 

' ^r\l^',l^' of his mouth : ""and all the fowls "were filled with their flesh. 

« ch. 17. 16. 



§ 48. — chap. XX. 1-6. 

After the long convulsions, and wars, and revolutions, which attended the overthrow of 

evil, a long millennial period of repose commences, which is represented by the 

binding down of Satan — As the spirits of many arose with Christ at his resurrection, 

the spirits of the martyrs and of the faithful Church are said to live again with Christ 

§ 48. during his visible manifestation at this period. A. D. 2000 to A. D. 3000. 

a^ch. 1, 18. & 9. 1 And I saw an Angel come down from heaven, "having the key of 

the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. ^ And he laid hold 

b cii. la. 9. See on 'the Dragon, that old Serpent (which is the Devil, and Satan), ^and 

„ e . . . u e i^Qyj^^ j^jj^ ^ thousand years, ^ and cast him into the bottomless pit, 
c Tobits. 3. and shut him up, and ''set a seal upon him, ^that he should deceive the 
e ch. 16. 14, 16. natious no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled : [and] after 

'"^'- ^- that he must be loosed a little season. 

/Dan. 7. 9, 22, * ^jj^j J saw •'^throues, and they sat upon them, and ^judgment was 

27 Matt. 19. 28. . ^ ^ i ^ j o 

Luke22.'3o." ' givcu uuto them : and I saw ''the souls of them that were beheaded 
ff 1 Cor. 6.2,3. £Qy ^}^g witncss of Jcsus, and for the word of God, and 'which had not 

h ell. 6. 9. ... 

i ch. 13. 12. worshipped the Beast, •'neither his image, neither had received his 

j ch. 13. 15, 16. mark upon [their] foreheads, or in their hands ; and they lived and 

''2^™'. 2.^2. ''reigned with Christ a thousand years : ^but the rest of the dead lived 

z'^'h^^ii &21 iiot again until the thousand years were finished. This is the First 

8. ' ■ ■ ' Resurrection. ^ Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resur- 

'"iPetfka ch. rection: on such 'the Second Death hath no power, but they shall 

1. 6. & 5. 10. ijg "priests of God and of Christ, "and shall reign with him a thou- 

n ver. 4. -^^ > b 

sand years. 

§ 49. — chap. XX. 7, to the end. 
Towards the end of the millennial dispensation the spirit of evil begins to revive, but its 
further progress is stopped by the general resurrection, and the final judgment of 
§ 49. mankind. 

aver. 2. '^ And whcn the thousaud ycars are expired, "Satan shall be loosed 

b ver. 3, 10. q^^ Qf j^jg prison, ^ and shall go out Ho deceive the nations which are 

c Ezek. 38. 2. & in the four quarters of the earth, 'Gog and Magog, ''to gather them 

dlb. 16. 14. together to battle ; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 

e Is. 8. 8. Ezek. 9 And 'they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the 

^^' ' ^ ■ camp of the saints about, and the beloved city ; and fire came down 

/ver. 8. fjQ^ Qq(J q^j- ^f hcavcn, and devoured them: ^^and-^the Devil that 

ff ch. 19. 20. deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, ^where the 



Sect. XVIIT.] THE REVELATION. 427 

Beast and the False Prophet are, and ''shall be tormented day and ^' c'-- w. lo, u. 
night for ever and ever. u. ch! 21. i. ' 

^^ And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from ^ °="'- ^- ^^■ 
whose face 'the earth and the heaven fled away ; •'and there was found I' Dan". 10. 
no place for them. ^~ And I saw the dead, ''small and great, stand be- m ps. 69. 28. 
fore God, 'and the books were opened ; and another "'book was 4.'3.'ch.'3.'5.&' 
opened, which is the Book of Life : and the dead were judged out of „^jf ^'iV&; 
those things which were written in the books, "according to their 32. 19. Matt. le. 
works. 1^ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; "and Death ch'. 2.°23. & 22 
and *Hell delivered up the dead which were in them : ^and they were g^^^Ts^^ 
judged every man according to their works ; ^* and 'Death and Hell * or, the Grave. 
were cast into the lake of fire : 'this is the Second Death. isAnd?^". 12. 
whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life %vas cast into ^54,^5? ^^' ^^' 
the lake of fire. V"'- ^- '^''- ^^- 

—~-^^-^^-~— o. 

s ch. 19. 20. 

§ 50. — chap. xxi. 1-4. 
Description of the future eternal liappiness, when death, and evil, and grief, shall exist 

no more among mankind. § 50. 

^ And "I saw a new heaven and a new earth : ''for the first heaven '^ixivei'.z^ii.' 
and the first earth were passed away ; and there was no more sea. 6 ch. 20. 11. 
^ And I John saw ^the holy city. New Jerusalem, coming down from '^ i%a^\tb!\i. 
God out of heaven, prepared ''as a bride adorned for her husband. -^ And Jg' ^^^ii^" 1^ 
I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, " Behold ! 'the tabernacle of ver. 16. 
God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his 10! aVor." 11. 2.' 
people, and God himself shall be with them, aMd be their God ; "^ and c Lev. 26. n, is. 
-'[God] shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and ''there shall be no 2Cor'. e.'ie'. ch. 
more death, ''neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any^j^^g^j^^ 
more pain : for the former things are passed away." i"- 

g^ Cor. 15. 2e, 
54. ch. 20. 14. 

§ 51. — chap. xxi. 5-8. h Is. 35. 10. & 

Christ declares the certainty and truth of this representation ; and invites all men ' ' °^- • 



to partake of this happiness. 

^ And "He that sat upon the throne said, " Behold ! 'I make all things § ^^■ 
new." And He said unto me, " Write : for "these words are true and "i^^ 30^11.''^^' 
faithful." ^ And he said unto me, " It ''is done ! I °am Alpha and Omega, * i^- 43. 19. 

• 9 Cor 5 17 

The Beginning and The End. ^\ will give unto him that is athirst of <. ch. 19 9. ' 
the fountain of the water of life freely : '^ he that overcometh shall in- ^ ch. le. 17. 
herit *all things ; and °I will be his God, and he shall be my son. ^j^^. 1. 8. & 22. 
^ But ''the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murder- / is. 12. 3. & 55. 
ers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, shall &?. 37. ch. b.' 
haA'e their part in 'the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone- *Qr these things. 
which is the second death." g zech. 8. 8. ° 

Heb. 8. 10. 

h 1 Cor. 6. 9, 10. 

§ 52.— chap. xxi. 9, to the end, and xxii. 1-9. Gal. 5. 19,20, 
The spiritual happiness of the heavenly Church, which has been collected from among 1 Tim. i. 9. 
all mankind, is further represented under the emblems of a New Jerusalem, and another ^^;}'' ■'"'■ '^^' 
Paradise ; the well-known types of the heavenly state under the two former dis- j (.jj^ 20. 14 15. 
pensations. 

^ And there came unto me one of "the Seven Angels which had the ^ 50 
seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, ^ ch. 15. 1,6,7. 
" Come hither, I will show thee 'the Bride, the Lamb's wife." ^° And he j ch. 19. 7. ver. 
carried me away 'in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and 
showed me ''that [great] city, the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of 3. 
heaven from God, 11 having Hhe glory of God.— And her light was -^^^^o'^- ^s- ver. 
like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crys- «^ch. 22. 5. ver. 
tal ; ^^ and had a wall great and high, and had ''twelve gates, and at /Ezek. 48. 31-34. 
the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the 
names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. ^^On ^the east, ^^zek. 48.31. 



c ch. 1. 10. & 17. 



428 THE REVELATION. [Part XV 

three gates ; on the north, three gates ; on the south, three gates ; 
and on the west, three gates. ^^ And the wall of the city had twelve 
^G^r'a g^E^h foundations, and ''in them the names of the twelve apostles of the 
2.20.' ' Lamb. — ^^ And he that talked with me 'had a golden reed to measure 
'z^ch'^af'i.^ch. the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. ^^ And the city 
^^- ^ lieth four-square, and the length is as large as the breadth. And he 

measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs : the length 
and the breadth and the height of it are equal. ^'^ And he measured 
the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to 
the measure of a man, that is, of the Angel. — ^^ And the building of 
the wall of it was of jasper ; and the city was pure gold, like unto 
j Is. 54. 11. clear glass. ^^ And^ the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished 
with all manner of precious stones : the first foundation was jasper ; the 
second, sapphire ; the third, a chalcedony ; the fourth, an emerald ; 
^° the fifth, sardonyx ; the sixth, sardius ; the seventh, chrysolite ; the 
eighth, beryl ; the ninth, a topaz ; the tenth, a chrysoprasus ; the elev- 
enth, a jacinth ; the twelfth, an amethyst. ^^ And the twelve gates were 
k ch. 23. 2. twelve pearls ; every several gate was of one pearl ; ''and the street 
I John 4. 23. (jf |.]-,g (,j^y ^g^g pm.g gold, as it were transparent glass. — ^^ And 'I saw 
m Is. 24. 23. &, no tcmplc therein : for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the 
22! 5. Ver.' iL tcmplc of it. ^^ And ""the city had no need of the sun, neither of the 
"& 66^V'Tob"" ™oo"> to shine in it : for the glory of God did lighten it, and the 
13. li. ' ' Lamb is the light thereof. ^^ And "the nations [of them which are 
" j^' g^" gg saved] shall walk in the light of it : and the kings of the earth do 
zech. i4. 7. ch. bring their glory [and honor] into it. ~^ And "the gates of it shall not 
5 ver.'24. bc shut at all by day ; (for ''there shall be no night there ;) ^® and 'they 



r Is. 35, 

1. & 60, 



j^owoei ^"^^^^ bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. ^'^ And ''there 

i 17. cii. 22. 14, shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defiieth, neither whatsoever 

s Phil 4 3 ch worketh abomination, or malceth a lie : but they which are written in 

3.5.&13.8.& the Lamb's ^Book of Life. 

t Ezek. 47. 1. ^ And he showed me 'a [pure] river of water of life, clear chap. xxii. 1-9. 

u Ezeit 47 12 ^^ Crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 

ch. 21. 21. 2 In "the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was 

\^7."" ^' ^' ''^' there "the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded 

w ch. 21. 24. her fruit [every] month : and the leaves of the tree were ""for the heal- 

X Zech. 14. 11. jjjg ^f the nations. ^ And ''there shall be no more curse ; ^but the 

I mIu. 5. 8. throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall 

i?o°hn3%^^' serve him ;■* and ^they shall see his face, and "his name shall be in 

a ch. 3. 12. & 14. their foreheads. ^ And ''there shall be no night there, and they need 

i^ch o] 23 25 ^^ candle, neither light of the sun, for 'the Lord God giveth them 

c Ps. 36. 9. & 84. light ; ''and they shall reign for ever and ever. 

d^Dan 7 07 ^ ^^^ '^^ ^^^^ "'^^o 1116, " Thcsc 'sayings are faithful and true ; and 

Rom.'5.'i7.' the Lord God [of the holy] prophets -^sent his Angel to show unto 

3. 21™' ■ ■ "^ ■ his servants the things which must shortly be done. '' Behold ! ^I come 

c__ch. 19. 9. & 21. quickly. "Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of 

/ch. 1. 1. this book." ® And I John saw these things, and heard them ; and when 

^jjh.^3. n. ver. I had heard and seen, 'I fell down to worship before the feet of the 

h ch.i.'3. Angel which showed me these things. ^ Then saith he unto me, " See 

i ch. 19. 10. thou do it not ; for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the 

prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book : — worship 

God ! " 

§ 53. 
_ „ „. , § 53. — chap. xxii. 10-15. 

a Dan. 8. 26. & j /- 

12. 4, 9. ch. 10. Christ declares that the prophecies of the Revelation are not to be sealed np, as they are 
■ intended for the knowledge and improvement of the whole human race. 

c Ezek. 3. 27. 1" And "he saith unto me, " Seal not the sayings of tlie prophecy of 

2Tim^.^3.\°3. tliis book : '[for] the time is at hand. " He "that is unjust, let him be 



Sect, XIX.] THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. 429 

unjust still — and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still — and he that d ver. 7. 

is righteous, let him be righteous still — and he that is holy, let him be "^i^- ^o. 10. & 62 

holy still. ■^i°ch\o'vi^'^' 

^2 "And, ''behold! I come quickly, and ^my reward is with me, •''to ^ is.*^4i. 4. & 44 
give every man according as his work shall be. ^^ I ^am Alpha and f_ f j^; ^%i'.'6. 
Omeoa, The Beginning and The End, The First and The Last. it Dan. 12. 12. 

1T1T94 

. ^^ " Blessed ''are they that do his commandments, that they may have . ^"^'"^ g ^3 
right *to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the 22. ver. 2. cu. 2. 

O 00 7&.2127 

city. 1^ For ^without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and j i cor. 6. 9^ 10. 
murderers, and idolators, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 21'' coi ^3 ' e°' 

Phil. 3.' 2.' 

ch 9 20 21 

§ 54. — chap. xxii. 16-19, and former part of ver. 20. &;2i; g.' 

Christ now makes his last appeal by the Spirit of prophecy to the world, by again declaring 

both liis divinity and humanity, inviting all mankind into the Christian Church, com- 
manding them to make the Scriptures their guide, and announcing his future advent. c r^ 

^^ " I "Jesus have sent mine Angel to testify unto you these things in a ch. 1. 1. 
the Churches. 'I am the root and the offspring of David, and 'the * <=h- s. 5. 
bright and morning Star. "zl'Z'ti^!' 

"" And the Spirit and ''the Bride say. Come! And let him that |P^t- 1- w- ch. 
heareth say, Come ! "And let him that is athirst come ; and whoso- d ch. 21. 2, 9. 
ever will, let him take the water of life freely. %^^37^ch'2i'''6 

18 u poi- 1 testify unto every man that heareth the words of the proph- ^ og^, 4 o & 
ecy of this book, ^If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add i2- 32. pVov. 30. 
unto him the plagues that are written in this book ; ^'■' and if any man g ex. 32. 33. Ps 
shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, "God ^'j^fg.*'''' ^' ^' 
shall take away his part *out of the Book of Life, and out of ''the holy *or, from the 
city, and from the things which are written in this book." Z^s^'s^sl'M^"' 

^°He which testifieth these things saith, " Surely 'I come quickly ; ft ch. 21.2. ver. 14. 
■'Amen." ' !"• ^^■ 



j John 21. 25. 



§ 55. — chap. xxii. last part of ver. 20, and 21. 

St. John concludes the Apocalypse with an ardent aspiration for the coming of Christ, 

and a prayer for a blessing on the Churches. 

^° Even "so, come, Lord Jesus ! -^ The ''grace of our Lord Jesus 



§ 55. 

a 2 Tim. 4. 8 
6 Eom. 16.20,24. 



Christ be with you all ! [Amen.] arhess.s. is. 
[end of the revelation.] 



o See Note 37 



Section XIX.— .S*;^. John writes his First Epistle° to confute the Errors sect, xix. 

of the false Teachers, and their different Sects — against the Docetce, y. M. 96. 

who denied the Humanity of Christ (chap. iv. 3.). asserting that his J. P. 4799. 
Body and Sufferings ivere not real, but imaginary — against the Ce- Ephesus. 
rinthians and Ebionites, tvho contended that he ivas a mere Man, and 

... 81 

that his Divinity was only adventitious, and therefore separated from \ 

Mm at his Passion (chap. ii. 22.), and against the Nicolaitanes 
(Rev. ii. 15.) or Gnostics, who taught that the Knowledge of God 
and Christ was sufficient for Salvation ; that being justified by 
Faith, and freed from the Restraints of the Law, they might indulge 
in Sin with impunity — He cautions Christians against being seduced 
by these Doctrines and Practices, by condemning them in the strongest 
terms — He contrasts them with the Truths and Doctrines of the 
Gospel, in which they had been instructed, and in which they are ex- 
horted to continue. 

THE FIPvST EPISTLE OF JOHN. 

§ 1. — chap. i. 1-4. 
The Apostle begins by asserting, in opposition to the false teachers, that Jesus Christ, 
wno was from eternity, had as man a real body ; in proof of which he declares they had 



430 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. [Part XV. 

heard him speak, they had looked on him and handled him after his resurrection, and 
were convinced by the testimony of their senses of the identity of his person — The 
Fountain of Life, the Son, or Word of God, was made manifest in the flesh to all, 
and was seen by the apostles, who bear witness of the eternal life possessed by Him 
with the Father, which was made known to them at his baptism and transfiguration — 
The apostles declare the miracles and doctrines they had seen and heard ; that all 
who believe their testimony may enter with them into communion with God and 
Christ ; which union with the Divine Nature should make their joy complete. 

« John 1. 1. ch. 1 That "which was from the beginning, which we have heard, 

* John 1. H. which we have seen with our eyes, ''which we have looked upon, and 

I'^H.'^"^^' *'''■ ^our hands have handled, of the Word of Life ; ^ (for ''the Life 'was 

c Luke 24. 39. manifested, and we have seen it,-^and bear witness, ^and show unto you 

d John \. 4.&1I *^^^* Eternal Life, ''which was with the Father, and was manifested unto 

25. & 14. 6. us;) ^ that 'which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that 

"i^Ti'm. stfe.' ye also may have fellowship with us ; and truly ■'our fellowship is with 

ch.3. 5. j-j^g Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. ''And these things write 

/John 21. 24. ' , , . , r n 

Acts 2,32. we unto you, that your joy may be lull. 

g ch. 5. 20. 

h John 1. 1, 2. 

i Acts 4. 20. § 2. — chap. i. 5, to the end. 

j John 17. II. To confute the doctrines of those who perverted the grace of God to licentiousness, St. 
2. 24." " ' ' John declares that God is perfect light, therefore perfect knowledge and unspotted 

k John 15. 11. & holiness, without the least imperfection or ignorance — Those, therefore, who profess to 
16. 24. 2 John have a communication with God, and lead a sinful life, act as contrary to his holy 

nature as darkness is to light — Those who walk after the light received from him, who 
is essentially and perfectly pure and holy, have communion with God, and the atoning 
blood of Christ will cleanse them from sin — Those who say they have no sin, and 
therefore have no need of a Saviour, have no knowledge of their own hearts, or of the great 
truth of the Gospel, the fall and recovery of man — But those who from a deep sense 
of guilt confess their sins to God, who is faithful to his promises of mercy (Ps. xxxii. 5- 
Prov. xxviii. 13.) and just to his own perfections, Christ having made an atonement to 
the divine justice, vi'ill have their sins forgiven, and their hearts cleansed by the sanc- 
tifying influences of the Holy Spirit — Those who assert they have not sinned make 
God a liar, and can have no knowledge of his word, which has declared throughout 
X 2. Revelation, that all mankind are in a degenerate state under guilt and condemnation. 

och. 3. 11. ^ This "then is the message which we have heard of him, and de- 

*i2°& os'&'J' elare unto you, that 'God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all. 

35,36. ^If Sve say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, 

''ch*2"4^"^^" '^6 lie, and do not the truth; '^but if we walk in the light, as He is in 

d 1 Cor. 6. 11. the light, we have fellowship one with another, and ''the blood of Jesus 

g.'iV. I'pet"?' Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 

Rev! L 1'.^" ^ If ""we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, -^and the truth 

e 1 Kings 8. 46. IS not in US. ^ If ^wc confcss our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive 

job'g.T & 1^5.' us our sins, and to ''cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ^°If we say 

pto^lo.'g! that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and his word is not in us. 

Eccle3. 7. 20. 

Jam, 3. 2. 

/ ch. 2. 4. § 3. — chap. ii. 1-6. 

g Ps. 32. 5. The Apostle, as their spiritual father, addresses himself to the newly converted, showing 

'°^' ■ ■ that the mercies of God in redemption, by the blood of Christ, should prevent instead 

2. ' ' ' ' of encourage them to sin (Ps cxxx. 4.) — Those who sin from infirmity have an advo- 
cate abiding with the Father, who is the sacrifice of atonement for the sins of all be- 
lievers, both Jews and Gentiles — The only sure mark of a true faith and true knowledge 
of God is the keeping of his commandments — For he who asserts he has a knowledge 
of God (as the Gnostics did) and indulges in sin is a liar, and acts contrary to the 
truth ; but those who observe his doctrines, in them the design of the love of God in 
r o the death of Christ is made perfect, and they know they have communion with him by 

the influence of his Spirit in tlieir hearts and lives : for he that professes to be united 
"] Tim'. 2 5." to Christ, through his Spirit, ought to walk or behave as Christ did while he was on 

Heb.7.25.&9. earth. 
24. 

J Eom.3.25. ^ My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sm not; 

i.7?&^4.^ib.''''' and if any man sin, "we have an Advocate with the Fatlier, Jesus 

c John 1.29. &4. Christ the righteous ; " and ''he is the Propitiation for our sins, and not 

ch'.^M.^^''^^" for ours only, but 'also for the sins of the whole world. 



Sect. XIX.] THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. 431 

3 And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep his com- 20. ' ' ' 
mandments. * He ''that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not his com- « ch. 1. 8. 
mandments, 'is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ^ But -^whoso -^^f" "• ^^' 
keepeth his word, °in him verily is the love of God perfected. ''Here- g ch. 4. i3. 
by know we that we are in Him. ^ He 'that saith he abideth in Him, '' "''• *• ]^- 
•'ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked. \ °^2i. li. 29. 

John 13. is. 

IPet. 2. 21. 

§ 4. — chap. ii. /-17. 
St. John, in exhorting them to holiness and obedience to Ciirist, writes no new com- 
mandment, but what was inculcated by the law of nature, and by the Mosaic Dispen- 

sation (Deut. xviii. 15.) — On the other hand it may be called a new commandment, as 
being renewed and enforced by higher motives and obligations, for the typical repre- 
sentations of the Mosaic Dispensation were now past, and the hght of trutli is shining, 
pointing out their signification and accomplishment — He who hates his brother has no 
fellowship with God, but, like the Jews who hated the Gentiles, he is in darkness and 
ignorance, whatever are his pretensions — But he that loves his brother gives proof that 
he lives in Christ ; and being in the light he can see his way, and is preserved from 
stumbling, or giving offence (John xi. 9.) — But he that walketh in darkness is in the 
greatest danger of falling, to his own destruction, not knowing whither he goeth — He 
writes to the infants, or those newly born into the family of their heavenly Father, 
because their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake — To those who had been of the longest 
standing in the Christian faith, because they had attained to the greatest knowledge 
of the doctrines and manner of life of Christ, who was from eternity — To those who 
are in the vigor of their spiritual life, because they had overcome the Wicked One — 
To those who had not made much progress, because they were adopted sons, and had 
received the Holy Spirit — He cautions the whole household of God, in their different 
gradations, not to love the world, or earthly things, which are incompatible with the 
love of God and man; for all its gratifications, magnificence, and honors, neither come 
from nor lead to God, but are excited by the things of the world, which passes away 
with its followers ; but they who do the will of God, mortifying their worldly lusts, 
shall live for ever. § 4. 

"^ Brethren, °I write no new commandment unto you, but an old "■ ^ ^'^^^ ^■ 
commandment ''which ye had from the beginning; the old command- VjoimV' 
ment is the word which ye have heard [from the beginning]. ^ Again, 
'a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in Him <^ ^^j>'^™^^3. 34. & 
and in you : ''because the darkness is past, and 'the true light now d Rom. 13. la. 
shineth. ^ He -^that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in f Thets.^s. 5, a 
darkness even until now. ^''He ^that loveth his brother abideth in the e John 1. 9. & 8. 
light, and ''there is none *occasion of stumbling in him ; " but he that /I'cnr. 13.2. 
hateth his brother is in darkness, and Svalketh in darkness, and know- l^^'-jj^-'^''' 
eth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his ^ ch.k h. 
eyes. /* 2 ^e'- 1- 1"- 

12 I write unto you, little children, because ^your sins are forgiven *jJi'^7o*5 
you for his Name's sake. ^^I write unto you, fathers, because ye have j Luke 24. 47. 
known Him ''that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young 43;'& is.'ss. 
men, because ye have overcome the Wicked One : I write unto you, ''''• ^- "• 
little children, because ye have known the Father, i'* I have written 
unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the begin- 
ning : I have written unto you, young men, because 'ye are strong, ZEph. 6. 10. 
and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the 
Wicked One. 

1^ Love ""not the world, neither the things that are in the world, m Rom. 12. 2. 
"If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him; ?!Matt. 6. 24. 
IS for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, "and the lust of 4.V. ' 
the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the " '^'^<^''==- •'• i^- 
world. ^'' And ^the Avorld passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he v i '^"^■'^■'^h. 
that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 14. ip'et. i.24. 



§ 5. — chap. ii. 18, to the end. 
The Apostle assures his converts that the end of the Apostolic Age had come — He 
reminds them of Christ's prediction (Matt. vii. 15, and xxiv. 11, 12, 24, 25.), which 



432 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. [Part XV. 

was now accomplished in their false teachers, who went out from the Christian 
Church, having, to serve their own purpose, joined themselves to it — He writes to 
them not because they are ignorant of the trutlis of the incarnation of the Word, and 
the necessity of a holy life, but because they know it, and can testify that every oppo- 
site doctrine must be false — Who then is the liar, or false prophet, pi'edicted by our 
Saviour, but he who denies Jesus who came in the flesh to be the Christ, the Messiah 
of God — He is Antichrist who denies that God is the Father of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and who denies the divine and human nature of the Son — He who denies Jesus 
to be the Son of God hath no regard to the Father, who has declared him to be so at 
his baptism and transfiguration ; but he who acknowledges him is accepted of the 
Father also — He exhorts them to continue in the doctrines they had received concern- 
ing Christ from the apostles, and they shall be in fellowship with the Son and the 
Father, and be made partakers of God's promise of eternal life through the Son — 
He has written these things concerning those who would attempt to seduce them, to 
caution them against tliese impostors ; although they had received the Holy Ghost, 
and needed not to be taught how to judge between the true and false doctrines, for the 
Spirit had fully instructed them in the truth, in which they must abide, and be united to 
Christ through the same Spirit, if they would have confidence before him at his com- 
• ing — For as they know that God is perfectly righteous, those only who practise right 

5 5, eousness are born or generated by his Holy Spirit, and become his children. 

a John 21. 5. ^^ LiTTLE "children, it IS 'the last time : and as ye have heard that 

b\ot,aiasitime. "Antichrist shall come, ''even now are there many Antichrists ; vvhere- 
— D.J e . . ^^ ^^^ know "that it is the last time. ^^ They ■'^went out from us, but 

" tl'tfit'^i ^'^^y ^®^'® ^'^^ ^^ "^ ' ^°^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ \iQQ.n of us, they would no doubt 

ch. 4. 3. have continued with us : but they went out, ''that they might be made 

'^a^^s'jofm 7?' manifest that they were not all of us. ^^ But 'ye have an unction ^from 

e 1 Tim. 4. 1. thc Holy Ouc, and *ye know all things. ^^ I have not written unto you 

/Deut! 13. 13. because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no 

ao'so'^'"^"" lie is of the truth. ^^ Who 'is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is 

g- Matt. 24. 24. tlic Christ ? Hc is Antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 

it,lti''it]t ^^ Whosoever '"denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father : "he 

1^- that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. ^^ Let that there- 

/2Co'r?i. 21. fore abide in you, "which ye have heard from the beginning: if that 

Heb. 1. 9. ver. -which jq havc heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ^ye also 

;• Mark 1. 24. shall contiuuc in the Son, and in the Father. ^^ And 'this is the prom- 

i^ohif 10.^4 5. ise that He hath promised us, even eternal life. ^'^ These things have I 

& 14. 25. &' 16. written unto you "^concerning them that seduce you. ^'^ But ''the anoint- 

i ch. 4. 3. 2 John ing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and 'ye need not 

''• that any man teach you ; but as the same anointing "teacheth you of 

'2 John 9.' ' all things, and is truth, and is no he ; and even as it hath taught you, 

n This clause is yg gh^ll abide iu *Him. 

restored to tlie J i- 1 i m 1 1 ■ 1 • tt- 1 d i tt i 11 

text on tiie au- ^^ AuA uow, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall 

GHestoch and appear, we may have confidence, "and not be ashamed before Him at 

joim 1477^9, his coming. ^^ If ""ye know that He is righteous, tye know that ^every 

10. ch. 4. 15. ^j^g ^j^g^|. (jQgth righteousness is born of Him. 

2 John 6. '^ 

p John 14. 23. 

/joiln 17. 3. ch. § 6.— chap. ill. 1-8. 

1. 2. & 5. 11. -pj^g Apostle calls upon them to contemplate the wonderful love of God, in adopting 

r_^ch. 3. 7. 2 John tj^ose who persevere in righteousness for his children, whom the world does not 

^ ^pi. gg acknowledge, because it did not acknowledge Christ — It is not yet manifest how glori- 

t Jer. 31. 33 34. ous the children of God will be ; but if is known, that when Christ shall appear to 

Heb. 8. 10, 11. judo-e theworld, they shall be made like him in body and mind, and be admitted to 

wJolm 14.20. & the knowledge and enjoyment of his glory and perfections — All who have this hope 

^ ■ ■ ■ ■ will endeavour to imitate his holiness — But those who persevere in sin shall be certainly 

' ' _ punished, because sin is a violation of the Law of God ; for the Son of God was 

w ch 4" 17 manifested in the flesh to redeem mankind from its power, and punishment — As he 

iActs22. 14. was free from sin himself, he would not obtain, as the false teachers had insinuated, 

t0r,/mowi/e. the liberty of sinning for others — Tliose who are in fellowship with Christ, therefore, 

2;ch.3.7, 10. abstain from sin; but those who continue in sin have no knowledge of him — He 

exhorts them not to be deceived in this matter, for those who work righteousness are, 

in their limited nature and capacity, righteous ; as God is righteous according to the 

infinitude of his nature — He that persists in sin is a child of the Devil, who introduced 



Sect. XIX.] THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. 433 

sin into the world ; for which end the Son of God was manifested in tlie flesh, that 

he miffht dissolve, or destroy, the works of tlie Devil, and restore marddnd to holiness § °- 

and the favor of God. a John 1. 12. 

^ Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, feiel's. &i7. ' 
that "we should be called the sons of God ! Therefore the world know- ^' „ ^ t, 

c Is.OD. 5. Kom. 

eth us not, 'because it knew Him not. -Beloved, now are we the s.io.Gai.s.ae. 
sons of God, and ''it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we ^ Rom. 8. is. 
know that, when He shall appear, ^ve shall be like Him ; for Ave shall 2Cor.4. it 

TT- ' TT • I r ' g Rom. 8. 29. , 

see Him as He is. icor. 15.49. 

2 And °every man that hath th.is hope in Him purifieth himself, even £^4;|pel' i^l'. 
as He is pure. * Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the Law: / job 19. 26. Ps. 
for ''sin is the transgression of the Law. ^And ye know Hhat He was aiciSil. 
manifested ■'to take away our sins ; and 'in Him is no sin. ^ Whoso- scor.s. 7. 
ever abideth in Him sinneth not : 'whosoever sinneth hath not seen f [o^^ni^ tie 
Him, neither known Him. ^Little children, "let no man deceive you : nmconformity to 

' ' . . •' the Law. — Ed.] 

he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. Rom. 4. 15. ch. 
^ He "that committeth sin is of the Devil ; for the Devil sinneth from , Jh. i. 2. 
the beginning. For this purpose ^the Son of God was manifested, j is. 53. 5, 6, 11. 
^that he miffht destroy the works of the Devil. Hebi.'3.'&9. 

^ •' 26. 1 Pet. 2. 24. 

k 2 Cor. 5. 21. 

§ 7.— chap. iii. 9-17. Heb. 4. is &9. 

^ ^ 28. 1 Pet. 2.-^. 

The Apostle contrasts the conduct of the children of God with that of the children of i ch. 2. 4. & 4. 8. 
the Devil, and shows that the former are distinguished by their righteousness and 3 John 11. 
brotherly love, which was the command given by God from the very beginning — ™^ 'i-'ia% q 
They are not to act as those begotten of the Wicked One, as Cain did, who killed his Eom. 2. 13. ch. 
brother, because liis works were righteous ; nor are they to wonder, after such an ^- '^^■ 
example, if they should be hated and persecuted by the world — But this to Chris- "/g^^ g. 4^. ' 
tians is of no consequence, for they are assured that they have passed away from a p See Mark 1. 1. 
state of death to a state of life, because they love their brethren ; but he that loves ? Gen. 3. 15. 
not his brother remains still in a state of spiritual death, unconverted, and unregen- jg" /j gg^ 2 ° 
erated — He who hates his brother has the same malice and evil principle in him which 14. 
was in Cain ; and, were he not restrained by human laws, would be a murderer like 

him — No man who cherishes such feelings can have the divine life dwelling witliin 

him — The great love of God was made known by his Son laying down his life for 
mankind ; and Christians should be willing, from love to God, to sacrifice their lives 
for the benefit of mankind — But instead of doing this, if those who have the good § '• 

things of the present world refuse to impart a portion of them to a brother in need, it " ch. 5. 18. 
is not possible they can have the love of God abiding in them. ' "*■ 

^ Whosoever "is born of God doth not commit sin, for ''his seed dch.t.s. 
remaineth in him : and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. ^° In '■jf'' ^" ^" ^ ^^ 
this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the Devil. * or, command- 

" Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, ''neither he that / jolnis. 34. & 
loveth not his brother. " For 'this is the *message that ye heard from eh'4^7Ti^' 
the beginning, ■''that we should love one another ; ^~ not as ^Cain, who 2 John 5. 
was of that Wicked One, and slew his brother — and wherefore slew ^h*^C!' ii.' tl jude 
he him? because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous, ^j- 
^3 Marvel not, my brethren, if *the world hate you. ^^ We 'know that & 17. M-'aTiml 
we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren : ,■ „],. 2. 10. 
■'he that loveth not his brother abideth in death. ^^ Whosoever *hateth j ch. 2.9, 11. 
his brother is a murderer : and ye know that 'no murderer hath eternal ch. Tbo! ^' ^' 
life abiding in him. z^GaL 5. 21. Rev. 

^^ Hereby "perceive we the love of God, because He laid down his « jobns.ie. & 
life for us : and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ^''But g'^Eph.^"™,'^ 
"whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and <:i'-4. 9, u. 
shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, "how dAvelleth the Luke 3. li. ' 
love of God in him ? " '^- ^■^°- 

§ 8. — chap. iii. 18, to the end. 
The Apostle exhorts them not to be content with an acknowledgment of these great doc- 
trines, nor -with empty professions of love ; but to prove their conviction of their truth 
VOL II. 55 KK 



434 



THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. 



[Part XV, 



§8. 

a Ezek. 33. 31. 

Rom. 12. 9. 

Eph. 4. 15. Jam. 

2. 15. 1 Pet. 1. 

22. 
h John 18. 37. ch. 

1.8. 
* Gr. persu/ide. 
e 1 C.or. 4. 4. 
d Job 92. 26. 
e Heb. 10. 22. ch. 

2. 28. & 4. 17. 
/ Ps. 34. 15. & 

145. 18, 19. 

Prov. 15. 29. 

Jer. 29. 12. 

Matt. 7. 8. & 21. 

22. Mark 11. 24. 

John 14. 13. & 

15. 7. & 16. 23, 

24. Jam. 5. 16. 

ch. 5. 14. 
g John 8. 29. & 

9.31. 
h John 6. 29. &. 

17.3. 
t Matt. 22. 39. 

John 13. 34. & 

15. 12. Eph. 5. 

2. 1 Thess. 4. 9. 

1 Pet. 4. 8. ver. 

n. ch. 4. 21. 
j ch. 2. 8, 10. 
k John 14. 23. & 

15. 10. ch. 4. 12. 
I John 17. 21, 

&c. 
m Rom. 8. 9. ch. 

4.13. 



§ 9. 

a Jer. 29. 8. 

Matt. 24. 4. 
b 1 Cor. 14. 29. 

1 Thess. 5. 21. 

Rev. 2 2. 
c Matt. 24. 5, 24. 

Acts 20. 30. 

1 Tim. 4. 1. 

2 Pet. 2. 1. 

ch. 2. 18. 2 John 
7. 

d 1 Cor. 12. 3. 

eh. 5. 1. 
e ch.2.22. 2 John 

7. 
/ 2 Thess. 2. 7. 

ch. 2. 18, 22. 
g ch. 5. 4. 
/( John 12. 31. & 

14. 30. & 16. 11. 

1 Cor. 2. 12. 

Eph. 2. 2. & 6. 

12. 
i John 3. 31. 

j John 15. 19. & 

17. 14. 
k John 8. 47. & 

10. 27. 1 Cor. 

14. 37. 2 Cor. 10. 

7. 
I Is. 8. 20. John 

14. 17. 



by their actions — Love to God and man is the surest test which Christians have of 
the trutli of their religion, and this proof will assure them their hearts are right in his 
sight — If their conscience condemn them as being deficient in brotherly love and 
charity, God, who is greater than their heart, and sees all its secrets, will condemn 
them in a much /greater degree ; but if tlieir conscience condemn them not, they have 
confidence towards God, and they know that whatsoever they ask they shall receive, 
as far as is consistent with their own good ; because they keep his commandments, 
and do the things which they consider pleasing in his sight — And this is God's great 
and new commandment, that they should believe in his Son Jesus Christ, and be 
enabled, through his Holy Spirit, to love one another, as Christ by his own example 
has given them commandment — Those who keep God's commandments live in com- 
munion with the Father and the Son, through his Spirit, and they know that God 
dwells within them by the testimony of his Spirit, and its influence on their hearts 
and lives (compare John xiv. 23.) 

^® Mt little children, "let us not love in word, neither in tongue ; but 
in deed and in truth. ^^ And hereby we know ''that we are of the 
truth, and shall *assure our hearts before Him ; ^'^ for "if our heart con- 
demn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. ^^ Be- 
loved, ''if our heart condemn us not, 'then have we confidence toward 
God ; ^^ and Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep 
his commandments, "and do those things that are pleasing in his 
sight. ^■^ And ''this is his commandment. That we should believe on 
the name of his Son Jesus Christ, 'and love one another, -'as he gave 
us commandment. ^^ And 'he that keepeth his commandments 'dwell- 
eth in Him, and He in him ; and "'hereby we know that He abideth 
in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us. 



§ 9. — chap. iv. 1-6. 
St. John exhorts them not to believe every teacher who professes to be divinely inspired, 
but to make trial of them — because many false teachers have gone out into the 
world— Those who have the Divine Spirit are known by maintaining that Jesus is 
the Christ come in the flesh, (1 Cor. xii. 3.) — ^Every teacher who denies that Jesus 
Christ had come in the flesh is not from God — but is of the Antichrist, or deceivers, 
foretold, (Matt. xxiv. 24.) — But they, under the influence of the divine Spirit, have 
overcome the doctrines of these impostors, for greater is the Spirit of God which is in 
them, than the spirit of the Evil One which is in the world — These seek only the 
things of this world, governed by the carnal principle, and worldly men hear them — 
But the Apostles are of God — influenced by the spiritual principle, and those who 
have spiritual discernment receive their doctrine — and by their lives and doctrines the 
true and false teachers may be known. 

^ Beloved, "believe not every spirit, but Hry the spirits whether they 
are of God : because ""many false prophets are gone out into the world. 
^ Hereby know ye the Spirit of God : ''every spirit that confesseth that 
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. ^ And 'every spirit that 
confesseth not [that] Jesus Christ [is come in the flesh], is not of 
God ; and this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that 
it should come, and •'^even now already is it in the world. '* Ye ^are of 
God, little children, and have overcome them : because greater is He 
that is in you, than ''he that is in the world. ^ They 'are of the world ; 
therefore speak they of the world, and ^the world heareth them. ^ We 
are of God : ''he that knoweth God heareth us ; he that is not of God 
heareth not us. Hereby know we 'the Spirit of truth, and the spirit 
of error. 

§ 10. — chap. iv. 7, to the end. 
The Apostle, in condemnation perhaps of those who insisted on the sufiiciency of specu- 
lative knowledge, exhorts them to the practice of mutual love, which proceeds from 
the Spirit of God — for every one who is governed by this divine principle of love is 
born of God, spiritually regenerated, and made a partaker of his nature — He that 
loves not has no knowledge of the divine nature of God, which is essentially love — 
The infinite love of God was made manifest by the incarnation of his Only-begotten 
Son, who died for mankind, and became the propitiation for their sins, that they might 



23. 

b ch. 2. 4. & 3. 



Sect. XIX.] THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. 435 

live through him — No man hath seen God, liecause he cannot be an object of sense, 
but, if they love one another, God dwells in them by his Spirit, and his love is 
made perfect in them, and by this evidence of liis Spirit they are assured that God 
dwells in tliem — Tlie apostles , having seen Jesus Christ made manifest in the flesh, 
and what lie did for the salvation of man, bear witness that the Father sent the Son 
in the flesh to be the Saviour of the world — Whosoever shall acknowledge the reality 
of Christ's incarnation and divinity (which many denied), God dwells with him 
tlirough the Spirit, and he in God — They have witnessed the great love of God to 
mankind in sending his Son to die in the flesh — God is love, and he who dwells in 
love to God and man is full of God, for God is the essence of love ; and love is made 
perfect by God uniting man to himself by his Holy Spirit ; which union gives him 
confidence in the day of judgment, and removes all his fears — He that feareth liath 
not received that fulness of love to God and man, which proceeds from God, and is 
the abiding witness of the Spirit, renewing the image of God in man — the love of 
man to God proceeds from God's love shown to them — He, therefore, who asserts that 
he loves God, and hates his brother, whose excellences and good qualities he has 
seen, and therefore will be disposed to love, cannot love God, whose perfections can- 
not be seen — God has also commanded that they should give a proof of their love to 
him, by their love to mankind. § 10. 

^ Beloved, "let us love one another : for love is of God ; and every a ch. 3. 10, n, 
one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God ; ^ he that loveth not 
'knoweth not God, for "God is Love. ^ In ''this was manifested the ^■ 
love of God to'ward us, because that God sent his Only-begotten Son ^ ]"{^^ 3' jg 
into the world, "that we mio'ht live through him. ^° Herein is love, •'^not i^°'"; ^-^-^f ^■ 

^ ~ o _ J .30. ch. 3. 16. 

that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son ^to he the e ch. 5. 11. 
Propitiation for our sins. ^^ Beloved, ''if God so loved us, we ought ■''^"^"g^g^^g 
also to love one another. ^~ No 'man hath seen God at any time : if T''- 3- 4. ' 
we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and ^his love is perfected in f j/j^t.' %. 33. 
us. ^^ Hereby 'know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because l^^^^l^^^'^'^- 
he hath given us of his Spirit. i John 1. is. 

^'^ And 'we have seen and do testify that "the Father sent the Son veT.'ao.^' ^^' 
to he the Saviour of the world. ^^ Whosoever "shall confess that Jesus i ch. 2. 5. ver. is. 
is "the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. "^ And we \lf^_^^-^o- '^^■ 
have known and believed the love that God hath to us. ''God is Love ; i John 1. 14. ch. 
and 'he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. ', ', ' „ 

■' ^ m John 3. 17. 

^^ (Herein is *our love made perfect, that ''we may have boldness in n Rom. lo. 9. ch. 
the day of judgment ; "because as he is, so are we in this world. ^' ^' ^1 
^^ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear ; because p ver. s. 
fear hath torment : he that feareth 'is not made perfect in love. ^"^ We j^ver. 12. ch. 3. 
love Him, because He first loved us.) ^^ If "a man say, I love God, *G,.iovewithu$. 
and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother ^ Jam. 2. is. ch. 

2 28 & 3 19 

whom he hath seen, how can he love God "whom he hath not seen ? 21. ' 
^^ And ""this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth * ''I'-^-S- 
God love his brother also. ch'.2.4. &3. 

17. ' 

§ 11.— c7(aB. V. 1-12. 7/- ^^- „ 

^ -r „ Matt. 22. 37, 

The Apostle, after having declared that all who believe that Jesus is the Christ are born 39. John 13. 34. 
of God by the influence of his Spirit, asserts that those who love God, their spiritual 23 ' " "^ " ' 
Father, must necessarily love his children — Tlie best criterion they have of judging 
of their own faith, is to find out whether their love to the children of God proceeds 
from a right principle, from love to God and obedience to his commandments ; which 
are not burthensome to those who love God — Those who are spiritually regenerated 
are able, by a true faith in the Son of God, to overcome all tlie temptations of the 
world — This is that Jesus, who was proved in human form to be the promised Mes- 
siah, by water at his baptism, by a Voice from heaven, and tlie visible descent of the 
Holy Spirit — and not by water only, but by blood — by the sacrifice of his humanity, 
when the same Spirit bore witness to his divinity, and the accomplishment of all 
prophecy, by his resurrection ; and the Spirit cannot deceive — There are Three that bear 
record in heaven ; the Father, by accepting the atonement of his Son — The Word, 
who presents his crucified body before tlie throne of God — The Holy Ghost, by whom 
the Word was conceived, and made Flesh ; and these Three are One, as to the unity 
of their design, and the divinity of their nature — And there are three that bear wit- 
ness on earth ■ the Holy Spirit, by his miraculous and sanctifying influences, and by the 



436 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. [Part XV. 

written word — The water of baptism, by which mankind are admitted into the family 
of God, the Visible Church, and receive a new and spiritual birth — And the blood of 
Christ, which is represented in the Eucharist, and shows forth the sacrifice of his 
humanity, by which the new and eternal life is obtained — And these three are con- 
stantly witnessing on earth the efEcacy of Christ's death, his humanity and deity — If 
the testimony of human evidence is received (Deut. xvii. 6.), the testimony of God 
is greater ; for he who has faith in God shall have the witness of the Spirit within 
himself, regenerating his whole nature — but he who believeth not maketh him a liar ; 
refusing to believe the testimony God has given in his prophecies, and wonderful 
interpositions, to attest the divinity of Christ — The testimony witnessed by the Three 
in heaven, and the three on earth is, that God will give to man eternal life through 
his Son — He that conforms himself to the image of Christ, making a sacrifice of flesh 
(blood), hath the' heavenly life begun in him ; and he that does not conform himself 
S ^^- to his image, has no reason to expect the eternal life obtained through Clirist. 

a John 1.12. 1 Whosoever "believeth, that 'Jesus is the Christ, is 'born of God ; 

4. a', 15. ' ' ''and every one that loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is 
c John 1. 13. begotten of Him. ® By this we know that we love the children of God, 
e j^hnw 15 "1 ^vhsn we love God, and keep his commandments. ^ For "this is the love 

|3. ^ 15. 10. ' of God, that we keep his commandments ; and his -^commandments are 
/ Mic. 6. 8. Matt. Hot giicvous. ^ For ^whatsoevcr is born of God overcometh the world ; 
wohn 16 33 ch ^"^ ^^^® ^^ ^^^ victory that overcometh the world, eve7i our faith. ^ Who 
"3. 9. & 4. 4. is he that overcometh the world, but ''he that believeth that Jesus is Hhe 
\h *4°'^i5'^' ^'^" ^^^ of God ? ^ This is he that came ■'by water and blood, even Jesus 
i See Mark 1. 1. Chiist, (uot by watcr only, but by water and blood ;) ^and it is the Spirit 
j John 19. 34. ^^la.^ bcarcth witness, because the Spirit is Truth. ^ For there are three 
'i5?26. &,' 16.' 13. that bear record [[in heaven, the Father, 'the Word, and the Holy 

1 Tim. 3. 16. Qhost : "and these three are One. ^ And there are three that bear wit- 

i John 1. 1. Kev. 

19- 13- ness in earth]], the Spirit, and the water, and the blood : and these three 

M jo'hn8''i7*'i8. 3.gree in one. ^ If we receive "the witness of men, the witness of God 
Matt. 3. 16, 17. is greater : "for this is the witness of God, wliich He hath testified of 

o Mill ^his Son. ^° He that believeth on 'the Son of God "^hath the witness 

p See Markl. 1. . ^ 

g See Mark 1.1. m himselfj he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because 

'■g^°"4 g-^^ he beheveth not the record that God gave of 'his Son. ^^ And "this is 

« john3. 33. & the record — That God hath given to us eternal life, and "this life is in 

^^'^\, , , , ""his Son. ^-He^'that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not 

t See Mark 1.1. ^, „ p/-,iii .i-r 

u ch. 2. 25 the Son oi God hath not hie. 



V John 1. 4. ch 

wSee Mark 1. 1. § 12.— chap. V. 13, to the end. 

a; John 3. 36. & 5. St. John writes these things to them, that they may ascertain whether they have the 

24. witness of the Spirit within themselves by the regeneration it produces, and that they 

y See Mark 1. 1. ^^^^ continue in the faith of the Son of God — And this is the great privilege of their 

faith ; that, if they pray for any thing which is consistent with the revealed will of 

God, God will hear them, and grant their petitions — If any man see his brother 

afflicted for a sin of infirmity or ignorance, he shall pray to God for his pardon and 

restoration — But there is a sin unto death — the sin of apostacy from Christianity, or a 

total and wilful rejection of it, which it is useless to pray^ for ; for such offenders 

renounce the only condition of salvation — Every unrighteous action is sin, being a 

violation of the Law of God, and merits temporal death — but those sins which are 

§ 12. not presumptuous and wilful should be interceded for, and, on repentance, a pardon 

a The alteration may be hoped for — Those who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit do not continue in 

of this verse IS gj^^^ being preserved by divine grace from the assaults of the Devil, so that they are 

mity with Dr. not enslaved by him — Christians are assured by the influences of the Spirit that they 

Knapp's text ; ^^g ^jgj-jj gf Q-o^j j ^ut the world (unregenerate and wicked men) are still lying wounded 

sion reads thus : and slain under the dominion of the Wicked One — But Christians know that the 

These things have g^^ ^f q^^ g^j„g jjj ^j^g fjggj, a,nd hath given them a spiritual understanding, that 

7 written rintoynu , , „ , S , i , • , , , i ■ ^ i it 

that believe onthe they may have the knowledge of the true God, and be united to hnn through Jesus 

name of the Son Christ, who partakes of the proper Deity of his Father, and to those who are united 

may In'owThatye to him through his Spirit he imparts eternal life — On this account he exhorts them, as 

have eternal Ufe, beloved children, to keep themselves from apostacy, or any false worship, and from 

believe ol tile' every thing that would alienate their affections and worship from the True God, who 

name of the Son preserve them to eternal life. 

of Oud. — Ed. i^ 

j(onn2o.3i. 13 ^HESE "thiugs have I Written unto you, 'that ye may know, that 

!ch'wl^'^' ye that believe on the Name of 'the Son of God have eternal life. 



Sect. XIX.] THE SECOND EPISTLE OF JOHN. 437 

^"* And this is the confidence that we have "in Him, that, "^if we ask * or, cmceming 
any thing according to his will, he heareth us ; ^° and if we know that ^ ch! 3. s. 
He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions e/ob 42.8. jam 
that we desired of Him. /iiatt. 12. 31, 

^'^ If any man see his brother sin a sin ivJiich is not unto death, he ^likl^if 10^' 
shall ask, and 'He shall give him hfe for them that sin not unto death. Heb. 6. 4, 6. & 
^'There is a sin unto death : 'I do not say that he shall pray for it. g j'er."?. le. &. 
^' All ''unrighteousness is sin : and there is a sin not unto death. I*- "• ■'°''° ^'''• 

^^ We know that Hvhosoever is born of God sinneth not ; but he that h ch. a. 4. 

is begotten of God -'keepeth himself, and that Wicked One toucheth 

him not. ^^ Aiid we know that we are of God, and ''the whole world j Jam. 1. 27 

lieth in wickedness. --' And we know that 'the Son of God is come, f ^''';^-t 

and '"hath given us an understanding, "that we may know Him that is 

true, and we are in Him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ, n John it. 3. 

"This is the true God, ^and eternal hfe. 21 Little children, ^keep your- .^^J^fl'^, 

selves from idols. FAmen.! 6. & si. 5. John 

■- -" 20. as. Acts 20. 

[-] 2S. Kona. 9. 5. 

EXD OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. I 1 Tim. 3. 16. 

Tit. 2. 13. Heb. 
1.8. 



] Pet. 1. 23. ch 
3. 9. 



I See ilark 1. 1. 
m Luke 24. 45. 



THE SECOND EPISTLE OF JOHN. ? Icor.'io.k' 

St. John ivrites this Epistle to caution a Christian Mother and her 

Children against the Seductions and pernicious Errors of the false 
Teachers, supposed to he a Sect of the Gnostics.'^ 

§ 13. — verse 1—3. c J3 

The Salutation. „ „^^ ,- ,^ oo 

p bee -Note Jo. 

^ The Elder unto the Elect Lady and her children, "whom I loA'e a i John 3. is. 
in the truth, (and not I only, but also all they that have known 'the j zohnu'.^^' 
truth :) - for the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be Avith us ^^i. 2. 5, m. & 
for ever. ^ Grace *be with you. mercy, and peace, from God the Father c'oi. 1. 5. 
and from the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, "in truth and 1 Timril. 

love' ' Heb. 10. 26. 

1 Tim. 1. 2. 

§ U.-^-erse 4, to the end. " "'"■ ^■ 

The Apostle mentions his joy at finding some of her children conducting themselves 
according to the pure doctrines of the Gospel — He exhorts her to Christian love, not 

cts in ohedience to a command never hefore delivered, but to a command which was 

given from the very beainning, and which the Apostles constantly preached — The 
great proof of love to God is obedience and conformity to his commands ; and this is 
the great commandment, that they should believe in Him whom God hath sent (John 
vi. 29.) — These doctrines were preached to them from the beginning, that they might 
have proper motives and principles for their love and obedience — It is now particularly 
necessary to remind them of these, because many deceivers are gone out into the 
world, who deny that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh, regarding his death and 
suiTering as appearances, and not as reahties — every teacher who teaches such doc- 
trines is the False Prophet, and the Antichrist, foretold by Jesus Christ (1 John ii. 
13.) — He therefore beseeches the Elect Lady and her children not to be deceived by 
them — Whoever transgresses by teaching other doctrines than those taught by Christ 
and his Apostles, hath no communion with God as their Father — But he that continues 
in these doctrines, hath communion with God as his Fatlier, and the Son of God as 
his Saviour — Any teacher who holds not the doctrine, that Christ came and suffered 
in the flesh for man, is not to be received into the house, nor salutations of good suc- 
cess ofiered to him — For he that treats such as a Christian brother, by giving him pro- ^ 
tection and encouragement, accredits his ministry, and becomes a partaker of the ° "^ ohn3. 
mischief he may commit. ' *& 3.°ll.^' ^' ^ 

■*! REJOICED greatly that I found of thy children "walking in truth, \l°W^^-^ 
as we have received a commandment from the Father. ^ And now I a. iPet. 4. k' 
beseech thee, Lady, ''not as though I wrote a new commandment unto ^ john 14. 15.21. 
thee, but that which we had from the bes:inmng. 'That we love one f /l" \"- . , . 

1 R A 1 ^ 7 • • 1 1 JOOQ 2, O. £.0. 

another. ^ And ^this is love, that we walk after his commandments. ^■ 

VOL. TI, KK* 



438 



THE THIRD EPISTLE OF JOHN. 



[Part XV. 



e 1 John 2. 24. 
/ 1 John 4. 1. 
g 1 John 4. 2, 3. 
h 1 John 9. 22. & 

4.3. 
i Mark 13. 9. 

j Gal. 3. 4. Heb. 
10. 32, 35. 

* Or, gained ; 
Some copies 
read, which ye 
have gained^ but 
that ye receive, 

k 1 John 2. 23. 

I Eom. 16. 17. 
1 Cor. 5. U. & 
16. 22. Gal. 1.8, 
9. 2 Tim. 3. 5. 
Tit. 3. 10. 

m 3 John 13. 

t Gr. raoKt/i to 

mouth, 
n John 17. 13. 

1 Johrf 1. 4. 
X Or, j/OKr. 
1 Pet. 5. 13. 



§ 15. 

q See Note 39i 
a 2 John 1. 
* Or, truly. 
f Or,pra^. 



i 2 Jolin 4. 
c 1 Cor. 4. 15. 
Philemon 10. 



This is the commandment, That, 'as ye have heard from the begin- 
ning, ye should walk in it. ''' For -^many deceivers are entered into the 
world, ^who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. "This 
is a deceiver and an Antichrist. ^ Look *to yourselves, ■'that we lose 
not those things which we have *wrought, but that we receive a full 
reward. ^ Whosoever ''transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine 
of Christ, hath not God : he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he 
hath both the Father and the Son. i° If there come any unto you, and 
bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, 'neither bid 
him God speed. " For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of 
his evil deeds. 

^^ Having "many things to write unto you, I would not write with 
paper and ink ; but I trust to come unto you, and speak tface to face, 
"that tour joy may be full. ^^ The "children of thy elect sister greet 
thee ! [Amen.] 

[end of the second epistle of JOHN.] 



THE THIRD EPISTLE OF JOHN. 

St. John ivrites this Epistle'^ to Gains, to praise him for his steadfast 
Faith and Kind,ness to some Christian Brethren and Stransers, and 
to recommend them again to his Protection and, Benevolence — to re- 
buke and to caution him against the presumptuous Arrogance of Diot- 
rephes, ivho had denied his Authority, and disobeyed Ms Injunctions, 
and to recommend Demetrius to his Attention, and the Imitation of 
the Church. 

§ 15. — verse 1, to the end- 
The aged Apostle to Gams, the beloved of all who knew him, who is beloved also of 
the Apostle, according to the truth— He prays that his temporal prosperity and health 
may be in proportion to his virtues and spiritual attainments, that he may long live a 
blessing to the Church — His great joy when he was informed of his continuing in the 
true doctrines of the Gospel — He has acted towards the brethren and strangers agree- 
ably to the true faith ; and they have borne testimony before the church to his Chris- 
tian love and benevolence, whom he will do well to assist a second time in a manner 
worthy of God, from the divine principle of love which his Spirit imparts — For it was 
for the sake of Christ, and preaching his Gospel to the Gentiles, that the brethren 
went out, receiving nothing for their labors, that they might not have their success 
diminished by a suspicion of mercenary motives — Those who remain at home should 
entertain and receive into their houses the laborers who leave their homes, and make 
distant journeys for the sake of the Gospel, that by contributions they may assist ahd 
encourage them, and so become joint laborers with them — He had written a letter to 
this effect to the Church of which Gaius was a member ; but Diotrephes, who had 
assumed an arrogant preeminence, denied his apostolical authority, and probably sup- 
pressed the letter — The Apostle threatens to punish him signally for his deeds, as 
they impeded and injured the cause of truth and Christianity — He calumniated the 
apostles — refused to obey their injunctions — and cast out of the Church those who did 
so, relieving the necessities of the brethren — He e.xhorts them not to follow the exam- 
ple of Diotrephes, but to imitate that which is good, knowing that such are begotten 
of God — He recommends the example of Demetrius, who, on the contrary, is praised 
by all men for his Christian graces and virtues, by the Gospel itself, and by the 
Apostle, whose testimony they are assured is true and impartial — He excuses himself 
for not writing more fully on these matters, but intends soon to see Gaius-— His ben- 
ediction and salutation. 

^ The Elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, "whom I love *in the 
truth ! 

^ Beloved, I twish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be 
in health, even as thy soul prospereth. ^For I rejoiced greatly, when 
the brethren came and testified of the trutli that is in thee, even as 
'thou walkest in the truth. ^ I have no greater joy than to hear that 
"ray children walk in truth. ^ Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever 



Sect. XX.] ON THE COMPLETION OF THE CANON. 439 

thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers, "^ which have borne wit- 
ness of thy charity before the Church ; whom if thou bring forward 
on their journey tafter a godly sort, thou shalt do well. '' Because that xot. worthy of 
for his Name's sake they went forth, ''taking nothing of the Gentiles. ^ iVor. 9 12 
® We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellow-helpers is. 
to the truth. 

^ 1 wrote unto tlie Church ; but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the 
preeminence among them, receiveth us not. 1° Wherefore, if I come, 
I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with 
malicious words : and not content therewith, neither doth he himself 
receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth 
them out of the Church. " Beloved, 'follow not that which is evil, but ^^IV^ iV^^; p' 
that which is good. -^He that doeth good is of God ; but he that doeth 3! 11! 
evil hath not seen God. ^ll°X^-^^' ^ 

1^ Demetrius ^lath good report of all men, and of the truth itself; g iTim. 3. 7. 
yea, and we also bear record, ''and ye know that our record is true. a John 21. 24. 

1^ I 'had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write « 2 John 12. 
unto thee ; ^* but I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak 
*face to face. Peace be to thee ! Our friends salute thee : greet the *,„^j,"jf °"''' '" 
friends by name. 

END OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 



Section XX. — St. John sanctions the Books of the Neio Testament, and completes 
the Canon of Scripture by writing his Gospel, at the request of the Church at 
Ephesus. 

The close of the apostolic age now drew near. The former Dispensation had been abrogated, 
and Jerusalem destroyed. The building up of the visible Church was consigned to another order 
of instructors, under the abiding and miraculous influence of the same Spirit. One thing alone 
was wanting to complete the sanctions of the Gospel of Christ, and to give permanence to the 
teaching of the apostles. The Jew was able to appeal with boldness to a collection of Inspired 
Writings, and it was necessary that the Christian should be able to appeal to the same authority. 
Another volume of Scripture was essential to the New Dispensation ; originating in the same 
divine source, confirmed by similar evidence of prophecy, miracle, and purity of precept and 
doctrine. For this purpose the beloved disciple was preserved in life to a very late period, till 
the numbers of Christians had so increased, that the heathen temples, as Pliny affirmed, in his 
celebrated letter to Trajan, had begun to be deserted. For the instruction of these immense mul- 
titudes three Gospels, tlie Book of the Acts, and all the Epistles had been already written ; and 
it is not improbable that a general expectation might have prevailed throughout the Churches, 
that the last of the Inspired Apostles would sanction with his approbation the books which had 
already been written — that he would approve or condemn the novel opmions which had begun to 
divide the infant, or the more established, societies — that he would relate, for the benefit and con- 
solation of Christians, the more impressive conversations and dying instructions of our blessed 
Lord — and, finally, close the Canon of the New Testament, by his universally-acknowledged 
authority, before the age of miracle and inspiration had ceased. Whether it has ceased for ever 
on earth, or only till the millennial day of universal righteousness, is among the unrevealed 
mysteries of Christianity. The contents of St. John's Gospel, and the evidence of ecclesiastical 
history prove to us, that the greater part of these things have been done, and that the Canon of 
Scripture was now closed, till the end of the Christian dispensation. 

The evidence, however, which still remains upon this subject will not appear to many persons 
altogether decisive. What that is I shall collect from Lampe. 

As the canon of the Old Testament was completed by Simon the Just, the last of the great 
Sanhedrin, so is it probable the canon of the New Testament was completed either by St. John, 
or that disciple who might be the survivor of the one hundred and twenty, the number of the 
Sanhedrin, who met at the day of Pentecost. It is not probable that any of tliese outlived St. 
John, who died nearly seventy years after the ascension of his Divine Master. 

I am of opinion that the canon of Scripture was completed before tlie persecution of Trajan, 
that the Christians under that terrible visitation, upon the cessation of the spirit of prophecy, 
which in all their distresses had been the evidence of their faith, and their unfailing consolation, 



440 ON THE COMPLETION OF THE CANON. [Part XV. 

might have the complete and perfect Scripture, to direct and comfort them. The Gospel of St. 
Matthew was written during- the Pauline persecution — that of St. Mark in the Herodian — that of 
St. Luke about the time of the Neronian — and if the Gospel of St. John was written, and the 
canon of Scripture completed, in anticipation of the Trajanian persecution, the blood of the 
martjTS, in a new and more impressive sense, may be justly called the seed of the Church. 

Eusebius is generally considered as affording decisive evidence that the canon of Scripture 
was completed by St. John. In the Third Book of his Ecclesiastical History, this historian gives 
an account of the bishops who presided over the Churches of Rome, Jerusalem, and Alexandria. 
From mentioning Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, and Simeon, bishop of Jerusalem, he proceeds 
to relate some traditional stories of St. John, who was the contemporary of both. He then goes 
on to mention the writings of the Apostle, and informs us that St. John wrote his Gospel to 
relate the circumstances which had been omitted by the other Evangelists, particularly those 
which occurred at the commencement of our Lord's ministry. The Apostle approved of all that 
had been said by the three Evangelists ; he confirmed their declarations by his own testimony, 
and added his own Gospel to complete whatever in theirs might be deficient. 

This testimony of Eusebius does not appear to Mosheim to be sufficient to convince us that St. 
John, completed the canon of the New Testament. He certainly says nothing of the Acts or the 
Epistles : as these, however, were undoubtedly and unanimously received as Inspired Books by 
the great majority of Christians, and as the Acts were written by St. Luke, and formed as it were 
the second part of the Gospel ; and the Epistles of St. Paul were so interwoven with the history 
of his travels, by St. Luke, that they could not be separated ; it is difficult to believe that the 
Apostle should have sanctioned the Gospels alone, and not have confirmed also the authority of 
their inseparable and inspired appendages. It is true that Eusebius confines his testimony to 
the Gospels ; but he does not do this in such a manner that we are necessarily led to suppose 
that he omitted to approve of the remainder of the Sacred Writings. The general and ancient 
tradition may supply the place of more demonstrative evidence with those who are contented 
with the authority of antiquity without decided evidence of another kind ; provided there be 
nothing which is absurd in itself, inconsistent with Scripture, nor opposite to authentic evidence. 
It is not, however, improbable that those Epistles, which were not received by all Cliristians into 
the canon, immediately on their first publication, had been neglected by the Gentile Christians, 
because they were principally addressed to the converts from among the Jews, or to the Hebrews 
generally. Should this conjecture be well founded, they might not have been known to the 
Church at Ephesus at this time, and possibly, therefore, were not included in the collection of 
Inspired Writings which were submitted at Ephesus to St. John, and received tlie sanction of 
that apostle. 

It has been supposed by many, that the New Testament contains internal evidence that the 
canon of Scripture was now fixed by St. Jolm ; or that the Gospels, the Acts, the Apocalypse, 
and the universally-received Epistles, were sanctioned by his authority. The passage (Apoc. 
xxii. 18, 19.) in which a blessing is pronounced upon all who hear the words of this book is said 
to refer not merely to the Apocalypse, but to the whole word of God ; this opinion, however, does 
not seem to be supported by the context. Augustine (ap. Lampe) asserts that the canon of 
Scripture was confirmed, from the times of the apostles, by the episcopal successions and early 
Churches. Lampe quotes also Jerome and Tertullian, who do not, however, speak with decision. 
The prolonged life of the Apostle, after whom no inspired booli: could be expected by the 
Churches, his certain knowledge of the books which had already been so universally received, 
and the necessity of his approbation, or condemnation, combine to render him the one individual 
who was called upon to decide the authority of the books, and to complete the canon. Irenseus 
seems to allude to the completed canon, when, soon after the death of St. John, he says concern- 
ing Polycarp, "He always taught those things which he had learned from the apostles, which 
the Church had delivered, and which alone are true." 

The last writer who has studied the subject, was the late lamented and learned Mr. Rennell, 
who has been so prematurely removed from the scene of his useful labors. In his observations 
on the compilation of the apocryphal writings of the apostolic age, published by Mr. Hone, he 
observes : — 

" TVJien was the canon of Scripture determined ? It was determined immediately after the 
death of St. John, the last survivor of the apostolic order. The canon of the Gospels was deter- 
mined indeed before his death ; for we read in Eusebius, that he gave his sanction to the three 
other Gospels, and completed this part of the New Testament with his own. By the death of 
St. John the catalogue of Scripture was completed and closed. We have seen from the testimony 
both of themselves, and of their immediate successors, that the inspiration of writing was strictly 
confined to the apostles, and accordingly we find that no pretensions were ever made by anj 
true Christian to a similar authority. 



Sect. XX.] ON THE COMPLETION OF THE CANON. 441 

"-6;/ ''■''<""■ ■^^^s the canon of Scripture determined ? It was determined, not by the decision 
of any individual, nor by the decree of any council, but by the general consent of the whole and 
every part of the Christian Church. It is indeed a very remarkable circumstance, that among 
the various disputes which so early agitated the Church, the canon of Scripture was never the 
subject of controversy. If any question might be said to have arisen, it had reference to one or 
two of those books which are included in the present canon ; but with respect to those which are 
out of the canon, no difference of opinion ever existed. 

" The reason of this agreement is a very satisfactory one. Every one who is at all versed in 
ecclesiastical history is aware of the continual intercourse which took place in the apostolic age 
between the various branches of the Church Universal. This communication, as Mr. Nolan has 
well observed, arose out of the Jewish polity, under which the various synagogues of the Jews, 
which were dispersed throughout the Gentile world, were all subjected to the Sanhedrin at Jeru- 
salem, and maintained a constant correspondence with it. Whenever then an Epistle arrived at 
any particular Church, it was first authenticated ; it was then read to all the holy brethren, and 
was subsequently transmitted to some other neighbouring Church. Thus we find that the 
authentication of the Epistles of St. Paul was ' the salutation with his own hand' (2 Thess. iii. 17.), 
by which the Church, to which the letter was first addressed, might be assured that it was not a 
forgery. We find also a solemn adjuration of the same Apostle, that his Epistle ' should be read 
to all the holy brethren ' (1 Thess. v. 27) ; and again, that his Epistles should be transmitted to 
other Christian communities. 'When this Epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also 
in tlie Church of the Laodiceans, and that ye likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea ' (Col. iv. 
16.) From this latter passage we infer, that the system of transmission was a very general one ; 
as the Epistle, which St. Paul directs the Colossians to receive from the Laodiceans, was not 
originally addressed to the latter, but was sent to them from some other Church. To prevent 
any mistake or fraud, this transmission was made by the highest authority, namely, by that of the 
bishop. Through him official communications were sent from one Church to another, even in the 
remotest countries. Clement, the bishop of Rome, communicated with the Church at Corinth ; 
Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, wrote an epistle to the Philippians ; Ignatius, the bishop of 
Antioch, corresponded with the Churches of Rome, of Magnesia, of Ephesus, and others. These 
three bishops were the companions and immediate successors of the apostles, and followed 
the system of correspondence and intercourse which their masters had begun. Considering all 
these circumstances, we shall be convinced how utterly improbable it was, that any authentic work 
of an apostle should have existed in one Church, without having been communicated to another. 
It is a very mistaken notion of Dodwell, that the books of the New Testament lay concealed in 
the coffers of particular Churches, and were not known to the remainder of the world until the 
late days of Trajan. This might have been perfectly true with respect to the originals, which 
were doubtless guarded with peculiar care in the custody of the particular Churches to which 
they were respectively addressed. But copies of these originals, attested by authority of the 
bishop, were transmitted from one Church to another with the utmost freedom, and were thus 
rapidly dispersed throughout the whole Christian world. As a proof of this, St. Peter, in an 
epistle addressed generally to the Churches in Asia, speaks of ' all the Epistles ' of St. Paul, as a 
body of Scripture universally circulated and known. 

" The number of tlie apostles, including Paul and Barnabas, was but fourteen ; to these, and 
to these alone, in the opinion of the early Church, was the inspiration of writing confined : out of 
these, six only deemed it necessary to write ; what they did write was authenticated with the 
gi-eatest caution, and circulated with the utmost rapidity ; what was received in any Church as 
the writing of an apostle was publicly read ; no Church was left to itself, or to its own direction ; 
but was frequently visited by the apostles, and corresponded Avith by their successors ; all the 
distant members of the Church universal, in the apostolic age, being united by frequent inter- 
course and communication, became one body in Christ. Taking all these things into our consid- 
eration, we shall see with what ease and rapidity the canon of Scripture would be formed, there 
being no room either for fradulent fabrication on the one hand, or for arbitrary rejection on the 
other. The case was too clear to require any formal discussion, nor does it appear that there 
, was any material forgery that could render it necessai-y. The writings of the apostles, and of 
the apostles alone, were received as the word of God, and were separated from all others, by that 
most decisive species of authority— the authority of a general, an immediate, and an undisputed 
consent. 

" This will appear the more satisfactory to our minds, if we take an example from the age in 
which we live. The letters of Junius, for instance, were published at intervals within a certain 
period. Since the publication of the last authentic letter, many under that signature have 
appeared, purporting to have been written by the same author. But this circum^stance throws no 
obscurity over the matter, nor is the canon of Junius, if I may transfer the term from sacred to 
VOL. II, 56 



442 ON THE COMPLETION OF THE CANON. [Part XV. 

secular writing, involved thereby in any difficulty or doubt. If it should be hereafter inquired at 
what time, or by what autlaority the authentic letters were separated from the spurious, the 
answer will be, that such a separation never took place ; but that the canon of Junius was deter- 
mined immediately after the date of the last letter. To us who live so near to the time of pub- 
lication, the line of distinction between the genuine and the spurious is so strongly marked, and 
the evidence of authenticity on the one side, and of forgery on the other, is so clear and convin- 
cing, that a formal rejection of the latter is unnecessary. The case has long since been deter- 
mined by the tacit consent of tlie whole British nation, and no man in his senses would attempt 
to dispute it. 

"Yet how much stronger is the case of the scriptural canon. The author of Junius was known 
to none, he could not therefore of himself bear any testimony to the authenticity of his works ; 
the authors of the New Testament were known to all, and were especially careful to mark, to 
authenticate, and to distinguish their writings. The author of Junius had no personal character 
which could stamp his writing witJi any high or special authority : whatever proceeded from the 
apostles of Christ was immediately regarded as the offspring of an exclusive inspiration. For 
the canon of Junius we have no external evidence, but that of a single publisher : for the canon 
of Scripture we have tlie testimony of Churches which were visited, bishops who were appointed, 
and. converts innumerable, who were instructed by the apostles themselves. It was neither the 
duty nor the interest of any one, excepting the publisher, to preserve the volume of Junius from 
spurious additions ; to guard the integrity of the Sacred Volume was the bounden duty of every 
Christian who believed that its words were the words of eternal life. 

" If, then, notwithstanding these and other difficulties, which might be adduced, the canon of 
Junius is established beyond controversy or dispute, by the tacit consent of all who live in the age in 
which it is written ; there can be no reason why the canon of Scripture, under circumstances 
infinitely stronger, should not have been determined in a manner precisely the same ; especially 
when we remember, tliat in both cases the forgeries made their appearance subsequently to the 
determination of the canon. There is not a single book in the spurious department of the apoc- 
ryphal volume which was even known where the canon of Scripture was determined. This is a 
fact which considerably strengthens the case. There was no difficulty or dispute in framing the 
canon of Scripture, because there were no competitors, whose claims it was expedient to examine, 
no forgeries whose impostures it was necessary to detect. The first age of the Church was an 
age of too much xugilance, of too much communication, of too much authority, for any fabricator 
of Scripture to hope for success. If any attempt was made, it was instantly crushed. When the 
authority of the apostles and of the apostolic men had lost its immediate influence, and heresies 
and disputes had arisen, then it was that forgeries began to appear. But by this time the canon 
of Scripture had taken such firm root in the minds of men, that it resisted every effiart to supplant 
it. Nothing, indeed, but the general and long-determined consent of the whole Christian world 
could have preserved the Sacred Volume in its integrity, unimpaired by the mutilation of one set 
of heretics, and unencumbered by the forgeries of another." 

The time of St. John's death is very uncertain. Jerome (in Covin, lib. i. c. 14.) affirms, that he 
died worn out with age. Irenteus (L ii. c. 39. 1. iii. c. 3.) tells us, that he survived to the reign 
of Trajan. Usher and Beveridge (de Martyr. Ignat. p. 177, in Canon Aposi. 1455) refer his 
death to the second year of Trajan. Eusebius, witli a great number of the fathers, Jerome, Ter- 
tullian, Origen, and others, place it in tlie third. The Paschal Chronicle assigns it to the seventh 
year of that emperor. He died at Ephesus, in expectation, says the Arabian author, of his 
blessedness : by which expression we may infer, that he met the last enemy of man with that 
serene and peaceful and well-founded hope, which is the best assurance of the happy immortality 
of every privileged Christian. 

It is needless to repeat the eulogies with which affection and admiration have united to 
commemorate the deatii of this amiable Apostle. The Protestant theologian will require more 
authentic evidence than the reporters of the wonderful tales, to which I allude, can produce, 
before he can credit that St. John never died, that he only lay sleeping in his grave, as appeared 
from the boiling or bubbling up of the dust, which was moved by his breath ; and many other 
gravely related histories, which excite but our smiles. His body is buried in peace, but his 
name liveth for evermore. So long as the present Dispensation shall continue, and the Christian 
Church be commanded to pursue its painful way through the wilderness of this world, to that 
land of peace and rest, where the spirits of the prophets and apostles await their companions and 
followers from among mankind ; so long as a blasphemer against the Divinity of the Son of God 
shall laugh to scorn our prayers to a crucified Redeemer ; so long siiall the inspired pages of this 
beloved disciple erect in our hearts the best monument to his memory''. 

"■ Sic Amesius, Theol. lib. i. c. 34. § 35. " Canonem V. T. constituerunt ProphetsE, et Cliristus ipse 
testimonio bug approbavit. Canonem N. T. una cum veteri comprobavit et obsignavit Apostolus Johan- 



Sect. XXI.] ON THE CONDITION OF THE JEWS. 443 

Section XXL — Brief View of the Condition of the Jeius, the Stations of the 
Sanhcdrin, and its Labors, before the final and. total Dispersion of their Nation; 
loith an Outline of the History of the Visible Church from the closing of the 
Canon of Scripture, to the present Day ; and the Prospects of the permanent Hap- 
piness of Mankind, in the present and future World. 

The first century of the Christian jera is the most eventful in the annals of the human race. 

The institutions of Christianity had succeeded to the institutions of the Law of Moses. The 
temple of God upon earth, which had opened its gates to tire people of one favored country alone, 
was taken down, and the whole world- was invited, by the preachers of the holy Gospel, to enter 
into another temple of God upon earth, whose gates stood open night and day, to receive all 
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues. 

It may be useful, in the conclusion of this work, to cast a rapid glance over the past history of 
that religion, which Christ and his apostles, and their successors in the Christian ministry, have 
established. From this we shall be naturally led to consider the state of Christianity in our own 
age, not merely in England, or in Europe, but through the world. The appearances of the present 
times, the expectations of wise and good men, and the express predictions both of the old prophets 
and of the Christian Scriptures, will justify us in anticipating the eventual comparative perfection 
of mankind, and the universal establishment of the one pure religion in this world, before the 
arrival of that solemn day, when the theatre on which the great drama of man has been acted will 
be swept away fi-om existence. 

We will compare the state of the world at the beginning of the century before the birth of 
Ciirist was announced to the shepherds, with its condition at the death of the last of the apostles. 

At the commencement of the century in wliich the Redeemer of mankind became incarnate, the 
world was divided into two classes, the Pagans and the Jews. The former of these had entirely 
forgotten the object for which mankind had been originally created ; and, among the latter, the 
remembrance of that object was confined to a very few who still retained the spiritual meaning of 
their Scriptures, and anticipated a Deliverer from the dominion of ignorance and wickedness, 
rather than a Saviour from the Roman yoke. The degeneracy of mankind was daily increasing > 
and the Church of God, that is, that portion of the visible Church which had preserved itself pure 
from the universal corruption, was so rapidly diminishing, that there was danger lest the world 
should return to the same condition to which it had been reduced, when eight persons only were 
saved from the deluge, or when ten worshippers of Jehovali could not be found to preserve the 
cities of the plain. Among the heathen all classes had become foolish. The magistrates and the 
statesmen of antiquity considered religion as a useful engine of state ; tlie philosophers, bewildered 
among their metaphysical dreams, and involved in endless disputations and divisions, considered 
all rehgions as equally false, and equally true ; justly despising the inconsistencies of the popula.r 
mythology, they knew not where to rest. The scanty remains of the ancient truth, which tradition 
still preserved among them, was obscured by innumerable absurdities. Neither the hope of good, 
nor the fear of evil, animated the popular devotion ; while tlie very superstitions, which the wander- 
ing reason of their pretended philosophy despised, were rendered more binding upon the ignorant 
populace, by the outward compliance of the philosophers with all its rites and ceremonies. 

The teachers of the Jews had secularized the religion of their fathers. The magnificent promises 
and splendid predictions of the propliets, which describe the spiritual glories of the expected Mes- 
siah, were interpreted of a temporal dominion. The maintainors of the spiritual interpretation 
were treated with contempt. The two classes of teachers, who divided the affections of the people, 
united in ridiculmg the holiness of heart and life required by the Law of Jehovah. The Sadducees 
denied the doctrine of a future state, and the consequent sanctions of an invisible world ; the 
Pharisees resolved the religion of Moses and of the prophets into the belief of traditions, and at- 

nes, auctoritate divina instructus, Apoc. xxii. 18, 19. Idem videtur Pareo, Pigneto, et aliis ad h. 1. Hei- 
deg-gerus, Co?-/). Theol. loc. ii. p. 61. addit, Johannem canonem N. T. clausisse, cum solenni voto ; ' Etiam 
veni, Domine Jesu ! ' Scripturam N. T. cum ultimo Christi adventu ita conjunxit, uti dim Malachias 
Scripturam N. T. cum Ministerio Johannis BaptistiE connexuit. Sed et vetustiores Apocalypgin pro si- 
gillo imiversae Scripture habuerunt. Anonymus quidam Grsecus apud Allatium Diss. I. de libris Eccles. 
GroBcorum, p. 46, — 

Pltoloyixij 5' anoy.aXvxpiQ naXiv 

2(pQayig ni(pvxs Tijadi Tijg jii(i?.ov nuor^g. 

Tlicologica Apocalypsis sigillum universi libri, et totius Sacrae Scripturae est." — Lampe, Proleg. ad Johan. 
lib. i. cap. .5. § 13. note. 

The theological student, who is desirous of pursuing this subject, is referred to Dr. Cozins' work on 
the Canon of Scripture ; a very useful publication, which was written while the learned author was ex- 
pelled from his living by the parliament ; to Jones On the Canon ; Lardner's Supplement to the Credibil- 
ity ; Home's Crit. Introduction; and to the prefaces of commentators in general. 



444 ON THE CONDITION OF THE JEWS [Part XV. 

tachment of external observances, and ostentatious austerities. The one destroyed internal relig-ion, 
by denying its necessity altogether ; the latter ruined its influence with equal efficacy, by finding a 
substitute for holiness. The first were condemned entirely, as the open enemies of purity, as the in- 
fi-dels of their day ; the last were condemned with unsparing severity, but not so universally, or totally, 
in that more restricted censure, " these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." 
The consequence of the united dereliction of both Jews and heathens was, that the knowledge and 
fear of God was rapidly fading away from the public faith and the private motives of mankind. 

The close of the century presented a strong contrast with this melancholy condition. JVTankind 
were now divided into three classes. The heathens, who, in addition to their former errors, had 
now acquired a spirit of persecution ; the Jews, who, though they had been conquered by the 
Pi-omans, and subjected to severe persecutions, still continued in various towns in Palestine, and 
throughout the empire, and whose inveterate hatred against the Clu"istians increased daily ; the 
third division, and it included no small portion of mankind, were the Christians, who were elected 
by tlie providence of God from both the former classes. 

Before we proceed to the history of the Christian Church, it may be advisable to inquire into 
the condition of the once-favored people of God, after their rejection of the Messiah had brought 
upon, them the accomplishment of his predictions, in the destruction of the city, and the utter ruin 
of their political existence. 

The visible true Church, in any nation, is under the protection of the peculiar providence of 
God, and entitled to the veneration of the people, whom it is intended to guide to future happiness 
so long only as it retains its spiritual fitness, and zeal, and purity, to accomplish the objects of its 
institution. This seems to be the lesson which the fall of Jerusalem was designed to impress 
upon the infant Church, which had now succeeded to the miraculous gifts and privileges of the 
Church of Jerusalem. Not only did tlie fallen daughter of Sion render service to her favored 
sister, by impressing this solemn lesson ; but she was still permitted, before the final dispersion 
of her sons, so to deliver the ancient Scriptures to the Gentile Churches, that their integrity and 
genuineness should be unimpeachable, either by the Jews or heathens. 

Though the city and temple of Jerusalem were destroyed, the Sanhedrin remained, and were 
acknowledged by the surviving Hebrews as the legitimate directors and teachers of the people. 
Some years before the destruction of the temple they had removed to Jabneh ; and, after that 
event, Rabban Jochanan ben Zacchai, the president, who had predicted the destruction of the 
temple forty years before, when the doors of the temple had opened without visible cause, requested 
permission of Titus, with whom he was in favor, to reestablish the Sanhedrin at Jabneh. Fully 
convinced of the truth of his own prophecy, he had entreated the people to submit to the Romans. 
It was possibly on this account that Titus complied with his request. He sat as president of the 
Sanhedrin five years after the destruction of the city. Some few of the more eminent and learned 
Jews, who escaped from the common slaughter, from the sale and vassalage of their countrymen, 
continued with him at Jabneh. Among these were R. Gamaliel, the son of the R. Simeon who 
was educated with St. Paul, and was killed when president of the Sanhedrin, at the siege of Jeru- 
salem ; this Simeon is considered by the Jews as the last of the ten eminent men who were slain 
by the kingdom, that is, who were put to death by the Romans. With R. Gamaliel were R. Zadok, 
who had emaciated his body with extreme fasting, when the doors of the temple moved on their 
hinges by invisible hands, R. Ehezer ben Hyrcanus, the author of Pirke Eliezer, and others whose 
names are still held in honor among the Jews. These men were employed to the last in making 
decrees respecting the ritual of the temple service, and settling questions of ceremonies ; though 
the glory had departed, and religion had become an empty form. " There were thirteen worship- 
pings, or bowings, in the temple, but the house of Rabban Gamaliel and the house of Ananias 
Sagan made fourteen," says a Jewish tradition. Lightfoot erroneously conjectures, that the Ana- 
nias, who was thus united Avith the house of R. Gamaliel in ordering the additional bowings in 
the temple, when it was about to be destroyed, was the same Ananias who insulted St. Paul. 

R. Jochanan was succeeded in his presidency over the Sanhedrin at Jabneh by R. Gamaliel. 
The traditions relate, that he gave offence to the people by his pride and passion, and at one 
period was deprived of his presidency ; he was restored to his dignity in part only, R. Eliezer 
being elevated to the joint administration. 

The presidency of these two continued twelve years; from the second year of Vespasian, to the 
second of Domitian. The hatred of the Romans towards the Jews had not at this time increased 
to its height. In the second year of Domitian, R. Akibah was their head. His presidency lasted 
forty years, when the Romans sacked with so much cruelty the town Bitter, or, more properly, Beth- 
Tar. The Jews now began to be more severely threatened, as enemies to the public peace of the 
empire, and to all mankind. This was the period of the dreadful insurrection at Cyrene, when they 
murdered two hundred and twenty thousand Greeks and Romans, under circumstances of the most 
revolting and shameful cruelty. A similar insurrection was made in Egypt and Cyprus, where 



Sect. XXI.] BEFORE THEIR FINAL DISPERSION. 445 

tliey slaughtered two Iiundred and forty thousand. The principal author of this revolt is said to 
have been the false Messiah, Ben Cozba, who proclaimed hhnself king, and coined money. This 
took place in the reign of Adrian, and R. Akibah, the president of the Sanhedrin, was killed at 
Beth-Tar, as armorbearer to this pretended Messiah. 

The destruction of the remaining cities of Judaea, and the number of Jews who were slaughtered 
make the Jews consider this period as the completion of tlieir ruin, and the most severe blow they 
ever received, except the destruction of tlieir city. Adrian had sent against them the relentless 
Severus, who was afterwards emperor. 

At this time lived Trypho, the Jew who had the controversy with Justin Martyr. It is not 
improbable that this was the same as Tarphon, an intimate associate of R. Akibali ; he is fre- 
quently mentioned in the talmuds. 

The fourth president of the Sanhedrin, after the destruction of Jerusalem, was Rabban Simeon. 
He governed about thirty years, from the sixth or eighth of Adrian, to the fifteenth or sixteenth 
of Antoninus Pius. The honor and power of the learned Jews began now to lessen daily, though 
there were still found among them some eminent names which are yet honored both among the 
Jews and Christians. The principal of these were R. Simeon ben Jochai, and Ehezer, his son, 
the first authors of the book Zohar; and Aquila, the celebrated proselyte, whose translation of 
the Scriptures is quoted even by the Jerusalem Gemarists. The Sanhedrin had now removed 
from Jabneh to Usha Shepharaim. 

R. Simeon was succeeded by his son, R. Judah the Holy. He was held in very high estimation 
among his countrymen, and is said to have been much valued by one of the Anton ines. It was 
R. Judah who caused the Traditional Law to be collected into one mass. This is called the 
Miskna, and is the great code by which the Jews still profess to be regulated. The number of 
pupils who might be the preservers of this code of traditionary law was daily diminishing, and he 
resolved therefore to commit it to writing, that it might be preserved. He appointed teachers 
of these traditions also in all the cities remaining to the Jewish name. The Sanhedrin, in his 
reign, removed to Bethshaarain, Tsipporis, and Tiberias. R. Judah compiled the Mishna, as 
some traditions relate, in the year 190, in the latter end of the reign of Commodus ; or, as others 
affirm, m the year 220, one hundred and fifty years after the destruction of the city. 

R. Judah was succeeded by his son R. Chaninah, in whose presidency we first read of the Com- 
mentaries on the Mishna, which are called the Gemara. The Miskna, wliich is the Text of the 
Traditional Law, and the Gemara, which is the Comment, make up together the Talmud. The 
Targums are commentaries on Scripture. 

R. Chaninah was succeeded by R. Jochanan, who was president of the Sanhedrin at Tiberias 
eighty years. Though the country abounded with schools, and the surviving Jews made every 
effort in their power to perpetuate their now corrupt religion, no school or college obtained so 
much celebrity as that at Tiberias. Jerome was instructed by a learned man of Tiberias : and it 
was most probably about this time, that that edition of the Hebrew Bible was prepared, which has 
ever been of high authority among both Jews and Christians ; the edition of tlie Masorets, or, as 
they are now more generally called, the Masorites. 

The term Masoret is derived from a Hebrew word, signifying tradition. The Masorites were the 
learned Jews of Tiberias, who, being anxious before their nation was finally separated, to secure 
the Sacred Text from corruption, prepared an edition of the Old Testament, in which they marked, 
by certain arbitrary vowel points, accents, and pauses, the traditionary pronunciation of every word. 
The Bibles which tlie Jews read in their synagogues are now, and it is believed have always 
been, written without the vowel points ; but the minister is required to read each chapter accord- 
ing to the traditionary sounds of the words, which are preser\^ed in the pointed Bibles ; and an 
inspector or superintendent stands by him wlien he reads, to correct any er/or. This pronuncia- 
tion is not borrowed from the Masoretic Bibles, as I have been informed by some learned Jews, 
whom I consulted on this matter; but it is the traditionary mode of reading which has been 
handed down from remote antiquity. Should this statement be correct, it appears to afford one 
very satisfactory argument, that the Masoretic punctuation is entitled to more respect than many 
modern Hebraists entertain for it This, however, is not the place to enter upon this discussion. 
The SJasorets, by their great care and diligence, have left us an edition of the Old Testament, 
which secures the text from all interpolations, while it checks also the licentiousness of conjec- 
tural criticism, and gives a definite meaning to many ohscure passages ; at the same time it by 
no means precludes the labors of the learned from aiming at greater accuracy in their attempts 
to understand Scripture, as the sense which the Masorets may have put upon any passage, can 
only be said to be highly probable : the meaning of Scripture in all cases being derivable from 
the words, and not from the vowel points, or any arbitrary divisions. " It is probable," says 
Bishop Marsh, "that the Masoretic text was formed from a collation of manuscripts; if so, it is 
still more valuabls. The Masorets, as is well known, have counted every word and letter, that 



446 ON THE STATE OF THE CHURCH [Part XV. 

no changes may be made : and if the copies of the Old Testament, which Christians possess, 
and from which, with the apostles themselves, they derive irrefragable arguments for the Mes- 
siahsliip of Jesus of Nazareth, be impugned by the Jews, they may refer to the Masoretic edition, 
and urge the same arguments from that copy of the Scriptures upon which the Jews place the 
highest value." 

The precise time when the Masorets of Tiberias completed this useful labor is not known. 
The providence of God preserved the appearance of a government among the Jews till this great 
work was completed, and the purity of the Inspired Volume secured from all possibility of corrup- 
tion. They were then permitted to undergo the whole of the terrible punishments predicted by 
Moses and their prophets. So long as they had a president and a Sanhedrin in the Holy Land, they 
had a common country, though they had ceased to have a sacrifice, a temple, a prophet, or a 
king. Many of their learned men went to Babylon, the schools of which place had begun to be 
more celebrated than those of Judsa. To detail the further history of the cruelties they have 
practised, and the persecutions they have endured ; the history of their patience, their sufferings ; 
their depressed poverty ; their industrious accumulation of wealth ; their cultivation of the art of 
medicine ; their fortunes in every country in the world ; the deadly hatred, and fierce and bitter 
scorn to which they were condemned for many centuries ; the account also of their rapidly 
increasing influence in the present state of society, when a supply of money from a few wealthy 
individuals, or even from one, in many instances may decide the destiny, religion, and liberty of 
kings and people ; to detail all these wonderful incidents in the history of these miraculously-pre- 
served people would lead me far beyond my present purpose. It is sufficient only to say, that 
their preservation has been effected by means so totally contrary to the general laws of society ; 
by which, both in adversity and prosperity, nations, when settled among each other, uniformly 
amalgamate into one people ; that, if we had no Scripture to guide us, we might justly infer they 
were preserved by the providence of God for some extraordinary destiny. What this destiny 
will be, we are told by the pages of Revelation: "They shall be gathered out of all people, and 
by an exodus from all countries more wonderful than that of their fathers from Egypt, they shall 
go up to their own country ; and planting the vine and the olive on the hills and in the valleys of 
their fathers, they shall, after much tribulation, rejoice in the dominion of their Messiah, the man- 
ifested God of their fathers, the crucified Jesus of the Christians." 

We will now return to the history of the Christian Church. Though the view which may be 
now taken of the effects of Christianity on human happiness is unavoidably brief and imperfect, 
the memory will be assisted by a regular division of the subject: — 

I. The first stage is the State of the Christian Church from the Death of St. John to the 
Establishment of the persecuted Faith by Constantino. 

II. From thence to the Rise of the Papal Power. 

III. The Progress and Triumph of the Church of Rome. 

IV. The Reformation, both in its good and bad Effects. 

V. And the subsequent History of Christianity, particularly in England ; with the prospect of 
its future dominion over all mankind, as declared in the prophecies of the Old and New Testament. 

I. The State of the Christian Church from the Death of St. John to the Death of Constantine. 

In closing the volumes which it was necessary to peruse, for the drawing up of the following 
brief abstract of Ecclesiastical History, it was impossible to avoid contrasting the hatred and 
dissensions which have prevailed within the later centuries among Christians with the union and 
harmony which excited the surprise of their enemies, in the earlier ages of their faith. Although 
this difference can only be imputed to the infirmities, errors, or vices, which have debased and 
corrupted the Churches and their members, the faults of individuals have too frequently been 
referred to the religion they profess. It may be necessary, therefore, to define the meaning of 
Christianity, that by constantly keeping before us one certain definite view of the religion which 
was now established, we may not confound with it any one of the more or less extensive sects, or 
sectlmgs, churches, or parties, which have endeavoured to identify their peculiar causes with that 
of Christianity, and their several titles with the exclusive name of Christian. 

Christianity is the completed revelation of those sanctions of, and motives to virtue, which the 
unassisted reason of man could not have discovered. Its object is to promote the present and 
future happiness of the human race, which can only be effectually secured by virtuous principles 
and habits. One system of religion is distinguished from another by the opinions it teaches, the 
conduct it enforces, the institutions it establishes, and the means which it adopts for its preserva- 
tion. The fundamental opinions, or essential doctrines of Christianity, may be included in these 
three — that the nature of man is now diff'erent from that with which his first parents were 
created — that a Divine Being undertook to recover mankind from this state of degradation, by 



Sect. XXI.] TO THE DEATH OF CONST ANTINE. 447 

ofiFering himself as an atonement, after a life of blamelessness and purit)', and by rising from the 
dead, to demonstrate the certainty of our own resurrection, and that divine assistance is afforded to 
all tliose who desire to be restored to that condition in which man was originally created. 

The conduct which Christianity requires, does not extend to outward morality only, but to 
internal purity of motive, to spirituality of disposition, and, as far as possible, to a change of 
nature. 

The Scriptural institutions of Christianity are the commemorations of the facts which prove the 
truth of its doctrmes. They are few, but important The observance of the first day in the 
week is in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ, and a declaration of the truth of our own. 
In baptism, we commemorate the descent of the Spirit, and assert the necessity of a divine 
influence, to recover man from the fall. In the other sacrament, of the Lord's Supper, we com- 
memorate the crucifixion, and profess our belief in the atonement. 

The scriptural means by which the knowledge of the Christian religion is to be preserved in 
the world are the perpetual obser^-ance of the institutions, and the right interpretation of the 
completed Scriptures. To secure these great objects, the Divine Founder of Christianity appointed 
twelve teachers, and after tliem he appeared from the innsible state to appoint another, who 
should establish societies from among the mass of mankind, and set apart teachers to instruct the 
people, interpret the Scriptures, and maintain the institutions of the new religion. The apostles 
were equal among themselves. They governed the whole visible Church, or general body of 
Christians, when they were assembled together ; and each was the spiritual ruler of the Church 
or Society which himself had founded.* The same mode of preserving Christianity has been con- 
tinued from the earliest age to the present time. 

Such was the Christianity which was established over the world at tlie period when the Canon 
of Scripture was finally closed. The design of its Great Author would have been fully accom- 
plished, if the two great som-ces of error had not perverted the simplicity of truth. Vice and 
false philosophy are the only causes of heresy and error. The former endeavours to reconcile the 
purity and truth of Christianity with tlie conduct it has forbidden, whether it be ambition, pride, 
or folly, through all their differences and gradations — the latter refines, alters, objects to, or 
speculates upon, the doctrines of revelation, till it has established some new theory, or removed 
some primitive truth. 

Tliis view of Christianity enables us to form some criterion of truth, in the midst of all the 
discordant opinions of modern systems. Whatever doctrine has been invented by later writers, 
whether it be gradually established, as many of the corruptions of the Romanists have been, or 
proposed £13 a more correct interpretation of Scripture, as many of the Unitarian and German 
speculators have suggested their various novelties, is probably false, as it is certainly suspicious. 
If it was not once received by all Christians, in the primitive ages, in all tlieir Churches, it is probably 
heretical. If it is not supported by some of the facts of Scripture it is suspicious. It is not 
generally remembered that the pecuhar doctrines which characterize Christianity are all identified 
with facts. The facts are the foundation of the doctrine, and moral inferences are deducible 
from the doctrine which is thus sanctioned and established. The first creeds were very scanty, 
because controversies were few, and were decided by highly venerated teachers. They were 
enlarged, as the decisions of the CatlioHc Church, represented by its general councils, concluded 
the controversies which were commenced by the philosophy which wrongly explained, or wilfully 
rejected, the faith which was generally received. The general reception of an opinion among aU 
Churches was esteemed a proof that it had been originally taught by the apostles and their 
successors. 

Such was the new faith, which, at the closing of the Canon of Scripture, had begun to leaven tlie 
whole mass of the subjects of the imperial dominion. Even where it was not fully embraced, it 
elevated the mind, and restrained the conduct of many who would not openly profess it. The 
very philosophy which opposed or corrupted it inculcated in various instances the necessity of 
purity, the belief in one God, and the certainty of a future state. 

Churches had been founded in Rome, Corinth, Crete, the cities of Asia Minor, in Britain, 
Spain, Italy, Antioch, and many others. The nations of the world had been brought under the 
Roman yoke, that a free communication might be maintained between all parts of the civilized 
world. 

The usurpations of the Papacy had not begun, neither had the people proceeded to the opposite 

* [This opinion of Mr. Townsend is asserted in Note 2, and in Note 19. Part IV. but from which the 
Editor must express a respectful but decided dissent. The model of ecclesiastical legislation in Acts 
(chap. XV.) inclines him fully to the belief, that the government and discipline of the Church should be 
conducted, not by bishops alone, or by two separate bodies, of bishops, and of clergy and laity, as in the 
Protestant Episcopal Church ; but by all of them, united in one body. If inspired apostles associated with 
themselves " elders and brethren," in their first synodical act, it ill becomes their uninspired successors 
to exalt themselves into an independent and irresponsible council. — Editor.] 



448 ON THE STATE OF THE CHURCH [Part XV. 

extreme of rejecting all government, as an infringement of their liberty. Every separate Church 
was a society complete in itself, governed through all its gradations of laity, and through the 
minor offices of the priesthood, the deacons, and the presbyters, by one episcopal head, who was 
liable to be deposed by the sentence of his own order, if he violated the faith of Christ. Every 
ruler was controlled by the rest of his brethren, while every independent hierarchy preserved its 
freedom under the empire of known law. The world has not since beheld more union in the 
belief, or more perfection in the conduct of Christians. This was the plan which preserved the 
purity of the Christian creed against the first impugners of the Majesty of the Son of God. This 
was the polity which stamped the reprobation of the general body of Christians, at Nice, upon the 
Arians, who denied the Godhead of Christ — at Constantinople, against the Apollinarian heresy 
which denied his humanity. It was this which condemned, at Ephesus, Nestorius, who asserted that 
Christ was two persons ; and condemned, at Chalcedon, the error of Eutyches, who confounded his 
twofold nature. At that time the ghost of imperial Rome was not seated upon the seven hills to 
terrify the nations with the spiritual thunders of the Vatican, neither was every absurdity of doc- 
trine, and every irregularity in discipline, defended as a proof of hberty and freedom from prejudice. 

The Churches of God in these early ages were opposed by every weapon which the devices of an 
evil spirit, or the corruptions of the human heart, could suggest ; and their conquests were made 
over its most inveterate foes. The civil and military powers of the idolatrous governments 
opposed them by ten sanguinary persecutions ; and though the most eminent historian of the last 
century, in imitation of a learned critic (Dodwell Dissert. Cyprian), has endeavoured to diminish 
the number of the sufferers, the undeniable evidence which still remains abundantly demonstrates 
the prejudice, hatred, and cruelty of the persecutors, and the singular union of holiness and zeal, 
of fortitude and patience, among the blameless sufferers in the cause of Christianity. We must 
pass over the cruel persecutions of Nero and Domitian, in which the chief of the remaining 
apostles, with Timothy, Onesimus, Dionysius the Areopagite, and other illustrious names, were 
put to death. Neither were the more flagitious and abandoned of the Roman emperors the 
sole imperial adversaries of the rising Churches. A religion which demands the homage of the 
heart, and permits no divided dominion, even with the least known evil, is no less detested by 
the mild and gentle liberality which pleads for the indulgence of the more general vices, than it 
is hated by the openly corrupt. The third persecution of the Christians under Trajan and 
Adrian, and the fourth by the Antonines and Marcus Aurelius, were even more extensive in their 
effects, and equally violent in their fury. The fierce hatred of Severus, which called forth the 
eloquent apology of Tertullian, and the indignant remonstrances of Clemens Alexandrinus, and 
Minucius Felix — the selfish hostility of Maximin — the unsparing severity of Decius, who threat- 
ened death to the mitigators of the sufferings of Christians — the hypocritical opposition of Vale- 
rian, the murderer of Cyprian, who soothed before he slaughtered his victims — the unrelenting 
efibrts of Diocletian to extirpate the very name, and race, and Scriptures of the followers of the 
crucified Jesus — all these were borne by the despised and hated Christians ; who conquered by 
patient endurance, and triumphed by unresisting submission. The heathen raged, and the people 
imagined a vain thing ; and if the Christians had appealed to the sword, as from their numbers 
they might have done, their Master had been dishonored by their service, and the world had lost 
the honorable and perfect witness they bore by their sufferings, to their conviction of the truth of 
the Gospel. 

It was not only the menace and the torture, the rack and the scourge, the stake and the sword, 
which raised themselves against the members of the Churches of God. The ridicule of the 
satirist — the world's dread laugh — the scorn of the philosophical leaders of the public opinion — 
the reasoning of the learned — contempt, and wonder, and pity— all that could move the affections 
or break the resolution — the fear of infamy, which shrinks from slander — the love of approbation) 
which excites to virtuous and useful actions, and leads men to honorable eminence — all of these, 
and more than these powerful miOtives of action, appealed in vain to the hearts of the primitive 
Christians. The more their spiritual enemies within, and the turbulent heathen without, op- 
pressed the Churches of Christ, the more "they multiplied and grew," till the majority of the 
empire professed the faith of the Gospel, and the emperor of Rome became the convert and 
protector of the faith of Christ. 

II. From the Death of Constantine to the Rise of the Papal Power by the grant of Phocas. 

Though the philosophy of the Gnostics, the Docetse, the Marcionites, and others, had corrupted 
in many instances the purity of Christianity, the two principal heresies which still divide the 
Universal Church commenced at this period. One contaminated the doctrine, the other destroyed 
the government of the independent episcopal Churches. The error of Arius and the usurpations 
of the Church at Rome were the two principal sources of all the corruptions which have 
degraded Christians. Ecclesiastical history ought only to have related the progress of mankind 



Sect. XXL] TO THE RISE OF THE PAPAL POWER. 449 

in knowledge, virtue, and happiness : it tells the same sad and melancholy tale of human infirmity, 
and crime and folly, which profane history has given to the world. 

The common opinion of any age may be known by the opposition which it has made to those 
who offer their own conclusions to general acceptance. The primitive ages were careful to 
preserve the scriptural doctrine of the twofold nature of Christ, and to assert his Humanity while 
tliey defended his Divinity. The various errors which the spurious philosophy of the first three 
centuries submitted to the approbation of the Churches, were generally founded on the attempt to 
exalt tlie divinity at tlie expense of the humanity of Christ. The Gnostics invented their notion 
of the iEons — tlie Docetse, their opinion that the form of Christ was not real, but a phantom only ; 
and that the sufferings of Christ in his own person was an impossibility. The error of Arius was 
founded on the opposite extreme. This heresiarch endeavoured to introduce an opinion, which 
the Universal Church believed to be derogatory to the Divinity of its Founder, that our Lord was 
only the first, and greatest, and highest of all created beings. This opinion appeared to him to 
be more consistent with human reason ; and it became, therefore, a part of his philosophy ; and 
he rejected the plainer declaration of Scripture, and the evidence of antiquity both of the Jews 
and Gentiles. The Jews believed their Logos to be a Divine Being— the Christians received 
Christ as that Logos, because his own assertions and actions, as well as the testimony of St. John, 
demonstrated its truth. The sources of heresy with Arius were the same as those which influ- 
ence so many at present. His private speculations were preferred to that interpretation of 
Scripture which had been uniformly adopted by the Universal Church. He did not, or would 
not, remember, that Scripture is superior to reason ; and that the prostration of our intellect, which 
man cannot demand of man, is an act of worthy and reasonable homage to God. 

The vehement disputes which convulsed the whole Church through these three centuries, and 
which respectively occasioned the calling of the first general councils, may be said to have 
originated in the innovations of Arius. The Councils of Nice, Constantinople, Ephesus, and 
Chalcedon, have confirmed the general opinions of the primitive Churches, and that also of the far 
greater portion of Christians at present, on the subject of the person of Christ, of the Trinity, the 
Incarnation, and the Atonement. Our most eminent historian has expressed himself with the 
sarcastic bitterness, so usual with him when Christianity is mentioned, respecting these councils. 
The faults of Churches and of Christians have always been the triumph of infidelity. Now, as 
well as formerly, the crimes and follies of David make the enemies of God to blaspheme. He 
has omitted, however, to relate the influence of these dissensions among Christians upon the 
people of the East. The usual consequences of controversy, religious indifference, unscriptural 
error, contempt of the zealous maintainors of truth, and general carelessness of life, prepared the 
way for any bold teacher, who could triumph over the increasing ignorance, unite the broken 
fragments of truth and falsehood into one system, and arouse the dormant superstition of the age. 
There is a fulness of time for error as well as for truth. As the progressive improvement of the 
human race, by knowledge and literature and science among the heathens, by revelation among 
the Jews, and by universal peace among all nations, rendered the time of our Lord's incarnation 
the very fittest period for establishing a religion, founded on evidence which entreated the careful 
and deliberate investfgation of all mankind, that they might be satisfied of its truth, and embrace it 
upon conviction ; so did the progressive deterioration of the age, by the extinction of learning 
among the heathen, in consequence of the political convulsions of the Roman empire, and the 
savage inroads of the barbarians, by the puerile attention to trifles among the Jews, by the 
general contempt in which they were held, and the almost universal mental debasement, render 
this the fittest period for the general establishment of the two great corruptions of Christianity — 
the apostacies of Rome, and of Mahomet, the predicted rival enemies of pure religion in the west 
and east. 

It would lead me too far from my object to relate at greater lengtli the causes of the origin, 
progress, and depression, of the empire of Mahomet; its subsequent temporary revival, the entire 
loss of its political power as the dangerous rival of its neighbours, and its present increasing 
weakness by the gradual separation and independence of its fairest provinces. Our writers on 
prophecy have shown the great probability, that as these two masses of error arose together, their 
power will be also destroyed at the same time, when the prophetic period of 1260 years, which 
commenced in the year 606, shall have elapsed. I am not willing, however, to rest any argument 
upon these interpretations. Time and history are the only certain interpreters of prophecy ; and 
thouo-h the declining power of the Mahometan apostacy may appear to sanction this hypothesis, 
the reviving influence of the unscriptural errors and political power of Romanism excites at once 
our sorrow and surprise, and compels us to withhold our assent to the desired interpretation, till 
the veil is yet more withdrawn from the future. Our attention will be more usefully directed to 
the causes and growth of the western apostacy of the Church of Rome. 

The early Churches were united into one society by the observance of one common law — sub- 
VOL. II. 57 LL* 



450 PROGRESS AND TRIUMPH OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. [Part XV. 

mission to episcopal government. A member of the episcopal Church of one country was con- 
sidered a member of the Catholic Church of Christ, in every country where he might happen to 
travel. When Christianity began to be more extensively dispersed, the Church at Rome was 
distinguished above all others by the number and wealth of its converts. The bishop of Rome 
was soon enabled, by the munificent donations which were made to the Church, to assume greater 
pomp, and exercise more extensive power than other bishops. Many circumstances occurred to 
increase and establish his influence. The provinces had been accustomed to bring their civil 
appeals to Rome ; this became the precedent for the members of the provincial Churches to 
appeal from their own bishops to the bishop of Rome. A general deference was paid among the 
western Churches in the first centuries to the see of Rome, though its more open usurpations were 
repelled with contempt. When Victor, who was bishop of Rome in the year 195, excom- 
municated the Churches of Asia, who refused to observe Easter in the manner which he judged 
to be right, Irensus, the metropolitan of France, reproved his presumption. In the year 2.50, the 
African bishops peremptorily refused to submit to the mandate of the bishop of Rome, and 
received again their heretical bishops. The Church of Spain also, a few years afterwards, refused 
submission to the Roman pontiff", when he insisted on their restoration, after they had been 
deposed for offering sacrifice to idols. These facts prove the early assumption of power, and the 
continued ambition of the popes in the primitive ages, and the refusal of the independent episco- 
pal Churches to submit to their dominion. 

The political divisions of Italy in the fourth century considerably increased the influence and 
power of the see of Rome, the ecclesiastical divisions of the Church being made conformable 
with those of the empire. Every province had its metropolitan (Hallam, vol. ii. p. 21), and every 
vicariate its ecclesiastical primate. The bishop of Rome presided in the latter capacity over the 
Roman vicariate, which comprehended southern Italy, and the three chief Mediterranean islands. 
But none of the ten provinces which formed this division had any metropolitan, so that the popes 
exercised all metropolitical functions within them, such as the consecration of bishops, the con- 
vocation of synods, the ultimate decision of appeals, and many other acts of authority. These 
provinces were called the Roman Patriarchate, and by gradually enlarging its boundaries, and 
by applying the maxims of jurisdiction by which it was governed to all the western Churches, 
the asserted primacy was extended and strengthened over the fairest portion of the empire. lUyr- 
icum, for instance, was added to the patriarchate of Rome, by an act of primacy, and no conse- 
cration of bishops was permitted without the sanction of the bishop of Rome. This took place 
before the end of the fourth century. 

Another principal circumstance which contributed to the establishment of the power of the 
Church of Rome, was the removal of the seat of empire from that city to Constantinople. The 
political influence always attendant on the immediate presence of the sovereign consequently 
ceased ; and the principal magistrate at Rome was the head of its Church. The sudden power 
which was thus unavoidably, though unintentionally, conferred on the pontiff", was increased by the 
abandonment of Rome and of Italy by its principal senators. To this cause of influence we must 
add the progress of the conversion of the northern nations, and the grant of patriarchal power to 
Pope Damasus, by Gratian and Valentinian, over the whole western Church, sanctioning the custom 
of appeals to Rome. The renewal of this edict by Valentinian the Third still further increased the 
power of the pontiflT. The custom of pilgrimages to the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul ; the 
introduction of the Gregorian Litany ; and, more than all these, the gi-anting the title of Uni- 
versal Bishop by Phocas, completed the worldly structure of ecclesiastical ambition, which had 
now usurped the name of the Church of Christ, and appeared to be the rolling stone which should 
become the predicted mountain, and fill the whole earth. 

III. Progress and Triumph of the Church of Rome. 

The universal good which Christianity will eventually produce to the world will be accomplished 
in that one only manner wiiich results from our state of trial — the gradual overruling of evil. The 
freedom of man's actions counteracts for a time the designs of his Creator. The increasing 
divisions among nations, the general ignorance, the continued ambition of Rome, and the specu- 
lative philosophy which was founded on words and imaginations, all conspired to obscure the sim- 
plicity of Christianity. Every corruption was made permanent by the establishment of the power of 
Rome by the authority of Phocas. From this period to the time of the Council of Trent, the 
history of Christianity in Europe presents us with little else than a detail of increasing errors in 
its doctrines, the gradual additions to the temporal dominion of the Roman pontifl's, and the con- 
tinued opposition to the falsehood which abounded on the one side, and to the encroachments 
which prevailed on the other. 

Though many superstitious practices and unscriptural opinions had debased the purity of the 
early faith, there can be no comparison between the state of religious error when the grant of 



Sect. XXL] THE REFORMATION ; ITS GOOD AND BAD EFFECTS. 451 

Phocas conferred political power on tlie Roman pontiff, and the extent to ■which tlie system of 
imposture, deceit, and falsehood, subsequently attained, by the time when the Comicil of Trent 
impressed its seal on the great charter of papal slavery. The published works of Pope Leo, who 
sent Augustine to England, prove that the religious faith of that day was essentially different, in 
the most important doctrines, from the creed which was sanctioned by the Council of Trent. The 
parallel between the faith of the two periods has been drawn at some length by an eminent 
divine of the last century. I have elsewhere extracted from Bishop Stillingiieet the passage to 
which I refer. It will be seen that the doctrines of solitary masses, masses for the dead, tran- 
substantiation, the supremacy of the pope, the equal authority of Scripture and tradition, the equal 
authority of the apocryphal with the canonical books of Scripture, the power of good works to 
deserve salvation, the confession of sins in private to the priest, communion in one kind, and the 
worship of images, were all condemned by Pope Leo ; and were all decreed to be articles of 
faith, and as such to be implicitly received on pain of damnation, by the CouncU of Trent. This 
remarkable act destroys at once the truth of tlie assertion so generally made, that the Church of 
Rome has retained an unchangeable creed. The faith of that Church is an embodied collection 
of true and false opinions ; partly derived from misinterpreted Scripture, but principally invented 
in the coui^e of the controversies and discussions which have ever prevailed in the world, and 
which would have escaped from the memory of mankind, with other absurdities of the age of 
ignorance, if they had not been preserved, and sanctioned, and enforced, by the asserted infalli- 
bility of the most fallible Church on earth. Like the ghosts, and sorcerers, and witches, and 
magicians, of the midnight darkness, which the morning beams of our knowledge have dispersed, 
all w^ould have iled for ever, if the usurper of the throne of God had not said, Let there be night, 
and it was, and is night. The Council of Trent_, with the Gorgon look of an intellectual death, has 
gazed on the chaos which extends over the ages of ignorance. Spurious decretals, useless vows, 
abominable doctrines, unreasonable and idolatrous and superstitious practices are frozen into 
one solid bridge ; and error and falsehood pass freely from hell to earth to enslave and to curse 
mankind. 

If the absurdities to which I allude had been harmless and irmocent ; if falsehood could be 
publicly taught, and the peace and happiness of nations continue ; he who opposed error, and 
maintained the cause of truth, might be justly condemned for disturbing the peace of society, 
whatever were the falsehoods which were received by the community. If the volumes of theo- 
logians only recorded the weakness of human intellect, the tale might excite contempt or pity ; 
and the Protestant objector to falsehood be regarded with tlie same lofly contempt as we now 
entertain for its proposer and defender. But the history of Christian nations is nothing else but a 
detail of the consequences of the prevalence of certain religious opinions. The voice of prophecy 
would not have stigmatized the corruptions of Rome by its stern and bitter reproach, if the false- 
hood which it teaches had been consistent either with the temporal or future happiness of nations. 
From considering the gradual success of erroneous principles, let us look to their consequences, 
as they are recorded by history. From the grant of Phocas, to the age of Luther, the annals of 
Europe are fUled with one long catalogue of crime, produced by the influence of the corruptions 
of the Church of Rome. The depositions of princes, the fomenting of rebellions, the flagitious 
lives of tie popes, the scandalous decrees against the freedom of opinion, the persecutions of the 
objectors to the power of Rome, which disgrace this sad portion of the history of the world, have 
been so amply and so frequently related, that it is only now necessary to allude to them. The 
principles which produced these deplorable effects on religion, and liberty, and happiness are 
still maintained. They are triumphant on the continent ; they are reviving in England. Their 
defenders are heard with applause ; their opponents are treated ■nith insult. 

IV. Tlie Reformation both in its good and had Effects. 

The friends of the Church of Rome had long endeavoured to effect its reformation before the 
age of Luther. Indignant remonstrances, the most energetic appeals, the most affecting entreaties, 
the most bitter and galling satire, were alike in vain exerted to induce the removal of abuses. 
The natural reason of t hink ing men was shocked at the consequences of the papal doctrines. I 
could select, from the writings of the Romanist divines themselves, a collection of recorded 
immoralities, the unavoidable result of the religious principles inculcated by the Church of Rome, 
which would not be credible if they had been related by a Protestant. In this state of things, 
the injudicious enforcement of one of the more objectionable doctrines of its absurd creed elicited 
the spark which fired the long-prepared train of public indignation. Permissions to commit sin 
were publicly sold, under the pretence of remitting the penalties of the guilt which their com- 
mission would have contracted ; the quarrel between the rival societies of monks, who were 
desirous of participating m the profits of tliis scandalous traffic, occasioned tjiat gradual, open, 
and indignant opposition to the Church of Rome, which ended in the alienation of its fairest 



452 HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY SINCE THE REFORMATION. [Part XV. 

provinces, and the restoration of that pure religion, and unfettered liberty of mind, which it had 
been among the original objects of Christianity to secure to its adherents. 

We shall never be able to appreciate, to their full extent, the blessings which the Reformation 
has restored to the world, unless we remember the evils which the preceding superstition had 
proposed and confirmed. The Scriptures were opened. The oracles of God had long been 
silenced, and the approbation or condemnation of human actions, as well as the articles of faith 
itself, had long been pronounced by an usurping priesthood. It is needless to enlarge upon the 
praises of the Volume of Inspiration as a preferable guide of conduct, to the mandates of the 
maintainers and teachers of unauthorized tradition. The Almighty was restored to his dominion 
over conscience. The saint, the relic, and the image were deposed together. Prayer again 
became the homage of the heart to God, instead of the unmeaning routine of unintelligible words, 
into which it had been slowly but eifectually degraded. Marriage was restored to the priest- 
hood ; who became again the leaven of society, the salt of the world, mingling with the mass, 
and preserving it from the putrefaction of vice and error. The sacraments of Baptism and the 
Lord's Supper again became the two pillars of the visible Church ; and the human mind was 
permitted and encouraged to think and reason for itself, within those limits only which God and 
his R,evelation had fixed, at once the barrier, and yet the unlimited theatre of its exertion. 

The evil which has resulted from the Reformation is the abuse of the privileges which that 
event conferred upon mankind. Christianity had been so long identified with Romanism, that 
much of its proper restraint upon both speculation and action were thrown off, with the rejection 
of its corruptions. The result of contempt on one side, and adherence to these corruptions on 
the other, has at length appeared, in that terrible convulsion which assumed the form of presump- 
tuous and avowed infidelity, and tore asunder the remaining chains of Romanism. That effort 
has passed away, and the chains are again riveting. The next violent reaction will probably intro- 
duce the only remedy for the diseases of the world — the principles of the great Reformation. 

I will not weary the reader with a detail of the battles which were fought, the treaties which 
were made, or the crimes which were committed, by both parties, before the Reformation became 
permanent in Europe, or in England. With each there was much to be condemned. Each party 
may be proud, or ashamed, of its saints, its hypocrites, or its martyrs. The consequences will 
deserve our gratitude, while the Scriptures of truth, the freedom of intellect, the establishment of 
pure religion, and the principles of civil liberty, can be appreciated by the natives of Europe. 
Public happiness had been destroyed, because the morality on which it rests had been corrupted 
by the religion of Rome. The Reformation was the effect of the desire of the people of Chris- 
tendom to throw oflt" the yoke of an immoral and enslaving despotism ; and the providential over- 
ruling of apparent accident caused that Luther should become the successful organ of expressing 
the general opinion, and accomplishing the overthrow of the usurpations and errors of the ages of 
ignorance. 

V. History of Christianity since the Reformation, with the Prospect of its future Dominion over 
all Mankind. 

The enactment of the decrees of the Council of Trent, and the general adoption of Protestant 
principles in Germany, Sweden, France, and England, occasioned long and fierce wars, and 
many opposite religious theories, systems, and confessions of faith. The federated republic of 
Europe was divided by a religious civil war, of which Spain and the Pope were the leaders on 
the one part; and England and Holland the heads of the Reformation. It is not necessary to 
enumerate the various collisions which took place between these parties on the Continent, the 
eff"orts of the Jesuits, the wars of the league in France, the persecutions under Charles V. and 
Philip II. in the Netherlands, or the changes of fortune, and the fluctuations of opinion, which 
were the unavoidable result of religious contentions, and which, with all their evils, were infinitely 
preferable to the preceding darkness, and persecution, and ignorance. Sufficient of the history of 
any party, sect, or country, may be learned from the history of its chiefs. The review of the 
conduct of Elizabeth and of Spain, immediately aft;er the principal question had been discussed by 
the opposite theologians, will be sufficient to enable us to form a riglit estimate of the state of 
religion at the completion of the Reformation. 

On her accession to the throne, Elizabeth found three distinct religions parties eagerly imploring 
the sanction of the state — the adherents of the old rehgion ; tlie partisans of the establishment 
of her brother Edward ; and the admirers of a system of ecclesiastical polity which had been 
lately invented by a learned theologian of Geneva. To all these the modern opinion of toleration 
had not yet become generally known. It was a sentiment which some few men of enlarged 
minds had endeavoured to recommend, but to which no attention had been paid. Nor did either 
party desire toleration. They aimed at union in religious opinions, by promoting truth ; and they 
80 entirely considered truth to be with themselves respectively, that their efforts were wholly 



Sect. XXI.] HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY SINCE THE REFORMATION. 453 

directed to the recommendation of their own doctrines. The queen, as I have elsewhere at- 
tempted to show, was not zealously attached to either creed. The temporal rights of princes were 
involved in the controversy, and Elizabeth decided on adopting the principles of the Refor- 
mation, and restoring, with but few alterations, the establishment which had already received the 
general approbation of her people under her brother Edward. 

The testimony of any modern theologian, who may profess himself to be attached to the 
Church of England, will be received with jealousy and suspicion, on account of his supposed 
biased preference. It may be only necessary therefore to refer to facts, and to avoid any enlarge- 
ment on those reasons which appear to compel an impartial inquirer to conclude that the form or 
Church government established in England is preferable to that of any other religious society, 
now claiming the approbation of a Protestant Christian. It may be sufficient to remark, that the 
reformers, in the reign of Edward, wisely endeavoured to retain as much of the religion of their 
ancestors as possible ; and to receive nothing as good, either because it was novel, or because it 
differed more widely from the Church of Rome. The consequence of this great moderation 
was, that the people were generally united in the reign of Edward in support of the Protestant 
Church ; and the union would have continued, if two unfortunate circumstances had not prevented 
it : the obedience of the Romanists to the bull of the pope, in the reign of Elizabeth, which 
commanded the people not to continue to frequent their parish churches — and the desire of the 
exiles who returned to England from the continent, after the death of Mary, to introduce the new, 
and, as they believed, the purer form of ecclesiastical regimen, which they had imbibed in the 
lecture room of Geneva. 

I may be permitted to obsei-ve here, that the long controversy, which has been so frequently 
agitated between various parties in England, respecting the origin of some of the doctrinal 
articles of faith professed by the Church of England, may be said to have been decided by the 
most unbending of all testimonies— that of dates. It has been affirmed by many, that the articles 
in question were borrowed from the opinions which were taught by the Reformer of Geneva. A 
reference to the dates when those documents, upon which the articles of this Church were 
founded, were first published, will demonstrate that the establishment was settled rather on 
Lutheran or Melancthonian, than on Calvinian principles. This point has been amply discussed 
by two of our modern divines, Mr. Todd and the Archbishop of Cashel. 

At the time when Elizabeth in England had peacefully restored the Protestantism of our early 
reformers, Phihp was busily engaged in extirpating the adherents of the same opinions by means 
of the sanguinary inquisition, and proscriptive decrees, both in Spain and the Netherlands. So 
great was the power, at this time, of the Church of Rome throughout Europe, that it seemed 
impossible but that Protestantism must be extinguished under the universal persecution, if it had 
not pleased the providence of God to grant his protection to its sacred cause. Though we no 
longer witness the manifestations of the Holy One from above, nor hear the thunders of Sinai, nor 
wonder at miraculous interpositions, the course of this world is as uniformly and as certainly 
ordered now as formerly, by the invisible providence of God. The designs of the Almighty are 
still accomplishing. One plan it has always pleased Him to adopt for the protection of truth. 
When the blood of martyrs is shed in vain, and the Church is threatened with its utmost danger, 
its deliverance is effiscted by the elevation of some one nation to defend and rescue the ark. If 
the King of Spain had succeeded in his attempted conquest of England, the banner which the 
pope had blessed would have now waved victorious over England and the continent. The Protes- 
tant witnesses who had escaped persecution would have been reduced to the condition of the 
Waldenses ; and so probable was the success of the head of the cause of Rome, that it seems 
most rational and wise to impute the victory of Elizabeth to the immediate interposition of the 
Almighty. Hitherto the Protestants had been without an ostensible head.- It was only in the 
moment of the greatest danger to their cause, when the united strength of Europe was ready to 
overwhelm them, that the sovereign of England was prepared to avert the storm which must have 
destroyed the public profession of the reformed religion. The errors of Rome appeared, for 
the first time in its history, to be embodied in the form of a general armament against truth ; and 
then, for the first time, the Protestant sword was wielded by the hands of England, never to be 
again returned to its scabbard, till the danger from the same enemy shall utterly and finally 
cease. 

In the reign of .Tames an attempt was made to unite the Romanists of England by the bond of 
a new oath of allegiance. The union was forbidden by the pope. 

The ancient jealousy has not ceased. The opinions of the people and the wisdom of the legis- 
lature are alike divided respecting the extent of the privileges which may be allowed to the 
adherents of the corruptions of Christianity. This is not the fittest opportunity of discussing the 
question whether the genius of Romanism is altered, or whether the liberality of the Protestants 
is desfeneratin^ into weakness. 



454 HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY SINCE THE REFORMATION. [Part XV. 

When the danger which had threatened the establishment effected by Elizabeth had nearly 
ceased, another evil arose, from the opposition of the partisans of that church polity, and of those 
theological doctrines, which had been submitted to the world by the Reformer of Geneva. The 
monarchy and hierarchy yielded to the tempest. 

During this struggle, the people had become divided into the austere and the profane. On the 
restoration of the monarchy, the latter were for a time triumphant. Infidelity infected the 
higher classes, and a gloomy discontent brooded over the lower ; while the intermediate ranks of 
society preserved the temperate attachment of their fathers to the institutions of the country. 
The utmost jealousy prevailed among them, against both the extremes which had thus threatened 
the extinction of the Protestant Church. In the next reign the decision of the people was 
irresistibly declared against the appearance of the influence of Rome; and the most solemn 
national act which has ever yet adorned the annals of a great country, gave the throne to a 
Protestant, on condition of the perpetual exclusion of Romanism from the councils of the state. 

It was necessary thus briefly to allude to these transactions, that we may understand the man- 
ner in which the true religion, which confirms the existence of civil liberty and perfect toleration, 
has been maintained among so many fluctuations. England still continues (as we have abundant 
reason to offer up our prayers to God, that it may continue till Christ shall come to judgment) to 
be the only powerful state whose government is exclusively Protestant. It is necessary to the 
existence of truth, and freedom, and human happiness, that this sublime distinction should continue. 

In the mean time, when national profligacy, m the reign of Charles the Second, had usurped 
the place of national austerity, the restored clergy distinguished themselves by endeavouring to 
heal not only those wounds which religious enthusiasm had inflicted, by introducing a better style 
of instruction ; but also those which infidelity had inflicted, by devoting their own attention, and 
by directing the people in general, to the study of the evidences of Christianity. They thus 
established religion on that firm and immoveable basis, from which it can never be thrown down. 
While they kept this object steadily in view, they were no less unanimous in writing and preach- 
ing against the ancient enemies of their Church, and of the religion of Christ in general. The 
good consequence of their exertions was effectually demonstrated by the overthrow of the rem- 
nant of papal influence at a moment when they accomplished the downfall of the despotism 
which would have fastened the yoke on the neck of England. By the labors of the clergy, 
civil and ecclesiastical tyranny fell together ; and never was the nation so powerful, or the Church 
so pure, as at the period of that glorious Revolution, which sealed the charter of that political 
and religious hberty for which we had contended through so many centuries. 

After the period of the Revolution, till that dreadful shaking of nations, which commenced with 
the convulsions in France, a general religious repose seemed to tranquillize the world. The in- 
fluence which the Church of England exercised over the people was rudely shaken by the efforts 
of two of her ministers, who afterwards separated from her communion ; and who in different 
ways have strengthened the various religious parties wliich still survived the restoration of the 
monarchy. Wesley and Whitfield were of opinion that the clergy were inactive, and they en- 
deavoured to supply their defects. Instead of attempting to interest the hierarchy and the 
state in the reformation of supposed evils, they appealed to the people against their teachers, 
whom they stigmatized as negligent ; while they approved of their religious opinions, and acquitted 
them of immoral conduct. The effects of the labors of these zealous teachers still continue ; and 
when the alienation of the public mind from the institutions of the country, which they too much 
induced, shall be removed, the consequences of their exertions will be increased morality, and 
unobjectionable good. 

The results of the French Revolution are so extensive, that I shall not enter at present into 
this subject. 

Twelve years have now elapsed since the great contest which terminated this convulsion. We 
cannot so interpret the prophecies of God, that we may certainly predict the future. The present, 
however, is before us, and is worthy of our attention. A new spirit seems to be infused into a large 
number, while elsewhere there appears to be either much rehgious indifference, or a revival of the 
influence of the corruptions of the Church of Rome. In Europe, we see its finest countries, 
France, Spain, Portugal, and others, submitting to the ancient error ; and prevented from break- 
ing their chains by the union of their rulers ; all of whom are desirous of perpetuating the domin- 
ion of that enemy of civil liberty and true religion which tolerates no opposite opinion, and has 
been hitherto refused admission, on this account, into the senate of England. The protestantism 
of Geneva is deadened — its gold has become dim — the Divinity of Christ has been deposed 
from the school of Calvin. In Germany, the purity of faith has been sullied by the speculative 
Deism of its more celebrated theologians. Michaelis, Semler, Eichhorn, and many others, 
deserve the censure of Protestants. Africa and the East are still lying prostrate before the 
altars of the dark idolatries of their fathers. The voice of England has been heard in the recesses 



Sect. XXL] HISTORif OF CHRISTIANITY SINCE THE REFORMATION. 455 

of their groves. It has resounded through their temples. Their gods are trembling in their 
shrines, and Dagon is falling before the ark of Jehovah. The Church and the State of England 
have at length adopted the only effectual plan of accomplishing good. Without repressing 
by useless persecution the desultory efforts of unauthorized, and sometimes of ill-judging 
zeal, they liave clothed the truth of God with the robes of rightful authority, and invited the 
heathen and ignorant, whom they are able to influence, to receive the Scriptures, and become 
free, happy, enlightened, and holy Christians. 

It is difficult to speak of the actual religious condition of England without appearing to design 
needless offence against some one party or class among the people. Tliis would be equally 
unnecessary and unwise ; and I need not say it is contrary to my intention. I well know that I 
cannot even mention some few facts without offence, even though I would speak as a Christian to 
all classes, not as a partisan to one. I would otherwise have observed, to what extent the three 
great divisions of religious opinion which prevailed in the reign of Elizabeth still exist among us 
— and have attempted to form an estimate of the influence of each, both upon the people in 
general, upon the government, and upon the various parties in our senate. All this, however, 
would be misplaced, and I defer such inquiries till a future opportunity. The age is characterized 
by benevolent intention and active exertion. Insuperable difficulties appear to prevent the 
accomplishment of the ordy plan, hy which the greatest, most permanent, and certain good would be 
effected; namely, that all the designs of approvable usefulness, which are now attempted by various 
popular societies and by pious individuals, should be conducted hy a national Church in its corporate 
form. The spirit of Christian zeal should be made the bond of union at home while it devises 
schemes of benevolence abroad. I could suggest much on this subject, if I was not fully aware, 
that the most useful and unobjectionable designs must be considered visionary when they appear 
to be impracticable. 

With respect to the future, I consider history to be the only interpreter of prophecy, and 1 dare 
not be guilty of the presumption of asserting what God has not revealed. Some facts, however, 
appear to be so plainly predicted, that we may confidently affirm they will certainly take place : — 
the eventual conversion of the Jews — the overthrow of the Mahometan power in the East — the 
overthrow of Romanism, the apostacy of the West, and of idolatry and infidelity over tlie whole 
world, may be anticipated by every believer in Scripture. But through what variety of untried 
ways it may please God that the visible Church should pass is not related. The Millennium, or 
universal reign of virtue, is the most rational opinion which a man can form, who believes in a 
Providence, and is satisfied of the true Christian doctrine of the original dignity and present 
degradation of man, as a spiritual though fallen being. The blood of tlie Atonement camiot have 
been shed in vain. The revolted province of earth must be recovered to the dominion of the 
KI^^G of kings, from the Prince of Darkness. The time must arrive when the progress of knowl- 
edge shall have banished ignorance ; and the influence of holiness and virtue be more preva- 
lent than that of wickedness and vice. Then will the perfection of the human race be completed, 
and evil be overruled by good. Then the human race shall have attained to the highest state of 
good which this lower existence can afford them ; and after the object of man's creation shall 
have thus been answered, and the tree of life bloom again in this Paradise, where it was first 
planted, the fullness of time will have come, when the enlarged and purified faculties of man 
shall be prepared for a higher state of existence ; and the heaven and the earth shall pass away 
but the word of these prophecies shall last for ever, though clouds and darkness, and thick dark- 
ness, may now veil His glory from the reason and curiosity of man. The happiness of man is 
the object of all the dispensations of God ; and the temporary existence of evil cannot counteract 
the designs of Omnipotence. Our Father, which art in heaven, may thy kingdom of glory come ! 



NOTES 



THE HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS. 



PART I. 



Note 1. — Part 1. 

The place assigned in this Arrangement to 
Mark i. 1. is sanctioned by the authorities of 
Dr. Campbeir, Le Clerc'', and Pilkington^ ; the 
last of whom prefixes it to his Harmony as an 
appropriate preface to the whole of the evan- 
gelical narrative. The word e-ba^j^iiXiov, in 
this passage, appears to bear the same signifi- 
cation as in another text of the same Evange- 
list, Mark xiv. 9. dia\v Myca ifiZv, onov ktv xrj- 
qvydf^ m eiayyiliov''- tovto Big olov ibv xdafiov, 
X. T. X. In both these passages the more ob- 
vious sense of the word seems to be, ' The 
narrative, or record, of our Lord's life and ac- 
tions," Mark i. 1. " The beginning of the His- 
tory of Jesus Christ," &c.— and in Mark xiv. 9. 
"Wherever the relation of my actions shall be 
told, through the whole world, there also," &c. 
To this opinion, however, are opposed the em- 
inent authorities of Michaelis% Bishop Marsh-/', 
Archbishop Newcome^, Lightfoot'', Doddridge', 
Markland-', Whitby*-', Grotius', Kuinoel", and 
many others, who consider the passage in 
question but the first phrase of a long sentence, 

" Campbell On the Gospels, vol. ii. p. 463, note 
4, edit. 1789, 4to. 

'' Apud Elsley in loc. vol. ii. p. 2. 

" Evangelical History and Harmony, note, p. 1. 

^ Vide Schleusner in voc. ivayyU.iov. — 4 — me- 
tonymice designat singulas religionis Christians 
partes, v. c. historiatn evangelicam de vita, factis, 
etfatis J. C. Matth. xxvi. 13. Marc. xiv. 9. Ita 
capitur quoque in inscriptionihus Matth. Marc. Luc. 
et Jok. pro libra de dictis, factis, et fatis J. C. per 
evangelistas conscripto. 

' Introduction to the JYew Testament, vol. iii. part 
i. p. 2. 

f Notes to Michaelis, vol. iii. part ii. p. 5. 

^ Notes to J%e Harmony of the JVew Testament, 
p. 1. 

'' Works, fol. edit. 1684. vol. ii. p. 331. 

* Family Expositor, vol. i. p. 93. 8vo. 1810. 
^ Apud Elsley in loc. 

* Commentary in Ice. 

' Grotius — Annotationes in V. 8^ A''. T. in com- 
pendiiim deductce a Sam. Moody, 4to. 1727. 

" Comment, in lib. JV. T. historices, vol. ii. p. 11. 



VOL. II. 



n 



and consequently not to be separated from the 
context. They would render the passage thus, 
— " The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ, the Son of God, was made by John, 
who baptized in the wilderness, and preached 
the baptism of repentance for the remission of 
sins ; as it is written," &c. It is thus trans- 
lated in the German New Testament of Mi- 
chaelis, and Bishop Marsh is of opinion that it 
is correct ; " If the first sentence," he observes, 
" ' The beginning of the Gospel of,' &c. was 
used as a title only to the rest of the book, then 
St. Mark's Gospel would have begun with &; 
yiyQccnTai, which would be an unsuitable com- 
mencement to any narrative." But to this it 
may be answered, that the commencement, 
which would be unsuitable to a profane writer, 
who carefully studied the arts of composition, 
and weighed his sentences, and balanced his 
periods, would be by no means so to the evan- 
gelical writers, who are careless on these 
points, and express themselves with that sim- 
plicity, which is the distinguishing characteris- 
tic of every composition solely aiming at the 
plain narration of facts. The sacred penmen 
expressed themselves in the common idiom of 
their country, and the commencement of a nar- 
rative with an appeal to their ancient prophets 
would not have appeared unnatural, or singu- 
lar, to the persons to whom St. Mark's Gospel 
was addressed. Dr. Campbell very justly ob- 
serves, that the expression d'QX'^ tov eittyyellov 
iyivsro 'Iw&vi'ijg ^anrli^av, &c. is in no wise 
agreeable to the style of the sacred writers, 
whereas iyevsTO 'loj&vvrjg ^aml'C^oiv is quite in 
their idiom. The point itself, indeed, is com- 
paratively unimportant ; but, after an attentive 
perusal of the references, I cannot but decide 
in favor of one of these two readings, — " The 
beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the 
Son of God. John was baptizing in the wil- 
derness, and preaching the baptism of repent- 
ance for the remission of sins. As it is written 
in the Prophets, ' Behold I send my messenger 



2* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part L 



before, &c. the voice of one crying in the wil- 
derness'" — or, as Campbell renders it, "The 
beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the 
Son of God— As it is written in the Prophets — 
' Behold I send mine angel before Thee, who 
shall prepare thy way : the voice of one crying 
m the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord,' 
for thus came John baptizing." I deduce no 
argument from the superscriptions to the Gos- 
pels, Evayyiliov xutu MurdaXov, svajYiXiov nuju 
Muqy.ov, &c., because these superscriptions 
were not written by the Evangelists them- 
selves, as Father Simon" shows from St. Chrys- 
ostom. They are, however, so ancient, that 
TertuUian reproves Marcion for having no title 
at the head of the copy of St. Luke's Gospel, 
which Marcion acknowledged to be genuine. — 
Vide the chapter of F. Simon, and Dr. Camp- 
bell's note on Matt. i. 1. vol. ii. p. 345, of his 
Translation of the Gospels. 



Note 2.— Part L 

The Harmonists have generally agreed m 
placing tlie introduction to St. Luke's Gospel 
as the preface to their respective works ; among 
whom are the five whose labors form unitedly 
the basis of the present Arrangement — Light- 
foot, Archbishop Newcome, Michaelis, Dod- 
dridge, and Pilkington. This preface of St. 
Luke may be considered as demonstrating to 
us the very great care with wliich the first dis- 
ciples of Christ inquired into every circiim- 
stance of the life of their Divine Master, before 
they delivered them to the world as authenti- 
cated. It is necessary, in this part of our Ar- 
rangement, to pay some attention to this fact. 
Even the enemies of our Lord acknowledged 
Him to have been an eminent and wonderful 
personage. His mode of teaching, his aston- 
ishing knowledge, the sanctity of his character, 
the boldness of his public censures, the num- 
ber of his followers, and the devoted attach- 
ment of his more immediate adherents, would 
have been sufficient to have excited the gen- 
eral attention of the people, and of their rulers. 
Many persons, therefore, would have been nat- 
urally led to inquire into, and collect, the vari- 
ous circumstances and actions of a life so ex- 
traordinary. Spurious works must have been 
published (such as the Gospels according to the 
Nazarenes, Hebrews, and Egyptians ; of Nico- 
demus, Thomas, Matthias, and of the twelve 
Apostles ; the Gospels of Cerinthus, Basilides, 
and others, all of which were rejected by the 
Churches without hesitation, as they were scru- 
pulously cautious of what they admitted"), and 

" Critic. History of the Text of the JV. T., part i. 
ch. ii. p. 12. 

° Vide Gill's Commentary in loc. — Jones's Full 
and, new Method of settling the Canonical Authority 
of the JVev) Testament, 8vo. 3 vols. 1726. vol. i. p. 



it became the duty of those who possessed ac- 
curate information, and were anxious for the 
honor of their beloved Teacher, and for the 
propagation of his Gospel, to transmit to pos- 
terity an authentic history of the life and death 
of their crucified Lord. Such were the motives 
by which this Evangelist professes to have been 
actuated, when he wrote his Gospel to Theoph- 
ilus, a convert of Antioch. 

Three hypotheses have been submitted to 
the world to account for the very singular coin- 
cidences of language and paragraphs which 
abound in the first three Gospels. Of these, 
the chief, adopted by Dr. Townson^, Grotius, 
Wetstein, Owen, MUl, Hales, Harwood, and 
Griesbach, is, that the Evangelists copied from 
each other. St. Luke, however, seems to speak 
of his intended work as an original history, not 
as a series of extracts from accredited writers. 
For though many circumstances are not related 
by St. Luke in their exact chronological order, 
the most important are detailed in their natural 
succession, xadsSrig — "in a continued series." 
(Vide Kuinoel in loc.) He begins with the con- 
ception and birth both of John and of Christ, 
and proceeds with the events of his conversing 
with the doctors in the temple, his baptism, 
&c. See some admirable observations on the 
difference between the historian and annalist, 
and the necessity of exact observance of chro- 
nological order, in Bishop Marsh's Notes to 
Michaelis'. The second hypothesis is, that the 
Evangelists derived their information from one 
common source, or document, wliich contained 
those passages which so frequently occur in the 
three Gospels in nearly the same words. This 
hypothesis is adopted by Le Clerc, Lessing, 
Michaelis, and Eichhorn. Its chief advocate in 
later times has been the present learned Bishop 
of Peterborough'". He supposes that St. Luke, 
in this preface, alludes to the common docu- 
ment in question, which was known by the title 
4di,riyr]aig neql twv nsnl,rjQO(poQrjfiivb}v Lv -fifitv 
■jTQayfi&TMV, «tt0ws nagidoaav -fi/nlv ol (Itt' dp- 
X^ig, a-urdmai, xal {mrigSTai- yBv^fxevoi, tov Aoj'ou 
— " A narrative of those things which are most 
firmly believed among us, even as they, who 
from the beginning were eyewitnesses and min- 
isters of the word delivered them unto us." 
The omission, however, of the article ti^v before 
8i,^YTj(nv is considered by the late lamented 
Bishop of Calcutta^ to be fatal to this supposi- 

29, &c. and vol. iii. p. 102, &c. — Rennell's Proofs 
of Inspiration, written in reply to the insidious 
work of Mr. Hone, entitled, The Apocryphal JVcto 
Testament. See particularly p. vi. of Mr. Ren- 
nell's Introduction. 

^ Vide Dr. Townson's work On the Gospels, veil. 
i. particularly pages 39 to 71 ; and for a very satis- 
factory account of these hypotheses, Home's Crit- 
ical Introduction, 2d edit. vol. iv. p. 310, &c. 

' Vol. iii. part ii. p. 12, &o. 

*" Vide Marsh's Michaelis, vol. iii. part ii. p. 186, 
&c. and the Dissertation at the end of the same 
volume. On the Origin of the first three Gospels. 

' Treatise on the Greek Article, p. 289. 



Nc 



!•] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*3 



tion. His rule is, " When a title to a book is 
prefixed to the book itself, the article may be 
omitted, but when the book is mentioned, or re- 
ferred to, the article should be inserted." The 
hypothesis itself, although very ingenious, is at- 
tended with so many difficulties, that it is sel- 
dom adopted. The third hypotliesis is that of 
Mr. Veysie', who supposes that many of the 
hearers of the discourses of Christ, and the wit- 
nesses of his actions, committed to writing an 
account of what they had heard and seen ; and 
from the most authenticated of these sources 
the Gospels were compiled. This theory in- 
deed seems to solve the difficulty, but Bishop 
Gleig", in his excellent edition of Stackhouse, 
prefers the more obvious and general opinion, 
and therefore perhaps the least discussed, that 
the only common document wliich may be 
called the foundation of tlie four Gospels was 
the preacliing of our Lord Himself. Lightfoot", 
by a singular coincidence, has given the same 
idea. The learned bishop quotes the valuable 
tract of the late Bishop Randolph. Bishop 
Gleig's illustration of the mode in which many 
of our Lord's miracles and doctrines might 
have been recorded, from the manner in which 
the extempore lectures of a professor at Edin- 
burgh were preserved by his pupils, is very cu- 
rious, and deserves attention. " In looking up 
to him, as the Author of our faith and mission, 
and to the very words in which he was wont to 
dictate to them, which not only yet sounded in 
their ears, but were also recalled by the aid of 
his Holy Spirit promised (John xiv. 26.) for that 
very purpose, they have given us three Gospels, 
oflen agreeing in words (though not without 
much diversification), and always in sense." 
With this hypothesis, the preface of St. Luke 
seems to agree. St.Luke, originally a physi- 
cian, probably one of the Seventy, was a native 
of Antioch, and, according to Bishop Pearson, 
a companion of St. Paul in his travels from the 
year 43, attending that Apostle through Phry- 
gia, Galatia, and Mysia, to Troas". He ac- 
companied him also to Samothrace, Neapolis, 
and Philippi. He was one of those who went 
with him, and remained with him at Jerusalem ; 
sailed with him in the same ship from Csesarea 
to Rome, and continued with him during the 
whole of the two years' imprisonment, with the 
account of which he concludes his book of the 
Acts of the Apostles. St. Luke therefore must 
have had abundant opportunity of conversing 
with the eyewitnesses and hearers of our Lord's 
actions and discourses, and of making himself 
acquainted, from the most undeniable evidence, 

' Vide the account of this hypothesis in Home, 
vol. iv. p. 319. 

" Gleig's Stackhouse, vol. iii. p. 105. 

" Fol. edit. vol. ii. p. 375. 

'" For an account of St. Luke, see Whitby's 
Preface, and the Prefaces of the Commentators" in 
general ; or more particularly Lai'dner, Michaelis, 
Home, Cave, and Bishop Tomlme. 



with every circumstance which had not passed 
under his own immediate observation. Perhaps, 
as Dr. Townson judiciously remarks, he enjoyed 
the additional advantages of seeing the Gospels 
of St. Matthew and St. Mark at Rome, the for- 
mer of whom was an undoubted eyewitness. 
And it is probable he left that city after the re- 
lease of St. Paul from his two years' imprison- 
ment, and went to Achaia, where he is gene- 
rally supposed either to have finished or written 
his Gospel, and the Acts, for the use of the 
Gentile converts. 

It is my wish to point out in these notes the 
peculiar propriety of the various actions re- 
corded of our Lord, according to the several 
situations and circumstances in which he was 
placed. In order to do this, it will be some- 
times necessary to show the unimpeachable na- 
ture of the evidence on which the narrative 
rests. Religion is an appeal to faith. Its truth 
was at first established by an appeal to the 
senses and judgment of the first witnesses and 
converts, and their testimony, with every other 
evidence, has been handed down for the exam- 
ination and benefit of all succeeding ages. 

The Gospel of St. Lulie was always, from 
the very moment of its publication, received as 
inspired as well as authentic. It was published 
during the lives of St. John, St. Peter, and St. 
Paul, and was approved and sanctioned by them 
as inspired ; and it was received as such by the 
Churches, in conformity to the Jewish canon, 
which decided on the genuineness or spurious- 
ness of the inspired books of their own Church, 
by receiving him as a Prophet, who was ac- 
knowledged as such by the testimony of an es- 
tablished Prophet^. On the same grounds, St. 
Luke must be considered as a true Evangelist ; 
his Gospel being, as many suppose, dictated and 
approved of by an Apostle of whose authority 
there can be no question. There is likewise 
sufficient evidence to warrant the conclusions 
of Whitby'-', that both St. Marie and St. Luke 
were of the number of the Seventy, who had a 
commission from Christ to preach the Gospel 
not to the Jews only, but to the other nations — 
that the Holy Ghost fell on them, among the 
number of the Seventy, who formed a pajt of 

^ I have borrowed this remark from Whitby's 
Preface to St. Mark's Gospel, fol. edit. p. 257. 

y Michaelis, like other continental writers of a 
subsequent period, seems to pay too little attention 
to the authority of the earlier writers, who lived 
near the apostolic age. The testimony of Origen 
and Epiphanius, of Theophylact, Euthymius, and 
Nicephorus Calllstus, that St. Luke was one of the 
seventy disciples, is not overthrown by the opposite 
testimony of Chrysostom and Augustine, (vide 
Lardner, Supphmtnl to the Credibility, Works, 4to. 
vol. iii. p. 190.) For though much weight will ne- 
cessarily be attached to the arguments which inge- 
nious men discover in the internal evidence con- 
tained in the New Testament, yet many of their 
conjectures are uncertain, and it may be doubted 
if the evidence of ancient writers is not better au- 
thority. 



4* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part 1. 



the hundred and twenty assembled on the day 
of Pentecost, and from that time they were 
guided by the influences of the Holy Spirit in 
writing or preaching the Gospel. And if the 
Universal Church from the first ages received 
this Gospel as divinely inspired on these satis- 
factory grounds, distance of time cannot weaken 
the evidences of truth, and we are required to 
receive it on the same testimony. The neces- 
sity of inspiration rests on the necessity of Rev- 
elation itself. Without Revelation the mercy 
of God to man had not been complete, and it 
was absolutely necessary that this Revelation 
should not only be divine, but that it should be 
clearly proved to have been so. And of the 
books of the New, as well as of the Old Testa- 
ment, therefore (for the inspiration of the latter 
is hetre taken for granted), we may justly say 
with Mr. Renneir, "We believe that Holy 
Scripture was written by men who were under 
the superintendence and control of the Spirit of 
God ; but we believe also, that, whether in 
writing, speaking, or acting, they were left in full 
possession and use of their own natural facul- 
ties. The Spirit of God directed, elevated, and 
purified their souls ; all that was necessary He 
supplied, all that was erroneous He corrected. 
Every line, therefore, of the New Testament 
we believe to be stamped with unerring truth ; 
and to be the voice of God, speaking in the lan- 
guage of man." 



Note 3. — Part I. 

Macknight, in the Notes to his Hm-mony 
(4to. London, 1763, p. 2.), quotes Gomarus, Cam- 
eron, Capellus, Witsius, and Wolf, as referring 
this expression " of the Word," to Christ, one 
of whose titles is A6yog rov Qeov, Apoc. i. 2. 
xix. 13. Archdeacon Nares has adopted the 
same opinion, (Nares, Veracity of the Evange- 
lists, p. 40-43.) Should this remark be correct, 
it will prove, what many will consider a mate- 
rial point, that our Lord was distinguished by 
the word Logos before it was applied in the 
same sense by St. John. See the Notes to the 
next section. 



Note 4. — Part I. 

These simple coincidences convince Whitby 
that the Theophilus here mentioned was a real 
personage. Lardner does not venture to de- 
cide. A passage from Josephus, quoted by 
Lightfoot, has escaped the attention of both 
these writers : " King Agrippa, removing Jesus, 
the son of Gamaliel, from the high priesthood, 
gave it to Matthias, the son of Theophilus — 

' Rennell's Proofs of Inspiration, p. 17. 



cSujy.sv avr-fiv MaiOlct tw ©eogortov." — Antiq. lib. 
XX. cap. 8. It proves that a man of high rank 
among the Jews, of the name of Theophilus, 
was contemporary with St. Luke, and might 
possibly be the person whom he addressed. 
The supposition that he was a real person, 
whether at Antioch or Jerusalem, strengthens 
the authenticity of the narrative. 



Note 5. — Part L 
dissertation on the logos. 

It is necessary to devote particular attention 
to this introduction to St. John's Gospel, as it 
has been made the subject of more extensive 
and disingenuous controversy than perhaps any 
other passage in the New Testament. The 
Preface of St. Luke has been eloquently de- 
scribed as " the beautiful gate of the Christian 
Temple, the entrance into the glorious and 
royal fabric of the Gospels";" while that of St. 
John may be denominated the solid and deep 
foundation on which it rests. 

To understand the expressions of any writer, 
particularly when they are at all dubious, or 
liable to misrepresentation, we must endeavour 
to place ourselves in the situation of those to 
whom they were addressed. Dr. Lardner*" fixes 
the date of the publication of St. John's Gospel 
as early as 68, and Michaelis^ as early as 70. 
The weight of the evidence, however, appears 
greatly in favor of the much later date 96 or 
97. St. John evidently speaks in his Gospel 
to those who were not well acquainted with 
many Jewish customs ; as he gives various ex- 
planations of things, which would be entirely 
unnecessary if the persons for whom he princi- 
pally wrote had been already conversant with 
the usages of the Jews*. And we might have 
expected that one, at least, of the apostles would 
live after the destruction of Jerusalem, not only 
as a witness of the accomplishment of those 
prophecies he had heard himself delivered, but 
to sanction and confirm the doctrines set forth 
by the other apostles in the books of the New 
Testament, and to communicate his final in- 
structions to the Church, after that fearful event. 
But either of these dates will be consistent with 
the whole, or with the greater part of the theory 
we are now about to consider, which will ena- 
ble us more perfectly to comprehend the great 
object which St. John had in view, when he 
wrote his introduction to this Gospel. In all 
our inquiries into the New Testament, we must 
remember, that if the Jews, in consequence of 
their rejection of Christianity, were not always 

" Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 391. 
'' Dr. Lardner's Works, 4to. vol. iii. p. 229. 
•^ Marsh's Michadis, vol. iii. part i. p. 321. 
<* Home's Crit. Introd. 2d edit. vol. iv. p. 329, 
and Jones On the Canon, 8vo. 1726, p. 139, 



Note 5.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*5 



first addressed, tliey were so much in the minds 
of their coimtr}'men the Apostles, that they 
must be considered as the silent tribunal, to 
whom the evangelical writers may be said to 
appeal, when tliey deliver any thing to the 
world in general, on the one system of religion, 
which was of equal importance both to Jews 
and Gentiles\ The Jews were the chosen 
people of God — Ms eldest born — the country- 
men of the apostles — for whose salvation the 
apostles were always most anxious, and to 
whose conversion they had devoted all tlie fer- 
vor and zeal of their first labors. They were 
the elect guardians of the ancient prophecies, 
and the favored witnesses of their accomplish- 
ment. The first question, therefore, which pro- 
poses itself is, What sense would the Jewish 
reader attach to the account given by the Evan- 
gelist of the Logos ? or, in other words, what 
were the sentiments of the Jews in the time of 
St. John concerning the Logos, and in what re- 
spects did he design either to confirm or rectify 
the opinions of his countrymen on that subject^ ? 
Throughout the whole of the Old Testament, 
from the history of the fall of man to the Book 
of Malachi, we read of the appearance of a won- 
derful personage who is sometimes called Je- 
hovah, sometimes the Angel Jehovah, or Jeho- 
vah Angel, or the Angel of Jehovah^. In ad- 
dition to numerous divines who have demon- 
strated the same thing, Dr. Allix, in his valuable 
though sometimes inaccurate work on The Tes- 
timony of the Ancient Jewish Church, has proved, 
by a great number of references to the targums 

" Vide SchcEtgenius — Pref. Hor. Talm. ct Heb. 
p. 2. when replying to the objections proposed by 
some against the course of study he was adopting, 
he says — •' Duo sequcntia mild a Led. hen. conccdi 
•peto. I. Christum et om.ncs JV. T. Scriptores Judaos 
Juisse, et cum Judais conversatos, et locutos esse. 
II. Eos cum Judmis illo sermone, illisque loquendi 
formulis locutos esse, quce, tunc temporis, ah omnibus 
intellectcB sunt." 

f A learned and laborious friend has collected 
much valuable information on the subject of the 
controversies wliich prevailed among the Jews at 
the time of our Lord and his apostles. Thouo-h he 
has withheld liis MSS. from the world, I trust they 
will be given to the Christian student at an early 
day. They will not detract from the well-earned 
fame of their respected author. 

= Vide Dr. Pye Smith's valuable work On the 
Scripture Testimony to the Messiah. Dr. Smith 
prefers translating the phrase niri' "IxSn by the lat- 
ter epithet. Mr. Faber, too, in his Horfe Mosaicce, 
vol. ii. p. 48. (one of the most useful books pub- 
hshed by this eminent writer) translates it in the 
same manner. Both these authorities, however, 
strenuously defend the Divinity of the Being who 
was thus manifested to mankind as a messenger 
from Jehovah, who himself bore also that incom- 
municable name. The term the Angel Jehovah, 
or the Jehovah Angel, seems to express more ac- 
curately the meaning of the phrase ; tbougli tliis 
interpretation cannot be established by such evi- 
dence as approaches to certainty. Smith's Scrip- 
ture Testimony to the Messiah, vol. i. p. 333. Fa- 
ber's Horce Mosaiccc, vol. ii. p. 48. 2d edit. 1818. 
See also Bishop Horsley's Notes on Hosea — Bibli- 
cal Criticisms, vol. iv. 

VOL. II. 



and talmuds of the Jews, that the general 
term, which was applied to tlie Divine Person- 
age who is called by this name in the Old Tes- 
tament, was "the Word of God," "^n XIO'D-" 
Before we can deduce, however, any argument 
from this remarkable circumstance, we must 
inquire into tlie authority of the several tar- 
gums and Jewish writings which give this in- 
terpretation of the above passages of Scripture. 
Though our Saviour, as Bishop Blomfield has 
well observed'', censured on aU occasions the 
multiplied and unauthorized traditions of the 
Jews, he stLU appealed to their own expositions 
of Scripture, as furnishing irrefragable argu- 
ments in proof of his di\ine mission. It was no 
new interpretation to the Jews, that it was the 
Word of God which was revealed in their 
Scriptures as the Creator of the world. By 
the reading of the Paraphrase, or the interpre- 
tation of the Hebrew text, written in the Chal- 
dee language, the people were constantly taught 
that the Word of God was the same with God, 
and that by that Word all things were made. 

" I conceive this Chaldee Paraphrase," says 
Bishop Pearson% " which was read in the Jew- 
ish synagogues in the time of Clirist, to express 
the sense of the Jews of that age, as being their 
public interpretation of the Scripture. Where- 
fore, what we find common and frequent in it, 
we carmot but think the vulgar and general 
opinion of that nation. Now it is certain that 
this paraphrast doth use 'n xid'O, the Word 
of God, for nin% God himself, and that especi- 
ally with relation to the creation of the world. 
As Isaiah xlv. 12. rrS;' uD^x^]'•^^^* 'n't?;; 'j^.n' 
TiNn:!, ' I made the earth, and created man 
upon it' — which the Chaldee translateth NJN 
^!;?^^! mnj,' •'■I3'a3. 'I by my word made the 
earth, and created man upon it." So also Jer. 
xxvii. 15. Isa. xlviii. 13. Gen. iii. 8. and many 
others. The action ascribed to Jehovah in the 
Sacred Text is given in the Chaldee Paraphrase 
to the Word." 

We should be careful to distinguish between 
the multiplied and fanciful refinements which 
the Jews, from the time of the Seleucidae, had 
built upon the Law of Moses, and the more an- 
cient and traditionary interpretations of the pro- 
phetical parts of Scripture, the origin of which 
may be with probability dated from the Baby- 
lonish captivity. By the former, as our Saviour 
told tliem, " they m.ade the word of God of none 
effect ; " but the latter are no where made the 
object of his censure ; on the contrary, both our 
Lord and his Apostles very frequently refer to 
them, as sound and legitimate expositions of 
God's word. St. Paul, who had been brought 
up at the feet of Gamaliel, scruples not to al- 
lude, in some instances covertlj'.in otiiers open- 



'' Knowledge of Jewish Tradition Essential to an 
Interpreter of the JVeio Testament, p. C. 

' Pearson On the Creed, vol. ii. p. 123. O.xf edit 
note. 

*^* 



6* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part 1. 



ly, to the traditions of the elders : and in his 
Epistle to the Hebrews he assumes throughout, 
that the comments of the rabbins upon the 
prophetical parts of the Bible were in the main 
founded upon truths. 

After the return of the Jews from the Baby- 
lonish captivity, their native language had un- 
dergone a change so considerable, on account 
of their adoption of numerous words from the 
vernacular languages of the countries in which 
they were settled, that when the Scriptures 
were appointed by Ezra to be read, they were 
utterly unintelligible to the greater part assem- 
bled. On this account, Ezra commanded the 
Levites to interpret the original to the people, 
by rendering it into Chaldee. These interpre- 
tations, or paraphrases, were originally merely 
oral.' There is no proof tliat there were any 
collected written paraphrases, till the Targums, 
or Paraphrases, or Explanations, of Onkelos 
and Jonathan were compiled. These targum- 
ists are supposed to have lived about the time 
of our Saviour : though, in the opinion of Eich- 
horn, the Targum of Onkelos was not com- 
pleted till 300 years after that period, in conse- 
quence of the interpolations that continued to 
be made in it. Ten Targums are handed down 
to us, of which those of Onkelos and of Jona- 
than ben Uzziel are the most higlily esteemed, 
and considered by the Jews as the authorized 
and infallible expositions of the Sacred Text*". 

These Paraphrases then, in innumerable in- 
stances, translate the Hebrew word Jehovah by 
"the Word of the Lord." Some, it is true, 
have maintained that this implies a personal ex- 
istence of the Word, in some sense distinct 
from the personal existence of the Supreme 
Father— that the Word of the Old Testament 
is the same as the Logos of the New Testament, 
and that this coincidence is a proof of the belief 
among the Jews of the preexistence, personal 
operations, and Godhead of the Messiah. Oth- 
ers again argue, that these words are to be re- 
garded as a mere idiom, implying the person's 
self who speaks. The latest writer' on this 
point, after examining the different opinions at 
great length, comes to this general conclusion : 
that from the mere use of the phrase, " the Word 
of the Lord," in these Paraphrases, no certain 
information can be deduced on the doctrine of 
the Jews with respect to the Messiah, during 
the interval of the Old and New Testament, 
and this opinion is further corroborated by a 
celebrated critic. But though such may be our 
conclusion with regard to the Chaldee Para- 
phrases, it will not follow that the Jews of the 
same age, or a little after, did not employ the 
term " Word " with a personal reference, and 
that reference to the Messiah. The use of this 
term by Pliilo, and by the Christian Evangelist 

i Vide Blomfield's Knowledge of Jewish Tradi- 
tion essential, &c. p. 9, 10. 

'' Smith's Messiah, vol. i. p, 400. 
' Archbishop Laurence. 



St. John, appears unaccountable, except on the 
supposition that it had grown up to the accep- 
tation supposed, at least among the Jews who 
used the Greek language. Such an extension 
of meaning and reference, agreeably to the or- 
dinary progress of language, would flow from 
the primary signification, or medium of rational 
communication, and thus it would be a rational 
designation of a Mediator between God and 
man. We have also another evidence, which 
is entitled to the greater weight, as it comes 
from a quarter the most hostile to the Christian 
religion"'. Celsus, whose words are recited by 
Origen, reproaches the Christians with absurd- 
ity and folly, for imagining that such a mean 
and contemned person as Jesus could be the 
pure and holy Word, the Son of God ; and, per- 
sonating a Jew, which is his manner in the con- 
struction of his work, he declares tlieir belief 
that the Word was the Son of God, though 
they rejected the claims of Jesus to that honor. 
The authority, however, most to be depended 
upon, with regard to our attempts to ascertain 
the opinions of the Jews concerning the Logos 
at the time of Christ, is that transmitted to us 
by the celebrated Philo, who was born at Alex- 
andria, of Jewish parents, and was the contem- 
porary of our Lord and his Apostles. Some 
years before St. John wrote his Gospel, this 
celebrated man, being then about sixty years 
of age, was sent on an embassy from Alexan- 
dria to the emperor at Rome, to lay before him 
a petition, praying for protection to his country- 
men against the persecuting spirit of the Alex- 
andrians. He has left on record a very curious 
detail of this expedition. The manner in which, 
after much delay and many vexatious difficul- 
ties, the embassy, when at last admitted to the 
long-desired audience, was received by Calig- 
ula, presents us with a most singular and char- 
acteristic picture of the haughty sovereign and 
his courtiers. Caligula first abruptly addresses 
them, by inquiring if they were " the odious 
race " who refused to acknowledge him as their 
god ; and, after having obliged them to follow 
him as objects of general ridicule and reproach, 
while he inspected some rooms in one of his 
villas, asked them, with a " grave and serious 
countenance, why they abstained from swine's 
flesh;" and, after many more sarcasms, dis- 
missed them with this compassionate sentiment, 
" That those men who would not believe in him 
as a god were, in his opinion, rather miserable 
than wicked." Jerome and Eusebius inform 
us, that when Philo was at Rome, he was ac- 
customed to converse with St. Peter, and that he 
cultivated the society of that Apostle. Photius 
tells us, that lie was a Christian, though he soon 
separated from their communion : and Dr. J. 
Jones has lately attempted to revive this opin- 
ion ; including Josephus also among the num- 
ber of primitive Christians. Eusebius further 

" Smith's Testimony, vol i p. 409,410 



Note 5.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*7 



assures us, that Philo devoted himself to the 
study of the Scriptures, and diligently exam- 
ined the truths received from his ancestors ; 
that he had made the most profound research 
into the mysteries of the Platonic system, and 
discovered so much knowledge of the doctrines 
of the Grecian pliilosopher, and all his abstruse 
notions, that it was commonly said, either " Plato 
Philonizes, or Philo Platonizes." By mingling 
the theological opinions of his countrymen with 
the reveries of the Platonic school, and the un- 
doubted truths of his own Scriptures, he has 
given to the world, in his multifarious produc- 
tions, a strange compound of truth and false- 
hood, from which, however, may be collected, 
without difficulty, the prevailing opinions of the 
learned Jews of that age respecting the "Lo- 
gos," the " Word of God," the manifested Je- 
hovah of the Hebrew Scriptures. 

The following is a list of some of the particu- 
lar terms and doctrines found in PhUo, with 
parallel passages fi-om the New Testament. 

1. The Logos is the "Son of God"— vJo? 
0eo£i. De Agric. vol. i. p. 308. De Profug. 
ib. p. 562. Compare Mark i. 1. Luke iv. 41. 
Jolm i. -34. Acts viii. .37. 

2. "The Second Divinity" — dsviEgog Qeog 
Idyo;. Fragin. vol. ii. p. 625. Compare John 
i. 1. 1 Cor. i. 24. 

3. " The first-begotten " of God — Adyog nqa- 
Toyovog. De Somniis, vol. i. p. 653. Compare 
Heb. i. 6. Coloss. i. 15. 

4. "The Image of God" — elx^v t5 0«5. De 
Mundi Opific. vol. i. p. 6. 414. 419. 656. Com- 
pare Coloss. i. 15. Heb. i. 3. 2 Cor. iv. 4. 

5. " Superior to angels " — ineouvu nicvrnv 
[dyyOMv] loyog Qslog. De Profug. vol. i. p. 
561. Compare Heb. i. 4. 6. 

6. " Superior to all the world " — ^ }.6yog — 
irceqiiVbi rcuvTog iqt. De Leg. Allegor. vol. i. 
p. 121. Compare Heb. ii. 8. 

7. " By whom the world was created " — ibv 
&eZov 7.6yov jov ramu diay.oaftriaavTa. De 
Mundi Opijic. vol. i. p. 4. Compare John i. 3. 
1 Cor. viii. 6. Heb. i. 2. 10. 

8. The great " Substitute of God "—vnaQ/og 
tS 0e5. De Agricidt. vol. i. p. 308. Compare 
John i. 3. and xvii. 4. Eph. iii. 9. PhU. ii. 7. 

9. "The Light of the world" — (jpS? y.oafis- 
and " Intellectual Sun " — rj.iog vorjTog. De Som- 
niis, vol. i. p. 6. 414. 632, 633- Compare John 
i. 4-9. and viii. 12. 1 Pet. ii. 9. 

10. " Who only can see God " — a /.tdva rov 
Oeby I'^e^t y.udooav. De Conftis. Ling. vol. i. 
p. 418. Compare John i. 18. and vi. 46. 

11. "Who resides in God" — iv avia ^dva 
xaToiy.i'iasi. De Profug. vol. i. p. 561. Com- 
pare John i. 18. and xiv. 11. 

12. " The most ancient of God's works, and 
before all things '^—TToeaSvTurog rav oaa yi- 
yove. De Confus. Ling. vol. i. p. 427. De Leg. 
Mlegor. ib. p. 121. Compare Joluii. 2. and xvii. 
5. 24. 2 Tim. i. 9. Heb. i. 2. 



13. " Esteemed the same as God " — Myov &g 
avTov Qeov y.aTavoHcn. De Somniis, vol. i. p. 
656. Compare Mark ii. 7. Rom. ix. 5. Phil. ii. 6. 

14. " The Logos is eternal " — 6 (xtdiog X6yog. 
De Plant. J\/o(B, vol. i. ^32. and vol. ii. p. 604. 
Compare John xii. 34. 2 Tim. i. 9. and iv. 18. 
Heb. i. 8. Rev. x. 6. 

15. " Beholds all tilings " — d^vdegxigarog, wg 
ndvra iq:oqav sh'at, lxav6g. De Leg. Jlllegor. 
vol. i. p. 121. Compare Heb. iv. 12, 13. Rev. 
ii.23. 

16. " He unites, supports, preserves, and per- 
fects the world " — o re yixo t5 ovtoq Uyog dea- 
fj.bg ihv rwv 6.n&VTUiv — avvi^si tu (xiorj n&VTtx, 
y.al acpiyysi — nsqii'/Ei, xa b).u, y.al nerclT^qwy.Ev . 
De Prof. vol. i. p. 562. Fragm. vol. ii. p. 655. 
Compare John iii. 35. Colos. i. 17. Heb. i. 3. 

17. " Nearest to God without any separation " 
— d lyyvT(ji.T(a prjSevbg ovrog /jsdogla 8iuqr^i.iaiog. 
De Profug. vol. i. p. 561. Compare John i. 18. 
and X. 30. and xiv. 11. and xvii. 11. 

18. "Free from aU taint of sin, voluntary or 
involuntary" — ixvev Tqonrig iy.ovala — xal rr^g 
C(.y.ovaia. De Profug. vol. i. p. 561. Compare 
John viii 46. Heb. vii. 26. and ix. 14. 1 Pet. 
iv. 22. 

19. "Who presides over the imperfect and 
weak" — oI>Tog yuq ijUav tG)v dnelav &i' ei'ij 0fo;. 
De Leg. Allegor. vol. i. p. 128. Compare Matt, 
xi. 5. Luke v. 32. 1 Tim. i. 15. 

20. " The Logos, the fountain of wisdom " — 
Ihyov Qeov o? aocplag ic^l ^jyi]. De Profug. 
vol. i. p. 560. 566. Compare John iv. 14. and vii. 
38. 1 Cor. i. 24. Colos. ii. 3. 

21. "A Messenger sent from God" — rroeff- 
SEvirjg t5 iiysfiovog nqbg to inr^yMOv. Qiiis. Per. 
Div. Hceres. vol. i. p. 501. Compare John v. 36. 
and viii. 29. 42. 1 John iv. 9. 

22. " The Advocate for mortal man " — Uerr/g 
fiiv igi, t5 &vi]Ti!. Quis. Rer. Div. Ha:r. vol. i. 
p. 501. Compare Jolin xiv. 16. and xvii. 20. 
Rom. \'iii. .34. Heb. \dii. 2.5. 

23. "He ordered and disposed of all things" 
diEi).e y.al dtivEij.iE nuviu. Ib. p. 506. Com- 
pare Col. i. 15, 16. Heb. xi. 8. 

24. " The Shepherd of God's flock "—rbv dq- 
66r avTOv l.hyov — o; i\v InifiAEiav Tvfi Isqag 
ravTr/i dliyrjc. De Agricul. vol. i. p. 308. Com- 
pare John X. 14. Heb. xiii. 20. 1 Pet. ii. 25. 

25. " Of the power and royalty of the Logos " 
— d t5 r^ysiiovog Uyog — y.al ^aaihy.'^ divufiig 
uiTS. De Profug. vol. i. p. 561. Compare 1 
Cor. XV. 25. Eph. i. 21,22. Heb. i. 2,3. Rev. 
xvii. 14. 

26. " The Logos is the physician who heals 
all evil " — Tov uyyelov (o? lc,i, loyog) itanlq la- 
rqhv y.ay.&v. De Leg. Allegor. vol. i. p. 122. 
Compare Luke iv. 18. and vii. 21. 1 Pet. ii. 24. 
James i. 21. 

27. " The Logos is the seal of God "—6 di 
iqiv T] aq)quylg. De Profug. vol. i. p. 547, 548. 
De Plant. jVo(e, ibid. p. 332. Compare John vi. 
27. Eph. i. 13. Heb. i. 3. 



8* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part 1 



28. "The sure Refuge of those who seek 
him" — icp' ov ngaiov KonacpevyBiv ixpElifidna- 
xov. De Profug. ih. p. 560. Compare Matt. xi. 
28. 1 Pet. ii. 25. 

29. " Of heavenly food distributed by the 
Logos equally to all who seek it " — liiv Sgdviov 
TQOcp^v \jjvxrjg. Quis. Rer. Divin. Hear. vol. i. 
p. 499. Compare Matt. v. 6. and vii. 7. and 
xiii. 10. and xxiv. 14. and xxviii. 19. Rom. x. 
12. 18. 

30. " Of men's forsaking their sins, and ob- 
taining spiritual freedom by the Logos " — ^^ei;- 
OsqIu Trig ipvyjjg- De Cong. Queer. Erud. Grat. 
vol. i. p. 534.' De Profug. ib. p. 561. 563. Com- 
pare John viii. 36. 1 Cor. vii. 22. 2 Cor. iii. 17. 
Gal. V. 1, 13. 

31., "Of men's being freed by the Logos 
from all corruption, and entitled to immortality " 
6 IsQdg Idyog hljutjas yigag i^aiQExov dug, y.ltj- 
Qov d.d&i'ujov, Ti^j' iv (jcopd&QTa yevel j&^iv. De 
Cong. Queer. Erud. Grat. vol. i. p. 535. Com- 
pare Rom. viii. 21. 1 Cor. xv. 52, 53. 2 Pet. i. 
3,4. 

32. The Logos mentioned by Philo, not only 
as Ylog 0e5, "the Son of God; " but also '^ya- 
nrjibv T^;<J'OJ', "his beloved Son." DeLeg.Al- 
legor. vol. i. p. 129. Compare Matt. iii. 17. Luke 
ix. 35. Col. i. 13. 2 Pet. i. 17. 

33. " The just man advanced by the Logos 
to the presence of liis Creator " — tw avra Myixi 
— ldQva(xg nhjalov Luvtb. De Sacrificiis, vol. i. 
p. 165. Compare John vi. 37. 44. and xii. 26. 
and xiv. 6. 

34. " The Logos the true liigh priest " — &g- 
^iFQBvg, 6 nqmriyovog uvtb Qeiog Uyog. De 
Somniis, vol. i. p. 658. ■ De Profug. ib. 562. 
Compare John i. 41. and viii. 46. Acts iv. 27. 
PIcb. iv. 14. and vii. 26. 

35. " The Logos in his mediatorial capacity " 
Xdyog &QxisQE{)g juedoQiig- of whom he says, &av- 
fi&'Qa) yal Toy /lietA ansSrig uni'svql dQufiivru 
avvr^vug Uquv loyov, tva qr^ fxiaov twv Tsdv/j- 
x6m)V xal rihv tfhvTmv. "I am astonished to 
see the holy Logos running with so much speed 
and earnestness, that he may stand between 
the living and the dead." Quis. Rer. Divin. 
Hares, vol. i. p. 501. Compare 1 Tim. ii. 5. 
Heb. viii. 1. 6. and ix. 11, 12. 24. 

These extracts" contain the sum and sub- 
stance of the doctrines of Philo concerning the 
Word. Whatever the Old Testament applies 
to the Angel Jehovah, or Jehovah, this distin- 
guished author applies to liis Logos ; and he is 
supposed to have expressed only the prevaiUng 
opinions of his time. Yet, if his opinions be at- 
tentively considered, many striking inconsis- 
tencies will be found in them respecting the 

" They are selected from the abridgment of Bry- 
ant's work On the Logos, by Dr. Adam Clarke, in 
his note on 1 John i, 15. Botli Liglitfoot and Dr. 
Pye Smith liave given copious extracts from Philo ; 
each has added also a summary of Philo's peculiar 
opinions. 



Logos, as he frequently confounds all the per- 
sonal qualities and attributes assigned to the 
Logos of the Old Testament, with a Logos so 
purely spiritual, or, as Dr. Smith calls it, so 
merely conceptual, that it could be capable 
only of being manifested to the spiritual or the 
intellectual part of man. We accordingly find 
Philo asserting that the Divine Word would 
not assume a visible form, or representation 
[iSiu), and that it was "not to be reckoned 
among the objects known by sense." An as- 
sertion which will furnish us with a solution to 
some of his discordant expressions, and wliich 
very satisfactorily explains the train of associa- 
tions wliich leads him to such contradictory 
opinions on this subject ; opinions, indeed, so 
strangely at variance, that the Unitarian writers 
have claimed Philo as a Platonist, who has 
transmitted no kind of evidence in favor of the 
generally received opinion that the Logos 
treated of in Ids works was the Messiah of the 
Christian and the Jew, or the Angel Jehovah 
of the Old Testament ; while, on the other 
hand, the Trinitarian writers have considered 
Mm, from the age in which he lived, as tlie 
great strength and support of their cause. The 
inconsistency is plainly to be traced to this cir- 
cumstance ; Philo, as a Jew, had imbibed all 
the opinions of the orthodox and learned of his 
own countrymen, and believed with them and 
their Church that the Logos was personal, and 
had been and could be visible, both in liis per- 
son and in his actions, and he has accordingly, 
in some places, endowed liis Logos with per- 
sonal attributes. But Philo was a philosopher 
also, and, with the assistance of a very fertile 
imagination and fancy, devised the conceptual 
Logos ; which he delineates as something re- 
sembling an abstract idea, which can be mani- 
fested only to the intellect. In various parts of 
his work he has blended these descriptions, 
and by confusing his own associations or trains 
of thought, he confounds himself as well as his 
readers. But the book was well known in the 
time of St. John : and the Apostle, to correct 
the erroneous opinions of Philo, that the Logos 
was conceptual, and in order to substantiate 
the undoubted personality of the Logos, begins 
his Gospel in tliese simple but forcible words — 
"The Word was made flesh" — it was not a 
conceptual Logos, as the philosophers vainly 
imagine ; it was a true and real Being, who 
took our nature, appeared in our flesh — " He 
was made flesh." He was tangible and visible, 
and we beheld visibly his glory. 

The same opinion of a double signification of 
the Logos, a conceptual and a personal, has oc- 
curred to some of the German Scripture critics. 
" In the phrase used by the Chaldee paraphrasts, 
most critics suppose that nothing is compre- 
hended but a designation of the Deity ; but it 
has been admirably demonstrated, chiefly from 
the targfums, by Dr. Charles Aug. Theoph. 



Note 5.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*9 



Keil (in the Essay Dc Dodorihits Vet. Eccl. 
culpa corrxiptfE per Platonicas Sententias Theo- 
logioi liberandis), that tlie Jews, by their Memra 
Jai, designed to convey the notion of a Divine 
Subsistence, which they held to be begotten of 
God, and to be in the highest sense near and 
like to God. The same learned writer shows 
tliat the doctrine of Philo contained the notion 
of a twofold Logos, the one comprehended in 
the Divine Intellect, the other begotten of God ; 
just as the conception in one's mind is different 
from the word uttered in speech." — Rosenmiil- 
ler, in Joann. i. 1. The following abstract from 
the German Commentaries of the celebrated 
Dr. H. E. G. Paulus, theological professor in 
the university at Jena, is given by Dr. Kuinoel, 
in the Prolegomena to his Commentary on the 
Gospel of John. " Paulus maintains that Philo 
was not the author of this doctrine of the Logos 
as a subsistence emanating from God, most like 
to God, and intimately united with him ; but 
that it was generally received by the Jews of 
Alexandria, in the time of Philo. He is of opin- 
ion that it was invented by the philosophizing 
Jews of that city, with a view to obviate the ar- 
guments of the Gentile pliilosophers, who de- 
fended their popular system of a multitude of 
inferior deities, by affirming that the care of the 
material world, a particular providence, and the 
government of the aifairs of men, were objects 
too low for the majesty and purity of the Su- 
preme Deity. He thinks that the Alexandrine 
Jews might the more readily adopt this opinion 
of the Logos being an intelligent nature, be- 
cause of their own doctrine of angels and guar- 
dian spirits, and because the Jews of Palestine 
were in the habit of using, as expressions for 
the Divine Being, the phrases- Memra of Jali, 
Word of God, Wisdom of God; as also they 
personified the wisdom of God, Prov. viii. 22. 
Therefore, as Paulus has observed, the form of 
expression b A/jyog tov Qsov, ' The Word of 
God,' was used in the age of the Evangelist 
John in a twofold sense. The Jews of Pales- 
tine employed the expression merely as a pe- 
riphrasis for the Deity, and very often as a 
personification of the power and wisdom of 
God. But, on the other hand, Philo, and with 
him many of the Alexandrine Jews, understood 
by ' The Word,^ an intelligent subsistence, ab- 
solutely unique, an emanation from God, and 
next to the Supreme God. Professor Paulus 
further remarks, that the Evangelist did not de- 
liver his doctrine of' The Word' (as an intelli- 
gent nature emanating from God, and next to 
God, and that this intelligent nature had united 
itself with the man Jesus), because the Alex- 
andrine Jews professed the same sentiments 
with respect to their Word; but because Christ 
had in express terms made almost the identical 
attributions of dignity and honor to himself, 
which those Alexandrians were accustomed to 
ascribe to their ' Word of God.' " — Kuinoel, vol. 

VOL. II. *2 



iii. p. 80. 82. Smith's Scripture Testimony, &c. 
note c, to chap. vii. book ii. vol. i. 

John Benedict Carpsovius and Stephen Nye, 
an English clergyman, have also maintained 
the hypothesis of the twofold notion of the Lo- 
gos in Philo's writings. The one derived from 
the doctrines of Plato, Novg u n&VTMv al'nog — ■ 
denoting merely the conception formed in the 
Divine Mind, and then emanating as a model 
from which the earth was to be framed. The 
other doctrine is of a more exalted nature, and 
is derived from the genuine principles of the 
Jewish religion". 

The works of Philo became so popular, that 
although the writer was a Jew, and therefore 
obnoxious to the Roman nation, they were en- 
rolled in the public libraries at Rome. From 
this circumstance we may infer, that his ideas 
of the Word of God, the Jehovah Angel of the 
Old Testament, called by Philo, in his native 
language of Alexandria, A6yog rod Qiov, were 
as well known to the heathen or gentile con- 
verts, as the term "T XID'D, " Memrah Jah," or 
" Word," was familiar to the Jews of Palestine : 
and as the same actions in the targums and 
in the works of Philo are given to this Divine 
Personage, which the Scripture itself ascribes 
to the Angel Jeliovah, we may justly conclude 
that the targumists and Philo intended to- ex- 
press the same idea, and to give to the Jehovah 
of the Old Testament the attributes of God- 
head, assigned to the Word. Philo confused 
the two ideas of a personal and conceptual Lo- 
gos, because he derived his opinions from the 
two opposite sources of Heathenism and Juda- 
ism. The Logos of the Old Testament is 
plainly personal, the Logos of Heathenism con- 
ceptual. The same error was committed by 
the targumists ; their notions of a Logos being 
derived from two sources — one of which was 
from the corrupted, the other the purer, tra- 
ditions of their fathers ; and so confused was 
the popular opinion on this point, that we may 
almost say it was necessary, considering the 
importance of the subject, that an inspired 
teacher should correct the prevalent errors. St. 
John, therefore, writing at a period when the 
public opinions on the subject were so unsettled, 
begins his Gospel by declaring to the Jews, 
that both the Logos of one party, and the Mem- 
rah Jah of the other, possessed the very same 
attributes ascribed in the Jewish Scriptures to 
Jehovah, or the Angel Jehovah, who the Evan- 
gelist asserts was in the beginning with God — • 
that all things were made by Him, and without 
Him was not any thing made that was made : 
an article of faith which the Jews and Philo 
alike acknowledged. 



° See Vitringa, De Synag. vetere, p. 634. I have 
extracted this account of the opinion of the Ger- 
man critics, on the twofold nature of the Logos, 
from Dr. Pye Smith's Testimony to the Messiah, 
vol. i. p. 452. 



10* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part I. 



After establishing this truth, concerning 
which there may be said to have been (except- 
ing in the confounding a personal and concep- 
tual Logos) no real difference of opinion, St. 
John proceeds to the application of the wonder- 
ful doctrine. He proceeds to affirm that the 
Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Memrah 
Jah of the targumists, the Logos of PhUo, when 
rightly explained, was the promised Messiah of 
the Christian Church — that he had lived among 
them — that he had become flesh — that they had 
beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only- 
begotten of the Father (another title given by 
Philo to the Logos), full of grace and truth''. 

The double signification of the word Logos 
unavoidably produced many heresies and divis- 
ions in the Christian Church. The Church, 
says TiUemont', was from the beginning dis- 
turbed with two opposite heresies, each of 
which produced different sects. Simon, the 
founder of the Gnostics, or Docetse, held two 
principles, and taught that our Saviour was man 
in appearance only. The other heresy was 
that of the Corinthians, who embraced Christi- 
anity in part only. These acknowledged one 
principle, and one God, and the reality of the 
human nature in Jesus Christ ; but they denied 
his divinity, and were fond of the ceremonies of 
the Law. Contrary as these opinions are to 
each other and to truth, the Cerinthians found 
means to unite them, and they were adopted in 
different forms, and with different variations by 
many others ; to whom it will be necessary to 
allude. 

It is possible that these contending opinions 
had begun to agitate the Church as early as tlie 
first date assigned to St. John's Gospel. But 
it is more probable that they did become suf- 

'' The propriety of the term "T N^a''D, used by 
the targumists, of the term 71171' TDT, Psalm xxxiii. 
6, (rendered by the Septuagint as in other places 
by the term o Auyoi;, used by St. John in his pre- 
face,) and of Logos by St. Jolm and the Platonists — 
(Obs. Ps. xxxiii. of the Hebrew, corresponds with 
Ps. xxxii. in the Sept.) appears from the connexion, 
or the analogy, or relation which speech bears to 
an act of the mind. As language may be called 
an embodied thought, or the manifester of the acts 
of tlie understanding, so may the Divine Person- 
age, which bears the above names, be considered 
as the Manifester of the designs of Deity. Lan- 
guage, in another sense, may be said to be the 
same, the self, the same very self, as thought, or 
any act of the mind. So may the Logos be called 
by the like analogy, what it is represented in Scrip- 
ture, the same, the self, the same very self, as God. 

It must in all these cases be remembered, that 
we cannot comprehend God : we cannot by search- 
ing find him out. But He is revealed to finite be- 
ings through the medium of language, which is 
seldo:n able to express adequately the efforts of the 
human mind, when it would endeavour to under- 
stand, in this stage of being, subjects so much be- 
yond us ; to this imperfection of language may be 
principally ascribed much of the varieties of meta- 
physical opinions, both in ancient and modern 
times. 

' Tillemont, Mem. Ec. torn. ii. ap. Lardner, vol. 
iv. 4to. p. 567. 



ficiently formidable to disturb its peace till to- 
wards the conclusion of the first century, when 
the Gospel of St. John is more generally allowed 
to have been written. The time when Cerin- 
thus lived is uncertain; but the earliest date 
assigned to him is after the year 70, with the 
exception of Baronius, who speaks of him as 
living within some few years after our Lord's 
ascension. Le Clerc asserts, that he flourished 
in the year 80 ; Basnage, 101. Lampe'', from 
the discrepancies in the accounts of Irensus 
and Epiphanius, entertains the very erroneous 
opinion, that the Gospel of St. John was valued 
by the Cerinthians ; and endeavours to prove 
that Cerinthus was a heretic of the second cen- 
tury. Even this, however, does not invalidate 
the argument that St. John's Gospel was writ- 
ten to oppose the principles professed by Ce- 
rinthus ; for they are said bjf Irenffius to have 
been inculcated by the Nicolaitans. Yet, as 
Irenseus, who asserted that St. John wrote 
against Cerinthus, was a disciple of Polycarp, 
who was personally acquainted with St. John, 
his testimony, which was given a hundred years 
after, appears most likely to be correct. The 
best evidence, therefore, that the iscanty records 
of antiquity have handed down to us, corroborates 
the presumption that Cerinthus sowed the seeds 
of his principles during the life of the excellent 
Evangelist St. John, and, we might well sup- 
pose, that the Apostle would be most anxious 
to refute and repress them. 

Michaelis therefore observes, with eqnal force 
and justice, that " If Irenseus had not asserted 
that St. John wrote his Gospel against the 
Gnostics, and particularly against Cerinthus, the 
contents of the Gospel itself would lead to tliis 
conclusion. The speeches of Christ, which St. 
John has recorded, are selected with a totall}' 
different view from that of the first three Evan- 
gelists, who have given such as are of a mora' 
nature, whereas those which are given by St 
John are chiefly dogmatical, and relate tc 
Christ's divinity, the doctrine of tlie Holy Ghost 
the supernatural assistance to be communicatet 
to the Apostles, and other subjects of a like im 
port. In the very choice of his expressions 
such as ' light,' ' life,' &c. he had in view the 
philosophy of the Gnostics, who used, or rathe- 
abused, tJiese terms. That the first fourteei 
verses of St. John's Gospel are merely histori 
cal, and contain only a short account of Christ's 
history before his appearance on earth, is a sup- 
position devoid of all probability. On the con- 
trary, it IS evident tliat they are purely doctrinal, 
and that they were introduced with a polemical 
view, in order to confute errors which prevailed 
at that time respecting the person of Jesus 
Christ. Unless St. John had an adversary to 
combat, who made particular use of the words 
' light,' and ' life,' he would not have thought it 

'■ Introd. Evang. Joan. vol. i. p. 67. 



Note 5.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*11 



necessary, after having described the Creator 
of all things, to add, that ' in Him was life, and 
the life was the light of men,' or to assert that 
John the Baptist 'was not that Light.' The 
very meaning of the word 'light' would be ex- 
tremely dubious, unless it were determined by 
its particular application in the oriental Gnosis. 
For witliout the supposition that St. John had 
to combat with an adversary wlio used this word 
in a particular sense, it might be applied to any 
divine instructor, who by his doctrines enlight- 
ened mankind. Further, the positions con- 
tained in the first fourteen verses are antitheses 
to positions maintained by the Gnostics, who 
use the words loyog, 'Qj»j, (pS>g, //ovoYsvi)g, nlr^- 
Qo.i/ue, &,c. as teclinical terms of their philoso- 
pJiy. Lastly, the speeches of Christ, which St. 
John has selected, are such as confirm tlie po- 
sitions laid down in the first chapter of his Gos- 
pel : and therefore we must conclude tliat liis 
principal object througliout tlie whole of his 
Gospel was to confute the errors of the Gnos- 
tics^" 

That we may understand the design and or- 
der of St. John's Gospel, it will be necessary 
to take a brief review of the tenets of Cerin- 
thus, in opposition to which the Evangelist pur- 
posely wrote it. This will not only reflect con- 
siderable light on particular passages, but make 
the whole appear a complete work — regular, 
clear, and conclusive. 

Cerinthus was by birth a Jew, who lived at 
the close of the first century : having studied 
literature and philosophy at Alexandria, he at- 
tempted at length to form a new and singular 
system of doctrine and discipline, by a mon- 
strous combination of the doctrines of Jesus 
Christ witli the opinions and errors of the Jews 
and Gnostics. From the latter he borrowed 
their Phroma or fulness, their JEons or spirits, 
their Demiurgus or creator of the visible world, 
&c., and so modified and tempered these fic- 
tions, as to give them an air of Judaism, which 
must have considerably favored the progress of 
his heresy. He taught, that the Most High 
God was utterly unknown before the appear- 
ance of Christ, and dwelt in a remote heaven 
called Pleroma, with the chief spirits or ^Eons : 
— That tills Supreme God first generated an 
Onkj-hegotten Son, who again begat the Word, 
which was inferior to the First-born : — That 
Christ was a still lower seen, though far supe- 
rior to some others : — That there were two 
higher ajons, distinct from Christ; one called 
Life, and the other Light : — That from the eeons 
again proceeded inferior orders of spirits, and 
particularly one Demiurgus, who created this 
visible world out of eternal matter : — That tliis 
Demiurgus was ignorant of the Supreme God, 
and much lower than the seons, whicli were 
wholly invisible : — That he was, however, tlie 

* Michaelis, vol. iii, part i. p. 280 



peculiar god and protector of the Israelites, and 
sent Moses to them ; whose Laws were to be 
of perpetual obligation: — That Jesus was a 
mere man, of the most illustrious sanctity and 
justice, the real son of Joseph and Mary : — That 
the ^on Christ descended upon him in the 
form of a dove when he was baptized, revealed 
to him the unknown Father, and empowered 
him to work miracles : — That the Mon Light 
entered John the Baptist in the same manner, 
and therefore that John was in some respects 
preferable to Christ: — That Jesus, after his 
union with Cln-ist, opposed himself with vigor 
to the God of the Jews, at whose instigation he 
was seized and crucified by the Hebrew chiefs, 
and that when Jesus was taken captive and 
came to suffer, Christ ascended up on high, so 
that the man Jesus alone was subjected to the 
pains of an ignominious death :— That Christ will 
one day return upon earth, and, renewing his 
former union with the man Jesus, will reign in 
Palestine, a thousand years, during which pe- 
riod his disciples will enjoy the most exquisite 
sensual delights. 

Bearing these dogmas in mind, we shall find 
that St. John's Gospel is divided into three 
parts, viz. 

Part L contains doctrines laid down in oppo- 
sition to those of Cerinthus, (John i. 1-18.) 

Part H. delivers the proofs of those doctrines 
in an historical manner, (i. 19. xx. 29.) 

Part HI. is a conclusion, or appendix, giving 
an account of the person of the writer, and of 
his design in writing his Gospel, (xx. 30, 31. 
xxi.) 

Besides refuting the errors of Cerinthus and 
his followers, Michaelis is of opinion that St. 
John had also in view to confute the erroneous 
tenets of the Sabeans, a sect which acknowl- 
edged John the Baptist for its founder. He has 
adduced a variety of terms and phrases, which 
he has applied to the explanation of the first 
fourteen verses of St. John's Gospel, in such a 
manner as renders his conjecture not improb- 
able. Perhaps we shall not greatly err if we 
conclude with Rosenmliller, that St. John had 
both these classes of heretics in view, and that 
he wrote to confute their respective tenets'. 

The Doceta;" taught that Christ was a man 
in appearance only, and not in reality. In op- 
position to these, St. John says in his Epistles, 
which were published before his Gospel, " Every 
spirit which confesseth not that Jesus Christ 
is come in the flesh is not of God ; " and, in his 
Gospel, " The Word was made flesh." From 
this sect originated the Ebionites, whom Bishop 
Horsley has proved to have a great affinity to 

' Mosheim's Commentaries, vol. i. p. 337-3'i7. 
Dr. Lardner's Works, 8vo. vol. ix. p. 325-327. 4to. 
vol. iv. p. 567-569. Michaelis, vol. iii. p. 285-302- 
Apud Home's Critical Introduction, vol. ii. 1st edit, 
p. 466-468. 

" Lardner's Works, 4to. vol. v. p. 375, 



12* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part i 



tJie Simonians : observing with equal force and 
truth, "That as the ancient Ebioneean doctrine 
passes by a single step, the dismission of the 
Superangelic Being, into the modern Unitarian- 
ism, that too is traced to its source in the chi- 
meras of the Samaritan sorcerer. And thus 
both the Ebionites of antiquity, and the Unita- 
rians of our own time, are the offspring of the 
ancient Gnosticism"." 

The general prevalence of these erroneous 
notions concerning the Logos, and the frequent 
mistakes of the primitive converts, who united 
their own philosophical opinions with the infer- 
ences deducible from Revelation, produced an 
ample stock of other heresies ; many of which 
did not obtain celebrity till the Church became 
so extended, that the greater number of any 
particular sect attracted public attention : and 
frequently the heresiarchs, or leaders them- 
selves, were not generally distinguished tiU 
their opinions had been widely disseminated. 
Thus we often find the several errors they 
adopted had been long in existence before even 
the names of their principal supporters were 
known. Those, for instance, embraced by Ce- 
rinthus, Saturninus, the Docetee, and Basilides, 
may be traced to the perversions of Jewish tra- 
dition, the reveries of Platonism, and the fan- 
cies of the half-converted and speculative". 

The Gnostics'^, among many errors on the 
origin and continuance of evil, anticipated with 
eagerness the arrival of an eminent personage, 
who should deliver the souls of men from the 
bondage of the flesh, and rescue them from the 
evil genii who governed the world. Some of 
these, being struck with the miracles of Clurist, 
conceived Him to be the Being they expected. 
Many of his doctrines, therefore, they willingly 
embraced ; while they refused to believe in the 
reality of his apparently material body. To 
these, or to such as these, that passage might 
have been addressed, " The Word was made 
flesh." He, who descended from an invisible 
state to deliver man from evil, was made flesh. 
Whether the Evangelist alluded to the Gnos- 
tics or Docetae, we cannot positively decide. 

Saturninus^ was another philosophizing here- 
tic, who believed in the existence of an inde- 
pendent, eternal evil principle. He supposed 
the world to have been created by seven an- 
gels, which were the same as the people of the 
East believed to reside in the seven planets. 
One of these angels he supposed to be the ruler 
of the Hebrew nation, the Being that brought 
them up out of the land of Egypt, and whom 
the Jews, not having knowledge of the Supreme 
Being, ignorantly worshipped as God. His 
other reveries may be found in Mosheim. 

^ Tracts in Controversy with Dr. Priestley, 3rd 
Supplemental Disquisition, p. 495. 

" Vidal's Translation of Mosheim,, cent. i. § 60. 
^ Mosheim, vol. i. p. 310. 
^ Mosheim, vol. ii. p. 211. 



Upon his conversion to Christianity (if we 
may so denominate that monstrous combination 
of his own absurd, and, falsely called, philo- 
sopliical opinions with Christianity), he endeav- 
oured to reconcile Ms former efforts to account 
for that baflling mystery, the origin and con- 
tinuance of evil, with liis new creed. In con- 
sequence, he supposed that there was a rebel- 
lion of these seven angels and their dependants 
against the Supreme Being, and that, on their 
involving mankind in their revolt, the Son of 
God descended from above, and took upon him 
a body, not indeed composed of depraved mat- 
ter, but merely the shadow or resemblance of a 
body. He came to overtlirow all evil, its au- 
thors and agents, and to restore man, in whom 
existed a divine soul, to the Supreme Being. 
His notions on this point, therefore, might like- 
wise have been alluded to by St John in the 
Preface to his Gospel : He who came from God, 
the true Logos, was made flesh, and they be- 
held his glory. 

Carpocrates, an Alexandrian, was also a con- 
temporary of St. John. Baronius speaks of his 
followers as distinguished for their opinions in 
the year 120— Basnage 122— Tillemont 130— 
Dodwell 140. He taught that the world was 
made by angels much inferior to the Eternal 
Father ; that Jesus was the real son of Joseph 
and Mary ; and he consequently denied his Di- 
vinity, though he considered Christ as super- 
human. In opposition to Carpocrates, St John 
taught that the world was created, not by an- 
gels, but by the Logos, who was revealed to 
man, as the Clirist, the Divine Personage prom- 
ised by the prophets, and expected by the 
world. 

I omit much more, that might be made ap- 
plicable to tliis argument, concerning the Elce- 
saites, Valentinians, and other heretics, enu- 
merated by Ireneeus and Epiphanius, and dis- 
cussed by Mosheim and Lardner, as well as 
the arguments of Michaelis respecting the Sa- 
beans, which is too long to extract, and too 
condensed to be further abridged. — Marsh's 
Michaelis, vol. ii. part 2. p. 288, «&c. 

Neither is it necessary to enter here upon 
the question, so warmly discussed by Bishop 
Horsley and Dr. Priestley, concerning the an- 
cient Ebionites. 

The sentiments of Basilides of Alexandria "" 
may, in the same way, be traced to the perver- 
sion of the doctrine of the Logos. He is sup- 
posed to have forsaken the communion of the 
Church about the time of Trajan, or Adrian. 
Basnage speaks of him at the year 121. Mill 
says that he flourished 123 — Cave 112. Clem- 
ent of Alexandria tells us, that Basilides was 
accustomed to boast, that he had been taught by 
a disciple of St. Peter. 

Irenaeus observes, that Basilides, in order to 

*■ Lardner, vol.iv. p. 534. 



Note 5.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*13 



appear to have a more sublime and probable 
scheme than others, outstepped them all ; and 
taught, that from tlie Self-existent Father was 
born Nous, or Understanding ; of Nous, Logos ; 
of Logos, Phronesis ; of Phronesis, Sophia and 
Dunamis ; of Dunamis and Sophia, powers, 
principalities, and angels, that is, the superior 
angels, by whom the first heavens were made ; 
from these proceeded other angels, which made 
all things. The first of these angels he repre- 
sents as the God of the Jews, who, desiring to 
bring other nations under the dominion of liis 
people, was so effectually opposed, that the 
Jewish nation was in danger of being totally 
ruined, when the Self-existent and Ineffable 
Father sent liis first-begotten Nous, who is also 
said to be Christ, for the salvation of those who 
believed in him. He appeared in the world as 
a man — taught — worked miracles — but did not 
suffer — for Simon of Cyrene was transformed 
into his likeness, and was crucified ; after which 
Christ ascended into heaven. Basilides taught 
also, that men ought not to confess him who 
was in reality crucified, but him who came in 
the form of man, and was supposed to be cruci- 
fied. Any reader of St. John's Gospel, who ac- 
knowledges the authority of that Evangelist, 
must be convinced of the errors of BasOides, as 
this inspired writer plainly declares, that the 
Logos itself was made flesh, had become a 
teacher of the Jews, had dwelt among them, 
and, as a man among men, was crucified. 

Basilides taught, says Vitringa'', according 
to the testimony of Irenseus (Adv. Har. c. 23.) 
and Epiphanius (H<zr. 24. s. 1.), that Nous was 
fijst born from the Self-existent Father — then 
succeeded the Logos — from the Logos, Phro- 
nesis — from Phronesis, Sophia and Dunamis — 
from Dunamis and Sophia, or from Power and 
Wisdom, proceeded Virtues, Princes, and Arch- 
angels who made the heavens. 

Vitringa gives the following scheme of the 
opinions or theory of Basilides. 

Tij ArENNHTON, o ,MOJ'og t^l TrdfTwv nmr^q. 

IjfCfENITUM 



Mens 



Aor02 

Ratio 



<t>P0NH2:iS 

Prudentia 



dYNAMIS xal S01>IA 
PotejS'tia et Sapientia. 



APXAI, E2:0Y2IAI, ArTEAOI 

ViRTUTES, PoTESTATES, AkGELI 
VOL. TI. 



6 'Avmeqog y.alnqmog OYPANOS, 
Summam et primum C(ei.dm: 

Kal ol £§^s. 

He then gives the annexed brief outlme of 
the notions of Valentinus. 



BYQOS 


sirH 


Profundum, 


SiLENTIUM, 


sive 


sive 


UqoaQX^, 


"Evvoia, 


et 


et 


'^Qxn, 


Xaoig, 


N()Y2 


AAHQEIA 


Mens 


Veritas 


Movoyevrig, 




et 




ITgonoyei'il;. 




AOros 


ZP.H 


Ratio 


Vita 


ANQPP.nOS 


EKKAHSIA 


Homo. 


Ecclesia. 



Vitringa concludes his Dissertation'' by sum- 
ming up the precise objects for which each 
verse of St. Jolm's Introduction might have 
been more especially TiTitten, in allusion to the 
heresies prevalent at the tune of the writing 
of his Gospel. They wUl be found, he con- 
cludes, to overthrow all the subtilties of each of 
the Gnostic heresies. 

I. There was one true God, without cause, 
or origin, or birth, or procession. In opposition 
to the doctrine that He sprung from Siyii and 
BWog. 

II. The Son existed with the Father in the 
essence of the same real divinity, the second 
indguaig of Deity, which, in the language of 
the Scriptures, is justly called 6 Aoyog. Ratio, 
Sapientia, vcl oraculum Diviniiatis. 

III. That tliis Logos was the first offspring 
of procession from the Father, " primam pro- 
cessionem Patris," truly and personally exist- 
ing ; the Logos h-v^w^arov, the Only-begotten 
Son of the Father, who was in the beginning 
with the Father : in opposition to the opinion of 
the Gnostics, who placed between the Father 
and the Logos, Novg and '' Ali'idei-a, and called 
the former, both only-begotten, and first-be- 
gotten. 

IV. That the Logos was very God, and par- 
taker of the perfection of the divine nature : in 

" Vitringaj Observationes Sacra, vol. ii. p. 152. 
' De Occasioiie ei Scopo Prologi Eiang Joaniiii 
.9])ost. 



14* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part I. 



opposition to the sentiments of the Platonists, 
who represent the Logos as inferior to the Most 
High God, and produced by him at his pleasure. 

V. That all things were made by the Logos, 
and that he is tlie ^Jtj^isqybg of all things. 
Here St. John condemns the notion which dis- 
tinguishes between the Demiurgus, the Maker 
of this world, and the Logos ; and which denies 
also that the world was made by the Logos. 

VI. Without the Logos nothing was made 
that was made: that is, the Patriarchal and 
Levitical dispensations, which were enacted 
before the incarnation, were appointed by the 
Logos, the Son and Ambassador of God. This 
clause was written to confute that error of the 
Gnostics, wliich distinguishes between God, or 
the Angel, the Author of the old covenant, who 
came from God, the Father of Christ, and from 
his son Christ, by whom the new or Cliristian 
dispensation was instituted. 

Vn. The Logos was the Life of Man. 
Against the subtilty which, in the Gnostic sys- 
tem of divine emanations, distinguished be- 
tween Zm-ti, Life, and the Logos, and made the 
latter inferior to the former. 

VHL That the Logos was always in the 
world, and from the very beginning of all 
things, and from the fall of man had frequently 
manifested himself in the Church which he had 
in the world ; that he was the true Light ; that 
as such he had illumined his own, the members 
of that Church, although by the greater part of 
the world, and by the carnal-minded Jews, he 
was not acknowledged. The Evangelist here 
wrote against those who would assert, that the 
Son of God before his incarnation had not man- 
ifested himself, nor was known to the world. 

IX. That the Logos (who had tlius manifested 
himself occasionally as the Angel Jehovah) 
became flesh : that is, assumed from his mother 
a human nature similar to our own, sin only 
excepted. Refuting those who deny that Christ, 
the Logos, put on real flesh ; or who separate 
Christ from Jesus the person of the Man, the 
Mediator. 

X. Lastly, from the fulness {nlrjodi/naTi, the 
favorite word among tlie Gnostics) of tliis only 
and first-begotten Son of God, all were to re- 
ceive grace upon grace : that is, all, of every 
kind and degree, who believe in Christ, and 
called in this life to be partakers of liis grace, 
and to the hope of his glory. — Consequently, 
that eiTor of the Gnostics was to be rejected, 
which taught that the adherents of their sect 
only, who had been initiated into the mysteries 
of their philosophy, could aspire to the highest 
liappiness of the first fulness of the Divinity ; 
and allotting an inferior degree of happiness to 
the souls of all otlier believers. 

In addition to tlie Jews, and the heretics of 
his day, the third class of persons to whom St. 
John addressed his Gospel, were his contempo- 
raries among the primitive Christians. The 



word Logos has been supposed by many to have 
been used in several passages of the New Tes- 
tament, in the same sense as in this passage of 
St John. Luke i. 2. Acts xx. 32. Heb. iv. 12. 
Apoc. xix. 1.3. are particularly adduced". If 
from the writers of the New Testament we turn 
to the Apostolic Fathers, we shall find, that, 
thougli their testimony is express in favor of 
the Divinity of Christ, their evidence is not de- 
duced from the doctrine of the Logos. The 
reason of this might be, that St. John had in 
their opinion so completely decided the ques- 
tion, that the necessity of their resuming the ar- 
gument had been superseded. The Fathers 
who succeeded to the apostolic age, however, 
lived at a time when the discussions respecting 
the identity of the Messiali and the Logos re- 
quired further attention ; and we accordingly 
find that, from the time of Justin Martyr to 
Athanasius, the works of the Fathers abound 
with arguments in proof of this fundamental 
doctrine of Christianity. The greater part of 
these authorities are contained in the works of 
Bishop Bull''. I have selected a few of these 
to complete the list of evidences in support of 
the doctrine, that the Logos of St. John was 
the Angel Jehovah of the Jewish, as certainly 
as he was the Messiah of the Christian Church. 
"He who appeared to Abraham under the 
tree in Mamre," says Justin Martyr, in his Dia- 
logue with Trypho, " was Christ He was the 
Lord who rained do w n from "tlie Lord fire and 
brimstone out of heaven." He it was who ap- 

' Witsius comes to the same general conclusions 
as those adopted in this note. He says that Luke 
i. 2. refers to the Logos, as well as Acts xx. 32. 
and Heb. iv. 12. After enumerating the arguments 
in defence of, and against this opinion, he hesitates 
to decide in favor of either. " Si mea milii hie 
quoque dicenda est sententia, equidem fateor tarn 
speciosa in utramque partem argumenta videri, ut 
utra eligenda foret animo hEesitaverim." See the 
Treatise of Witsius, 77eo( tou Joyov, in his Miscel- 
lanea Sacra, vol. ii. p. 87. 

'^ The Dcfensio Fidei JViceiim of Bishop Bull, and 
the other works of the same great writer, edited in 
one volume folio, by Dr. Grabe, are a complete 
collection, from which Bishop Horsley and others 
have drawn many of their irrefragable arguments. 
There is little or nothing in the improved version 
of the New Testament, Lant Carpenter's Uniiari- 
anism, the Doctrine of the Gospel, or in The Rueo- 
vian Catechism, which has not been either answered, 
or anticipated, by this profoundly learned writer. 
The following is the title of the thesis which he 
lays down and defends in his first section, to which 
I am now alluding. " Jesum Christum, hoc est, 
eum qui postea Jesus Christus dictus est, ante suam 
irar&Qwrcyjniv, sive ex beatissima virgine secundum 
carneni nativitatem, in natura altera, humanalonge 
excellentiori, extitisse ; Sanctis viris, velut in pra)- 
ludium incarnationis suae, apparuisse ; Ecclesia;, 
quam olim sanguine suo redempturus esset, sem- 
per praefuisse, ac prospexisse ; adeoque a prinionlio 
omnem ordinem divinse dispositionis (ut Tertullia- 
nus loquitur) per ipsum decucurrisse : quin et ante 
jacta mundi fundamenta Deo Patri suo adfuisse, — 
perque ipsum condita fuisse ha^c universn, Catlio- 
lici doctores trium pi imoium sosculorum uno omnes 
ore docucrunt." — Drfcn. Fid. JVic. p. 7. 



Note 5.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*15 



peared to Jacob in his sleep, who wrestled with 
him in the form of a man, who appeared to 
Moses in the burning bush." 

Irenseus also has laid down the same doc- 
trine as Justin, concerning Him who appeared 
to Moses and to Abraham. "He," says Ire- 
nseus, " who was worsliipped by the prophets as 
the living God, He is the Logos of God who 
conversed with Moses, and of late reproved the 
Sadducees. Man had already learned, in the 
example of Abraham, to follow the Word of 
God ; for tliis patriarch followed the command 
of the Word, freely ofiering his dear Son a sac- 
rifice to God." 

Theophilus of Antioch declares that it was 
the Son of God who appeared to Adam imme- 
diately after his fall, taking upon liim the form 
of the Father, even the Lord of air. 

Clemens Alexandrinus repeats the same 
things as Justin ; and, from that time to the 
present, the same opinion has prevailed. The 
Chaldee paraphrases have asserted of the Word 
tlie same things wjiich the Old Testament de- 
clares of the Angel Jehovah, and wliich the 
Christian Fathers declare of Christ. The Word 
of God was the term by wliich both the Jews 
and the Christians recognised tliis Divine Per- 
sonage. Many other writers could be quoted 
to prove the same point, if accumulative evi- 
dence were essential to conviction in an argu- 
ment of this nature. 

In addition to the evidence derived from this 
source, we might mention the manner in which 
the writers of the New Testament allude to 
those passages in the Old Testament which re- 
fer to the Jehovah Angey. Thus Isaiah saw 
in a vision the glory of Jehovah in the temple. 
In John xii. 41. John declares that the glory 
which the prophet saw, was the glory of Christ ; 
plainly affirming thereby that the Jehovah of 
the Old Testament, the Christ of the New, was 
the conmion God of both dispensations'. St 

^ So I translate to n^unmrior tov jruTQog xal xv- 
Qiov TMv oAcur, according to Granville Sharp's rule : 
'• When two or more personal nouns of the same 
gender, number, and case are connected by the 
copulative xu 1 , if the first has the definite article, 
and the second, third, &c. have not, they both re- 
late to the same person." 

■f See particularly on tliis subject Scott's Chris- 
tian Life — a treatise on the Angel Jehovah, at the 
end of his second book — Works, folio edition. See 
also Faber's HorcE Mosaicce, vol. ii. sect. i. cap. 2. 
The whole chapter is admirable. 

^ I have not thouglit it advisable to enter into 
the criticisms of the Unitarian writers on tliis and 
many other passages which 1 have referred to. 
We are told tliat in some few manuscripts the read- 
ing is Rsur, in other few Krqtov. Yet the greater 
proportion has tlie usual reading Xoijor. I have 
been rather anxious to exhibit the ancient, univer- 
sal, and, as it appears to me, the undoubted faith 
of the Christian and Jewish Churches, without 
needlessly entering into verbal criticisms, or the 
wilful misinterpretations of the enemies of the Di- 
vinity of Christ. I do not undervalue tlie minutest 
verbal criticisms. On the contrary, we are under 
infinite obligations to the laborious writers who 



Paul alludes to tliis doctrine also, when he ap- 
plies to Christ the expression of David (Ps. 
Ixxviii. 56.), "they tempted and provoked the 
Most High God." "Neither let us tempt 
Christ," says St Paul, " as some of them also 
tempted''." On such passages as these, and 
on the application by our Lord to himself of 
many of those phrases by which Philo and the 
Chaldee paraphrases were accustomed to desig- 
nate the Word of God, or the Angel Jehovah, 
the primitive Christians founded this opinion. 
Their principal reasons, perhaps, in addition to 
these, were derived from the manner in which 
St Paul, still more decidedly, applies to Christ 
such expressions as " the Image of God," " the 
Glory of God," "the Image of the Invisible 
God," " God manifest in the flesh." Reasoning 
from these and similar expressions, the primi- 
tive Christians justly concluded that the Logos 
of the targumists and Philo, and the Christ of 
the New Testament were the same as the An- 
gel Jehovah of the Jewish Scriptures. 

The fourth class of persons, whom St. John 
may be supposed to have addressed, were the 
unconverted heathen. Of these the more igno- 
rant were familiar with the doctrine of the in- 
carnations', and the Evangelist might desire, 

have attended to this part of theological hterature ; 
but, after perusing with some attention much of 
the Unitarian controversy, I cannot but repeat my 
conviction, that the oppugners of the Divinity of 
Christ have been guilty of wilful misrepresentation, 
both of the arguments of their opponents, and of 
the plain text of the Christian Scriptures. 

'' For an account of the manner in v/hich the 
original ideas concerning an incarnation became 
perverted among the ancient nations into the vul- 
gar and foolish stories related in the Metamorphoses 
of Ovid, and in the silly legends of tlie later pagans, 
vide Faber's Origin of Pagan Idolatry. So preva- 
lent were these notions among the iieathen, that 
Dr. Townson ingeniously supposes that St. Luke, 
who wrote his Gospel for the converted Gentiles, 
has avoided a word which was adopted without 
hesitation by the two other Evangelists. In liis re- 
lation of the transfiguration, St. Matthew, who 
wrote for the Jews, has used the term (Matt. xvii. 
2.), xai uiTiuoQifii'ud^] tiiTiouodtv ui-Ti'<r, &C. St. 
Mark, who wrote for the Proselytes of the Gate, 
wholiad embraced Christianity, and who were well 
acquainted therefore with the opinions of the Jews, 
and were not likely to be misled, has used the same 
plirase. But St. Luke, in describing the same event, 
has used a word which seems to have been cau- 
tiously selected — to eiSoc tov ;ryuOcu/(K auTuv fTfjov. 
Townson On the Gospels, vol. i. 

" I have never met with any arguments which 
militate against the opinion I have espoused (chiefly 
on the authority of that once highly-esteemed but 
now neglected work, Gale's Cuuri of the Gentiles), 
that Pythagoras, during his travels into Chaldea, 
Syria, Egypt, and Palestine, conversed with the 
Jews then partly in captivity at Babylon, parity 
dispersed in Egypt, and partly remaining in their 
own land ; and that he learned from them much 
of his discipline, and many of those opinions which 
gave rise, in their dift'erent variations, to the prin- 
cipal schools of philosophy in Greece. Gale traces 
the original idea of a Logos to the times of Pythag- 
oras. Plato, the Stoics, and others, derived their 
notion of a Logos, which, however, in the lapse of 
ages, had become perverted and corrupted, from this 



16* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part L 



when any of them should become converts to 
the Christian religion, that they should have 
correct ideas of the incarnation of the Eternal 
Word. The more educated of the heathen 
were of course well acquainted with the popu- 
lar philosophy of their day-', and would learn 
also, should they ever be brought to a knowl- 
edge of the truth, that the only real doctrine of 
the Logos was that which was maintained by 
the Christian Church, and is so satisfactorily 
set down by St. John in the commencement of 
his Gospel. 

Thus does it appear, from a careful investi- 
gation of the principal authorities that can be 
now collected, that the Preface to St. John's 
Gospel is the most important passage in the 
whole of the New Testament. It is the pas- 
sage which is the foundation of the Christian 
doctrine of the Divinity of Christ — the point 
where the Jewish and Christian Churches meet 
and divide — the record which identifies the 
faith of the Mosaic Church with that of the 
Christian. The government of the Jewish 
Church was consigned by the Father to that 
Being who assumed the titles and exercised the 
powers, and declared himself possessed of the 
attributes of the Most High God. Without the 
consent of this Being, the Jewish Church could 
not have been overthrown. He was accustomed 
repeatedly to appear. He called himself the 
Captain of the Lord's host (Josh. v. 14, 15. and 

primary source. Plato acknowledges that he re- 
ceived many mysteries from the ancients, which 
he did not understand, but expected some interpre- 
ter to unfold them. The reader who would en- 
gage in the study of the ancient metaphysicians, 
or speculators, or philosophers, by whatever name 
they are called, may derive ample entertainment in 
Cudworth's Intellectual System,, Gale's Court of the 
Gentiles, and Philosophia Generalis, Enfield's His- 
tory of Philosophy, and their original authorities. 

J It would be an easy, useful, and pleasant task 
to any student who has leisure, and is interested in 
theological studies, to convince himself of this con- 
current testimony to the Divinity of Christ, as tlie 
Loo-OS of St. John, by the targumists, the Old 
Testament, the Septuagint, the primitive Christian 
writers, and the New Testament, where it refers to 
our Lord ; if he would put down in a tabular form 
the evidence of the whole five. As in this manner, 
on tempting the Divine Personage in the wilder- 
ness ; — 

TT«T . AT Tl..n 

Fatliers. 



Targumists. 


Hebrew 
Bible. 


Septuagint 


Nevv Tes- 
tament. 


Targum ot 


^^"•lOW 


Kai iTTti- 


Mr)Si Ik- 


Jonathan 




paoav Tov 


TT€ifid^c>i^r.v 


an-l the Tar- 


p"rD''t!;'b 


Ocov iv d- 


TOl/XoLtrT- 


gum ofJeru- 


?s, cvi. 14. 


ndpu. Ps. 


6v. 1 Cor. 


p;tIiMn, qnot- 




cv. 1'4. 


X. 9. 


ei! by Ailix, 




Ps. cvi. in 




p, 152. as- 




Hebrew. 




s'/rt tliat it 








was " The 








Word •' a- 








gaiii^twhom 








Inrai^I niur- 








U'.nrefl. 








Vuie Allix 








in loc. 









Primasius 
quoted by 
V\^liitby. 

Others 
could be 
found, but I 
luerely put 
tliis down to 
illustrate 
my plan of 
drawing up 
a table of 
testimonies 
to the Di- 
vinity of 
Christ. 

Primasius 
lived in the 
sixth centu- 
ry- 



vi. 2.), the Angel in whom the name of God 
was (Exod. xxiii. 21.), and to the Angel, or Je- 
hovah, are attributed all the great actions re- 
corded of God in the Old Testament. We do 
not read any where in the Old or New Testa- 
ment, that this Being ceased at any time to 
protect the Jewish nation and its Church. The 
Prophet Malachi, in a passage (Mai. iii. 1-6. iv. 
2-6.), wtiich has been uniformly considered by 
the Jewish as well as Christian commentators 
to refer to the Messiah, declares that this Angel 
Jehovah, " the Jehovah whom ye seek, shall 
suddenly come to his temple "—to the temple 
which had been rebuilt after the return from 
the captivity, and which was destroyed by the 
Roman soldiers. But we have no account 
whatever, neither have we any intimation in 
any author whatever, that the ancient mani- 
fested God of the Jews appeared in the usual 
manner in the second temple between the time 
of Malachi and tlie death of Herod the Great. 
The Christian Fathers, therefore, were unani- 
mous in their opinion, that this prophecy was 
accomplished in the person of Jesus, and in him 
only. They believed that Christ, even Jesus 
of Nazareth, was the Angel of the Covenant, 
that he and he only was Jehovah, the Angel 
Jehovah, the Logos of St. John, the Memrah 
Jah of the targumists, the expected and pre- 
dicted Messiah of the Jewish and Christian 
Churches. This is the doctrine rejected by the 
Unitarian as irrational, by the Deist as incom- 
prehensible, by the Jew as unscriptural — but it 
is the doctrine which has ever been received 
by the Christian Church in general with humil- 
ity and faith, as its only hope, and consolation, 
and glory. 



Note 6. — Part L 
ON the arrangement of these three 

VERSES. 

Though the Baptist is here mentioned, and 
the passage is consequently an anticipation of 
his testimony, the apparent reference of v. 16. 
to V. 14. has induced me to follow the authority 
of Archbishop Newcome, in preference to tliat 
of Lightfoot, Michaelis, Pilkington, and Dod- 
dridge. Verse 18 declares also, as Newcome 
has observed, the reason for which the Word 
was made flesh ; that it was to manifest the 
Father to the world. The circumstances of 
the Baptist's testimony will be mentioned be- 
low. Whiston places the whole of this preface 
after the events recorded in St. Luke, i. ii. Mr. 
Hele'' places John i. 1-5. after St. Luke's pref- 
ace. He then places John i. 6-14. after Luke 
iii. 2. and John i. 15-18. after the account of 
the temptation. 

^ Four Gospels Harmonized, Basingstoke, 1750, 
8vo. - 



Note 7.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*17 



Nc 



7. — Part I. 



ON THE MIRACULOUS EVENTS WHICH PRECEDED 
THE BIRTH OF THE BIESSIAH. 

With the exception of Simon the Just', who, 
according to Jewish tradition, had received the 
last rays of the setting sun of prophecy, and 
completed the Canon of tlie Old Testament, it 
is generally believed by the Jewish Church 
that Prophecy and Miracle had ceased since 
the time of Malachi. A learned writer"', how- 
ever, has attempted at great length to show, 
that though Prophecy, properly so called, had 
ceased during this interval, yet extraordinary 
revelations were vouchsafed to some few indi- 
viduals : and he instances the prediction said to 
nave been delivered by Hillel, Schammai, and 
Menahem. But there is no satisfactory evi- 
dence to prove this assertion. Josephus, who 
repeats them, doubts tlieir truth. Drusius sup- 
poses that the reading in Josephus is corrupt. 
Gorionides, Abraham Ben Dion, and even Jo- 
sephus, are not quoted by Vitringa with any de- 
gree of confidence in their authority ; and we 
have no allusion in the New Testament to any 
instance of the eflfusion of the Holy Spirit after 
the closing of the Canon of the Old Testament. 
The inspired writers of the New Testament 
appeal only to the Law and the Prophets, that 
is, to the Old Testament in its present form. 
And they appeal to the miracles and prophecies 
of the Apostles and their Master, as novelties 
in their own age, affording undeniable witness 
that God had at length visited his people. 

After a long cessation, therefore, of miracle 
and prophecy, the time approaches when the 
first proof is to be given that the Creator of the 
world was still mindful of the favored house of 
Israel, and of the whole human race. The 
Spirit of prophecy revives — an angel descends 
from heaven ; and, as if more immediately to 
Connect the new dispensation with that which 
it was to supersede, this blessed messenger be- 
gins by foretelling the very same event, in the 
same words which had been used by Malachi 
in delivering the last prophecy vouchsafed to 
the Jewish Church : — : 

" Behold ! I will send you ElijaJi the prophet 
Before the coming of the great and dreadful 

day of the Lord : 
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to 

the children. 
And the heart of the children to their fathers." 
Malachi iv. 5, 6. 

To Zachariasit is foretold: — 

'On Simon the Just, vide Prideaux's Connection, 
vol. ii. p. 816, 8vo. edit, 1729. Liglitfoot, vol. i. p. 
2008; and vol. ii. p. 381; Arrangement of the Old 
Testament, note in loc. 

^ Vitringa, in his Observ. Sacra:, vol. i. b. vi. p. 
294, &c. 



" And he shall go before Him in the spirit and 
power of Elias, 

To turn the hearts of the fathers to the chil- 
dren, 

And the disobedient to the wisdom of the 
just."— Luke i. 17. 

The first prophecy of the New Testament is 
given in the very same language as the last of 
the Old Testament; thereby offering to the 
Jews the strongest evidence in favor of their 
long-expected Messiah. The birth of John, the 
forerunner of the promised Saviour, was an- 
nounced by the testimony of an angelic vision 
— the return of the Spirit of prophecy — and the 
revival of miracles, in the dumbness of his 
father, its definite continuance, and its pre- 
dicted removal. The attention of the people 
must have been powerfully excited by these 
remarkable circumstances ; and the beginning 
of the New Dispensation was distinguished by 
the same superhuman characteristics which had 
proved the divine origin of that which was now 
to be done away. 

The number of each of the twenty-four 
courses of the priests was so great, that many 
thousands were constantly in attendance upon 
the service of the temple. The most solemn of 
the daily services was that which had been ap- 
pointed by lot, in the usual manner, to Zacha- 
rias. When he entered into the holy place to 
burn incense, the congregation of Israel stood 
without in profound silence, offering up their 
prayers, and waiting till the priest should re- 
turn, as was customary, to dismiss them with 
his blessing. The congregation consisted of 
the whole course of the priests, whose weeldy 
turn of attendance was now going on, and of 
the Levites that served under these priests — the 
men of the station, as the rabbis called them, 
whose office it was to present the whole con- 
gregation, by putting their hands on the heads 
of the sacrifice, — and of the multitude from the 
city, whom devotion would now have drawn to 
their temple, including of course the presidents 
and overseers of the temple, and others of the 
first rank and chief note at Jerusalem. 

Lightfoot supposes, from the expression, v. 
10., " the whole multitude"," that a larger crowd 
than usual was then assembled ; that it might 
have been a Sabbath : and upon the hypothesis, 
which he has attempted to defend at length, he 
calculates that the course of Abia served in their 
turn at this time, in the eighth week afler the 
Passover, and that the lessons read in the tem- 
ple were the law of the Nazarites, Numb. vi. 
and the conception of Samson. But this, though 
ingenious, must be in some degree conjectural. 

When we remember the scrupulous exact- 
ness with which the Jews attended to every 
part of their ceremonial ritual, and the conse- 

" Uav TO nlij-S-oq roii Xaov. — Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 
407. 



VOL. II. 



*3 



18* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part L 



quent sensation excited by every thing con- 
nected with their divinely-appointed worship, 
we shall be able to represent to ourselves, in 
some degree, the impression produced by this 
event. The people, including, we may sup- 
pose, the great majority of the men of leisure, 
education, and eminence, either of Judiea or 
Jerusalem, were anxiously waiting to learn the 
cause of Zacharias's unusual delay. The con- 
cluding and accustomed blessing had not yet 
been pronounced. At length their officiating 
Priest presents himself at the door of the holy 
place. His countenance now expresses the 
greatest agitation, and he endeavours in vain 
to fulfil his unfinished duties. He is unable to 
give the expected blessing. The congrega- 
tion, from anxious curiosity and astonishment, 
we may reasonably suppose, remained for some 
time in silent suspense — but when they found 
that Zacharias continued both deaf and speech- 
less, they perceived, as the Evangelist relates, 
" that he had seen a vision." His silence was 
miraculous. The circumstance would be re- 
corded and enrolled in the archives of the tem- 
ple, and preserved by the priests of the course 
of Abia. As his dumbness was not a legal un- 
cleanness, and no law of Moses prescribed the 
exclusion of a priest from the temple service on 
that account, and as St. Luke (i. 23.) mentions, 
that " as soon as the days of his ministration 
were accomplished, he departed to his own 
house," he must have continued in office during 
his appointed course, and would certainly take 
his professional station in the temple, although 
incapable of performing all his ministerial func- 
tions ; — thereby presenting to the Jews, in the 
very centre of their sanctuary, an undeniable 
proof of the revival of miracle, and exciting in 
their minds the strongest expectations of some 
wonderful occurrence. 

As Zacharias had now become both deaf and 
dumb, it is highly probable that he wrote down 
an account of the heavenly vision, which must 
by this means have been well known through- 
out Judsea. The prediction of the Angel was 
quite consonant to the generally-received opin- 
ions of the day. Elias was first to appear, and 
the first revelation therefore of the approaching 
change in the dispensations of God must have 
reference to his Messenger, rather than to the 
Messiah himself. It had been prophesied that 
the forerunner of Immanuel was to resemble 
Elias in his spirit and power, in the efiects of 
his mission, in the austerity of his character, in 
the boldness of his preaching, and in his suc- 
cessful reform of the Jewish Church. He was 
to be the 

" Voice of one crying in the wilderness. 

Prepare ye the way of the Lord, 

Make his paths straight ; " — 
" To turn the hearts of the fathers to the chil- 
dren. 

And the disobedient to tlie wisdom of the 
just." 



Many things worthy of remark occur in con- 
sidering the dumbness of Zacharias. It was at 
once a proof of the severity and of the mercy 
of God. Of severity, on account of his unbelief; 
of mercy, in rendering his punishment tempo- 
rary, and in causing it to be the means of mak- 
ing others rejoice in tlie events predicted by the 
Angel. His condemnation and crime were most 
appropriate and merciful warnings to the Jew- 
ish nation, and seem almost to prefigure' the 
general unbelief that was so soon to prevail, as 
well as to foreshow the approaching dumbness, 
or dissolution, of the Levitical priesthood. — 
Vide Witsius,i>e Fitd Johannis Baptista, and 
the opinion of Isidorus Pelusiota on the dumb- 
ness of Zacharias, there quoted : Miscell. Sacra, 
4to. vol. ii. p. 500. 



Note 8. — Part I. 

ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE MIRACULOUS 
CONCEPTION. 

The doctrines both in the Old and New Tes- 
taments would be utterly incredible, if they 
were not confirmed by the most unquestionable 
and convincing evidence ; and if they were not 
also so interwoven together that they must all 
be received, or all be rejected. They are so 
involved with the history of the world, that the 
latter alternative is impossible to a rational 
mind ; and the various absurdities and inconsis- 
tent conclusions to which men have been uni- 
formly betrayed, when they have endeavoured 
to believe one part of the system of Revelation, 
and to reject another, are almost sufficient rea- 
sons of themselves to compel us to receive the 
whole of what is revealed to us. The doctrine 
of the miraculous conception, which contains so 
much that contradicts experience, and seems at 
first sight so incredible, is founded upon evi- 
dence the most complete and satisfactory. It 
is intimately blended with the whole system of 
Revelation. The fabric would not be complete 
without it. It is supported by the general in- 
terpretation of the first promise, and is repeated 
and corroborated by the ancient prophets of the 
Old, and the positive assertions of the writers 
of the New Testament. 

In what manner mind acts upon body, and 
body upon mind, we are totally ignorant. Wo 
know only from daily experience, that the will 
gives an impulse at pleasure to the limbs and 
body. We know also, by observation, that the 
mind of an individual, which thus controls or 
directs the body, is often biased in the very 
same manner as the mind of his progenitor. 
One eartlily bias, or tendency, seems to be im- 
pressed upon the human race, which compels 
or induces one generation of men to be the 
same as the generation which preceded them 



Note 8.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*19 



Man, since tJie fall of Adam, has never, with 
any one exception, been born with a spiritual 
bias ; — tlie innate tendency which always shows 
Itself is uniformly directed towards eartUy, or 
natural, or merely animal objects ; that is, to 
objects which have their origin, connexion, prog- 
ress, and end, in this life only. This bias, or 
tendency, is what divines call Original Sin. 
It is that disposition" which is born with us ; 
wliich was entailed upon us by our first parents,^ 
and has reduced us to a state little superior to 
tlie animal creation below us. When originally 
created, the mind of man was not thus biased 
to earth. The spiritual prevailed over the in- 
ferior, or carnal, nature. The fall was the tri- 
umph of the animal nature of man ; and to re- 
store tlje human race to its original spirituality 
is tlie great object of that one religion, which 
has been gradually revealed to mankind, under 
its three forms, the Patriarchal, Levitical, and 
Christian dispensations. 

When man had fallen, we read that Adam 
begat a son in his own likeness, after his image ; 
whereas Adam had been formed in the image 
of God. The son of Adam was born therefore 
after a different image from that in which his 
father was originally created. The first man 
Adam had been created spiritual ; but he be- 
came earthly. His sons, and his sons' sons, 
and all their descendants, from that moment 
even to this day, partook of a nature, earthly, 
inferior, and animal. The fallen man Adam 
ever did, and ever will, produce creatures of a 
similar nature to himself^. "That which is 
born of the flesh is flesh." 

Such being the law of animal life, impressed 
upon matter by the will of the Supreme Being, 
it becomes evident that no creature can be free 
from the inferior nature in wliich he is begotten. 

" Behold I I was shapen in iniquity. 
And in sin did my mother conceive me." 
Ps. li. 5. 

No mere man can be exempt from tlie laws of 

° The Infection of our nature, the <t>(^ovijiia oaq- 
x'ug, spoken of in the 9tli Article of the Church of 
England. 

■P " Moses acquaints us that Mam begat Seth in 

HIS OWN LIKENESS, AFTER HIS IMAGE, Gen. V. 3. 

Can it be supposed that an accurate writer as Moses 
is, when he had said, that God created man, in his 
oiDii likeness, after his image, Gen. i. 26, 27., and 
here he says, that Adam begat Seth in his own 
LIKENESS, AFTER HIS IMAGE, did not Set this ex- 
pression in opposition to the other .' Nothing else 
appears from the words being so exactly repeated. 
He must therefore design to acquaint us that Adam,, 
having lost the image and likeness of God, could 
not for that reason beget Seth after the image and 
likeness in which liimself had been created ; hut in 
his oirn likeness, after his image, a miserable mortal 
man like himself, an heir of his toil, care, sorrow, 
and death." Extracted from a manuscript letter 
from the first Lord Viscount Barrington (author of 
the Essay on the Dispensations) to the celebrated 
Dr. Lardner. See also on the same subject Jones's 
Figurative Language of Scripture. 



his kind. If then a long succession of prophe- 
cies foretold that a Being should come into the 
world to perform certain works, which necessa- 
rily implied perfection, and therefore an exemp- 
tion from the universal law of human nature, 
our reason tells us that his birth must take place 
in some peculiar or miraculous manner, differ- 
ing from that which is entailed on the imperfect 
beings around him : or, in other words, — an im- 
maculate conception was the only mode in 
which a sinless or spiritual being could be born 
into a sinful or animal world, without partaking 
of its common nature. 

If it be said, that our Lord partook of this in- 
ferior nature as the Son of the Virgin, as much 
as if he were the offspring also of Joseph ; we 
answer, — In the same way as Adam, when he 
was created in the image of God, and therefore 
sinless, received from the hands of his Maker a 
body formed from the dust of the ground, so 
likewise did the second Adam receive from the 
Virgin an earthly body, as free from sin as that 
with which the first Adam sprang from the 
ground, yet, like that, subjected to all the weak- 
ness, infirmities, and sufferings of humanity. 
When we can comprehend in what manner the 
inanimate dust became an organized being at 
the first creation, we shall be able to compre- 
hend the mystery of the creation of the second 
Adam. But we may as reasonably disbelieve 
the one as the other, if our understanding must 
comprehend the difficulty before we receive it. 

The whole doctrine of creation is one of the 
truths which baffles the intellect of man. We 
must, in this stage of our being, be contented 
to believe, and to be ignorant. If we will be- 
lieve only what we can comprehend, we must 
believe nothing but mathematical demonstra- 
tions. 

The declarations of Scripture, from the very 
beginning, assert, that " the seed of the woman 
shall bruise the serpent's head." It is evident 
that this term, " the seed of the woman," cannot 
be applied to mankind in general. It must re- 
fer to a Being to whom it could be applied in 
some peculiar sense : and the ingenuity of man 
has never yet devised a mode in which this 
passage can be properly applied to any of the 
human race, unless in that manner in which 
the believers in divine Revelation have applied 
it to the promised Deliverer, the second Adam. 
The first Adam was called the Son of God, be- 
cause he was created in the image of God, in a 
way different from his descendants. Christ also 
is called the Son of God, on account of his mi- 
raculous conception. Both were created spir- 
itual beings ; and the true worshippers of God, 
in various parts of Scripture, are called by the 
same name, in an inferior sense, because they 
aspire to the recovery of that superior nature 
which the first Adam lost, but which the second 
restored. 

The ancient Jews were decided, and, so far 



i^U^ 



iNUxiiid UiS llxJL. U^UtoriiiijS. 



[Part 



as we can ascertain from their remaining books, 
were unanimous in their opinion, that the Di- 
vine Person who was appointed to deliver man 
should be the seed of the woman in some man- 
ner differing from mere men. This they prin- 
cipally learned from two passages in their 
prophets, wliich have consequently been much 
discussed ; these are Isa. vii. 14. and Jer. xxxi. 
22., both of which require attention. 

When the invasion of Rezin and Pekah had 
reduced the Israelites to extremity, their king, 
Ahaz, who in the days of his prosperity had 
sacrificed and burnt incense to the gods of the 
surrounding nations, in the groves and in the 
high places of their worsliip, and consequently 
had paid little attention or respect to the pro- 
phet, now, in this period of distress and calam- 
ity, applies for relief to Isaiah. The Prophet 
assures him that he shall be delivered from the 
two Idngs ; but that, within sixty-five years, the 
ten tribes should be carried a^vay captive, (Isa. 
vii. 9.) The king is incredulous, doubting, per- 
haps, the inspiration of the Prophet; who re- 
quests the king to require any miraculous proof 
he pleases that the prophecy he had delivered 
should be accomplished. The king refuses to 
do so, when Isaiah immediately declares, — 
" The Lord himself shall give you a sign — Be- 
hold ! a Virgin (or, more properly, the Virgin, 
nabj?n with the emphatic n) shall conceive and 
bear a son." He tells him that the name of this 
son should be Immanuel ; and, before he was 
of sufficient age to discern between good and 
evil, the country should be delivered from its 
invaders. The virgin in question is supposed, 
by Abrabanel, and other Jewish writers, to de- 
note Mahershalalhashbaz, whom Isaiah married 
soon after. By others the word na"7;?n is ren- 
dered damsel, instead of virgin, and is supposed 
to refer to the queen of Ahaz, who was then 
pregnant of Hezekiah. Dr. Pye Smith' follows 
the authority of Trypho, Aquila, Symmachus, 
Theodotion, and Abrabanel, in giving this last 
signification to the word nnSj^n. The Inspired 
Writings, however, do not appear to confirm 
this interpretation ; for they give us no account 
of a child born at that time who either received 
*^f name of Immanuel, or a name that would 
Dear tlie same signification. 

If the prophecy had ended at the 16th verse 
of the seventh chapter, it might perhaps bear a 
literal interpretation. But it seems to have 
been forgotten by those who would tlius limit 
its signification, that it is only a part of one 
prophetical discourse which is completed at ver. 
4. chap. X., and includes that still more eminent 
prophecy, rendered in our translation, — 

' Scripture. Testimony to the Messiah, vol. i. p. 
271 ; but this supposition is founded on the idea 
that some error has crept into the account in the 
Sacred Text of Hezekiah's age, 2 Kings xvi. 2. 
2 Chron. xxviii. 1. — and it is scarcely admissible 
to build the right interpretation of one part of 
Scripture on the possible error of another. 



" Unto us a Child is born. 
Unto us a Son is given ; 
The government shall be upon his shoulder, 
And his name shall be called Wonderful, 
Counsellor, the Mighty God." 

The object then of the prophet in pi-onouncing 
the words, " A Virgin shall conceive," &c. 
must be collected from the scope of the whole 
discourse. If it be thoroughly examined, it 
will appear, like other prophetical discourses, 
to make the present distress and predicted de- 
liverance serve as a figure of some more dis- 
tant and more glorious event. No king of Is- 
rael could be justly styled the Wonderful — 
Counsellor — the Mighty God (which latter epi- 
thet is rendered by a learned critic'', God, the 
Mighty Man), — the Everlasting Father — the 
Prince of Peace. This prophecy from neces- 
sity must be, as it always has been, both by 
Jewish" and Christian writers, referred to the 
Messiah, and as such is quoted by St. Matthew 
in his Gospel, i. 2.3'. 

I shall close tliis part of the present note with 
a statement of Dr. Kennicott's hypothesis. 

He conceives tliat " the text contains two 
distinct prophecies ; each literal, and each to 
be understood in one sense only ; the first re- 
lating to Christ, the second to Isaiah's son." 
The one is contained in ver. 13, 14, and 15; 
and the other in ver. 16. Dr. Kennicott para- 
phrases them thus : — 

"I. Fear not, O house of David! the fate 
threatened you : God is mindful of his promise 
to your father, and will fulfil the same in a very 
wonderful manner: Behold! a virgin (rather, 
the virgin, the only one thus circumstanced) 
shall conceive, and bear a son ; which son shall 
therefore be, what no other has been or shaU 
be, the seed of the woman, here styled the 
VIRGIN : and this son shall be called (i. e. in 
Scripture language he shall be) 'Immanuel, 
God with us ;' but this Great Person, this God 
visible amongst men, introduced into the world 

■^ Horsley's Biblical Criticisms, vol. ii. p. 65. 

" " Quoniam puer da.tus est " — Targum : " Dixit 
propheta ad domum David : Puer natus est nobis," 
&c. " Deus potens vivens in secula xn'&D, 
Messiah, cujus temporibus pax multaerit." Deha- 
rim Rahba, sect. i. fol. 249. 4. In SoMltedrin, fol. 94. 
1. " Deum constituisse Hiskiam facere Messiam, 
qufB quidem fabulosa sunt, sed tamen nobis in tan- 
tum utilia, quia ostendunt, Judaeos in lectione horum 
verborum de Messia cogitasse."— Schoetgen. vol. 
ii. p. 1(30. It cannot be necessary to refer to Chris- 
tian writers ; but see Kidder's Demonstration of the 
Messiah, part ii. p. 97, 1726, folio. 

' The quotation in St. Matthew agrees almost 
word for word with the Hebrew : — 
Matt. i. 23. — 'iSov 1; jiaQ- 

Tt^€Tat vt'ov, yat yaXtoov- 
ai TO oroita avTov 'EM- 

MANomJ. 

but varies from the Septuagint, from whicli llie 
New-Testament writers so often quote, in two 
words only — Matt, ftti — Sept. ^.iji/^f-roi — Matt, xa- 
^tnoi;o(— Sept. xaltotK;. 



Isa. vii. 14. 



INOTE 8.j 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*21 



thus, ill a manner that is without example, shall 
be truly man: he shall be born an infant, and 
as an infant sliall he be brought up: for butter 
and honey (rather milk and iioney) shall he eat ; 
he shall be fed with the common food of infants 
(which in the East was milk mixed with honey) 
till lie shall know (not that he may know, as if 
such food was to be the cause of such knowl- 
edge, but) till he shall grow up to luiow how to 
refuse the evil and choose the good. 

"II. But he/ore this child (pointing to his 
own son) shall know to refuse the evil and choose 
the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be for- 
saken of both her kings. 

" li'Jn should be rendered, ' this child:'' 

—a son of Isaiah, Shearjashub ; whom God had 
commanded the prophet to take with him ; but of 
whom no use was made, unless in the application 
of these words ; whom Isaiah miglit now hold in 
his arm ; and to whom therefore he might point 
with his hand when lie addressed himself to Ahaz, 
and said, ' But before this child shall grow up to 
discern good from evil, the land that thou abhor- 
rest shall be forsaken of both lier kings.' 

" The child's name is evidently prophetical ; 
for it signifies, a remnant, or the remainder, shall 
return. This prophecy was soon after fulfilled. 
And therefore this son, whose name had been 
so consolatory the year before, was with the 
utmost propriety brought forth now, and made 
the subject of a second prophecy — namely, that 
before that child, then in the second year of his 
age, should be able to distinguish natural good 
from evil, before he should be about four or five 
years old, the lands of Syria and Israel, spoken 
of here as one kingdom, on account of their pres- 
ent union and confederacy, should be forsaken 
of both their kings : which, though at that time 
highly improbable, came to pass about two years 
after ; when those two kings, who had in vain 
attempted to conquer Jerusalem, were themselves 
destroyed, each in his own country." — Kenni- 
cott's Sermon on Isaiah vii. 13-16. Oxf. 1765. 

The celebrated prophecy of Micah (ch. v. 2.) 
whicli St. Matthew likewise, as his countrymen 
■would approve", applies to Christ, was written 

" Since the application of this passage to the 
Christian Messiah, the Jews have been accustomed 
to refer the words to other circumstances than their 
ancestors had done. " Noli, Lector," says Schoet- 
o-en (vol. ii. p. 213), " banc diversitateni mirari — ■ 
(I consider myself as possibly addressing some of 
the sons of Israel in these notes, and I omit there- 
fore the next clause of the quotation) — hie atitem 
Marcus Marhius, Censor a Pontifice constitutiis, 
lextus ad confirmationeni religionis valeutes cor- 
rupit. In loco Sanhedrin (fol. 98. 2. had been just 
quoted) signum castrationis, lacuna scilicet, ubi 
vox T',VVJ'^T~\, im.pium, omissa est, aperte conspicitur : 
in loco autem priore longe plura deesse videntur." 
" Dixit R. Giddell. Quare autem Hillel excipiatur 
a consortio istius beatitudinis ? Quia dixit : nullum 
amplius Messinra Israeli expectandum esse : 
(Glossa : Quia Hiskias fuerit Messins, et de ipso 
dlctae sintProphetiae Ezek. xxix. 21.etMicha v. 3.)" 
Meuschen JV. T. ex Taliiiu.de illust. 'ilo. Leipsic, 
1736, p. 30, 



twenty years after the event by which tliis 
propiiecy of Isaiah (Is. vii. 14-16, &c.) was oc- 
casioned. Both Dr. Hales" and Bishop Lowth"" 
are of opinion, that Micah in this passage al- 
ludes to the former passage previously delivered 
by Isaiah. "Micah," says Bishop Lowth, 
"having delivered that remarkable prophecy 
which determines the place of the birth of the 
Messiah, the Ruler of God's people, whose 
goings forth have been of old, from everlasting, 
adds, that nevertheless God would deliver them 
up to their enemies, till she who is to bear a 
child brings forth." Archbishop Newcome also 
confirms the authorized version"^. 

The uncommon expression also, "the holy 
offspring," Luke i. 35., seems to be especially 
adapted to denote that the child would be pro- 
duced in a way different from the generation 
of the rest of mankind. On the appellation, 
Son of the Most High, Kuinoel observes, « that it 
seems to be used to signify that Christ was pro- 
created by an immediate divine intervention : in 
which sense Adam also is called the son of God'-'." 

The next prophecy wluch our present subject 
leads us to consider is given by Jeremiah, 
(xxxi. 22.) — 

"The Lord hath created a new thing in the 
earth, 
A woman shall compass a man." 
That new "creation of a man is therefore new, 
and therefore a creation, because wrought in a 
woman only, without a man compassing a man : 
which interpretation is ancient, literal, and 
clear'." This is the opinion of one of our most 

" Hale's Anal, of Chronolo^ij, vol. ii. p. 402,403. 

" Lowth's Isaiah, notes, 4to. edit. p. 04. 

■" Newcome's Minor Projdicts, in loc. 

y Comment, in Libras Hist. JV. T., vol. ii. p. 271. 
Apud Smith's Scripture Testimony to Mess., vol. ii. 
p. 48. Pearson On the Creed, Oxford edit. 8vo. 
vol. i. p. 270, and vol. ii. p. 48. 

^ Pearson On the Creed, Oxford edit. 8vo. vol. i. 
p. 270, and vol. ii. p. 20L " It is not to be denied," 
he observes, " that the proper signification of 3 3D 
is circumdare or cingere. R. Judah has observed 
but one interpretation of the verb, and Kimchi says, 
that all the words which come from the root nan 
signify compassion, or circuition. Those words 
therefore (Jer. xxxi. 22.) -13J 331Dn nr^pj must lit- 
erally import no less than that a woman shall encom- 
pass, or enclose, a man ; which, with the addition of 
a new creation, may well bear the interpretation of 
a miraculous conception. On this account the 
Jews applied the passage determinately to the 
Messiah. This appears in Bcrashiih liahba Parash, 
89. where, showing that God doth Ileal with that 
with which he woundeth, he saith, as he punished 
Israel in a virgin, so would he also heal them with 
a viro-in, according to the prophet, ' The Lord 
hath created a new thing' on the earth, a woman 
shall compass a man.' By the testimony of R. 
Huna, in the name of R. Iddi, and R. Joshua, the 

son of Levi, ymS^ rDvn iJ n^r'Dn -|'->d n 

' This is Messiah the King, of whom it is written, 
(Psalm ii. 7.) This day hare I hegottrn thee' And 
again in Midrash Tillim, upon the second Psalm, R. 
Huna, in the name of R. Iddi, speaking of tlie suffer- 
ings of the Messiah, saith n'tyDn "jSn HT ,fe'e est Hex 
Messias,ths,t\vhen his hour is come, God shall say, 



22* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part 1. 



eminent divines, who proceeds to demonstrate, 
from the rabbinical and talmudical writers, that 
the ancient Jews gave the same interpretation 
to this passage, and referred it to tiie miracu- 
lous conception of the expected Messiah. 

The greater part of the events which are pre- 
dicted in the Old Testament are shadowed 
forth by types, or partial, intended resemblances 
to the event prefigured. The miraculous con- 
ception also is repeatedly typified in the Old 
Testament. Various women, Anna the wife 
of Elkanah, Sarah the wife of Abraham, the 
wife of Manoah, and others, as well as Elisa- 
beth the wife of Zacharias, are recorded to 
have brought forth children after their old age 
had begun. These events seem to have been 
designed to afford the Church of God, which 
expected a Pvlessiah who should be in a pecu- 
liar sense the seed of the woman, a certain and 
miraculous proof, that, as nothing was impos- 
sible with God, he would in his own time give 

nimSl ' I must create him loith anew creation; and 
a J (by virtue of that new creation) lie saith, This day 
have I begotten thee.' From whence it appeareth 
that this sense is of itself hterally clear, and that 
the ancient rabbins did understand it of the Mes- 
sias ; whence it follows that the later interpreta- 
tions are but to avoid the truth which we profess, 
that Jesus was born of a virgin, and therefore is 
the Christ." Vide also Schoetgenius, vol. ii. p. 
99. Locum general. 50. 2. In Sohar Oenes. fol. 13. 
col. 52. apud Schoetgen, vol. ii. p. 202, the words 
"inj DDIDn nnpJ are applied to the Church. ' Die 
sexto applicat 'se uxor (Ecclesia) ut prsesto sit ma- 
rito suo (Deo) qui vocatur Justus, eique die Sabba- 
thi rnensam instruat. Et hoc ipsum est, quod 
Scriptura innuit, dicens : (Creabit Dominus.) Et 
hoc fit temporibus Messise, qui sunt dies sextas.' " 
Dr. Blayney, in his new translation of tlie proplie- 
cies of Jeremiah, renders the phrase " a woman 
shall put to the rout a strong man," and defends 
this interpretation by observing, that the words 
(even if 33D be translated to encompass) can only 
mean to contain or comprehend in tlie womb ; and 
as this is not a wonderful thing, he concludes the 
passage has some other meaning. But the fact is, 
that this encompassing in the womb being called a 
wonderful thing has been referred on that very 
account to the miraculous conception. He sup- 
poses the woman to be the Jevidsh Churcli, which 
should put to the rout all its powerful enemies. 
The word 330, in Hiphil or Pihil, may certainly 
signify to cause to turn about, i. e. to repulse. But 
this was by no means a thing so unusual, that it 
should be called a new thing in the earth ; for the 
Church of Israel had repeatedly overpowered its 
enemies, or been delivered from them in a most 
wonderliil manner. The interposition of Provi- 
dence for this cause was by no means a new thing 
in the earth. The sense of" repulsed," or " put to 
the rout," also is very forced and without sufficient 
authority. Blayney's Jeremiah, 4to. 1784. Oxford, 
p. 86, and notes 194. Calvin, an author always 
entitled to our most impartial attention, comparing 
the passage with Isa. xliii. 19., interprets it to sig- 
nify the triumph of the Jews over the Chaldeans. 
By the " woman," he understands the Jews ; by 
the " man," the Chaldeans ; and by the " compass- 
ing," the triumph of the Jews over the.se, their 
enemies. Luther once maintained the same opin- 
ion. This interpretation, however, is entirely 
overthrown by tlie recollection of the fact, that 
neither the Chaldeans, nor the Persians, nor the 
Medes, were ever conquered by the Jews, who 



them the promised Messiah ; of whose birth the 
births of the children of these women were but 
types. 

That the doctrine of the miraculous concep- 
tion of the Messiah is laid down in the New 
Testament, as well as the Old, the Christian 
reader does not require to be informed. The 
account is contained in the commencing chap- 
ters of tlie Gospels of St. Matthew and St. 
Luke, and is to be found in every version and 
manuscript of the New Testament extant. As 
these chapters maintain the Divinity of Christ, 
by asserting the fact of his miraculous birth, 
they have been attacked with a variety of theo- 
retical arguments by tlie Socinian writers, as 
well as by all, whether Deists or nominal Cliris- 
tians, who would reduce the Gospel to a good 
and valuable system of morality ; and represent 
the promised Messiah as merely the blameless 
man, the exemplary teacher, and possibly a su- 
perior prophet". On the same authority which 

were freely released from their captivity. Not only 
does this fact overthrow the interpretation given 
by this eminent man, but the word riDpJ is never 
used figuratively. Pfeiffer adds many very curious 
interpretations of the passage. Vide Pfeiffer, Du- 
bia Vexata, p. 760. The passage is interpreted by 
Christian divines to refer to the miraculous con- 
ception. The " woman " is the mother of Christ. 
The " man" encompassed (the T13J Sx of Isaiah 
ix. 5.) is the Messiah; the "encompassing" is the 
enclosure of the promised infant created in the 
womb. The "new tiling in the earth " is the 
creation of the infant by supernatural power, a cir- 
cumstance unusual, unknown, unthought, and un- 
heard of before. That this is the meaning of the 
passage is gathered from the context, the former 
and latter passages connected with it referring to 
the Messiah. This intelhgence only could give 
complete comfort to the pious Jews at the period 
when they were thus distressed. They were as- 
sured not only that they should return to their cit- 
ies, but that the ancient promise should be accom- 
plished, and the seed of the woman be born. Three 
arguments have been adduced by some against this 
mode of interpreting the passage. The first is, that 
n3p] is the epithet applied only to the female sex 
in general, and not to any individual ; more es- 
pecially that tlie term is by no means applicable to 
a virgin. To this it is answered, that the word is 
applied to an individual in the following passages : 
Gen. i. 27. and v. 2. ; Lev. iii. 1. and 6. and ix. 28. 
and 32. and xxvii. 4. ; Num. xxxi. 15. ; and that it 
is not unusual to use the same word in opposition 
to 131, an individual of the other sex. And, in Le- 
vit. xu. 15. the word HDpJ is appUed to a female 
infiuit, newly born. The' second argument is, that 
the word "inj is never used to denote a newly-born 
male infant. The Targuin of Onkelos, however, 
on Gen. iv. 1., uses the word in this sense, and it 
is also so applied in Isa. ix. 5., " unto us a child is 
born," &c. T13J Sn- The third argument is, that 
33T never refers to conception, Tiio word, how- 
ever, signifies in general " to enclose," " to sur- 
round ;" and its use in the present instance is suf- 
ficiently enforced and applicable. Vide Pfeifler, 
Dubia Vexata, p. 760-702, and his references. 

"■ I will notice but one objection which has lately 
been again brought forward against the doctrine 
of the immaculate conception, as it has frequently 
been urged by the Socinian writers, and is so ad- 
mirably answered b}^ a gentleman to whose valu- 
able work I am much indebted. In his Calm In- 
quiry into Ike Serifture Doctrine of tlie Person of 



Note 9.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*23 



induced tlie first ages to receive these chapters 
as authentic and genuine, Christians in all ages 
have made the doctrine of tlie miraculous con- 
ception an article of tlieir faith. They have 
believed in Hun "who was conceived by tlie 
Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary." 
See tiie whole of tlie admirable third article of 
Pearson On the Creed. 



Note 9. — Part I. 

ON THE SALUTATION OF MARY. 

The learned Joseph Mede remarks on the 
salutation of the Angel, " Hail, thou that art 
highly favored," %<uqs xsxuQnojfiivrj — that it 
must be rendered, not, as Dr. Hammond and 
the Vulgate represent it, "Hail tliou that art 
full of grace," but in the same sense in which 
the house of Levi was highly favored above 
the rest of the tribes of Israel. The word t^npi 
" holy," does not always mean " holy in life," 
but " holy to the Lord," which implies a relative 
holiness, and as the word TDH, which some- 
times is considered a synonym of tvipi is used 



in the same twofold sense, he concludes the 
salutation of the Angel ought so to be under- 
stood in this place. The sermon in which 
Mede expresses this opinion is upon Deut. 
xxxiii. 8. — " Let tliy Urim and thy Thummim 
be witli tliy holy one." The Hebrew is "jTDn' 
which Junius expounds, " with thy favored one ;" 
not ufdQl oalca an, as the Septuagint, but xexa- 
Qini/jeva a&. "The word," says Lightfoot (vol. 
i. p. 411, fol. edit.), " is used by the Greek scho- 
liast to express TDn JZD]f, fimu ice](aQin)jniya 
XUQnmdi^ai] , Ps. xviii. 25., in the sense of ;Kdi:^tc, 
mercy, or favor, as Ephes. i. 6. ixaQliajaev -fi/ias" 
The salutation of the Angel means, therefore, 
" Hail, thou that art the especially elected and 
favored of the Most High, to attain to tliat honor 
which the Jewish virgins and the Jewish moth- 
ers have so long desired — thou shalt be the 
mother of the Messiah." For an account of 
the peculiar manner in which the Jewish women 
desired offspring, in the hope that they might 
be tlie mother of the promised Messiah, vide 
Allix's Reflections on the Books of Moses. Mode's 
Works, fol. edit. London, 1677, p. 181. Light- 
foot, vol. i. fol. edit. p. 411. See also Kuinoel 
and Rosenmiiller in loc. 



Christ, Mr. Belsham observes, "If the relation 
given of the miraculous conception were true, it is 
utterly unaccountable that these extraordinary 
events should have been wholly omitted by Mark 
and John, and that there should not be a single 
allusion to them in the New Testament, and par- 
ticularly that in John's history, Jesus should be so 
frequently spoken of as the son of Joseph and Mary, 
without any comment, or the least hint that this 
statement was erroneous.'' — " This objection," says 
Dr. Pye Smith, " is plausible ; but we ask a fair 
attention to the following considerations. The 
fact in question was of the most private and deli- 
cate nature possible, and, as to human attestation, 
it rested solely on the word of Mary herself, the 
person most deeply interested. Joseph's mind was 
satisfied with regard to her honor and veracity, by 
a divine vision, which, in whatever way it was 
evinced to him to be no delusion, was still a pri- 
vate and personal affair. But this was not the 
kind of facts to which the first teachers of Chris- 
tianity were in the habit of appealing. The mira- 
cles on which they rested their claims were such 
as had multiplied witnesses to attest them, and 
generally enemies not less than friends. Here, 
then, we see a reason why Jesus and his disciples 
did not refer to this circumstance, so peculiar, and 
necessarily private. The account in Matthew had 
probably been transmitted through the family of 
Joseph and Mary ; and that in Luke, through the 
family or intimates of Zacharias and Elisabeth ; a 
supposition wliich furnishes a reason why the two 
narratives contain so little matter in common. It 
is objected also that this doctrine is not alluded to 
in the other books of the New Testament. The 
same reason will account for the absence of refer- 
ence to this miracle in the epistolary writings of 
the New Testament, if that absence be admitted to 
the fullest extent; for there is, at least, one pas- 
sage which appears to carry an implication of the 
fact. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, 
in explaining the symbolical representations by 
which it pleased the Holy Spirit, under the former 
dispensation, to prefigure the blessings of Chris- 
tianity, seems to put the interior sanctuary, or 
' holy of holies,' as the sign of the heavenly state ; 



and the outer tabernacle as that of 'the flesh,' 
or human nature of the Messiah. As the Aaroni- 
cal high priest, on the great anniversary of expia- 
tion, was first to officiate in the tabernacle, ofl^ering 
the sacrifices and sprinkling the blood of symboli- 
cal pardon and purification, and then was to ad- 
vance, through that tabernacle, into the most holy 
place, the representation of the divine presence ; 
so Christ, our ' Great High Priest,' and ' Minis- 
ter of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle,' — 
'entered into the sanctuary — through the greater 
and more perfect tabernacle, — his own blood.' 
Now, of this tabernacle it is declared that ' the 
Lord pitched it, and not man ;' that it . was ' not 
made with hands,' that is, not of this creation. 
The expression in Scripture, ' not made with 
hands,' denotes that which is eff"ected by the im- 
mediate power of God, without the intervention of 
any inferior agency. It, therefore, in the case be- 
fore us, intimates that the flleshly tabernacle of our 
Lord's humanity was formed, not in the ordinary 
way of nature, but by the immediate exercise of 
Omnipotence." — Smith's Scripture Testimony to 
the Messiah, vol. ii. p. 17-19. Many modern in- 
terpreters, it is true, understand " the tabernacle " 
in these passages as signifying the heavenly state. 
Yet these writers make "the sanctuary " also to 
signify the same object ; thus confounding two 
very distinct images. The propriety of the figures, 
the argument of the connexion, and the frequent 
use of ay.fjvo!: and 6y.t]rwiia to denote the human 
body (2 Cor. v. ]-4. 2 Pet. i. 13, 14. ; and this 
use of at least ay.ijvoi; is common in Greek writers : 
see Wetstein on 2 Cor. v. 1. and Schleusneri Lex.) 
satisfy me of the justness of the interpretation of 
Calvin, Grotius, James Cappel, Dr. Owen, &c. 
It is no objection that in Heb. x. 20. " the veil" 
is the symbol of the Messiah's human nature ; for 
the veil, as one of the boundaries of the tabernacle, 
in a natural sense belonged to it ; and the passage 
relates to our Lord's death, so that the veil is very 
fitly introduced, marking tlie transition cut of life 
into another state. The text was partially quoted 
above, for the sake of presenting alone the clauses 
on which the argument rests. It is proper here to 
insert it at length. The reader will observe the 



24* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part I. 



Note 10.— Part I. 

There is very little doubt that Hebron was 
the city here spoken of. In Joshua xxi. 13. we 
read that Hebron, with her suburbs, was given 
to the children of Aaron the priest, and in ver. 
11. of the same chapter, and in chap. xi. 21. it 
is described as a city in tlie hill country of Ju- 
dah. After the return from the captivity of 
Babylon, the priests were anxious to take up 
their abode in tlieir appointed heritage. He- 
bron is celebrated for many events. Here Abra- 
ham received tlie promise of the miraculous 
birth of Clu-ist. Here circumcision was pro- 
bably first instituted, (many being of opinion 
that it was known before the time of Abraham) : 
here Abraham had his first land, and David liis 
first crown. John was born at Hebron, and 
here he first appointed and administered tlie 
ordinance of baptism*. 

The talmudists'' infonn us of a very singular 
custom in the temple service, which had a re- 
ference to Hebron. Before the morning sacri- 
fice was oflTered, the president of the temple 
was used to say every morning, " Go and see, 
wliether it be time to kill the sacrifice." If it 
was time, the answer was, " It is light." Those 
in tlie court replied, " Is the light come so far, 
that thine eyes may see Hebron ? " 

How far this tradition may be received I do 
not venture to decide ; it is certain that Hebron 
was always regarded with particular attention 
by the people of Israel, and, if tliis tradition be 
correct, it must have been typical of some pre- 
dicted and expected event. What place, then, 
in tlie land of Israel could have been so appro- 
priate for the true light first to dawn before the 
perfect sacrifice could be offered, as the city of 
Hebron? Here John the Baptist was born; 
and here the rays of truth first shone, when, 
through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, tlie 

apposition of " the tabernacle" and "the blood." 
" But Christ having presented himself, a High 
Priest of the blessings to come, through the greater 
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands 
(that is, not of this creation), and not through the 
blood of goats and calves, but through his own 
blood, entered once (f. e. once for ever, never to be 
repeated) into the sanctuary, having acquired eter- 
nal redemption." Grotius's note is so judicious 
and satisfactory, that it deserves to be inserted. 
" The design of the writer is to declare that Christ 
entered the highest heavens, through his sufferings 
and death. To keep up the comparison with the 
high priest under the Law, his object is to declare 
that Christ entered through his body and Mood; for 
tlie body is very properly put by metonymy for bod- 
ilij sufferings ; and it is common in all languages 
to use the term blood to denote death, as death 
follows upon any very copious effusion of blood. 
Yet he does not express the body by its proper 
word, but uses a symbolical description suitable for 
carrying on the comparison. The Hebrews were 
accustomed to call the body a tabernacle ; and from 
them the disciples of Pythagoras deduced the ex- 
pression. In particular the body of Christ is 
called a temple, on account of the indwelling di- 
vine energy, John ii. 21. Here, this body is said 



appointed Saviour was hailed for the first time 
near tliis place, as the Lamb of God, the true 
Sacrifice, who should take away the sins of tlie 
world. 

Can these remarkable and wonderfid events 
be regarded only as coincidences ? To me 
tliey appear to point out the beautiful connexion 
and harmony in minute points of the two dis- 
pensations, and to prove that notliing has come 
to pass, but what was ordained of old. 

If the account of Josephus (Bell. Jud. lib. 5. 
c. 7.) may be depended upon, Hebron was not 
only celebrated for the great events which had 
tliere taken place, but was renowned for its an- 
tiquity, and considered of more ancient date 
tlian Memphis in Egypt. Jerome and Eusebius 
lilcewise mention that there still remained at 
Mamre, near Hebron, tlie oak under which Abra- 
ham entertained his angelic visitors ; and that 
tlie surrounding GentUes held it in great vene- 
ration. 



Note 11. — Part I. 

The native Jew who reads in St. Luke's 
Gospel this expression, would be reminded of a 
tradition of their fathers, that when the Israel- 
ites came to the Red Sea, the childi-en in tlie 
womb leaped for joy. 
jnntyni iin jinnx 'i?n3 j^aij; |u\si iS'St?! 

: n3"pS "imo etiam embryones, qui in utero 
matris erant, viderunt id, et Deum S. B. celebra- 
runt." Possibly it was m allusion to this tra- 
dition that the phrase is here used. Elisabeth 
may be supposed to express the greatness of iier 
joy at the siglit of her cousin, wliich so agi- 
tated her as to produce this effect. Elisabeth 
compared her happiness, in beholding the motliei 
of the expected Messiah, to that of her coun- 

to be ' not made with hands,' and the writer ex- 
plains bis meaning by adding, ' that is, not of this 
creation,' understanding by creation the usual 
order of nature ; as the Jews apply the tahnudical 
term Beriah (' creation,' ' any thing created ') ; 
for the body of Christ was conceived in a super- 
natural manner. In tliis sense he properly em- 
ploys the term not made loiili hands, because in the 
Hebrew idiom any thing is said to be made with 
hands which is brought to pass in the ordinary 
course of nature. See v. 23. and Mark xiv. 58. 
Acts vii. 48. xvii. 24. Eph. ii. 11. The prophets 
frequently give to idols the appellation 7nade with, 
hands, as the opposite to any thing divine.'' — Gro- 
tii Annot. in Heb. ix. 11. Dr. P. Smith's Messiah, 
vol. ii. p. 29, 30. Archbishop Magee Oiithe Mune- 
mcnt. Horsley's Tracts. Works of Bishop Bull. 
Scott's Christian Life. Archbishop Laurence, 
Veysie. Rennell. Nares. Layman's Vindicutio7i 
of the Disputed Chapters of St. Matthcio and Ht. 
Luke. Notes of Scott ; Gill; Mant and D'Oyly. 
Wardlaw's Socinian Controversy. Dr. P. Snuth's 
Sermon on the Atonement. 

' See Witsius,De Vitd Johan. Bapt. Misc. Sacra. 
vol. ii. p. 495. 

' Ligbtfoot's Chorograplucal Ccntvry, IVorks, 
folio, vol ii. p. 46. 



iNoTE 12.-15.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*25 



trymen T\-hen they saw before them, for the 
first time, the earnest of their long-wished-for 
deliverance from Egypt. Fol. 25. col. 99. apud 
Zohar Exod, fol. 32. col. 91. apud Schoetgen. 
Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 257. 



opinions of the Jews, in the days of our Lord 
and his Apostles. Vide Schoetgen. vol. i. p. 
261, and Faber's Hora MosaiccB, on the Pro- 
phecy of Zacharias. 



Note 12. — Part 1. 

Tms speech of Mary is evidently the ofF- 
spring of a mind thorouglily embued with the 
language and sentunents of the ancient Scrip- 
tures. A learned modern author has selected 
the original of this verse as an instance of the 
adoption in the New Testament of the parallel 
couplet, so usual in the Old Testament It 
certainly may be considered as one collateral 
proof that the New Testament is from the same 
spirit of inspiration as the Old, that these sin- 
gular parallelisms and forms of composition are 
found in each. In the present instance, how- 
ever, and no doubt in the great majority of 
others, the composition of the speech appears 
to have been evidently unstudied. The efRision 
of those who were actually inspired did not re- 
quire any labored arrangement, according to 
the laws of studied composition. — Bishop Jebb's 
Sacred Literature, p. 210. 



Note 13. — Part I. 

The Jews divide the worship of God into 
that which is offered nnnxo " from love," and 
that which is offered nx-\"3 " from fear." In 
allusion to which distinction, St. Paul, one of 
the most learned Jews of his time, uses the ex- 
pression, Rom. viii. 15. rcvevfia dslelag. In the 
Old Testament dispensation the Laws of Moses 
were delivered under circumstances calculated 
to excite the strongest fear and apprehension — 
the most rigid obedience was required ; and the 
people were anxiously alarmed lest any thing 
should be done by them, whereby they might 
become polluted, and incur the anger of their 
God. This Law was a yoke which neither tliey, 
nor their fathers, were able to bear. But in 
the Law which was now to be ushered in by the 
Messiah, Zacharias announces, in this sublime 
prophecy, the introduction of a new worship ; 
not from slavish fear, but from pure love to God, 
which is inconsistent with, and casteth out, fear. 
He was singing the death song of the Jewish 
Church. He prophesied the overthrow of the 
system of ceremonies, rites, and all their bur- 
thensome minutiae ; and the establishment in 
their place of a holy and perfect system, wherein 
God should be served and honored as with the 
love and worship of cliildren. Both tliis, and the 
phrases (ver. 79.), as well as others, can only be 
fully understood by thus keeping in view the 

VOL. II. *4 



Note 14. — Part I. 

It was the custom among the Jews to allow 
some interval between the ^in" "the espousals 
and the nuptials," and no JDH) " the bringing of 
the espoused into the husband's house." See 
Deut. XX. 7. The words (v. 18.) ttqIv '^ awel- 
daiv aiihg, may apply to either of these. The 
object of the law was to satisfy the husband 
of his wife's chastity. In this probationary 
period, after her return from her cousin Elisa- 
beth, we are told that the Virgin Mary was 
found with child. 

Had the Virgin been espoused, under these 
circumstances, to any other than a just and hu- 
mane man, such as Joseph, she would in all 
probability have been immediately exposed, 
with inconsiderate rashness, to public scorn and 
derision: but, as it was, we find that she was 
treated with kindness and indulgence ; and that 
Joseph listened to her defence. Her vindica- 
tion, we may infer from the narrative, was re- 
ceived by her espoused husband with much sur- 
prise and incredulity ; but we may suppose that 
he was too well acquainted with the prophecies 
of his Scriptures, to doubt the possibility of this 
event. In addition to which, he must have 
been informed of the object of Mary's journey 
into the hill country, of the vision, and conse- 
quent events in the temple. He pondered, he 
hesitated — he knew not what to decide — still 
hoping that his unsuspected and beloved spouse 
was in truth the elected and favored Virgin 
Mother of the Holy One of Israel. But while 
he thought on these things, and had at last re- 
solved (perhaps from fear of ridicule) to put 
her away privily, " Behold ! the angel of the 
Lord appeared unto him ia a dream," and at 
once dispelled all his doubts and fears, by re- 
vealing the gracious designs of Providence, 
and assuring him of the innocence of his spot- 
less wife. 



Note 15. — Part I. 



ON PROPHETIC dreams. 



The occasion seems to call for the next mer- 
ciful intervention of divine power that was 
vouchsafed, at the dawning of the day of the 
Messiah. The approach of the kingdom of the 
Messiah had been already announced by the 
appearance of angels, and the return of the 
Spirit of prophecy to two of the kindred of Mary, 
and now likewise to herself. It is more than 



26* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part I, 



probable that Joseph knew this, but, as he was 
still unconvinced, a peculiar demonstration was 
given to Mm, in the revival of prophetic dreams ; 
another way in which God had formerly made 
known his will to mankind. 

In the ancient and purer times of patriarch- 
ism, as well as in the earlier ages of Judaism, 
the Deity frequently revealed his will in this 
manner, both to his own people, and to some 
individuals of other nations. Not only were 
Joseph, Abraham, and Jacob thus favored ; but 
Laban, Abimelech, Pharaoh, and even Nebu- 
chadnezzar, received similar communications 
from on high. This, with every other miracu- 
lous evidence of God's superintendence over 
the Jewish Church, had been now long discon- 
tinued ; and the Jews, who placed the greatest 
dependence on dreams, and had even formed 
rules and a regular system for their interpreta- 
tion, had particularly regretted the want of tliis 
medium of divine communication. 

The revival, therefore, of this ancient mode 
of revealing the will of God must have con- 
vinced the pious Joseph that the anxiously an- 
ticipated event, the birth of the Messiah, was 
near ; and that his betrothed spouse, who was 
of the family of David, from whom the Messiah 
was to descend, was certainly the virgin upon 
whom the honor of his birth was to be conferred. 
Under all the circumstances of the incarnation, 
it appears that the Virgin was espoused to one 
who was more likely than any other to secure 
her from scorn — to protect her in danger — to re- 
late the truth to the believing Jews ; and, by 
aiRrming that another distinct branch of evi- 
dence had been afforded him, to strengthen the 
conviction, that would now begin to obtain some 
influence, that God had visited his people. 

Philo, in his tract, Ueql ru Oe.onifinTag eJvuv 
oi'elQovg, has described at length the difference 
between prophetical and monitory dreams. 

His first sort of divine dreams he thus defines, 
t6 fiev nqvuTOV riv aqxovjog ttj? xivrjaiiug dey, 
y.al im]%8VTog (io^cirwg rd -^fuv fiiv adrjla, yv(b- 
Qijua de ^auTW. The first kind was when God 
himself did begin the motion in the fancy, and 
secretly whispered such things as are unknown 
indeed to us, but perfectly known to himself. 
Of this sort were the patriarch Joseph's dreams. 

The second kind is this, Ttj? i^ueriQag diai'olag 
rrj TOiv olwv avyxtov/nivrjg \fv/rj, xal dBOcpOQi^iTH 
ftuvlag &pamfini.ufjh'r]g. When our rational 
faculty, being moved together with the soul of 
the world, and filled with a divinely-inspired 
fury, doth predict those things that are to come. 
In this definition he permitted his heathen phi- 
losophy to supersede his better theology. The 
God of his fathers was the Lord of the world, 
not the soul of the world. Though he fills all 
space, he rules all space. One mode of com- 
municating his will to man is well described ; 
if, for ^' soul of the world," we read, " the influ- 
ences of the Supreme Being." 



The third is thus laid down — Svvktt&tui, dk 
TO TQixov elSog, ondxav kv toXg vnvotg e^ lauTrjg 
1] yu/i) xivovf/ivr], xal dvuSovovau iavTriv, xo- 
Qv6avTiu.- xul eidsfft&aa, dvvd/xsi nQoyvMcruxii 
Tci nillovja ^sanltei. — i. e. the third kind is, 
when in sleep the soul being moved of itself, 
and agitating itself, is in a kind of rapturous 
rage, and in a divine fury doth foretell future 
things by a prophetic faculty. 

These things are also contrary to present ex- 
perience, but they are not contrary to phUoso- 
phy. An event or action wliich has actually 
taken place convinces our reason by means of 
our senses, that the event was real ; so did the 
miraculous impressions of prophetic dreams or 
visions, distinguish themselves from Uie sensa- 
tions occasioned only by the common circum- 
stances of life, in such a manner that the 
prophet or person favored with them could not 
mistake the effect of tlie extraordinary impulse 
for any common feeling arising from ordinary 
situations and events. Ideas, it is true, are 
usually suggested by the senses only, but why 
should we not believe that the Father of spirits 
can affect our mind with images and ideas, pro- 
duced by other agency than that of the senses ? 
Smith On Prophecy, vol. iv. Watson's Tracts, 
p. .306. Vide Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 243. Cal- 
met's Diet Art. Dreams. Witsius, Miscell. Sa- 
cra, vol. i. p. 27. De Insomniis, and p. 289, De 
Prophetis, in Evang. laudatis. 



Note 16. — Part I. 

It may be obsei-ved here, how uniformly the 
idea of a spiritual Messiah is preserved. Jo- 
seph, in common with his countrymen, may 
justly be supposed to have entertained the opin- 
ion that a temporal Messiah was coming to de- 
liver his people from the Romans ; the Angel 
informs him that he should be called Jesus 
(from p'ii>^' to save), for he should save them from 
their sins. He should save them not merely 
from the consequences of their sins by his 
atonement, but from the dominion of their sins 
by his gift of the Holy Spirit, to lead them both 
into obedience and truth. We must not hope 
to be delivered hereafter from the consequences 
of evil, unless we are at present delivered from 
its power. 

Tlie name Jesus, say Castalio and Osiander, 
Heb. niii'n'. may possibly signify "the man Je- 
hovah," or " Jehovah incarnate," " God in human 
nature." It is compounded of nin"' and \i/^ii: the 
letter K' being interposed from the latter word, 
the two others '' and X being rejected as ser- 
viles, and therefore added or rejected at pleas- 
ure. This name is given at full length by Mo- 
ses to the Angel Jehovah who conducted the 
Israelites through the wilderness, " The Lord 
is a man of war," nnnSo ty'N mri''' The same 



Note 17.-19.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*27 



name is given likewise at length in tlie excla- 
mation of Eve, in which she expressed a hope 
that her son was the promised deliverer, TT'Jp 
•nirr nx t^'x 

The angel commands that the name Jesus he 
given to tlie Messiah, " because he shall save 
his people from their sins." The Angel Jeho- 
vah led his people through the wilderness, and 
saved them from their enemies, and from the 
hands of all who hated them. Christ was to do 
the same. The analogy between the enemies 
of Israel and the enemies of the soul of man is 
complete. Christ in the former instance was 
the Saviour of his people from their temporal 
enemies. He was now to be revealed as their 
Saviour from their more dangerous and inveter- 
ate adversaries, Death, Satan, and the evil of 
their own nature. 

PfeifFer is of opinion, with the generality of 
commentators, that the name must be derived 
from i'ty to save, and he rejects therefore the 
above derivation, which is given with little vari- 
ation from Osiander, Reuchlin, and Sebastianus 
Castalio. See the whole Dissertation De JVom- 
ine Jesu — Pfeifferi Duhia Vexata, p. 1154, par- 
ticularly Th. 6 to 18 inclusive. 

I have placed the appearance of the Angel to 
Joseph after Mary's return from the house of 
Elisabeth, as she came back from Hebron be- 
fore the birth of John, three months after the 
annunciation of the Messiah. On her arrival 
at her own house, when her pregnancy became 
evident, the fears and suspicions of Joseph, we 
may justly suppose, were excited. Before that 
period he could have no reason for suspicion. 
Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 421. 



Note 17. — Part I. 

The Christian may believe that this passage 
refers to the Messiah on the authority of St. 
Matthew ; and the Jew may likewise believe it, 
on the authority of the ancient targumists, who, 
with their countrymen in general, were accus- 
tomed to refer these expressions of their early 
prophets to the expected Messiah. To over- 
throw the force of the prediction, they have, 
however, in later days, made use of arguments 
which their ancestors would have disdained. — 
Vide Kidder's Demons, of Mess. vol. iii. p. 90, &c. 



Note 18.— Part I. 

Another proof was now to be afforded to 
the whole Jewish nation, that the time of the 
Messiah had an-ived. The Father of the pa- 
triarchs had long prophesied that the sceptre 
was not to depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver 
from between his feet, until Shiloh, '= the Sent," 



"the Messiah""come,(Gen. xlix. 10.) The peo 
pie, though they had long been subjected to the 
Romans, had been hitherto more immediately 
under the control of their high priests, and of 
the family of Herod, who called himself a Jew, 
though he was of the race of Edom ; they were 
now reduced to a mere province ; they were 
commanded by a heathen, a stranger and a 
foreigner, to enrol their families in the public 
registers ; to take the oath of fidelity, and, prob- 
ably, to pay tribute to him as their sovereign 
and ruler\ What could have been a stronger 
argument and appeal to every individual Jew, 
that the sceptre had entirely departed, and that 
Shiloh was to be immediately expected, than 
this individual taxation, or badge of subjection ? 



Note 19.— Part 1. 

The word nqmrj must be construed in the 
same sense of priority as to time ; it bears this 
sense in some, though not many instances. It 
is much better thus to render the passage, than 
to adopt any conjectural emendation ; whether 
nqb rrig, with Whitby, or nQmrj nqb z^?, with 
Michaelis, which his translator so decidedly 
condemns ; or than Mr. Benson's, which is very 
ingenious, but unsupported by the only author- 
ity which ought to induce us to receive any al- 
teration of the vulgate text of the New Testa- 
ment, the authority of manuscripts. It is cer- 
tainly a very slight alteration, but it must be 
rejected, in the absence of other proof. 

He would read amrj -fj dnoygaepfi nqmrj ^yivezo 
^ [dinoy Qac(ji\ ^ i^^ivexo) -fiys/novevopTog rtjg, &c., 

" The Targum of Onkelos gives this interpreta- 
tion — "Nonrecedet |DSlt5 TOJ^ faciens potentiam 
ex domo JudaxijjDV et scriba ex nepotibus ejus in 
ffiternum, donee veniat Messias ;" and the Targum 
of Jonathan, " Non cessabunt reges, et prsesides 
ex domo Jud8B,et scribag docentes legem ex semine 
ejus, usque ad tempus,quovenietRexMessias;"and 
the Jerusalem Targum gives the same interpreta- 
tion. See also a large number of authorities from 
the early Jewish writers, all to the same effect, in 
Schoetgenius, HorcE HcbraiccE, vol. ii. p. 492, &c. 
On the sceptre of Judah, see the Dissertation of 
Schoetgenius De Schiloh Dominatore ; and a curious 
and most ingenious dissertation by Bishop War- 
burton, who thus interprets the prophecy — " The 
Theocracy shall continue over the Jews, until 
Christ come to take possession of his Father's 
kingdom." — Divine Legation, vol. iv. p. 24.5-266. 
" Quod nomen habet Messias ? Qui sunt de domo 
X/^ty R- SchilcB seu scholastici ejus,dixerunt nS'ty 
Schilo esse nomen ejus : quia dicitur Gen. xlix. 10. 
Usquedum veniet Schilo." — Meuschen JV. T. ex 
Talmude, p. 30, and 902. See also Leslie's Case 
of the JeiBs, Dublin, 1755, p. 6. 

' About tills time Augustus, as is related hy Jo- 
sephus, ordered the oath of fidelity to be taken to 
him, as the superior and sovereign of the land. In 
that oath, Herod was considered as secondary to 
the emperor, and the people were not required to 
give him their personal allegiance. It is possible 
that the enrolment ordered b)^ Augustus was the 
same as the uiioyqatfri of St. Luke. See next note. 



28* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part I 



inserting only the single letter ^, between 
iyivETO and riys/uovevovTog — and thus render the 
passage, " This taxing took place before that, 
which took place when Cyrenius was governor 
of Syria." 

The suggestion of Mr. Benson, that the de- 
cree for the taxing, or &noYQaq)-ri, of St. Luke, 
was the same as the taking the oath of allegi- 
ance to Augustus, mentioned by Josephus, is 
well supported ; and, if his hypothesis did not 
require an alteration of the sacred text, which 
is not warranted by the requisite authorities, 
might be received without hesitation. See the 
next note on the solution of the difficulty in this 
verse. Vide Benson's Chronology of the lAfe of 
Christ. 



Note 20.— Part I. 

It has been asserted, that this verse contra- 
dicts some weU-supported facts in history. Cy- 
renius, it is said, was not governor of Syria till 
eleven years after this enrolment. At the time 
of Christ's birth, Saturninus and Volumnius 
were presidents of that country. 

The following is a coiTCct statement of the 
fact, according to the best authorities who have 
carefully studied the subject. Herod, some few 
years before his death, had been misrepresented 
to Augustus. The Roman emperor, to punish 
liis imputed crime, ordered that Judea should 
be reduced to a Roman province, and a register 
be taken of every person's age, dignity, employ- 
ment, family, and office. When this decree 
•vvas first promulgated, Cyrenius was only a Ro- 
man senator, and collector of the imperial reve- 
nue. Its execution was postponed, through the 
influence of Nicholas of Damascus, who was 
sent by Herod to Rome, to vindicate his con- 
duct to Augustus ; and it was only carried into 
efliect eleven years afterwards, when Cyrenius 
had been advanced from the inferior dignity of 
collector of the public tribute, to the office of 
governor of Syria. 

The difficulty, therefore, respecting the words 
in the original will disappear, when the passage 
is considered in reference to this statement. 
Dr. Lardner, who is followed by Dr. Paley, pro- 
poses a solution, which has now been generally 
adopted. " This was the first enrolment of Cy- 
renius, who, though a Roman senator only, 
when it was decreed, was governor of Syria, 
and is known among the Jews by that title." 
When St. Luke wrote the Gospel, Cyrenius was 
known by his latter title. Lardner's Works, 
4to. p. 136, &-C. Paley's Evidences, vol. ii. p. 
177. Hales'a Analysis, vol. ii. p. 705, &c. 



Note 21. — Part I. 

There does not appear to have been any 
necessity, from the nature of the tax, for the 
personal attendance of Mary at Bethlehem. 
When we consider her situation, it is not im- 
probable she might have been induced to have 
accompanied her husband to insure his protec- 
tion, and to preserve herself from the insult or 
contumely of her imbelieving neighbours, to 
which she might have been already exposed. 
To avoid reproach, or derision, she might have 
encountered fatigue and inconvenience. How- 
ever this may be, it shows us the manner in 
which the prophecies of the Old Testament 
were accomplished by circumstances apparently 
accidental. No mortal wisdom could have fore- 
seen the journey of Joseph to Bethlehem, and 
the consequent fulfilment of tliat prediction of 
Micah, which tlie Jews had long referred to, as 
an undoubted prophecy of the birthplace of 
Christ. When Herod called the priests to- 
gether, to demand of them "Where Christ 
should be born," they assured him it was at 
Bethlehem, from the prophecy of Micah, (Mic. 
v. 2.) This authority, however satisfactory to 
a Christian, is not, I have heard, sufficient for 
the modern Jew, who is more inclined to depend 
on the testimony of his ancient rabbis. I re- 
fer him to Joma, f. 10. 1. apud Meuschen J^T. 
T. ex Talmude, p. 19. (in p. 28. it is only a rep- 
etition of the same reference,) and tlie targum 
on Micah, xn^tyn pia' ■'mp 1Jn>"Exteanteme 
prodibit Messias, ut faciat potentiam super Is- 
rael." — Apud Schoetgen, vol. i. p. 3. 



Note 22.— Part I. 

ON the genealogies of ST. MATTHEW 
AND ST. lUKE. 

The apparent discrepancies between the gen 
ealogies of St. Matthew and St. Luke, contained 
in this section, have given rise to much discus 
sion. The enrohnent ordered by Augustus mus*- 
have compelled every family to review their 
tables of pedigree, which were always preserved 
among the Jews with more than usual attention 
we may therefore justly conclude that if any 
error had crept into the pedigree of Joseph and 
Mary, it would then have been rectified. In 
addition to this, we may observe, that St. Mat- 
thew and St. Luke published their Gospels at a 
time when the general tables of pedigree were 
still preserved, and when every genealogical 
table which professed to trace the descent oi 
one who claimed to be the expected Messiah, 
woidd be inspected with the most scrupulous 
and jealous anxiety. Yet we do not read tliat 
any objection to the accuracy of the Evange- 
lists was raised by their contemporaries. Satis- 



Note 22.] 



NOTES ON TPIE GOSPELS. 



*29 



factory solutions of the apparent differences have 
been given by Archbishop Newcome, Grotius, 
Whitby, South, Julius Africanus, and others, 
as weU as Lightfoot, whose opinion on this point 
is generaU}' the most approved. Tliis learned 
di\ine supposes that St. Matthew wrote Ms 
Gospel more particularly for the Jews : he there- 
fore proves Christ to be their Messiah, tlie heir 
of the throne of David, by legal descent from 
AbraJiam and David. But St. Luke, addressing 
himself to tlie Gentiles, to whom the promise 
had been given before the Levitical dispensa- 
tion, proves tlie same Christ to be the predicted 
seed of the woman, the son of Adam, the son 
of God. 

From perusing the various schemes of the the- 
ologians who have discussed this point, we may, 
however, come to these general conclusions : — 

From Abraliam to Da\'id the genealogies of 
St. Matthew and St. Luke coincide. 

It is commonly agreed that Matthew gives the 
legal, and not the natural, pedigree of Joseph. 

Mattliew traces the descendants of David 
through Solomon to Jechonias ; in whom the de- 
scendants of Solomon became extinct 

The legal successor of Jechonias was Sala- 
thiel ; who was descended from David through 
his son Nathan. 

Hence Salathiel appears in Matthew as the 
son of Jechonias 5 though he was really the son 
of Neri, as stated by Luke. 

Zorobabel had two sons, Abiud and Rhesa. 

Whether the line of Abiud became extinct in 
Matthan is disputed. 

It is agreed that from Heli upwards, in Luke's 
genealogy, the natural succession is given. 

It is disputed whether Joseph was Hell's ac- 
tual son, or his legal son, or his son-in-law. 

According to Julius Africanus (apud Euseb.) 
Joseph was the actual son of Jacob, and the 
grandson of Matthan. An opinion adopted by 
Whitby. 

According to Grotius, Joseph was the actual 
son of Heli, and the legal successor of Jacob. 
This makes Luke's genealogy the natural ped- 
igree of Joseph throughout. 

Lightfoot supposes that Joseph was the son- 
Ln-law of Heli, his wife Mary being the daughter 
of Heli. 

All seem to agree that both Joseph and Mary 
were UneaUy descended from Zorobabel. 

Therefore from Zorobabel upwards their nat- 
ural pedigi-ees, as given by Luke, coincide. 

Whether the pedigree from Zorobabel down- 
wards, in Luke, be that of Joseph or Mary, is 
uncertain. 

Whether tlie pedigree in Matthew from Zo- 
robabel downwards be the real, or the legal de- 
scent of Joseph is uncertain. 

Dr. Adam Clarke, in his Commentaiy, has de- 
voted much attention to tliis subject, and his 
conclusions appear so satisfactory, that I shall 
here lay them before the reader. 

VOL. II. 



1. " Being (as was supposed) the son of Jo- 
seph." Tliis phrase is used by Herodotus, to 
signify one who was only reputed to be the son 
of a particular person, tovtov Tcatg vofil'QeTui, 
j" He was supposed to be this man's son." 
/ 2. Much learned labor has been used to rec- 
oncile this genealogy with that of St. Matthew, 
! chap, i., and there are several ways of doing it : 
I the following, which appears to me to be the 
j best, is also the most simple and easy, 
j 3. Matthew, in descending from Abraham to 
/ Joseph, the spouse of the blessed Vu-gin, speaks 
: of sons properly such by way of natural gen- 
' eration : Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat 
Jacob, &c. But Luke, in ascending from the 
Saviour of tlie world to God himself, speaks ot 
sons either properly or improperly such ; on that 
account he uses an indeterminate mode of ex- 
pression, which may be applied to sons puta- 
tively or reaUy such. " And Jesus began to be 
about thirty years of age, being as was supposed 
the son of Joseph — of Heli — of Matthat," &c. 
This receives considerable support from Raphe- 
lius's method of reading the original, ihi' (w; 
ivouli^STO vlbg ' Imar^q)) tov 'Hid, "being (when 
reputed the son of Joseph) the son of Heli," &c. 
That St. Luke does not always speak of sons 
properly such is evident from the first and last 
person whom he names : Jesus Christ was only 
the supposed son of Joseph, because Joseph 
was the husband of his mother Mary; and 
Adam, who is said to be the son of God, was 
such only by creation. After this observation, 
it is next necessary to consider that, in the gen- 
ealogy described by St. Luke, there are two 
sons-in-law, instead of two sons. 

4. As the Hebrews never permitted the names 
of women to enter into their genealogical tables, 
whenever a family happened to end with a 
daughter, instead of naming her in the gen- 
ealogy, tliey inserted her husband as the son ot 
him, who was, in reality, but his fatlier-in-law. 
This import, Bishop Pearce has fidly shown, 
pofilteadai, bears in a variety of places. Jesus 
was " considered according to law," or " allowed 
custom," to be the son of Joseph, as he was of 
HeU. 

5. The two sons-in-law who are to be noticed 
in tliis genealogy are Joseph the son-in-law ot 
Heli, whose own fatlier was Jacob, Matt. i. 16. ; 
and Salathiel, the son-in-law of Neri, whose 
own fatlier was Jechonias, 1 Chron. iii. 17. and 
Matt. i. 12. ; this remark alone is sufficient to re- 
move every difficulty. Thus, it appears, that 
Joseph, the son of Jacob, according to St. Mat- 
thew, was son-in-law of Heli, according to St. 
Luke. And Salatliiel, son of Jechonias, accord- 
ing to the former, was son-in-law of Neri, ac- 
cording to the latter. 

6. Mary, therefore, appears to have been the 
daughter of Heh, so called by abbreviation for 
Heliachim, wjiicli is the same in Hebrew »^ 
Joachim. 



30* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part I, 



7. Joseph son of Jacob, and Mary daughter 
of Heli were of the same family ; both came 
from Zorobabel ; Joseph from Abiud, his eldest 
son, Matt. i. 13. and Mary by Rhesa, the young- 
est. See ver. 27. 

8. Salathiel and Zorobabel, fl-om whom St. 
Matthew and St. Luke cause Clirist to proceed, 
were themselves descended from Solomon in a 
right line ; and though St. Luke says that Sala- 
thiel was the son of Neri, who was descended 
from Natlian, Solomon's eldest brother, 1 Chron. 
iii. 5., this is only to be understood of his having 
espoused Nathan's daughter ; and that Neri 
dying probably without male issue, the two 
branches of the family of David, that of Natlian 
and Solomon, were both united in the person of 
Zorobabel, by the marriage of Salathiel, chief 
of the regal family of Solomon, witli the daugh- 
ter of Neri, chief and heretrix of the family of 
Nathan. So that Jesus, the son of Mary, re- 
united in himself aU the blood, privileges, and 
rights, of the whole family of David, in conse- 
quence of which He is emphatically called, the 
Son of David. It is worthy of remark, that 
Matthew, who wrote principally for the Jews, 
carries his genealogy to Abraham, through 
whom the promise of the Messiah was given to 
the Jews : but St. Luke, who wrote for the Gen- 

/ tiles, extends his genealogy to Adam, to whom 
[ the promise of the Saviour was in behalf of all 
! his posterity. 

V. 36. The insertion of the word Cainan has 
occasioned much difficulty ; as Cainan, the son 
of Arphaxad, and fatlier of Sala, is not found 
in any other Scripture genealogy. The best 
solution, because it does not violate the text, is 
that Cainan was a surname of Sala, and that 
the names should be read together, thus — the 
son of Heber — the son of Sala Cainan — the son 
of Arphaxad. 

The opinion of Africanus, long received by 
tlie Church, as the only legitimate mode of rec- 
onciling these difficulties, is as follows. 

The names of kindred among the Jews were 
reckoned in two ways. 

1. According to nature, as in the case of nat- 
ural generation. 2. According to law, as when 
a man died childless, his brother was obliged to 
take his wife, and the issue of that marriage 
was accounted to the deceased brother. In tliis 
genealogy some succeeded their fathers as nat- 
ural sons, but others succeeded who bore their 
names only. Thus neither of the Gospels is 
false : the one reckoning the pedigree by the 
natural, the other by the legal line. The race 
both of Solomon and Nathan is so interwoven 
by those second marriages, which raised up issue 
in the name of a deceased brother, that some 
appear to have two fathers — Iiim, whose natural 
issue they were, though tliey did not bear his 
name ; and him, to whom, having died childless, 
the children of his wife and brother were ac- 
counted for a seed, assuming his name. 



If we reckon the generations according to 
Matthew, from David by Solomon, Matthan will 
be found the third from the end, who begat 
Jacob, the father of Joseph ; but if we reckon 
according to Luke, from Nathan the son ot 
David, then the third person from the end will 
be Melchi, whose son was Heli, the father of 
Joseph ; for Joseph was the son of Heli, the son 
of Melchi. Matthan and Melchi having suc- 
cessively married the same wife, the latter be- 
gat children, who were brethren by the mother. 
Matthan, descending from Solomon, begat Jacob 
of Estha. After the death of Matthan, Melchi, 
who descended from Nathan, being of the same 
tribe, but of another race, took his widow to wife, 
and begat Heli: thus Jacob and Heli were 
brethren by the mother. Heli dying without 
issue, Jacob married his widow, and begat 
Joseph, who, by Law, was accounted the son ol 
Heli ; because the Law required the seed to be 
raised up to the deceased brother. Matthew 
therefore says, very properly, Jacob begat Joseph, 
but Luke says Joseph was the son of Heli ; and 
it is worthy of remark, that St. Luke does not 
use the term begot or begetting, but traces this 
genealogy by putative, and not by natural sons. 

The late learned Dr. Barrett has studied this 
difficult subject with the deepest attention, and 
by a new line of argument has reconciled the 
apparent discrepancies of the two genealogies. 
After examining the hypothesis of Africanus, 
he rejects it on the principle that it refers wholly 
to the descent of Joseph from David, without 
proving that the son of Mary was the son of 
David. 

Dr. Barrett then states his own solution, viz., 
that Matthnv relates the genealogy of Joseph, 
and I/uke that of Mai-y. Hence it appears 
probable, that, after Matthew had given his gen- 
ealogy to the world, another should be added by 
Luke, to prove that Christ was fully descended 
from David, not only by his supposed father 
Joseph, but by his real mother Mary. Those 
who agree in this opinion may be divided into 
two classes. 1. Those who affirm, that the 
families of Solomon and Nathan met in Sala- 
thiel and Zorobabel, and afterwards divaricated, 
till reunited in tlie marriage of Joseph and Mary. 
2. Tliose who assert tliat Salatliiel and Zeroba- 
bel were distinct individuals, and tliat no union 
took place between the families previous to the 
marriage of Joseph and Mary. To the latter 
opinion he objects, as being contradictory to the 
divine promise, 2 Sam. vii. 7. 12. 16. ; for, ac- 
cording to this hypothesis, neither Mary nor 
Christ were descended from David by Solomon. 
He therefore proposes to support the otlier hy- 
pothesis, and to clear away its difficulties. As 
Irenseus, Africanus, and Ambrosius assert that 
Luke has some names interpolated ; to detect 
this error. Dr. Barrett divides the genealogy 
into four classes ; 1. From God to Abraham. 
2. From Abraham to David. 3. From David 



Note 2-2.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*31 



to Salatliiel. 4. From Salathiel to Christ. He 
exaniines these at length, and concludes there 
have been some interpolations, omissions, and 
transpositions. To give a satisfactory view of 
tliis subject, he introduces a synopsis of the prin- 
cipal various readings of MS. versions, &c. 
on Luke ii. 24-31. 

From this collation of authorities, afler cor- 
recting the omissions and interpolations, he con- 
cludes with Irenffius, tliat these generations 
should be laid down in the following order. 1. 
Jesus. 2. Joseph, (or Mary, the daughter of 
Heli.) 3. Heli, the grandfather of Clirist. 4. 
Matthat. 5. Levi. 6. Melchi. 7. Janna. 8. 
Joseph. 9. Matthias. 10. Amos. 11. Naum. 
12. Esh. 13. Nagge. 14. Semel. 15. Joseph. 
16. Juda. 17. Joanna. 18. Rhesa. 19. Ze- 
robabel. 20. Salathiel. 21. Neri. 22. Mel- 
chi. 23. Addi. 24. Cosam. 25. Elmodam. 
26. Er. 27. Jose. 28. Eliezer. 29. Jorim. 
30. Matthat. 31. Levi. 32. Simeon. 33. 
Juda. 34. Joseph. 35. Jonan. 36. Eliakim. 
37. Mattatha. 38. Nathan. 39. Da\id. 40. 
Jesse. 41. Obed. 42. Booz. 43. Salmon. 
44. Naasson. 45. Aminadab. 46. Aram. 47. 
Esrom. 48. Pharez. 49. Juda. 50. Jacob. 
51. Isaac. 52. Abraham. 53. Terah. 54. 
Nahor. 55. Serug. 56. Ragau. 57. Peleg. 
58. Eber. 59. Sala. 60. Canaan. 61. Ar- 
phaxad. 62. Shem. 63. Noah. 64. Lamech. 
65. Mathusala. 66. Enoch. 67. Jared. 68. 
Mahalaleel. 69. Canaan. 70. Enos. 71. Seth. 
72. Adam. 

From the generations thus laid down, there 
will be found fifty-one names between Christ 
and Abraham, excluding the latter, which agrees 
both with Afficanus and Ambrosius. Now let 
thirty years be reckoned to each generation be- 
tween Christ and Da\dd, Salathiel wOl then ap- 
pear to have been born anno 570 before Christ, 
which will be found near the truth ; and David 
1140. David was in fact born 1085 B. C, 
whence there appears an error of fifty-five 
years, or about the twentieth part of the time, 
in so many generations. But according to the 
received text of Luke, Salathiel must be bom 
B. C. 630, and David 1260 ; this would be an 
error of 175 years, or a fifth part of the whole 
interval. 

Dr. Barrett endeavours to solve the principal 
difficulty by adopting the genealogy of David, 
as delivered 1 Chron. iii. In tliis chapter, and 
in the Book of Kings, the whole is laid down 
in the most accurate manner till the reign of 
Jechonias, after which he supposes some errors 
liave been admitted into the text, on account of 
many inconsistencies, chronological difiiculties, 
and various readings, which he enumerates. 

From these considerations it appears, that 
those who are mentioned 1 Chron. iii. 18. were 
neither the sons of Jechoniah, nor of Salathiel, 
and consequently were the sons of Zerubbabel, 
as he has satisfactorily proved — that Pedaiah, 
or Peraiah, is the same who, in verse 21, is 



called Rephaiah, who is mentioned Nehemiah 
iii. 9., and that Jechamiah is the same as Joachim, 
who, according to Esdras v. 5. was the son oi 
Zerubbabel. Both these names, Pedaiah or 
Peraiah, and Jechamiah, occur 1 Cluron. iii. 18., 
consequently a verse is transposed ; a thing not 
unfrequent in the Sacred Writings. He there- 
fore contends that the text of 1 Chron. iii. 18- 
22. should be read in the following order : — 

Verse 18. And tlie sons of Salathiel, Zerub- 
babel and Shimei; and the sons of Zerubba- 
bel, Meshullam, Hananiah, and Shelomith 
their sister. 

Ver. 19. Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, 
and Hasadiah, Jushab-hesed. 

Ver. 20. And Malchiram, and Rephaiah, and 
Shenar, Jechamiah, Hoshamah, and Nedabiah ; 
six. 

Ver. 21. And the sons of Hananiah, Pelatiah, 
and Jesaiah ; the sons of Rephaiah ; Aman his 
son ; Obadiah his son ; Shechaniah his son ; 
(reading, according to Houbigant, ijj' beyio, for 
■■JJl belli.) 

Ver. 22. The sons of Shechaniah ; Shemaiah ; 
the sons of Shemaiah ; Hattush, and Igeal, and 
Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat ; six. 

He then shows the propriety of substituting 
1J3) heno, his son, for 'J^j heni, sons, in ver. 21. 
supposing the latter to be corrupted. 

Dr. Barrett, having thus far made his way 
plain, proceeds to lay down a table of the re- 
gal line, taken from 1 Chron. iii., placing on each 
side the genealogies given by St. Matthew and 
St Luke, that the general agreement may be 
more easily discerned. 



Matt. i. 


1 Chron. iii. 


Luke iii. 


Salathiel. 


Salathiel. 


Salathiel. 


Zorobabel. 


Zerubbabel. 


Zorobabel. 


First generation 






omitted. 


Rephaiah. 


Rhesa. 


Another generation 






omitted. 


Aman, or Onon. 


Joanna, or Jonan. 


Abiud. 


Obadiah. 


Juda. 


Eliakim. 


Shechaniah. 


Joseph, or Josech. 


A third generation 






omitted. 


Shemiah. 

Xo corresponding 


Semei. 




generation. 


Mattathias. 




No corresponding 






generation. 


Maath. 


Fourth generation 






omitted. 


Neariah. 


Nagge. 


Azor, who is also 


Azrikam, who is 


Esli, from whom 


From the above 


Elioenai. 


descended Mary. 


descends Joseph 


Joanan Joanam. 


Naum, or Anum. 


who espoused 






Mary. 







Dr. Barrett then proceeds to lay down tlie 
following propositions : — 

I. T^at Salathiel in Matthew is the same with 
Salathiel in 1 Chron. iii., both being descended 
from David through the same ancestors ; both 
lived at the same time, viz. of the capti^dty ; and 
both were born of the same father. 

II. Jliat Salathiel in Luke is the same ivilh 
Salathiel in 1 Chron. iii. 17., the same as in Mat- 
thew i. and consequently that Mary the mother of 
Jesus, descending from Salathiel in Luke, de- 
scends lineally from David by Solomon, a r.iatta 



32* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part 1. 



of vast consequence according to the opinion of 
Calvin, who asserts " if Christ was not descended 
from Solomon, lie cannot be the Messiah.'" Tak- 
ing- for granted, then, that Salathiel in Matthew- 
is the same -with Salathiel in 1 Chron. Dr. Bar- 
rett deduces the following consequences from 
his hypothesis. 

1. Zeruhhahel in 1 Chron. is the same with 
Zorobabel in Luke : as they agree in name, 
time, and in having the same father. 

2. Rephaiah in 1 Chron. is the same with 
Rhesa in Luke, where a notable coincidence 
occurs in the names. 

3. Arnan in 1 Chron. is the same with Joanna 
in Luke ; which appears probable from the great 
diversity of forms in which the name is written 
in ancient MSS. 

4. 'Ohadiah in 1 Chron. is the same as Juda 
in Luke. In this name may be found tliat of 
Abiud, mentioned Matt. i. 13. who is the third 
from Zerubbabel ; whence it is evident, that in 
St. Matthew two generations are omitted. The 
MSS. in St. Luke also vary considerably in the 
name ; some write it latuSa, which answers to 
the Hebrew Joida, or even nn^;?. Obadiah; the 
same as Iddo, who returned with Zerubbabel. 

5. Shechaniah in 1 Chron. is the same with 
Joseph, or Osech, between which names there 
is a considerable similitude. 

6. Slmnaiah in 1 Chron. is the same with 
Semei in Luke. In this place the names per- 
fectly agree. Thus, through six successive 
generations in the same line, the names either 
perfectly agree, or are manifestly similar ; each 
preserving the same order. Hence it may be 
legitimately concluded, that the preceding hy- 
pothesis is perfectly correct ; and that Salathiel 
in Luke is the same with Salathiel, 1 Chron. iii., 
especially when we consider that the time which 
elapsed between David and Christ was nearly 
bisected by the captivity ; so that the number 
of generations between them was divided into 
almost two equal parts by Salathiel. The two 
generations which occur after Semei, in Luke, 
after Mattathias and Maath, of which no trace 
is found, 1 Chron. iii. are rejected from the text 
of Luke as interpolations. Immediately after 
Shemaiah, the writer of 1 Chron. iii. subjoins 
Neariah, in which Dr. Barrett supposes he has 
found the person called Nagge in Luke iii. 25. 
as the names in the original languages do not 
materially differ. 

In some following observations Dr. Barrett 
thinks that the family of Salathiel divided into 
two branches, one of which is traced by Mat- 
thew, the other by Luke. It is therefore not 
surprising that the genealogies of the two Evan- 
gelists should differ from this period. The Esli 
mentioned by Luke had a son called Naum, or 
Anum ; among the sons of Elioenai, mentioned 
in 1 Chron. iii. was .Toamam, or Joanam — names 
which considerably resemble those recorded by 
St. Luke. 

Having thus fixed the genealogy, by proving 



that Salathiel in Matthew and Luke is the same 
with Salathiel in 1 Chron. iii. 17. he proceeds to 
inquire whether chronology wiU support him in 
the times of these generations. 

From examining the chronology, it appears 
that there is no place for the supposititious Pe- 
daiah, and that Naum begat Amos B. C. 290, 
himself being fifty years old. After Amos let 
thirty years be computed for each generation, 
or a hundred years for three, the dates will 
then appear thus : — 



Matthew. 


Lube. 


A.A.C. 

380 
340 

290 
260 
230 
200 
165 
130 
100 

65 

25 


Azor born B.C. 380 .. . 
A generation omitted . . 
Anotlier generation omit- 
ted 

Sadoc 


Elioenai, or Esli,born . 
Naum 


Mattathias 




Eliud 




Eleazer 


Melclii 


Matthan 

Jacob 

Joseph, Iiusband of Mary 




Matthat 


Heli 

Mary, mother of Christ 



Dr. Barrett then inquires, whether by the 
proposition it appears that Salathiel in Luke 
and Salathiel in 1 Chron. are the same person, 
provided the generations be traced up to David ; 
he acknowledges the difficulties of the inquiry, 
and that the utmost to be expected is, to show 
the invalidity of the arguments against it. 

Matthew states that Jechonias was the father 
of Salathiel : but Luke says, that Aen" was 
his father : this may be reconciled by supposing 
that JVeri was the maternal grandfather of Sa- 
lathiel, and hence, according to the custom ot 
the Hebrews, put down for Iiis father. The 
truth of this hypothesis is next examined. 

It is a received opinion of the Jews, that Su- 
sanna was the wife of Jechonias, and mother 
of Salathiel, which is confirmed by Bihlioth. 
Clement. Vatic, tom. i. p. 290. and she was un- 
doubtedly nearly allied to the throne, from the 
magnificence in which she lived. (See the ac- 
count in the Septuagint version of Daniel, com- 
pared witli 2 Sam. xv. 1. 1 Kings i. 5.) 

He next inquires into the genealogy of Neri, 
whom he supposes to be the same with Neariah, 
mentioned so frequently by Jeremiah, and who 
was the father of Baruch and Seraiah. Baruch 
was certainly of an illustrious family, as we 
learn from Josephus, who calls him the son of 
Neri ; which Dr. Barrett establishes by several 
considerations, sliowing that Baruch, and con- 
sequently Neariah, sprang from Nathan the son 
of David. 

As nothing is related of the ancestors of 
Neariah, he again recurs to conjectures, which 
are chiefly the following : — Masseiah, or Melchi, 
the father of Neriah, was probably the same 
mentioned in 2 Chron. xxxiv. 8. as governor of 
the city. It is also probable Simeon, the son of 
Juda, mentioned Luke iii. 30. is the same per- 
son called Maaseiah, the son of Adaiah, in 2 
Chron. xxiii. 1., the two names being written 



Note 23.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*33 



with tlie same letters, and differing scarcely 
except in situation. It is well known to all 
biblical critics, tliat the names of the Old Tes- 
tament have been much corrupted, not only in 
different translations, but in different copies of 
the original. 

Admitting the above hypothesis. Dr. Barrett 
shows that tlie family of Nathan was concealed 
in an obscure situation, till the greater part of 
tlie family of Solomon was destroyed by the 
treachery of Athaliah ; when Maaseiah, or 
Simeon, moved with pity towards his relative 
Joash, by the assistance of Jehoiada, removed 
Athaliah out of the way, and set Joash upon the 
tin-one ; from which time the dignity of the 
family increased, till the line of Solomon be- 
coming extinct, Jechonias, his only remaining 
heir, took to wife Susanna the daughter of 
JYeariah. Supposing this hypothesis to be true, 
Dr. Barrett thus constructs his genealogical 
table, beginning at the division of the line of 
Solomon, omitting Melea and Hainan as inter- 
Dolations. 



1 

2 


Solomon. 


1 

2 


Nathan. 


Rehohoain 


Mattatha 


3 


Abiali 


3 


Eliakim 


4 


\s;i 


4 


Jonan 


5 


.lehosaphat 


5 


Joseph 


f. 


relioram 


6 


Judah, or Adaiah 


7 


Ahaziah 


7 


Simeon, or Masseiah 


8 


roash 


8 


Levi 


9 


Ainaziah 


9 


Matthat 


10 


Uzziah 


10 


Jorim 


]] 


Jothara 


11 


Eliezer 


12 


Ahaz 


12 


Jose 


13 


Hezekiah 


13 


Er 


14 


Man asses 


14 


Elmodam 


15 


Amon 


15 


Cosam 


16 


Josias 


16 


Addi 


17 


Jehoiakim 


17 


Melchi, or Maaseias 


18 


Jeboiachin. or Jechonias 


18 


Neri 






19 


Susanna. 



In treating of the ancestors of Mary, and the 
consangumity between her and Joseph, Dr. Bar- 
rett shows that the Virgin was not (as was for- 
merly supposed) descended from the tribe of 
Levi, but from the family of David ; and brings 
several additional arguments to prove that St. 
Luke traces the genealogy of Mary, and St. 
Matthew that of Joseph. 

According to the universal voice of antiquity, 
the father and mother of the Virgin were called 
Joachim and Anna. Dr. Barrett thinks it indis- 
putable that Joachim is the same name with 
Heli, Luke iii. 23. or Eliakim, 2 Clu-on. xxxvi. 
4., which is rendered probable by the Virgin 
being called by some Jewish writers, Mai-y, the 
daughter of Heli. Thus it may be taken for 
granted, that Heli was the father of Mary, and 
maternal grandfather of Christ, and that he is 
considered by St. Luke as the real father of 
Christ. He next considers the family of Anna, 
the mother of Mary. It is generally agreed 
that the father of Anna was named Matthan, 
and he is supposed by some to have been a 
priest — and as the daughters of the priests 
might intermarry with any tribe, it accounts for 
Mary's being the cousin of Elisabeth (who was 

VOL. II. *5 



really of tlie tribe of Levi), though her father 
Joachim, or Heli, was a descendant of the tribe 
of Judah. 

Dr. Barrett next proceeds to the family of 
Joachim ; but in this examination he finds very 
few documents to guide his inquiries. It how- 
ever seems probable that James, Joses, Simon, 
and Judas, mentioned in Matt. xiii. 55. and Luke 
vi. 3. as the brethren of our Lord, were in reality 
his cousins, being the sons of Mary, the wife of 
Alpheus, and sister to the Virgin. 

Concerning Cieopas, or Klopas, there are 
various opinions, but that conjecture of Calmet 
seems the most probable, that Cieopas was the 
husband of that Mary who was sister to the 
blessed Virgin, and father of James the less. 

Dr. Barrett thinks that these apparently dis- 
cordant systems may be harmonized into the 
foUowinff scheme : — 



BIATTIIAT 



cieopas died, 
childless : his 
brother Joachim 
married his wi- 
dow : tlie off- 
spring of that 
marriage was 
Mary the wife of 
Cieopas, or Al- 
pheus, mention- 
ed John xix.25., 
and mother of 
James, who is 
called the Lord's 
brother. 



Joachim, or Heli, 
married the se- 
cond time to 
Anna, from 

whom sprang 
Marv. 



JACOB. 



Joseph, Alpheus, or 

I Cieopas mar- 

ried Mary, ^ 
Tov KAwTra, 
John xix. 25 
whence 
sprangJames, 
Joses, Simon, 
and Juda. 



Jesus. 



Having thus investigated this difficult ques- 
tion. Dr. Barrett concludes by observing, that 
his principal object was to prove, by the agree- 
ment of the Evangelists, that Christ descended 
from David by the line of Solomon. 

To effect this he has formed a genealogical 
table of the family of David, according to the 
principal genealogical tables given in the Old 
Testament ; and to this test, supported by fair 
criticism and the comparing of MSS., he brings 
the table of descent given by St. Matthew and 
St. Luke, and finding that they both agree with 
his conclusions, he of course concludes that 
they necessarily agree with each other. From 
their mutual agreement with the line of descents 
collected from the Old Testament, without any 
other collateral evidence, he further concludes, 
that the genealogies of St. Matthew and St. 
Luke are genuine, authentic, and accurate. 

Vide Dr. Adam Clarke's Comment, on Luke 
iii. (from whose abridgment of Dr. Barrett's 
work, the above is compiled), Whitby, and the 
commentators. 



Note 23.— Part I. 

It is not necessary to enter into the investi- 
gation of the question, whether these two chap- 
ters of St. Luke are genuine ; for the whole 
Gospels rest upon the same evidence : that is, 



34* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part I. 



they are now found in every manuscript and 
version extant, and were always received as 
authentic from the commencement of the Chris- 
tian sera. A class of writers, however, falsely 
assuming the name of Christians, have framed 
to themselves many arguments against the 
truths contained in these and the first two chap- 
ters of St. Matthew ; and having persuaded 
themselves that the doctrines they contain are 
indefensible, they proceed to attack the authen- 
ticity of the chapters which assert them. Their 
principal reason for this conduct is, that a here- 
tic, named Marcion, used a copy of St. Lulie's 
Gospel, in which these chapters were omitted. 
Tlie whole question has been fully and most 
impartially examined by Dr. Loefler, and the 
conclusions of his careful investigation are 
these": — 

1. The Gospel used by Marcion was anony- 
mous. 

2. The four Gospels were all alike rejected 
by Marcion, who maintained the authenticity of 
his own anonymous Gospel in place of these 
inspired compositions. 

3. His followers assert that Christ himself, 
and St. Paul, were the authors of Marcion's 
Gospel. 

4. Irenffius, Tertullian, and Epiphanius, had 
no reason for regarding Marcion's Gospel as an 
altered edition of St. Luke's ; their assertion is 
mere conjecture", resting on absurd and frivo- 
lous allegations. The great difference of the 
two Gospels is inconsistent with this supposi- 
tion. 

5. No reasonable motive can be assigned, 
tvhich could have induced Marcion to use a 
garbled copy of St. Luke's Gospel ; the motives 
assigned by the fathers being inconsistent and 
self-destructive. 

It is supposed, therefore, that he adopted 
some apocryphal composition, combining much 
of the matter given by St. Luke with his own 
ideas of theology and revelation. 

Vide J. P. Smith's Testimony to the Messiah, 
vol. ii. p. 13, 14. — Vindication of the two first 
chapters of St. Matthew and St. Luke, by a 
Layman. — See also Dr. Nares, Archbishop Lau- 
rence, and Mr. Rennell, on the Socinian JVeio 
Testament. 



Note 24. — Part L 

In the first fourteen generations, the people 
of Israel were under prophets — in the second, 
under kings— in the third, under the Asmonsean 
priests. The fiirst fourteen brought their king- 
dom to glory, under the reign of David ; the 
second to misery, in the captivity of Babylon ; 
and the third to glory again, under the Messiah- 

' Marsh's Micjiaelis, yol. iii. p. 159. 



sliip of Christ. The first division begins with 
Abraham, who received the promise ; and ends 
with David, who received it again with greater 
clearness. The second begins with the build- 
ing of the temple, and ends with its destruction. 
The third opens with a deliverance from tem- 
poral enemies and return from captivity, and 
terminates in their spiritual delivery from every 
enemy by Christ; to whom each successive 
generation pointed as the Prophet — King— and 
Priest of his people. — See also Lightfoot, vol. 
i. p. 418. 



Note 25. — Part I. 

This too might have been expected, tliat, 
when the Messiah was born, some visible ex- 
pression of angelic joy and sympathy would be 
demonstrated at the mercy of God displayed 
towards the human race. To the angels of 
heaven the system of redemption is represented 
as a subject of surprise and astonishment. In 
the cherubic emblems the angels are drawn as 
bending over the ark ; and, in allusion to tlse 
cause of this position, we are expressly told 
" which things the angels desire to look into''." 

The address of the angel is formed with pe- 
culiar allusion to the plan of redemption. " Be- 
hold I bring you," who are Jews, the favored 
sons of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the 
chosen people of God — I bring you " tidings of 
great joy." But this great joy shall not be con- 
fined to you — it " shall be to all the nations : ' 
for the desire of all nations is come — the Christ 
— the Messiah is born. Although the Saviour 
of all mankind, he is more especially your Sa- 
viour. " Unto you is born," this very day, in a 
city of your former king, the " Saviour, which 
is Christ the Lord ;" or more properly Messiah, 
the Jehovah Angel of your fathers. 

At every step of our progress into the mag- 
nificent world of the Christian revelation, we 
meet with new proofs of one wise scheme of 
Almighty Providence in accomplishing the sal- 
vation of man — 

"Lord! what is man that thou art mindful of 
him, 
Or the son of man, that thou so regardest 
him?" 

When the long-promised Christ is born, the 
universe seems to be agitated. The age of 
miracles, of prophecy, of supernatural vision, 
of angelic appearances returns. But to whom 
does the Almighty vouchsafe to reveal him- 
self ? not to Augustus at Rome, not to Herod 
at Jerusalem: not to the philosopher who de- 
pended on his reason, or the Pharisee who 
relied on his traditions, and forgot the spirit 

^ 1 Pet. i. 12. tl(;a iTti&Vfi.ovaiv ayysXoi naqaxvxpat. 



Note 26.-2S.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*35 



of his Scriptures! At tlie creation of the 
world the sons of God had shouted for joy (Job 
xxxviii. 7.) : at the reconciliation of the world, 
the joyful tidings were to be given to all peo- 
ple, and the sons of God again descend as the 
delighted and exulting messengers. They ap- 
pear to the shepherds in the field, to the hum- 
ble, the poor, and the unprejudiced. The world 
is buried in sleep and unconcerned, though 
God hunself was present — the shepherds, re- 
moved from all temporal distinctions, are awake, 
watchful, and obedient ; and receive the good 
tidings of great joy, listening to the song of tlie 
heavenly host, saying, 

" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
peace, 
Good-will toward men." 

The glory of the Shechinah, the visible mani- 
festation of the presence of God, is now be- 
held for the first time during many centuries", 
and the heavenly multitude were the attendants 
of our blessed Lord when he left the glory of 
his Father, to enter on the scene of his humili- 
ation and sufiering, for which his mortal body 
was now prepared. The Logos, or the divine 
nature, might at this time perhaps have united 
itself to the body ordained to receive it. It 
might now only have left the glory in which it 
had tabernacled in heaven. That which was 
within the womb of the Virgin was human 
only: a human body, and a human soul. It 
was perfect man. That which was divine 
might have been only united to the body in this 
state, when the perfect child was born. Then 
the perfect God became united to the perfect 
man, " of a reasonable soul, and human flesh 
subsisting." 

Dr. Lardner, in his treatise. Whether the Lo- 
gos supplied the place of a human soul in the 
body of Chiist ? confounds tlie twofold nature. 



Note 26.— Part I. 

The Messiah being now born into the world 
as a man, became subject to the Law of Moses, 
that he might fulfil all righteousness, and there- 
by be able, as the perfect sacrifice, to redeem 
those who had \iolated that Law. At the usual 
time, therefore, and with the ceremonies ap- 
pointed for the Jews, he received the name 
which designated him as a man in all respects 

' The expression in the original Soia Kvoiov tcb- 
Qii?.ainl>£r avrovg, is the same as the Hebrew T13D 
niri',the Shechinah, or emblem or token of the 
presence of the Divine Majesty, which appeared so 
often to the patriarchs in the earlier ages of the 
world. Bechai in Legem, fol. 100. 1. " Apparitio 
Majestatis divinae in Scriptura dicitur rilH' 1133> 
Gloria Domini, stilo vero sap'ientum Shechinah : 
et hue pertinent loca Exod. xxiv. 16. et Ps. Ixxxv. 
10." — Schoetgen. HorcB Hebraicce, vol. i. p. 542, and 
p 261. — Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 2. 



like unto us, sin only excepted. The name 
Christ, or the Anointed, was given him from 
above. He was now called Jesus, the Saviour, 
who in the likeness of sinful flesh was born to 
obey, and to atone. By the circumcision also 
he was taken, as a man, into covenant with his 
Father, whose glory he had so lately left. 



Note 27.— Pakt I. 

Whisto', conti'ary to the united opinions of 
Lightfoot, Doddridge, Newcome, Lardner, Mi- 
chaelis, PHkington, and others, has placed the 
offering of the Magi before the purification. If 
he had assigned sufiicient reasons for this dif- 
ference, it had been entitled to more attention ; 
but it is certain that if the reputed parents of 
Christ had had tire power, they would have Irad 
with it the most anxious wish to conform, with 
the utmost scrupulousness, to the Law on this 
occasion ; had the Magi, therefore, presented 
their gifts before the purification, Joseph and 
Mary would doubtless have offered a lamb, in- 
stead of the sacrifice of the poorest of the peo- 
ple, a pair of turtle doves, or two young pig- 
eons. 



Note 28.— Part L 

The prophecy of Simeon, who is supposed 
by Lightfoot to have been the father of the cel- 
ebrated teacher Gamaliel, completes the evi- 
dence in favor of the Messiahship of Christ, 
derived from the return of the spirit of prophecy. 
It is not certain whether Anna spake by the 
Spirit of prophecy ; or only expressed her con- 
viction of the truth, from hearing and studyincr 
the evidences already afforded to the reflecting 
and pious, in proof of the claims of our Lord. 
The glory of the second temple now appeared 
in it for the first time. The miraculous power 
of his Holy Father attended his entrance there ; 
and, though an infant, he was openly acknowl- 
edged by the inspired efiusions of the most em- 
inent among the Jews for learning, piety, and 
obedience to the Law. The most satisfactory 
and irresistible e%idence was given, on all oc- 
casions, to those who really waited in joyful 
expectation, for that Sa\aour who should give 
redemption to Israel, and deliver them, according 
to their own ideas, from the power of the Ro- 
mans. For among the Jews, the human and 
divine character and actions of the expected 
Saviour were much blendedA Every testimony 

/ '•■ I apprehend," says Bishop Blomfield, '• that 
the true state of the case may be this — The Jews 
knew from their Scriptures that the promised Mes- 
siah was to be of the race of David ; they knew 
also that he was the Son of God, the same Being 



36* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part I. 



which had satisfied and confirmed their fathers 
in the faith had now been vouchsafed to them : 
the spirit of prophecy — the vision of angels — 
tlie return of miracles and of dreams. If 
greater evidence than this had been afibrded — 
if the more public and stupendous miracles 
afterwards wrought by our blessed Saviour had 
taken place at this time, the silent and tranquil 
obedience of our Lord would have been inter- 
rupted, before the time, by the homage, the 
wonder, the persecuting hatred and jealousy, 
of the Jewish people. The time was not yet 
fully come, when his Divinity and power were 
to be publicly manifested. Before he preached 
to others, he became perfect himself. The root 
was planted in the dry ground of retired and 
obscure life, and from this unkindly soil it be- 
came 'the tree of life, yielding its fruits for " the 
healing of the nations." 



Note 29.— Part L 

One consolation the house of Israel may de- 
rive from the testimony of the Prophet Simeon : 
The child of whom he spake was set for tlie 
fall and rising again of many in Israel. It is 
not necessary to confine the meaning of the 
words to the primary reception or rejection of 
our Saviour by the Jews of that age. Christ is 
set both for the fall and rising again of the 
whole house of Israel. The time may not per- 
haps be far distant when the veil shall be taken 
from their eyes, and, in acknowledging a spirit- 
ual Messiah, they will no longer either expect, 
or desu-e, a mere temporal deliverer. Then 
will they restore tlae temple on Mount Sion, 
and all the nations of the world will again resort 
to Jerusalem, the joy of the whole earth. 
" Glorious things shall be spoken of thee, thou 
city of God." 



Note 30.— Part I. 

" The Holy Family (says Archbishop New- 
come^) return from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, 
and not to Nazareth ; to which they did not re- 
tire till after their retreat from Egypt. Mary, 

wlio had guarded them in the wilderness, and who 
had descended in the Shechinah. That these two 
qualifications should be at one and the same time 
united in the same person, was perhaps a doctrine 
of which they found it difficult to give a satisfac- 
tory account. They probably expected that the 
Messiah would not manifest his divine character, 
till he should have fulfilled all the particulars pre- 
dicted of him, as the Son of David, and his king- 
dom should be fully established. This notion will 
perhaps solve some difficulties, which present them- 
selves after considering the treatises of Allix and 
Wilson." — Knowledge of Jewish Tradition essential, 
&c. p. 35, note. 

^ Notes to Harmony, fol. edit. p. 4. 



who attentively considered every circumstance 
relating to her Son, might prefer Betlilehem, 
from Micah v. 2., and from the remembrance of 
the angelic vision." But on this point there is 
much difference of opinion. Pilkington sup- 
poses'', that they returned from Jerusalem into 
Galilee, to their own city, and not to Bethlehem. 
Pilkington's Dissertation is curious, but the 
subject is not of sufficient importance to occupy 
further attention. The curious reader may 
peruse it at leisure. It seems natural to sup- 
pose, that if Joseph and Mary went from Beth- 
lehem to Jerusalem solely to perform the re- 
ligious ceremony prescribed by the Law, of 
presenting the child Jesus at the temple, they 
would as certainly return again to Bethlehem, 
as a man would return to his own house, if he 
lefl it merely to go to a place of worship. 
The concurrent testimony of antiquity also, 
which is never to be despised, as well as the 
letter of Scripture, Matt ii. 9, 10, 11., are un- 
favorable to Pilkington's theory. 



Note 31. — Part I. 

The Jews believed that the glorious reign 
of the Messiah should conunence with a long 
series of calamitous events, which accounts for 
the agitation tliat the intelligence of his birth 
occasioned in Herod, and " all Jerusalem with 
him." These expected visitations are enumer- 
ated, from the ancient traditions of the Jews, at 
great length by Schoetgenius (Hora Hebraica, 
vol. ii. p. 512, &c.) ; who, after relating 
many afflictions of a moral and religious na- 
ture, which would not have affected the mind 
of a man of Herod's character, mentions, that 
the Jews, in addition to these evils, anticipated — 
« Many wars " — (Bereschith Rahba, sect. 42, fol. 
41.1. "Dixit R. Eleasarfilius Abina: si videris 
regna contra se invicem insurgentia., iSjiS n3V 
n'tJ/n Sty tunc attende, et aspice adpedemMes- 
sise ") — " Earthquakes " — (Sohar Exod. fol. 3. 
col. u. ex versione Sommeri, p. 81.) — "Revolts 
and insurrections of the better citizens " — (So- 
har JVumen. fol. 102. col. 407.)—" Scarcity of 
corn and provisions" — (Sola, fol. 49. 2; and 
Pesikta Sotarta, fol. 58. 1.)—" Poverty "—(San- 
hedAn, fol. 97. 2.)—" Plague "—(Pesikta Rah- 
bathi, fol. 2. 1. and 28. 3.) with many others. It 
is curious to notice these traditions, as they all 
unite to prove that many causes might have 
combined to render both Herod and all Jerusa- 
lem agitated at the announcement of the Magi. 
These coincidences also tend to demonstrate 
the utter impossibility, tliat the histories given 
us by the Evangelists can be otherwise than 
the authentic and genuine documents, which 
they are believed to be by the Church of Christ. 

'' See Pilkington's second Preliminary DisseT- 
tation. 



Note 32,33.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*37 



Note 32.— Part I. 

PiRKE Eliezer, c. 3. applies tliis passage to the 
Messiah, oipo rnixvni' "His goings forthhave 
been from tlie beginning," that is, KnDJ iih\a Ij; 
nD'7iJ.'n " When the world was not yet founded ;" 
and the Targum on Micah v. 1., tlie passage re- 
ferred to by St. Matthew— XH'iyrD DID'' ■'Dip IJD. 
" From thee, before me, shall go forth the Mes- 
siah." — Schoetgen. vol. i. p. 3. I quote this 
passage to show that the Jewish teachers inter- 
preted this passage of Micah in the same man- 
ner as the Evangelist St. Matthew : it is proba- 
ble, therefore, that the Evangelist in this, as in 
other instances, referred to the prophet in tlie 
manner usually adopted by his contemporaries. 
He appealed to them on their own principles. 



Note 33.— Part I. 

ON THE VISIT OF THE MAGI. 

Yet one additional evidence, that the Mes- 
siah had come, seemed to have been equally 
necessary with the others, and that also was 
granted. He was promised to the Gentiles ; 
and the Great Prophet had long since predicted, 

" The Gentiles shall come to thy light, 
And kings to the brightness of thy rising." 

Is. Ix. 3. The brightness of the rising of the 
morning star of the Gospel we have already seen. 
The rays of reviving prophecy, miracle, and an- 
gelic appearance, began to penetrate the dark 
night that had now overspread the Jewish Church. 
Yet the heathen world was in a state of still 
grosser darkness. The light was to beam upon 
it also in its meridian splendor ; we might an- 
ticipate, therefore, that one ray of iiis earlier 
glory would descend on the Gentile world. 
This was accomplished in the visit of the Magi 
to Bethlehem. 

That large tract of country extending from 
Mesopotamia on the north, Arabia on the south, 
and Persia on the east, was occupied in the 
earlier ages of the world by populous and pow- 
erful tribes, all of whom, according to their au- 
thentic and traditional history, professed the 
same religion, and were distinguished for their 
reverence of fire, wliich they considered as the 
most perfect representation of the Deity, and 
the worship of which was the most ancient 
form of idolatry. The philosophers and learned 
men of this region were called Magi ; and it is 
not improbable, that, as the whole territory 
originally professed the religion of the one true 
God, their adoration of the sun proceeded from 
their considering that body as a permanent 
Shecliinah, or emblem of the Shechinah. The 
incipient error, from whatever source it origi- 
nated, gradually sunk into a grosser idolatry, 
and mingled much superstition with the tradi- 
VOL. II. 



tional knowledge of a purer religion. Abraham 
liimself, according to Maimonides, was educated 
in the Sabian faith (see Josh. xxiv. 2.), which he 
was afterwards considered to have purified and 
reformed. Its doctrines were generally re- 
ceived and propagated, and were supposed to 
have originated in Chaldea: they were after- 
wards adopted in Persia and Egypt, where they 
became extremely polluted and debased. 

The Egyptians in a subsequent age abused 
their knowledge, and professed to dive into fu- 
turity by astrology and the other arts of divina- 
tion ; and from this illicit application of the 
Sabian doctrines arose the term Magi, or Ma- 
gician, when used in its opprobrious sense. 
The evidence of history (Mr. Franks' remarks) 
traces the Goetic arts to Egypt, as their birth- 
place, of which countiy were the first magicians 
mentioned in history. 

But it can be equally made evident by the 
testimony of a variety of profane authors, that 
the most ancient signification of this word was 
applied, as a term of distinction, to the philoso- 
phers and wise men of a much earlier age. 
By the word Magus, says Hesychius', the Per- 
sians understand a sacred person, a professor of 
theology, and a priest ; and Suidas* tells us, 
that, among the Persians, the Magi are those 
who devote themselves to philosophy, and to 
the worship of the Deity. Dion, Chrysostom, 
and Porphyry assert the same : and many more 
authorities might be enumerated in confirmation 
of this opinion. 

The principal object to which the Magi, or 
the Chaldean, or Eastern pliilosophers in gen- 
eral, devoted their attention, was the study of 
astronomy. When the Israelites came out of 
Egypt, Balaam, the last prophet under the pa- 
triarchal dispensation, was summoned by the 
lung of Moab, from Petorah, to curse them. 
Many suppose that Balaam, from his knowl- 
edge of astronomy, ^vas himself a 'Magus : it is 
certain that he was much esteemed in that part 
of the country, where the Magians were so 
much celebrated. This prophet, it is well 
known, predicted, 

"There shall come a Star out of Jacob, 
And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel." 

As astronomy was the favorite pursuit of the 
day, tills promised star, from generation to gen- 
eration, would be anxiously looked for and ex- 
pected. The prophecy itself was, without any 
exception, the most peculiar and most impor- 
tant wliich had been given to tlie world. It 
was uttered at the most eventful period in the 
annals of the postdiluvian ages, on the estab- 

' Franks' excellent prize Dissertation on the Magi, 
8vo. Camb. 

i Hesych. voc. il:Zayov — iWa/or, tov S^tonsfitj kuI. 
■Sio/.uyov, y.ai. ieofu, o! Xltonai oi'Twc /.fyovnu — ap. 
Bryant's Analysis of Ancient Mythology, 8vo. vol 
ii. p. 403. 

* Apud Bryant, ut supra. 



38* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part I. 



lishment of the Levitical dispensation, and the 
overthrow of the patriarchal ; and it might 
therefore have been received by the Gentiles as 
a prediction of their restoration to the favor of 
their common Father ; Christ being uniformly 
.spoken of as the Light of the Gentiles, who 
should bring all nations under his splendid do- 
minion. Elated with these hopes, at the ap- 
pearance of the long-desired star, we may 
suppose the wise men hastened to Jerusalem to 
make their eager inquiries respecting the newly- 
born Deliverer, to whom their traditions or purer 
knowledge had ascribed the name of " King of 
the Jews." 

By this confident mquiry, these strangers be- 
came witnesses .to the Jews of the coming of 
Christ, and, drawing from the Scribes a testi- 
mony respecting his birthplace, might them- 
selves receive an additional confirmation of his 
Messiahship. That they considered the infant 
as a royal child was evident from the gifts 
which they presented to him. It was the cus- 
tom of the East uniformly to make presents ac- 
cording to the condition in life of the person to 
whom they were offered. If they had judged 
from appearance only, a citron, a rose, or any 
the least gift, would have been sufficient for the 
infant of the poor Mary. But, mean as his ap- 
pearance was, they treated him as a royal child ; 
and even after they had discovered the poverty 
of his parents, they presented him with presents 
of the richest kind, gold, frankincense, and 
myrrh, such as the queen of Sheba presented 
to Solomon in his glory'. At Bethlehem, the 
place of his nativity, he was acknowledged king 
both by Jew and Gentile, and in both instances 
by means of a miraculous revelation. The wall 
of partition was now about to be destroyed. 

Bishop Warburton"' has shown that prophetic 
writing may be defined, a speaking hierogly- 
phic. Emblems and hieroglyphics had long 
been used before alphabetic writing ; and the 
phrases which originated from these emblems 
are the foundation of all that beautiful and 
metaphorical style which we still admire, as the 
ornament and strength of a language. The 
word Star, he proceeds to demonstrate, does 
not merely signify " a sovereign," or " ruler," 
but " a god." 

The metaphor of a " sceptre," he observes, 
was common and popular to denote a " ruler :" 
but the " star," though it also signified in the pro- 
phetic writings" a " temporal prince or ruler," 
yet had in it a secret and hidden meaning like- 
wise : a " star " in tlie Egyptian liieroglyphics 
denoted " God." Thus, in Amos v. 26., we 
read, " Ye have borne the star of your god ;" 

' Harmer's Ohscrvalions, Clarke's edit. vol. ii. 
obs. 9. Pfeifferi Dubia Vexata Exotic. JY. T. Loc. 
3. p. 887. 

™ Divine Legation, h. 4. sect. 4. vol. iii. p. 181. 

" Aort,2 TTttt/ A/yvnTLOK; yQaif'ufuvug QEON at}- 
ualvBi. Horapollo Hierog. lib. 2. cap. 1. 



that is, " the image of your god." Hence we 
conclude that the metaphor of a " star," used 
by Balaam, was of that abstruse and mysteri- 
ous kind, that it is so to be understood, and, 
consequently, that it related only in the myste- 
rious sense to Christ, the Eternal Son of God. 

Such is the testimony of this eminent writer ; 
and that the Jews applied this emblematical 
prediction to their Messiah needs no proof. 
That the Magians remembered the traditions of 
their fathers is less certain ; yet even on this 
point we have some degree of evidence, col- 
lected from the remaining documents of that 
remote period. We are informed, that when 
an individual put himself at the head of a tu- 
multuary insurrection, he obtained many follow- 
ers by assuming an epithet derived from the ex- 
pected appearance of a long-predicted star". 
The idea, therefore, must have been very prev- 
alent and very popular, otherwise it would not 
have been adopted by an impostor. 

There is much difficulty with respect to the 
question, " What the star in the East may have 
been ?" Lightfoot'' supposes it was the light 
or glory of the Shechinah, which shone round 
the shepherds, when the angel brought them 
tidings of Christ's birth, which, seen at a dis- 
tance, assumed the appearance of a star — others 
suppose that it was a comet — others, a meteor, 
— which is by far the most probable opinion, as 
it solves the phenomena, and is most consistent 
with the scriptural account. The circumstances 
related of many singular meteors also serve 
to confirm this solution'. 

Whatever, then, may have been the source 
of the knowledge which induced the Magi to 
travel from the East to Jerusalem ; whether 
they were instructed by the traditions of their 
fathers, handed down to them from the times of 
Balaam ; or directed by the traditional knowl- 
edge of their ancestors, received perhaps from 
Daniel and his countrymen ; or acquired from 
the perusal of the Hebrew Scriptures during 
the captivity — whether that which guided them 
were a meteor, a comet, or a star, the wisdom 
and harmony of the dispensation of God is 
equally manifest : Christ was promised as the 
Saviour and Deliverer of all nations, and proofs 
of his descent into this world, to fulfil his high 
mission, ^vere given to the pious Jew, and also 
to the Gentile. To botli were declarations 
made, while he was yet an infant, of his high 
official cliaracter. The Magi"", as well as the 
shepherds, were brougiit by divine direction to 
pay their homage to him, not as to one who had 
yet to earn the dignity ascribed to him, but who 
was already invested witii it. In the poverty 
and seclusion of his humble condition, he re- 

° N3D1D in- ^ , .. 

P Harmony, vol. i. p. 205, 437, 438; and vol. n. 
Hora: Hcbr. ct Talm. p. 109. 

'' Vide Meteorology, Eiicyc. Brit. ch. v. No. 77. 
^ Franks' Essay, p. 9.5, 96. 



Note 34.-3G.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*39 



ceived unequivocal proofs of tlieir belief in his 
exalted, and, probabl)^ in his divine nature. 
Such testimonies as these we can only attribute 
to the Deity ; imposture or collusion on his 
part, during a state of infancy, was a physical 
impossibility ; and it certainly appears impossi- 
ble to reconcile such evidences with the sup- 
posed mere humanity of Christ. 

It has been supposed by some, that the Magi 
were proselytes to the Jewish religion — and by 
others, that they were of the descendants of 
the ten tribes. Dr. Doddridge justly calls this 
latter opinion " a wild hypothesis." 

The various opinions which have been, at dif- 
ferent times, proposed to the world, respecting 
the place from whence the Magi came, may 
be found in Calmet, Art. Magi, and in Franks' 
Pnze Essay on the Magi. The more generally- 
received opinion is that of Sir Norton Knatch- 
bulF, that they came from that part of Arabia 
which was conterminous to Judsea. Bryant's 
conclusions respecting the situation of Pethor 
agree very well with the result of Sir N. Knatch- 
bull's arguments'. 

I have not here discussed the question re- 
specting the time when the Eastern sages came 
. to Jerusalem : Lightfoot supposes it was one or 
two years after the nativity of our Lord : Arch- 
bishop Newcome thinks that it was near the 
end of our Lord's first year. Mr. Benson, m 
his System, of the Chronology of the Life of 
Christ, (whose hypothesis is here adopted,) has 
examined the subject with much care, and ap- 
pears to have decided the controversy, that the 
Magi came from the thirty-ninth to the forty- 
second day after the birth of Jesus". 

The Jewish tradition informs us, that it was 
always expected that a star should appear at 
the time of the coming of the Messiah. Thus 
we read in one place of the much-esteemed 
Zohar" — " The king Messiah shall be revealed 
in the land of GalUee, and to a star in the East," 
&c., and again'° — " When the Messiah shall be 
revealed, there shall rise up in the East a cer- 
tain star flaming with various colors." Otlier 
traditions might be quoted. 



ages, imparted to Laban, Abimelech, Balaam, 
and Nebuchadnezzar. Vide Schleusner in voc. 
/o?/,«aT/5w — xQtjiiiaTli^o^uat, "oraculum, vel re- 
sponsum divinum accipio." See Luke ii. 26. 
Acts x. 22. Heb. viii. 5., with other instances 
there cited 



Note 34.— Part L 

Xgrj/uuTiadivTsg. This expression seems to 
imply that the Magi were honored with a renewal 
of divine visions, such as had been, in earlier 

" Sir Norton Knatchbull's Annotations on Diffi- 
cult Texts, p. 6, on Matt. ii. 16. 

' There are tliree renderings of the original 
phrase — " We of the East have seen his star." — 
'• We have seen his star in tlie East." — '• We have 
seen its star at its rising." 

" Vide Lightfoot's Harmony, Newcome, note, p. 
4. Benson's Chronology, and the references in 
Elsley. 

" Zohar in Gen. fol. 74. 3. Apud Gill in loc. 

" Zohar in Esod. fol. 3. 3. 4. 



Note 35. — Part L 

The expenses of the journey of Joseph and 
Mary, who were too poor to pay even for the 
lamb required by the Law of Moses, we may 
justly suppose were defrayed from the offerings 
of tlxe wise men : their future exigencies, by 
the overruling providence of God, would be 
equally supplied. Lightfoot quotes, on this 
point, the Babylonian Gemara, which states that 
the Jewish families, assembled at this time in 
Egypt, were so numerous, that the artificers sat 
by themselves in their companies — the silver- 
smiths — the braziers — the weavers, &c., so that 
if a poor stranger came into the city, he might 
know his own fellow-workmen, and betake him- 
self to them, and thence receive sustenance for 
himself and family. Lightfoot, vol. ii. Worlcs, 
folio, p. 111. 



Note 36.— Part I. 

The Evangelist here seems to apply the pas- 
sage in Hosea xi. 1. in a very peculiar manner 
to our Lord. This text is generally included 
among those prophecies which have a double 
signification. It was referred in its primary 
sense to God's deliverance of the children of 
Israel from Egypt; but in its secondary and 
figurative sense it is applied to Christ. " A 
type is fulfilled," says Dr. Whitby in loc, " when 
that is done in the antitype, which is done in 
the type." Israel, as a type of Christ, is called 
in the Old Testament, " My son, my first-born," 
Exod. iv. 22. — to fulfil the types, therefore, as 
well as the prophecies, it seems that our Lord 
should have gone down into Egypt. This 
country may be considered as a type of the 
world, — that " great city, wMch spiritually is 
called Sodom and Egypt," Rev. xi. 8. All the 
patriarchs successively went down into Egypt 
for protection and support, tQl at length the 
Israelites, the spiritual people of God, " were 
called from Egypt," by the power of their 
di\Tinely-appointed Lawgiver and Deliverer. 
Egypt and Israel may also be considered as 
types of the twofold character of man, the nat- 
ural, and the spiritual. The natural man is fed 
on the bread of Egypt alone ; he has no hope, 
nor fear, nor thought beyond this life, its ad- 
vantages, wealth, and honors. The spiritual 
man, by the grace and power of God, is so de- 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part 1. 



livered and called out of Egypt, or from the 
bondage and vanities of this life, that he keeps 
himself unspotted from the world ; and lives not 
by the bread of Egypt alone, " but by every 
word which proceedeth out of the mouth of 
God." 

Under the Levitical dispensation, all connex- 
ion and intimacy were prohibited between the 
Israelites and the Egyptians ; and every trans- 
gression of this prohibition, which seemed to 
imply a desire to trust to human wisdom and 
power, in preference to that which was spiritual 
and from above, was uniformly attended with 
failure or calamity. (See also Warburton's 
Divine Legation, on the Connection between 
Israel and Egypt.) St. Matthew, under the in- 
fluence of the Spirit of God, appears to apply 
the passage of Hosea to the Messiah according 
to this sense. Christ in his human nature, as 
our representative, went down into Egypt, to be 
nourished there ; and, hke Israel of old, was 
called out of it by a divine interposition. 

He was baptized in the river Jordan ; — tried 
in the wilderness forty days ; — and after the 
crucifixion of the flesh, attained the promised 
land, the Heavenly Canaan. 

The Israelites were baptized in the Red Sea, 
tried in the wilderness forty years, and because 
they did not crucify the flesh with its affections 
and lusts, forfeited the promised land, the typi- 
cal Canaan. Numb. xi. 4, 5, 6, 33, 34, and 
xiv. 27. 29, &c. 

Midrash Tehillim, Ps. ii. 7., has these remark- 
able words, " I will publish a decree : " — this 
decree has been published in the Law, in the 
Prophets, and in tire Hagiographa. In the Law 
" Israel is my first-born," Exod. iv. 22. In the 
Prophets, " Behold my servant shall deal pru- 
dently," Isa. lii. 13. In the Hagiographa, 
" The Lord said unto my Lord." AH which 
passages the Jews refer to the Messiah ; and 
St Matthew, even if he had not spoken by in- 
spiration, would have been justified, according 
to the custom of his countrymen, in applying 
the passage in question to the Messiah. 



Note 37.— Part 1. 

Because Josephus has omitted to notice the 
massacre of the infants in Bethlehem, which is 
related in Matt. ii. 16., the evangehcal narrative 
has been pronounced a " fabrication ! and a 
tale that carries its own refutation with it." 
Tliis assertion was first made, we believe, by 
Voltaire, whose disregard for truth, especially 
in matters connected wth the sacred history, is 
sufficiently notorious. But the evidence for the 
reahty of the fact, and consequently for the ve- 
racity of Matthew, is too strong to be subverted 
by any bold and unsupported assertions. 

For, in the Jirst place, the whole character 



which Josephus ascribes to Herod, is the most 
evident confirmation of the barbarous deed 
mentioned by the Evangehst. 

Secondly, The Gospel of Matthew was pub 
lished about the year of our Lord 38, at which 
time there doubtless were persons living, who 
could, and, from the hostihty then manifested 
against the Christian faith, who would have 
contradicted his assertion, if it had been false 
or erroneous : their silence is a tacit proof, that 
the Evangelist has stated tlie fact correctly. 

But, thirdly, the reahty of the fact itself 
(though mentioned in his usual scoffing man- 
ner) was not denied by the philosopher Celsus, 
one of the bitterest enemies of Christianity, 
who lived towards the close of the second cen- 
tury, and who would most unquestionably have 
denied it if he could"^. 

FouHhly, Mattliew's narrative is confirmed 
by Macrobius, a heathen author, who lived 
about the end of the fourth century, and who 
mentions this massacre in the following terms : 
" Augustus having been informed that Herod 
had ordered a son of his own to be killed, 
among the male infants about two years old, 
whom he had put to death in Syria, said, It is 
better to be Herod's hog than his son^." Now 
although Macrobius is far too modern to be pro- 
duced as a valid evidence in tlis matter, unsup- 
ported by otlier circumstances, and although 
his story is magnified by an erroneous circum- 
stance, yet the passage cited from him serves 
to prove how universally notorious was tlie 
murder of the children in Bethlehem, which 
was perpetrated by the order of Herod. 

Fifthly, With regard to the silence of Jo- 
sephus, we may further remark, that no histo- 
rian, nor even annalist, can be expected to re- 
cord every event that occurs witliin the period 
of wliich he writes. 

Sixthly, Contemporary historians do not re- 
late the same facts. Suetonius tells us many 
tilings which Tacitus has omitted, and Dion 
Cassius supplies the deficiency of both. 

Seventhly, It is unreasonable to make the si- 
lence of the Jewish historian an objection to 

^ See the passages in Lardner's Works, vol. iv. 
p. 122, 4to. 

y Macrob. Saturn, lib. ii. c. 4. The emperor, ac- 
cording to this writer, seems to have played upon 
the Greek words, vv, a hog, and v'iov, a son ; the 
point of the saying perhaps consists in this, that 
Herod, professing Judaism, was by his rehgion 
prohibited from kiUing swine, or having any thing 
to do with their flesh ; and therefore that his hog 
would have been safe where his son lost his life. 
Macrobius states this massacre to have been perpe- 
trated in Syria, because Judcea was at that time part 
of the province of Syria. Gilpin and Dr. Clarke, 
on Matt. ii. IC. The massacre of the infants is 
likewise noticed in a rabbinical work, called ToJdotk 
Jeshu, in the following passage — " And the king 
gave orders for patting to death every infant to be 
found in Bethlehem ; and the king's messengers 
killed every infant according to the royal order." 
Dr. G. Sharp's first Defence of Christianity, &c 
p. 40. 



Note 38, 39.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*41 



the credibOit}' of the sacred writer, while there 
js equal and even superior reason to confide in 
the fidelity of the latter. 

Eighthli/, Herod would naturally he supposed 
to take such precautions as he might think ne- 
cessary without being scrupidous concerning 
the means. 

.Yinthli/, Voltaire, eitlier from ignorance or 
dishonesty, asserts that fourteen thousand chil- 
dren must have lost their lives in this massacre. 
If this were true, the silence of Josephus would 
be a very important objection to the veracity 
of St. Mattliew's narrative : and with tliis view 
the assertion is made by Voltaire, who every 
where shows himself an inveterate enemy of 
revealed, and not unfrequently of natural, reli- 
gion. But as the children whom Herod caused 
to be put to death (probably by assassins whom 
he kept in his pay) were only males of two 
years old and under, it is ob\ious, according 
to Voltaire's statement, that more children must 
have been born annually in the village of Beth- 
lehem, than there are either in Paris or Lon- 
don. Further, as Bethlehem was a very small 
place, scarcely two thousand persons existed in 
it, and in its dependent district ; consequently, 
in the massacre, not more than fifty at most 
could be slain. In the life of such a tyrant as 
Herod, tliis was, comparatively, so trifling an 
act of cruelty, that it was but of small conse- 
quence in the history of his sanguinary govern- 
ment. 

Lastly, As the male infants that were to be 
slain could easily be ascertained from the pub- 
lic tables of birtli, or genealogies, that circum- 
stance will account for the reputed parents of 
our Saviour fleeing into Egypt, rather than into 
any city of Judsea". 

Any of these arguments would be sufficient 
to vindicate the Evangelist's narrative ; but, 
altogether, they form a cloud of witnesses, 

' " Lardner's Credibility, part i. book ii. ch. ii. 
sect. 1. p. 180-185. 4to. Volboth caustB cur Jo- 
sephus ccedem puerorum Betblemiticorum,Matt. ii. 
16. narratam silentio prseterierit, 4to. Gottingen, 
1788, as analyzed in the Monthly Revieie, (O. S.) 
vol. Ixx. p. 617. Schutzii Archceologia Hebraica.p. 
52, 53. Vide Home's Critical Introduction, 2d edit. 
vol. i. p. 653-4. Among the Harrington papers, I 
find an unpublished letter of Dr. Lardner to Lord 
Barrington. in which the learned writer argues 
at length, with his usual judgment and accuracy, 
against depending on the authority of Macrobius, in 
the following passage : — " I the less regarded it 
(the passage in Macrobius), because the objection 
relating to the slaughter of the infants, taken from 
the silence of Josephus, appeared to me of no mo- 
ment. V/hen we liave but one history of the affairs 
of a country, and that history a brief one, the 
omission of some particular event is no difficulty. 
Josephus was a firm Jew, and there was therefore a 
particular reason for his passing over this event ; 
because he could not mention it without giving the 
Christian cause a very great advantage. To write 
that Herod, at the latter end of his reign, had put 
to death all the infants at Bethlehem, under two 
years of age, on occasion of a report spread that 
the king of the Jews had been lately born there, 

VOL II. *6 



abundantly sufficient to overbalance the nega- 
tive evidence attempted to be drawn from the 
silence of Josephus. 



Note 38.— Part I. 

^u47t6 diSTOvg y.cxl xaTitniquj. Sir Norton 
Knatchbull, in his Annotations on difficult Texts, 
has endeavoured to prove that it is not necessary 
to suppose from these words, that Herod killed 
aU the children in Bethlehem who had com- 
pleted, but those only who had just begun, their 
second year, or who had just ended their first 
year. The Hebrew expression would have 
been □MJB'fi Jilius duorum annorum. P. 6. 
Cambridge, 8vo. edit. 1693. 



Note 39.— Part L 

Mr. Mann conjectures that Antipater, who 
was the heir apparent to the crown of Herod, 
when Christ was born, was one of the princi- 
pal advisers of the massacre at Bethlehem. 
He had already procured the death of his two 
elder brothers, to prepare his way to the suc- 
cession. His alarm would be as great as that 
of his father, when he heard that a king of the 
Jews was born. As this Antipater was exe- 
cuted only five days before Herod died, both 
might be referred to in the words of the Angel 
— " They are dead which sought the young 
child's life." The very same words are applied 
to Moses, under similar circumstances, Exod. 
iv. 19. Vide Doddridge's Family Expositor, 
8vo. edit. vol. i. p. 86. 

would have greatly gratified the Christians, whom 
Josephus hated ; since it was well known that 
about thirty years after the slaughter, and the lat- 
ter end of Herod's reign, Jesus (who was said to 
be born at Bethlehem), being then about thirty 
years of age, styled himself king of the Jews, and 
did many things, to say no more in proof of it." 
Dr. Lardner then proceeds to discuss, at some 
length, the time and occasion of Augustus's jest. 
That no argument against this part of the Gospel 
narrative can be derived from the silence of Jo- 
sephus, is ably shown also by Bishop Warburton, 
who mentions several very important omissions of 
tliis writer. See his Divine Legation of Moses, vol. 
iv. p. 281, 282. A German writer has written a 
whole treatise on the wilful omissions of Josephus. 
He makes them, if I remember rightly, sixty-two 
in number. The remark of Michaelis, that histo- 
rians generally know little of the events of the 
thirty years immediately preceding them, and that 
on this account it was probable that Josephus had 
not heard of the slaughter of the innocents, does 
not appear sufficient to account for his silence. It 
seems utterly impossible that Josephus could have 
been ignorant of this event. His silence was more 
likely to have been in this instance, as in others, 
wilful and interested. 



42* 



NOTES Ox\ THE GOSPELS. 



[Part L 



Note 40.— Part I. 

The reign of Archelaus commenced in- 
auspiciously ; for, after the death of Herod, 
before he conld leave the kingdom to obtain 
the confirmation of Ms father's will from the 
emperor at Rome, the Jews behaved them- 
selves so tumultuously in the temple, in conse- 
quence of his having refused them some de- 
mands, that this Idng ordered his soldiers to at- 
tack them, on which occasion upwards of 3000 
were slain. It was, probably, from his knowl- 
edge of this circumstance, and a general appre- 
hension of the cruelty of the character of Ar- 
chelaus, that Joseph was afraid to return to his 
own country. 



Note 41. — Part I. 

St. Matthew seems in this passage to apply, 
as it were in a collective sense, all the prophe- 
cies in the Old Testament that refer to the ab- 
ject and low condition in which the Messiah 
should appear. Nazareth, whither Christ was 
now conducted, was the most contemned part 
of the Holy Land, agreeing well with that pre- 
diction — " He was despised and rejected of 
men." — " The Evangelist," says Lightfoot, "does 
not quote one prophet (t6 QTjdh' diu twv Uqo- 
cpr/TWv) but all. All the prophets do teach the 
vile and abject condition of Christ ; but none 
that his condition should be out of Nazareth. 
Christ seems destined to that abject place, to 
fulfil in a general sense these prophecies." 
This seems to be the best interpretation of the 
passage ; preferable to those which represent 
St. Matthew as playing upon the words lyj, and 
'^U• Vide Lightfoot, Heb. et Talm. Exerc. vol. 
ii. p. 112. 



Note 42. — Part I. 

The canons of the Jewish Law required par- 
ents to instruct their children in their intended 
trade at twelve years of age. It is probable, 
therefore, that this also was the period when 
they began to comply with the Law, Exod. 
xxxiv. 23. which required all tlie male children 
to present themselves at Jerusalem three times 
every year. As the Jews were accustomed to 
go up in (avvoSalg, Heb. nmx,) "caravans," in 
parties composed of great numbers, it cannot 
excite surprise that the Holy Child Jesus was 
not at first missed by Joseph and Mary. They 
found him, Lightfoot attempts to prove, in the 
hall, or room adjacent to that of the Sanhedrin, 
proposing and answering questions, as the Jew- 
ish youths were permitted to do, to the doctors 
of the law. There were in the temple, 1. The 



great Sanhedrin in the room Gazith, consistmg 
of seventy-one members, with the " nasi," or 
prince, or president, at their head ; and the fa- 
ther of the court, the " Ab beth den " on his 
right hand. — 2. Twenty-three judges in the 
gate of the court of Israel.— 3. Twenty-three 
judges in the gate of the court of the Gentiles. 
Sanhedr. cap. xi. hal. 2. In each of these it 
was permitted to ask questions concerning the 
Law. Instances are given in Lightfoot, from 
Hieros. Taanith, fol. 67-4. R. Gamahel said 
to a disciple, " To-morrow, in the consistory, do 
thou come forth and question me on tliis mat- 
ter." There was often a full audience of many 
people". 

The brief narrative of the Evangelist, wliich 
confines itself to the simple statement of facts, 
without either detail or embeUishment, ought 
not to prevent us from considering the very pe- 
cuUar circumstances in wliich the " Glory of 
the second temple " appeared in the house of 
his heavenly Father. He had now arrived at 
that age when the Jews were accustomed to 
instruct their children more fully in the arts of 
life, and the knowledge of their reUgion. x\t 
this period Christ showed himself to be perfectly 
versed in the Mosaic Law. Two remarkable 
circumstances now occurred : the death of Hil- 
lel, the most eminent of the Jewish expounders 
of tlie Law, and the banishment of Archelaus. 
By the first event the Sanhedrin was deprived 
of its greatest ornament ; by the second the 
power was more evidently shown to be in the 
hands of the Romans ; and another more de- 
cisive proof was afforded to the people that the 
sceptre was departing. Is it not probable that 
the appearance of our Lord in the temple, and 
his conversation there, might have been de- 
signed to prove to the doctors that tlaere was 
One among them more learned than Hillel ; and 
that One also by his well-known pedigree from 
the direct line of David, was the heir to the 
long-lost and now vacant throne of Israel ? 
At his first appearance as an infant in the tem- 
ple, the spirit of prophecy revived ; — at his pres- 
ent appearance he showed himself to be wor- 
thy of the homage of his people, as the learned 
successor of their most learned instructor, and 
as their lawful sovereign, the Jieir to the crofrn 
of David. 

The conversation of Jesus must have made a 
deep impression upon the minds of all that 
heard it ; and must not only have excited the 
attention, but the curiosity and admiration of 
the Sanliedrin. That the object of our Lord's 
sitting among the doctors was something more 
than hearing or asking questions concerning 
the difficulties of the Jewish Law, is evidently 

" See Lightfoot, Heb. and Talm. Exerc. in Luke, 
vol. ii. p. 396-7. Lightfoot thinks it is not impos- 
sible that our Lord had found admission into the 
very Sanhedrin, a circumstance of rare occurrence, 
permitted only in extraordinary cases. 



XoTE 43.-45.] 



NOTES OX THE GOSPELS. 



*43 



implied in his answer to the expostulation of 
his mother, " Wist ye not that I must be about 
my Father's business ? " or, as it may be trans- 
lated, " Wist ye not that I must be in the 
house of God my Father .' " The Messiah did 
not come merely to excite the amazement, or 
to Ratify the curiosity of the Jews. He came 
to impress some lesson upon them, suitable to 
the pecuUar circumstances of the moment, and 
in accordance with, or to the furtherance of, his 
divine mission. 

Lightfoot has shown the probability that Hil- 
lel had died some short time before our Lord 
visited the temple at this period. Should his 
opinion be erroneous, there might have been 
assembled round our Lord, when he conversed 
M-ith the Jewish doctors, Hillel and Shammai, 
the two most celebrated rabbis of the Jews ; R. 
Judah and R. Joshua, the two sons of Bethira ; 
Jonathan Ben Uzziel, the author of the Chaldee 
Paraphrase ; and R. Jochanan Ben Zacchai. 
Before these distinguished men our Lord dis- 
played that knowledge of the Law which over- 
whelmed them with astonishment and admira- 
tion*. 



Note 43. — Part L 

The Spirit of prophecy came upon John when 
fae was thirty years of age : this was the time 
appointed in the Law for the commencement 
of their ministry by the Priests and Levites. 
He preached in the desert, where the greatest 
multitudes passed ; — he wore a garment of 
camel's hair, the most coarse and common gar- 
ment, similar to that worn by the prophets of 
old, to express his contempt for the vanities 
and ostentations of life. His food was the 
spontaneous produce of the country, showing 
his self-denial, and the subjection of all his ap- 
petites ; — his days were passed in the wilder- 
ness, far removed from the world, preparing and 
preaching the way of the Lord. He avoided wine 
and strong drink, like a Nazarite, being sepa- 
rated and holy to the Lord; Numb. vi. 2, 3. He 
was to others the example of all that he tauo-ht. 
Whether the locusts he ate were the animals 
so called, prepared in the maimer usual amono- 
the Jews, or whether it was a peculiar herb 
growing about that country (which seems more 
probable) is uncertain. Many have conjec- 
tured that the wUd honey, the ixili clyqiov, 
ought to be read fj.(liaYQiuv, which they ima- 
gine to be likewise a species of herb indigenous 
in Judcea. Witsius, however, considers this 
opinion as quite unfounded''. 

' Doddridge, f"am. Ei^ositor, translates the word 
iilaTaiTo, " they were in a transport of admiration." 
" 'E'ildTaiTo, ohstupescebant, mirahantur. Verbam 
iiiriTrjui de quacunque animi commotione vehe- 
mentiori, imprimis etiam de admiratione summa 
usurpatur." — Roseninuller in loc. 



Had a messenger of a different character 
been chosen as the forerunner of the Messiah, 
the Jews would have been confirmed in their 
preconceived ideas of a temporal prince ; but 
the austerity of the Baptist's habits, his seclu- 
sion from the world, and his contempt of all its 
pleasures and distinctions, were in direct op- 
position to all those opinions, and ought to have 
contradicted them. Had he been the ambassa- 
dor of any worldly sovereign, he must have 
been invested with all the external splendor 
and pomp which he was appointed to repre- 
sent ; — but as the ambassador of a spiritual 
Lord and a spiritual kingdom, all these things 
were laid aside ; — his robe of state was of 
camel's hair, — the luxuries of his table were 
the honey of the wilderness, — and the message 
that he brought from his Sovereign was an in- 
vitation to repentance and faith. 



Note 44. — Part L 

The desert in which St. John preached was 
not a barren and desolate wilderness'^. Ac- 
cording to Lightfoot he first taught in the wil- 
derness near Hebron% but afterwards removed 
towards Jordan, probably near Jericho ; a tract 
of country which was wild and desert, yet 
having in it several large cities. Jericho itself 
contained twelve thousand men, of the courses 
of the priests ; and the road from Jerusalem to 
that city, and to Persea, especially near the time 
of the Passover, was frequented by great multi- 
tudes, about which time, it is supposed, John 
began his ministry. The country was very con- 
venient for food, and its valleys abounded in 
palm trees, which trees, if we may credit Dio- 
dorus Siculus-'', yield much wild honey. 



Note 45. — Part L 

Lightfoot ascribes the first use of baptism 
to Jacob, when he admitted into his family and 
into the Church of God, the proselytes of She- 
chem, and other heathens. " Put away your 

^ On the locusts eaten by John, see a curiouc 
criticism in verse, by Dr. Byrom, of Manchester — 
Byrom's Poems, in Chalmers's edition of the poets, 
p. 23], vol. XV. 

'^ '•• Fuit enim in desertis, hoc est ruri, procul 
publicis scholis, procul aula, procul Hierosolyma, 
procul seducentium in frequentibus urbibus volup- 
tatumlenociniis." — Witsius, De Vita Jokannis Bapt. 
Miscell. Sacr. p. 501. 

' Lightfoot, chorog;. dec. to Mark, Works, vol. 
iii. p. 294., distinguishes between the wilderness of 
Juda, and that of Judeea. 

-'" ^ViTai avxoic, hrco rwv dtidoou', uikt tto/.v to 
y.a/.ovfiirov hyoiot', id /ooivTai norm usv viaroc — 
'■ they have much honey fi-om the trees, which 
they call wild honey, which they drink with water." 
— Diod. Sic. lib. 19. ap. Lightfoot. 



44* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part I 



strange gods, and be ye clean, and change 
your garments." Aben Ezra interprets the 
word Tinam, Gen. xxxv. 2., " and be ye clean," 
to be nun li'ni'kJ', "the washing of the body," 
or " baptism : " but this would not prove that 
the rite of baptism was then used as the com- 
mencement of a permanent institution. It 
might have been a useful and expressive ordi- 
nance of Jacob, but no more. 

The Israelites assert, that all Gentile prose- 
lytes were brought into their church by baptism. 
The question is, whether they were so initiated 
before the time of John, by a customary rite 
which might be dispensed with at pleasure, or 
by a positive law. Lightfoot quotes Maimoni- 
des, who lived only in the fourteenth century, 
and whose authority, in the absence of other 
proofs, is not therefore decisive. — Lightfoot's 
JVorks, vol. ii. p. 117. 

We have no evidence to prove that baptism, 
among the Jews, was of divine appointment. It 
was principally administered to the Gentiles, 
who were considered after that ceremony as 
new creatures, and worthy of admission into the 
church. A Jew, if he had lived as a Gentile, 
even for a day, would undergo this ceremony, 
which makes it appear more like a legal wash- 
ing, or purification, than an ordinance divinely 
instituted. The Jews must have well under- 
stood this ceremony as emblematical of the in- 
troduction of a more perfect dispensation, 
which required the greatest purity of heart and 
jife. When the Jews baptized the heathens, 
they admitted them into their own church, into 
a new religion ; and John now calls upon the 
Jews themselves to be baptized, and to become 
members of another church, under another dis- 
pensation different from that of Moses. 

In this tlien consisted, in some measiire, the 
essential difference between the baptism of 
John, and that of any other teacher. The Law 
required the washing of polluted persons, on 
account of legal uncleanness: the baptism of 
John required the purification of those who were 
legally clean. It exacted obedience to the spirit, 
not to the letter of the Law. If we consider 
the Christian dispensation, therefore, as com- 
mencing with the preaching of John, we shall 
find there were three forms of baptism ; that of 
John, who baptized in the name of the Messiah 
about to come upon the earth ; — that of the 
disciples of Christ, when he was incarnated and 
living among them ; — and that of the Apostles, 
who received, at the ascension, an express com- 
mand from Christ himself to proselytize all na- 
tions, and to baptize them "in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 
The ministers of the Church of God have ever 
since baptized in the same holy name, using the 
same form of words. — Vide Lightfoot's Works, 
vol. i. p. 465, 466. 



Note 46. — Part I. 

Malachi predicted of the Elias who was to 
come, that 

" He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the 
children. 
And the heart of the children to their 
fathers^. 

The Angel predicted of John the same things. 
The event corresponded to the prediction. 
When John began to preach to Israel, the Jews 
were divided into three principal, and innumer- 
able smaller sects, differing both in religious 
opinions and ceremonies. The Pharisees and 
Sadducees were inflamed with the most bitter 
hatred against each other. The expounders of 
the Law were at variance. The dissensions in 
the synagogues disturbed the repose of fami- 
lies. Children and their parents disputed : all 
was confusion. The ministry of the Baptist 
withdrew the people from under the banners of 
the leaders of these sects, and directed them to 
the One Great Teacher, who was now at hand 
to decide all controversies, and unite them to 
himself. — Witsius, De Vita Johan. Bap. : Misc. 
Sacr. vol. ii. p. 518. 



Note 47. — Part I. 

The different addresses of St. John to tnose 
who came to him, given in this section, could 
not have been delivered at one time. They 
may be supposed to contain the sum and sub- 
stance of his general preaching. 

We may observe, that aU the exhortations of 
John refer to the spiritual dominion of the 
Messiah over the hearts and consciences of 
men. He never once speaks of it as a tempo- 
ral or earthly power. He exhorts to repentance 
and confession of sin, fisTiivoia, a total renew- 
ing of the spirit of the mind — a change of the 
whole man. In tlie same way all those of the 
present day, who have lived unmindful of their 
spiritual covenant with God, are called upon by 
the ministers of God's word to adopt that mode 
of returning to their Almighty Father, pointed 
out by the Baptist ; and, by a true repentance 
and confession of sins, to renew their baptismal 
vow, and become spiritual members of his spir- 
itual church. 

In Luke iii. 14. we read that certain soldiers 
came to John the Baptist, wliile he was preach- 
ing in all the country about Jordan, and de- 
manded of him, saying, " And what shall we 
do ? " An important question in Christian mo- 

^ The passage in Malachi, ch. iv. 6., is supposed 
by Dr. Owen to have been both corrupted and al- 
tered by the Jews, both in the Hebrew copies, and 
in the copies of the Septuagint. and to have been 
originally exactly as three of the Evangelists have 
delivered the citation of it to us, — Owen's Inquiry 
into the State of the Septuagint Version, p. 54. 



Note *48.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*45 



rality. It lias been asked, who these soldiers 
were; for it does not appear that the Roman 
soldiers then stationed in Judsea were engaged 
in any war. Now it happens that the expres- 
sion used by the evangelical historian is not 
qguTtwTui, or "soldiers," but gouT£v6,uEPOt, that 
is, men, who were actually under arms, or 
marching to battle. 

It is not to be supposed that he would use 
this word without a sufficient reason, and what 
that reason is we may readily discover, on con- 
sulting Josephus's account of the reign of 
Herod the tetrarch of Galilee. He tells US'", 
that Herod was at tliat very time engaged in a 
war with his father-in law, Aretas, a petty king 
of Arabia Petreea, whose daughter he had mar- 
ried, but who had returned to her father in con- 
sequence of Herod's ill-treatment. The army 
of Herod, then on its march from Galilee, passed 
of necessity through the country where John 
was baptizing; and the military men, who 
questioned him, were a part of that army. So 
minute, so perfect, and so latent a coincidence 
was never discovered in a forgery of this or 
any other age'. 



Note *48.— Part I. 

ON THE PERIOD THAT ELAPSED BETWEEN THE 
COJOIENCEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF JOHN 
AND THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST. 

Much discussion has at various times taken 
place respecting the period which elapsed be- 
tween the commencement of the ministry of 
John and the baptism of Christ. Lightfoot 
(Ha)Tnony, p. 8. Works, vol. i.), and Newcome 
(Harm. not. in loc), suppose six months. — Bed- 
ford (Scrip. Chron.) the same. — Benson ('C/iron. 
of the Life of Christ) five months. — Dean Pri- 
deaux three years and a half. It is the general 
opinion, that about the same interval elapsed 
between the commencement of tlie ministry of 
the Messiah and of his forerunner, as had pre- 
viously elapsed between their births. Pilking- 
ton, however, has supposed there were about 
seventeen months between these events ; and, 
contrary to the united authorities of the most 
learned harmonizers, and perhaps to his general 
good judgment, he has adopted the fanciful 
theory of Whiston, who supposes thirteen 
months to have transpired, and that the bap- 
tism of Christ followed the calling of Andrew, 
Philip, and Na-thanael, — the marriage at Cana, 
— the first driving of the buyers and sellers 
from the temple, and the conversations which 
were held, in the course of that period, in Je- 
rusalem, and with Nicodemus. It is after this 

'' Josephus. Ant. Jucl. lib. 18. e. -5. sect. 1, 2. 
' For the above illustrative coincidence we are 
indebted to Michaelis, vol. i. ch. ii. sect. 11 p. 51. 



last event, that Whiston inserts the baptism of 
Christ. Pilkington goes on to arrange, in ad- 
dition to these events, the baptizing by Christ 
himself of many disciples in Judsea, and his 
conversation with the woman of Samaria, — the 
believing of many of the Samaritans and Gali- 
leans, and the healing of the nobleman's son at 
Capernaum: it is not till then, that he proceeds 
to the account of the baptism of our Lord, and 
his subsequent temptation ; both of which 
events these two commentators concur in 
placing, as the Scripture expressly asserts, im- 
mediately after that event. 

Whiston's arguments, together with those of 
Pilkington and Marshall, in favor of the later 
date assigned to the baptism of Christ, may be 
thus enumerated and answered. 

1. Eusebius asserts that the three Evansfelists 
omitted the former part of Christ's ministry, 
which took place before the im.prisonment of 
John. 

This assertion of Eusebius, as is easily 
proved by examining the several harmonies, is 
totally groundless ; the more public ministry of 
Christ certainly did not begin till that event : 
and even if it were correct, John no where de- 
clares that tlie date of the baptism of Christ 
was that which is assigned to it by Whiston. 

2. It appears, from Matt. iii. 14., that Jesus 
baptized before his own baptism. 

In reply to this remark, Archbishop Newcome 
has observed, that John, acl-mowledging Christ 
to be the Messiah, exclaims, " I have need to 
be baptized of Thee," (by the Holy Spirit). 

3. The baptism of Christ is placed after the 
history of John's ministry, and before his im- 
prisonment. 

The Evangelists, like the writers of the Old 
Testament, do not exactly observe the chrono- 
logical order, as Whiston supposes they did in 
this instance. As John was the forerunner of 
Christ, it might have been expected that they 
would follow the plan they have actually 
adopted ; that is, would put together all those 
actions of John which characterized the second 
Elias ; and would then proceed to the ministry 
of our Lord, beginning with his baptism, in 
which he was solemnly anointed by the Holy 
Spirit to his high office. 

4. It appears, from Luke iii. 21., that Christ 
did not come to be baptized tdl all the rest of 
the people had been baptized. 

The expression, iiv tu ^urtTiadrivui, implies 
that Christ came to John wlxile the people were 
still continuing to desire baptism from John ; it 
is not j(/er(i t(5. Campbell translates the pas- 
sage, " Now when John baptized all the people, 
Jesus was likewise baptized." 

.5. The Baptist was imprisoned immediately 
after the baptism of Christ, Luke iii. 19, 20. 

But tins observation has been already an- 
swered. Whiston assumes that St Luke wrote 
in order of time ; whereas he has merely antici- 



46* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part 1. 



pated the relation of the imprisonment of John, 
that he might better conclude for a time the 
history of the Baptist. 

To these arguments Pilkington adds, that 
John did not know Christ tOl he had seen the 
Spirit descending on him ; — but before his bap- 
tism, when the Spirit descended, he declared 
he knew him. 

To this the Archbishop replies : " John i. 31. 
33., may be reconciled with Matt. iii. 14., by 
supposing that John, for wise reasons, knew 
not Jesus personally tiU he came to be bap- 
tized ; though he must have heard before of 
Jesus's name and wonderful birth, from his own 
relations. God seems to have revealed to the 
Baptist, soon after he entered on his ministry, 
that the visible descent of the Spirit should 
point out to him the Messiah, John i. 33. 
When Jesus came to be baptized. Matt. iii. 14., 
it is probable John knew him by a supernatural 
impulse, as Samuel knew Saul and David, 1 
Sam. ix. 17. and xvi. 12. ; and as Ahijah discov- 
ered the wife of Jeroboam, 1 Kings xiv. 5. See 
also Luke ii. 28. 38. ; and afterwards the sign 
foretold, Jolm i. .33., confirmed the Baptist in 
his belief that Jesus was the Christ. Le Clerc's 
Paraphrase of Matt. iii. 14., is, ' Quod afHatu 
prophetico ab eo dicebatur: nam Jesum non 
norat.' — Harmony, p. 40. And F. Spanheim 
says, Duh. Evang. 2. p. 147, ' Nihil aliud pro- 
positum Joanni Baptistse nisi ostendere se non 
ex familiaritate aliqua ante contracta Christum 
novisse ; sed ex mera revelatione coelesti ; ade- 
oque nihil a se dari nee cognationi, nee ami- 
citise, nee gratiae, nee collusioni alicui clandes- 
tinae.' The Baptist is not to be understood as 
saying, he did not know Jesus, but hy a sign 
from heaven ; see Dr. Priestley's Harmony, p. 
78. ; but that he knew him not, before he came to 
be baptized, and that God had promised a sign 
by which he should be known ; which sign, in- 
tended for a full confirmation, was preceded by 
an inspired knowledge of Jesus." — Newcome, 
Harmony, notes, p. 6. 

These apparently inconsistent passages have 
been reconciled in various other ways. Hales, 
vol. ii. part ii. p. 731., is of opinion that John 
knew Christ personally, but was not informed 
of his dignity and office, till he was assured of 
it by a miracle. 

Lightfoot supposes that John knew not that 
Christ was in the world till he came to be bap- 
tized — when, knowing him by the Spirit, John 
forbade him ; — and the sign of the Holy Ghost, 
descending from heaven, was the sign given 
him for assurance and confirmation. Vide 
Elsley on John i. 33. 

1 have discussed this question at gTeater 
length than to many will appear necessary ; be- 
cause Pilkington is one of my authorities, and 
has written a Dissertation expressly on the sub- 
ject. 



Note 48. — Part I. 

The time had now arrived when the Messiah 
was to begin his public career, and to break 
forth from the obscurity of his lowly life. He 
commenced it in that manner which was most 
suited to his dignity as a spiritual Being, by 
an act of obedience to the established law of 
his heavenly Father, accompanied with the 
most fervent prayer. On this important oc- 
casion, in the presence of the assembled multi- 
tude, a voice from heaven declares him to be 
" The beloved Son of God, in whom he was 
well pleased." His divine mission now received 
the miraculous confirmation which had always 
satisfied the ancient patriarchs and fathers of 
the Jewish Church. It received the testimony 
of the " Bath Col," or " voice from heaven ; " 
and the visible glory of the Shechinah hovered 
over him. 

The question, whether the inauguration of 
Christ into his high office was not as public, 
and therefore as generally known, as that of 
Moses, will be discussed in the note to 2 Peter 
i. 16. Danzius, in a learned tract preserved by 
Meuschen, in his JV. T. ex Talmude, has treated 
this curious and interesting subject at some 
length. 



Note 49.— Part L 

Christ came to John to be baptized. He 
was baptized by John not of necessity, not for 
his own sake, but for ours. He was baptized 
that he might confer honor on John, sanction 
his ministry, and commend it to the doubting 
Jews. By this act he made himself the head 
of all who by baptism confess their sins, and 
are admitted into the Church. He sanctified 
baptism by thus subjecting himself to it, that 
man might not despise it as a useless or un- 
meaning ceremony. He would not that men 
should refuse to come to the baptism of their 
Lord, when he had not disdained the baptism 
of his servant. By baptism he shadowed out 
the difference between the carnal and spiritual 
state of man, and between our fallen condition 
and his own ; first mean, then glorious ; — first 
earthly, then heavenly ; — first mortal, then im- 
mortal; — first buried under the earth, as the 
worshipper was buried under the water, and 
rising therefrom spiritual, changed, and glorious. 
Christ by his baptism renewed his covenant 
with his Father ; and fulfilled all righteousness, 
by complying with every law, which proceeded 
from the wisdom of God, and was designed only 
for the happiness and restoration of man. — Vide 
Witsius,Z>e Vita Johannis : — Miscell. Sac. vol. ii. 
p. 537. 



Note 50, 51.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*47 



Note 50.— Part I. 

As a dove hovers over her nest with an un- 
dulating and gentle motion, so did the emblem 
of the presence of God wave and bend, and 
rise and fall over tlie head of our Saviour. 
Sucli seems to be the most defensible, as well 
as tlie most generally-received interpretation. 
It is consistent also with the analogy that may 
be found between the old and new covenants-'. 
At the beginning of the material creation the 
Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters ; 
the Spirit of God, " dove-lilfe, sat brooding on 
the vast abyss*." 



Note 51. — Part I. 

ON the temptation of CHRIST. 

In order to understand the passage of the 
New Testament which is contained in this 
section, and is justly supposed to be attended 
with many difficulties, it is necessary to con- 
sider tlie Messiah under that name which is 
alike given to him in the Old Testament, in the 
New Testament, and in those of the Jewish 
traditions, which may be received with most 
confidence. Christ must be considered under 
the character of the second Adam, who came 
into the world to fulfil the same law which the 
fijst Adam had violated. That he might more 
evidently and efiectually accomplish this ob- 
ject, it was appointed that he should be 
tempted like unto Adam, and undergo the 
same trial. 

■^ This view of the analogy between the action 
of the Spirit at the Creation, and at the baptism of 
Christ, I find confirmed by a singular tradition 
among the Jews. In a note in Brescith Rahba, sect. 
2. fol. 4. 4. on Genesis i. 2. we read, " Et spiritus 
Dei : intelligitur Spiritus Regis Messiae, de quo 
dicitur, Isa. xi. ] . Et quiesclt super ilium Spiritus 
Domini. Post quae verba allegata statim hcec 
addit R. Ephraim in Ir Gibborim ad Genes, i. 2. 
r\3niD ' Incubuit, siVmZ eo/Mmia, 5M(E volitat super 
ni-do, ilium atlingcns, et non attinaens.' Pergunt 
vero in Brescith Rabba : ' Quomodo vero minis- 
tratur Spiritus Messiae, et venit movens se super 
faciem aquarum .-' Rasp. Quando vos movebitis 
corda vestra, sicut aquas per posnitentiam ; qnem- 
admodum dicitur," Thren. ii. 1[). ' EfTunde, sicut 

aquas, cor tuum coram Domino. Intelligitur 

Spiritus MessitB. Quuin primum enim ille se 
super aquis legis commovit, statim facta est re- 
demptio.' " — Vide Schoetgemi Horce Hebraicce, vol. 
i. p. 9 and 10. This, then, is another instance of 
the wonderful fulfilment, in the person of Jesus of 
Nazareth, of many of the singular traditions en- 
tertained among the Jews respecting their Messiah. 
*^ The word in Genesis naniO without points, 
must be considered as a participle of Hiphil, the 
causative ; with points it is the participle of Pihel, 
the intensive ; a signification much more consistent 
both with the sense of tlie passage in Genesis, and 
the description of the descent of the emblematical 
representation of the power of the Spirit in the 
Evangelical narrative. 



If we consider the Messiah in this point of 
view as the second Adam, it seems possible 
that we shall more easily solve many of the 
difficulties which have been supposed to attend 
the literal interpretation of this interesting nar- 
rative. The Old Testament begins with an 
account of the preparation of the material 
world for the accommodation of the first Adam ; 
the New Testament relates the preparation of 
the spiritual world, or Church, for the reception 
of the second Adam. 

When the time of Iiis creation came, the first 
Adam was formed by the power of God out of 
the then unpolluted earth ; the second Adam 
was created by the same power of the Most 
High, in a similar state of innocence and 
perfection. 

When the first Adam was ushered into the 
world, he was a perfect man, and his Father 
blessed him. When the second Adam had at- 
tained to the fulness of manhood, he was, while 
submitting for our sakes to the rite of baptism, 
blessed from above : both were sinless ; both 
were, in a peculiar sense, the sons of God, and 
partakers of the human nature. The first 
Adam was placed in Paradise, and fell into the 
Wilderness. The second Adam was placed 
in the Wilderness, and regained that Paradise 
which his predecessor had forfeited. Adam 
was driven out of Paradise into the Wilder- 
ness, and banished from the tree of life. 
Christ was led or driven into the Wilderness 
by the same Spirit, to undergo the same trial, 
and by a sinless obedience to revolve the sen- 
tence of condemnation, open again the gates of 
Paradise, and regain the tree of life. In Him, 
we have another perfect man, as yet untouched 
by the Tempter. To Him therefore, as to the 
first Adam, the Evil Spirit makes his approaches 
from without, proposing his suggestions in a per- 
sonal conversation ; for as the nature of Christ, 
like that of Adam, was uncorrupted by sin, the 
wicked spirit had no immediate access to the 
heart. It was for this cause that Eve was 
tempted in a personal conversation ; so also was 
tempted the seed of the woman, who was to 
bruise the serpent's head. 

To show, however, still more clearly the evi- 
dent parallel that exists, between the tempta- 
tions of the first and second Adam, it will be 
necessary to examine the peculiar circum- 
stances of each event. 

According to St. John, all the sin that tempts 
mankind may be comprised in these three 
terms : — the lust of the flesh ; the lust of the 
eye ; and the pride of life ; and to these three 
may be reduced the temptations both of Adam 
and of Jesus. In the temptation in Eden these 
three principles of evil are evidently alluded to 
in the description of the forbidden fruit. In the 
temptation in the wilderness, Christ was 
tempted like unto Adam ; and in a more gen- 
eral sense, like unto all the children of Adam. 



48* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part 1. 



Adam was first tempted to the lust of the 
flesh by indulging his natural appetite for food, 
in a manner which was contrary to the express 
command of God. Christ was tempted to grat- 
ify his wish for food in a manner forbidden by 
the spirit of the law of God. He was tempted 
to supply himself with provision, by devoting 
that miraculous power which was given him 
for the benefit of mankind, and for the more 
effectual demonstration of the truth of his mis- 
sion, to the gratification of his human nature. 

Adam was, secondly, tempted to the lust of 
the eye : " He took of the fruit, because it was 
pleasant to the eye." And the Evil Spirit en- 
forces the power of the motives to disobedience 
by perverting the understanding, in misrep- 
resenting Scripture itself Our Lord was, 
secondly, tempted by the perversion of Scrip- 
ture itself, to indulge that feeling which is grat- 
ified by the admiration and homage of the 
world. He was invited by the Tempter to pro- 
claim himself at once, by the performance of 
a useless and ostentatious miracle, the prom- 
ised Messiah of the Jews. He was invited to 
encourage their false notions of a Messiah, and 
to obtain immediate possession of his promised 
kingdom, by throwing himself from the pinna- 
cle (or wing, or battlement, or royal portico, 
for the word nregvyiov is thus variously ren- 
dered) of the temple, and claim the homage of 
the crowds assembled to worship there. For 
the Jews interpreted literally the prediction of 
Malachi iii. 1., and expected that the Messiah, 
by some extraordinary demonstration of his 
power, would suddenly come to liis temple. 
The pilgrimage which our Lord came to 
undergo was one which was expressly and 
painfully opposed to all that train of feelings 
and dispositions, so pleasing to our fallen na- 
ture. The Captain of our salvation was to be- 
come perfect through sufferings. He was to 
be poor, despised, insulted, and rejected. At 
the time when his painful career was begin- 
ning, he was tempted to avoid his appointed 
course of suffering, and to assume at once his 
destined honors, as the Messiah of Israel. No 
evil, he was assured, could happen to him, if 
he were the Son of God ; — for He shall give his 
angels charge over thee, — they shall bear thee 
up, and protect thee from suffering and from 
danger. 

Adam was, thirdly, tempted to that kind of 
svil which most alienates the human race from 
their Creator ; he was tempted to the pride of 
life. " It was a tree to be desired, to make one 
wise." The wisdom which an evil spirit would 
recommend to the approbation of an account- 
able being must partake of his own nature ; 
it must be different from that spiritual wisdom 
which is from above, and of which Adam was 
a partaker. It was the wisdom of this world, 
which is elsewhere called "earthly, sensual, 
devilish." It is that human wisdom by which 



the pride and glory of life is attained, — by 
which ambition triumphs, and conquerors ob- 
tain their temporal cro^vns and kingdoms. To 
tliis temptation likewise, our Saviour is now 
subjected. The Devil takes him up into an ex- 
ceeding high mountain, " and showeth him all 
the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of 
them," and promises them all to Christ on one 
condition only, that he will worship him, — 
that is, provided he will exchange liis spiritual 
Idngdom, which is to be purchased with the 
most excruciating agony and suffering, for the 
kingdoms of this world, all temporal power over 
every nation under heaven. In the second 
temptation he had invited Christ to obtain the 
homage of liis own people, and to gratify his 
vanity and ostentation by hearing and receiv- 
ing the acclamations of the Jews. In this he 
is solicited to become the sovereign of the uni- 
verse, the powerful chief of one great empire, 
embracing alike under his dominion the sub- 
dued pride of Rome, and the submission of all 
mankind. 

Thus was Christ, the second Adam, tempted 
in the same manner as the first Adam ; on the 
same principles, and by the same Tempter. 
But he was also tempted as we are. The ob- 
ject of Satan, from the creation of Adam to the 
present moment, is to render man unfit for a 
spiritual condition, by inducing him uniformly 
to act from natural, or earthly, motives. The 
Spirit of EvU does not desire to diminish the 
supposed happiness of man in tliis world ; he en- 
deavours to immerse him in the pursuit of 
worldly enjoyments, comforts, and vanities, in 
such a manner, that the soul becomes embruted 
and embodied in material objects. The Spirit 
of Evil so endeavours to sensualize and animal- 
ize the intellectual and moral faculties of man, 
that his inferior nature may be triumphant; 
and consequently, that, when he shall be sum- 
moned into another stage of existence, he may 
be rendered totally unfit to be the eternal com- 
panion of God, the Judge of all, — of Christ the 
Mediator, — of holy angels, — and of perfect 
spirits. 

Other circumstances may be adduced to 
complete the parallel between the two tempta- 
tions. The first Adam fell througji the act of 
eating ; the second Adam reversed the sen- 
tence of condemnation by the opposite act of 
fasting and mortification. The first Adam was 
tempted in Paradise, surrounded by all the ani- 
mals of creation, over which he ruled in a state 
of innocence : the second Adam is described 
by St. Mark, i. 1.3., to have been in the wilder- 
ness with the wild beasts. He sat among 
tliem, as their acknowledged Lord, in the same 
state of innocency, as the first Adam had en- 
joyed before his fall. When the temptations 
were completed, we read in both instances of a 
most curious and impressive circumstance, which 
in a wonderful manner completes this parallel. 



Note 51.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*49 



When the first Adam fell, the angels of God 
were placed at the gate of the garden of Eden, 
to keep him from tasting the fruit of the tree 
of life. When the second Adam triumphed, 
angels came and ministered to him of that im- 
mortal food, which the flaming sword of divine 
wrath had denied to tlie children of diso- 
bedience. 

For the passages in the Old Testament which 
prophesy the coming of Christ as the second 
Adam, compare 2 Sam. vii. 18, 19. with 1 
Cliron. xvii. 16, 17. When David desu-ed to build 
the temple of Jerusalem, he was commanded to 
leave tlie performance of that task to his son, 
because he had himself been throughout his 
life engaged in wars. The message to this ef- 
fect was delivered by the prophet Nathan, who 
consoles the king by declaring tliat from him 
the Messiah should descend. The king, on re- 
ceiving this communication from the divine 
messenger, goes up to the tabernacle, and re- 
turns thanks to God for the promise. He 
thanks God that he has been regarded ac- 
cording to the law', or order"*, or arrange- 
ment", of the Adam that is hereafter to be from 
above. 

Among the titles given in the Old Testament 
,to the Messiah, collected by Dr. Pye Smith, in 
his valuable work on the Scripture Testimony to 
the Person of the Messiah, I find this, " the Adam 
from above." He cites in support of the in- 
terpretation which he has there given of 2 Sam. 
vii. 18, 19. and I Chron. xvii. 16, 17. the learned 
criticism of Dr. Kennicott, from which, how- 
ever, he has in some measure departed, by ren- 
dering the word mm " order," instead of " law." 
Bishop Horsley translates it " arrangement." 
His criticism is very ingenious. The words in 
the original are as follow — 2 Sam. vii. 19. 
niH" ':t5< CDTxn mm nsn — 1 Chron. xvii. 17. 
CD^nSx mn' n'?>'Dn nznxn ima 'jn^xni, &c. ; 

on which Dr. Kennicott observes, " From 
David's address to God, after receiving the 
message by Nathan, it is plain that David un- 
derstood the son promised to be the Messiah, 
in whom his house was to be established for 
ever. But the words, which seem most ex- 
pressive of this, are in this verse now rendered 
very unintelligibly, ' and is this the manner of 
man ? ' Whereas the words Onxn mm nXTl 
literally signify, ' and this is (or must be) the 
law of the man, or of the Adam,' {. e. this prom- 
ise must relate to the law, or ordinance, made 
by God to Adam, concerning the seed of tlie 
woman ; the man, or the second Adam ; as the 
Messiah is expressly called by St. Paul, 1 Cor. 
XV. 45-47. This meaning wUl be yet more 
evident from the parallel place, 1 Chron. xvii. 

' Kennicott's (Posthumous) Remarks on the Old 
Testament, p. 114. 

" Smith's Scripture Testimony to the Person of 
the Messiah, vol. i. p. 184. 

" Horsley's Biblical Criticisms, vol. i. p. 350. 



17., where the words are now miserably ren- 
dered thus : ' And thou hast regarded me ac- 
cording to the estate of a man of high degree.' 
Whereas the words nS;'on Cnxn -\m3'JjT«-l 
literally signify, ' and thou hast regarded me ac- 
cording to the Adam that is future, or the man 
that is from above,' (for the word n"7j;Dn very 
remarkably signifies hereafter as to time, and 
fro7n above as to place ;) and thus St. Paul, in- 
cluding both senses : ' The second man is the 
Lord from heaven ; ' and ' Adam is the figure 
of Him that was to come,' or the future, Rom. 
V. 14." 

It is upon tills passage that Bishop Horsley 
has remarked (whether imD or im3 be read in 
1 Chron. xvii. 17.) " When these two passages 
are considered in their respective contexts, it is 
manifest that they are exactly parallel; and 
both, when rightly understood, must render the 
very same sense. The varieties in the expres- 
sion being only such as the writer of the Book 
of Chronicles has introduced, according to his 
manner, for the sake of greater accuracy in re- 
lating the words of another, or to explain words 
and phrases that might seem doubtful in the 
narrative of the more ancient author. Hence 
it is to be inferred that the words mm in 
Samuel, and lin in the Book of Chronicles, are 
words of the very same import, and are to be 
referred to the same root, differing only in the 
gender, which is feminine in Samuel, and mas- 
culine in Chronicles. The writer of the Book 
of Chronicles probably preferred the masculine 
form to prevent the necessity of referring the 
noun to the root DT, from which the feminine 
nim may, but the masculine im cannot, be de- 
rived. The true root, therefore, in the judg- 
ment of the inspired ^vriter of the Book of 
Chronicles, was im ; and the two passages may 
be thus expounded : — 

" 2 Sam. vii. 19. ' And this (namely, what 
was said about his house in distant times) is 
the arrangement about The Majn', O Lord Je- 
hovah ! ' 

" 1 Chron. xvii. 17. ' And thou hast regarded 
me in the arrangement about the Man that is 
to be from above, O God Jehovah ! ' That is, 
in forming the scheme of the incarnation, re- 
gard was had to the honor of Dand, and his 
house, as a secondary object, by making it a 
part of the plan, that the Messiah should be 
born in his family. This is indisputably the 
sense of both passages, though far more clearly 
expressed by tlie later writer". Dr. Kennicott, 
not perceiving the identity of the two words 
mm and nin, was not aware that the two pas- 
sages render the very same sense, with no 
other difference than the advantage of per- 
spicuity, and perhaps of accuracy, in reciting 
David's very words, on the side of the author 
of the Book of Chronicles. I owe, however, to 

° Smith's Scripture Testiinony, &c. vol. i. p. 185, 



VOL. II. 



i 



50* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part 1. 



Dr. Kennicott the important hint, that CDTi^n, 
in Samuel, and nSi'nn cmXP, in Chronicles, 
allude to Christ, and to none else ; whicli led 
me to the right understanding of both pas- 
sages." — Horsley's Biblical Criticisms, vol. i. p. 
184. See also Arrangement of the Old Testa- 
ment, in loc. 

It is difficult to say why Bishop Horsley, 
after this confession, should have differed in 
another point from Dr. Kennicott, and translated 
■::Zj-\:ir\ by "the Man," instead of "the Adam." 
Dr. Pye Smith has very justly observed, from 
Dr.Kennicott's translation, that the inferences to 
be drawn from this passage are, that the Mes- 
siah would, at a period remotely future, descend 
from David, and that he would sustain a rela- 
tion to the human race analogous to that of the 
first man. 

In the New Testament also our Lord is 
called the Adam from above. We read these 
remarkable words, (1 Cor. xv. 47). "The first 
man is of the earth earthy, the second man is 
the Lord from heaven." Through the greater 
part of that beautiful chapter St. Paul draws a 
parallel between the first and second Adam. In 
the Epistle to the Romans (v. 14.) he calls the 
first Adam " the figure of Him that was to 
come." Compare also John iii. 31. and viii. 23. 

The Jewish traditions also affirm the same 
doctrine, and St. Paul, in this passage (1 Cor. 
XV. 47.) uses the very same expression which is 
found in the book Zohar on this subject: a cir- 
cumstance which may be considered as afford- 
ing a proof of the real date of that curious 
book. It is said to consist principally of a re- 
cital of the expositions and doctrines of Rabbi 
Simeon'', the son of Jochai, v/ho was the con- 
temporary of the Apostles, and probably known 
to St. Paul, himself one of the most learned of 
his day. 

The Messiah is there called ithyh TU1H, " the 
Adam on high," and is said to have dominion 
over all things, as the first man, "the Adam 
below," nxnn OIN, had by divine appointment 
over the inferior creation of this world. The 
same idea repeatedly occurs in the rabbinical 
writings. " Plura adhuc ibi habentur," says 
Schoetgenius, " sed hffic sufficiant." I have 
selected a few of the very curious traditions 
dispersed through his book'. 

P Schoetgenius, Hora Hehruica, vol. ii. p. 271. 

' In vol.i.p. 670, of the Harm Hehraicm — " Nom- 
ina ilia duo Judaeis sunt familiaria. Nam Adamus 
primus semper et ubique fere audit pij^xin Ll3TX,et 
in hbro Soliar ^xmp CDTX-" — "Sohnr Genes, fol. 14. 
col. 53. Quum nondum consummati essent septem 
ordines dierum superiorum. nondum absolutus erat 
kS'J.'S CDTt? Adam supernus. Cum absolveretur 
xS'i^S superius, dictus est nxS'J' iZDTX Adam 
superior : cum absolveretur inferius, dictus est cmX 
nxnn Adam inferior. Et quemadmodum, postquam 
omnia absoluta sunt, Adamus inferior dominatur 
omnibus qusBCunque in mundo creata sunt, sic 
Adam superior x'^J Sj' D'Su', omnibus omnino 
rebus dominatur.'' — Schoetgen. Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 
672. Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 147. 3. nni nx'7''V TIT 



I would here conclude the attempt to prove 
that Jesus of Nazareth was the one Messiah, 
from his being the second Adam, as the Old 
Testament, the New Testament, and the Jew- 
ish traditions assert the Messiah to be ; but Mr. 
Jones has added some ideas on the time during 
which the temptation lasted, which may confirm 
the propriety of tlie reasoning now adopted. 
According to tradition, Adam and Eve are sup- 
posed to have been tried forty days in Paradise. 
Jones, in Ms interesting dissertation on the 
Temptation of Christ, arguing on this sup- 
position, concludes that the period of forty 
days will, from this circumstance, naturally 
occur in other transactions ; and particularly in 
this of our Saviour's temptation. The flood 
brought upon the world by sin committed in 
Paradise (Gen. v. 29.) lasted for forty days — and 
so long were the rains descending, that the sin 
and its history might be recognised in the pun- 
ishment. When the Israelites searched the 
land of Canaan, the second Paradise, they had 
a foretaste of it for forty days (Numb. xiv. 33, 
34.), and the people who murmured at the evil 
report of those faithless messengers were con- 
demned to wander forty years (a year for a day) 
in the Avilderness. — (Jones's Works, vol. iii. p. 
173.) — To which may be added many other 
symbolical coincidences. Moses, as the founder 
and the great lawgiver of the Jewish Church, 
fasted twice forty days and forty nights on 
Mount Horeb, when he first received the tables 
of the Law, and afler they had been broken 
and were again restored. Elijah also, the re- 
former of the Jewish Church, by the same su- 
perhuman power, after he had crossed the river 
Jordan, fasted for the same number of days, 
and in the same wilderness, as Moses had for- 
merly done. Are these mere coincidences ? 
Is it not rather probable that Christ, who came 
to fulfil the Law to the uttermost, and to estab- 
lish on it a more perfect dispensation, should be 
appointed to give the same evidence of his di- 

nxnn ' David superior et David inferior, 'n HX/'J,' 
'IWXI ' superior est Deus primus,' pinx 'H PXnril 
' et inferior est Deus postremus.' " — Schoetgen. vol. 
i. p. 673. In another passage of one of the talmud- 
ical writings we read, that since the first Adam was 
in the transgression, the Messiah will be the last 
Adam to take away sin. A'ckc Scludom, fol. 160. 2. 
citante Edzardo ad Berachoth, c. 1. p. 176. apud 
Schoetgen. vol. i. p. 671. In the commentary on 
Proverbs xxx. 4. we read — " What is his name .' — 
the heavenly Adam, or tlie Adam from above — 
and what is his son's name .-' the earthly Adam, the 
Adam from below." Sohur ad Genes, xxxix. 2.. 
" In the hour in which Adam received the celestial 
image, all creatures came to him, and acknowl- 
edged him king of the earth.' Jalkut Rubeni, 
fol. 21. 1. Schoetgen. vol. i. p. 673. n'nJl xn;Tii'3 
nxS'I? NJpTTD OTX — "He was with the wild 
beasts." There is much curious matter also of a 
similar nature on those words of St. Paul, 1 Cor. 
XV. 49. Eixvva TuV /uixov. EtyinuTov i7iov(iaviov — 
" As we have borne the image of the earthy, we 
shall also bear the image of the heavenly." — 
Schoetgen. Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 673. 



Mote 52.-54.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*51 



vine mission, and to undergo the same prepara- 
tion as liis typical predecessors had already 
fulfiUed.? 



Note 52.— Part I. 

Those who reject the literal interpretation 
of the account of our Lord's temptation, have 
laid great weight on this phrase, " in a moment 
of time," iv auy/ifi /gdvov, as demonstrating 
the whole scene to be a vision. The real state 
of the case seems, however, to be, that the 
Tempter conveyed, or took, or accompanied, 
our Lord to the mountain, and showing him in 
a moment of time the kingdoms of Judma, 
which were then before him, suggested to him 
at the same moment the superior glory of aU 
the other governments and dominions of tlie 
earth, the greatest of wliich (the Roman empire) 
•was then at the height of its power. Bishop 
Porteus remarks on this passage, that Abbe 
Mariti, describing this mountain, speaks of it 
as extremely high, and commanding the most 
beautiful prospect imaginable. It overlooks the 
mountains of Arabia, the country of Gilead, the 
country of the Ammonites, the plains of Moab, 
the plain of Jericho, the river Jordan, and the 
whole extent of the Dead Sea. These various 
domains the Tempter might show to our Lord 
distinctly, and might also at the same time point 
out (for so the original word sometimes signifies), 
and direct our Lord's eye towards several other 
regions that lay beyond them, which might 
comprehend all the principal kingdoms of the 
Eastern world. According to tradition, the 
mountain on which our Saviour was tempted is 
called Quarantania. Maundrell describes it as 
exceedingly high, and difficult of ascent, hav- 
ing a small chapel at the top, and another about 
half way up, on a prominent part of a rock. 
Near this latter are several caves and holes, 
originally used by hermits, and by some even 
to this day, during the period of Lent, in imita- 
tion of the example of our blessed Saviour. 
The words of the Evangelists are so clear and 
distinct, in their account of this transaction, 
and it was so evidently a premeditated scheme 
on the part of Satan, availing himself of the 
first symptom of human weakness, beginning 
his attack at the moment that our Saviour " was 
an hungered ; " that, had we no other evidence, 
there can be no reasonable grounds for consid- 
ering the temptation in any other point of view 
than as a real contest. 

The temptation of Christ, as well as that of 
our first parents, must be considered as a real 
scene. We are not justified in making our 
present experience the criterion of truth, and 
rejecting the positive testimony of Revelation, 
on account of theoretical difficulties. The 
whole question concerning the origin and con- 



tinuance of evil is involved in insuperable mys- 
tery. But we may with as much propriety deny 
the origin of evil, as refuse to believe in its 
remedy ; which it cannot be irrational to con- 
clude would be, in some manner, correspondent 
to the disease. Till the next stage of our 
being has developed the unrevealed mysteries 
of the Deity who made mankind, we must be 
contented, like obedient children, to believe 
much that we cannot yet understand. 



Note 53.— Part L 

The Evil Spirit in this temptation is called 
by the three names which unitedly characterize 
him as the destroyer of man. He is at once 
their enemy [SaTuvag], their accuser (6 ^A(lo- 
lo;), and their tempter (o Tleiq&'CiMv). 



Note 54. — Part L 
on the difference in the order of the 

temptations as related by ST. MATTHEW 
AND ST. liUKE. 

In this history of the temptation, St. Mat- 
thew's order is, 1. " Command that these stones 
be made bread." 2. " Cast thyself down from 
the temple." 3. "I will give thee all thou 
seest from this high mountain, if thou wilt faU 
down and worship me." — St. Luke's order is, 
the first temptation the same as St. Matthew ; 
the third temptation is placed by him for the 
second, and the second for the third. But St. 
Luke does not affirm this order. He has only 
xui ii.i'ayuy(iiv, ver. 5; and xui rijaysv, ver. 9. 
Whereas St. Matthew uses particles, which 
seem to fix his order ; as, T(5rf, ver. 5 ; and 
ndliv, ver. 8. Le Clerc says, "Hoc repugnan- 
tia haberi non potest, cum neuter evangelis- 
tarum profiteatur se, hac in re, ordinem temporis 
accurate secutum." — Newcome's Notes to his 
Harmomj, p. 6, fol. edit. Dublin, 1778. 

Possibly the reason of the difference in the 
order of the account of the temptations given 
us in these two Evangelists, may be in some 
measure ascertained from a consideration of 
the respective purposes for which they origi- 
nally composed their Gospels. St. Matthew 
wrote for the Jews of Judeea. TJie title of 
" King" was the most usual name given to the 
Messiah by the Jews. " Vulgatissimum est hoc 
nomen Messise, quem Judaei ubique vocant, 
rr'K'Dri "i'?D," says Schoetgenius, Hora Hebr. 
vol. i. p. 13, and instances abound throughout 
his book. But he was not only considered as 
king of Israel, but king over all the world. 
Thus we read (Zohar Genes, fol. 128. col. 509. 
ad verba, Genes, xlix. 11. ex versione Sommeri, 



52* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part I. 



p. 96, apud Schoetgen. vol. ii. p. 638-9.) « So 
the King Messias will show favor to Israel, but 
he will be a terror to all people who profess not 
the true religion." St. Matthew, therefore, 
seems to point out to his Jewish readers, that 
Jesus, who was the true spiritual Messiah, first 
conquered all desire for the luxuries of life. — 
He then refused to declare himself, by any 
useless though stupendous miracle, the ex- 
pected King of Israel, by proving himself at an 
unfit time, and in an unsuitable manner, the 
Messiah they expected ; for his course was 
that of toil and suffering, of neglected and lowly 
poverty and scorn, till the time came for 
the establishment of his spiritual kingdom. 
In repulsing the third temptation he showed 
his contempt of all worldly power, and wisdom, 
and clistinction, till the promised period when 
the converted heathen should be given him for 
his spiritual inheritance, and the utmost parts 
of the earth for his spiritual possession. The 
Evangelist thus preserves the climax. He as- 
cends from one gradation of virtue to another, 
and shows how our Lord, by resisting the 
Tempter, attained to that height of excellence 
which ought to impress the mind with the 
greatest veneration. 

St. Luke wrote for the Gentiles of Achaia. 
He places before them the same triumph of 
Christ, and teaches the same doctrine ; that he 
conquered the desire of the pleasures of this 
life, the love of temporal dominion over the 
world at large, and all the dazzling glories and 
triumphs to which that dominion led. But he 
teaches this doctrine in the manner the most 
likely to impress the minds of his Gentile read- 
ers ; for which purpose he changes the order to 
preserve the appropriate climax, and the grada- 
tion of the power of the temptation. Christ 
conquered the desires of the appetite : this was 
the first temptation. In the second he was of- 
fered that which the Gentiles esteemed the 
liighest point of human happiness — universal 
dominion over all the kingdoms of the world. 
And, lastly, he was invited to throw himself 
from the pinnacle of the temple, and to receive 
at once all those divine honors which the hea- 
then paid to their gods ; for such a demonstra- 
tion of divine power would have been immor- 
talized, and would have placed him above all 
their other deities. It is well known in what 
high estimation temporal ambition and sove- 
reignty were at that time held by the uncon- 
verted pagans. The well-known compliments 
which Horace, in various passages, pays to 
Augustus — 

" Quos inter Augustus recumbens 
Purpureo bibit ore nectar.' — Carm .lib. iii. Od.35. 
or the 
" Praesens divus habebitur 
Augustus," &c. — Carm. lib. iii. Od. 5. 

were not merely expressions of flattery which 



had only a courtly meaning ; but they may be 
considered as conveying the real opinion which 
the heathen world entertained of those who 
obtained universal empire ; they esteemed such 
as gods, and actually, as all ancient history 
proves, paid them homage and offered sacrifices 
to them and to their statues, as to gods. St. 
Luke, therefore, represents our Lord, not only 
as rejecting the sovereignty over the world, 
but as refusing to obtain, by a mere exertion 
of his power, all the servile homage and flat- 
tering pomp attendant on such an elevation. 
This, in the opinion of a heathen, would be 
the highest test of virtue. The inference in 
both instances would be the same ; he who per- 
formed all the great works recorded in the 
Evangelists alike contemned and declined 
those objects which, in the opinion of both Jew 
and Gentile, were the most highly to be prized 
and valued. From the narrative of the tempta- 
tion they would learn that Christ was the Lord 
and Giver of greater and more estimable bless- 
ings than the luxuries, the honors, or the 
most enviable distinctions and advantages of 
this life. 

Thus will the accounts of the two Evangelists 
be reconciled. Both relate the same facts, 
both enforce the same doctrine ; the order is 
different, because each considered the opinions 
and modes of thinking prevalent among those 
they addressed, and were anxious to impart the 
greatest interest to their narrative. 

It will be observed, that this interpretation is 
submitted to the reader, on the supposition that 
the popular interpretation of the ndaag r&g ^aai,- 
lelag rov xda/uov (Matt. iv. 8.) be the correct read- 
ing ; that it is rightly rendered, " the kingdoms 
of this world," and that consequently the corre- 
sponding phrase in St. Luke, ndaag Tds (iucri,- 
Xelag ttjs olxovf^h'rjg (Luke iv. 5.), must have the 
same signification, and is not to be referred 
principally to the kingdoms into which Judeea 
was at that time divided. The reading pro- 
posed by Michaelis in this passage appears 
conjectural, and Archbishop Laurence has en- 
deavoured to prove it unfounded. It is, how- 
ever so curious, that I shall append to this 
note both the remarks of the learned German, 
and the objections of his critic. The reader 
will then be able to decide. 

Michaelis is laboring to prove that the Gos- 
pel of St. Matthew was composed in Hebrew, 
and derives one argument in support of his 
opinion from Matt. iv. 8. The Tempter con- 
ducts Christ to the top of a lofty mountain and 
shows him ndaug rcfeg (iuadelag tov x6a^ov. 
If we take this in a literal sense, the thing is 
impossible : if it was a mere illusion, there was 
no necessity for ascending a lofty mountain. 
Here then it appears, that some word was used 
in the Hebrew original which was capable of 
more than one translation: perhaps yixn, 
which signifies " the land," as well as " the 



Note 1.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*53 



earth ; " or Snn, which, as well as diyy/uh'Ti, may- 
denote tlie land of Palestine : -or thirdly, which 
is perhaps the most probable conjecture, it 
is not unlikely that St. Matthew wrote Sj 
■•JJiTi nioSroD, that is, " all the kingdoms of the 
Holy Land," and that the translator mistook '3V 
for x::^, which in tl:e Septuagint is sometimes 
rendered by xdafw;. It is even possible, as 'ni' 
signihes literally "beauty," and it6cr/jog has 
likewise tliis sense, that the translation in ques- 
tion was occasioned by a too literal adherence 
to the original. Now all the kingdoms which 
existed in Palestine in the time of Christ could 
be seen from the top of Mount Nebo. St. 
Matthew, therefore, meant all the kingdoms of 
Palestine, which his translator converted into 
all the kingdoms of the world. — Marsh's Mi- 
chaelis, vol. iii. part 1. p. 155. 

Archbishop Laurence contends, however, that 
there is no adequate proof that the Gospel of 
St. Matthew was compiled in the Hebrew lan- 
guage, and that no arguments can, or ought to 
be founded on conjectures of this nature. In 



reply to this remark of Michaelis, he observes 
that 'nv is used for Palestine only in four in- 
stances, three times by Daniel, and once by 
Jeremiah, and each time metaphorically, as 
" the pleasant or agreeable land ; " and that 
the Seventy do not thus translate it either lit- 
erally or metaphorically : and it is not likely 
that an appellation of this peculiar description 
would have been adopted in a plain narrative. 
Neither could x6a/Jog, in the sense of " the 
world," be put for {<3i', the proper meaning of 
which is " an army," and which is only translated 
y.oaiMg by the LXX, wlien the host of heaven 
is mentioned ; or for 'DY, in its literal significa- 
tion of " beauty, honor, and glory." But it is 
not necessary to interpret the word y.6a/uos, in 
the sense of " the world." In Rom. iv. 13. the 
expression y.lrjooroiibv tS y.oafis is interpreted 
by Beza, of the " land of Canaan ; " and Glass, 
in his Philologia Sacra, expressly limits its 
meaning to denote the land of Canaan. — Ser- 
mon on Excess in Philological Sjitculation, note 
12, p. 36. 



PART II. 



Note 1. — Part II. 

Michaelis and Lightfoot begin this part of 
the history at John v. 15. ; and Doddridge has 
placed ver. 15-18. by themselves, before the 
baptism of Christ. In the note to part i. 
sect. 2. 1 have mentioned the reasons for pre- 
serving tlie present order and preferring the 
authority of Archbishop Newcome. 

Having now been inaugurated by the waters 
of baptism, the testimony from heaven, the an- 
ointing of the Spirit, and the conquest over 
temptation, into his high office, the Messiah 
presents himself to his forerunner, who inmie- 
diately hails him, as the atoning sacrifice for 
the sins of the world. John, as a prophet, spoke 
under the influence of divine inspiration : in no 
other manner could he have obtained power to 
make the declaration. As our Lord had come 
into the world for the express object of expiat- 
ing the sin of man, there is an obvious pro- 
priety in the salutation of the Baptist. It 
seems to mean, tha.t as far as man was con- 
cerned, all the other offices, characters, and 
attributes of the Holy One of God are of com- 
paratively inferior moment, unless he be con- 

VOL. Ii. 



sidered as the spotless lamb, that should die for 
mankind. The testimony of the ancient proph- 
ets had but gradually revealed the various 
perfections of the Messiah ; and the hope and 
faith of man had been continually excited and 
cherished by the wise and merciful ordinance, 
which appointed a succession of prophets, each 
of whom added some additional information re- 
specting him who was to come. This saluta- 
tion of the Baptist was the completion of all 
prophecy. From this time the voice of pro- 
phetic inspiration, under tlie Law of the old 
covenant, utterly ceased. The Messiah had 
come, and he was before them. The Lamb of 
God was preparing himself for the fearful sac- 
rifice. 

In support of the doctrine of the atonement, 
there is more authority than for any other re- 
vealed in the Jewish or Christian Scriptures. 
It was taught in the beginning of the patri- 
archal dispensation, tlie first after the fall, in 
the words of the promise, and in the institution 
of sacrifices. It is enforced by the uniform, con- 
current testimony of the types, prophecies, opin- 
ions, customs, and traditions of the Jewish 
Cliurch. It is the peculiar foundation and 



54* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part II. 



principal doctrine of the Christian Church, in all 
ages, which has never deviated from the opin- 
ion that the death of Christ on the cross was 
" the full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, obla- 
tion, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole 
world." — See particularly Archbishop Magee 
On the Atonement, with the notes and disser- 
tations appended ; the commentators ; Outram ; 
and the principal authors referred to by Arch- 
bishop Magee. Dr. P. Smith's Sermon also on 
the Atonement is a valuable tract. 



Note 2.— Part II. 

The messengers from Jerusalem could not 
or would not understand the answer of the 
Baptist, when he told them he was neither 
Ehas returned from heaven, nor Jeremiah risen 
from the dead, though he was the predicted 
voice of one crying in the wilderness. They 
demanded of him, therefore, by what authority 
he baptized. Though baptism had long been 
known and practised among them, it had been 
applied to the Proselytes only ; and they be- 
lieved that Elias and Jeremiah, the immediate 
precursors of Christ, were the only persons 
authorized to baptize the Jews themselves, for 
the purpose of forming a new and more select 
society, separated from the mass of the nation. 
— Rosenmliller in JV. T. vol. ii. p. 309. Kui- 
noel, Comment, in lib. JV. T. Hist. vol. iii. p. 
130. 

Job. And. Danzius, in a very valuable trea- 
tise on the Baptism of Proselytes among the 
Jews, written to illustrate this passage of St. 
John's Gospel, and the passages in Matthew, 
chap, iii., has considered at length the baptism 
of John. His treatise is bound up in Meuschen's 
JVov. Test, ex Talmude. As the work is not 
often to be procured, I have selected some of 
the points he discusses. 

To determine whether the baptism of John 
was divinely appointed or not, two inquiries 
appear to be necessary. 

1. Was such a rite as baptism practised in 
the Jewish Church by divine appointment be- 
fore the time of John ? 

2. If so, was the baptism of John distinct 
from that previously established among the 
Jews ? 

In reply to these questions, Danzius affirms 
that the baptism of John was not totally distinct 
from that in use amongst the Jews, (p. 262. § 25.) 
Josephus speaks of baptism as a rite of long 
standing in the Jewish Church. John is rep- 
resented to have been more bent upon cor- 
recting the abuse of the existing institution 
than establishing a new one. 

Baptism was appointed by God himself, (p. 
266. § 30.) It was the received opinion among 
the ancient Jews, that baptism was appointed 



thus, and had obtained in their nation from the 
promulgation of the Law. The sanctification 
enjoined (Exod. xix. 10.) is thought to have 
been baptism. 

(P. 288. § 7 and 11.) St Paul, ] Cor. x. 2., 
says,6 J' ir; vecpelri xaleVTrj dal(jLa<jr^ i6anrl<javT0. 
These words may be taken literally, without 
any figurative signification. They were bap- 
tized, iv vecptlri, " in rain water," and iv -d-a- 
X&aari, " in the sea." 

(P.' 301. § 85 and 86.) The Jewish elders 
did not inquire into the baptism of John, as a 
thing the nature of which was new and un- 
heard-of amongst them ; — but 1st, Because he, 
on his private authority, usurped a public func- 
tion, which belonged to three persons (trium- 
virati) commissioned by the Church. — 2dly, 
Because lie baptized those for whom it might 
seem unnecessary, viz. Jews under the cove- 
nant, who had been baptized before in their 
ancestors, and needed not baptism as an in- 
itiatory rite for admission into the Jewish 
Church, (p. 305. § 102.)— And, 3dly, Because 
in his baptism he differed from their ancestors 
in the end proposed. 

The Jews believed baptism to have been in- 
stituted by God himself. If tliis opinion was 
true, and the baptism of John was not totally 
distinct from that in use among the Jews, 
John must be allowed to have been divinely 
commissioned to exercise that function. — See 
the treatise of Danzius. 

Gorionides, however, asserts of John, that he 
was the institutor of baptism. " This is he who 
(nS'3D ntyj?) made, instituted, or practised bap- 
tism."— Lib. V. c. 45. (ap. Gill.) 



Note 3.— Part II. 

The events of the new dispensation were 
shadowed forth by the many circumstances un- 
der the former system of worship. St. John 
baptized at Bethabara. This place, the name 
of which denotes " a place of passage," is said 
to have been the very spot where the Israelites, 
under the command of Joshua, advanced mto 
the Holy Land. It was over against Jericho. 
There is reason to believe (vide Lightfoot in 
loc.) that St. John was baptizing in the very 
place, therefore, where the Israelites passed 
over ; and that our Lord was baptized in that 
spot where the ark rested in the bed of the 
river. These coincidences are so very appro- 
priate and numerous, that we shall do well to 
hesitate before we call them all accidental. 

Jerome"" and Origen'' have preserved the 
tradition that John baptized in Bethabara. 
The place was pointed out to strangers in their 
time. 

' De locis Hebraicis, fol. 89. 1. 
' Comm. in Johan. torn. 8. p. 131. 



Note 4.-6.] NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. #55 

Note 4.— Part II. Note 5.— Part II. 



The observations of Lightfoot on the time 
when, and the circumstances under which, this 
expression was used, deserve to be noticed. 

John, in liis opinion, could not have selected 
a more characteristic expression than that of 
the morning and evening lamb that was of- 
fered at Jerusalem. 

1. John addressed Priests and Levites, whose 
chief emplo3''ment was to make a sacrifice of 
that lamb. 

2. It was about the time of offering the sacri- 
fice when Jolin used these words. 

3. The lamb declared the innocency of Christ, 
in being without spot ; and the death of Christ, 
in being offered up. 

4. It was pertinent to the doctrine of John ; 
for he had spoken of remission of sin to all who 
came near, and declared, when Christ came in 
sight, in what manner the sins of those who 
repented were to be forgiven, by the sacrifice 
of this very Lamb of God, who should bear 
away the sins of the world, as the lamb offered 
in tlae temple took away in a figure the sins of 
the Jews. — Lightfoot, second part of the Har- 
mony of the Evangelists, JForks, vol. i. p. .529. 

" To take away sin " was a common phrase 
among the talmudists. — Brescith Rahba, sect. 
22. fol. 23. 2. ad verba Caini, " Cainus Deum 
sic alloquitur: superna et inferna tu portas, 
S^ID nnx px "JJJ'iDSl, sed peccata mea tu non 
portas." Eadem repetuntur in Debarim Rahba, 
sect. 8. fol. 260. 2. Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 22. 1. 
Tanchuma, fol. 2. 3. Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 30. 4. 
"SxiE'" ni:il>' ''^ID H'tya, Messias portat pec- 
cata Israelitarum." — Schoetgen. vol. i. 325. 

In the Levitical dispensation, when a sacri- 
fice was offered for sin, he that brought it laid 
his hand upon the head of the victim, according 
to the command of God, Lev. i. 4. iii. 2. iv. 4., 
and by that rite transferred his sins upon tlie 
\'ictun, who is said to take them upon him, and 
to carry them away. In tlie daily sacrifice of 
the temple, the stationary men, who were the 
representatives of the people, laid their hands 
upon the unoffending lamb thus offered for 
them ; and those appropriated for the morning 
and evening sacrifice were bought with that 
half shekel, which all the Jews paid yearly, etc 
7.VT00V T>]g ipv}(ri; cc-vTai' i^iluaaadui negl rwv 
xpv/av uvrm', " as tlie price of the redemption 
of their lives to make an atonement for them." 
Exod. XXX. 12. 14. 16. Tliis Lamb of God was 
to be offered to take away at once the guilt of 
sin, and to put an end to the sacrifices required 
by the Law. 

Vide Whitby in loc, Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 531. 
and Archbishop Magee, On the Sin Offering 
among the Jews. I beg to entreat every man 
who would desire to understand thoroughly the 
cause why Christ came into the world to pe- 
ruse this latter book. 



KuiNOEL, comparing this verse with ver. 30., 
has discussed both passages at length, and de- 
cides, after an impartial examination of the va- 
rious meanings assigned to them by others, in 
favor of the generally-received opinion, that 
the Baptist intended to enforce on his hearers 
the Scriptural doctrine of the preexistence of 
Clirist.— Kuinoel, /tt Libros Historicos JV. T 
vol. iii. p. 117-121. 



Note 6.— Part IL 

This expression of the Evangelist, " I knew 
him not," appears at variance with the psssage 
Matt. iii. 13., where John, knowing his superior- 
ity, declares, " I have need to be baptized by 
thee." There are several ways of reconciling 
this apparent difference ; the most natural inter- 
pretation seems to be, that John, being made 
acquainted by his own parents with the miracu- 
lous circumstances that preceded the birth of 
his relation, and having known the extraordi- 
nary purity and holiness of his life, declares, 
" I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest 
thou to me ? " But although John knew him 
personally, he knew liim not officially as the 
Messiah, till the promised token had been 
vouchsafed to him ; till a voice from heaven 
proclaimed him the beloved Son of God, and the 
Spirit descending like a dove hovered over him. 
The Jews in general must have known our 
Saviour personally, as the reputed son of Jo- 
seph and Mary, but they knew him not then, 
although he was in the midst of them, as the 
Christ ; nor shall they know him till the veil be 
removed from their eyes. See John xiv. 9. 

Some commentators suppose that John, when 
Jesus came to Jordan to be baptized of him, 
knew him to be the Christ by the same divine 
impulse which directed Simeon, when he hailed 
the infant Jesus in the temple as the promised 
Messiah. See also 1 Kings xiv. 1-7., where 
the wife of Jeroboam is made known to the 
prophet Ahijah. We have every reason to 
suppose that John must have had a personal 
acquaintance with our Saviour, from the con- 
nexion and intimacy between the two families, 
and that they would meet each other at Jeru- 
salem at the great festival three times a year ; 
but his Messiahship was revealed to the Bap- 
tist by some miraculous and indubitable evi- 
dence, for confirmation of his own faith, and 
that of all succeeding ages. — Hales' Analysis, 
vol. ii. p. 731. Witsius, Be Vita Johannis, ad 
fin. Miscel. Sacra, vol. ii. 

Archdeacon Nares interprets the passage, 
" I knew him not as tlie Messiah." Doddridge 
endeavours to prove, that either accidentally, or 
providentially, they might very possibly have 



56* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part II. 



been unknown to each other. — Archdeacon 
Nares's Remarks on the Socinian Version of the 
JVew Testament, p. 34, 35. 

Nonnus, who lived in the fourth century, 
has left a Paraphrase of the Gospel of St. John 
in Homeric verse. The principal use of this 
work in the present day is to show us the 
sense in which the more controverted passages 
of St. John's Gospel were understood at that 
period. Nonnus has thus paraphrased the ex- 
pression, " I knew him not," in verse 31. 

'£■'/(!) Si fiiv oi n&qog i'yvcov 

' Ofjf/aaLv, &Lc.—Par. eh. i. 1. 108, 109. 

The corresponding passage in verse 33 leaves 
out the word d/n/naa-w, line 118. 



Note 7.— Part U. 

On the day following, John calls the atten- 
tion of his disciples to Jesus ; and, as if he 
would remind them of the preceding conversa- 
tion, he again gives his testimony to the office 
of Christ, in the same words, " Behold the 
Lamb of God ! " and immediately these two 
disciples become the followers of Christ. In 
this circumstance also is another evident pro- 
priety through the ordinance of an overruling 
Providence. No persons could be so fitly 
chosen by God to be the first disciples of Christ, 
as those who had previously been followers of 
his great Forerunner. By this event our Lord 
at once united tlie Mosaical and Christian Dis- 
pensations. The disciples of John, who now 
began to attend him, were witnesses before all 
Israel of the testnnony of John, whom all ac- 
knowledged to be a prophet. Wherever he 
went, Christ was now, or was soon to be, ac- 
companied by those who were enabled to confirm 
his Messiahship, by the declaration of the last 
prophet of the Old Dispensation. This event 
also enabled his disciples to preach more de- 
cisively to the people the great truths which 
they received from John ; that repentance was 
the beginning and foundation of faith ; and that 
all who depend upon the Lamb of God as the 
atoning Sacrifice for mankind must be brought 
to him by the ministry of repentance. 

Andrew was the first who followed Christ, 
and the Evangelist St. John is supposed to have 
been the otlier. St. Peter was brought to Christ 
by Andrew his brother. It does not, however, 
appear, from the narrative, that they certainly 
forsook their occupations at this time, for we 
read, ver. 39., that they abode with him only 
that night; and in the next section, which is 
placed according to the order of St. John's nar- 
rative, we find that his disciples were at the 
marriage in Cana of Galilee, and we hear of 
no otlier disciples but these and Pliilip and Na- 
thanael, whom Christ met on his setting out to 



go into Galilee ; we may conclude they attended 
him to that place, and then resumed their occu- 
pations, while Christ continued at Capernaum. 
Nathanael is supposed to have been chosen 
a disciple under the name of Bartholomew, 
in the same way as Peter received the name of 
Jona, or Cephas ; as throughout the whole of 
the evangelical writings he is always coupled 
with Philip, and (in John xxi. 3.) he is named, 
with other disciples who were all apostles. 



Note 8.— Part II. 

Peter, like Nathanael, received a title which, 
while it alluded to his own name, described also 
his future dignity, in being selected to preach 
the Gospel to the Gentile world. Christ had 
come to call the Gentiles to God, and he proves 
by his address to St. Peter, that this great ob- 
ject of his mission was always before him. 
The members of the Church of Rome imagine 
that this name, given to St. Peter, proves that 
he was appointed head of the Universal Church, 
whose seat was to be at Rome. A solid foun- 
dation for this notion, however, cannot be laid, 
before some stubborn facts are removed, which 
are utterly inconsistent with this opinion. 
These are the parity among the apostles ; — ■ 
the total absence of evidence that the Church, 
even in that early age, submitted in any one 
instance to St. Peter ; — the election of St. James 
to the episcopal office at Jerusalem ; — the man- 
ner in which St. Paul addressed St. Peter, and 
the uncertainty, indeed, whether St. Peter was 
ever at Rome, the seat of his supposed dignity. 
Vide Barrow's Inquiry whether St. Peter was ever 
at Rome. This is a posthumous work, and had 
not received the last correction of its author. 
It contains, however, a valuable collection of 
materials on this subject. The brief Introduc- 
tion to the work, by Archbishop Tillotson, to 
whom Dr. Barrow, when dying, intrusted his 
manuscripts, also deserves attention. 



Note 9.— Part II. 

For some very curious remarks on this pas- 
sage, see King's Morsels of Criticism. The 
singular theory of the universe, and its govern- 
ment, proposed by this author, will interest, even 
when it does not convince, all who engage 
tliemselves in these studies. Mr. King rejects 
the usual interpretation of this passage, and, 
after endeavouring to prove that the propjiecy 
of our Lord was not fulfilled during the life- 
time of Nathanael, he concludes "that this 
wonderful prophecy was a promise to Pliilip 
and Nathanael, and through them to all man- 
kind ; tliat the time would certainly come, when 



Note 10, 11.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*5T 



they should see a free communication betiveen 
our heaven (tliat is, as he supposes, the sun) 
and the angels of God descending, and ascend- 
ing, and conversing with men." — King's Morsels 
of Criticism, vol. i. 8vo. p. 320. 



Note 10.— Part II. 

The remainder of the events in this part 
to the imprisonment of John, are harmonized 
in the same order by Whiston, Lightfoot, Mi- 
chaelis, Doddridge, and Newcome. Pilkington 
inserts before that event the baptism and temp- 
tation of Christ ; a difference which has akeady 
been considered. 



Note 11. — Part II. 

The third day means, either tlie third day 
from Christ's coming into GaUlee, John i. 43. — 
or the third day from the conference with Na- 
thanael — or the third day from his disciples 
first following him — or the third from the com- 
mencement of the marriage feast, which usually 
lasted seven days. 

ON THE MIRACLE AT THE JIARRIAGE IN CA>fA. 

The obscure life of Christ till he was thirty 
years of age had obliterated, in a great meas- 
ure, the impression produced upon the people 
by the circumstances which had attended his 
advent. But the time had now arrived for our 
Lord's manifestation of himself to the world. 
The voice from heaven had proclaimed him the 
Son of God, — ^his great Forerunner had ac- 
knowledged him as such, and an act of Omnis- 
cience had convinced and drawn to him a dis- 
ciple. The hour was now at hand when a 
more public testimony of his Messiahship was 
to be given, in the re^aval of miracles. GalQee 
was the place predicted, and appointed, (Isaiah 
ix. 1, 2.) See also tlie Jewish traditions on this 
subject, in Schoetgen, for the first display of the 
power and majesty of the Messiah; and we 
accordingly find that his first miracle was 
WTought in Cana of Galilee. Lightfoot has 
endeavoured to prove, from the hints which are 
given in various parts of the Gospels, concern- 
ing the kindred and family of our Lord's 
mother, and particularly from this account of 
the festival, and of the manner in which she is 
represented as possessing more influence and 
authority than was usual for a mere guest, that 
this marriage took place at the house of Mary, 
the sister of the mother of Jesus, and wife of 
Cleophas (who was the same as Alpheus), and 
that the bride was of that family. I cannot but 
tliink it highly probable, that our blessed Saviour 
VOL. II. *§ 



■RTOught tills Ms first miracle in the presence 
of all his assembled family and connexions, 
to confirm their faith before he entered upon his, 
public ministry. The object of the miracle must 
be judged by its effect. The disciples whom he 
had taken from John saw and believed. 

It may be worthy of observation, however, 
that the Evangelist St. John, who has written 
the account of the event in his character of 
historian, is asserted to have been himself the 
bridegroom. Dr. A. Clarke, in his Preface to 
the Gospel of St. John, is of this opinion. 
Lampe', in his Prolegomena to his laborious 
work on St. John's Gospel, asserts the contrar}', 
on the authorities of Ignatius, Tertullian, Au- 
gustine, Epiphanius, and Jerome. 

The best explanation I have met of this trans- 
action is that which is given by RosenmuUer 
(in loc.) from Chrysostom", who supposes that 
the mother and brethren of our Lord were im- 
patient that he should perform some splendid 
action, and manifest himself to the world, that 
they might obtain some degree of honor 
through him. His mother, probably, intimated 
by some tone, voice, or manner, her desire that 
he should perform some of those wonderful mir- 
acles which he had sometimes wrought (as many 
conjecture) for the relief of the domestic pov- 
erty of his family. " It does not seem unworthy 
of our Lord's character," says Rosenmiiller in 
loc, " that he should have given this consolation 
to his mother and friends. The idea is sug- 
gested by the strong hope expressed by the 
Virgin Mary on this occasion. But as there is 
no other support for this opinion, it may be ac- 
counted for, from the conviction his mother en- 
tertained of his divine mission, and from tlie 
anxiety she would naturally feel, that her son 
should manifest himself as the promised Mes- 
siah. In reply to the suggestion, our Lord, in- 
stantly understanding her wishes, checks the 
half-uttered request, by gi\ing her to under- 
stand that she was not to direct him in the ex- 
ercise of liis divine powers, and that the period 
which her affection anticipated had not yet ar- 
rived. The words, ' Mine hour is not yet come,' 
are supposed to signify that his public demon- 
stration of himself was not to commence till 
John was imprisoned." Rosenmiiller and Kui- 
noel in loc. quote from Dion Cassius, lib. 51. 
the expression of Augustus to Cleopatra, to 
show that the words of ver. 4. are not to be 
understood in an unkind or harsh sense — Qixoasi 
& -jvvai, y.al Ovuov i/s d.-(u66v. That the word 
'jivat, was used also as a title of honor among 
the more ancient Greeks appears from its use 
by J^schylus. 

' Com. Evan. Sec. Johan. vol. i. p. 14. de V^ita Jo- 
hannis privata. 

" '■ Ceterum non male Chrysostomus — optabat 
(Maria) et ipsa clarior fieri per filium y.al rUya n 
y.ui ai-d-ocoTTiiov i7ta(T/i. y.u^uJrto y.a'i ot aSf?.ipoi av- 
Tou, Xs'/ot'Tig' (5«r^oi' OiavTov rw y.ooum, fiaAouzvoi ri^i 
aTi'o T(3v ^aviiuTuiy Soiav y.a^TidiOacSui.." 



58* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part II. 



^S2 fia&vtojriMv uraoaa Heoaldun' j'TrforuT?;, 
JMiJrsQ \ ^tQ^ov ysoaft/, /aVQey Jaoiln yvrat. 

^schyl. PcrscE, line 160. 
Saal/.sia yi'voi, TToia^vq IliQcrai;. 

lb. line 629. 
The general opinion, however, of the ancient 
fathers was, that our Lord used the language of 
reproof to his mother, as guilty of some indis- 
cretion or precipitancy in thus speaking; as 
desiring d.y.a[owg il 'Crjieiv, y.al iyy.onreiv xi tSj' 
7ivevi.iaTiy.av, says Chrysostom, as quoted hy 
Whitby. Lampe also, in his Commentary on 
St. John, maintains this latter opinion, vol. i. p. 
504. He supposes that our Lord used the 
Syriac term xnjx, instead of ^K''^5, which is the 
more honorable appellation. It seems most 
probable that reproof was intended, and it was 
clothed in the language of affection, kindness, 
and respect. 

We have now arrived at the first miracle of 
our Lord mentioned in the New Testament. 
It will be remembered, that all the writers of 
the books of the New Testament addressed 
themselves in the first instance to the Jews ; 
and as one object of these notes is to point out 
to the sons of Israel, in this their last captivity, 
the internal evidence, as it gradually arises be- 
fore us, that the Founder of the Christian Church 
was the predicted Messiah, it may be worth 
our while to draw some comparison between 
the miracles recorded in the Old, and those re- 
lated in the New Testament. I think it can 
easily be made to appear, that they are both 
supported by evidence of the same nature ; and, 
consequently, that if the former are received, 
the latter, on the same grounds, are not to be 
rejected. 

As I make no reference here to those who 
require arguments to overthrow the paradoxical 
opinion of Mr. Hume, " that no human testi- 
mony can prove a miracle," I shall not stop to 
consider this or any other speculation of modern 
infidelity. We may be contented with observ- 
ing, that " a miracle is an event, ivhich is con- 
trary to experience and the established constitu- 
tion or course of things, effected by power more 
than human." This regular course of things is 
generally known by the expression, " the laws 
of nature ; " the word " nature " being used as 
if it was intended to express some occult qual- 
ity, which is in itself independent of a creating 
or preserving Providence. In this sense of the 
word, there is no such thing as nature. " Na- 
\ ture," as Cowper has beautifully observed, " is 
\ but a name for an effect, whose cause is God :" 
I and the uniform routine of circumstances in 
/ animal and vegetable life, in creation, &c. 
which we daily see, or experience, and on 
which we may always calculate, does not pro- 
ceed from any innate principle of life and mo- 
tion in the inert masses of which the visible 
universe is composed, but from the immediate 
and continued agency of that Qnuiipotence 



which first created them, and appointed the 
laws that now govern them. The various re- 
sults of this will of Omnipotence may, in one 
sense, as they are more than human power 
could effect, be called constant but unregarded 
miracles ; while the deviations from the uniform 
results thus commanded are only unusual, and 
therefore more regarded miracles. In both in- 
stances, the same active superintendence of an 
invisible agent is always discoverable. He 
who ordained the regularity of the universe, 
and appointed the powers and properties of its 
beings, can suspend the ordinary laws which ', 
govern this lower world. The credibility of i 
the one class of uniform miracles depends upon 
the testimony of the senses and daily observa- 
tion: the credibility of the unusual miracles 
depends upon the evidence of the senses ot 
those who behold them. If the miracles which 
at present are daily exhibited were from this 
moment to cease, and another uniform course 
of events were to demonstrate in another man- 
ner the power of God, then, indeed, the expe- 
rience of one generation would be contrary to 
the testimony of that which preceded it ; but 
this experience would not falsify the testimony 
of the former generation. So, also, we are no 
longer witnesses of the unusual miracles of 
God, yet we should act very irrationally to re- 
ject them, and to disbelieve them on that ac- 
count, since they are transmitted to us by the 
concurrent testimony of the then existing gen- 
eration of credible and unprejudiced witnesses. 
The Jews, as well as others who believe in 
the authenticity of the Old Testament, and re- 
ceive it as a divine revelation, declare their 
conviction of the certainty tliat the public mir- 
acles recorded therein are true, principally for 
the six following reasons : — 

1. The object of the miracles was worthy of 
its Divine Author. 

2. They were publicly performed. 

3. They were submitted to the senses in such 
a manner that men might judge of their truth. 

4. They were independent of second causes. 

5. Public monuments were set up and out- 
ward actions performed to commemorate them. 

6. And this was done at the very time when 
the events took place, and continued afterwards 
without interruption. 

The miracles of Moses, of Elias, and others, 
recorded in the Old Testament, may be divided 
into those of a private and public nature ; each 
of which are to be received on different grounds 
according to the object proposed. The public 
miracles were designed to impress a whole 
tribe, or nation, or large body of men, with the 
conviction of a truth, or to confirm them in the 
profession of the true faith, in the days of in- 
difference, apostacy, and idolatry : those of a 
more private nature were designed to convince 
individuals, or smaller bodies of men, of the 
same truths ; by relieving human wants, or suf- 



Note 11.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*59 



ferings, bj' raising the dead, or in some cases by 
inflicting punishment, thereby demonstrating the 
di%-ine mission of the prophet, and the importance 
and truth of all that he was appointed to teach. 

1. Do the Jews believe in the miracles which 
were wrought by Moses to deliver the Israelites 
from Egyptian slavery, because it was an object 
worthy of the Dirine Being to save his people 
at the time when the prediction of his sers'ant 
had announced their release .- How much more 
worthy of the divine goodness was that greater 
deliverance of the descendants of the same Is- 
raelites from a worse bondage than that of 
Egypt, — -from the capti'iaty of sin and death I 

2. "Were the miracles of Moses, which effected 
this deliverance, publicly performed ? Was 
darkness brought upon the land? Were the 
fruits of the ground destroyed ? Was the river 
changed into blood, and was the Red Sea 
opened for their rescue ? And were all these 
things publicly and instantaneously performed ? 
Equally wonderful was the darkness at the cru- 
cifixion of Clu-ist; the feeding of a multitude 
with seven loaves and a few small fishes ; and, 
above all these, the public resurrection of the 
dead to life. 

3. Could the senses of the people perceive 
and know the miracles of Moses and of Elias ? 
So the miracles of Christ appeal to the scruti- 
nizing examination of the multitudes who wit- 
nessed them. 

4. Were the accumulations of the waves of 
the sea, as the gathering waters on each side 
of the passing Israelites rose in heaps, instead 
of smoothly proceeding on their course, evidently 
independent of second causes ? So was the 
miracle of Christ, when he rose from his slum- 
ber in the endangered vessel, at the entreaties 
of his terrified disciples, to rebuke the raging 
of the winds, and the roaring of the sea, and 
command the elements to subside into a calm. 
What human power could have enabled Moses 
to divide the sea, or Joshua to roll back the tide 
of Jordan, or Elijah to part the river, and go 
through dry shod, or Christ to walk himself, and 
to enable Peter to walk, on the bosom of the 
deep ? They were the manifestations of the 
providence of the same God watchful over the 
same people. 

5. Were public monuments set up, or outward 
actions performed, to celebrate tlie miracles 
that delivered Israel from Egypt ? Was the 
Passover appointed as a lasting memorial.' 
Equally is it demonstrable that the Sacrament 
of the Lord's Supper was ordained as a contin- 
ual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death 
of Christ, and likewise the Christian Sabbatli 
for a testimony of his resurrection : and, to 
come to the sixtli criterion of public miracles, 
if the Passover was instituted at the time when 
the Exodus took place, to be continued from 
that day to the time of the true Paschal Lamb, 
we also, who glory in the name of Christians, 



can demonstrate, by the most indisputable au- 
thority, that tlie Sacrament of the Lord's Sup- 
per was instituted but a few hours before the 
death of our beloved Master, and has ever, from 
that period, been commemorated by his follow- 
ers in remembrance of his precious death. 

Let us refer also to other circumstances, and 
compare the character of the witnesses who 
have testified the truth of these miracles under 
the separate dispensations. The most decided 
impugner of the truths of Christianity, who re- 
ceives the Old Testament, wiU be satisfied with 
the evidence in favor of our sacred faith. In 
whatever point of view we consider these wit- 
nesses, we shall find them distinguished by the 
same characteristics. Their motive, circum- 
stances, and conduct, wonderfully correspond. 
It appears graciously designed by Jehovah, that 
the whole system of Revelation should be es- 
tablished on the same evidence — that if one 
was worthy of faith and acceptance, the other 
was equally so. 

Was Moses, the legislator of his people, ap- 
pointing for their government a new code of 
laws ? So also was Christ the great Lawgiver 
of his people. If Amos was an ignorant and 
obscure man, " neither a prophet, nor a prophet's 
son," but a herdsman, and a gatherer of syca- 
more fruit, it cannot be necessary to show that 
the majority of the Twelve Apostles were 
equally unlearned, and so much without preten- 
sion, that when the high priests desired to re- 
press the incipient dawning of Christianity, 
they permitted them to remain at Jerusalem, as 
too inferior, both in rank and attainments, to 
excite either apprehension or suspicion. If the 
testimonies of Isaiah and Amos be received, 
and thereby, as a necessary consequence, de- 
monstrate the dirine origin of the Old Testa- 
ment, what reason can be assigned why St. 
John and St. Paul, and the Apostles, should 
not be equally regarded as credible witnesses 
to the truth of Christianity? 

W"as Moses brought before Pharaoh, or Dan- 
iel before Darius, or the three children before 
Nebuchadnezzar, to appeal by the miracles 
that evidenced the superiority of Jehovah, to all 
the wise, and learned, and noble of their own 
day, and to confirm the truth of their religion 
for ever? So was Christ brought before Herod, 
before the Roman governor, and the assembly 
of the priests, who had heard of his mighty 
deeds. It was in the presence of the rulers of 
the people, that Christ raised the dead, and 
healed the sick, and created new limbs to the 
maimed ; while they, hating his doctrine, were 
keenly and maliciously intent upon all his ac- 
tions, to denounce him as an enthusiast, or to 
prove him an impostor. St Paul struck the 
sorcerer witli blindness at the tribunal of Paulus ; 
and St. Peter restored the lame man, who was 
known to all tlie heads of the priests, and the 
rulers of Israel. 



60* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part II. 



Did Moses work his miracles in that place 
where detection would have been the most 
easy ? So did Christ, when he multiplied bread 
in the wilderness, which produced only roots 
and herbs, the scanty provision of nature. Did 
the ancient Prophets so entirely and unani- 
mously agree with each other, that no contra- 
diction whatever is to be found between them ? 
So neither can any variation of doctrine be 
discovered between the testimonies of the 
Evangelists, and the writers of the Epistles. 
Was Isaiah tortured with the saw, and Jeremiah 
cast into prison? So also were the apostles 
and first martyrs crucified, stoned, imprisoned, 
or otherwise persecuted. If we believe, there- 
fore, the writers of the Old Testament, the 
same laws of reasoning and judgment require 
that "^e should give equal credence to those of 
the New Testament. Of both it may be justly 

asked, 

****** 

" Why should men of various age and parts 
Weave such agreeing truths, or how or why 
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie — 
Unasked their pains, unheeded their advice, 
Starving their gains, and Martyrdom their 
price." 

The writers of the New Testament, like the 
writers of the Old, express themselves with the 
artless simplicity of truth ; no real contradiction 
exists between them ; their deviation is only 
an additional testimony in their favor, as it 
proves there could have been no intended de- 
ception, where was no premeditated scheme, 
rot even the reconciliation of apparent differ- 
ences. 

If the representation of this agreement be- 
tween the writers of the Old and New Testa- 
ments be not satisfactory to the Jewish reader, 
let him further consider the singular contrast 
between his past and present condition. 

Unless the Messiah has really come, and the 
Jews have despised and crucified him, as we 
assert, by what means can they reconcile to 
themselves the fearful change that has taken 
place in their circumstances ? Let them tell 
the Christian, for what reason it is, that the 
sons of Abraham, so long the peculiarly favored 
children of God, who were honored with mira- 
cles, admonished by prophets, directed by vis- 
ions, and visited by angels, should, for so long a 
period, be permitted to wander over the whole 
world, a by- word, and the very scorn of all na- 
tions, without a king, a temple, or a prophet ? 
When their proud and noble city was destroyed, 
idolatry had long ceased. They were zealous 
for the letter of the Law — they venerated even 
the characters in which it was written, and the 
parchment on which it was inscribed. The 
gods of the Gentiles were abhorred. They 
ventured even to encounter the hatred of the 



merciless Caligula, rather than admit an image 
into their sacred temple. Jehovah was the God 
they worshipped with an enthusiastic adher- 
ence to the minutise of their difiicult and bur- 
thensome ritual. The most embarrassing of 
their appointed ordinances was their pride and 
boast. Wherefore, then, has God forgotten to 
be gracious ? They have endured, and suffered, 
and hoped, and prayed for mercy, for centuries ; 
they have called upon the Jehovah who from 
the beginning promised them a Messiah — yet 
no prophet has appeared — no miracle has been 
■ivrought in their favor. Since the destruction 
of their beloved Jerusalem, which took place 
forty years after the crucifixion of their Re- 
deemer, they have been scattered over the face 
of the whole earth, an astonishment, and a 
proverb among all nations (Deut. xxviii. 37.) by 
the command of an overruling Providence, an 
undeniable evidence of the fulfilment of proph- 
ecy, in their own blindness of heart, and of 
the truth of Christianity. Can any cause what- 
ever be assigned for this standing miracle, this 
wonderful dispersion, so long and faithfully 
predicted by their great lawgiver (Deut. xxviii. 
64-68.) tlian that which is given by inspiration 
itself? " He came to his own, and his own re- 
ceived him not ; " and they remain, as Moses 
foretold they should remain, "a sign and a 
wonder," till the day in which they shall say, 
" Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the 
Lord"." 

" See the Letter of Mr. Hamilton to Dr. Her- 
schell, chief rabbi of the German and Polish Jews 
in London. Home's Crit. Introduct. first edit. vol. 
i. p. 584, with his references. Limborch's Arnica 
Collatio cum erud. Jud. 4to. p. 172, where this 
learned writer shows that the divine mission of 
Christ is less dubious than that of Moses. " Quosro 
nunc : Si de alterutrius mirabilibus factis dubitari 
a quoquam possit, in quern magis alicujus artis, qua 
res non prorsus veras nee tantas ignaro populo per- 
suasit, cadere possit suspicio; an in virum doctum, 
aulicum, potentem, liberatorem populi e durd ser- 
vitute, et omnia pro nutu suo moderantem ; an in 
pauperculum, contemptum, dootoribus populi invi- 
sum, magistratui exosum, et omni humana ope, ac 
favore destitutum ? Non solum ea in auctoribus et. 
utriusque religionis fundatoribus est differentia ; sed 
in ipso populo, qui haec acceplt, et posteris tradidit. 
Tempore enim Mosis, populus diuturna et duris- 
simS servitute fractus non poterat non esse rudis, 
et ignarus valde, et, uti est oppressae plebis animus, 
paratior ad quaevis magnifica de liberatoribus suis 
credenda, et de iis posteris suis majora tradenda; 
quam ii, qui jam libertati assueti, patriis institutis 
imbuti, legi, quam divinam habebant, addicti, nuUo 
magno beneficio ab hoc suo Messiah in prssente 
hSc^vita afFecti, nullo mundano splendore, vel fe- 
hcitate moti. et diversa plane expectantes ; quibus 
igitur nihil aliud nisi rerum ipsarum claritas argu- 
mento esse posset, ut vel ipsi crederent, vel ahis 
pro veris narrarent." This is admirably done. 
The whole work abounds with eloquence, as well 
as sound argument. Leslie, in his Preface, ac- 
knowledges iiis obligations to Limborch, and con- 
fesses that his work was principally compiled from 
the Arnica Collatio. 



Note 12.-14.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



#61 



Note 12. — Part II. 

A VERT curious but too forced and mystical 
an interpretation of this miracle is given by 
Lampe, in which he endeavours to show, that by 
the bridegToom is meant the governor of the 
Jewish Church — the bride is the Jewish Church 
itself — the marriage is the Christian Dispensa- 
tion. The failing of the wine is the departure 
of the Spirit of God from the Jewish Church, 
which had begun to depart from the purity of 
the Law — the mother of our Lord is the heav- 
enly Jerusalem, bringing into the liberty of the 
Gospel the children of the Jewish Church ; but 
she is reproved for impatience, not knowing the 
times and seasons, or the hour which had not 
yet come. The water is changed into wine, 
that is, Prophecy and the Law are changed into 
the Gospel : with much more of the same kind. 
Lampe, vol. i. p. 518-520. 



Note 1.3.— Part II. 

The expression, " not many days," is used in 
Acts i. 5. In that passage it denotes ten days 
only, being the interval between the Ascension 
and the day of Pentecost. 



Note 14.— Part II. 

We are informed by Josephus" that a stran- 
ger was not allowed to pass into the holy place, 
that is, into the second court of tlie temple, 
where the Jews and circumcised proselytes, 
when not legally unclean, were admitted. The 
third court was without the sacred limits, and 
divided from the other by little piUars, or col- 
umns, with this inscription — M-q SeTf d.ll6cpvlov 
i^vzbi t5 '-'lyly Tiuqiivui, and the reason is as- 
signed, TO ydi.Q devTSoop 2bqoi' '^ Ayiov iy.alelro. 
This part of the temple was intended for the 
Jews who were unclean, and the devout Gen- 
tiles, the Proselytes of the Gate. Although the 
Jews held the Gentiles in the greatest contempt, 
stigmatizing them with the opprobrious epithet 
of " dogs," refusing all intercourse or familiarity 
with them, still we find them so inconsistent 
as to suffer them to carry on, even in the very 
precincts of their temple, in the courts appointed 
for the Gentiles, a traffic in oxen, sheep, and 
doves, which were required by the worshippers, 
for their sacrifices and purifications. In every 
age of the Jev/ish Church maiiy Proselytes of 
the Gate united themselves to the congregation 
of Israel ; but m consequence of the constant 



" De Bella Judaico, lib. 6. chap, vi. Mede's 
fi'orks, p. 44. fol. Camb. 1677. 
VOL. 11. 



merchandise going on, which must be attributed 
to the negligence of the governors of the temple, 
the devout Gentiles were at all times disturbed 
in their devotions ; and at the greater festivals 
must have been nearly or altogether excluded 
from the place of worship. It was worthy then 
of the Messiah to commence his public ministry 
by cleansing the temple, by driving from it tlie 
profane and worldly ; an action by which he 
declared himself at once the Lord of the temple, 
and the protector of all those from among the 
mass of mankind, who sought him in the way 
he had appointed. It was impossible that the 
composure of spirit, and serenity of mind, which 
are necessary to the duty of prayer"", could have 
been preserved among the loud talking and 
disputing of buyers and sellers, the jingling of 
money, the lowing of oxen, and the bleating of 
sheep. Yet it was among these only that the 
Gentile worshippers could find admission. Our 
Lord's motive, in the second instance, for thus 
cleansing the temple, is given by St. Mark, xi. 
17., which passage, says the learned Mede, 
ought to be translated^" My house shall be 
called a house of prayer to, or for all nations" 
— naai rnXg Wvsai^. Though the Jewish Dis- 
pensation was not yet completed, the dawning 
of the New Dispensation had begun. It is in 
the plans of Providence as it is in the works of 
creation. The God of nature is the God of 
revelation. As in nature the seasons so beau- 
tifully and so gradually blend with each other, 
as the closing day insensibly changes into 
night, or the darkness of the night slowly gives 
place to the dawn of the morning, and the 
splendors of the rising sun, so do tlie various 
dispensations of an overruling and wise Provi- 
dence gradually and slowly accomplish his own 
prophecies, appealing to our reason, as the 
visible creation appeals to our senses. This 
action of our Lord was a visible and open man- 
ifestation of his claim to the character of the 
Messiah' ; and it was the most significant proof 
that the temple of Jerusalem must he purified 
or overthrown, and that the Gentiles should be 
admitted into the Church of God his Father. 



^ That great master of our noble language, Jer- 
emy Taylor, in his second Sermon on the" return 
of prayers, has this beautiful passage ; — " Prayer 
is the peace of our spirit, the stillness of our 
thoughts, the evenness of recollection, the seat of 
meditation, the rest of our cares, and the calm of 
our tempest. Prayer is the issue of a quiet mind 
and untroubled thoughts ; it is the daughter of 
charit_Y — it is the sister of meekness ; and he that 
prays to God with a troubled and discomposed 
spirit is like to him that retires into a battle to 
meditate, or chooses a frontier garrison to indulge 
in contemplation." — Taylor's Discourses. &c. vol. 
i. p. SS. Longman's edit. 1807. 

^ Vide Mede's Sermon on this text, Works, fol 
p. 44. 

' 'Vide Archbishop Newcome's notes to his Har 
mo7iy of the Xeio Testament, p, 7. 



62* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part II. 



Note 15. — Part II. 

This final address of the Baptist cannot be 
understood unless we keep in view a peculiar 
custom which prevailed among the Jews. At 
every wedding two persons were selected, who 
devoted themselves for some time to the service of 
the bride and bridegroom. The offices assigned 
to the paranymph, or v:^WW were numerous and 
important ; and on account of these, the Baptist 
compares himself to the friend of the bride- 
groom. The offices of the paranymph were 
threefold — before — at — and after the marriage. 
Before tlie marriage of his friend it was his duty 
to select a chaste virgin, and to be the medium 
of communication between the parties, till the 
day of marriage. At that time he continued 
with Ihem during tlie seven days allotted for the 
wedding festival, rejoicing in the happiness of 
his friend, and contributing as much as possible to 
the hilarity of the occasion. After the marriage, 
the paranymph was considered as the patron 
and friend of the wife and her husband, and was 
called in to compose any differences that might 
take place between them. As the forerunner 
of Clirist, the Baptist may be well compared to 
the paranymph of the Jewish marriages. 

One of the most usual comparisons adopted 
in Scripture to describe the union between 
Christ and his Church is that of a marriage. 
The Baptist was the paranymph", who, by the 
preaching of repentance and faith, presented the 
Church as a youthful bride and a chaste virgin to 
Christ. He still continued with the bridegroom, 
till the wedding was furnished with guests. 
Plis joy was fulfilled when his own follow- 
ers came to inform him that Christ was increas- 
ing the number of his disciples, and tliat all 
men came unto him. This intelligence was as 
the sound of the bridegroom's voice, and as the 
pledge that the nuptials of heaven and earth 
were completed. 

From this representation of John, as the 
paranymph ; of Christ as the bridegroom ; and 
the Church as the bride ; the ministers and 
stewards of the Gospel of God may learn, that 
they also are required, by the preaching of re- 
pentance and faith, to present their hearers in 
all purity to tlie Head of the Christian Church. 

■^ " Exemplo e vita," says Kuinoel, " communi 
depromto Johannes Baplista ostendit, quale inter 
ipsum et Christum discrimen intercedat. Seipsum 
comparat cum paranympho, Christum cum sponso ; 
quocum ipse Christus se quoque comparnvit, ut 
patet e locis. Matt. ix. 15. et xxv. 1. Scilicet, 
6 ip'i?.oc Toi! rviKf^iov, est sponsi socius, ei pecuUari- 
ter addictus, qui Graecis dicebatur naqawfiifioc, 
Matt. ix. 15. vioi Tov vvfiifo'tro:. Heb. fna^lty fiUus 
laetitiee." — Com. in lib. Jf. T. Hisl. vol. iii. p. 227. 

* " Applicatio totius rei est, ficiUima. Christus 
est sponsus, Ecclesia sponsa, Ministri Ecclesiae 
'CD''T:DI''W 2 Cor. xi. 2. et h.l. quoque Johannes Bap- 
tista. Hi in eo elaborant, ut Christo virginem pu- 
ram et illabatam. adduoant, hue omnis eorum labor 
tendit, h4c re gaudent." — Schoetgen. Hora Hebra- 
icce, vol, i. p. 340. 



It is for them to find their best source of joy in 
the blessing of the Most High on their labors — 
their purest happiness in the improvement and 
perfecting of the Church confided to their care''. 
Smaller circumstances and coincidences some- 
times demonstrate the truth of an assertion, or 
the authenticity of a book, more effectually 
than more important facts. May not one of 
those unimportant yet convincing coincidences 
be observed in this passage ? The Baptist calls 
himself tlie friend of the bridegroom, without 
alluding to any otlier paranymph, or jntJ'r.J'. 
As the Jews were accustomed to have two 
paranymphs, there seems, at first sight, to be 
something defective in the Baptist's comparison. 
But our Lord was of Galilee, and there the 
custom was different from that of any other part 
of Palestine. The Galileans had one para- 
nymph only'^. 



Note 16.— Part II. 



The expression, "this my joy is fulfilled," 
1^ %aQa ■fi ifi^i nenlr^ounai, corresponds with the 
Hebrew expression HD'SiV nnoiy, a phrase 
which is used by the rabbinical writers to ex- 
press even the happiness of heaven; and which 
most powerfully delineates therefore the joy 
and rapture which the Baptist felt, and which a 
Christian minister ought to experience, when 
he perceives that his labors in the vineyard are 
attended with success. Schoetgen gives several 
instances of this application of the phrase. 
Sohar Chadasch. fol. 42. 2. " Quidnam agunt 
animse piorum in coelo.^ Resp. Operam dant 
laudi divinse .no'''7nti'X "^Dp nnn 1^3 et tunc 
gaudium coram te est perfectum." 

Ihidem, fol. 49. 4. " Et Deus S. B. gaudebit 
cumjustis IoiWd nnn3 gaudio perfecto." 

Siphra, fol. 188. 4. " Quamvis homo in hoc 
mundo gaudeat, gaudium tamen ejus non est 
perfectum. Verum seculo futuro Deus S. B. 
deglutiet mortem in seternum rrnn nnniJ/n nmx 
na'VkJ' illud gaudium demum erit perfectum, q. 
d. Psalm cxxvi. 2. Tunc os nostrum risu, et 
lingua cantu implebitur." 

' Ketuvoth, fol. 12. 1. " Olim in Judeea duos 
OTjti'liJ' constituebant, unum sponso, alteram 
sponsas, ut illis ministrarent, quando in Chuppam 
ingrediuntur ; sed in Galiloea tale quid observatuin 
non est." — Schoetgen. Hor. Hebv. vol. i. p. 337. 
Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 605. I have not entered mi- 
nutely into all the circumstances of the comparison 
of the Baptist to the paranymph. They may be 
found at great length in Lampe, Comment. Eoang. 
sec. Johan. vol. i. p. G72. Hanuuond in loc, Light- 
foot's Harmony, and Schoetgen. vol. i. p. 335, &c. 
Dr. Adam Clarke has given a copious abridgment 
of Schoetgen's remarks. Dr. Gill (in loc.) has in- 
serted a curious tradition, that Moses was the par- 
anymph to present the Jewish Church to God 



Note 17, 18, 19, 1.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*63 



Note 17. — Part II. 

These words allude to tlie opinion enter- 
tained by the Jews that the Holy Spirit was 
given in measure only to the prophets. Vaikra 
Jtahba, sect. 15. fol. 158. 2. Dixit R. Acha, 
K'lx nzi'N'njn Sj; rM)w iJ'X tvTpn nn iS'3x 
rSpti'nn etiam Spiritus S. non habitavit super 
prophetas, nisi mensurd quddam. 



Note 18.— Part II. 

LiGHTFOOT inserts the imprisonment of John 
immediately after the delivery of his decisive 
testimony to the divine mission and Messiah- 
ship of our Lord. He is followed in this order 
by Newcome, Michaelis, and Doddridge ; and 
on these united authorities I have inserted this 
event in its proper place. Lightfoot has so ar- 
ranged it, because no other speech of the Bap- 
tist is recorded respecting Christ ; and the 
Evangelists are unanimous in relating that our 
Saviour's journey into Galilee (the next thing 
they all mention) did not occur till after the 
imprisonment of John. Pilkington has made 
another disposition of the events already re- 
lated, and places the imprisonment of John 
after the temptation and baptism, which he 
supposes did not take place till after our Lord's 
first visit to Jerusalem. It is not however 
necessary to discuss his arguments, as the date 
assigned by him, and Whiston, to our Lord's 
baptism, has been already considered. 



Note 19.— Part II. 

This account of the Baptist is confirmed by 
Josephus, who has related at length the history 
of this incestuous marriage between Herod the 
tetrarcli, and Herodias, the wife of his brother 
Herod Philip. The tetrarch had married the 
daughter of Aretas, a petty king of Arabia 
Petrssa. Some time after, however, when he 
was at Rome, lodging in the house of Herod 
Philip, he became enamoured of Herodias, and 
persuaded her to marry him, promising on her 



consent that he would divorce liis present wife. 
Josephus takes care to conceal that John was 
imprisoned on account of his reproving the te- 
trarch's conduct, and represents Herod as pro- 
ceeding upon more general grounds. He de- 
scribes John as a good man, who persuaded the 
Jews to moral and virtuous living, to justice 
towards each otiier, devotion towards God, and 
to become united by baptism ; and as he had 
many followers, who were entirely devoted to 
liim. the tetrarch deemed it advisable to seize 
and imprison him, before any revolt or insurrec- 
tion should actually begin. On this account he 
ordered him to be apprehended, and sent as a 
prisoner to the castle of Mechasrus, where he 
was afterwards killed. Soon after this event, 
Josephus adds, Herod's army was defeated and 
destroyed by Aretas, and the Jews considered 
the tetrarch's loss and defeat as a punishment 
from God for the murder of John the Baptist. 

It is possible there may be no real difference 
between the Evangelist and Josephus. The 
former relates the real cause of the Baptist's 
imprisonment, as part of the secret history of 
the court of Herod ; the latter gives the public 
and ostensible reason. It is indeed a common 
mistake among historians to impute great effects 
to proportionate causes: the most important 
events in history have arisen, and do arise, more 
frequently from the caprice, resentment, or other 
private motives of individuals, than from any 
well-planned, or long-intended system of politi- 
cal conduct''. 

Laing is of opinion that John was imprisoned 
twice by order of Herod. The arguments by 
which this opinion may be supported appear to 
have been so ably combated by Archbishop 
Newcome, that it is only necessary to refer the 
reader to his Harmony, p. 10. of the notes. 

It has been objected that the name of the 
brother of Herod the tetrarch was not Philip, 
but Herod. Griesbach (Luke iii. 19.) has 
omitted the word in the text, but placed flnUnnov 
in the margin. The discrepancy is easily ob- 
viated by the supposition that Philip assumed 
the name of Herod to distinguish his family 
and descent. 

<* See Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 591, 592. and Josephus, 
Antiq. lib. 18. cap. 7. 



PART in. 



Note 1. — Part III. 

The order of events hitherto adopted in this 
arrangement has been nearly the same as that 
proposed by the five principal harmonizers, by 



whose authority, as well as by an examination 
of the internal evidence, I have been princi- 
pally influenced. With this part the more 
difficult task arises of reconciling the clashing 
authorities of commentators, and assigning sat- 



64* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III. 



isfactory reasons for the place of every fact re- 
corded. The present section gives an account 
of the commencement of the more public min- 
istry of our Lord, after the imprisonment of 
John. That tliis is the proper place for the in- 
sertion of that event may be proved by com- 
paring John iii. 24. with Matt iv. ]2. and Mark 
i. 14. These passages are considered by all 
harmonists, as sufficiently demonstrating that 
Christ did not begin to preach till after the im- 
prisonment of John ; and it is worthy of remark, 
that our blessed Lord begins his ministry with 
the same words as liis appointed forerunner 
(whose divine commission he thereby estab- 
lished), calling on all men to repent and to 
believe. Compare Mark i. 15. and Matt. iv. 17. 
I have inserted with Pilkington, in this section, 
many, of the parallel passages, to render the 
preface to the narrative of our Lord's public 
ministry more complete and satisfactory. 

The more public ministry of our Lord may 
be properly said to commence with his preach- 
ing in Galilee. Though at his inauguration 
into his office at his baptism, and yet further 
by his driving the buyers and sellers from the 
temple, he had manifested himself to the people, 
he does not appear to have assumed the pub- 
lic office of preaching and instructing the 
people, till John was cast into prison. The 
reason of this ordering of events seems to have 
been, that undivided attention might be now 
paid to the ministry of our Lord. The fame of 
the Baptist had gone through the country, pre- 
paring the way of the Lord ; his preaching was 
known to all ; and all lield John as a prophet. 
The time was fulfilled when a greater Prophet 
than John the Baptist was to begin his minis- 
tration. The expectation of the people had 
been excited to the utmost by the declarations 
of the Baptist ; and, at the moment when the 
glory of the Messiah was anticipated; accord- 
ing to the sublime, though confused and im- 
perfect notions of the Jews, there appears 
among them the Being whom John had de- 
clared to be from above. He establishes no 
temporal kingdom, but he heals the sick, 
calms the ocean, raises the dead, demon- 
strates his connexion with, and knowledge of, 
an invisible world ; and instructs his hearers in 
other ideas of the Idngdom of God, than they 
had hitherto entertained. Through a great 
part of this period, the Baptist, though in prison, 
was stUl alive, a faithful witness of his own 
prophecy — " He must increase, but I must de- 
crease." The beams of his setting sun still 
reflected their last lustre on the Stone which 
was now becoming the mountain to fill the 
whole earth. 



Note 2.— Part HL 

Idolatry was introduced into the tribe of 
Dan, which in after ages was called Lower 
Galilee by Micah. The account is contained 
in the 18th chapter of Judges. The first who 
carried captive any part of the people of Israel 
was Benhadad, king of Syria, who subdued 
Sion, Dan, Abel-beth-Maachah, Cinneroth, and 
the land of Napthali, all of wliich were in- 
cluded in Galilee. A heavier calamity was 
brought upon the same country by Tiglath- 
Pileser, who again took the same towns, when 
they had begun to recover their prosperity, and 
sent the inhabitants as captives to Assyria. 

The account of the manner in which the 
tribe of Dan became possessed of part of the 
land of Palestine so far north as the most 
northern part of Galilee, is given in the 17th 
chapter of Judges. The town of Laish, after- 
wards called Dan, was situated on the north- 
west boundary of Naphtali, on the border of 
Syria^ 

Many of the Jewish traditions assert that 
Galilee was to be the place where the Messiah 
should first appear-^; but for the more complete 
statement of the reasons why Christ was to 
dwell in Galilee, and a critical discussion of 
Isa. ix. 1-3, &c. vide J. Mede's Works^. 

Isa. ii. 19. When he shall arise to smite ter- 
ribly the earth is expounded in the book Zohar, 
as referring to the Messiah. When he shall 
arise, S'Sjt N;nx3 'Sjrfl, and shall be revealed 
in Galilee ; and other instances are given in 
Schoetgen''. 

The country beyond Jordan was called Gali- 
lee, though properly Peraca, Matt. iv. 15. 

Judas is called by Gamaliel, Judas of Galilee, 
yet Josephus calls him a Galilonite, of the city 
of Gamala. 

Persea, called Galilee, because Canaan was 
divided into four tetrarchies — Judaea, Samaria, 
Iturea, and Trachonitis ; the remaining fourth 
was called Galilee, and included Peraea. 

The great estates of Galilee are said to have 
feasted with Herod. But the palace of Hero- 
dium was in the extreme part of Persea. It is 
not probable that the great men of Peraea would 
have been utterly excluded. 

Joshua xxii. 11. refers to a place in Perasa, 
and Lightfoot supposes that the word " Gali- 
lee " was derived from the name of that place', 



' Vide the maps of the tribe of Naphtali, and of 
Canaan, in Wyld's Scriptrire JiLlas, an admirable 
compendium of sacred geography. 

/ Sohar Genes, fol. 74. col. 293. Revelabitur 
Messias in terra GaliteEe. Pesikta Sotarta, fol. 58. 
1. ad verba Numer. xxiv. 17. Sokar Exod. fol. 1. col. 
13. Illo die, &c. S'SjT NI?-!J0 •'^jn^'l- 

^ Discourse xxvi. p. 10]. See also Lowth's 
Isaiah on this passage. 

* Vol. ii. p. 525, and vol. i. p. 11, &c. 

* Lightfoot's IVorks, vol. ii. p. 303. 



Note 3.-5.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*65 



Moses had predicted that Zabulon and Issa- 
char, -n-hich, with Naphtali, were tlie tribes 
originally settled in that tract of country, after- 
wards called Galilee, should call the people 
unto the mountain of the Lord's house, to offer 
sacrifices of righteousness, Deut. xxxiii. 19. — 
And Jacob had before predicted that Naphtali, 
the Galilean, should give goodly words. Gen. 
xlix. 21. Both evident predictions of the dif- 
fusal of the Gospel in both places^. 



Note 3. — Part IIL 

When it is remembered that the traditions 
of the Jews referred to Galilee as the place 
where the Messiah should be revealed — and 
that the prophecy of Isaiah was thus fulfilled 
— it seemed impossible to point out a spot on 
tho whole world, in which the ministry of the 
Messiah could commence with so much pro- 
priety as in Galilee of the Gentiles. This 
country was the first that had offended, and the 
first taken captive ; and, through the mercy of 
God, it was the first to whom the words of par- 
don and reconciliation were offered. In the 
most minute circumstances, the beautiful har- 
mony of the Divine Dispensations is every 
where most evident. 



Note 4.— Part IIL 

There is a remarkable coincidence here in 
the three most memorable events which had oc- 
curred at Samaria. At this place the first Pros- 
elytes were admitted into the Church of Israel, 
, Gen. xxxiv. 29. and xxxv. 2. It was here that 
j Christ first announced himself to be the Mes- 
I siah, John iv. 26. ; and it was here also that the 
I Gospel was first preached out of Jerusalem, 
■ afler the ascension of Christ. Lightfoot also' is 
of opinion, that in this address to the woman of 
Samaria, the prophecy of Hosea ii. 15. was ac- 
complished — " I wiU give the valley of Achor for 
a door of hope." He endeavours to prove that 
the valley of Achor ran along by the city of 
Sichem, or Samaria. And thus when our 
Saviour first begins to preach to strangers, and 
to convert them, it is in tliis very valley ; and 
so he makes it a door of hope, or of conversion, 
to the Gentiles. 

Our Lord might have had another object in 
view in thus addressing himself to the woman 
of Samaria. By his own example, he taught 
his followers the propriety, or necessity, of 
breaking down the distinctions then existing be- 
tween the Jews and the Samaritans ; and by so 

} Lightfoot's Works, vol. i. p. 627. 
* Works, vol. i. p. 596. 

VOL. II. *9 



doing, he gives them an evident proof of his 
superiority over the Jewish teachers, who en-~ 
couraged the reciprocal enmity of the two na- 
tions. It may be observed here, that Samaria 
was the first city addressed after the Jews, 
when the persecution of the Church at Jeru- 
salem had scattered the early converts. The 
extinction of national hatred and prejudice 
was a convincing proof to the nation of Israel, 
that a new era had commenced. Philip the 
deacon had converted the Samaritans, and 
Peter and John were sent down firom Jeru- 
salem to confirm their faith. It is not im- 
probable that St. John recalled to their remem- 
brance this first interview of our Lord, at the 
commencement of his ministry. 

The sUence of the three first Evangelists on 
this remarkable circumstance may be accounted 
for from a consideration of the peculiar circum- 
stances of the Church and of Palestine, at the 
time when their Gospels were written. Each 
Gospel was written for one specific purpose, 
and addressed to one description of people. If 
St. Matthew had inserted it, the prejudices of 
the Jews, to whom he addressed his Gospel, 
would have been more highly excited against 
the new religion. 

The Gospel of St. Mark, which with equal 
justice may be called the Gospel of St. Peter, 
was written for the use of the converted Pros- 
elytes, particularly those of Rome, who were 
but little interested in these national transac- 
tions ; or, as is more probable, St. Mark omitted 
it, because St. Peter was not present, as he did 
not become the constant follower of Christ tUl 
a period subsequent to this conversation ; and 
it is supposed that St. Mark has related those 
events only to which St. Peter was an eye- 
witness. St. Luke omitted it, for he wrote to 
the Gentiles of Achaia, who were likewise in- 
different to the controversies which prevailed 
between the Jews and Samaritans. St. John 
had been sent down from Jerusalem by the 
Church in company with St. Peter, and, as his 
own historian, could not faU to mention this 
circumstance in all its minuteness'. 



Note 5. — Part III. 

Christ did not himself baptize, because, — 

1. It does not seem fit that he should have 
baptized in his own name. 

2. The baptism of the Holy Ghost was more 
peculiarly his. 

3. It was a more important office to preach 
tlian to baptize. 

4. The early Christians valued themselves 
according to the eminence of the apostle or 
teacher who baptized them : his baptizing, 

' Dr. Townson's Discourses, vol. i. p. 9. 



66* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part 111. 



tlierefore, might have eventually originated 
schisms in the Church. — Beausobre's Annota- 
tions, ap. Bishop Gleig's Stackhouse, vol. iii. 
p. 29. 



Note 6.— Part III. 

Jacob had bought a piece of land of the 
children of Hamor, for a hundred lambs, Gen. 
xxxiii. 19. But, after the slaughter of the 
Shechemites, (xxxiv. 26.), he was forced to re- 
tire to Bethel, Bethlehem, and Hebron ; at 
which time the Amorites forcibly obtained pos- 
session of his land, which he was compelled to 
recover at an after period by war, with his 
swosd and bow. — Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 537. 



Note 7. — Part III. 

The Jews had more favorable thoughts of 
the temple buUt by Onias in Egypt than of 
that built on Mount Gerizim. Their respec- 
tive claims are about equal. The one was 
built by a fugitive priest, under the pretence 
that that mount was the mount on which the 
blessings had been pronounced ; the other also 
(that of Onias) by a fugitive priest, under pre- 
tence of a divine prophecy, Isaiah xix. 19. 
"In that day shall there be an altar to the 
LoKD in tlie midst of the land of Egypt." 

The Samaritans well knew, that Jerusalem 
was the place appointed by God for his wor- 
ship ; but they may have defended their pref- 
erence of Mount Gerizim, not only from its 
antiquity as the place of worship among their 
fathers, but because the Divine Presence over 
the ark, the ark itself, the cherubim, the Urim 
and Thummim, and the Spirit of prophecy, had 
all departed from the second temple at Jeru- 
salem. — See Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 541. 



Note 8.— Part III. 

In Bishop Horsley's beautiful illustration of 
this passage in his twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, 
and twenty-sixth sermons, he has not taken 
into consideration the circumstance related at 
some length by Lightfoot, and proved with his 
usual learning, that although the Samaritans 
received only as canonical books the Pentateuch 
of Moses, they held in great estimation the pro- 
phetical writings. Bishop Horsley's argument, 
therefore, that the Samaritan woman necessarily 
expected a Messiah from studying the books of 
Moses only, is not well founded. Bishop Blom- 
field, in his excellent Dissertation on the Tradi- 



tional Knowledge of a Redeemer (notes, p. 172, 
3.), has likewise made the same observation. 

The Samaritan woman, he observes, uses the 
word Messias, which does not occur in Moses. 
But as Moses had clearly predicted Him, whom 
the prophets called Messiah, the Samaritans 
did not hesitate to use the prophetical designa- 
tion of that person whom Moses had foretold. 
From the words of the woman, OlS(x on Mea- 
alug e^j^etat. Bishop Blomfield concludes that 
her countrymen were expecting the speedy ad- 
vent of the Messiah. Christ was first called 
Messiah in the Song of Hannah. — Vide Light- 
foot's Works, vol. ii. p. 511 ; and Bp. Blomfield's 
Dissertation, note, p. 172-3. 



Note 9.— Part III. 

This passage has much divided the commen- 
tators. It is one of those texts upon which 
much depends with respect to the chronology 
of the life of Christ. Some suppose that the 
words imply, that in four months' time would 
be the harvest, which took place at the Pass- 
over. On which supposition many harmonists 
have added another Passover to our Lord's min- 
istry. Lightfoot (vol. i. p. 603.) is of this opin- 
ion. Whitby supposes the phrase to be pro- 
verbial. We cannot certainly conclude from 
these words, whether our Lord alluded to the 
appearance of the people who might be then in 
numbers approaching him, or to the actual 
time of the year. The extreme weariness of 
our Saviour seems to favor more the supposition 
that the conversation with the woman of Sama- 
ria was held after the Passover, immediately 
before the corn was reaped, during the summer 
season, rather than in the depth of winter. 
Nor is it likely that the desolation of the 
scenery in winter would have recalled, by 
natural association, the beauties and the riches 
of the fields, when ripe and ready for the har- 
vest. Our Lord, as Bishop Law has proved, 
in his Tract of the Ldfe of Christ, and as Arch- 
bishop Newcome, Jortin, and many others have 
shown, drew his comparisons and illustrations 
very frequently and generally from surrounding 
objects. — Vide Benson's Chronology, &.c. p. 
247-9 ; Archbishop Newcome On our Lord's 
Conduct; Jortin's Six Discourses; Law's lAfe 
of Christ, &c. 



Note 10.— Part III. 

MiCHAELis does not appear to have given so 
much attention to his Harmony of the JVeio 
Testament, as we might have required from one 
whose authority is so great. He observes, on 
the contents of this section, " In point of chro- 



Note 11.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*67 



nology this does not belong to tlie present 
place, not even according to St. Luke ; but I 
place it here, because St. Luke has introduced 
it immediately after the preceding history. 
Perhaps it belongs to No. 50, though I have not 
placed it there, because it does not exactly 
agree with tlie accounts quoted in that article 
from St. Matthew and St. Mark ; " that is, it is- 
quite uncertain, in the opinion of Michaelis. 
I have followed the authority of Doddridge, 
PHMngton, Newcome, and Lightfoot, in placing 
it here ; and, independently of these authorities, 
the internal evidence is peculiarly decisive. 
Christ began his public ministry in his own 
country, and, after having traversed Judsea and 
Samaria, has arrived at the town where he was 
brought up, there to commence his teaching. 

Michaelis, however, it must be in justice ob- 
served, expressly declares, that his Harmony of 
the Four Gospels must not be considered as a 
chronological table; though Bishop Marsh is 
of opinion, from examining Michaelis's Ar- 
rangement, sect. 29-42, that he intended to 
arrange the facts in chronological order as far 
as he was able. See Marsh's notes to Michaelis, 
vol. iii. p. 67. 



Note 11.— Part lit. 

The healing of the nobleman's son at Caper- 
naum is placed after the conversation with the 
woman of Samaria, by all the harmonizers. Af- 
ter staying two days at Samaria, he departed 
into Galilee (John iv. 43.) Archbishop New- 
come inserts tliose passages which I have placed 
as a preface to this chapter, after the account 
of the interview with the Samaritan woman. 
He is correct La this arrangement, as to the 
precise time in which the events occurred. I 
have, however, thought it ad\asable to place 
them before that event, as a preface to the gen- 
eral history of his ministry, which began after 
the imprisonment of the Baptist. It must, how- 
ever, excite some surprise, that Archbishop 
Newcome has not himself adopted this order ; 
as he has expressed (Notes to the Harmony, p. 
9.) the same opinion which has induced me to 
adopt this de\dation. To use his own words : 
" Matt. iv. 17., and Mark i. 14, 15., refer to a 
more solemn and general teaching after John's 
imprisonment by Herod, and Jesus's departure 
into Galilee ; and to a teaching according to 
the tenor of particular words. Though in Ju- 
deea and Jerusalem, Jesus showed his divine 
knowledge, taught, made disciples, and ordered 
his followers to be initiated by baptism, wrought 
miracles, and, when he had purged the temple, 
intimated, among other important truths, that 
he was the Son of God ; yet stUl he might, 
with great wisdom, choose a more remote scene 
for preaching pubhcly and plainly the comple- 



tion of the time for the approach of God's 
kingdom, and repentance followed by beUef in 
the Gospel." He might have added, that his 
first declaration of his Messiahship to the wo- 
man of Samaria, in his way to Galilee, may be 
considered as a kind of prelude to liis more 
solenui teaching ; and, as it happened on liis 
way to GaUlee, the detached verses which so 
briefly relate the ministry in Galilee may very 
properly be prefixed to the account of that min- 
istry. 

On consulting the map of Galilee, it wUl be 
seen that our Lord's direct road from Samaria 
to Cana in Galilee would be through Nazareth. 
He is supposed, however, by Archbishop New- 
come, to have gone by another route, in order 
to avoid that city for the present, that he rnight 
work his first public miracle at the same place 
where he had primarily manifested himself to 
the people. He then proceeds, as in the next 
section, to Nazareth, thence to Capernaum, 
where he continued for some time, teaching in 
their synagogues. He calls four disciples, 
cures a demoniac, and Peter's wife's mother. 
He then proceeds throughout GalUee, heals a 
leper and a paralytic, calls St. Matthew, and 
goes up to Jerusalem to a feast, most probably 
not a Passover. 

Archbishop Newcome supposes the distance 
between Sichem, the capital of Samaria, and 
Cana, in Galilee, to be forty miles ; between 
Cana and Nazareth, ten ; between Nazareth 
and Capernaum, twenty-three ; between Caper- 
naum and Jerusalem, sixty-five. 

It is a very probable supposition of Lightfoot, 
that the word rendered in our translation " a 
certain nobleman" (il; flaaUr/.og), but which 
ought rather to be translated with the Syriac, 
NjSo nnj7, "one of the king's servants," de- 
noted one of those who took part with Herod 
the Great, and who was now a follower of his 
son, Herod the tetrarch. Lightfoot supposes 
that the preaching of John the Baptist had pro- 
duced some efiect at the court of Herod, and 
that many of the courtiers were consequently 
acquainted with the mission of our Lord ; and 
that the nobleman who now sent to Christ, that 
his son might be healed, was Manaen (Acts 
xiii. 1.), who had been brought up with Herod ; 
or Chuza (Luke viii. 3.), Herod's steward, both 
of whom were among the earliest converts. 

This miracle was greater than the first which 
had taken place at Cana, and demonstrated a 
higher degree of power. Our Lord by it showed 
that he possessed a power superior to that which 
had been claimed or exercised by any merely 
human prophet, or teacher sent from God. It 
is true that the degree of supernatural agency 
seems to be equal in one miracle to that of 
another ; but in this instance the divine attri- 
bute of ubiquity was evidently manifested. Ca- 
pernaum was distant from Cana about twenty- 
five miles. 



68* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III. 



Note 12.— Part III. 

This visit to Nazareth was certainly different 
from that mentioned below. It was before our 
Saviour went to Capernaum, Luke iv. 16-31. 
Matt. iv. 13. The other took place after the 
recovery of Jairus's daughter, when he left that 
city. Compare Mark vi. 1. xal k^rildev ixeldsv, 
i. e. from Capernaum, with Matt. iv. 13. Luke 
iv. 31. 



Note 13.— Part III. 

Lightfoot supposes the words, " as his cus- 
tom was," refer to the usual attendance of our 
Lord on the public service, when our Lord lived 
at Nazareth as a private individual. He now 
enters the synagogue as an acknowledged 
Prophet, and, as a member of it, joins in the 
service and reads publicly there, which only 
members were allowed to do. Hence we find 
that this is the only place on record where our 
Saviour read publicly, although he preached in 
every synagogue where he came. It is not to 
be supposed that the public worship at that 
time was less corrupt than ours of the present 
period — nor that the conduct of the Jewish 
teachers was irreproachable ; we have, indeed, 
a lamentable instance to the contrary, v. 29. ; 
yet we find that our blessed Saviour did not 
separate himself, as too many have since done, 
and continue to do, on this account, from the 
appointed public worship, although there was 
much to be condemned in it. 

Our Lord's example also sanctions to us the 
use in all Churches of forms of prayer, or Litur- 
gies, and the public reading of the Scriptures. 
Christ complied with human forms, and joined 
in liturgical services : — are we wrong in follow- 
ing the example of our blessed Redeemer ? 



Note 14.— Part III. 

It may be asked here, by what authority 
Christ was pemiitted to teach and preach in the 
synagogue ? The tribe of Levi alone possessed 
the priesthood, attended the service of the tem- 
ple, and was appointed to teach the people, as 
well as to superintend the schools or universities 
in their forty-eight cities, Josh. xxi. Deut. xxxiii. 
10. Malachi ii. 7. Yet it sometimes happened 
that men of other tribes studied the Law, and 
became preachers, as well as the priests and 
Levites. They were ordained, when qualified, 
by the Sanhedrin to that office, they were or- 
dained to some particular employment in the 
piiblic administration, and they might not go 
beyond the power they had received, or intrude 
upon the ministry of another. The Jews also 



had a law, that if any man came in the spirit of 
a prophet, and assumed the office of a teacher 
on that ground, he was always permitted to 
preach ; but the Sanhedrin was constituted the 
judge of his pretensions ; and he who was de- 
clared by them to be no prophet, and yet con- 
tinued to preach, did so at his peril. It was 
probably on this claim in the manner and office 
of a prophet, that our Saviour obtained permis- 
sion to address the people of Nazareth. Vide 
Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 614. 



Note 15.— Part III. 

It was the custom among the Jews to divide 
the Law into fifty-two or fifty-four portions for 
every Sunday in the year. When this was 
prohibited by Antiochus, a similar distribution 
of the prophets was substituted. The passage 
from Isaiah, read by our Lord, is the part of the 
Sacred Writings appointed to be used about the 
end of August ; and Macknight, with other 
harmonists, has therefore concluded that this 
circumstance fixes the date of the event re- 
corded"". 

The prophetical books were divided into five 
parts, to correspond with the five divisions of 
the Law. We may consider Genesis as cor- 
responding with Isaiah — Exodus with Jere- 
miah — Leviticus with Ezekiel, &c. : the twelve 
minor prophets were held as one volume, or 
quintane. 

It is of little consequence whether the portion 
of Scripture our Saviour fixed upon was or was 
not the proper lesson of the day ; for, in read- 
ing of the prophets, it was customary for TIOSO, 
or reader, to turn from passage to passage, for 
the better illustration of his subject ; and in the 
twelve minor prophets he was permitted to refer 
from one to another — but, in all probability (see 
v. 20.), Christ was standing up as a member of 
the synagogue, appointed by the minister of the 
congregation, the reader of the prophets, or the 
second lesson of that day, according to an 
established custom. On these occasions the 
minister called the reader out, and delivered 
to him the Book of the Prophets ; he himself 
standing at the desk with an interpreter at his 
side, to render into Syriac all that was read. 
"When Christ had finished, he closed the book, 
and he gave it again to the minister," v. 20. 
He did all these things according to the estab- 
lished order of the Jewish Church". 

It is to be remarked here, that our Saviour 
closed the book before he came to that part of 
the prophecy where he is represented as declar- 
ing the day of vengeance. This applied to 
events of a subsequent date : whereas he con- 

"* Lamy's Jewish Calendar, App. bibl. b. i. c. iv, 
p. 115. 4to. 

" Lightfbot's Works, vol. i. p. 615. 



Note 16, 17.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*69 



fined himself to those -n^ords only, which the 
Jews referred more immediately to the Messiah, 
and applying them to himself, openly declared, 
in tlie presence of all his early acquaintances, 
that he who had so long lived among them as 
tlieir equal and their companion, was the pre- 
dicted Messiah, the expected Saviour of the 
Jewish nation. He asserts, that his public min- 
istry had begun ; that the Spirit of the Lord 
had descended upon him to preach the Gospel 
to tlie meek and to the humble, nD'n>' ; to heal 
the broken-hearted; to preach deliverance to 
the captives, whether Jew or Gentile ; the recov- 
ering of sight, or opening the eyes of the blind'' 
and idolatrous Gentiles. So far tliis prediction 
was taken from Isaiah bd. 1,2.; but the re- 
mainder is to be found in Isaiah xlii. 7. The 
first verse of Isaiah bd. ends with the words 
n'p"np3 □'liox'?, "to those which are bound 
the opening of the prison." The verse inserted 
from Isaiah xlii. 7. begins with the last word of 
the verse, and seems quoted by our Lord either 
from association of ideas, or by actual reference 
to tlie passage, CD'JJ' npIiS, «fcc., " to open the 
blind eyes." This solution of the difficulty, 
which is agreeable to the established custom of 
the synagogue, which allowed the privilege of 
illustration from another passage of the same 
prophet, appears much preferable to that of 
Michaelis^. 

Having thus asserted himself to be the Mes- 
siah, our Lord obsen'^ed the wonder and aston- 
ishment excited by his words ; and, knowing 
the prejudices he had to overcome, as well as 
the inveterate obstinacy of his hearers, he de- 
clined gi\'ing them any other proof of his divine 
mission than that which had been already of- 
fered them, at the town of Capernaum. 

We have here an account of our Saviour's 
preaching for the first time in his own city of 
Nazareth. He asserts himself to be the Mes- 
siah; he then declines working a miracle, 
though he had done so elsewhere. What was 
the cause of this refusal ? 

Our Lord's conduct on this occasion appears 
to me to afibrd one of the most powerful evi- 
dences of the truth of his lofty claims, and a 
most striking instance of that part of the plan 
of the divine government, which denies to man 
more evidences in support of any trutli than are 
sufiicient to satisfy an unbiased mind. As 
the commentators have not alluded to this idea, 
I give it with diffidence ; but to me it appears 
satisfactory. Our Lord had lived at Nazareth 
nearly thirty years. At the end of that time, 
he commenced his ofiice with supernatural evi- 
dences that his mission was from above. He 
worked miracles, to demonstrate this truth, in 
places where he was less known than at Naz- 
aretli, and betvv-een which and the latter city 



there must have been a constant communica- 
tion. The people of Nazareth had known him 
from infancy, pure, holy, and undefiled ; a man 
like other men, sin only excepted. They had 
heard of his miracles ; they knew, from the tes- 
timony of others, that he had given undeniable 
proofs of his power ; and he now came among 
them to announce himself as their Messiah, 
appealing to them by the purity and holiness of 
his life, and by applying to himself, and fulfilling 
in his own person, the predictions of their 
prophets. He asserted himself to be the Mes- 
siah, and required them to believe, on account 
of their previous knowledge of his motives, 
life, and conduct, and by the power they ac- 
knowledged he possessed of working miracles. 
Nothing can more strongly demonstrate the 
unimpeached and unimpeachable holiness of the 
Son of God, than his thtis presenting himself to 
the attention of his envious and jealous towns- 
men ; and by boldly asserting his Messiahship, 
challenging them to accuse him of sin, or of any 
evil, which might derogate from the necessary 
and entire superiority implied in his holy and 
lofty claim. 



Note 16.— Part III. 

That the Jews applied this passage, Isaiah 
Ixi. 1. and 42. to the Messiah, see the quotations 
in Whitby in loc, Schoetgen, vol. ii. p. 68 and 
p. 192, where Kimchi is quoted, as referring the 
words to the Messiah ; also p. 3, &c., where, in 
tlie chapter De JVominihns Messife, the subject 
is fully discussed'. The Greek original of this 
passage hints at the reason for which our Lord 
was called Christ, and his doctrine the Gospel, 
Sstvexsv EXPIRE, us EYArrEAIZESQJ I 
nrat^oTg &c. 



Note 17.— Part III. 

Dax. Heinsius in loc. in his Exerciiationes 
Sacra, a book of great learning, now too much 
neglected, has made an Iambic line of this 
proverb : — 

Qeo6i7Tevaov ^ large iffi' aavi5 vouoi'. 

Lightfoot has rendered it in the Jerusalem 
language nn' 'OS X"D>', and quotes the original 
proverb from BertscMtli Rabha, sect. 23. and 
Tanchuma, fol. 4. 2. -jn^jn n' 'Dj^ X-DK.— 
Lightfoot's Works, vol. ii. p. 408. 

Dr. Gill in loc. quotes another of the same 
kind from Zohar hi Exod. fol. 31. 2. VjK "7"^ 



° So the Chaldee Paraphrase, ap. Lightfoot, ' See, on the subject of this note, Lightfoot, third 
■nn;!S I'^jn.i;, ■■revealing to the lig-ht.'' part of the Har'inony of the Evangelists, vol. i 

P Marsh's MichacHs, vol. i. p. 224 Works, folio. 



70* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III. 



Note 18.— Part III. 

Our Lord's conduct in selecting this topic is 
worthy of our particular consideration. In the 
very first address which he made to his fellow- 
townsmen, and through them to the whole of 
the Jewish people, he preached the deliverance 
of the Gentiles from their bondage and dark- 
ness. This doctrine was for some time inex- 
plicable, and, when understood, intolerable to 
his own disciples: but Christ was the Divine 
Being who was to redeem all his creatures, and 
we are assured, " Known unto God are all his 
ways, from tlie beginning to the end ; " and 
Christ, at the commencement of his ministry, 
declared at once the whole design of his com- 
ing ; as Elias was sent to tlie widow of Sarepta, 
in preference to those of Israel, and as Naaman 
the Syrian was the only leper healed in the 
days of Eliseus tlie prophet, so was Christ, a 
greater than these, commissioned to heal the 
diseases of those people and those nations who 
should believe on him. The transaction here 
recorded affords us a sufficient explanation of 
the motives of one part of our Lord's conduct, 
which has sometimes been considered as inex- 
plicable. He is represented as not informing 
the people, in various instances, of the full ex- 
tent of his claims ; as not calling himself the 
Messiah ; as charging those who were healed 
" to tell no man ; " as keeping back from the 
people, and even from the Apostles, many things 
which they were desirous to learn. The ne- 
cessity and wisdom of this caution are here 
made evident. On this occasion, when he de- 
clared himself to be the Messiah, we see the 
service of the synagogue was hastOy and inde- 
cently terminated by the fury of the people, 
who became intent upon the destruction of 
their teacher. His ministry would have been 
repeatedly disturbed by similar interruptions, if 
our Lord had not adopted this conduct. In 
what manner Christ delivered himself from the 
fury of his enraged persecutors, we know not. 
Whether they were overawed by some super- 
natural glory, or whether they were paralyzed 
by a sudden exertion of almighty power, we are 
not informed. The brevity of the account given 
us by the Evangelist, like the teaching of our 
Lord himself, only reveals to us what is essen- 
tial to faith and salvation : it never satisfies a 
useless curiosity. 



an undeniable testimony to his almighty power. 
Capernaum, from its situation, being surrounded 
with numerous and populous towns and villages, 
on the border of the sea of Galilee, or the lake 
of Tiberias, enabled him to remove with the 
utmost facility either by sea or land ; either for 
the purpose of instruction, or to avoid the per- 
secutions, the importunities, or the efforts of his 
adherents, to make him their king. It was here 
also he again met his first disciples, who, for 
some reason unknown to us, had resumed their 
former occupation. It is not improbable that 
they had been directed by our Lord to leave 
him after the miracle of Cana in Galilee. He 
did not require their presence at Nazareth, as 
he had not purposed to work miracles at that 
place. By dwelling at Capernaum he still con- 
tinued to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiali ix. 1, &c., 
as that city was situated in the tribe of Nap- 
thali. 

That our Lord came to Capernaum after he 
left Nazareth is expressly asserted by St. Luke, 
chap. iv. 30, 31. The order of this section is 
the same with all the harmonists. 



Note 19.— Part III. 

The wisdom of our Lord's choice of Caper- 
naum (after he had left Nazareth) as his fixed 
place of residence, is evident on many accounts. 
He placed himself by so doing under the pro- 
tection of the nobleman whose son had been 
healed, John iv. 46., and whose presence was 



Note 20.— Part IIL 

This event is inserted here on the united 
authorities of Lightfoot, Newcome, Doddridge, 
and Dr. Townson, who refers also to Grotius, 
Hammond, Spanheim, Dub. Evang. par. 3, Dub. 
72, p. 338, Chemnitius, Cradock, and Le Clerc, 
to confirm liis opinion. Osiander, as he was 
compelled to do by his plan, which has been 
already given, has supposed that the transaction 
recorded in Luke v. 1-12. was different from 
that related in the parallel passages, (Mark i. 
16. Matt. iv. 19, &c.) In reply to this part of 
his hypothesis, Spanheim remarks : " Non 
temere multiplicandas esse historias, qu?e 
esedem deprehenduntur, quod cum Osiandro 
sine necessitate faciunt illi, qui nuDas iars- 
Qwastg, et TTQolrjipeig apud Sacros Scriptores 
admittunt." And it is as absurd to suppose that 
the inspired writers never followed the example 
of their predecessors in the Old Testament, 
and sometimes disregarded chronological order, 
as it would be to proceed to the opposite ex- 
treme, and to mangle the text with Whiston 
and Mann. The apparent differences between 
the Evangelists are well discussed by Town- 
son*". 

The narrative in this section is arranged on 
the plan of Doddridge's division of the same 
history. 

Eichhorn has supposed that the passages in 
this section do not refer to tlie same event ; he 
has not inserted either the calling of Andrew, 
Peter, James, and John, or the miraculous 

"■ Townson's Works, vol. i. p. 42, 43. 



Note 21.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*71 



draiig-ht of fishes, among the events which are 
related by all the three Evangelists''. 

Pilkington separates the account of the mi- 
raculous draught of fishes, from the calling of 
these disciples, for two reasons. One, because 
it is said in Mark i. 18., they forsook all, and 
followed him; and in Luke v. 1-11., they are 
represented as again pursuing their occupation 
— the other, because St. Peter calls our Lord 
'Ettkjtutu. Both tliese objections, however, are 
ob\'iated by Newcome, Doddridge, and Town- 
son. 

The word iTTiaidTa, which is used chap. \iii. 
24. 45., and ix. .3-3. 49., may imply only submis- 
sion of the apostle to our Lord, as his Master, 
without any actual previous obedience. It cer- 
tainly is used in tlie sense of overseer, or su- 
perintendent, but it was also applied by St. 
Luke as expressing more correctly the word 
■"in, the usual epithet of respect among the 
Jews. In Mark ix. 5., we read 'Pu66l, xal6v 
iaiiy -fifxag i)de eh'cti. " Master, it is good for 
us to be here ; " and in St Luke ix. 33., the very 
same words are given, excepting that 'EntgiiTa 
" Master," is put in the place of 'Pa66l) 
" Rabbi'." 

Michaelis has strangely placed this miracu- 
lous draught of fishes after the raising of the 
widow's son at Nain ; an arrangement for which 
there is not the least authority that I have been 
able to discover, although much time has been 
devoted to the attempt. It appears merely ar- 
bitrary, equally inconsistent ivith the evangeU- 
cal account, and the decision of all the harmo- 
nizers. Nain was upwards of twenty miles 
from the sea of Tiberias. Yet Michaelis sup- 
poses that our Lord on the same day left Caper- 
naum trav-elled to Nain, a distance of more 
than thirty miles, and, after raising the widow's 
son to life, proceeded to the sea of Tiberias, 
the nearest point of which is distant twenty 
miles from Nain. Bishop Marsh, his learned 
editor, has been aware of this diiSculty, as he 
remarks, " Our author has not assigned his rea- 
sons for each particular transposition, and the 
propriety of some of them may be justly ques- 
tioned." Michaelis, in his defence, I suppose, 
observes, there is no note of time to inform us 
when this event took place". 

The narratives of the three Evangelists are 
thus reconciled by Dr. Townson, who observes, 
this account (Luke v. 1-12.) will be found on a 
near inspection to tally marvellously with the 
preceding (Matt. iv. 18-22. and Mark i. 16-20.) 
and to be one of the evidences tliat the Evan- 
gelists vary only in the number or choice of 
circumstances, and write from the same idea of 
the fact which they lay before us. 

Every one knows that the sea of Galilee and 

^ Marsh's Michae'is, vol. iii. part ii. p. 193. 
' Pilkinglon's Etan. History. &c. 
" MarshT's Michaelis, vol. i. part i. p. 49. and vol. 
iii. part ii. p. 67. 



the lake of Gennesareth are the same. And 
though St. Matthew and St. Mark do not ex- 
pressly tell us that St. Peter was in his vessel 
when he was called by Christ, they signify as 
much, in saying that he was casting a net into 
the sea ; for this supposes him to be aboard, 
and our Lord in the vessel with him, as St. 
Luke relates. The latter does not mention St. 
Andrew, either here or elsewhere, except in 
the catalogue of the apostles (vi. 14.) St. 
Luke further tells us, that James and John, the 
sons of Zebedee, assisted Peter in landing the 
fish which he had taken ; and that when they, 
that is, the four partners, had brought their 
ships to land, they forsook all and followed 
Christ. And here also this Evangelist harmo- 
nizes with the two others. St. Mark says, that 
when Christ had gone a little further thence 
from the place where Peter and Andrew began 
to foUow him, he saw James the son of Zebe- 
dee, and John his brother, who also were in .a 
ship, as Peter had been when he was called, 
mending their nets, their nets being torn by the 
weight of fish which they had hauled to shore ; 
and straightway he called them — and they went 
after him in company with Peter and Andrew. 

The two accounts, that of St. Mattliew and 
St. Mark on one side, and that of St. Luke on 
the other, thus concurring in the place and sit- 
uation in which St. Peter was called, in the 
promise made to him, and the time when he 
was called, speak evidently of tlie same v-oca- 
tion — consequently St. Matthew and St. Mark 
have abridged the story". 

This mannner of considering the narrative 
seems preferable either to that of Newcome, 
Whitby, or Hammond" 



Note 21.— Part III. 

The wisdom of our Lord's conduct was emi- 
nently displayed in the choice of his apostles : 
they were generally chosen from the inferior 
ranks of life ; and most of them were fisher- 
men. If the disciples of Christ had been men 
of rank and distinction, of wealth or eminence ; 
if they had been esteemed for their knowledge, 
or literature, or political influence, these means 
might more or less have been employed for 
promoting the kingdom of the Messiah, which 
nearly all the Jews imagined would be of an 
earthly nature. The success of the Gospel, 
too, would have been attributed, by its enemies 

" Townson's Discaurses, vol. i. p. 43, 44. 

" To prevent trouble in noting the references to 
the five principal harmonies, from which my au- 
thorities are principallv selected. I will mention the 
editions referred to. Lightfoot's Jforks, folio edit. 
London, 1684. Archbishop Newcome's Harmony, 
large folio, Dublin, 17e7. Pilkington's EiangeLi- 
cal History, folio, London, 1747. Doddridge's 
Family Expositor, 5 vols. 8vo. Baynes, London. 
Michaelis's Works (Marsh's), 8vo. 2nd edit. 1802. 



72* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III. 



at least, if not by the disciples, to mere human 
exertions. Hence Caiaphas inquired with so 
much solicitude of Christ, respecting his disci- 
ples (John xviii. 19.), from whose unpretending 
life less opposition was made to the first begin- 
nings of Christianity : for no danger could pos- 
sibly be apprehended from the efforts of such 
inferior and illiterate individuals. In addition 
to these reasons for selecting the apostles from 
the lowest occupations, it must be remembered, 
that men accustomed to a sterner and severer 
mode of life would be so habituated to dangers 
and anxieties, that they would not easily be 
daunted by them. By this choice, too, all pre- 
tence that the Gospel was advanced by mere 
human means was destroyed ; and it appeared 
from the very beginning, that not many wise, or 
nobl^, or mighty, were called. 



Note 22.— Part III. 

ON THE TYPES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

There is one subject in theology which has 
generally escaped the attention of commenta- 
tors and writers — the types of the New Tes- 
tament. If we consider the design of Revela- 
tion, and the plan on which the former part of 
the inspired pages is written, it wiU not appear 
improbable, or unreasonable, that we may dis- 
cover the same union of types and prophecies 
in the New, as are to be found in the Old Tes- 
tament. 

A type is a designed resemblance between 
two events, one of which takes place before the 
other. The latter of these events is of so much 
importance, that it is usually the subject of 
prophecy. It may be observed also, respecting 
the types, that those circumstances recorded in 
the Old Testament, which are now known to be 
typical, were not generally understood in the 
complete typical signification at the time they 
took place. Thus we cannot be assured that 
the offering of Isaac by Abraham was regarded 
by his contemporaries as typical of the sacrifice 
of the Son of God. It was comprehended on a 
future day, and the resemblance between them 
was so complete, that we have internal evidence, 
as well as the testimony of authors, that the first 
event was a prophetical intimation of the latter : 
and we well know, that the latter was the ob- 
ject also of a great variety of prophecies. 

The design of Revelation is likewise to de- 
monstrate to the world, that all that can or shall 
take place is known to God; and that every 
event among all the nations of the earth con- 
curs in accomplishing his predetermined will. 
That will is known and declared to be, the 
universal happiness of the sons of Adam, ac- 
complished by means which shall not clash 
with the freedom of human will and human 
actioru 



The New Testament, like the Old, contains 
a great number of prophecies, many of which 
have already been fulfilled, many are now ful- 
filling, many remain to be accomplished. The 
same Spirit of God dictated both covenants ; the 
design of the one revelation is uniform ; the 
plan we may naturally conclude the same ; and 
we may expect, therefore, that some events in 
the New Testament may be intended to typify 
those circumstances wliich are the subject of its 
prophecies. 

In the instance before us, we have a plain 
example of a prophecy which was delivered 
under circumstances which may seem to typify 
the event foretold. Christ assured his disciples 
that they should become fishers of men ; that is, 
they should be successful preachers of his Gos- 
pel. The words, in their simple meaning, must 
be considered only as a metaphor ; but the 
events which took place at the time they were 
spoken will possibly justify us in supposing that 
they are to be interpreted as an intended re- 
semblance, or type, of the fulfilment of our 
Lord's prophecy. As the net drew up so great 
a multitude of fishes, so also should the apos- 
tles on a future day bring many myriads into the 
Church of God. 

Lampe^, in his work on St. John's Gospel, 
has indulged his imagination very fully on this 
subject. He certainly demonstrates that the 
several objects, means, and terms, which are 
used by fishermen, and concerning fishing, 
were interpreted by the ancients in an em- 
blematical sense, and similar interpretations 
may be found in the talmudical writers. I am 
always anxious to avoid any fanciful meanings 
of Scripture, as inconsistent with sobriety and 
sound judgment. The imagination is the worst 
and blindest guide in these things. But as the 
subject is curious, and may probably engage 
the attention of theological students, I have 
collected some instances, which may prove the 
reasonableness of the supposition in question. 

Lampe first refers to the Old Testament, to 
show the propriety of considering the act of 
fishing, &c. to be emblematical. We read in 
Ezek. xlvii. 10. " And it shall be that the fishers 
shall stand upon it [the river], from En-gedi, 
even to En-eglaim : they shall be a place to 
spread forth nets ; their fish shall be according 
to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea," &c. 
The prophet, in the whole passage, is comparing 
the future progress of the Gospel to that of 
rivers, giving life wherever they flow ; and 
this same emblem is adopted in many other 
passages of the Old Testament, Prov. xi. 30. 
Isa. xix. 9, 10, &c. 

En-gedi and En-eglaim were situated at the 
north and south points of the Dead Sea. This 
sea then, as having covered the cities of the 
plain, which were consumed for their wicked- 



notei. 



Prolejfomena ad Evang. Joban. p. 12, 13. and 



Note 23.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*73 



ness, may be considered as a most appropriate 
emblem of tlie state of the Heatlien or Gentile 
■world, and gives additional force to the passage : 
even that sea should be so changed by the 
waters of the river of life, that there, even there, 
should be the spreading forth of nets, and 
abundant success to the labor of the fishermen. 

Arclibishop Newcome translates the text 
more intelligibly than in our own version, which 
is rendered obscurely. 

The instruments of fishing, Lampe observes 
further, are tlie hook and the net. Men are 
said to be drawn as with the bands of a man : 
and it is the hook of judgment and restraint 
with which Isaiah represents Jehovah as re- 
straining the madness of Sennacherib. 

In the mode of fisliing also, two things par- 
ticularly resemble the ministry of the Gospel. 
The persevering labor required, night and day 
constantly at work, and although frequently 
disappointed, still urging, persevering, and la- 
boring with the hope of success. The cunning 
and skill requisite in this pursuit, as pertaining 
to the Christian teacher, is well described in 
Matt. X. 16. and 2 Cor. xii. 16. 

Ambrose remarks on this subject, " The apos- 
tolic implements are appropriately compared to 
nets, which do not kill their prey, but keep them 
and bring them from the darkness of the deep 
into the light of day." 

The talmudists also have used the same meta- 
phor. The teachers of the Law are called by 
Maimonides, Talm. Torah. p. 7. niin 'J"n. 

Petronius, Satyr, cap. 3., gives the same em- 
blem. The arbiter elegantiaruvi would be sur- 
prised to find himself in this company. 

Lampe quotes also from a hymn, preserved 
by Clemens Alexandrinus^, in which Christ is 
thus addressed — 



T&v awLOfiivuiv 
Hth'iyeg y.axiag 
'I^d"vg uyvovg 



Piscator hominum 
Qui salvi fiunt 
Pelagi vitii 
Pisces castos 
Unda ex infestcL 



rXvy-iQij Lcuij ScXiutuyv. Dulci vit4 inescans. 

Plutarch also, in his Treatise on Isis and 
Osiris, affirms, that in the Egyptian hieroglyphics 
a fish was placed as an emblem of hatred. 

"Ev Zdc'i yovi' iv TU ngonolb) rod Ibqov ra? 
Adrjvag fjj' yeylvfi^ivov ^gicpog, yiqwv, xal 
(Uerd rovTO "equ^, ecpe^-fjg dk Ixdvg, inl naai ds 
innog noTUfiiog. In the vestibule of the temple 
at Zai, an infant, an old man, a hawk, a fish, 
and a hippopotame were sculptured. Each em- 
blem had its appropriate meaning, and the fish 
represented hatred, I'/O^S St fuaog, wutteq eigij- 
Tttt diu TTji' x^ularrat'. 

It was possibly in allusion to the same well- 
known emblem, that the ancient Clmstians called 
themselves ' lyOvg' . 

y Pad. lib. 3. in fin. 

' Vide Bingham's Ecdes. Antlq. The reason he 
assigns is, that the word was compounded of the 
initial letters, '/jjaoOs, Xoiarbg, 0iov Yi'og, 2'u)T),g, 

VOL. II. *10 



Pythagoras also, who obtained much of his 
knowledge from pure sources", prohibited the 
eating of fish. 

In the Epistle of Barnabas, ch. x., the wicked 
man is compared to fish. May.txQiog dv-^Q, o? 
ovH inoQsvdi] iv ^oul-q daeGav, naOwg ol lydvsg 
noqsvovTui iv andisi elg T(i ^Adrj. 

Arnold proves in his notes to the Sota of the 
deeply-learned Wagenseil, that . voluptuaries 
and sensualists were represented by the emblem 
of fishes. 

Oppian, Halieut. lib. 2. 

'I/d-vni S' ovrt Siy.ij /.ttraQid\uiog, ovre Tig aiScog 
^' Ov ipiluTtjg" TTuvTig yaQ Icvunatoi a).Xt\XoiOi 
^vousvteg iiXatovoiv, 6 de y.QarsQoinoog at£t 
^airvT' a(pav(JOT(Qovg aXXio d^ sTrtvt'j/srai aXXog 
IluTvov ayajV £Tf§os (?" eTiQu) noQovriv t(5tui5)Jr. 

Which is an exact description not only of 
the manner in which fishes are represented by 
naturalists, but an accurate account also of- 
the mode of life pursued by men who are with- 
out religion, and in a state of nature like the 
fish of the sea ; they are regardless of shame, 
and law, and justice, and affection ; always at 
war, and preying upon each other ; the weaker 
the victims of the stronger''. 



Note 23.— Part III. 

This event is placed after the miraculous 
draught of fishes, on the united authorities of 
Lightfoot, Newcome, Doddridge, and Pilking- 
ton. Michaelis places it after the rejection of 
Christ by his countrymen at Nazareth. He 
supposes that this event, the choosing of the 
twelve apostles, the sermon on the mount, the 
cleansing of the leper, the healing of the cen- 
turion's servant, the restoration of the mother- 
in-law of Peter, and of many other sick per- 
sons, took place on one day, which he therefore 
calls the day of the sermon on the mount ; to 
distinguish it from the day in which various 
parables were delivered, wliich he denominates 
the day of parables. His reasons for this order, 
with the remarks of his learned editor, will be 
considered hereafter. It is here sufficient to 
observe he confirms the order proposed by the 
other harmonists, excepting that he places else- 
where the miracle which was given in the last 
section. 

The scriptural authority for this arrangement 
is founded on Mark i. 21. After the calling of 
tlie four disciples, they immediately went into 
the synagogue on the Sabbath day, which Dod- 
dridge (Fain. Exp. vol. i. p. 184.) supposes to 
have been the next day — svdicog zolg adtSSaaiv 
slatWiht' sig TTjv avvayuyr'^i'. 

on the authority of Optatus, vol. i.p. 3. 8vo. edit. 

" Vide Arrangement of the Old Testament, Period 
VII. part iv. note 40. 

'' See on tliis subject also, Jones On the Figura- 
tive Language of Scripture. 

*G 



74* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III. 



ON THE DEMONIACS. 

The event related in this section, since the 
time of tlie learned Jos. Mede, has given rise 
to much discussion. One class of authorities 
have supposed that the Demoniacs were merely 
madmen, others that the bodies of human beings 
were actually possessed, and controlled, and 
governed, and inhabited by wicked and impure 
spirits. Among the supporters of the first 
opinion we find Heinsius, Exercitationes Sacrte, 
on Matthew iv. 24. Jos. Mede", Dr. Sykes'^, 
Dr. Mead", Dr. Farmer-'', Dr. Lardner°, Kui- 
noel, and Rosenmiiller'', on Matthew iv. 24. ; 
and in general all those writers of every sect 
who ■\\-ould believe tliat origin of the Scriptures, 
which appears to tliem rational. On the other 
side of the question may be placed the uniform 
interpretation of the passage in its literal sense 
by the ancient church, the best commentators, 
and all who are generally called orthodox, as 
desirous to believe the literal interpretation 
of Scripture, and the opinions of the early 
ages, in all points of doctrine, whether it can 
be brought to a level with tlieir reason or 
not. It is quite unnecessary to attempt to refer 
to all these writers ; of those, however, of a later 
period, who have written on this subject, may 
be mentioned Macknight", Bishop Newton-'', 
Jortin'^ (who would hardly have been expected 
among this number), Campbell', Dr. Adam 
Clarke, in his Commentary, and many others. 
The sum of their argument is stated by Home", 
Macknight", and Dr. Hales", with great fairness 
and impartiality. I have endeavoured to follow 
so good an example in the following brief 
summary of the respective arguments on both 
sides, beginning with those which are considered 
conclusive against the doctrine of demoniacal 
possessions. 

1. The word demon properly signifies the 
soul of a dead person. It cannot be supposed 
that the speeches and actions recorded of the 
imagined demoniacs could be imputed to these. 

In reply to this, it is justly said, that the word 

'^ Works, 4th edit. fol. London, p. 28, &c. Ser- 
mon on John x. 20. and b. iii. eh. v. On the Demons 
of the New Testament. 

•^ Inquiry into the Demoniacs of the JYew Testament. 

' Inquiry into the Diseases of Scripture. 

f Essay on the Demoniacs of the New Testament. 

^ Remarks on Dr. Ward's Dissertations, Works, 
4to. edit. Hamilton, vol. v. p. 475. and vol. i. p. 
236. Discourses on the Demoniacs. 

'' In Matt. 

' Essay prefixed to his Harmony, 4to. edit. p. 172. 

' Dissertation on the Demoniacs. 

* Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, Works, 
8vo. edit. vol. i. p. 199. 

' Essay on the Words Jiajiolog, Jalfiiav, and 
Juuiuriov — Prelim. Dissert, vol. i. p. 182. 4to. edit, 
of the work on the Gospels. 

"" Critical Introduction, 2nd edit. vol. iii. p. 483. 

" Essay prefixed to the Harmony. 

" Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. p. 764. See 
also Bishop Gleig's edition of Stackhouse, vol. iii. 
p. 57. and Doddridge's Lectures, vol. ii. p. 431. 
Kippis' edition. 



does not uniformly denote the spirits of the 
departed. 

2. Amongst the heathens, lunacy and epilepsy 
were ascribed to the operation of some demons ; 
demoniacs were therefore called larvati, and 
cerriti. 

Several answers may be given to this objec- 
tion. — One, that it is not quite impossible but 
that the heathens were right. — Another, that 
the opinion of the heathens, whether right or 
wrong, is no proof that the Jews were in error ; 
for the demoniacs of Scripture are represented 
as differing from insane and epileptic persons. 
Compare Matt. iv. 24., where the duiuoi'i'Cofiivovg 
are opposed to the aeXijvintpfiivovg, the naqa- 
Ivriy.ovg, and the noLxilaig voaoig xul ^uadci'oig 
avvexof-dvovg, and in Matt. x. 1. The power 
to cast out devils, or demons, by whatever name 
the evil spirits might be called, is expressly 
opposed to the power of healing all other dis- 
eases whatever. See Luke iv. 33-36. ; compare 
also V. 41. with v. 40., where the same contrast 
is observable. 

3. It is argued that the Jews had the same 
idea of these diseases as the heathen, and the 
instance of the madness of Saul, and Matt. xvii. 
14, 15. John vii. 20. and viii. 48. 52. and x. 20. 
are adduced to prove the assertion. These 
passages certainly prove that lunatics, epilep- 
tics, and demoniacs are sometimes synony- 
mous terms ; but this admission, however, 
will only show that they were occasionally 
identified ; the argument deduced from the con- 
trast between lunatics and demoniacs, in the 
passages quoted above, will not be destroyed. 
The literal interpretation is confirmed by the 
recollection of the source from whence the 
heathens derived their ideas of demons, and 
their philosophy in general. 

Pythagoras, as I have endeavoured elsewhere 
to prove, probably derived much of his philoso- 
phy, and many opinions and institutions, from 
the Jews in their dispersion, at the time of the 
Babylonish captivity^. He was of opinion that 
the world was full of demons'. Thales too, 
the contemporary of Pythagoras, and after them 
Plato and the Stoics, affirmed that all things were 
full of demons'. And it is well known that the 
priests, in giving forth their oracles, are always 
represented as being possessed by their gods'. 

'P Arrangement of the Old Testament, Period VII. 
part iv. note 40. 

' Elvai Tiuvra lov aiQa ■ipv;(<j>v cfinXsutv y.ai rov- 
rov( daifiorug te xa'i i/goia? voftitta&ai. Diog. Laert. 
lib. viii. § 32. ap. Biscoe, p. 285. 

'" Tor y.iafwv Saii.iovu)v nXi'jQtj. Diog. Laert. lib. 
i. §. 27. ap. Biscoe. 

" " They much mistake," says Mr. Biscoe", 
" who assert that Demoniacs abounded in the 
Jewish nation alone. 'We learn from the writers 
of other nations, that they abounded elsewhere. 
If they were not always known by the name of 
Demoniacs, they were spoken of under several 
other names, which signify the same thing, sach 

(I Histortj of the .^cts cotfjirmed, p. 283. 



Note 23.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*75 



4. Christ is said to liave adopted the com- 
mon language of the people, which it was not 
necessary to change. He was not sent to cor- 
rect the mistakes in the popular philosopliy of 
the day in which he lived. 

This argument talces for granted the very 
point to be proved. With respect also to the 
philosophy of the day, it would be difficult to 
show that our Lord sanctioned an error because 
it was popular. 

5. No reason can be given why there should 
be demoniacal possessions in the time of our 
Lord, and not at present, when we have no 
grounds to suppose that any instances of this 
nature any where occur. 

In reply to this objection, it may be observed, 
that these possessions might then have been 
more frequent, that the power of Christ might 
be shown more evidently over the world of 
spirits, and that He who came to destroy the 
works of the Devil should visibly triumph over 
liim. By this act of Almighty power he con- 
futed also the error so prevalent among the 
Sadducees, which denied the existence of an- 
gels or spirits (Acts xxiii. 8.), and which like- 
wise prevailed among many of those who were 
distinguished for their rank and learning at that 
time among the Jews. 

Lightfoot, when speaking on this point, sup- 
poses that the power of demons might be per- 
mitted to display itself in this pecuhar manner 
while Christ was upon earth, because the ini- 
quity of the Jews was now at its greatest lieight ; 
and the wliole world were consequently in a 
state of extreme apostacy from God. He adds 
also, tliat the Jews were now much given to 
magic ; and to prevent his miracles from being- 
attributed to tliis source, our Saviour evoked 
the evil spirits, to show that he was in no con- 
federacy with them. 

Those, on the contrary, who espouse the 
ancient opinion, not only adduce the arguments 
already mentioned in reply to the objections of 
their opponents, but maintain much that is laid 
down in the following positions, which have 
ever appeared to me decisive in favor of the 
popular opinion. 

I. The heathens had an idea of beings supe- 
rior to men, but inferior to the one Supreme 
God. Cudworth' enumerates many instances. 
Among others he quotes Plato's expression, that 

as ivQvy.Xttrai^, rvinfuJ.rjjTTOi" ,9(0tfu0tjT0c'^ , 9iuXiq7T- 
roc, ifot^uXijTiroL'^, ni'-d-iortg' , Bacchantes^, Cerriti^ , 
Larvati'', LymphaticiJ , JYocturnis Diis, Faunisque 
agitati''." 

■ Intellectual System, vol. i. book i. ch. iv. p. 232. 
Birch's 4to. edition, London. 1743. 

b 'E; J aarptrrat 61 Kal EVpvKXeirai iKaXovvTO, &c. schol. 
in Aristophan. Vesp. p. 503. 
c Plato Jn PliiBiL 

d ^pevuiiaviii Tisu 0s6(l)o(yriTos,JSisch. Agamemnon, 1149. 
c Scholia in Sophoc. Antig. ad. v. 975. 
f Herod. Melpom. <i, 13. 
•r Plut. Dc Orac. def. p. 414. 

Ii Plant, jlmjtli. act 2. scene 2. v. 71. Herod, lib. iv. $ 79. 
i Plant. Man. act 5. scene 4. v. 2. Bag. Amph. v. 5, &c. 
j Plin. JViil. His>. lib. 25. s. 24. and lib. 27. s. 83, &c. 
k lb. lib. 30. s. 24. 



there were uoutoI y.al yei'i'ijrol Qeol, visible 
and generated gods ; and Maximus Tyrius, 
(Jw/xQ/oi'Teg 0ea, co-mlers with God, &c. 
The Jewish and Christian ideas of angels and 
spirits are in some respects similar. Both be- 
lieve that these inferior beings may possess 
some influence by the permission of the Deity, 
in the concerns of mankind : and the opinion is 
neither hostile to reason or Scripture". 

n. The doctrine of demoniacal possessions 
is consistent with the whole tenor of Scripture. 
Evil is there represented as having been intro- 
duced by a being of this description, which in 
some wonderful manner influenced the immate- 
rial principle of man. The continuance of evil 
in the world is frequently imputed to the con- 
tinued agency of the same being. Our ignor- 
ance of the manner in wliich the mind may be 
controlled, perverted, or directed, by the power 
of other beings, ought not to induce us to reject 
the opinion. We are unable to explain the 
operation of our own thoughts, but we do not 
therefore deny their existence. 

III. The doctrine of demoniacal possessions 
is likewise consistent with reason. We ac- 
knowledge that a merciful God governs the 
world, yet we are astonished to observe that 
exceeding misery is every where produced by 
the indulgence of the vices of man. An ambi- 
tious conqueror will occasion famine, poverty, 
pestilence, and death, to hundreds of thousands 
of his fellow-men, whose lives are blameless 
and tranquil. If one man may cause evil to 
another, is it not probable that evils of a differ- 
ent kind might be produced by means of other 
beings, and the moral government of God re- 
main unimpeached .' We are assured that in 
the great period of retribution, other beings 
than man will be condemned by their Creator. 
The Scripture affirms tlxis fact, that other ac- 
countable and immortal beings, superior to 
manldnd, have been created, some of whom have 
not fallen ; wliile others, under the influence of 
one who is called Satan, or the Devil, aposta- 
tized from God, perverted the mind of man, are 
still persevering in evil, are conscious of their 
crimes, and are now reserved in chains of dark- 
ness to the judgment of the great day. A fu- 
ture state alone can explain the mystery of the 
origin and destiny of man, and his rank in the 
universe of God. The whole supposition, that 
the demoniacs spoken of in Scripture were 
madmen, is crowded with difficulties. But let 
us take for granted the ancient and orthodox 
opinion ; let us believe Christ to be divine, and 
preexistent, conversant witli the world of spirits, 
as well as with the world of men; and if we 
then trace the progress of that evil he was ap- 
pointed to overthrow from the beginning to the 
end, how much more easy and rational is t!ie 
belief, that he exerted over this demon the 
power he will hereafter display at tlie end of ths 

" Locke's Essay, book ii. ch. ii. sect. 13. fin. 



76* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III. 



world, when apostate devils and impenitent 
men wUl be associated in one common doom ? 

IV. The facts recorded of the supposed de- 
moniacs demonstrate also that they were not 
merely madmen. The insane either reason 
rightly on wrong grounds", or wrongly on right 
grounds, or blend the right and wrong together. 
But these demoniacs reasoned rightly upon right 
grounds. They uttered propositions undenia- 
bly true. They excelled in the accuracy of 
their knowledge the disciples of Christ himself; 
at least, we never hear that either of these had 
applied to our Lord the epithet of the Holy 
One of God. They were alike consistent in their 
knowledge and their language. Their bodies 
were agitated and convulsed. The powers of 
their minds were controlled in such manner that 
their 'actions were unreasonable ; yet they ad- 
dressed our Lord in a consistent and rational, 
though in an appalling and mysterious manner. 
Our Lord answered them not by appealing to 
the individuals whose actions had been so ir- 
rational, but to something which he requires 
and commands to leave them ; that is, to evil 
spirits, whose mode of continuing evil in this in- 
stance had been so fearfully displayed. These 
spirits answer him by evincing an intimate 
knowledge both of his person and character, 
which was hidden from the wise and prudent of 
the nation. The spirits that have apostatized 
are destined to future misery — their Judge was 
before them. " Ah, what hast thou to do with 
us, in our present condition," they exclaim, 
" Art thou come to torment us before our time ? " 
And they entreat him not to command them to 
leave this earth, and to g'o to the invisible 
world'". The demons believed and trembled. 

It is an admirable observation of Jortin on 
this point, that where any circumstances are 
added concerning the demoniacs, they are gen- 
erally such as show that there was something 
preternatural in the distemper ; for these af- 
flicted persons unanimously joined in giving 
homage to Christ and his apostles ; they all 
know him, and they unite in confessing his 
Divinity. If, on the contrary, they had been 
lunatics, some would have worshipped, and 
some would have reviled our Saviour, according 
to the various ways in which the disease had 
affected their minds. 

V. The other facts recorded of the demoniacs 
are such that it is impossible to conclude that 
they were madmen only. The usual and prin- 
cipal of these is that most extraordinary event of 
the possession of the herd of swine, by the 
same demons which had previously shown their 
malignity in the human form. It has ever been 
found impossible to account for this extraordi- 
nary event^, excepting upon the ancient and lit- 
eral interpretation of Scripture. 

" Luke viii. 28-31. 

" Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, Works, 8vo. 
edit. vol. i. p. 199. 

" The Socinian version of the New Testament 



A singular instance of the absurdities into 
which some have been led, in their endeavours to 
overthrow the testimony of Scripture, and es- 
tablish some proposition in its place which may 
seem more rational, or, as they very strangely 
think, more philosophical, may be found in 
Lardner, vol. i. p. 239 ; who, among the various 
opinions which had been advanced on the sub- 
ject of the demoniacs, mentions one which en- 
deavours to account for the destruction of the 
herd of swine, by imagining that Christ drove 
the lunacy, and not the demons, from the man 
into the swine. 

VI. It cannot be supposed, as Doddridge ob- 
serves, that our Lord humored the madmen by 
adopting their language, and inducing his disci- 
ples to do the same. "Hold thy peace, and 
come out of him — What is thy name — thou un- 
clean spirit," &c. These are all expressions 
which imply truths and doctrines of infinitely 
greater moment than any which could be con- 
veyed to the minds of his hearers by flattering 
a madman, or increasing and encouraging the 
religious errors of a deluded and wicked gene- 
ration. 

Dr. Lardner, in his remarks on Dr. Ward's 
Dissertations, quotes a letter from liis friend 
Mr. Mole, which accurately expresses the feel- 
ing that induced so many to reject what appears 
to me to be the plain narrative of Scripture. 
" This affair of the possessions is an embarrass- 
ment, which one would be glad to be fairly rid 
of," &c. It is the part of reason to examine 
the evidences of revelation. When reason is 
satisfied of its truth, as it must be, its only re- 
maining duty is to fall prostrate before the God 
of reason and Scripture, and implicitly to be- 
lieve the contents of the Sacred Volume in 
their plain and literal meaning. This stage of 
our existence is but the introduction to and the 
preparation for another, and it seems therefore 
but rational and philosophical to conclude that 
some things would be recorded in revelation, 
which should serve as links to connect the visi- 
ble with the invisible world. Among these may 
be considered such facts as the resurrection — the 
three ascensions — the visits of angels — the sud- 
den appearances of the Jehovah of the Old 
Testament — the miraculous powers of prophecy 
conferred upon the favored servants of God. 
Among these events also, I would place the 
fact of demoniacal possessions. As at the 
transfiguration Moses and Elias appeared in 
glory, to foreshow to man the future state of 
the blessed in heaven ; so also do I believe that 
the fearful spectacle of a human being pos- 
sessed by evil spirits was designed as a terrible 
representation of the future punishment. The 
demoniac knew Christ, yet avoided and hated 

has no note on this part. With the usual modesty, 
however, whicli cliaracterizes the writers of this 
scliool, Evanson is quoted to prove the whole his- 
tory of the Gadarene demoniac (Lvike viii. 27-40. ^^ 
to be an interpolation. 



Note 24, 25.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*77 



him. An outcast from the intellectual and re- 
ligious world, he grieved over his lot, yet he 
could not repent. In the deepest misery and 
distress, he heightened his own agony by self- 
inflicted torments. The light of heaven, which 
occasionally broke in upon his melancholy 
dwelling among the tombs, served only to make 
more visible the darkness of his wretchedness, 
and embittered every anguish and suffering by 
tlie torturing remembrance of what he ivas and 
what he might have been. Although I have 
not met with the opinion elsewhere, I cannot 
but consider, that we are here presented with 
a fearful and overwhelming description of the 
future misery of the wicked, by the visible 
power of the Devil over the bodies and souls of 
; men. The account of demoniacal possessions 
' may be regarded as an awful warning addressed 
to mankind in general lest they also come into 
the same state of condemnation. At the last 
day, when every eye shall see Him, and every 
knee bow down before Him, many, like the 
raving demoniac, shall hail the same Saviour, 
who died to redeem them, witli unavailing 
horror and despair. Many like the demoniac 
, will be compelled to acknowledge his Divinity — 
\ " We know thee, who thou art, the Holy One 
of God," — while they join in the frantic and 
piercing cry, " Art thou come to torment us ? " 

It appears to me also, that the demoniacs 
powerfully represent to us the state to which 
all the sons of Adam would have been reduced 
for ever, if the Son of God had not descended 
fi'om heaven, to accomplish the wonderful plan 
of redemption which is revealed in the Inspired 
Writings. The experience of common life, in- 
deed, not unfrequently sets before us many de- 
plorable instances of the exceeding degradation 
to which the human mind may fall, when it be- 
comes the slave of the passions, uninfluenced 
by religious principle. We seldom sufficiently 
appreciate the incalculable benefit which has 
already accrued to the world from the influence 
of the Christian religion. 

With respect, then, to the demoniacs of the 
New Testament, we may conclude, that it is 
with this doctrine as with many others in the 
New Testament. The traditional, popular, lit- 
eral, and simplest interpretation is most proba- 
bly correct, for this very satisfactory reason, 
that the difficulties of the new interpretation 
I are always greater than of that which is rejected. 
I We have here the actions of the Saviour and 
^ the Destroyer. On one side we have the won- 
derful doctrine, that it has pleased the Almighty 
to permit invisible and evil beings to possess 
tliemselves in some incomprehensible manner 
of the bodies and souls of men. On the other 
we have Christ, the revealer of truth, establish- 
ing falsehood, sanctioning error, or encouraging 
deception. ' We have the Evangelists inconsis- 
tent with themselves, and a narrative, v.'hich is 
acknov/ledged to be inspired, and to be intended 
YOL. II. 



for the unlearned — unintelligible or false. Be- 
tween such difficulties I prefer the former ; and, 
if I cannot comprehend, I bow my reason to 
the Giver of reason, and confess with reverence 
the superiority of Revelation. The diffisrence 
between Christianity and philosophy, or the 
mode of speculating which assumes that title, 
may be said to consist in this : — in matters of 
philosophy, the vulgar may be in error, and the 
speculatist may be right. But, in Christianity, 
the popular opinion is generally right. The 
speculator, the philosopher, who would fashion 
Christianity according to his own notions of 
truth and falsehood, of right, or wrong, gener- 
ally concludes with error. 



Note 24.— Part III. 

This section is placed here on the united au- 
thorities of the five harmonists, and on the 
Scriptural authority of Luke iv. 38. \4i>aaj6ig, 
Se ill Trig avvccyMyrig, elaijldei', &c. The cure 
of Peter's mother-in-law is placed by St. Mat- 
thew after the healing of the centurion's ser- 
vant. This miracle may have been wrought 
more particularly to confirm the faith of the 
apostles. 

Pilkington, who has observed the order of 
St. Mark and St. Luke, and rejected the sup- 
position of Osiander and Macknight, that St. 
Matthew wrote in order of time, has well de- 
fended the decision of the several harmonizers 
on this point. — Pilkington's Evang. Hist. &c. 
Notes, p. 17. 



Note 25.— Part III. 

In placing the tour throughout Galilee, after 
the cure of Peter's wife's mother, all the har- 
monists are agreed. The scriptural authority 
is to be found in St. Mark, i. .32. ' Oiptug St yevo- 
fiivTjg. Michaelis adds here various other 
cures and miracles ; and Dr. Doddridge has 
come, in some respects, to the same conclusions. 
Neither are Lightfoot, Newcome, and Pilking- 
ton agreed in the texts they would combine 
together in this section. The Evangelists de- 
scribe the journeying? of Christ through Galilee 
in such very genera! terms, that it appears im- 
possible to appropriate every expression to its 
particular journey. Neither does it seem ca- 
pable of demonstration that it was so designed. 

Our Lord now began to manifest himself 
publicly by his miracles, and to direct the 
attention of the Jews to his claims as their 
Messiah. 



78* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part 111. 



Note 26.— Part III. 

ON THE MEANING OF ISAIAH Uii. 4-12. 

The chapter of Isaiah, from which the 
Evangelist quotes the above passage, has been 
justly considered to contain a complete descrip- 
tion of the sufFerings of Christ. Because the 
Evangelist has applied the words of the Prophet 
to the cure of diseases, the Socinian writers 
have endeavoured to prove that the doctrine of 
the atonement ought not to be, and cannot be, 
deduced from this passage of Isaiah. They 
utterly reject the propitiatory sacrifice, which is 
there represented as offered for the sins of men ; 
and for the purpose of doing away the force of 
the expressions which so clearly convey this 
idea, the adversaries of the doctrine of the 
atonement have directed against this part of 
Scripture their principal attacks. They have 
endeavoured to prove that Christ is not here 
described as an □B'X, or sacrifice for sin, and 
that the sacrifice itself is not truly propitiatory. 
They further argue that the word bear sins, 
signifies to bear them away or remove them ; 
and that consequently nothing more is meant 
here than the removing away from us our sins 
and iniquities by forgiveness. Archbishop 
Magee, in his invaluable work On the Atonement, 
has devoted much labor to the Unitarian objec- 
tion, and carefully analyzed every word in the 
whole passage. He candidly and fully, as an 
inquirer into truth ever should do, submits 
to the readers the difficulties in question, and 
concludes the discussion by establishing the 
propriety and certainty of the usual application 
of tlie passage to the sufferings of Christ, as the 
vicarious sacrifice for the sins of mankind. 

It would be impossible in the short space of 
a note to enter into all the elaborate criticisms 
of the learned Archbishop. His conclusions, 
which are most satisfactory, can only be here 
given. He understands ir^n and dcffdevelccg 
to relate to bodily pains and distempers, and 
1J^ND3 and v6aovg to refer to diseases and 
torments of the mind — he refers the former 
clause signifying Christ's removing the sicknesses 
of men by miraculous cures, and the latter to 
his bearing their sins upon the cross, and he has 
adduced many examples in support of this in- 
terpretation. " Isaiah and Matthew," to use 
his own words, " are perfectly reconciled, the 
first clause of each relating to diseases removed 
— the second to sufferings endured. And by 
the same steps by which the Prophet and the 
Evangelist have been reconciled, the original ob- 
jection derived from St. Matthew's application of 
the passage is completely removed, since we 
find that tlie bearing applied by the Evangelist 
to bodily disease is widely difl^eront from that 
wliich is applied to sins ; so that no conclusion 
can be drawn from the former use of the word. 



which shall be prejudicial to its commonly re- 
ceived sense in the latter relation. 

" One point yet, however, demands explana- 
tion. It will be said, that the prophet is no 
longer supposed to confine himself to the view 
of our redemption by Christ's sufferings and 
death ; but to take in also the consideration of 
his miraculous cures ; and the Evangelist, on 
the other hand, was represented as not attend- 
ing merely to the cures performed by Christ, 
with which alone he was immediately concerned, 
but as introducing the mention of his sufferings 
for our sins, with which his subject had no 
natural connexion. Now to this I reply (says 
Archbishop Magee) first, with regard to the 
prophet, that it is not surprising that so dis- 
tinguishing a character of the Messiah, as that 
of his healing all manner of diseases with a word, 
and which this prophet (in chap. xxxv. 5.) has 
depicted so strongly, that our Saviour repeats 
his very words (Batt's Diss. 2nd edit. p. 109.) 
and refers to them in proof that he was tlie Mes- 
siah (Matt. xi. 4. and Beausobre in loc.) — it is 
not surprising, I say, that this character of Christ 
should be described by the prophet. And that 
it should be introduced in this place, where the 
prophet's main object seems to be to unfold the 
plan of our redemption, and to represent the 
Messiah as suffering for the sins of men, will 
not appear in any degree unnatural, when it is 
considered that the Jews familiarly connected 
the ideas of sin and disease, the latter being con- 
sidered by them the temporal punishment of the 
former (for abundant proof of this see Whitby 
on Matt. viii. 17. and ix. 2., Drusius on the same, 
Crit. Sac. torn. vi. p. 288., and Doederl. on Isaiah 
liii. 4. and Martini also on the same passage). 
So that He, who was described as averting by 
what he was to suffer, the penal consequences 
of sin, would naturally be looked to as removing, 
by what he was to perform, its temporal effects ; 
and thus the mention of the one would reasona- 
bly connect with that of the other, the whole of 
the prophetic representation becoming, as Ken- 
nicott happily expresses it, ' Descriptio Messise 
benevolentissime et agentis et patientis.' (Diss. 
Gen. § 79.) 

"That the Evangelist, on the other hand, 
though speaking more immediately of bodily 
diseases, should at the same time quote that 
member of the prophecy, which related to tlie 
more important part of Christ's office, that of 
saving men from their sins, will appear equally 
reasonable, if it be recollected that the sole 
object in referring to the prophet concerning 
Jesus, was to prove him to be the Messiah ; 
and that the distinguishing character of the 
Messiah was to give knoivledge of salvation unto 
his people, by the remission of their sins (Luke i. 
77.) So that the Evangelist may be considered 
as holding this leading character primarily in 
view ; and, at the same time, that he marks to 
the Jews the fulfilment of one part of the pro- 



Note 27.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



(9 



phecy, by the healing of their bodily distempers, 
he directs their attention to that other greater 
object of our Saviour's mission, on which the 
prophet had principally enlarged, namely, the 
procuring forgiveness of their sins by his suf- 
ferings. And thus the present fulfilment of the 
prophecy was at the same time a designation 
of the person, and a pledge of the future more 
ample completion of tlie prediction. Cocceius 
gives this excellent explanation of the passage 
in question : ' He hath taken on himself (sus- 
cepit) our sorrows, or sufferings, eventually to 
bear them away, as he has now testified by the 
carrying away our bodily distempers.' 

"If, after all that has been said, any doubt 
should yet remain, as to the propriety of thus 
connecting together, either in the Prophet, or 
in tlie Evangelist, the healing of diseases, and 
the forgiveness of sins, I would beg of the rea- 
der to attend particularly to the circumstance 
of their being connected together frequently 
by our Lord himself. Thus he says to the sick 
of the palsy, when he healed him, ' thy sins be 
forgiven thee'' (Matt. ix. 2.) And that bodily 
diseases were not only deemed by the Jews, 
but were in reality, under the first dispensation, 
in many instances the punishment of sin, we 
may fairly infer from John v. 14., where Jesus 
said to him whom he had made whole, ' sin no 
more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.'' It 
should be observed also, that what in Mark iv. 
12., is expressed, ^ and their sins should he for- 
given them,'' is given in Matt. xiii. 15., ' and I 
should heal them.'' See also James v. 15. and 
Isaiah xxxiii. 24., and observe the maledictions 
against the transgressors of the Law, in Deut. 
xxviii. 21. See also Grot, on John v. 14. and 
Pole's Syn. on Matt. ix. 2." 

None will tiiink this extract too long, who 
are aware of the great importance of the sub- 
ject in discussion. The researches of this 
learned writer afford another proof, if any were 
wanting, that in proportion to the extent of in- 
quiry, and the increase of our knowledge, will 
ever be the confirmation of the great doctrine 
of the Atonement and the Divinity of Christ. 
It is sincerely to be hoped, that no theological 
student will permit his library to be unprovided 
with this valuable work of Archbishop Magee 
On the Jitonement. 



Note 27.— Part III. 

The arguments of Newcome and Lightfoot 
have principally induced me to give this place 
to the cure of the leper, contrary to the authority 
of Doddridge, who has preferred the order of 
St. Matthew's Gospel, and arranged it after the 
Sermon on the Mount. The expression in St. 
Matthew's Gospel, on wliich this opinion is 
founded, is in Matt. viii. 1. KuTaSdvTi, dt. avra 



(xnh Tov o^ovg — and nul iSov. The same ex- 
pression has induced Mr. Jones, in his Vindica- 
tion of St. Matthew's Gospel, to conclude that 
this Evangelist had observed the due order of 
time. But Archbishop Newcome justly ob- 
serves, that, according to St. Luke, this miracle 
was performed in a certain city (Luke v. 12) ; 
and that the expression in Matt. viii. 1. refers 
only to the multitudes following liim ; and the 
words xal Idov are only used as an introductory 
phrase for the better transition from one part 
of the history to another. Many expressions 
apparently fixing the time of events, must be 
considered in this point of view, such as iSiiv 
Jfi — >tat iyii/STO, xul il6{x)V, xal ngoasldiiit', sl- 
oeWovti, 6i, nsQLTiaTW 8h, xal dvol^ug ih (jr^jia 
— T(5re, |UFTd TuvTix, Hv, iv Tar^ ■rj/jiQuig inelvaig, 
if fiiq T(hv rifieQWv'-'. 

It may be observed also in support of the ar- 
rangement now adopted, that our Lord would 
not have said to the leper, if he had performed 
the cure in the presence of the great multitudes 
that followed him as he came down fi-om the 
mount, " See thou tell no man : " neither is it 
probable that the leper, being so utterly un- 
clean, would be found among the crowd. 

Lightfoot also has remarked, that St. Mat- 
thew was solicitous to proceed at once to the 
Sermon on the Mount, for wliich purpose he 
mentions several miracles together, without at- 
tending to the order in which they took place. 
Eichhorn has observed the same order. There 
does not appear to be sufficient reason for sup- 
posing that two lepers were cleansed. 

Both among Jews and Gentiles the leprosy 
has been considered as a most expressive em- 
blem of sin, the properties and circumstances 
of the one pointing out those of the other. 
The leprosy, like sin, begins with a spot, a sim- 
ple hidden infection, soon spreading over the 
whole body, and communicating its contagious 
nature to every thing which it can either touch 
or influence. 

This disorder, like sin, is hereditary, and was 
deemed incurable by mere human means. 
Among the Jews, God alone was considered 
able to remove it, and its cure was uniformly at- 
tributed to divine power. In like manner, the 
contagion of sin, its guilt and its consequences, 
can only be removed by the hand of God ; all 
means without his especial influence can be of 
no avail. 

In effecting the cure, our Lord asserted his 
sovereignty, by the phrase, "I will — be thou 
clean." Our Saviour begins by prefiguring his 
power to forgive sin in its fullest extent by the 
cure of the leper ; he soon afterwards publicly 
proclaims it in the case of the sick of the palsy, 
when he said, " But that ye may know that the 
Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sin," 
&c. 

" Chemnitius, Harm, proleg. p. 17, 18; Jones's 
Vindication of St. Mnttheio's Gospel ; apud New- 
come's notes to the Harmony, p. 14. 



80* NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. [Part 111. 

Note 28.— Part III. Note 29.— Part 111. 



Christ commanded the leper not to tell any 
man till he had shown himself to the priest, as 
a testimony unto them. He charges the man 
to be silent on the subject of his cure, that the 
jealousy of the Romans, or of the Jewish 
rulers, should not be excited ; and that his min- 
istry should not be disturbed and interrupted 
by the clamors of the people, who sometimes 
in their zeal endeavoured to make him a king. 
He directed him also to the priest, and to offer 
the usual gift. In the Levitical Law it was the 
office of the priest alone to testify that the dis- 
ease was cured. The man was sent, therefore, 
that the priest might look upon him, and declare 
him clean; and thus a legal proof might be 
giveii to the people, and a testimony be afforded 
to tlie priests themselves, that a Greater than 
the priest was among them, who could heal all 
diseases by a word, and even the disease of 
the leprosy. But if the leper who had been 
cured had told the priest, before he was pro- 
nounced clean, that he had been healed by our 
Saviour, his jealousy might have refused to ac- 
knowledge the completion of the cure ; and the 
man was therefore charged to be silent. Our 
Lord could not have offered a more evident 
proof of his Divinity than this cure of the leper ; 
for there was a prevalent tradition among the 
Jews, that when the Messiah should appear he 
should heal the leprosy. 

As some objections have been proposed con- 
cerning the propriety of our Lord's conduct in 
commanding the man whom he had cured of his 
leprosy to keep silence on the subject, I would 
direct the attention of the reader to the fol- 
lowing admirable observations of the learned 
Witsius. 

" Si ad ea quae sequuntur attendamus, mani- 
festum fiet, non esse indictum huic homini per- 
petuum silentium ; sed duntaxat usque dum 
purgationem sui purgasset sacerdotibus, eamque 
testatam fecisset doni imperati oblatione. Ni- 
mirum non modo volebat Jesus divinse legis re- 
tinens videri, quod erat revera : sed et miraculo 
suo fidem fieri ab ipsis sacerdotibus, et tum 
demum illud publicari. Ut autem fides ei fieret 
a sacerdotibus prasveniendi erant, antequam 
fama miraculi in Galilaja facti ad Hierosolymi- 
tanorum aures perveniret ; ne sacerdotes, quorum 
ca notio erat, invidias veneno tacti, aut lepro- 
sum eum fuisse, aut a lepra bona fide curatum 
esse, ncgarcnt. Ideo eum Jesus svOiwg i^i6ule, 
protinus facessere jussit, ne fama anteverteret, 
et silentium imperavit, donee se sacerdoti explo- 
randum stitisset, et permissum ipsi esset munus 
suum offerre ; quod non licebat nisi post solem- 
nem sacerdotis declarationem. Ab eo tempore 
fas sanato fuit in urbem ingredi," &c. — Witsii, 
Meldemala Leidensia, Dissert, v. p. 253. 



Where the harmonists are all agTeed in the 
arrangement of any particular event, which very 
frequently occurs, it will only be necessary to 
refer the reader to those harmonists, by whose 
authority I am principally directed. 

The cure of the sick of the palsy is placed 
after that of the leper mentioned in Matt. viii. 
2-4. by Doddridge, Newcome, Lightfoot, 
PUkington, Eichliorn, and Bishop Richard- 
son, apud Usher's Annals, p. 821. For the 
reasons why the order of St. Mark and St. Luke 
is adopted here, instead of tliat of St. Matthew, 
vide Doddridge, Fam. Exp. vol. i. p. 245. 

Mark connects this story with that of the 
leper ; the word Evdiwc, says Archbishop New- 
come, fixes the order (Mark. ii. 2.) St. Luke 
does not specify the time, and St. Matthew, 
who seems to have deferred the narration of 
many facts, that the Sermon on the Mount 
might be introduced early to the Jewish reader, 
to whom he particularly addressed his Gospel, 
places several events between the cure of the 
leper and the paralytic. St. Luke relates the 
cure as happening only on a certain day, ^ys- 
vSTO iv /ilia TWi' Tj^we^wj'. 

Our Lord asserts here, for the first time, his 
power to forgive sins, which he demonstrates 
also by another miracle, and declares himself 
greater than any prophet. He gradually reveals 
his mission as the minds of his hearers were 
able to receive it, and till the time should come 
when he should appear at Jerusalem before the 
rulers of the people. 

The Jews believed that all disease was the 
consequence of sin, j^;? xSn [niD'' |''X, and that 
the diseases of the body were not healed till 
the sins that occasioned them were forgiven. 
I meet in Schoetgen this quotation. JVcdarim, 
fol. 41. 1. "Dixit R. Chija fil Abba, nuUus 
cegrotus a morbo sanatur, donee ipsi omnia 
peccata remissi sunt. r'?ina NDiJ nSinn |''X 
rnun;? Sd hv iS I^SmnK? Ij;." a T. Bah. Sabbat, 
fol. 55. 1. Midrach Kohelet, fol. 70. 4. apud Gill 
on Matt. ix. 2. 

Kimclii too, on Psalm xli. 5. has observed : 
" When God shall heal the diseases of the soul, 
then, after the expiation of its sins, the body 
also shall be healed." The Jews believed, on 
their own principles, that he, who could thus 
display the attributes of Deity, was the Messiah. 
Our Lord appeals, therefore, on his usual plan, 
to their received opinions, and asserted his high 
dignity by actions. 

Whitby, in Matt. ix. 3., supposes that the 
paralytic was suffering under the punishment of 
some particular sin, and the removal of the 
disease signified only the forgiveness of that 
particular offence. Whereas Lightfoot, on 
the contrary, argues tliat the restoration of 
the sick of the palsy was accompanied with 
the remission of all his past transgressions.— 



Note 30, 31.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*81 



Vide Schoetgen, Hora, Hebraka, vol. i. p. 93 ; 
Lightfoot ; Whitby and Gill in loc. 



Note 30.— Part III. 

Lightfoot, Archbisliop Newcome, and 
Doddridge, place the calling of St. Matthew in 
its present order, and separate that event from 
the feast which was given afterwards in his 
house. They reason, from Luke viii. 41. and 
Mark v. 22., that many events occurred, and 
much time elapsed, from the calling of Matthew 
to t!ie %dsit of Jairus which took place at the 
feast. Matt. ix. 10-13. Michaelis, Pilkington, 
and Bedford, in his Scripture Chronology, unite 
these events. 

[s it not probable that our Lord proposed 
some useful lesson by thus calling Matthew 
from the Receipt of Custom ? The Jews ex- 
pressed the utmost contempt and hatred of all 
tliose of their countrymen, who accepted the 
office now held by St. Mattliew. In their 
opinion, vows made to thieves, murderers, and 
publicans, might be broken. These persons 
were regarded by them as profane — shepherds, 
alms-gatherers, and publicans — ,rj;n ['SlD£3 iSx 
TDDlOl r>c3;i, Their repentance also was con- 
sidered very difficult. The Jerusalem Targum 
has the follo'nT.ng canon, Demai, fol. col. 3. 

nnna ini« I'nn "nj nB'j'rti; i3n. "A Pharisee 

that becomes a Publican they remove from his 
order ; but if he leaves his profession they re- 
store him to his order again." St. Matthew 
appears to have been, from Ms official situation, 
which must have made him more generally 
known, the most suitable of all the apostles to 
become the writer of the first Gospel ; and he 
was an eyewitness also of what he records. 
The others, excepting St John, and perhaps St. 
Peter, who probably dictated, or at least super- 
intended St. Mark's Gospel, were men of but 
little education, and not much known to their 
countrymen. Our Saviour, by calling St. Mat- 
thew, intended perhaps to reprove the self- 
righteousness and arrogance of the Pharisees ; 
and to show tliem, that the most despised among 
men were preferred before them in the sight of 
God^ 

In addition to the reasons assigned by Light- 
foot for separating the in\utation to the feast at 
the house of Matthew, from the call of that 
Apostle, it may be observed, at that feast our 
Lord spake in parables. But this mode of teach- 
ing was never adopted tUl the Scribes and 
Pharisees had imputed his castmg out of devils 
to the agency of an evil spirit. 

I have not thought it deserving of considera- 
tion, whether Matthew and Levi were different 
persons. It is the general, and, I cannot but 
chink the correct opinion, that they were the 

' See Talmud in jYedarim, per. 3. halac. 4. and 
Sanhed. per.l. fol. 24. ap. Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 660. 

VOL. II. 11* 



same. I insert the words of Rosenmiiller as 
expressing my own opinion. "An diversa tantum 
sint nomina unius ejusdemque persons, an vero 
duo portitores simul v^ocati sint a Christo, equi- 
dem definLre non ausim. Q,uum tamen Marcus 
et Lucas in plerisque cum Matthseo consentiant, 
et alii etiam apostoli binomines fuerint (Simon 
Petrus, et Lebbseus Thaddaeus) prEeferenda esse 
videtur eorum sententia, qui Levin et Matthseum 
diversa tantum esse nomina unius ejusdemque 
personaB existimant." — RosenmuUer, Scholia jY. 
T., vol. i. p. 193. 



Note 31.— Part III. 



on the nuaiber of passovers duristg our 
lord's ministry. 

There are four passages in St. John's Gos- 
pel which are considered by the majority of 
harmonizers, as intending to express the num- 
ber of Passovers, and tlie consequent duration 
of our Lord's ministry. They are the following 
— ii. 13., Kul iy/iig ri^ to iKxa'/a twv 'laSulo)!', 
Xttl d.vi6rj slg 'legoadlvfiu 6 ' Irjaovg. The 
second is, v. 1., Mbt^. tuvtu ^iv Logrri Tav 'Isda- 
low, y.al dviSr] 6 ' Ir/aov; el; 'leQoaolvua. The 
third, vi. 4., 'Hv 6t lyyiig to ndiaxu, i^ iogrri t5iv 
^luSalojv. The fourth, xi. 55./ Hv ds iyyvg m 
ndaxtt tS)v ' lySalojv. Upon the right construc- 
tion indeed of the second of these, the ques- 
tion of the duration of our Lord's ministry may 
be said to depend. The generally-received 
opinion is, that our Lord's ministry lasted three 
years and a half, during which time four Pass- 
overs were celebrated. The second of these 
passages, however, does not appear to warrant 
the supposition that a Passover is the feast in- 
tended, and consequently no argument can be 
deduced from these passages to ascertain the 
duration of our Lord's ministry. 

In all the other three passages, St. John uses 
the words to Trda/a, to express the Passover, 
in the second he uses only the word lo^rrj. 
Now this, it is evident, does not assert that the 
feast here meant was a Passover. If we may 
judge from the other passages of St. John, 
without taking into consideration the other 
Gospels, we may say that the omission of the 
article demonstrates that he could not mean a 
Passover ; as the article is inserted in every 
other passage where the word to^Ti^ is used, as 
referring to the feast of the Passover. It is 
found also in the seventh chapter, where the 
same expression is given in reference to the 
feast of Tabernacles. On examining the 
other Gospels, we shaU see, that though St 
Mark has once used the word without the arti- 
cle, when speaking of the feast of the Pass- 
over, and St. Luke also has done the same thing, 
yet St. jMatthew, like St. John, has uniformly 
preserved it ; and so indeed have all the Evan- 
gelists, with these two deviations only. 



82* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III. 



Matt. xxvi. 2. to nuaxa yli'siai. 
5. fir^ &v T-i] tOQTTJ. 
xxvii. 15. y.azu de koQirji'. 
Mark xiv. 1. 'Hf d^ rb ndca/a, &c. 
2. Mri iv TTi koQiri. 

The exception referred to is, — 
Mark xv. 6. xuia ds Loqir^t'. 
Luke ii. 41. ^r^ kogr-q ts n&a^n. But in 
xxiii. 17. y.ux' Ioqt^v. 

John in this instance only uses the word 
toQiri, without the article. Compare the pas- 
sages John ii. 23. — iv. 45. — vi. 4. — vii. 2. — vii. 8. 
10. 11. 14. 37.— xi. 56.— xii. 12. 20.— xiii. 1. 29. 

These passages, in which eo^ttj is without tlie 
article, may denote the feast of the Passover, and 
may in fact be considered as the same : and it 
may be observed, therefore, that the expression 
y.ax' .loQxyiv is an idiomatical phrase, similar and 
equivalent to kkz' exog, the construction of 
which depends on nag, or ly.ac,og, understood. 

In this manner we must supply the ellipsis by 
St. Luke, who uses the expression yuxd. nav 
a6.6Saxov (Acts xiii. 27.), y.ar' koQx^v therefore 
will mean xard naauv koqx-riv, or feast by feast ; 
as xttx'' exog, signifies year by year : and as the 
propriety of the latter expression would be 
destroyed by the insertion of the article to, so, 
to render the phrase ««r' koQxrn', analogous in 
its Construction, it was necessary that the arti- 
cle should be omitted. This therefore is done ; 
and though some MSS., since the time of The- 
ophylact, have inserted the article, yet the quo- 
tations from Origen have not the article, and 
Ireneeus refers to the verse in such a manner 
that there is no reason for supposing that it 
was found in his MS. It is omitted too in the 
Codex Alexandrinus, Cod. Vaticanus, Cod. Bezse, 
and most of the Greek MSS". 

The course of St. John's history seems to 
imply rather that this feast was not a Passover. 
He relates that our Saviour remained in Judsea 
after the first Passover in his ministry, till he 
knew " how the Pliarisees had heard that Jesus 
made and baptized more disciples than John." 
He then left Judaea, and departed through Sa- 
maria into Galilee. He then went to Caper- 
naum (vide chap, iv.), and after this, says the 
Evangelist, was a feast of the Jews. It is 
therefore, Mr. Benson' observes, natural to im- 
agine that this was a feast of Pentecost, or 
Tabernacles ; because there lias been nothing 
related by the Evangelist which can imply so 
great a lapse of time, as intervened between 
Passover and Passover. 

On the other hand it has been argued, that 
the feast, mentioned in ver. 1, was a Passover, 
from what Jesus says to his disciples at Sychar 
(John iv. 35.) " Say not ye. There are yet four 
months, and then cometh harvest." From this 
expression it is supposed that it then wanted 

" Vide Marsh's Michaelis, vol. iii. notes, p. 60 ; 
Benson, p. 253. 

(■ Chronology of Christ's Life, p. 245, 248, 249, 



four months to harvest ; that is, to the Passover, 
at which time the Jews' barley harvest began 
(Lev. xxiii. 11, &c.) ; consequently the next of 
tlie three great feasts of the Jews would be that 
of the Passover ; and as Christ had so lately 
left Jerusalem for fear of the Jews, it is con- 
cluded, by those who maintain this opinion, that 
no other inducement but that of a great feast 
would have carried him thither so soon again. 
In reply to this, it is said, that our Saviour in 
these words merely alluded to a proverbial ex- 
pression among the Jews, that between tlie 
seedtime and harvest tliere elapsed a period 
of four months. And, from the context, we 
are still more induced to suppose it was a pre- 
vailing idiom, signifying there was no necessity 
for delay ; that the fields were already ripe, and 
ready for the laborers to begin their work, figu- 
ratively alluding to his reception among tlie 
Samaritans. The words, "lift up your eyes 
and look upon the fields, for they are w^Jte 
already to harvest," seem most pointedly to re- 
fer to the actual appearance of the surrounding 
country ; for it does not appear probable, par- 
ticularly as our Saviour was accustomed to 
draw Ms illustrations from surrounding objects, 
that he would have adopted this metaphor had 
he been encompassed with the desolation of 
winter, or that season of the year which pre- 
ceded harvest. 

The history, therefore, of this portion of our 
Lord's ministry, is as follows : at his Jiist Pas- 
sover he went up to Jerusalem, and continued 
in Judsea for two or three weeks after it, bap- 
tizing, " though he himself baptized not, but 
his disciples " (John iv. 2.) His rapid and ex- 
tensive success having excited the observation 
of the Pharisees, he thought it prudent to quit 
Judaea, and passing through Samaria in the 
midst of the harvest, impressed upon his disci- 
ples the readiness of the Samaritans to receive 
his doctrines, by an illustration very beautifully 
drawn from the scenes and operations which 
were passing before them. He then continued 
his journey into Galilee (it was but a three 
days' journey from Jerusalem to GalUee), and, 
after remaining there for a few weeks, returned 
again to Jerusalem, according to Cyril and 
Chrysostom, to celebrate the feast of Pentecost, 
or, according to others, at a somewhat later 
period to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles. 

The most formidable objection to the sup- 
position that the miracle at the pool of Bethesda, 
and the subsequent plucking of the ears of 
corn, took place at the feast of Pentecost, is 
given by Archbishop Newcome. This author 
supposes that a whole year probably elapsed 
between the conversation with Nicodemus at 
the first Passover, and the miracle at Bethesda ; 
and he gives a calculation of the probable 
periods that he supposes must have transpired 
between the several events ; allowing the 
shortest time possible for each. According to 



Note 31.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*83 



this calculation, he makes it appear that four 
months and a half must at least be allowed ; 
and, as the Pentecost was only fifty days after 
the Passover, this statement alone will be suffi- 
cient to prove that the miracle at the pool of 
Betliesda could not have been wrought at 
Pentecost. I have endeavoured to compress 
his reasoning within the shortest compass. 

After the Passover in which Christ conversed 
with Nicodemus, we read, John iii. 22., that 
Christ remained in Judsea, and baptized, that is, 
his disciples who were with him baptized, (John 
iv. 2.) Now, as liis disciples were not at that 
time with him (for Andrew, Peter, James, and 
John were not yet called), he must first have 
collected disciples before he baptized ; and as 
he continued there till he had baptized more 
disciples than John, it is not improbable that 
our Lord staid in Judsea for at least one month. 

To this it may be answered, that there were 
many who followed Christ, and many, though 
they had seen his miracles, who forsook him, 
whose names are not mentioned. The sacred 
narratives leave out so many events, and some- 
times glance so slightly at many of the most 
important, that it is not at all improbable our 
Lord may have been followed from Jerusalem 
by many, who professed themselves his disciples 
for a time, and baptized in his name, yet who 
left him as others had done, because he did not 
fulfil the expectations they had previously 
formed of the Messiah. Their notions were 
so contradictory, that we may very naturally 
suppose they were satisfied with the miraculous 
proofs he gave that he was more than a prophet ; 
but they were discontented with the continued 
subjection of their country to the Romans, and 
the poverty and lowliness of our Lord himself. 
It is not necessary therefore to suppose that his 
twelve apostles, or any of them, attended him. 
Many who had seen, or had been assured of the 
mLi-acle of the driving the buyers and sellers 
from the temple, might have followed him. 
The first intelligence of the open evident revival 
of miracles would have attracted the inhabitants 
of the surrounding districts in such numbers, 
that those who were baptized by Christ's dis- 
ciples would soon exceed those who were bap- 
tized by John; and as the jealousy of the Jews 
would be soon excited, more especially as our 
Lord had now begun to be the object of public 
attention, there is no reasonable cause why a 
month should be the period of his residence in 
Judaea ; seven or ten days would be amply 
sufficient. 

The tour from Judfea, through Samaria to 
Galilee, Archbishop Newcome supposes must 
have occupied at least seven days. The dis- 
tance from Judaea to Samaria is about sixty 
miles, from thence to Cana fifty more. It appears 
from John iv. 40 and 43, that our Lord remained 
at Samaria two days ; seven days, therefore, 
will be sufficient to allow for this journey. 



At Cana, Archbishop Newcome supposes, our 
Lord remained four days at least, to allow time 
for the nobleman of Capernaum (which was 
about thirty-five miles distant) to hear of our 
Lord's miracles, and to send the message to 
him respecting his son, the answer returned, 
&c. Four days, we may well suppose, would 
be occupied in the transactions related in John 
iv. 46. to the end. 

The archbishop allows eight days for the 
teaching in the synagogues, mentioned Luke 
iv. 15., and four for the sojourning at Nazareth, 
Luke iv. 16. His arguments on these points are 
satisfactory. 

Three weeks are allowed by this divine as 
the time of our Lord's remaining at Capernaum, 
Matt. iv. 13. ; because it is said, " He dwelt 
there." But it seems to have escaped his at- 
tention, that the expression in the original, 
y.aTattrjfrev eig Kansovuhu, does not uniformly 
mean, he took up his constant residence. The 
word y.aTOiyJo) sometimes denotes, to remain in 
a place for a short time, to reside as a guest. It 
appears probable that our Lord might have been 
invited to Capernaum, to the house of the no- 
bleman whose son he had cured. We learn, 
in Matt. viii. 20., that Christ had not where to 
lay his head, that is, he had no habitation which 
he could call his own. We are informed that 
he dwelt at Capernaum : but the word, in the 
original, does not imply that he continued there 
for so long a period as three weeks. It is more 
probable that the house of the nobleman, who is 
supposed to have been Herod's steward, served 
but as a temporary residence ; from whence 
he might conveniently visit other parts of Gali- 
lee. When we remember the diligence with 
which our Lord attended to the immediate 
design of his mission, it seems more likely that 
he staid at Capernaum three or four days ; after 
which he proceeded on his tour through Galilee, 
from whence, when he returned, he might again 
go back to Capernaum. This plan would fully 
justify the expression of the Evangelist, that 
" he dwelt there." In addition to the three 
weeks allotted by Archbishop Newcome for 
our Saviour's residence at Capernaum, a period 
of one month is assigned to his tour through 
Galilee. This, however, is quite uncertain. 
Mark i. 38, 39. describes the same tour through 
Galilee, and relates the return of our Lord to 
Capernaum after some days, Mark ii. I.,(5('i7«f ocTji-- 
an indefinite expression, which may possibly sig- 
nify a month, but may, with greater propriety, be 
supposed to denote a much less time. The circuit 
of Galilee may be considered seventy miles in 
extent; if we allow ten mUes a day, the tour 
round Galilee, till the return to Capernaum, 
when Matthew was called, and our Lord left 
Galilee for Jerusalem, will be fourteen days. 
The whole time, therefore, between the conver- 
sation with Nicodemus, and the event we have 
been considering, may be easily comprised 



84* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III. 



within the compass of seven weeks ; and tlie 
feast at which the miracle at the pool of Be- 
tliesda was wrought, might have been, and most 
probably was, not the Passover but the Pen- 
tecost. 

Pilkington places this cure at the pool of 
Bethesda, or Beth-Chesda, immediately after 
the temptation (Evang. History, note to sect. 
57.), supposing, as the event took place in Ju- 
dffia, it was in the first visit there. But he has 
produced no authority for his supposition, which 
may be considered as merely arbitrary. 



Note 32.— Part III. 

The authenticity of this passage has been 
much disputed among divines ; some having 
considered it as an interpolation, which was in- 
serted from the marginal notes, illustrative of 
the popular superstition. Doddridge, from Je- 
rome, supposes the pool to be partly mineral, 
and used for general batliing, and that it was 
endued with a miraculous power some time 
before the ministry of Christ ; and that after 
this miracle, or after the rejection, or the pas- 
sion of Christ, its virtue ceased. — Lightfoot 
remarks : to these waters flowing from Siloam, 
as a type of the Messiah, it might please God 
to give this miraculous virtue some time be- 
fore " He that was sent appeared," (John ix. 7.) ; 
that this pool was first laid by Solomon, Jose- 
phus, De Bel. lib. 5. cap. 13, compared with 
Nehemiah iii., and at first called Solomon's Pool, 
or now Bethesda, or the Place of Mercy, from 
its beneficial virtue. He adds, that the foun- 
tain Gihon (1 Kings i. 33.) is also named Siloam, 
Chald. Paraph, ad loc. Thus R. Solomon and 
D. Kimchi, Gihon is Siloam. The spring, di- 
vided into two streams, fed at some distance 
two pools of water, the lower pool, to the west 
of Jerusalem, called the Pool of Siloam, John 
ix. 7. Neh. iii. 15., and formed by Hezekiah, 2 
Chron. xxxii. 30. ; and the upper pool, named 
the Pool of Solomon, or the Old Pool, Isaiah 
xxii. 11., to the southeast, which is this Pool of 
Bethesda. Solomon was anointed king at Gihon 
(1 Kings i. 45.), and the waters of Siloam were 
held in such estimation among the Jews, that 
the prophets made them a type of the kingdom 
of David and of Christ (Isaiah xii. 3. and viii. 
6.), which is thus explained by the Targum, or 
Chaldee Paraphi-ase : " The kingdom of David 
that rules them quietly." The whole of this 
transaction was typical of Christ. He is the 
true Bethesda, or House of Mercy, the fountain 
(foretold by Zech. xiii. 1.) open to the house of 
David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for 
sin and for uncleanness, unto which all the poor, 
the blind, the impotent, are invited to come, to 
receive health, and strength, and life eternal. 

Bishop Marsh, however, is of opinion (Introd. 



to M T. vol. ii. p. 732, note 118.), that the 
fourth verse is spurious, " from its being omitted 
in the Codex Bezse and the Codex Vaticanus, 
which are the two most ancient MSS. now ex- 
tant. It is likewise omitted in the Codex 
Ephrem (which is inferior in age to the Codex 
Be zee,) but written in the margin as a scholion ; 
it is written in more modern MSS. in the text, 
but marked with an asterisk, or obelus, as suspic- 
ious ; and in MSS. still more modern, it is writ- 
ten without any mark, which gives us (he con- 
cludes) the various gradations by which it has 
acquired its place in our present text, and a cer- 
tain proof that the verse was originally nothing 
more than a marginal scholion, and of course 
spurious." Verse four is hkewise omitted in 
the Camb. MS. Copt., and is marked with an 
asterisk, or appears only in the margin of five, 
or six, of the Paris MSS. But in every other 
MS., and in all the versions, and Greek Scholi- 
asts, Clemens Alexandrinus, Jerome, and St. 
Augustin, its authenticity is established. — See 
Elsley in loc. and Mr. Penn's work on the Mo- 
saical Geology, the last in which the subject is 
discussed. 



Note 33.— Part III. 

This was contrary to the letter of the Law, 
Jer. xvii. 21, 22., and extremely so to the tra- 
ditions : for, according to them, he that carrieth 
any thing on the Sabbath, in his right hand or 
left, or in his bosom, or upon his shoulder, he is 
guilty. Talmud, in Lab. per 10. In this the 
man's faith was tried, for in taking up his bed 
he risked death or scourging. Our Saviour 
here assumes the power of a prophet, who, the 
Jews held, had a right to infringe the rest of 
the Sabbath ; justifying it from Joshua surround- 
ing Jericho seven successive days with the ark. 
— Grotius, Whitby, in loc. 



Note 34.— Part III. 

In this verse our Saviour fully declares to 
the Jews his Messiahship. Schoetgen con- 
siders the verse to be a continuation of a con- 
versation which the Evangelist has omitted. 
The subject is the Sabbath. The words of o\n* 
Lord, as the Jews perfectly understood, contam 
an assertion of his high office, in as plain terms 
as the plan of his ministry permitted. And none 
but a being who was invested with the offices 
and character of the Messiah, could have 
adopted such language without blasphemy. 
As my Father on the Sabbath day still continues 
the mighty works which are visible in the king- 
dom of his great creation, so do I likewise work 
in the spiritual kingdom which I am now es- 



Note 35, 36.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*85 



tablishing in the world. Since the day when 
the world was made, tlie sublime scheme of 
Providence has been maturing. God, the Crea- 
tor, has been preserving' the world, that his 
Church might be completed, and the spirits of 
manldnd be admitted tlie companions of angels. 
God, tlie Son, has governed and directed the 
generations of Adam ; imparting to them grad- 
ual revelations of his wiU, and appointing them 
institutions to preserve his mercy in their re- 
membrance. Whether He spake by the proph- 
ets. Himself, or his apostles, He, like the God of 
the creation, never ceases to benefit manldnd. 
God, the Holy Spirit, from the moment when 
tlie Angel Jehovah ordained the institution of 
sacrifice after the fall, has ever continued to 
make his appeal to the hearts of men, per- 
suading and entreating them to accept the 
mercy provided for them by tlie mysterious 
atonement of the Divine Incarnate. The world 
was created and the plan of revelation was 
formed at the same time — they have their origin 
from the same God. His glory and the happi- 
ness of man are the objects with both ; they 
began together, they continue together, but 
they will not end together. For as the soul is 
superior to the body, as God is superior to the 
universe, he has ordained that the body shall 
die, and the earth itself shall perish. The 
heavens shall pass away, but the spirit shall 
triumph in the ruins of the universe. The 
world continues till the Church is completed. 
The scaflFolding shall be destroyed when the 
temple of God is built. With this system of 
truth the Jews were weU. acquamted. They 
knew that from the time the visible world was 
made, the Angel Jehovah had constantly guided 
the Church of God ; and Christ, by the assertion 
in this verse, declared himself that Great Being 
who began to plan the happiness of mankind at 
the time when the Fatlier created the world, 
and who continued equally with the Father to 
work for their benefit. I use this term, "to 
work," because it is warranted by our Lord ; 
and shall not stop to discuss the questions 
which have been proposed by metaphysicians, 
on the causes of the actions of tiie Deity. It 
may, however, be added, that we cannot enter- 
tain a more lofty notion of the Deity, than that 
He is eternally blessing myriads of animated 
worlds. JlmsTat ovdinore noi&i' 6 0edg- uW 
uaneq 'Stov to xaleiv nvqbg, xal /ioj'og rd i/iv- 
Xfiv, ovTo) y.al Qeov id noieiv. God never 
ceases from action ; but as it is the property of 
fire to burn, and of the snow to chill, so is it the 
property of the Deity to act and do. — Pliilo, De 
Alleg. lib. ii. apud Schoetgen. Hor. Hebr. vol. 
i. p. 354. 



Note 35.— Part III. 

Mr. Mann, in his Dissertation on the true 
Year of ClirisVs Death, has asserted that the 
sixth chapter of St. John ought to be placed be- 
fore the fifth. He imagines a connexion between 
John iv. 54., where we read, " This is again 
the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was 
come out of Judaea into Galilee ; " and ch. vi. 1. 
" After these things Jesus went over the sea of 
Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias." This 
alteration is very suspicious, as it is proposed to 
defend the hypothesis maintained in liis work, 
that the ministry of Christ lasted only sixteen 
months, and in it two Passovers only were ob- 
served. Neither is the supposition at alL war- 
ranted by the argument. For our Lord, as 
Doddridge (vol. i. p. 411.) has well remarked, 
frequently changed his place, and came back 
again to that which he had formerly visited. 
It is inconsistent too with his own hypothesis, 
because, according to that which he has adopted 
in the harmony, " Christ had crossed the sea to 
Gergesa, and dispossessed the legion, after the 
cure of the nobleman's son, and long before the 
passing over the sea, that is here referred to 
(which was plainly not to Gergesa, but to the des- 
ert of Bethsaida), so that there is no shadow of 
a reason for such an unexampled transposition, 
which has no copy or version to support it." So 
far Doddridge, who refers to the subject in other 
notes in his Expositor, to which it is not neces- 
sary now to refer. 



Note 36.— Part III. 

The plucking of the ears of corn is men- 
tioned by St. Matthew as an isolated circum- 
stance. He has placed it in the midst of a 
tour through Galilee, without asserting that it 
took place there. The phrase, on the contrary, 
with which the narration is introduced, will re- 
markably harmonize with the order assigned to 
it by the other Evangelists. St. Matthew does 
not say, iv ttj rifitga, but iv ixetvco rw y.uig& irro- 
QFvOrj 6 ^Irjuovg loXg adSSaai, di& T(bv anogifioji'. 
A phrase which by no means connects the pluck- 
ing of the ears of corn with the event related, 
eitlier before or after that circumstance. It is re- 
lated by St Mark after the feast in the house of 
St. Matthew, and St. Luke follows the same ar- 
rangement, adding, that the ears of corn were 
plucked after some great festival. As there is 
no other festival mentioned in the New Testa- 
ment to wliich this allusion could be made, but 
that which is given in its clironological order in 
John v., I have followed the general authority 
of the harmonizers and placed this event in the 
present section. 

It is evident that the disciples did not pluck 
the ears before the Passover. It was particu- 



VOL. II. 



86* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III. 



larly forbidden to gather any com before the 
sheaf of the first fruits had been waved in the 
temple ; the Jews would undoubtedly have re- 
proached them, had they cause for so doing, 
with this twofold violation of the Law, the 
plucking the corn before the time allowed, and 
the doing so also on the Sabbath ; whereas 
they confined themselves only to the latter 
charge. According to their canons"^, he that 
reapeth corn on the Sabbath, to the quantity of 
a fig, is guUty. And plucking corn is as reap- 
ing : and whosoever plucketh up anything from 
it while growing, is guilty. 

The Jews, in the days of our Lord, had, for 
the most part, lost sight of the spirit of their 
Law, and burthened the people with a number 
of severe and superstitious observances. Their 
traditional laws respecting the Sabbath were 
intolerably minute and wearisome. The greater 
part of them are collected by Dr. Wotton, in 
his work on the Misna, among which is the fol- 
lowing prohibition, which our Lord and his dis- 
ciples were accused of violating. It is to be 
founiin the Schahhath"^. HDIH niOxSo nB'i;?n 

pnx nNwn f-6« n^n irx nnx nox^n ]'un 

He that dotli several works under one principal 
head is guilty only of one sin. The Jewish 
masters divided works, as they relate to the 
Sabbath, into principal and secondary, or, as 
they called them, fathers and children of works. 
If a man does one principal work and twenty 
secondary ones, it is, according to them, but 
one sin, and consequently deserves one punish- 
ment : thus, to grind is a principal work. AH 
dividing of things before united in their nature 
come under this head. The second section 
goes on to enumerate thirty-nine principal 
works forbidden on the Sabbath: the first 
eight of which are, sowing, ploughing, reaping, 
binding, tlireshing, winnowing, cleaning, grind- 
ing ; under which last term they included the 
action of our Lord and his disciples. But not 
only was this action forbidden in the tradition- 
ary law, it was prohibited likewise in that of 
Moses, Exod. xxxiv. 21. Our Lord, therefore, 
in his reply to the Jews, asserted his superiority 
over the traditions of the elders, and his power 
of dispensing with the Mosaic Law. He de- 
clares to them that he was Lord of the Sab- 
bath. He it was who had enacted this very 
Law of Moses, in one of those appearances 
which are justly called the preludes to his in- 
carnation", and he now claims dominion over 
the Law which he had made. By the same 

'^ Talm. in Schah. per 7 ; and Maimon. Schab. per 
7 and 8. 

<^ Chap. vii. sect. 1, last sentence, and sect. 2. 
This work is now very rare and valuable ; its title 
is, Miscellaneous Discourses relating to the Tradi- 
tions and Usages of the Scribes and Pharisees in 
our blessed Saviour's time, 2 vols. 8vo. 1718. The 
second volume contains a translation of the Schab- 
hath and Eruvin. 

' Preludia incarnationis : vide Bishop Bull's 
Dcfensio Fidel X'cena:, p. 7; Grabe's edit. fol. 



power which enacted, he abrogated, or dis- 
pensed, with that Law, as it was interpreted 
by the rigid superstitions of the elders. He 
restored it to its true use ; allowing works of 
necessity and mercy to be wrought on that day, 
and declaring that the Sabbath was made for 
man, not man for the Sabbath. To prove to 
them that such was the spirit, though not the 
letter of tlie Law, he refers them to their own 
customs for the justice of his assertion, to the 
example of David, the practice of the priests, 
and their own legal violations of that day, when 
it suited either their convenience or their in- 
terest-''. 

The plan of this work prevents me from direct- 
ing the attention of the reader to the devo- 
tional reflections, so evidently arising from the 
magnificent and interesting narrative of the 
conduct of our Lord during his more permanent 
incarnation ; or it would be easy to fill many 
pages to an indefinite extent. Yet 1 would 
earnestly desire to remind every clerical reader 
of the admirable sentiments quoted by Light- 
foot on this passage — the priests in the temple 
profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless — rni3;' 
mnj? |\s CD'ii/np CDij/b t-t^niy. The ser- 
vile work which is done in holy things is not 
servile ; and SSd iynpan nnE' |\S*, there is no 
rest at all in the service of the temple. The 
meanest office in the temple of God, the most 
laborious drudgery that aims in its result to be 
useful to man, is the most honorable and ele- 
vated happiness to which a human being can 
aspire. The clergy are especially called upon, 
in an age of religious indifference, to tlie active 
performance of their arduous duties. Their 
sacred calling dignifies the men. They are 
separated from among their brethren ; they are 
admitted into the holy of holies, in communion 
with God himself. The service of God is the 
highest honor, and it is a service which will 
continue for ever. The remembrance of the 
manner in which it is performed will remain 
with the consciousness that defies the grave. 
The happiness that arises from the recollection 
of a life devoted to these duties wiU increase 
with the enlargement of our faculties, and the 
gradual perfection of our nature in that immor- 
tal state of our existence, which has been pro- 
vided for mankind by the mercy of the Son of 
God. 



Note 37.— Part 111. 

There are tlu-ee explanations of this phrase, 
iv aaSSdiw devreQOTTQwn). That of Epipha- 
nius and Beza, that the day here meant was the 
last day of the feast of the Passover. The 

1770. See also Nares's Rcvinc of the Improved 
Version. 

f Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 185-6, on this chapter, 
fol. edit. 



WoTE 38.-40.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*87 



second, tliat of Scaliger, Lightfoot, Casaubon, 
and Whitby, that it was the first Sabbath after 
the second day of unleavened bread. The third, 
of Grotius and Hammond, that it was tlie day 
of Pentecost falling- on a Sabbath. The last 
opinion is adopted in tlie present arrangement. 
To tliis opinion the greatest objection is, that 
tlie harvest would probably be over before the 
Pentecost : but Grotius remarks, that the 
wheat harvest was going on at the Pen- 
tecost, which on this account was called 
" the Feast of Harvest," Exodus xxiii. 16. 
Though loaves made of new bread were 
presented at Pentecost, tliis will not prove 
tliat the harvest was entirely gathered in. The 
wheat plucked by tlie disciples might have 
been among the last ripe corn of that season*'. 



this passage, is by no means conclusive against 
the opinion of Michaelis. " Preferenda esset 
sine dubio haec explicatio si Marcus addidisset 
verbum YEyQunTui, vel leysi f^ ygacp^, ut Rom. xi. 
2." — Bishop Marsh seems to incline to this opin- 
ion : but though the Evangelists generally adopt 
this mode of expressing themselves, it is not 
uniformly done. The contradiction is again 
variously reconciled by other commentators. 
Some suppose that Abiathar was the priest, 
and Ahimelech the high priest, and that Ahim- 
elech was called Ahimelech Abiathar, nx, father 
understood ; and Abiathar was called Abiathar 
Ahimelech, p, son understood ; and others re- 
concile the histories by supposing that they 
both officiated in the high priesthood, and the 
name of the office was indiscriminately applied 
to either. 



Note 38.— Part HI. 

MicHAEiis remarks on these words, " in tlie 
days of Abiathar the high priest," that the mode 
of quoting the books of the Old Testament is 
sometimes so rabbinical, tliat a critic, acquainted 
only with the Greek, cannot understand it: as the 
fact here related of David did not take place in 
the priesthood of Abiathar, but in that of his 
father Ahimelech. To account for this apparent 
inaccuracy, Michaelis'' considers the words, " in 
tlie days of Abiathar the high priest," as a mere 
rabbinism. The rabbis were accustomed to se- 
lect some principal word out of each section, and 
apply that name to the section itself. 

" Rashi, for instance, in his remarks on Hosea 
ix. 9., says, some are of opinion that the town 
here mentioned is Gibeon of Benjamin, in the 
concubine, or, as it is in our version. Judges 
xix. 14.,tj^jS'33 pa'J3 \p2i nr (Michaelis ought 
to have said nj?3J.) 

" The same Rabbi observes on Psalm ii. 7., 

hn'MO^ ' As is said in Abner, the Lord spake, 
through David I will deliver Israel.' Abenezra 
on Hosea iv. 9., says, ^h";' "(IDD iniND,' As is said 
near Eh.' In this manner quotations are some- 
times made in the New Testament. Mark xii. 
26., yy. iii'iyvuTE iv ttj ^i6li^ Moivasaig, inl lOv 
§6.T0v Rom. xi. 2. "H ix oi'duTF iv 'HUa li Uyev 
ri yqacpri- and the above mentioned passage in 
St. Mark, which has been thought to contain a 
contradiction, may be explained ' in the chapter 
of Abiathar,' or in that part of the Book of Sam- 
uel where the history of Abiathar is related." 
The remark of Rosenmiiller, in his note on 

^ For other opinions, see Wotton's JJfo^za, vol. i. 
p. 268-9 ; Pilkington's Evang. Hist, notes, p. 19; 
Hewlett's Comment, in loc. &o. Many others have 
been given, but these seem to be most worthy ot 
attention. 

'' Marsh's Michaelis, vol. i. p. 133; Rosenmul- 
ler, Dr. A. Clarke, and others, in loc. 



Note 39.— Part III. 

This section is inserted here on the authority 
of all the harmonizers. It is placed next to the 
plucking the ears of corn by each of the Evan- 
gelists. Our Lord, by action and miracle, here 
enforced what he had already urged, the supe- 
riority of the spirit of the Law to the tradition 
of the elders. It is lawful to do good on the 
Sabbath day appears to be in direct opposition 
to the very extraordinary decision of the school 
of Schammai. Let no one console the sick or 
visit the mourning on the Sabbath day. It was 
principally against the decisions of this school 
that our Lord spake ; for the school of Hillel 
had in some respects decided otherwise. By 
some canons of the Jewish Law, it was per- 
mitted to the people to prepare medicine, and 
to perform any service which was required for 
the actual preservation of life. 



Note 40. — Part III. 

This section is placed here on the concur- 
rent testimony of all the harmonizers. The 
scriptural authority is to be found in Matt. xii. 
15. Christ withdrew himself for a time in con- 
sequence of the enmity of the Pharisees and 
Herodians, which had been excited by his in- 
structions concerning the observance of the 
Sabbath. 

In this section we read, Mark iii. 11. — " Un- 
clean spirits, when they saw him, fell down be- 
fore him," &c. Is it probable that if the.^e 
were madmen only, they would be charged by 
our Lord not to make him known ? The ex- 
clamations and ravings of the insane are ever 
disregarded. There would be no meaning in 
this command, if we consider it as addressed to 



88* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III. 



those only who were deprived of reason. It 
must have been addressed to those who were 
capable of comprehending it, that is, to evil 
spirits, which were visible to Christ, though in- 
visible to mere men. It is easy on this inter- 
pretation, the only one indeed which is sup- 
ported by the express language of Scripture, to 
understand on what account the evil spirits 
trembled at his appearance. They had seen 
and known our Lord in liis preexistent state — 
they knew the effect of his humiliation — they 
shrank back from the rays of his glory, though 
it was shrouded under the veil of his humanity. 
He refused to receive the testimony of evil 
spirits. His kingdom was to be established by 
the quiet submission of the human understand- 
ing to the silent but resistless evidence of 
miracle, prophecy, and his own blameless sub- 
mission to the will of his heavenly Father. 

Tliis view of tlie subject is confirmed by 
Luke iv. 41. as translated by Dr. Owen, oix eia 
aiiu ).alnv,OTi fidstaav, " and would not suffer 
them to say tliat they knew him to be the Christ." 
Dr. Owen ap. Bowyer's Conjectures. 



Note 4L— Part IIL 

It is to be remarked here, that our Saviour 
never undertook any important work without 
dedicating himself to God in prayer. After 
imploring the divine blessing, he authoritatively 
separates the chosen witnesses of the truth of 
his Gospel, and confirms his power by the per- 
formance of numberless miracles. When the 
twelve apostles were appointed, and his divine 
mission fully demonstrated, he declares the 
doctrines he came to establish in what is gen- 
erally called his Sermon on the Mount. 

Matthew (v. 1.) observes, Jesus sate down 
after he had ascended the mountain: Luke tells 
us that he stood on the plain. There is no in- 
consistency, however, between these narratives. 
Our Saviour might have stood up to heal the 
sick, and, to avoid the pressure of the multitude 
who sought to touch liim (Luke vi. 19.), he prob- 
ably retired again to the mountain, and ad- 
dressed the assembled crowd seated. 

The various cures and miracles wrought by 
our Lord, we may well suppose, would have 
much increased the number of his followers. 



Note 42.— Part HI. 

A BRIEF statement of the reasons which in- 
duce me to follow the opinion of Archbishop 
Newcomp, Lightfoot, Pilkington, Michaelis, 
Bishop Richardson, and others, contrary to tlie 
authority of Doddridge and Bedford, may be 
found in Archbishop Newcome's notes to the 



Harmony. Michaelis' observes, " that the Ser- 
mon on the Mount recorded by St. Luke is no 
other than that recorded by St. Matthew, ap- 
pears from the events which immediately follow 
it. Both Evangelists relate that Jesus after the 
sermon went into Capernaum, and healed the 
servant of a centurion ; a cure attended with 
such remarkable circumstances, that I can 
hardly suppose it happened twice, and that too 
in the same city." 

It is objected by Bedford and others, that 
the discourse in Matthew is different from that 
in St Luke, as the former is delivered by our 
Lord wliUe sitting on a mountain, but the latter 
standing on a plain, Matt. v. 1. compare with 
Luke vi. 17. But Dr. Clarke, on this latter 
place, has suggested " that Jesus might retire 
from them again to the top of the lull." And 
Dr. Priestley observes, " Matthew's saying that 
Jesus sate down after he had gone up the moun- 
tain, and Luke's saying that he stood on tlie 
plain when he healed the sick before the dis- 
course, are no inconsistencies'." 

St. Luke principally relates those parts of 
this discourse which were more peculiarly ad- 
dressed to the disciples. It is remarkable that 
he has mentioned only two of the beatitudes. 
Markland* supposes that the discourses were 
the same, and delivered at the same time ; but 
one Evangelist chose to mention one part, and 
one the other, as is done in various other places. 
These two beatitudes mentioned by St. Luke 
were delivered to the disciples as such ; in 
which view, though we cannot certainly tell 
how the parts were connected by our Saviour 
when he spoke it, yet it may be supposed to 
have been something like this. "Happy are ye, 
though ye be very poor (Luke), especially those 
who are poor in spirit (Matthew). — Happy are 
ye, though ye be hungry now (Luke), especiaEy 
those who hunger and thu'st after righteousness 
(Matthew)." 

The general interpretation of the word poor 
in St. Luke is usually considered to be given 
by St. Matthew. It seems more probable that 
our Lord used the words ol nrw/oi,, and ol nei- 
j'UJTfc, Kai diipwrtsg, and that St. Matthew 
wrote the expressions in their metaphorical, and 
St. Luke in their literal sense. Markland, how- 
ever, supposes that our Lord used the words 
mentioned by St. Matthew, tc5 nvivfiuTi., and 
y.al Sty.uioavvriv, and I have united on his sug- 
gestion the words of both Evangelists. 

As the high priest, passing through the lioly 
place when he went up to the holy of holies to 
consult the oracle, heard the voice as of a man 
speaking from the mercy seat, so in contemplat- 
ing this portion of the New Testament, we 
seem to have passed on to the most spiritual 

' Marsh's Michaelis, vol. iii. part i. p. 8.5. 
J Hnrm. p. 83. Newcome's Notes to Harmnny, 
fol. edit. p. 19. 

'' Ap. ijowyer's Critical Conjectures, p. 204. 



Note 43, 44.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*89 



communication of God to man. Freed from 
the types and shadows of the Mosaic Law, and 
rescued from the cloudy traditions and pen-er- 
sions of tlie Pharisees, the light of the sun of 
truth breaks forth in all its splendor. We hear, 
from an infallible oracle, the utter overthrow 
and refutation of all the false glosses and rab- 
binical corruptions which had so long perverted 
the spirit of the divine Law. To enter into a 
long and labored examination of the various 
precepts contained in this address would be 
merely to transcribe the commentaries of 
Wliitby, Lightfoot, Grotius, and others. The 
plan of this work precludes me from entering 
at length into the interpretations of a more 
general nature. It may, however, be useftil to 
remark a circumstance which has not been much 
discussed by these commentators ; and that is 
the thorough contrast between the Messiah and 
the worldly teachers of tlie Jewish people. The 
rabbis were accustomed to prefer as their pupils 
and disciples, the talented, the learned, the re- 
fined, and the wealthy : Christ selected the rude 
and unlearned, the unpolished and the poor. 
The rabbis scorned to associate with the de- 
spised and hated publican ; Christ enrolled the 
neglected and hated publican among his chosen 
disciples. The wickedness of the nation in- 
creased, in spite of the learning of their teach- 
ers, because those teachers were corrupt, and 
proud, and worldly : the Church of Christ was 
established in holiness, because its first teachers, 
though ignorant and rude, were disinterested, 
humble, and spiritual. Rites and ceremonies 
had usurped the place of the prayer of the 
heart, and the homage of a holy life : Christ 
enforced the meaning of the Law, and exalted 
devotion and virtue above vows and sacrifices, 
and all the obsen'ances of superstition. The 
priests were endeavouring to make the Law 
worldly, the Messiah made it spiritual. They 
would have changed the Law of God into an 
encouragement of the propensities of the ani- 
mal or inferior nature of man: Christ taught 
them that the entire conquest of this nature 
was required by their Father in heaven. The 
priests encouraged, under the appearance of 
strict obedience to the Law, ingratitude to pa- 
rents, revenge, facility of divorce, and other 
evils : Christ commanded them to honor their 
parents, though they had vowed the dedication 
of their substance to God, Matt. xv. 5., he com- 
manded love to their enemies, and self dominion 
over the most powerful passions. He offended 
at the same time no prejudices — he taught 
them to pray in a selection from their own lit- 
urgical services ; he exhorts them to the fulfil- 
ment, even to the very letter, of their ritual 
Law. He taught in plain and simple language, 
such as his hearers instantly understood, and 
the most ignorant and unlearned in this age 
(with but little exception, arising from the pas- 
sages particularly referring to the Jewish cus- 



toms) can stDl thoroughly comprehend. Our 
Lord has here given a code of laws to the 
world, obedience to which will for ever annihi- 
late aU superstitious dependence upon every 
other mode of aspiring to the favor of the Al- 
mighty, than by aiming at spirituality of motive 
and holiness of life. Not even the blood of the 
atonement will save that man from the effects 
of evil, who professes to believe and hope, with- 
out repentance and anxious exertion. 



Note 43.— Part HI. 

The meaning of the word dorjiioTtowl in this 
passage is thought by some to be — preachers of 
the new covenant, who reconciled the two dis- 
pensations ; who were not to enter upon the 
obscure and useless discussions of points of the 
ceremonial Law, but to preach the sublimer 
doctrines of the Gospel. In Ephes. vi. 1.5. and 
ii. 14. an allusion seems to be made to this idea. 
Vide Schoetgen. vol. i. p. 18. 



Note 44. — Part III. 

ScHOETGEX has favored the world with a 
laborious and learned treatise on this difficult 
passage. It was the peculiar characteristic of 
our Lord's teaching, that he drew his illustra- 
tions from common objects, which were either 
in all probability in the presence of his hearers 
when he addressed them, or were well known 
from their familiarity and frequency. This 
pELSsage contains an allusion to salt which has 
lost its savour, and is afterwards trodden under 
foot as useless. Now salt, generally speak- 
ing, may be said never to lose its savour ; nei- 
ther can it be said to be trodden under foot. It 
is true, that Mr. Maundrell has informed us 
that, when he passed through the valley of salt, 
he broke off a part that had long been exposed to 
the rain and the sun, and it had perfectly lost its 
savour, though the inner part retained it ; and 
we may suppose that this useless salt was trod- 
den under foot. This, however, seems to be a 
much more recondite and abstruse meaning 
than we commonly meet in our Lord's addresses 
to the people ; neither would the poor and ig- 
norant, whom he was addressing, immediately 
perceive the aptness of the allusion. The in- 
terpretation of Schoetgenius, therefore, appears 
much more probable. The people would be 
familiarly acquainted with every custom con- 
nected with the temple service, and any allusion 
to any part of it would be readily understood and 
remembered. There was a kind of salt used 
in Judaea, which was principally composed of 
the bitumen obtained from the Asphaltite Lake. 
This salt, or bitumen, which had a fragrant 



VOL. II. 



4-2 



90* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III. 



odor, was strewn in great quantities over tlie 
sacrifices, both to prevent inconvenience to the 
priests and to the worshippers from the smell 
of the burning flesh, and to quicken the action 
of the fire, that the sacrifice might be more 
quickly consumed. Great quantities of this 
bituminous preparation lay in its appointed place 
in the temple, and was easily damaged. The 
virtue of the salt was soon lost by exposure to 
the effect of the sun and air, and it was then 
sprinkled over the pavement in the temple, to 
prevent the feet of the priests from slipping, 
during the performance of the service. Scho- 
etgen. Hora HebraiccB, vol. i. p. 18-24. 



Note 45.— Part III. 

Our Lord here confers on his apostles the 
same epithet as the Jews bestowed on their 
most distinguished teachers. That is, he had 
decreed that his apostles should take the place 
of the corrupt teachers of the Jewish Law. 
The Messiah gave to his apostles, rude, ignor- 
ant, and despised fishermen and publicans, the 
rank and title of their proud countrymen — 
" Light of the world, oSi;? 1) " said the disci- 
ples of Rabbi Jochanan ben Saccai, " Why do 
you weep ? " &c. Schoetgen. Hor. Heb. vol. i. 
p. 25. 



Note 46.— Part III. 

Here are three gradations of crimes men- 
tioned by our Lord, and three degrees of pun- 
ishment respectively annexed to each. The 
first is causeless anger, unaccompanied with 
any abusive expressions to aggravate it ; the 
second may be supposed to arise from the same 
source, increased by an exclamation, which 
denotes the triumph of vanity, mixed with in- 
sult and contempt ; the third seems naturally 
to rise one degree higher, and occasions the 
opprobrious epithet, " Thou fool." The two 
former, we may observe, are threatened with 
the temporal punishment or animadversion of 
the Jewish tribunals, the Council and the Judg- 
ment, which were now deprived of the power 
of life and death, and could therefore take cog- 
nizance only of minor offences. 

Now, it is highly analogous to our Saviour's 
reasoning to suppose, that tlie punishment an- 
nexed to the last crime would be of a temporal 
nature also, particularly as it can only be con- 
sidered as an abuse of speech, like that of the 
preceding, though in a more aggravated form. 
On the contrary, to imagine that, for the dis- 
tinction between " Raca," and " Thou fool," our 
blessed Lord should instantly pass from such a 
sentence as the Jewish Sanhedrin could pro? 



nounce, to tlie awful doom of eternal punish 
ment in hell fire is what cannot be reconciled 
to any rational rule of faith, or known measure 
of justice. But a critical examination of the 
original text will remove this difficulty. 

What we render " in danger of hell fire," is 
in the Greek, svo/og I'gat elg t^i' yievt'av is 
TTVQog, " shall be liable to the Gehenna of fire ;" 
or, " the fire of Gehenna." It is well known 
that Gehenna is not a pure Greek word but a 
compound formed of )% land, and a proper name 
to correspond with the Hebrew expression the 
valley of Hinnom, or rather from the two He- 
brew words X'J , a valley, and iZ31jri, Hinnom, the 
name of its possessor. (See Schleusner in 
rievva, and Lightfoot's Chorogr. Cent. ch. 
xxxix.) In this desecrated spot the Jews 
burnt bones, the dead carcases of animals, the 
refuse and offal of the numerous victims, &-c., 
and from the loathsome scene which this place 
exhibited, as well as from the fires which were 
kept constantly burning there, it was frequently 
used as the emblem or symbol of hell, and of 
hell torments in a state of eternity. But our 
blessed Lord may well be supposed to use it 
here in its literal sense, without any reference 
to its metaphorical meaning ; and this will 
serve to clear the text of its supposed difficulty. 
For, when we consider what immense quantities 
of half-putrid and offensive animal substances 
must have been consumed in that valley, to 
prevent contagion in so hot a climate, and in 
such a city as Jerusalem, we may with cer- 
tainty infer that a great number of persons 
must be constantly employed in carrying all 
kinds of filth and offal to the spot, in supplying 
fuel, in attending on the fires, &c. 

Now this must have been the lowest, most 
degrading, and offensive employment, in the 
estimation of a Jew, to which any human being 
could be devoted ; and to this wretched state 
Christ declares, that he who indulges himself 
in the habit of treating his fellow-creatures with 
insolence and contempt is in danger of coming. 
It is a common saying, that a man would rather 
be thought a knave than a fool ; the appellation 
of " Thou fool," therefore, is attended with 
a degree of insult that is not easily forgiven ; 
and he who practises such abuses of the tongue 
must every where expect to find an enemy 
instead of a friend ; till at length he sinks to 
the most loathsome offices that can be allotted 
to him, in order to gain a wretched subsistence. 

This exposition derives further countenance 
from the use of the Greek adjective, sioxog, in 
the original, which, connected with the future, 
f'gai, may mean, shall be held, or bound, as a 
slave is to his master. — See Hewlett's Commen- 
tary in loc. Matt. v. 22. 



Note 47.-49. 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*91 



Note 47. — Part III. 

It has excited surprise among some writers, 
that the Gospels should be written in Greek 
instead of the Syriac, or Aramaic, or Syro-Chal- 
dee dialect. The observation will only apply 
to St. Matthew's Gospel ; the three other Evan- 
gelists addressed their Gospels to Grecian or 
Roman converts. But the necessity of adopt- 
ing the Greek language, as the dialect of all 
otliers most universally spoken, will appear from 
the remarkable fact, that the Jewish writers 
who were contemporary with our Lord, or the 
immediate successors of the apostles, have 
used many Greek words in their Hebrew, ap- 
parently witliout knowing that the Greek was 
ioreign to their language. Many instances 
have occurred of this kind among the extracts 
I have met in Dr. Gill, Lightfoot, and Schoet- 
gen, though it did not seem necessary to ob- 
serve them. I have, however, collected some 
few. 

1. UooacpsQrjC TO d&gdv era, Matt. v. 2.3. tZ3\ff 

n3"pnS [nnn ns I'Sjro rn Tanckuma, fol. 
52.2. 

2. "ladi Bvi'owv TO ixvridly.a aov, Matt. v. 25. 
pp'niDJN n'tyinS Debarin Rab. § 5. fol. 257. 1. 

3. 'Enl T8 iSrjfiaTog, Judsei retinent vocem 
Grsecam, nn"3 Schoetgen. vol. i. p. 235. 

4. Ki'Qis |«S, ''DX 'ID n'p Schemoth Rabba, § 
46. fol. 140. 2. ap. Schoetgen. vol. i. p. 252. 

5. Ilvh], ''S'3 If^n Sp 3n3 D3J '3 Schoetgen. 
vol. i. p. 252. ' 

6. 'YnonoSioi', I'^lV jma'a^N Schoetgen. vol. 
i. p. 192. 

and pS nDi;?3 |n313X Targum Jerusalem 
on Exod. xxiv. 10. 

7. " Venit quidam servum emere cupiens, et 
dixit ad Dominum ejus : Servus iste, quern ven- 
dis xm |''Dm'7Xp IX Xin pDnjpXp num xa- 
KrjjhooQ, an -/.aloxayadog est?" — Schemoth Rab- 
ba, §4:3. fol. 138. 3 ; Schoetgen. vol. i. p. 214. 

8. \4n6iVTrj(ng, iSd hw ''!3J3x'7 ]''N^V Tan- 
chuma, fol. 56. 1. Schoetgen. vol. i. p. 216. 

9. j'ii5a9foj',Lukexix.20.nmio •'HIT':; nin 

pecunias in sudario ligavit. Ketuvoth, fol. 67. 2, 
&c. -niD3 ]-|-i:f Rasche etBava Mezia, fol. 42. 1. 
Many others might be selected from the writ- 
ers who liave endeavoured to illustrate Scripture 
from the talmudical writings ; but these are 
sufficient to justify us in asserting that the 
Greek language was in general use in Judas a, 
as well as in other parts of the Roman empire ; 
and was the language therefore most suitable 
to the designs of the Evangelists. 



rowed from, various phrases used in the litur- 
gical services of the Jews. 



Note 48.— Part III. 

Lightfoot and Schoetgen have shown, at 
length, that the various clauses of the Lord's 
Prayer were similar to, and were probably bor- 



Note 49.— Part IIL 

That the cure related in Matt viii. 5. is the 
same as that recorded in Luke vii. 1-11. is af- 
firmed by Lightfoot, Newcome, Doddridge, and 
Michaelis. There is such a perfect agreement 
between the speeches and circumstances, that 
the great majority of the harmonizers have con- 
sidered the narrative of St. Luke as a more 
extended history only of that of St. Matthew. 

Pilkington supports the arrangement adopted 
by Newcome and the other harmonizers. There 
is, he observes, a seeming difference in the 
evangelical accounts, relating to the application 
which the centurion made to Christ, in favor of 
his servant. St. Luke expressly saith, that the 
application was first made to Christ by the rul- 
ers of the Jews, and afterwards by some other 
friends of the centurion, whom he sent to Jesus ; 
whereas St. Matthew relates the matter as a 
conference carried on between our Saviour and 
the centurion himself in person. In order to 
reconcile which, some have supposed they 
are two several facts that are related. But I 
cannot think that the difference betwixt the 
evangelical accounts in this particular is suffi- 
cient to vindicate that opinion, as they agree in 
all the other circumstances ; and especially as 
they are easily reconcileable without such a 
supposition : for, (1.) Though St. Matthew 
relates that to be done by the centurion himself 
which he did by the mediation of other persons, 
yet we know this to be what is common in all 
writers, without any imputation upon their cor- 
rectness ; and that a message sent by another 
person, and an answer from him received, may 
be properly enough related, as what is trans- 
acted directly between the parties concerned. 
(2.) We find (in an instance that admits of no 
doubt) that St. Matthew sometimes chose to 
make use of this way of expressing himself; 
for he tells us, xi. 3. that " John (when he was 
shut up in prison) sent two of his disciples to 
Jesus, and said unto him." (3.) St. Mark also, 
in the same manner, relates that " the sons of 
Zebedee came unto Jesus, saying," &c. x. 35. 
Whereas we are particularly informed by St. 
Matthew, tliat the application there mentioned, 
was made to our Saviour by the mother of Zeb- 
edee's children in their behalf. And the same 
allowances being made for latitude of expres- 
sion, there can be no difficulty in reconciling 
the accounts connected in this section ; for, 
though the particular circumstances were as 
St. Luke relates them, yet St. Matthew appears 
not to have expressed himself in an improper or 
an uncommon manner. 

The scriptural authority for placing here the 



92* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III. 



cure of the centurion's servant, is taken from 
Luke vii. 1, &c. 

A curious specimen of the daring and un- 
allowable boldness of German criticism is given 
by Michaelis, in his Remarks on the probable 
Position of the Cure of the Leper, mentioned 
by St. Matthew as taking place after the ser- 
mon on the mount. He remarks, " St. Mark 
and St. Luke relate this fact on a totally dif- 
ferent occasion, because they were unacquainted 
with the time, and St. Luke even with the place 
where it happened'." Such criticisms are, or 
ought to be, destructive of all dependence on 
the author who proposes them. 



Note 50.— Part HL 

This event is inserted here on the joint au- 
thorities of Lightfoot, Newcome, Pilkington, 
and Doddridge. Michaelis, on what account it 
is difficult to say, has arranged it next to the 
departure from Capernaum, noticed Mark i. 35 
-39. Bishop Marsh justly observes, "That 
the propriety of some of Michaelis's transpo- 
sitions might be called in question"." 

The Scriptural authority for placing this event 
in the present section is derived from Luke vii. 
11. the day after. 

In the Sermon on the Mount the Messiah 
had asserted his authority as a lawgiver ; on 
coming down from the mountain he proves his 
power by healing the servant of the centurion, 
while he is at a distance from him ; and, im- 
mediately after, by the stupendous miracle of 
raising from the dead the son of the widow of 
Nain. 

One very impressive consideration on the 
subject of our Lord's authority over the laws of 
nature, as displayed in the resurrection of the 
dead, seems to have escaped the inquiries of 
commentators. He demonstrated the truth of 
his wonderful assertion — that he was the res- 
urrection and the life — that the dead should 
hear the voice of the Son of God, and that he 
would raise them up at the last day, &c., by 
his manifesting his power over all the grada- 
tions of corruption. Whether the daughter of 
J airus was really dead or not has been disputed ; 
she was either on the point of death, or had 
just died. Her restoration in the first case 
would have been a proof that our Lord could 
arrest the departing spirit : in the second that 
he could restore that spirit to the body imme- 
diately. This was the first stage of death. 
His power was next shown in the raising to life 
the widow's son. In that instance the body had 
been dead for a longer period : though, as the 
interment in that country took place very soon 
after death, it is probable that corruption had 

' Marsh's Midiaelis, vol. iii. part i. p. 85. 
"* lb. vol. iii. part ii. p. 67. 



not begun. In the third miracle which our 
Lord wrought to demonstrate his power over 
the grave, the resurrection of Lazarus, corrup- 
tion had already begun— the body was return- 
ing to its elements — the earth to earth, ashes 
to ashes, dust to dust. When the time had 
come that the Great Sacrifice was completed, 
the graves opened — the bodies of many who 
had expected the coming of Christ rose again, 
and after his resurrection went into the holy 
city. We cannot tell whether, in the interval 
between his death and resurrection, the mould- 
ering fragments of their decayed forms re- 
mained in their narrow prisons in the same con- 
dition as when the ground first opened, or 
whether during that interval the scene which 
Ezekiel saw in vision was renewed ; we cannot 
tell whether the flesli and the nerves and the 
skin again covered the renovated bones ; and 
the scattered atoms were slowly and gradually 
reunited in one living mass — they rose from 
their graves as all mankind shall rise on the 
morning of the judgment day. And when all 
these proofs of his power had been effected, 
the greatest was yet to come. Christ raised up 
his own body, endued with powers and proper- 
ties more than human. Lord of death and of life, 
he manifested to his followers, and he has re- 
vealed to us, that there are modes of existence 
and laws of body which we cannot comprehend. 
Sufficient only is disclosed to us to make us 
fear God and thank him for the hope of eternal 
life, through his manifested Son, the Lord of 
life and death. 



Note 51.— Part III. 

In one of the MS. letters of Lord Barrington 
to Dr. Lardner, I meet with an argument in 
favor of the cessation of consciousness between 
death and the resurrection, derived from this 
history of the raising to life the widow's son. 
Our Lord is represented as raising the youth to 
life from the deep compassion he felt at the 
sight of his funeral. Lord Barrington reasons, 
— that if the soul was conscious in an interme- 
diate state, then the widow's son, and La-zarus, 
and the bodies of the saints which rose at the 
resurrection of Christ, and went into the holy 
city, were brought from a condition of great 
happiness to undergo a second time the mis- 
eries of an inferior state of being ; and their res- 
urrection would be rather a source of sorrow 
than of joy. I mention this circumstance, be 
cause the argument is frequently urged by the 
Psychopannychists. The reply, however, to 
the objection, may be derived from a considera- 
tion of the cause, for which these various re- 
storations to mortal life took place. It was not 
for the benefit of the deceased that their 
resurrection was accomplished, but for the 



Note 52.-54.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*93 



v.; 



strengthening the faith of the spectators of the 
miracle, and of the survivors and companions of 
the witnesses. If an objection be further pro- 
posed, tliat we never hear of any discoveries 
respecting the world of spirits from those who 
were raised from the dead, and that if their 
consciousness had not ceased, it is probable 
some of its mysteries would be disclosed ; we 
answer, that every animated being is provided 
by his Creator with those faculties only, which 
are adapted to the condition which that Creator 
has assigned to him. The faculties which de- 
velope themselves in the next stage of our ex- 
istence may be so utterly diiferent from those 
we at present possess, that if a human being 
were restored to life he might be unable to relate 
them, or convey an idea concerning them to 
others. We are unable, even from the hints in 
Revelation, to form any idea of the invisible 
world. We seem to require other faculties to 
comprehend that which is all spiritual, yet pos- 
sible in space ; which defies all language, cal- 
culation, and comprehension. There is a beau- 
tiful idea in some Brahminical record concern- 
ing the Deity : — " I am like nothing human, 
with which to compare myself." So there is 
nothing in tliis state of existence which can 
enable us to comprehend the invisible world: 
it could not be understood, and therefore, if the 
mortal faculties only were restored to those 
who were raised from the dead, the things 
■which are unseen could not be clothed inhuman 
language ; they could not be remembered, they 
could not be imparted. 

MS. letter of Lord Barrington to Dr. Lardner, 
dated Dec. 18, 1728, communicated to me by 
his son, the late bishop of Durham. 



Note 52.— Part IIL 

This message of the Baptist is placed here 
on the joint authority of all the five harmonizers, 
whose united labors form the basis of this Ar- 
rangement. The internal evidence, that it is 
rightly placed, is deduced from the transition 
in Luke vii. 18. and the reply of our Lord to 
the disciples of the Baptist, in allusion to the 
miracle of raising the widow's son — the dead 
are raised (Luke vii. 22.) The commentators 
are divided in their opinion, whether the Bap- 
tist sent to Christ for his own satisfaction, or for 
tliat of his disciples. The opinion of those who 
espouse the latter of these appears much more 
probable, when we remember the Baptist's sol- 
emn testimony to Christ — the sign from heaven, 
and the miraculous impulse, which made John 
acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah". 

Witsius has some very curious remarks on 
the dancing of Herodias, the place whei-e the 
Baptist was confined", &c. 

" Vide Doddridge, vol. i. p. 301. 
" Vide Witsius, De VitA Johannis,Exerc. Sacrm, 
vol. ii. p. 554. 



The Jewish ■writers mention the Baptist in 
language of respect and veneration. In ad- 
dition to the testimony of Josephus, who ob- 
serves that John was a good and pious man, 
who excited the Jews to the love of virtue, 
piety, and justice — pointing out the necessity 
of repentance, and enforcing, by baptism, habit- 
ual purity of soul and body. He imputes this 
imprisonment to the fear of Herod, his death to 
the instigation of Herodias, and the calamities 
that befel the army of Herod as the result 
of the divine vengeance for the death of the 
Baptist''. 

Rabbi David Ganz, the author of the cele- 
brated work on Chronology, which is generally 
received among the Jews, and which is merely 
an attempt so to falsify the ancient chronology, 
that discredit shall be thrown upon the system 
received among Christians, calls John the Bap- 
tist the high priest ; an error which is exposed 
in the notes by his learned editor Vorstius ; 
who supposes that the name by wliich the Bap- 
tist was known among his countrymen, and 
referred to by Josephus, was 73tOi3 qui haptiza- 
bat, vel baptista eraP. 



Note 53.— Part IIL 

This was one of the tokens wliich was to dis- 
tinguish the reign of the Messiah, rrnDE? flK 
rr'ti/Dn I'^n nSnn ir:"n — Terra in qua mortui 
resurgent, ea est, iibi prineipium regni MessicE 
ohservabitur. The appeal to the Jews is uni- 
formly made in compliance with the popular 
and well-known traditions and opinions. — Scho- 
etgenius, Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 111. 



Note 54.— Part III. 

Every the meanest Christian, after the res- 
urrection of Christ, was better acquainted with 
the mysteries of religion, and the nature of the 
kingdom of the Messiah, than the greatest of 
the ancient prophets''. 

Matt. xi. 13. It was a saying among the Jews 
before the time of our Saviour, x'7X lX3Jnj i^'l 
|Sl3 O'Xn^n Sd n^iynn mo'S "all the proph- 
ets prophesied only till the times of the Mes- 
siah\" 



P Josephus. £nt. Jud. lib. 18. 

9 R. D. Ganz, Clironol. Vorstius' edition, p. 89 
and 284. This was the same Vorstius respecting 
wliom Kin^ James 1. wrote to the United Prov- 
inces that they sliould not harbour the proposer of 
so many obnosicus heresies. 

"" Vide Scboetgen. vol. i. p. 113. 

" Berachoth, fol. 34. 2. and Schabhath, fol. 63. 1. 
Schoetgen. vol. i. p. 113. and Dr. Gill's Comment. 
in loc. 



94* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part 111. 



Note 55.— Part III. 

ScHOETGEN is of opinioii that these words 
are to be understood in their usual sense. So 
many obstacles were thrown in the way of 
those who were invited to become disciples of 
Christ, that all who would receive his religion 
were required to resist with labor and persever- 
ing violence every difficulty that presented it- 
self. Every human power and institution were 
opposed to the establishment of the Gospel. 
Authority, manners, opinion, prejudice, were 
alike leagued against it. 

The Pharisees condemned the religion of 
Christ, as inconsistent with many of their inter- 
pretations of Scripture, as too spiritual, and as 
violating the laws and traditions of the elders. 
The .Sanhedrin opposed it, as exciting tumults 
and dissensions among the people, and disturb- 
ing the public peace. The Roman soldiers and 
officers, both civil and military, were inclined 
to treat the apostles and their doctrine with 
contempt, and thus the whole power of the 
state was arrayed against tliem. 

The kingdom of heaven was violently at- 
tacked on every side, and those humble disci- 
ples who were anxious to gain admittance into 
it, were obliged to contend against all these 
difficulties, and to take possession of it by vio- 
lence, contrary to the opinions and the opposi- 
tion of the Pharisees, and the whole Jewish 
Sanhedrin. Luke xvi. 16. 

Among the passages from the talmudists, 
which Schoetgen quotes on this text, is Bera- 
choth, fol. 34. 2. and which is quoted also by 
Dr. Gill, the learned commentator and great 
ornament of the Baptist dissenters. All the 
inspired writers and prophets who were before 
John speak of the Messiah as one who tvas to 
come : John spake of him as one who is come ; 
and directed the people in plain terms to Jesus 
of Nazareth, as the Messiah, the Lamb of God. 
Since the time of John vision and prophecy 
have been utterly taken away ; and this is ac- 
knowledged by the Jews themselves, who say 

^nSn CDTiSx nnxi xS p;! 3n'';?S '73X " Omnes 
Prophetae non nisi usque ad tempera Messise 
prophetarunt, sed de vita seterna oculus non 
vidit,prseter te, Domine," and from the day the 
temple was destroyed, rh^tD2 ^N^3Jn m nxiDJ 
T. Bava Bathra, fol. 12. 1. Since that time 
Abrabanel' confesses they have had no prophet. 
Schoetgen quotes also to the same eflFect. — 
Sdiabbatt, fol. 63. 1. and fol. 151. 2. Pesachim, 
fol. 68. 1. Sanhedrin, fol. 99. 1. 

That John was a prophet may be gathered 
not only from the express declaration of St. 
Luke, that the word of God came to him in the 
wilderness ; but from the nature of his ministry, 
and his declaration to the people. 

John prophesied — 

' In Dan. fol. 63. 4. ap. Gill. 



1. The approach of Christ, in the character 
of Elijah. 

2. His preexistence and dignity, as the Eter- 
nal Son of God. 

3. His atonement. 

4. Rejection by the Jews, and adoption by 
the Gentiles. 

5. Judgments on the Jews, and final separa- 
tion of the good from the evil, at the end of 
the world. 

6. Christ's increase, and his own decrease. 

7. He completed the chain of prophecies 
which predicted the coming of Christ, by point- 
ing out Christ personally at his baptism. Hale's 
Jlnalysis of Chronology, vol.ii. part ii. p. 742. 



Note 56. — Part HI. 

This section is placed here on the united 
authorities of Pilkington, Newcome, Lightfoot, 
Doddridge, &c. The Scripture authority is 
derived from the evident connexion of v. 20. 
with v. 19. in Matt. xi. Micliaelis places it 
after the mission of the twelve, preserving the 
order of St. Matthew. But Lightfoot has justly 
observed, that St. Matthew seems to have 
placed the events in the order he has adopted, 
on account of the similarity between the two 
events — the mission of the disciples of John, 
and that of the disciples of Christ. 



Note 57.— Part HI. 

Pilkington, Newcome, Doddridge, Light- 
foot, Michaehs, and Whiston insert this section 
in its present place. The Scriptural authority 
is the order of St. Matthew, ch. xi. 



Note 58.— Part IIL 

These two sections are inserted here on the 
joint authority of the five harmonizers. The 
reasons from Scripture are well given by Light- 
foot, who observes, the invitation of the Phari- 
see seems to have had some reference to the 
words of Christ, — " The Son of man came eat- 
ing and drinking ; " and the words, " Come 
unto me ye that are weary and heavy laden," 
might have induced the woman sinner to kneel 
and weep at his feet for mercy. 

It is the opinion of Lightfoot, that the Mary, 
tlie female penitent who now addressed our 
Lord, was Mary Magdalene and the sister of 
Lazarus. Pilkington has come to an opposite 
conclusion. He discusses the subject at some 
length. The questions he considers are, 

I. Where it was that Jesus dined with the 
Pharisee. 



Note 59,60.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*95 



II. Who it was that anointed Jesus's feet at 
that time. 

The answer of many commentators is, that it 
■\ras at Betliany, at tlie house of Simon the leper, 
where Jesus now dined ; and that it was Mary 
Magdalene, the sister of Lazarus, who anointed 
his feet. And Tatian connects this account with 
that given by St. Matthew and St. Mark. 

1. According to the present order of St. 
Luke's Gospel, this dining with the Pharisee is 
laid down between Christ's leaving Capernaum 
and his return thither again ; and if it was so, 
it cannot be the same as is mentioned by St. 
Matthew and St. Mark, which was only two 
days before Jesus was put to death. 

2. Toinard supposes tliat it was at Nain tliat 
Jesus dined with this Simon the Pharisee : and 
indeed we have no account of his leaving that 
place, so that we may have reason to think that 
it was somewhere in that neighbourhood, and 
not at Bethany in the house of Simon the 
leper. 

3. There is an account of a woman's an- 
ointing the feet of Jesus with ointment and 
wiping them with her hair given by St. John. 
But that also appears to be a different account 
from this ; for that was in the house of Lazarus, 
as we may well coUect from Martha's serving, 
&c., and this was in the house of Simon the 
Pharisee. 

4. I can see no reason for supposing Mary 
Magdalene, and Mary the sister of Lazarus, and 
the woman here mentioned, to be one and the 
same person ; or, indeed, for supposing that 
any two of them are the same : for (1.) Lazarus's 
sister, who lived at Bethany, could not, from 
any thing we can learn, properly be called 
Magdalene (the city whence that appellative is 
derived lying upon the sea of GaLLLee, and about 
ninety miles from Bethany)". — (2.) It is no 
where said, that Mary Magdalene anointed 
either the head or the feet of Jesus with oint- 
ment. — (3.) Lazarus's sister neither appears to 
have been a notorious sinner, as this woman 
was ; nor to have been ever possessed with 
devils, as is recorded of Mary Magdalene. — (4.) 
This woman appears, from this recital, to have 
been unknown to Christ, tdl she now came to 
him ; if then this had been Mary Magdalene, 
we might well expect to have had an account 
of the casting out of the seven devils before 
that of her sins being forgiven ; but here is only 
a report of this woman's being a sinner, not of 
her being possessed. 

Upon the whole, therefore, 1 think it the most 
reasonable to conclude, that the matter here 
related was transacted at Nain, or some place 
thereabouts ; and that the name of the woman 
who now anointed Jesus's feet is not recorded ; 
this being neither the sister of Lazarus nor 
Mary Magdalene. 



Note 59.— Part III. 

This miracle is placed by St. Mark upon the 
return of Jesus to the house. It is inserted in 
its present position, in addition to this authority, 
upon the testimony of Lightfoot, Newcome, 
Pilkington, Doddridge, and Michaelis. Dod- 
dridge has observed, with great propriety, " it 
is one of the most important rules for settling 
the harmony of the Evangelists, that where any 
one of them has asserted expressly that he fol- 
lows the order of time, we should in regard to 
him transpose others who do not assert equal 
exactness in that particular'"." 

As the minute circumstances, with which the 
casting otit of the demoniac is described by St. 
Luke, agree so entirely throughout, with the 
relation of the same event in the other two 
Evangelists, I have transposed the account of 
St. Luke ; and am supported in this arrange- 
ment by Doddridge, Newcome, and Michaelis. 
Compare Matt. xii. 22-50. Mark iii. 20-35. 
Luke xi. 14-36. St. Luke, it will be observed, 
relates the event as an isolated fact — as a cir- 
cumstance which had taken place — but he 
makes no allusion to its time or order ; and it 
can be separated from his narrative without in- 
juring the context. It appears to have occurred 
to him by association. In ch. xi. 43. he men- 
tions the Holy Spirit, and tliis reminded him of 
the blasphemy of the Scribes and Pharisees. 



Note 60.— Part III. 

ScHOETGEN thus analyzes the address of our 
Lord to the Pharisees. 

The occasion of our Lord's address was to 
reply to the words (Matt. xii. 24.) and to the 
thoughts of the Pharisees (v. 25.) He effects 
the first of these objects by thus reasoning : — 

1. Satan could not fight against himself, v. 
25, 26. 

2. The Jews believed tliat devils could be 
cast out in the same way, v. 27. 

3. Tliis action of Christ declared that tlie 
Messiah was among them, v. 23. 

4. It declared also that Christ was more pow- 
erful than Satan, the spirit of evil, v. 29. 

5. And that Christ was the enemy of Satan, 
V. 30. 

6. Because blasphemy against the divine 
conduct was unpardonable. 

He refutes their thoughts, secondly, by show- 
ing, 1. Their mind was depraved, v. 33-35 ; 
and, 

2. That their reasoning must be brought into 
judgment. Schoetgen. Horce Hehr. vol. i. p. 
123. 

V. 36. This word, ttuv (>t]uu aoyov, seems to 



Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 70. § 190. 



' Doddridge, Fam. Expos, vol. i. p. 185. 



96* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III. 



imply much more than the usual meaning. 
When it is considered with reference to the 
cause for which it was spoken, it must mean 
every reproachful or blasphemous expression 
which man uses, &-c. 



Note 61.— Part III. 

The position of Mark iii. 19, 20, 21. has 
been a source of much discussion among the 
narmonizers. Michaelis cuts the knot, which 
he finds it difficult to untie, and omits the pas- 
sage altogether. Doddridge places it before 
the account of the widow's son at Nain. But 
in this part of liis Harmony, it appears that much 
embarrassment has been caused by his adopting 
the supposition that the sermon in Matt. v. 6, 7. 
is different from that in Luke vii. Newcome, 
Pilkington, and Lightfoot, have inserted it after 
the scene of the female penitent. I have fol- 
lowed their order, the scriptural authority for 
which is given by Pilkington, who observes, 
that St. Mark takes no notice of any occurrence 
from the time of the election of the twelve till 
he went with them into a house, elg olxov, 
meaning probably the house in Capernaum, 
where Jesus used to sojourn. The word is 
used in this sense by St. Mark in other places 
(Mark ii. vii. 17.), where one particular house 
seems to be referred to, though the article is 
omitted. 



Note 62.— Part III. 

Tpie order of St. Matthew and St. Mark is 
followed in the placing of this section, on the 
authority of the five harmonizers. 



Note 63.— Part III. 

The disciples of Christ were beloved by him 
more than his natural kindred. The spiritual 
affection towards those who were the children 
of God was greater than the natural affection 
towards those who were related to hbn by the 
ties of blood. 



Note 64.— Part III. 

The order seems to be so decisively settled 
by St. Matthew xiii. 1. '/?)' dt trj ij/ibQcc exelyrj 
iiiW^v, &c. that Doddridge, Pilkington, Light- 
foot, and Michaelis have placed it in its present 
position. Archbishop Newcome, however, has 
inserted before Matt. xiii. 1. various passages 



of St. Luke (xi. 37. fin. xii. and xiii. 1-9.) His 
arguments for so doing have not appeared to be 
satisfactory, and I have preferred therefore the 
concurrent testimony of the other harmonizers. 
Michaelis also places the parable of the sower 
afler Luke viii. 1. ; but so much of his arrange- 
ment is put together without adequate reasons, 
that his authority does not weigh so much with 
me as to induce me to reject, in this instance, 
the testimony of Lightfoot and others. 

In the present order of St. Luke we find, 
that the account of Jesus's mother and his 
brethren desiring to speak with him is men- 
tioned as what happened afler he had spoken 
the parable of the sower, &c. ; whereas St. 
Matthew and St. Mark place it before the par- 
able. Now, though it is evident from this ob- 
servation, that the exact chronological order of 
facts is not strictly adhered to by all the Evan- 
gelists, yet it may appear also that the variation 
here is very inconsiderable : for we find, from 
all the accounts, that it was on the same day 
that the parable was spoken, and Ms friends 
came to him : and even a diary could not be 
esteemed very incorrect on account of such a 
transposition as this ; so far is an historian from 
being liable to be charged with impropriety, in 
taking a liberty which all writers have freely 
indulged themselves in. 

I have here followed the order of St. Matthew 
and St. Mark, as the circumstances related 
seem to require us to do: for, (1.) The multi- 
tudes that hindered Jesus's mother and his 
brethren from coming at him seem to be those 
mentioned Mark iii. 19-22. ; and the reason 
why he would not go out unto them was proba- 
bly because he knew that they were come out 
to lay hold on him. (2.) When his motlier and 
his brethren came, he was yet in the house ; for 
they stood without desiring to speak with him ; 
but we find, that, before he spake the parable, 
he went out of the house and sat by the sea- 
side ; and when he went into a house again, in 
the latter end of that day, he had sent the mul- 
titudes away. So that, had his relations come 
after he had spoken the parable (as is said by 
St. Luke), they would have found no difficulty 
in getting access to him. — Pilkington, notes, p. 
25. 



Note 6.5.— Part III. 

St. Luke relates, in a succession of chapters, 
several events not mentioned by the other Evan- 
gelists ; and, with the exception of some few 
which are supposed, fx-om internal evidence 
arising from minute coincidences, to be the 
same as those related by the others, much dif- 
ficulty has been generally experienced as to 
the order in which these events are to be placed. 
Lightfoot begins at Luke xi. 23., and goes on 



Note 66, 67.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*9T 



to chap, xviii. 1-15. Pilkington from chap. x. 
17. proceeds without one interruption, to chap, 
xiii. 1-2-3., -when he inserts tlie events related 
by St. John, chap. x. 22, &c. ; he then proceeds 
to Luke xiii. 23., and thence through the inter- 
mediate chapters to Luke xvii. 1-10. Michaelis 
goes from Luke x. 37. to Luke xvii., -without 
the incorporation of other passages. Doddridge 
begins with Luke x. 17-24., and proceeds with- 
out interruption to Luke xviii. 1-14., excepting 
that he transposes Luke ix. 51-56. to the last men- 
tioned passage. Newcome has bestowed very 
great labor on these chapters ; he begins Luke x. 
17-24., and, omitting from chap. xi. 14., to chap. 
.^iii. 22., proceeds without interruption to chap, 
xvii. 1-10. From this brief statement it will ap- 
pear, that tlie larger proportion of these chapters 
ought to be continuously put together. The sev- 
eral alterations and transpositions proposed by 
these harmonizers will be considered in the va- 
rious notes in which the arrangements which 
have appeared most ad-sdsable will be defended. 
Archbishop Newcome seems to have departed, 
in some instances, from the order proposed by 
Lightfoot without sufficient cause. 



Note 66. — Part III. 

It will be observed, that our Lord did not 
speak to the people in parables till the Scribes 
and Pharisees had accused him of working his 
miracles by the power of an evil spirit. The 
Messiah then, Ln mercy and compassion to these 
hearers, and to all who were captious, began to 
address them in parables. This is well ex- 
pressed in the translation of Matt. xiii. 13, 14. 
in the version published in 1729, 2 vols. 8vo. 
anonymously dedicated to Lord King, the then 
lord chancellor ; the name of the author has 
escaped my memory. " Therefore speak I to 
them in parables ; because they overlook what 
they see, and are inattentive to what they hear, 
neither will they comprehend. And in them 
is fulfilled that prophecy of Esaias, — 

' By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not 
understand ; 
And seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. 
For this people's heart is waxed gross, 
And their ears are dull of hearing, — 
And their eyes they have closed ; 
Lest at any time they should see,' " &c. 

and in ver. 16, " happy are you tliat your eyes 
have sight, and that your ears have their hear- 
ing." The common idea, that our Lord spoke 
in parables, that the people might not under- 
stand Mm, and their condemnation be still in- 
creased, is as unfounded as it is blasphemous. 
The parallel passage in Mark iv. 12. must be 
interpreted likewise according to the tenor of 
the context. It is a prophecy fiilfiUed at the 

yoL. II. *13 



very time that our Lord was speaking, that 
tliough the people saw with their eyes the 
outward proofs of his divine power, yet they 
should not perceive the evidence arising there- 
from, that he was their Messiah. 

Dr. Adam Clarke has inserted, from Glassius, 
a verj' good dissertation on the nature and use 
of parabolical writing, at the end of his notes on 
Matt. xiii. He finds the following ten signifi- 
cations in Scripture. 

1. The word parable means a simple com- 
parison. Matt. xxiv. 32-38. 

2. An obscure similitude, Matt. xv. 13-15., 
where Pharisaism is represented as a plant, &.c. 

3. A simple allegory, as in Matt. xiii. 

4. A maxim, or wise sentence, as the cor- 
responding Hebrew w^ord SkVO is used in 1 
Kings iv. 22. 

5. A bye-word or proverb of reproach, 2 
Chron. vii. 20. Psalm xUv. 14. and Ixix. 11. 
Jerem. xxiv. 9. 

6. A frivolous, uninteresting discourse, or a 
disregarded and despised address, Ezek. xx. 49. 

7. A simple proverb, or adage, Luke iv. 23. 

8. A type, illustration, or representation, Heb. 
ix. 9. ; where tlie first tabernacle is said to have 
been a figure, a parable, to last only for a time. 

9. A daring exploit, an unusual and severe 
trial, a case of imminent danger and jeopardy. 
It may be doubted whether this part of Dr. 
Clarke's criticism is managed with equal judg- 
ment. There appears to be no proper authority 
for the use of the word in this sense. The in- 
stance he adduces, Heb. xi. 19., where Abraham 
is said to have received his son from the dead, 
iv TiaguSolrj, " he being in the most imminent 
danger of losing his life," does not seem satis- 
factory ; the common translation being un- 
doubtedly preferable. 

10. The word parable signifies also a very 
ancient and obscure prophecy, Ps. xlix. 4. Prov. 
i. 6. Matt. xiii. 35. 



Note 67. — Part III. 

These sections to the end of the part are 
arranged in their present order upon the con- 
current testimony of Lightfoot, Newcome, and 
Doddridge, and the regularity of the Scripture 
narrative. Pilkington has obsers-ed the same 
method, excepting that he has placed elsewhere 
the dining at the house of Matthew ; an event 
which he inserts after the call of that apostle, 
and which has been already discussed. Mi- 
chaelis varies too but little from this disposi- 
tion. He seems doubtful where to place the 
treatment received by our Lord at Nazareth 
(section 41), and supposes that this event took 
place but once : he reasons from the similarity 
of the two circumstances. See note on section 
4, of this part 



J8* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part III, 



Note 68.— Part III. 

ON THE PHRASE " THE KINGDOM OF 
HEAVEN." 

This phrase, " the kingdom of heaven," is 
used in the New Testament to denote the va- 
rious gradations of that dominion which the 
Messiah was ahout to estabhsh. It sometimes 
alludes to its commencement (Matt. iii. 2.) by 
the preaching, influence, and deatir of Christ ; 
sometimes it refers to its gradual progress, and 
the consequent setting up and establishment of 
the Christian Church, Matt. xiii. 47. ; sometimes 
it is used to express tlie future perfection and 
consummation of the happiness of manldnd and 
of the Church in a future state. The word (lu- 
adila, ought to be frequently translated " the 
reign," instead of "the kingdom." 

" Isaiah, Daniel, Micah, and others of the 
prophets, had encouraged the people to expect 
a time when the Lord of Hosts should reign in 
Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, when tlie people 
of God should be redeemed, and made joyful in 
Messiah their king." — " This period was gener- 
ally understood by the phrases ^aadela ry 0e5 
and ^(xailelu zihv ovgnvav the first approach 
of which was preached by tlie Baptist, and af- 
terwards by Christ." When the word there- 
fore refers to the time, it ought to be rendered 
the reign of God, the reign of heaven ; when to 
place, it should be translated kingdom" . 

We read also (Luke xvii. 21.) " the kingdom 
of God is within you." There is a dominion 
over the passions and the inferior nature of man, 
which may be justly called the kingdom of 
heaven, or the reign of divine power within us. 
And it is of little consequence to us, person- 
ally and individually, what may be the nature, 
origin, progTess, extent, and consummation of 
all the plans of Providence, which shall estab- 
lish the kingdom of God in the world ; unless 
obedience to God, and faith in God, and the 
peace of God, be so known to us, that our na- 
ture become changed before Him. We may 
even assist to build up the ark which shall save 
a drowning world ; but, without repentance 
and faith, we, like the builders of the ark, may 
be destroyed by the deluge. 

I am aware that the original, n) ^aadekt rod 
0eu ivrhg ifjibv iariv, may be translated, the 
kingdom of God is among you, or, is now being 
established in the midst of you ; and the Ji'r6? 
is so used by Xenopli. Cyrop. 1. 1 ; and in the 
Anah. lib. 6. c. 5. § .5. we read ivrog ttj? (fuluy- 
j'oc, intra spatium, in quo exercitus erat. The 
word is used twice only in the New Testament ; 
in Matt, xxiii. 26., where it evidently signifies 
the inside of the cup, &c. ; and in this passage, 
LuKe xvii. 21., where it is contrasted with the 

" Campbell's Preliminary Dissertation, vol. i. 
p. 140. 



outward pomp and show with which the Jews 
expected the reign of their Messiah would com- 
mence. The Idngdom of God cometh not as rii 
naQUTj]nriaewg- Heinsius paraphrases the word 
" non venit proestolando, aut exspectando reg- 
nurn Domini." Schleusner quotes from Suidas 
ifTog- oi Xoyiaixol -auI ipOvfir^aeii; xal ndvTu la 
I'r^z \jjv)rf]^i y.iVTifjuTa' and the Alexandrian ver- 
sion translates the v/ord D'lp in the last clause 
of ver. 1, of Ps. ciii. by the word Ivxbg, &c. 
'3"'p Sdi, where no other meaning can be as- 
signed but that which is internal : that is, the 
thoughts and motives of the heart. The phrase 
also, Q'rjii'n niD^D, was used among the Jews 
to denote the influence of religion within the 
heart"^. 

Tlie Jews had long spoken of, anticipated, 
and described the future reign of tlie Messiah 
by the phrase now in question. They had been 
taught by their ancient prophets to expect a 
Messiah who should restore the true religion, 
reform the Jewish people, atone for their sins, 
and release them from a foreign yoke. The 
apostles and our Lord used only the popular 
language when they adopted the term expres- 
sive of this dominion of the Messiah. That the 
expressions ^aailelu rod 0ey — ^uadelu jihvov- 
Quvibv — ^ucadela t5 '7;/aS, did not refer only 
to the kingdom or dominion of Christ in the 
future world, is evident from the proclamation 
of the Baptist, Matt. iii. 2. rjj'j/txe yao i] ^aadela, 
&c. and from the nature of the addresses of our 
Lord, such as in Matt. vi. -33., trjTEire dk nqmov 
r-^v ^aadslav t5 0«5, and tliose in the Lord's 
prayer, " thy will be done on earth," &c. 

As the treatise of Schoetgen is bound up with 
his larger work, and is rarely to be met with, I 
have made an extract firom his observations on 
this phrase. 

The expression tZ3'?Dkyri HIdSd, the same as 
■^ ^uadfla Twi' squvCiv, frequently occurs in 
Jewish writers ; in general it means the polity 
of the children of Israel under the old covenant, 
having God at its head. The kingdom of 
heaven is the same as the kingdom of God : in 
that kingdom the Jews were the subjects. 
Thus Josephus properly calls that government 
■d-soxguTia, § 1 and 2. 

To show that Jewish writers used the ex- 
pression in tills sense, several quotations are 
brought, sect. 3. One is from Rabbi Schtmoth ; 
" When they (the Israelites) came to Sinai, and 
received the kingdom of God," &c. Our author 
supposes this " recpiving the kingdom of God " 
to imply a confession of faith, that may be re- 
peated for the greater confirmation therein. 
He quotes Sohar Genes. — " When a man goes 
to bed, he ought first of all to take upon hnnself 



^ Vide Schoetgen. Dissert, dc Regno Cmlorum, 
Her. Hch. vol. i. p. 1149; Heinsius, Exercit. Sacrir., 
p. 172; Schleusner in voc. tiro?- and Valpy's 
Greek Test, in Luke xvii. 20. 



Note 69.-71. 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*99 



tlie Idngdom of heaven, and tJien repeat one or 
more prayers," § 4. 

It appears that when a man used the prayer 
Krischma, it was necessary first, sitscipere reg- 
mim cceloi-^um, § 5, in fine. This is the common 
meaning of the phrase, " kingdom of heaven," 
among Jewish writers. Still they have used it 
(but rarely) in the sense of the times of the 
Messiah and tlie New Dispensation. Targum, 
Micah iv. ] 7. " The kingdom of heaven shall 
be revealed unto them on Mount Zion, from 
this time to all eternity." But, independently 
of quotations from these writers, it may be 
shown, that the Jews used the expression in 
this sense ; otherwise John the Baptist, the 
Pharisees, and the hearers, would neither have 
used the phrase, nor understood it. Thus a 
Pharisee (Luke xvii. 20.) asks, " When the 
kingdom of God should come," § 6. 

The expression took its origin from that pas- 
sage of Daniel, where it is said, " Unto hhn 
was given a kingdom, &c. and his kingdom 
shall not be destroyed," § 7. 

In the New Testament, the expression r^ ^a- 
(Tilela tS Qes, means the Christian Church, or 
Dispensation. The Apostle (Rom. xiv. 17.) 
exhorts Christians not to condemn others about 
meats ; " For," says he, " the kingdom of God is 
not meat and drink ; " that is, the Christian 
Church under its King, the Messiah is not bound 
by the ceremonies enjoined under the Law, § 8. 
There is sometimes an ellipsis of rS 0s5, or 
rav sQcxvav the word §uaileia occurring alone. 
Thus Christ is said to have preached the Gos- 
pel of the kingdom, i. e. of the kingdom of the 
Messiah. The Jews are called viol Trjg ^aailelag, 
because the kingdom of Messiah was first sent 
to them, § 9. 

It also denotes subjection to the kingdom of 
Messiah, Mark x. 15. " Whoever does not re- 
ceive the kingdom of heaven," &c. § 10. 

It is not denied that "the kingdom of heaven" 
is sometimes used to denote eternal life, (j 11. 



Note 69.— Part III. 

Ijy this section Christ calls himself, for the 
first time, " the Son of Man." 



Note 70.— Part III. 

The best interpretation that I have met with 
of this wonderful history of the Gadarene de- 
moniac, and the loss of the herd of swine, is that 
of the celebrated Hutchinsonian divine, Jones 
of Nayland, in his Sermon on the Gadarene 
demoniac. " In the moral application," he re- 
marks, " of this miracle, the sense is very plain ; 
for if sin is, in every man, what the devil is in 
a demoniac, then it is evident the same man 



may be under the dominion of a legion of vices 
and evil passions at once." The devil was per- 
mitted to go into the herd of swine to show the 
power of the Destroyey, and by a significant ac- 
tion make known to man the utter destruction of 
those who suffer themselves to be led captive 
by the Spirit of Evil. These unclean animals 
are a fit representation of the human race, in 
their fallen and degraded condition, and as such 
are often used in Scripture. See Matt. vii. 6. 
2 Pet. ii. 22. Prov. xi. 22. 

Archbishop Newcome justly observes, of the 
apparent discrepancy between St. Matthew, 
who mentions two demoniacs, and St. Mark 
and St. Luke, who mention one only, that the 
rule of Le Clerc must be applied: — Qid plura 
nairat, pauciora compleditur ; qui pauciora 
memorat, pliira non negat. One of the demo- 
niacs was remarkable, says Dr. Farmer, for his 
superior fierceness. Or Mark and Luke men- 
tion only one, because one only returned to ex- 
press his gratitude. 



Note 71.— Part III. 

ON AN OPINION OF MICHAELIS RESPECTING THE 
GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW. 

One of the boldest, most unwarrantable, and 
mischievous opinions of the German commen- 
tator, Michaelis, is, that the present Gospel of St. 
Matthew is a translation, and an erroneous trans- 
lation, of the Gospel which the Evangelist origin- 
ally wi'ote in Hebrew. Michaelis renders into 
Hebrew a fevr passages of the Greek Gospel, 
and varying the expression of the Evangelist, 
so as to suit liis own ingenious but imaginary 
conjectures, he endeavours to prove that St. 
Matthew used tlie Hebrew words into which 
Michaelis translates his Greek, and that St. 
Matthew's translator actually misunderstood 
the meaning of his original. The inspiration 
of St. Matthew is thus destroyed at once. The 
boldest conjectures of the most adventurous of 
our English critics sink into insignificance when 
compared with this effort. Bowyer and Mark- 
land would have been ten-ified. Even the ed- 
itors of the JVew and Improved Version would 
have seen, without regret, their star-like lustre 
eclipsed by the superior splendor of this bane- 
ful nfeteor. Michaelis, however, has provided 
his reader with arguments against his own er- 
ror. In the preceding section he reasons against 
the possibility of proving the existence of any 
mistakes of translation in the Greek Gospel of 
St. Matthew ; and he there observes, " that no 
one can show any such mistakes ;" and, " if the 
Greek Gospel is a translation, the original is 
lost ; and therefore, a comparison between them, 
ivhich alone can determine the question, cannot 
take place." I may observe here, that Mi- 
chaelis, though a learned and useftil authority 



100* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part IV. 



in many instances, must be read with caution, 
and many of his conclusions rejected. Bishop 
Randolph wrote a tract on this subject, which 
did justice to the learned German, while it 
pointed out his errors^. 

The opinion of Michaelis on the evangelical 
narrative of the raising of Jairus's daughter is 
contained in that part of his work to which I 
am now referring. In Matt. ix. 18. he observes, 
that " Jairus says of his daughter, uqn itElev- 
TTjaei', ♦ she is already dead ; ' whereas accord- 
ing to St. Mark, v. 23., he says, ^axunog s/ei, 
' she is at the point of death ; ' and receives 
the first intelligence of her death as he was re- 
turning home accompanied by Christ. Various 
artifices have been used by the harmonists to 
reconcile this contradiction, and with very little 
success ; but as soon as we reflect on the words, 
which must have stood in the original, all diffi- 
culty vanishes on this head. For nno nn;? may 
signify either, ' she is now dead,' or, ' she is now 
dying.' St. Matthew's translator rendered the 
word according to the former punctuation, 
whereas he ought rather to have adopted the lat- 
ter, as appears from what is related by the two 
other Evangelists." 

To this Archbishop Laurence, in his Sermon 
upon Philological Speculation, observes, that the 
r'l d-vyuTtiQ fxov UQTi helcvTijcrei', is sufficiently 
explained by commentators (in order to recon- 
cile it with St. Mark's account) in the sense of 
" my daughter is (perhaps) by this time dead : " 

^ See Bishop Marsh's Michaelis, vol. iii. part. i. 
p. 151-2, and Archbishop Laurence's notes to the 
Sermon on Philological Speculation, p. 34. 



but, even taking it in the strongest point of 
view, it can only be considered as one of those 
minute variations which tend to prove that the 
Evangelists did not write in concert. But, as 
Bishop Marsh remarks, it is not St. Matthew 
alone who on this occasion uses the past tense ; 
for St. Luke has the perfectly synonymous ex- 
pression &nidvrjaxev. With the points, nnn 
3 pers. sing. perf. faem. signifies mortua est ; 
and nnn, past fecm. signifies moriens". I have 
rejected the points of the various Hebrew words 
used in the several quotations in these notes ; 
because the arguments which may satisfy us 
of their antiquity do not entirely prove their 
authority. 

In the fifth volume, 4to. edit. p. 332-372, of 
Lardner's Works, is a long and admirable vin- 
dication of the three miracles of our Saviour — 
the raising the widow's son, the daughter of 
Jairus, and Lazarus ; it is too long to abridge. 

Among the Barrington papers I find an in- 
quiry into the circumstances of this miracle. 
It is contained in a letter to Dr. Lardner, dated 
Dec. 30, 1729. Among the papers prefixed to 
the lAfe of Dr. Lardner, in the beginning of 
the first volume, is a reply throughout. As it 
is probable these papers of Lord Barrington 
may be eventually submitted to the approbation 
of the public, it is not worth while entering, at 
present, into any further discussion on this 
subject. 

^ Vide Bishop Marsh's note, Michaelis, vol. iii. 
part. ii. p. 156, 2nd. edit. 



PART IV. 



Note 1. — Pakt IV. 

The various sections of this part are placed 
in the same order in which they are respect- 
ively inserted in the arrangements of the five 
harmonizers, by whom I am principally guided. 
Doddridge considers John vii. 1. as belonging 
to the same passages to which it is annexed 
by the others, though, for the sake of con- 
venience, he joins it with the rest of the chap- 
ter". Michaelis also places the calling of the 
twelve apostles in the order of St. Matthew, 
and inserts John vii. 1. at the head of various 
passages, which he considers supplementary to 
the accounts of the other Evangelists. 

" Vide notes and paraphrase, Doddridge's Fam. 
Expositor, sect. 98, vol i. p. 503. 



Note 2.— Part IV. 

ON THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 

Our Lord had now continued his ministry till 
the whole population of Judsea, Samaria, and 
Galilee had heard of his miracles and preaching. 
Many had followed him from place to place, 
and from these he selected Twelve as the con- 
stant witnesses of his actions. The word ixle- 
Iv^ivoi, which in our translation is interpreted 
" they fainted," is generally considered as an 
erroneous reading. It is rejected by Griesbach, 
and all the best MSS., versions, and fathers, 
who read iaxvl/uit'ot, which may be rendered 
grieved, or melancholy ; and this interpretation is 
supported by the harmony. For it does not ap- 
pear that our Lord was followed by the multi- 
tudes to any very considerable distance from their 



Note 2.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



^101 



respective cities (Matt. ix. 36. compared with 
35, and Mark vi. 6.), but that -our Saviour's com- 
passion was excited for the people, whom he 
saw to be grieved for want of proper instruction, 
and scattered abroad as sheep having no shep- 
herd. To remove this spiritual dearth, he gave 
the first commission to his Apostles, to proceed 
to the house of Israel, and declare to them that 
their jMessiah had come ; and to preach to them 
the kingdom of God. Our Lord afterwards sent 
out the Seventy, to prepare the people for his 
reception ; enjoining them to preach in those 
cities only which himself intended to \'isit (Luke 
X. 1.) ; v/hereas the Apostles were commanded to 
preach to all the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 
The ordination of the Apostles to preach the 
kingdom of God leads us to consider tlie man- 
ner in which the Church, which Christ had 
come to establish, was to be perpetuated among 
manldnd untU his coming again. The question, 
therefore. What plan of Church Government 
was instituted by our Lord and his Apostles ? 
cannot be esteemed unimportant. 

The priesthood under the Mosaic economy 
was so publicly instituted, that its validity and 
divine origin were never disputed. The rebel- 
lion of Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, proceeded 
only from envy at its exclusive nature ; and 
though the kings in after ages innovated during 
the prevalence of idolatry, and made priests of 
the lowest, or, as it would be better rendered, of 
the common people ; the line of the succession 
was considered sacred, and none were admitted 
into the order of the priesthood, or acknowl- 
edged as priests by the people,who could not trace 
their descent from the sacerdotal house of Aaron. 
This regular succession of the priesthood, on 
the part of the Jews, has been sometimes sup- 
posed to form an objection to the Christian dis- 
pensation. " If the Christian religion be true," 
it has been argued, " its priesthood would have 
been divinely appointed, and its succession 
rigorously observed. The whole Christian 
world on the contrary, is divided on this point : 
it is to be presumed, therefore, that the claims 
of that religion are at least dubious, in which 
the origin of the priesthood is so uncertain, and 
its various pretensions and orders so jarring, 
that they are equally ridiculed and despised." 
In reply, however, to these objections, I do not 
hesitate to assert, from an impartial considera- 
tion of the testimony both of Scripture and an- 
tiquity, that the origin of the Christian priest- 
hood is as evident as that of the Levitical ; that 
its descent can be as distinctly traced ; that its 
regular succession has been preserved ; and 
that, consequently, as it was at the beginning 
appointed by divine authority, it is entitled to 
the highest veneration, and to the devoted at- 
tachment of Christians. 

The essential and immutable difference be- 
tween the arguments that are adduced for the 
support of the Christian religion, and those 
VOL. II. 



which are brought forward in defence of other 
systems, consists in tliis. The Christian religion 
is founded upon the evidence of actions, and 
undeniable facts, while every other system de- 
pends upon theory alone. The speculations of 
the philosophers of antiquity, the impositions of 
Mahomet, the reveries of the schoolmen, the 
inconsistencies of modern infidelity, the inven- 
tions and strange doctrines of various s^cts 
among Christians, are all distinguishable ix:a 
the fundamental truths of Christianity. The 
conclusions of uninspired men, on subjects of 
a religious nature, are generally founded upon 
abstract reasoning ; the truths of the Christian 
religion are so identified with some weU-sup- 
ported facts, that the belief of the fact compels 
at the same tune the reception of the doctrine. 

The five principal doctrines which may be 
said to constitute Christianity, and to comprise 
aU its truths, and which are alike uniformly 
supported by facts, and the express words of 
Scripture rightly and literally interpreted, are, 
the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, 
the Atonement, the Resurrection from the 
Dead, and the Establishment of the Christian 
Church, as the means of perpetuating the truth 
of these propositions in the world. The doc- 
trine of the Trinity is not only supported upon 
the general tenor of Scripture, as it may be 
collected from the fact that the inspired writers 
assign the attributes of the Deity to the tliree 
persons of the Godhead ; but from the fact also 
that the voice came from heaven, that the Holy 
Spirit as a dove, hovered over the Messiah, and 
that the Son of God was distinct from either of 
those which bore witness to him. The Incar- 
nation of Christ was declared in prophecy, and 
was proved by the facts wliich are recorded 
concerning his birth. The Atonement is proved 
by the concurrence of all the types and institu- 
tions of the Jewish law, and the fact of Christ's 
death fulfilling them aU to the uttermost. The 
Resurrection of the body was verified not only 
by the fact of Christ's resurrection, but by the 
restoration of the widow's son and of Lazarus. 
The Establishment of a Church in the world 
was demonstrated by the fact of the peculiar 
care with which our Lord collected disciples, 
selected a certain number from among them, 
commissioned them to go forth and preach, ad- 
ded others to their number with difierent powers, 
and promised to be with them to the end (not, 
of the age, as many translate the word, but) of 
the world. 

The first establishment of the Christian 
Church is necessarily brought before us, then, 
by the subject of this section. The commission 
given to the twelve Apostles may be called the 
foundation of tlie Chri-stian Church. The con- 
duct of the Apostles in their ecclesiastical gov- 
ernment, considered as a model, ought to be 
adopted by aU Christian nations, who desire 
that Christianity should be preserved among 



102* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part IV. 



themselves, or diffused, and permanently con- 
tinued, among others. 

I have already attempted to prove that Jesus, 
the Messiah of the New Testament, was the 
Incarnated Jehovah of the Old Testament. He 
was the Lord and Guide of the Patriarchal and 
Jewish Churches. He has uniformly been the 
religious legislator of mankind. He it was 
who walked with our first parents in the gar- 
den of Eden, and instituted sacrifice. When 
the world apostatized after the deluge, it was 
He who selected the family of Abraham. When 
the remembrance of their ancient religion be- 
gan to be effaced from the minds of the Israel- 
ites, it was the same Angel Jehovah who guided 
them through the Red Sea into the wilderness, 
and soon after promulgated the Law from Mount 
Sinai. It was He who ordained those minute 
laws, those rigid observances, those ordinances 
respecting the priesthood, and the whole frame- 
work of the ecclesiastical and civil polity, whicJi 
distinguished the Jews from all other nations ; 
and the very remnant of wliich, even to this 
day, unites them, notwithstanding their wide 
dispersion among the various nations of the 
world. Can we, then, for a moment, suppose 
that tills same Almighty Being, this Manifested 
God of mankind, should not be equally atten- 
tive, and provide equally for a still more glori- 
ous Dispensation, of which the other was only 
a type and shadow ? We have every reason 
to expect, that, in the Christian dispensation, 
some care would have been taken for the con- 
tinual remembrance of the great truths and ob- 
servances which the condition of man required. 

The revealed religion of God was perpetuated 
under the Patriarchal and Levitical dispensa- 
tions by human means. Though religion was 
of divine origin, mankind was appointed the 
guardians of its purity. The means which God 
ordained for the preservation of his religion in 
the Patriarchal dispensation, were the setting 
apart the firstborn of every family to minister 
in liis service, and conferring on the heads of 
the tribes the spirit of prophecy. Adam, Seth, 
Enoch, Methuselah, and the other fathers of the 
Patriarchal Church were thus gifted. Noah 
and Shem, after the deluge, obtained the same 
preeminence. There was always a body of 
men set apart for the service of God. To enter 
into the proofs on this part of the subject, which 
might be variously collected from Scripture, 
ancient history, tradition, and the customs 
among the early pagan nations, whose idolatry 
was but a perversion of primeval truth, would 
lead us far beyond the hmits of a note. 

The same means of perpetuating religion, 
which prevailed among the patriarchal families, 
were continued by the Divine Legislator among 
the people of Israel, with this alteration only, 
that one wJiole tribe was set apart for the ser- 
vice of God, instead of the firstborn of every 
family. The office remained the same ; the 



firstborn were redeemed, in remembrance of 
their original dedication to God ; and it was 
solemnly enacted, that no stranger, not of the 
seed of Aaron, should offer incense in the pub- 
lic worship. Every individual, of every family, 
was required to present the sacrifice of praise 
and prayer to God, and to comply with all the 
institutions of the Law ; while it was left to 
one selected tribe to perform all the public 
functions required in the temple worship. 

Thus did the Divine Legislator first impart 
to fallen man a revelation, and appoint means 
for its preservation. The Incarnated Jehovali 
has now granted to his creatures tlie most per- 
fect form of that same religion which began at 
the fall in Paradise ; and human means also, 
under the blessing of the same God, must pre- 
serve among mankind the consolations of his 
holy Gospel. 

Four forms of Church Government are, in this 
our age, prevalent among Christians. Episco- 
pacy, Papacy, Presbyterianism, and Indepen- 
dency. From the time of the apostles till the 
present day. Episcopacy has been the most gen- 
eral church government ; and till the fifteenth 
century its apostolic origin was never disputed. 
Till the beginning also of the seventh century 
the supremacy of the pope over all Christian 
bishops was quite unknown. Boniface III. re- 
ceived the first title of Universal Bishop from 
the Emperor Phocas, as a reward for his sub- 
serviency and flattery to this basest of tyrants. 
With the exception of the ambitious heretic, 
Aerius, who, as Bishop Hall observes, was 
hooted not out of the church only, but out 
of the cities, towns, and villages, for the opin- 
ions he maintained, and, with the exception of 
a few dubious expressions of Jerome which are 
inconsistent with other parts of his works, 
Episcopacy prevailed, with the usurpation of 
Papacy alone, without the least opposition, in 
every Christian Church throughout the world, 
till Presbyterianism began to show itself under 
the protection of the Reformer Calvin. When 
the corruptions produced by the supremacy of 
the church of Rome indicated the necessity of 
a change, or reformation, in church government, 
the Catholic bishop of Geneva, Peter Balma, 
refusing to comply with some proposed altera- 
tion, was expelled with his clergy from that 
town. After the expulsion of the bishop, the 
two popular preachers, Farrel and Viret, wlio 
had greatly contributed to this measure, as- 
sumed the ecclesiastical and civil power. In 
this state of things, Calvin, in his way from 
Prance to Strasburgh, stopped at Geneva, and 
remained there at the invitation of Farrel. He 
then, with his two colleagues, proposed a new 
form of discipline, which he had lately invented ; 
but the people, being dissatisfied with the 
severity of his laws, expelled him, with his 
principal associates, from their town. At the 
expiration of three years he was recalled ; and, 



Note 2.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



^=103 



being appointed to institute a form of ecclesi- 
astical discipline, he proposed, and finally es- 
tablished a system of church government, never 
before eitlier known or practised, which is 
now distinffuished by the name of Presbyte- 
rianism. When he first introduced this system, 
he expressed his highest veneration for re- 
formed Episcopacy, and defended his innova- 
tions upon the plea of necessity. Beza, and 
his other followers, gradually discontinued that 
mode of argument, and have sometimes asserted, 
in not very courteous language, that Presbyte- 
rianism is of divine right. It is now estab- 
lished in Scotland, where it was introduced by 
John Knox and his coadjutors, who were the 
friends of the Reformer of Geneva. Many of 
the exiles, who had fled to the continent in the 
reign of the persecuting Mary, adopted the 
same system, and endeavoured, on their return 
to England, to complete, as they supposed, the 
reformation in their own country, by recom- 
mending and enforcing the Presbyterian disci- 
pline. The labors of Cartwright and others, 
however, were rendered inefiectual, at least in 
England, by tlie exertions and vigilance of 
Whitgift, then archbishop of Canterbury, aided 
by the firmness of Elizabeth. 

This great Reformer, and celebrated com- 
mentator, of Geneva, did not anticipate the 
possible evils of his deviation from the conclu- 
sions to which his brother reformers in England 
had arrived. He erred only in proceeding to 
an opposite extreme from that of the church of 
Rome. His error in doctrine proceeded from a 
systematizing spirit, attempting to comprehend 
those subjects which humble men will shrink 
from, till their faculties are enlarged by the 
knowledge of another state of being. His bit- 
terness and intolerance were the vices of his 
age. In all other respects he was both a wise 
and a good man. In proposing his views to 
the world, he believed he was planting the tree 
of life. He would have wept to have known 
that he had substituted the upas of theological 
hatred, and controversy, and error, beneath 
Ti'hose poisonous influence so many fair Churches 
have withered away. If he could have fore- 
seen this result, he would have united in the 
powerful sentiment of a father of the Church: 
" Notliing so grieves the Spirit of God, as the 
causing divisions in the Church ; not even the 
blood of martyi'dom can atone for this crime : " — 
i)vdhi> Y&g ovTO) tiuqo^vvei, tuv Qebv, &c iy.yJ.Tj- 

(jLav SiaiQsd^vai hSs jiaoTiom alfia tuvttjv 

dvvuTUi i^iiXei<f>stv TT^v dfiuQTluv. — Chrys. Horn. 
XL in Ephes. See the notes to Archbishop 
Laurence's Bampton Lectures, p. 340, 341, On 
tlie Character of Calvin. 

After the original form of church govern- 
ment had been thus boldly infringed upon, the 
minds of men became gradually reconciled to 
the innovation ; and the gradation to the next 
difierence became in comparison easy. The 



Presbyterian polity had taught the world, that 
the presbyters of tlie Church were all equal 
in authority ; the next generation introduced 
another innovation, and discovered that if pres- 
byters were equal, they were also independent 
of each other. Mr. Robert Brown, of North- 
ampton, in the reign of Elizabeth, was the first 
who invented this system of Independency, 
which is totally without the remotest support 
from either Scripture or antiquity. The opin- 
ions of the Independents obtained great popu- 
larity in the subsequent reigns of James and 
Charles ; and were espoused by many of the 
more energetic spirits of that turbulent period, 
tni they gradually superseded the newly-estab- 
lished Presbyterianism. 

From the reception which was given by the 
community to these innovations on the Chris- 
tian priesthood, the last stage of its degrada- 
tion was easy and natural. The oflice of 
teacher, the administration of the sacraments, 
the interpretation of Scripture, were, and still 
are, assumed at pleasure, by men of all ages, 
ranks, characters, and classes, without adequate 
preparation, responsibility, obedience, or author- 
ity. The civil law afibrds equal protection to 
all ; and the public repose of the community 
renders this necessary ; but the privilege wliich 
is allowed by the civil power is mistaken for 
tlie liberty of the Gospel of God. Mutual can- 
dor is granted to mutual error, while every term 
of obloquy and reproach, wliich the proverbial 
bitterness of theological hatred can suggest, is 
unsparingly poured forth to stigmatize the sup- 
posed bigotry and ilUberality of those who as- 
sert the ancient, uniform, universal belief of 
the primitive Church ; that the Christian minis- 
ter is subordinate to a liigher order, to which 
alone was committed the government of tiie 
Church, and the power of ordaining and appoint- 
ing ministers. The question is not one of hu- 
man polity. It rests with us to inquire whether 
the Lawgiver of the Christian dispensation has, 
or has not, revealed to his creatures, a model 
of church government, to which it is the duty 
of every Christian society to conform. 

Should such a government be laid down in 
Scripture, it becomes at once obligatory upon all 
Christians. Time cannot destroy it, fashion can- 
not change it, opinion cannot prevail against it, 
nor the apostacy of nations invalidate it. No 
speculation can remove the foundation of its 
truth. It wUl be as evidently discoverable as 
the Mosaic institutions. Its principle will be 
as clear, its facts as evident, its origin as unde- 
niable. If there is, or was such a government, 
its whole progress will be matter of record ; 
every innovation, every corruption, would be 
accurately registered, and so engrafted with 
the history of Ciiristianity, that they could not 
be put asunder. 

The various forms of church government 
which we have now considered maybe distinctly 



104* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part IV. 



traced to human invention. They have origi- 
nated in the circumstances of the times in 
which they commenced. Episcopacy only is 
traced to the days of the Apostles, and of their 
and our Divine Master ; and originated in his 
instructions, and their practice. 

But, that we may arrive at some certain con- 
clusions on the subject of church government, 
it will be necessary to refer to Scripture, and 
inquire into the facts which are there recorded. 
I shall here confine myself to a review of the 
manner in wliich the Church was established 
while our Lord was upon earth ; and defer to 
other notes the consideration of the nature of 
that government, by means of which the doc- 
trines of the Gospel were perpetuated, in the 
three periods after the ascension ; when the 
Church consisted of Jewish converts only ; 
when it was extended to the Proselytes of the 
Jewish religion ; and when it embraced the con- 
verts from idolatry throughout the whole Gen- 
tile world. 

The period from our Lord's birth to his bap- 
tism was marked by no recorded instances of 
divine power or sovereignty ; nor by the as- 
sumption of his ministerial dignity. His minis- 
try began by a public and solemn inauguration 
into his high office. " The heavens were 
opened, and the Spirit of God, as a dove, de- 
scended and lighted upon him ; and, lo ! a voice 
from heaven, this is my beloved Son : hear ye 
him!" To fulfil every type, he was anointed, 
like the ancient Jewish kings, priests, and 
prophets, not with the material unction of oil, 
but with the Holy Ghost, and with power, Eph. 
iv. 7. Immediately after his inauguration, 
guided by the same Spirit, he overcame the 
great Enemy of his spiritual kingdom. He 
then began the office to which he was anointed, 
by preaching the Gospel to the people of Gali- 
lee, in the synagogues of his own city, Nazar- 
eth, Luke iv. 14-18. His laws were dehvered 
in his own name : " I say unto you." He en- 
larged and refined the Law of Moses, and en- 
forced his precepts with the promise of higher 
rewards, and the threatenings of severer pun- 
ishments. He confirmed the truth of his asser- 
tions, and demonstrated the certainty of his 
Messiahship by stupendous wonders and mira- 
cles. By these means, and by his example, and 
his precepts, he collected multitudes of disci- 
ples, whom he baptized, not as John had done, 
in the name of another, but in his own name, 
John iii. 5. After a certain time had elapsed, 
he selected Twelve from his followers, and im- 
parted to them some of the same powers and 
privileges which himself had received from the 
Father. He gave them power and authority 
over all devils, and to cure all manner of dis- 
ease, Luke ix. 1. Mark vi. 7. Matt. x. 1-5. 

Some time after the twelve Apostles had 
been thus chosen, our Lord appointed other 
Seventy also. In some respects, their com- 



mission was the same as that of the Twelve ; 
in others there was a remarkable difference. 
The Twelve return to our Lord, and continue 
with him to the end ; the Seventy return to 
give an account of their mission, and are again 
blended with the general mass of the brethren. 
The Seventy were more limited in their office. 
They were sent only to precede our Lord, in 
those towns whither he was himself going 
(Luke X. 1.) ; the Apostles had a more exten- 
sive and discretionary power, which extended 
to all the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 
The Apostles were ordained to be with our 
Lord (Mark iii. 14.) as his constant attendants ; 
whereas the Seventy were only appointed to 
preach (Luke x. 1.) Before the inauguration 
of the Twelve, our Lord not only commanded 
his disciples to pray to God, to send laborers into 
his harvest, but he continued a whole night 
himself in prayer ; and even after the mission 
of the Seventy, tliey were always distinguished 
by the name of Apostles. Our Lord particu- 
larly addressed the Twelve more than the other 
disciples, expounding to them his parables, and 
revealing to them apart the mysteries of his 
kingdom (Matt. xx. 17, &c.) In two instances 
their powers were enlarged. At the time of 
the institution of the eucharist, the Apostles 
were commanded to commemorate his death, 
until his second advent to judge the world. 
When our Saviour was on the point of leaving 
earth, on the day of his ascension, he invested 
them with still higher powers. At first, like 
their Divine Master, they had been sent only to 
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. His 
death destroyed the distinction between the 
Jew and the Gentile. All power was now 
given unto him, in heaven and in earth, and his 
last parting command to them was, to preach 
the Gospel to all nations. A kingdom was 
given to them, as a kingdom had been given to 
our Lord ; as he had ordained and appointed 
spiritual governors and rulers over the converts, 
to them also was committed the same delegated 
autliority. 

Such were the two classes to whom our Lord, 
while upon earth, confided a share of the min- 
isterial office to which he had been commis- 
sioned from above. He was the prophet like 
unto Moses, in this, as well as in other respects, 
that he instituted a new priesthood, with new 
authority and powers. The Levitical priest- 
hood was now to be abolished, by the same- 
Divine Lawgiver who had at first ordained it ; 
and another erected on its foundation, Christ 
himself being the chief corner stone. 

The next stage of the church, and its ecclesias- 
tical discipline, we shall consider, as I have ob- 
served, in future notes ; remarking only here, 
that the people had no choice, nor part, either 
in the appointment or consecration of the 
Twelve or the Seventy. They exercised no 
power, they conferred no right. The discipline 



Note 3.-7.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



^105 



of th9 Church was established by its spiritual 
head, Christ himself, and after his ascension it 
•was delegated to his twelve Apostles. 



Note 3.— Part IV. 

After the return of the Jews from Babylon, 
when tlie Hebrew language was no longer 
spoken among the common people, the Jews 
adopted the custom to which our Lord here 
alludes. The Scripture was publicly read in 
the original, but the doctor of the law whis- 
pered tlie meaning in the ears of an inter- 
preter, or targumista, who publicly proclaimed 
what was communicated to him to the people. 
Our Lord here intimated to his disciples, that 
those things which were now revealed to them, 
such as the calling of the GentUes, the abolition 
of tlie Jewish Law, not yet to be openly de- 
clared, and other doctrines, should be hereafter 
publicly promulgated. The houses of the Jews 
had fiat roofs, from whence they made proclama- 
tions to the people. Both Lightfoot and Scho- 
etgen have treated copiously on this subject. 



Note 4. — Part IV. 

The Jews were of opinion, that a superintend- 
ing Providence protected the minutest objects. 
Ex Schabbath,M. 107. 2. 'j-ipn jn nD'pn Tii/V 
iID'y3 'i"3 1>'1 i^""^;-;"' SeJe.t Deus S. B. tt 
nutrit hide a cornibus unicorum, usque ad ova 
pediculorum. Schoetgen quotes also Jcdkut 
Ruheni, fol. 171. 2. " There is not the least 
herb on earth, over which there is not an appoint- 
ed guardian in heaven ;" and from R. Simeon's 
rD^n 130, part i. fol. 6. 2. "A man cannot 
hurt his finger upon earth, but it is cried out 
aloud in heaven." — Schoetgen. Hor. Heb. vol. 
i. p. 104, 105. 



Note 5. — Part IV. 

It was a common saying among the Jews, 
" He that receiveth a learned man, receiveth 
the Shechinah." Our Lord, therefore, in this, 
as Ln numerous other passages, which, from 
the general inattention to the opinions of the 
ancient Jews, are unnoticed, claims those hon- 
ors which were assigned by the people to the 
Angel Jehovah, the God of their fathers. — See 
Schoetgen. Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 106, 7. 



about this time by the most eminent chronolo- 
gers. It cannot faO. to strike the most unob- 
servant, that, at the moment in wMch the last 
prophet of the former Dispensation was doomed 
to perish, the Messiah, the common God of the 
two Dispensations, gave to the new description 
of teachers, whom he now appointed and sent 
forth for the first time, the authority and pow- 
ers of the teachers of the Jewish Church. 
Christ is the golden chain that binds the one 
universal Church. The Baptist preaches till 
Christ was manifested. The Baptist was pre- 
served in life till the kingdom of the Messiah 
was in some degree established. The time had 
now arrived when a new Dispensation, with a 
new priesthood, should commence ; and the last 
instructor of the people, under the old Dispen- 
sation, was now permitted to suffer, in order 
that undivided attention might be given to the 
long-expected King of the house of David. 



Note 6.— Part IV. 



Note 7. — Part IV. 

Many of the circumstances in this miracle 
demonstrate the peculiar wisdom with which, 
as I have so often shown, our Lord uniformly 
acted, and are worthy of our attention. 

Christ here first showed that his power was 
superior to that of Elisha, who fed a hundred 
men with bread of the first fruits, twenty small 
barley loaves, and some ears of corn in the husk 
thereof, 2 Kings iv. 42, 43. The rabbis make 
these loaves twenty-two ; the loaf of the first 
fi-uits being one, and the ears of corn being 
equivalent to another loaf, and they suppose 
that two thousand two hundred men were fed 
by them ; each hundred having their single loaf 
set before them, 'iS\< nxr3 "np ^ni in hj Our 
Lord therefore proved his power to be superior 
to that of Elisha ; for he fed one thousand men 
with one loaf; and, that there might be no ap- 
pearance of deception nor collusion, he made 
the whole number sit down in companies, 
(nmsy nmty in ranks, or in divisions, as trees in 
a vineyard), by fifties, and by hundreds, that the 
whole number might be accurately and univer- 
sally ascertained. The accounts of this miracle 
were pubUshed by St. Matthew and St. Mark, 
while the greater portion of the persons who 
had been partakers of the miracle were living. 
None contradicted, or denied, or explained 
away, the account. 

It is scarcely possible to imagine a more 
wonderful proof of the creative power of Christ, 
than was displayed in tliis miracle. The loaves 
were of the small kind common in the country 
The fishes were, in all probability, also of that 
sort which were called by the Jews "j':Tj, 
which is interpreted by the gloss small fishes*. 



' T. Bab. Cetuhot, fol. 60. 2. and Sanhedrin, fol 
The death of John the Baptist is placed 49, 1. ap. Gill in John vi. 9. 

VOL. I^ *14 



106* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part IV. 



Nonnus'^ calls them two fishes from the ad- 
jacent lake, broiled, or roasted, (or dried in the 
sun.) 

xttl dcY;/in6§ov diSvf/dovag l/6vug Sikfuijz, 

I/6vug omul.EOvg 8i6vi.iij.oyuc, &c. 

This small supply of provisiomvas perceived to 
multiply and grow, either in the hands of the 
apostles as they were ministering them to the 
people, or in the hands of the people themselves, 
who, in all probabihty, saw the small fragments 
of bread or fish with which they had been pre- 
sented visibly increase while they held them in 
their hands, till the hunger of each was fully 
satisfied ; and sufficient was still left for others 
who might come after them. It was this im- 
mediate and actual proof of the presence of a 
Creator, which compelled the exclamation of 
the;nultitude, that their expected Messiah was 
come. 

Witsius has a curious remark on the grada- 
tion of Christ's miracles. His first miracle 
provided for a family the customary provision 
for a festival, not indeed absolutely necessary, 
yet much to be desired, when the mode of 
prolonging and celebrating the marriage cere- 
monies among the Jews is taken into consid- 
eration. He then satisfied the hunger of thou- 
sands, by multiplying their bread and a few 
small fishes. He proceeded to the curing of 
the sick. He healed one who had been diseased 
twelve years, Mark v. 25. ; another eighteen, 
Luke xiii. 11. ; another thirty-eight years, John 
v. 5. ; another from childhood. Matt. ix. 21. ; 
another from his birth, John ix. 1. The pro- 
gressive order which oar Lord observed when 
he demonstrated his power of raising the dead, 
in their various stages of corruption and decay, 
I have considered in another part of these 
notes'^. 



Note 8.— Part IV. 

Two hundred pence was the sum fixed upon 
for a virgin's dowry ; for the portion to be paid 
by a husband to a woman who was divorced ; 
for the fine of the lesser modes of assault and 
of various offences. The expression therefore 
was used proverbially, to denote a large sum of 
money. See the references in Gill on Mark 
vi. in loc. 



Note 9.— Part IV. 

Twelve baskets fnW— SiJiSexa yogiltovg nli\- 
QEig. 

The well-known expressions in Juvenal, Sat. 
3. v. 14. 



"^ Octavo edit. p. 65. 

^ Meletem. Leidens. Dissert. De Miraculis Jesu, 
sect. vii. p. 242. 



" Judeis, quorum copkinus fcenumque supellei :" 
and in Sat. 6. v. 542. 

'• Cum dedit ille locum, cophino foenoque relicto, 
Arcanum Judtea tremens mendicat in aurem :" 

have made the word v-oqilvovg in this passage a 
s ibject of greater curiosity than would at first 
sight appear reasonable. The first and general 
opinion is, that the cophinus here alluded to was 
a small basket constantly carried about by tlie 
Jews, in remembrance of their slavery in Egypt, 
Psa. Ixxxi. 6. 

which is translated in our version, — 

" I removed his shoulder from the burden : 
And his hands were delivered from the pots ;" 

is rendered by Jerome and Syinmachus, al ^ei^sc 
uvTOv y.ocf)l>'ov uTTTjlluyTjaav. The Septuagint, 
instead of njljj'n (transihunt, or transierunt, ap. 
Arias Montanus) read rtJ13;?n which is followed 
by the Vulgate — ul ;^fro£; avT(ii>' if tw y.oqliio 
idovlevaup, LXX. Maims ejus in cophino ser- 
vierunt. Dr. Gill quotes Nicholas de Lyra on 
this verse, to prove that the Jews carried bas- 
kets with some hay, in commemoration of their 
Egyptian servitude, and Schoetgen quotes 
Sidonius Apollinaris, Epist. 7. 6. and Alcimus 
Avitus, lib. 5. v. 30. to the same effect. 

Another interpretation of the word y.ocftvog is 
that of Farnabius, who supposes that the Jews 
made that use of the hay and the cophinus, 
which Juvenal and Martial (lib. v. Ep. 17.) have 
alluded to, as an emblem of tlieir poverty and 
sufferings during the last siege of Jerusalem, 
when they were reduced to the necessity of 
eating hay, in the terrible scarcity of provisions. 
But this explanation is evidently eiToneous : the 
cophinus, as may be shown in numerous in- ' 
stances, being in general use before the siege 
of Jerusalem. 

Brenius imagines that the Jews made use of 
the cophinus at Rome, and elsewhere, for the 
sale of various small articles of pedlery ; and 
Buxtorf, that the basket, from the earliest period, 
was a part of their household stuff; whence the 
expression Deut. xxviii. 5. "]X3D "jn^ "blessed 
shall be thy basket and thy store." The bas- 
ket was used, he supposes, to bring the first- 
fruits to the priest, and the hay was provided to 
prevent the various offerings from touching each 
other. Schoetgen replies to these suggestion.?, 
that it was not possible all the Jews could be 
employed in selling ; neither would they liave 
carried their baskets of first-fruits so uniformly 
to Rome, as to have excited tlie satire of Ju- 
venal ; neither were those who were now fol- 
lowing Christ going up to Jerusalem to offer 
their first-fruits. He concludes, therefore, with 
adopting the opinion of Reland, which is fol- 
lowed also by Sclileusner (in voc. xocpU'og) that 
the cophinus was used by the Jews for carrying 



Note 10.-14.1 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



^107 



about with them the articles of provision, &c. 
permitted by their Law, and that the hay served 
to spread under tliem, when they were com- 
pelled to sleep abroad in places inhabited by 
Gentiles. — See the whole Dissertation in Scho- 
etgen. Hora Hehraica, vol. i. p. 133. 



Note 10.— Part IV. 

It is a good remark of Dr. Gill, that those 
who desired a temporal Redeemer were un- 
wortliy of his presence. All who follow Christ 
for power, show, popularity, wealth, or honor, 
or for any other purpose than to receive a spir- 
itual Messiah, are unworthy of him. Christ re- 
tired to a mountain, and declined all worldly 
honors. To have the power of praying, to be 
admitted as Christ was admitted into commun- 
ion with God the Father, is higher and more 
inestimable than all earthly distinctions and 
treasures. 



NoTK 11.— Part IV. 

Christ here demonstrated his power as the 
Lord of nature. He walked upon the sea, and 
when he entered into the ship the waves and 
the wind acknowledged him, and the ship was 
instantly at the place of its destination. Non- 
nus has given a beautiful description of this 
miracle: Christ, he tells us, walked upon the 
water with unwetted feet ; and when he came 
into the ship it moved as by a divine impulse, 
like a winged thought of the mind, without 
winds, without oars, self-moving to the distant 
haven. 

Xqicrrbv idrjr^auvro diucnslxovra ■d'af.&aarjc, 
A6qo'/ov X'/vog e/ofiu, ^ajr^g dlbg d^iiv 
oSlTrjf — 

insld^eodlfei nal/nm 

Ola voog mEqbeig, dLvifiatf Sl-/u, voatfiv 

Trj'ksTioqoig h/ttivsaaiv o/illeev a'vTO/u.&.Tr] 
vrivg — JVonnus, p. 75. 



Note 13.— Part IV. 

We have here another instance in which 
Christ applied to himself an epithet given by 
the Jews to their expected Messiah. Midrash 
Kolieleth, fol. 73. 3. " R. Berechia nomine R. 
Isaac dixit: quemadmodum Goel primus, sic 
quoque erit postremus. Goel primus jiNTlin 
\r2r\ descendere fecit Manna, q. d. Exod. xvi. 4. 
Et pluere faciam vobis panem de coelo. Sic 
quoque Goel postremus descendere facit Manna, 
q. d. Ps. Ixxii. 16. erit multitude frumenti super 
terram." See Schoetgen. in loc. 

It is probable that our Saviour alluded to 
this tradition, as well as to the ideas of the 
rabbis, discussed at great length by Whitby, on 
John vi. 31, 37, &c. The comparison of food 
which nourishes the body and wisdom which 
nourishes the soul is common in many parts of 
Scripture. Thus Isaiah — 

" Ye that are thirsty, come buy wine, and 
milk without money, and without price. 
Wherefore do ye spend your money for 
that which is not bread ? " &c. 

Lightfoot quotes also Chajigah, fol. 14. 1. and 
Gloss, in Succah, fol. 52. to prove that bread 
was frequently used among the Jewish doctors 
for doctrine — □n'? inSoxn/eec? Mm uith bread ; 
that is, make him take pains in the warfare of 
the Law, as it is written.— Lightfoot, vol. ii. 553. 

It may be observed here, that an acquaintance 
with the Jewish traditions would materially as- 
sist the theological student to form a more ac- 
curate notion of many subjects of controversy 
between the Church of Rome and the Protest- 
ants. This discourse of our Lord in John vi. 
has been much insisted upon by the Romanists, 
as defending and supporting the doctrine of tran- 
substantiation. This notion originated in the 
sixth century, and is fouBded on the literal in- 
terpretation of passages which were commonly 
used by the Jews, to whom the Scriptures were 
addressed, and by the inspired writers who pri- 
marily wrote for their use, in a metaphorical 
sense. I do not observe that Fulke has noticed 
this point in his remarks on John vi. in his work 
on the Rhemish Translation of the New Testa- 
ment. See that work, p. 275-280. folio edit. 
16.33. London. 



Note 12.— Part IV. 

Marklasd (ap. Bowyer's Crit. Conjee, p. 95.) 
has justly remarked the difference between this 
confession [uliidag Qsy Ylog el) which is no 
higher acknowledgment than the heathen cen- 
turion and the soldiers made at the crucifixion ; 
and that of St. Peter contained in Matt. xvi. 16. 
JTil el 6 XQi^og, 6 Ylbg TOY Qeov TOY'Cwjog, 
thou art the Christ, the Son of the One God, 
THE living God. 



Note 14.— Part IV. 

To prove that the Evangelist has here spoken 
with the utmost correctness, Schoetgen has 
quoted from Jevachim, fol. 101. 1. It^i' D'ODm 

:min Sk'o inr annana pirn " Et sapientes 

fecerunt robur verbis suis, plusquam verbis Le- 
gis." 

Lightfoot also has given many others to the 
same purpose .■rT'in '1210 □'•1310 'i^T Q'JI'^n 



108* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part IV. 



" The words of the Scribes are more lovely 
than the words of the Law." — Hieros. Berac. 
fol. 3. 2. 

The error of the Pharisees was the same as 
that of the Romanists. They suhstituted un- 
authorized tradition in the place of their In- 
spired Writings, and ritual observances in the 
place of spiritual worship. The ordinances of 
external religion are only valuable, as they are 
the emblems and the appointed means of spir- 
itual blessings. While their proper value is 
set upon the records of history, the inquiries of 
the critical, the labors of the learned, the opin- 
ions of the judicious, the decisions of the early 
Church, and all the sources of accurate infor- 
mation, it ought never to be forgotten, neither 
is it forgotten by the Protestant Churches, that 
Scripture is the one unerring test of truth, to 
which every conclusion must be submitted. 
The Jews adopted many traditions, which were 
not only contrary to, but were very frequently 
hostile to Scripture. The Romanists have 
been guilty of the very same error. The Jews 
believed that a man might withhold assistance 
from his afflicted or poor parents, under the 
pretence that he had dedicated his substance 
(or corhan) to God, with many other absurdities 
enumerated at length by Lightfoot, Schoetgen, 
Meuschen, Gill, and others, and alluded to in 
many places by the Evangelist. The Roman- 
ists have set aside the plain and express au- 
thority of Scripture, and follow gradual inven- 
tions, which they dignify by the name of tra- 
ditions. They insist, for instance, on such 
points as these : — The mass without communi- 
cants — The denial of the cup to the laity — The 
prohibiting the reading of Scripture — The dis- 
tinction between latria and dnlia, f-argsTa and 
dovleTa, in the worshipping of angels, and 
saints, and God — The use of images — The pray- 
ing in an unknown tongue — The mediatorial 
offices of the saints, and especially of the Vir- 
gin Mary — The assumption of the Virgin, an 
invention of a very late age — The seven sacra- 
ments — The doctrine of purgatory. 

The Church that teaches these doctrines is 
as justly worthy of the condemnation of our 
Lord as the Pharisees, who were his contem- 
poraries — " Ye make the word of God of none 
effect by your tradition." Much might be 
added on this and other topics connected with 
the discussions on the doctrines in controversy 
between the Protestants and Romanists ; but to 
do so would extend these notes far beyond 
their limits. See a work entitled, Jl Learned 
Treatise on Traditions, translated from the 
French of Du Moulin, by G. C, London, 1632 ; 
particularly ch. 12 and 13, p. 165-223. Fulke's 
Defence of the English Translation of the Bi- 
hle, printed at the end of his observations on 
the Rhemish Translation, p. 29-33. Bishop 
Hall's tract, entitled The Old Religion, in the 
ninth volume of his Works, 8vo. Pratt's edition, 



p. 287. and the Tracts against Popery, Tit. 1, 
p. 22. by Bishop Stratford. The Reformation 
Vindicated, &c. together with many other trea- 
tises in that admirable and inestimable collec- 
tion. On the Affinity between the Absurdities 
of the Pharisaical and Catholic Traditions, see 
also Chemnitius. Exam. Condi. Trident. Pars 
prior, p. 20-24. See also Schoetgen. Horce. 
Hebraicas, vol. i. p. 138. 



Note 15.— Part IV. 

Bishop Horslet and Dr. Jortin have written 
sermons on the subject of the Syro-phajnician 
woman ; in both of which there is a remark- 
able coincidence in plan and expression. Both 
have insisted, with great effect, on the nation 
of the woman ; on the manner in which Christ 
performed his first miracle on one who was not 
a Jew : which was so ordained by the provi- 
dence of God, that this woman " became one 
of the first pagan proselytes, and the mystery 
of the calling and the conversion of the Gen- 
tiles began in her to be gloriously unfolded ; " 
on the humility of the suppliant, and her ac- 
knowledgment of the wisdom of God in selec- 
ting the Jews to be his own people, while she 
retained her hope of mercy as a creature of 
God ; and on the absurdity of judging of the 
truth of past events by the test of the experi- 
ence of the present age ; both agreeing in the 
probability of the opinion expressed in a for- 
mer note, that the power of evil spirits, in the 
time of our Lord, was permitted to be more 
visibly displayed than in our own age. For the 
more particular explanation, therefore, of this 
narrative, and especially for the view which 
Bishop Horsley has given of the peculiar pro- 
priety of our Lord's conduct in making the 
manner in which he complied with the request 
of the Greek idolatress, a type of the mode in 
which the Gentiles should be received, see 
Jortin's Works, 8vo. London, 1810, vol. ix. p. 
239, &c. ; and Horsley's Sermons, vol. iii. p. 
134, and particularly p. 158, 9, and 164. 



Note 16.— Part IV. 

The Jews considered every nation but their 
own as dogs, and on that account refused to 
share in their hospitality, or to have any inter- 
course with them, except that which had refer- 
ence to merchandise. 

R. Pirke Eliezer gives an illustration of this 
passage. In his twenty-ninth chapter he dis- 
cusses the eighth temptation of Abraham, Gen. 
xvii. 1. He endeavours to prove that Abraham 
circumcised his servants, and proceeds thus: 
"Unde autem (probas) quod circumciderit (ser- 



Note 17.] 



NOTES OX THE GOSPELS. 



409 



vos) illos? quia dicitur : omnes vLros domus 
suse, et natiiin domus circumcidit — cur autem 
circumcidit illos ? propter purificationem, ne 
contaminarent dominum suum cibo, ac potu 
suo. Q'jicunque enim comedit cum prseputiato, 
is veluti com cane edit. Uti cams non est cir- 
cumcisus, sic et praputiatus non est circumcisus. 
Quisquis accedit ad preeputiatum, is veluti mor- 
tuum contrectat," &c. — Vorstius' Translation 
of R. Pirke Eliezer, p. 66. I ought to observe 
here^ that Schoetgen, Tvho refers in his notes 
on Apoc. xxii. 15., to this chapter of Pirke Elie- 
zer, quotes a part of it differently from any 
which is to be found in the translation of Vors- 
tius. As the Hebrew original is not in my pos- 
session, I cannot account for the variation ; but 
my copy of the Latin translation by Vorstius is 
corrected in various places from the Hebrew 
original, by a learned rabbi, and can, I think, 
be depended upon. 



Note 17. — Part IV. 

0>' THE OPI>TO>"S OF THE JEWS RESPECTING 
THE CHARACTER OF THE MESSIAH. 

The various works which were done hy our 
Lord, as related in the preceding sections of 
this part, convinced St. Peter that Jesus was 
the Messiah. It certainly appears to us very 
extraordinary that this open confession of the 
Messiahship of Jesus had not been repeat- 
edly made before. The reasons seem to have 
been, that the various inconsistent traditions 
concerning the Messiah which were then prev- 
alent, and the opposite expectations of the peo- 
ple had so biased the minds of his disciples, 
that it prevented them from forming a correct 
judgment as to the dignity of their Lord and 
Master. They saw, indeed, and acknowledged, 
that Jesus was more than human, and they 
daUy anticipated the establishment of the king- 
dom of the Messiah : but before that event they 
expected the coming of Elias, various resurrec- 
tions of the ancient prophets, the reappearance 
of Moses and Elias, with other different signs 
and wonders, which have already been enumer- 
ated. Dr. Pye Smith obsen'es, " that their no- 
tions of the Messiah were sublime, imperfectly 
understood, and inconsistent ; they attributed 
to him a superior nature, a preexistent state, 
and, to say the least, many of the characteristic 
properties of Deity'." 

"S^Tien Christ was upon earth, the opinions of 
the Jews concerning the nature and person of 
their ardently-expected Messiah were by no 

' Scripture Testinwnxj to the Messiah, vol. i. p. 
4P4, and 466. Dr. Pye Smith has compressed into 
a very short compass the conclusions of Kninoel 
(Ccmtnterd in Libros JV. T. Hist. p. 84—91.) on the 
same subject. 

YOh. II. 



means uniform: some affirmed that he would 
be a mere man, endowed with peculiar powers 
and assistance from God — others that he would 
be a man, with whom a special power, emanat- 
ing from God, would be immediately conjbined 
— others maintained that he would be superior 
to their fathers, to all mankind, and to the an- 
gels ; that he existed before the creation of the 
world, and was employed by God as an instru- 
ment in the formation of the world, and pecu- 
liarly in the protection and religious institutions 
of the Israelitish nation. 

Schoetgen, in his second volume, has most 
amply and most learnedly discussed the sub- 
ject of the Messiah. His Hora Hehraica are 
an invaluable treasure to the theological student 
who desires to understand the New Testament. 
It is to be regretted that the work is so scarce, 
and that there is neither an abridsmcnt nor a 
translation of it in our own languae^e. 

The Jews seem to have entertained the same 
indefinite notions with regard to the Messiah, 
as the Christians of the present age entertain 
when they converse on the Millennium, or the 
second advent of our Lord : on the restoration 
of the Jews, whetlaer it wUl be temporal or 
spiritual ; or on the other sublime and elevating 
subjects of the prophecies of our own Scriptures, 
on which the primitive Church has come to no 
conclusion. The language of Scripture is so 
general, that it may he interpreted both literally 
and metaphorically; and every Christian, who 
at all reflects on these subjects, anticipates 
some magnificent events, which he believes 
win certainly take place ; while no two will be 
found exactly to agree in their opinions and 
speculations. Lightfoot remarks on this sub- 
ject.— 

From the Messiah the Jews expected pomp 
and stateliness, a royal and victorious kingdom 
— they see Christ appear in a low condition and 
contemptible poverty. 

From the Messiah tliey expected an advanc- 
ing and heightening the rites of Moses — they 
saw that he began to remove them. 

By the Messiah they expected to be re- 
deemed and delivered from their subjection to 
the Roman yoke — he taught them to give 
Cffisar his due, and to submit to the govern- 
ment God had set over them. 

By the Messiah they expected that the Gen- 
tries should be subdued, trod under their feet, 
and destroyed — he taught that they should be 
called, converted, and become the ChurchA 

Bishop Blomfield, in his admirable disserta- 
tion^, has given us, at stUl greater length, an 
abstract of the notions entertained by the Jews 
of the Messiah's kingdom : — 

i. They expected him to be of a nature far 

/ Lichtfoot's Sermons. Works, fol. vol. ii. p. 
1112. 

= On the TraditiJinal Knowledge of a promised Re- 
deemer, Camb. lSl->, p. 1(K. fin. &c. 



110* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part IV. 



surpassing that of men and angels. One of 
the rabbis says, "The Messiah is higher than 
the ministering angels." To this notion the 
author of the Epistle to the Hebrews evidently 
alludes, i. 4. 

2. They considered him to be " the Word of 
God," an emanation from the Supreme Being ; 
the Author of all created things. 

3. They believed that all the transactions, in 
which the Deity was related to have had a 
communication with mankind, were carried on 
through the medium of his Word, the Messiah ; 
that He delivered the Israelites from Egypt, led 
them through the wilderness, supported and 
protected them. 

4. They believed that the Spirit of the Lord 
was to be upon Him, and intimately united with 
Him ; and that it would manifest itself in exer- 
tion of miraculous power. To this our Saviour 
alludes. Matt. xii. 28. " But if I, in the Spirit 
of God, cast out devils, then is the kingdom of 
God come upon you." 

5. They supposed that the Messiah would 
appear, not in a real human body, but in the 
semblance of one ; tv doxijast. This notion 
found its way into the Christian Church, and 
was the distinguishing dogma of the Docetse. 
It is combated by St. John in several parts of 
his writings ; viz. " The Word was made flesh, 
and dwelt among us," (John i. 14.), not only 
seemed to wear a human form, but actually did 
so. Again, " Every spirit that confesseth not 
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of 
God," (1 John iv. 3.) And it is not an improba- 
ble supposition of Professor Bertholdt, that the 
Evangelist had the same heresy in view, when 
he made particular mention of the blood and 
water which flowed from the side of Jesus, John 
xix. 34. 

6. They expected that the Messiah would not 
be subject to death, John xii. 34. The multi- 
tude answered him, " We have heard out of the 
Law, that Christ abideth for ever." 

7. Yet they thought that he was to offer in 
his own person an expiatory sacrifice for their 
sins, John i. 29. 

8. He was to restore the Jews to freedom. 
Compare Luke i. G8. xxiv. 21. 2 Esdr. xii. 34. 

9. And to establish a pure and perfect form 
of worship, Luke i. 73. John iv. 25. 

10. And to give remission of sins, Luke i. 76. 
Matt. i. 21. 

11. And to work miracles, John vii. 31. 

12. He was to descend into the receptacle of 
departed spirits, and to bring back to earth the 
souls of the Israelites, which were then to be 
reunited to their glorified bodies ; and this was 
to be the first resurrection. 

13. The devil and his angels were to be cast 
into hell for a thousand years. 

14. Then was to begin the kingdom of heaven, 
or of God, or of the Christ, which was to last a 
thousand years. 



15. At the end of that period of time, the 
devil was to be released from confinement, and 
to excite great troubles and commotions ; but 
he was to be conquered, and again imprisoned 
for ever. 

16. After that was to be the second and 
general resurrection of the dead, followed by the 
judgment. 

17. The world was to be renewed ; new 
heavens, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem were 
to appear. 

18. At last the Messiah, having fulfilled 
his office, was to deliver up the kingdom to 
God, at whose right hand he was to sit for 
evermore. 



Note 18.— Part IV. 

ON THE CONFESSION OF ST. PETER. 

Our Lord had now, by his miracles, teaching, 
and conduct, so impressed on the minds of his 
Apostles the certainty that he was the Messiah, 
whom they had expected, that St. Peter makes 
tlie fullest confession of his faith, in the most 
energetic language. Our Lord immediately 
addresses him in that remarkable language, 
which has been said, by the Church of Rome, 
to be the immovable foundation of her un- 
doubted supremacy and her exclusive privileges, 
as the depository of truth, and of her conse- 
quent infallibility, as the director and in- 
structor of the world. The question therefore 
is. Whether the confession made by St. Peter 
was the rock on which the Church of Christ 
was to be founded, or whether the Apostle him- 
self was that rock ? The most eminent of the 
ancient Fathers have espoused the former opin- 
ion. Chrysostom'' interprets the passage lij 
TisTQq. — TOVjioTi ir^ Tiiaiei, Trjg dfxoloylag, "upon 
the rock, that is, upon the faith of his profes- 
sion." 

The most probable meaning of the passage 
appears to be that which shall comprise both of 
the controverted senses. St. Peter was always 
the most zealous of the apostles, and to him 
was reserved the honor of first preaching the 
Gospel to the Gentiles. The probable reason 
why our Lord addressed himself particularly to 
Peter was, that he happened to be the first who 
had acknowledged Him as the Christ the Son 
of the living God. St. Peter generally proved 
himself the chief speaker, and he continued to 
do so after our Lord's ascension, without, how- 
ever, assuming the least degree of authority 
over the rest of the apostles. The occasion of 
our Lord's addressing Peter was the confession 
the Apostle had just made; and He maybe 
considered as speaking prophetically, when He 

'' Vide Elsley in loc. who quotes Chrys. in 
Matt. xvi. 18. and torn. 5, or 163. 



Note IS. 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



nil 



said, pointing to or resting liis hand upon the 
Apostle, Thou art Peter, and on thee, as the 
first preacher to the Gentiles, and on this con- 
fession, which thou shalt preach to them, I will 
establish my Church. — Beza, Lightfoot, Bishop 
Burgess, in his treatise inserted in a collection 
of tracts lately published, and many others, 
among whom may be reckoned some of the 
popes themselves, have espoused this conclu- 
sion. Bisliop Marsh, however, in his work on 
the Comparison between the Churches of Eng- 
land and Rome ; Grotius, Michaelis, Wliitby, 
with Pere Simon, and the Romanists in general, 
have adopted the latter opinion. 

Among other of the Protestant writers who 
liave strenuously advocated the opinion that 
Christ and not St. Peter was the founder of the 
Christian Church, we meet with the venerable 
name of the late GranvUle Sharp. The as- 
sumption of supremacy over all the Churches 
of Christ by the Church of Rome, filled hun 
witli astonishment. He was induced, in con- 
sequence, to pay particular attention to the 
passage upon which this aiTogant claim was sup- 
ported, and the result of his examination is here 
annexed. The Greek word neTQog, he observes, 
does not mean a rock, though it has indeed a 
relative meaning to the word tistqu, a rock; 
for it signifies only a little piece of rock, or a 
stone, that has been dug out of a rock ; where- 
by the dignity of the real foundation intended 
by our Lord, which he expressed by the pro- 
phetical figure o? Petra (a rock), must necessa- 
rily be understood to bear a proportionable 
superiority of dignity and importance above 
the other preceding word petros; as petra, a 
real rock, is comparatively superior to a mere 
stone, or particle from the rock ; because a rock 
is the regular figurative expression in Holy 
Scripture for a Divine Protector; '';;Sd nin' Je- 
hovah (is my rock), 2 Sam. xxii. 2. and Psa. 
xviii. 2. Again, nvi TlSx my God (is) my rock, 
2 Sam. xxii. 2. and Psa. xviii. 2. and again, 
lynSx nj-SnrD 11X 'ai and who (is) a rock, ex- 
cept our God? 2 Sam. xxii. 32. 

That our Lord really referred to this declara- 
tion of Peter, relating to his own divine dignity, 
as being the true rock, on which he would 
build his Church, is established beyond contra- 
diction by our Lord himself, in the clear dis- 
tinction which he maintained between the 
stone [uETqo:, petros,] and a rock, {nergu, petra,) 
by the accurate grammatical terms in which 
both these words are expressly recorded. For 
whatsoever may have been the language in 
which they were really spoken, perhaps in 
Chaldee or Syriac, yet in this point the Greek 
record is our only authoritative instructor. 
The first word, nsTQog, being a masculine noun, 
signifies merely a stone ; and the second word, 
nETQtt, though it is a feminine noun, cannot 
signify any thing of less magnitude and impor- 
tance than a rock, or strong mountain of defence. 



With respect to the first. The word nerqog, 
petros, in its highest figurative sense of a stone, 
when applied to Peter, can represent only one 
true believer, or faithful member of Christ's 
Church, that is, one out of the great multitude 
of true believers in Christ, who, as figurative 
stones, form altogether the glorious spiritual 
building of Christ's Church, and not the founda- 
tion on which that Church is built; because 
that figurative character cannot, consistently 
with truth, be applied to any other person than 
to God, or to Christ alone. And though even 
Christ himself is sometimes, in Holy Scripture, 
called a Stone (lido;, but not nsTqoi), yet when- 
ever this figurative expression is applied to 
him, it is always with sucli a clear distinction 
of superiority over all other figurative stones, 
as will not admit the least idea of any vicarial 
stone to be substituted in his place ; as, for in- 
stance he is called, " the head Stone of the 
corner," Psa. cxviii. 22. — " in Zion a precious 
corner Stone," Psa. xxviii. 16. by whom alone 
the other living stones of the spiritual house 
are renilered " acceptable to God ;" as St. Peter 
himself (previous to his citation of that text of 
Isaiah) has clearly declared, in his address to 
the Churches dispersed throughout Pontus, 
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, where- 
in he manifestly explains that very text of 
Isaiah, as follows : — " Ye also," says the apostle, 
" as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, 
a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices 
acceptable to God, by (or through) Jesus Christ." 
1 Pet. ii. 5. Thus plainly acknowledging the 
true foundation, on which the other living 
stones of the primitive Catholic Church were 
built, in order to render them " acceptable to 
God," as a " holy priesthood." 

From this whole argument of St. Peter, it is 
manifest that there cannot be any other true 
head of the Church than Christ himself; so 
that the pretence for setting up a vicarial head 
on earth is not only contrary to St. Peter's 
instruction to the eastern Churches, long after 
Christ's ascent into heaven; but also (with 
respect to the inexpediency and impropriety of 
acknowledging such a vicar on earth as the 
Roman pretender) is equally contrary to our 
Lord's own instruction to his disciples (and, of 
course, also contrary to the faith of the true 
primitive Catholic Church throughout the whole 
world) when he promised them that, " Where 
two or three are gathered together in my name 
(said our Lord Jesus, the true Rock of the 
Church), there am I in the midst of them," 
Matt, xviii. 20. 

So that the appointment of any vicar on earth 
to represent that Rock, or Eternal Head of the 
Church, whose continual presence, even with 
the smallest congregations on earth, is so ex- 
pressly promised, would be not only superfluous 
and vain, but must also be deemed a most 
ungrateful affront to the Benevolent Promiser 



112* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part IV. 



of his continual presence, such as must have been 
sug-gested by our spiritual enemies, to promote 
an apostacy from the only sure foundation, on 
which the faith, hope, and confidence of the true 
Catholic Church could be built and supported. 

A due consideration also of the second noun, 
neiqa, a rock, will demonstrate that the supreme 
title of the rock, which, in other texts of Holy 
Scripture, is applied to Jehovah, or God, alone, 
most certainly was not intended by our Lord 
to be understood as applicable to his disciple 
Peter ; but only to that true testimony which 
St. Peter had just before declared, concerning 
the divine dignity of the Messiah—" Thou art 
the Christ, tlie Son of the living God." 

I have already remarked, that nsToa, a rock, 
is a feminine noun ; and a clear distinction is 
maintained between nsTQog, the masculine noun 
in this text, and the said feminine noun tcstqu, 
the rock, by tlie grammatical terms in which the 
latter, in its relatives and articles, is expressed, 
which are all regularly feminine throughout the 
whole sentence, and thereby they demonstrate 
that our Lord did not intend that the new ap- 
pellation, or nominal distinction, which he had 
just before given to Simon (viz. nejqog, the 
masculine noun, in the beginning of the sen- 
tence) should be construed as the character of 
which he spoke in the next part of the sentence ; 
for, if he had really intended that construction, 
the same masculine noun, nsigoc, must neces- 
sarily have been repeated in the next part of 
the sentence with a masculine pronoun, viz. inl 
TOiiTW T(B Trerga, instead of inl ravryj T'iJ nixQa, 
the present text ; wherein, on the contrary, not 
only the gender is changed from the masculine 
to the feminine, but also the figurative charac- 
ter itself, which is as much superior in dignity 
to the apostle Simon, and also to his new ap- 
pellative neTQog, as a rock is superior to a mere 
stone. For the word nergog cannot signify 
any thing more than a stone ; so that the popish 
application to Peter (or tcstqoq) as the founda- 
tion of Christ's Church, is not only inconsistent 
with the real meaning of the appellative, which 
Christ at that very time conferred upon him, 
and with the necessary gi-amniatical construc- 
tion of it, but also with the figurative importance 
of the other word, neiqa, the rock; inl tuiitt} ttj 
nixon, " upon this rock," he declared the 
foundation of the Church, a title of dignity, 
which, as I have already shown by several 
texts of Scripture, is applicable only to God or 
to Christ. 

And observe further, that the application of 
this supreme title (the rock) to Peter, is incon- 
sistent, above all, with the plain reference to 
the preceding context, made by our Lord in the 
beginning of this very verse — " And I also say 
unto thee," which manifestly points out, botli 
by the copulative " and," and the connective 
adverb " also," the inseparable connection of 
this verse with the previous declaration of Peter, 



concerning our Lord's divine dignity in the 
preceding sentence, " Thou art the Christ, the 
Son of the living God ;" and thereby demon- 
strates that our Lord's immediate reply, " And 
I also say unto thee," &c., did necessarily in- 
clude this declaration of Peter, as being the 
principal object of the sentence- — the true 
foundation or rock, on which alone the Catholic 
Church can be properly built, because our faith 
in Christ (that he is truly " the Son of the living 
God") is unquestionably the only security, or 
rock, of our salvation. 

And Christ was also the rock, even of the 
primitive Church of Israel ; for St. Paul testi- 
fies, that "they (i. e. the hosts of Israel) did all 
drink of that spiritual drink, for they drank of 
that Spiritual Rock that followed them, and 
that Rock was Christ," I Cor. x. 4. And the 
Apostle, in a preceding chapter (1 Cor. iii. 11.) 
says, " other foundation can no man lay than 
that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 

It would exceed all due limits to attempt to 
discuss at full length the controversies which 
have divided Christians, when the peculiar 
passages of Scripture upon which each contro- 
versy principally depends, passes under con- 
sideration. The observations of Granville 
Sharp, which I have now extracted, appear to 
be deserving of attention. The various points 
which separate the Catholic and Protestant 
Churches will soon perhaps compel the more 
serious attention of the Protestant world, by the 
general revival and increase of popery, and the 
reaction in it? favor in a neighbouring country. 
And it may be considered the bounden duty of 
every theological student to make himself ac- 
quainted with the controversy existing between 
the Churches of England and Rome". 

The political discussions respecting the ex- 
tent of tlie privileges which the state may con- 
veniently assign to the members of the Church 
of Rome, have of late years so entirely absorbed 
public attention, that they have almost super- 
seded the religious argument, which is by far 
the most important part of the controversy ; in- 
asmuch as mistaken religious principle is the 
root of that system of action, which originally 
excited the vigilance of the legislature, and 
still requires a watchful superintendence. 



Note 19.— Part V. 

ON THE MEANING OF MATTHEW Xvi. 19. 

LiGHTFOOT has given us abundant proofs of the 
manner in which this expression was understood 

' See on this subject the Tracts of the Bishop 
of St. David's — the Tracts against Popery. The 
ninth volume of Bishop Hall's Works. Bishop 
Bull's Reply to the Bishop of Meaiix. Harrow's 
Pope's Supremacy, and many others. 



Note 19.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*113 



among the Jews, and tlie manner in wliich it 
consequently ought to be understood among 
Christians. The phrase TnnSl IIDnS " to bind 
and to loose,'" in the common language of the 
Jews, signified to prohibit, and to permit, or to 
teach what is proliibited or permitted, what is 
lawful or unlawful. Lightfoot then produces 
many instances, and goes on to observe : — by 
this sense of the phrase the intention of Christ 
is easily ascertained, namely, he first confers 
on the Apostles the ministerial power to teach 
what is to be done, and the contrary ; he confers 
tliis power on them as ministers, and on all 
their successors, to the end of the world. Their 
power was more extensive than that of others, 
because they received authority to prohibit or 
to allow those tilings that were ordained in the 
Law of Moses-'. 

In his Hebrew and Talmudical Exercitations 
on St. Matthew'', Lightfoot produces many more 
instances where the words "to loose and to 
bind " are applied in this sense ; and he shows 
that these words were first used in doctrine and 
in judgments, concerning things allowed or not 
allowed in the Law. Secondly, that to bind, is 
the same with to forbid, or to declare forbidden. 
To think that Christ, he continues, when he used 
the common phrase, was not understood by his 
hearers, in the common and vulgar sense, shall 
I call it a matter of laughter, or of madness ? 

To this, therefore, do these words amount : 
when the time was come wherein the Mosaic 
Law, as to some part of it, was to be continued 
and to last for ever, he granted Peter here, and 
to the rest of the apostles (chap, xviii. 18.), a 
power to abolish or confirm what they thought 
good ; being taught this, and led by the Holy 
Spirit, as if he should say, whatsoever ye shall 
bind in the Law of Moses, that is, forbid, it 
shall be forbidden, the divine authority confirm- 
ing it ; and whatsoever ye shall loose, that is, 
permit, or shall teach that it is permitted and 
lawful, shall be lawful and permitted. Hence 
they bound, that is, forbad, circumcision to the 
believers ; eating of things offered to idols, of 
things strangled, and of blood for a time, to the 
Gentiles ; and that which they bound on earth 
was confirmed in heaven. They loosed, that is, 
allowed, purification to Paul, and to four other 
brethren, for the shunning of scandal. Acts xxi. 
24. : and, in a word, by these words of Christ it 
was committed to them, the Holy Spirit direct- 
ing, that they should make decrees concerning 
religion, as to the use and rejection of Mosaic 
rites and judgments, and that either for a time 
or for ever. 

Let the words be applied, by way of para- 
phrase, to the matter that was transacted at 
present with Peter. " I am about to build a 

J Lightfoot's Harmony of the JV. T., IVorks, klio, 
vol. i. p. 238. 
* Vol. ii. p. 205. 

VOL. II. *15 



Gentile Church," saith Christ, " and to thee, O 
Peter, do I give the keys of the kingdom of 
heaven, that thou mayest first open the door of 
faith to them : but if thou askest by what rule ihat 
Cliurch is to be governed when the Mosaic rule 
may seem so improper for it, thou shall be so 
guided by the Holy Spirit, that whatsoever of 
the Law of Moses thou shalt forbid them, shall 
be forbidden ; whatsoever thou grantest them, 
shall be granted, and that under a sanction 
made in heaven." Hence in that instant, when 
he should use his keys, that is, when he was 
now ready to open the gate of the Gospel to 
the Gentiles (Acts x.), he was taught from 
heaven that the consorting of the Jew with 
the Gentile, which before had been bound, was 
now loosed ; and the eating of any creature 
convenient for food, was now loosed, which be- 
fore had been bound ; and he in like manner 
looses both these. 

Those words of our Saviour (John xx. 23.), 
" Whose sins ye remit, they are remitted to 
them," for the most part are forced to the same 
sense with these before us, when they carry 
quite another sense. Here the business is of 
doctrine only, not of persons ; there of persons, 
not of doctrine. Here of things lawful or unlaw- 
ful in religion, to be determined by the Apostles ; 
there of persons obstinate, or not obstinate, to 
be punished by them, or not to be punished. 

As to doctrine, the Apostles were doubly in- 
structed. 1. So long sitting at the feet of their 
Master, they had imbibed the evangelical 
doctrine. 

2. The Holy Spirit directing them, they were 
to determine concerning the legal doctrine and 
practice, being completely instructed and en- 
abled in both, by the Holy Spirit descending 
upon them. As to the persons, they were en- 
dowed with a peculiar gift, so that, the same 
Spirit directing them if they would retain, and 
punish the sins of any, a power was delivered 
into their hands of delivering to Satan, of pun- 
ishing with diseases, plagues, yea, death itself: 
which Peter did to Ananias and Sapphira; 
Paul to Elymas, Hymeneus, and Philetus, &c. 

Schoetgen' adds many instances to those 
collected by Lightfoot, that to loose and to bind 
signified to pronounce what was lawful and un- 
lawful ; clean and unclean ; condemned or per- 
mitted in the Mosaical Dispensation. From 
all which he infers, that among the Jews this 
power of binding and loosing was given to 
rabbis, or teachers, who were skilled in the Law, 

' Our Lord only asserts in very general terms, 
that the Apostles had power to decide what was ap- 
proved or disapproved of God ; but the Jews taught 
(Jalkut Simeoni, part i. fol. 225. 1.) whoever is ex- 
communicated one day on earth (although he be 
then absolved) is not pardoned in heaven until af- 
ter seven days : he who is thus condemned on 
earth for seven days, is absolved in heaven at the 
end of thirty. Sclioetgen, Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 



114* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part IV. 



and appointed to instruct tlie people, and that 
our Lord not only claimed to himself the same 
power which had hitherto been possessed by 
the Jewish teachers, but bestowed it upon his 
own disciples, and invested them in his new 
Dispensation with the same authority as that 
which had been hitherto exerted only by the 
Jewish teachers. 

The power of binding or loosing, of declaring 
what is lawful and what is unlawful, is evidently 
the highest power of governing ; and of im- 
posing laws for the guidance and direction of 
the spiritual society of the Church. It was the 
belief of the primitive Church, that this power 
was confided to the Apostles ; and, as far as 
the circumstances of the various Churclies may 
require, was continued to tlieir episcopal suc- 
cessors. The power of binding and loosing is 
generally called the power of the keys ; and con- 
sists of authority to admit into the Church, and 
to exclude from it ; and it implies, as the words 
of our Lord decidedly assert, the power to con- 
demn ybr sin, and to absolveyrom sin". 



Note 20.— Part IV. 
ON OUR lord's explicit declaration of 

THE NATURE OF HIS KINGDOM. 

Having now, by the force of his miracles, 
elicited from his disciples the declaration that 
He was the Messiah ; and having confirmed the 
truth of that declaration by the authority which 
he committed to the Apostles, our Lord pro- 
ceeded immediately to reveal more explicitly 
the real and spiritual nature of his Idngdom. 
At this moment every erroneous opinion that 
the Apostles, with all the Jewish nation, enter- 
tained respecting the nature of the Messiah's 
kingdom must have received the fullest con- 
firmation, and have given birth to the highest 
expectations. Peter was promised the keys of 
the kingdom of heaven, with authority to bind 
and to loose, to give laws, to pronounce what 
was clean and unclean. The temporal power 
and majesty of their Master, they supposed, 
were now to be developed, and with it their 
own honor and aggrandizement. They had 
seen his miracles ; they had confessed their 
faith ; they believed in Him as the long-expected 
Messiah ; they anticipated the establishment of 
his kingdom, and their own immmediate eleva- 
tion to wealth and dignity. (Sect. 15.) 

It was under these circumstances (compare 
Matt. xvi. 20., with v. 21.) that our Lord began 
to check the rising hopes of his followers, by 
disclosing to them the object of his incarnation ; 

"* See also this subject fully discussed in Potter's 
Church Government, chap. v. p. 330-361 ; Scott's 
Christian Life, folio edit, part ii. chap. vii. p. 492. 



that He, the Son of Man, who had so abun- 
dantly demonstrated his divine power, must go 
to Jerusalem, there suffer many things, to be 
rejected by the Chief Priests and Scribes, and, 
finally, be killed, and raised again the third day. 
Peter, who on all occasions was the principal 
speaker, and the most zealous of all the Apos- 
tles, could neither reconcile this assertion with all 
that he had so lately seen and heard, nor could 
repress his surprise and indignation at even the 
suggestion of such conduct. Our Lord, who 
knew the thoughts of his heart, and who read 
there tlie lurking desire of ambition and power, 
reproved him before the Twelve for his errone- 
ous notions, and for his shrinldng from the 
anticipation of humiliation and misfortune. He 
then, in allusion to his own sufferings, addressed 
the Apostles and the multitude, in the words of 
the latter part of the section. He assures his 
disciples of the absolute necessity of their taking 
up the cross, and of sacrificing even their lives 
for his sake and the Gospel's. He blends with 
these exhortations the assurance that He was 
the predicted Son of Man ; and that though he 
called upon them now to suffer with him. He 
would come again in the glory of his Father, 
the glory of the Shechinah, with his holy angels, 
as Daniel had foretold ; and in his spiritual 
kingdom he would reward them for their cour- 
age and devotion. It is not improbable that 
our Lord perceived some expression of surprise, 
or incredulity, upon the countenances of his 
disciples ; for He immediately cautions them 
against unbelief. He repeats his declaration, 
that He will again come in his own glory, and 
in the glory of his Father, and that even the 
present generation should witness it ; for there 
were some who were present, who should not 
die till they had seen the Son of Man come in 
his kingdom. By the term " glory, " in these 
passages, doSa, the Jews understood the bright 
flame, and cloud, the glory of the Shechinah, in 
which the Angel Jehovah was accustomed to 
appear to the ancient fathers". 

There is a beautiful passage in Habakkuk, in 
which the prophet describes the appearance of 
the Shechinah which led the Israelites out of 
Egypt, into the wilderness of Paran : — 

" God came from Teman, 
And the Holy One from Mount Paraii, 
His glory covered the heavens. 
His brightness was as the light." 

In these expressions the prophet seems to 

" See on the identity of the glory in which our Lord 
appeared, with the glory of the Shechinah ; Schoet- 
gen, Horce Hebraicce, vol. i. p. 324 ; and particularly 
p. 542, on Rom. ix. 4, on the words tui ?, clCiu— 
" Hac voce intelligitur Shechina sive majestas di- 
viria quae alias a Grsecis Soia vocabatur." See also 
Dan. Heinsius, Exercitationes Sacra, p. 220 ; and 
particularly p. 198, in Johan. where this is proved 
at great length. Witsius, De Glorificatione in Mon- 
te, Melet. Leidens. sect. 30. 



Note 21, 22.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*115 



anticipate the description of the Evangelists. 
Bishop Horsley remarks, that the description 
of HabakJiuk in this passage is that of the She- 
chinah ; and he supposes that tlie expression, 
(Habak. iii. 11.) 

. " At the light of thine arrows they went, 
And at the shining of Uiy glittering spear," 

refers to the darting forth of the rays of light 
from the body of the flame of the Shechinah, 
«hich might resemble that of the streamings of 
the Aurora Borealis. Whether the Shechinah 
in which the Angel Jehovah, the Lord Jesus, 
shall come to judgment, shall be of this de- 
scription, or whether it shall be as the self- 
revolving flame which was stationed at the 
gate of Paradise, or the bright cloud which on 
tlie day of the transfiguration overshadowed 
the disciples and their Lord, we cannot now 
decide. But of this we may be assured, that 
ive shall all behold this Great and Wonderful 
and Divine Personage. Like his disciples, we 
must become his associates, or we shall be ban- 
ished from that Presence as unworthy of his 
sublime contemplation. 



Note 21.— Part IV. 

Bishop Porteus remarks, that this passage 
is commonly supposed to refer to the signal 
manifestation of Christ's power in the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem. But, he continues, we know 
of no one of Christ's disciples that survived this 
event but St. John ; and our Saviour speaks 
of more than one. In the 27th verse we read, 
tlie Son of Man shall come in the glory of his 
Father, to reward every man according to his 
works, which undoubtedly relates to Cluist's 
final advent. When, therefore, it immediately 
follows in the next verse, " there be some stand- 
ing here which shall not taste of death tUl they 
see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom ; " 
is it not most natural, is it not almost necessary, 
to understand these similar expressions as re- 
lating to the same great event ? Now as Christ 
could not here mean to say, that some of his 
disciples should live till the day of judgment, 
he only meant to intimate that a few of them, 
before his death, should be favored with a rep- 
resentation of the glorious appearance of Christ 
and his saints, as they should be seen in the 
air on that awful day. And this promise was 
fiilfilled a few days after, when he was trans- 
figured before them on the mountain. 

The whole transaction is described in the 
same terms, as St. John in the Revelation ap- 
plies to the Son of Man in his state of glory in 
heaven (Rev. i. 13-16.) St. Luke calls his ap- 
pearance, after being transfigured, " his oiory^" 
St. John uses the same expression, " We beheld 
his glory, as of the Only-begotten of the Father: " 



and St. Peter, the other witness, refers to it in a 
similar manner, 2 Pet. i. 16-18. Bishop Por- 
teus's Lectures, p. 56. 

Whitby reasons at some length against this 
interpretation of the account of the transfigura- 
tion. He would refer it rather to the day of 
judgment. On considering, however, the par- 
allel passages, as they are placed together in 
this arrangement, I cannot think his conclusions 
correct. The mamier in which our Lord ap- 
peared at his transfiguration, undoubtedly ap- 
pears to have been the same as that in which 
he will again descend from heaven. In this 
sense, his being glorified at the transfiguration 
may be considered the type of his future glory ; 
and Christ may be said to have come at that 
time in the glory of his future kingdom. 



Note 22.— Part IV. 

ON THE transfiguration. 

Having now prepared the minds of his dis- 
ciples for his approaching sufierings and death, 
our Lord, for the greater confirmation of their 
faith in all the predicted trials that awaited 
them, determines to manifest himself to them in 
his glorified state : in that state, we may be- 
lieve, in which He was before the world began, 
in which He is at present, in which also He 
will appear to an assembled world. He sets 
before them, as his custom was, by a significant 
action, a demonstration of the truth of what He 
had told them, that some of them should see 
their King in liis glory. The transfiguration 
of Christ, like his resurrection and ascension, 
appears as it were to draw back for a moment 
the veil from the invisible world. The impene- 
trable barrier is passed ; a light seems to dart 
from heaven to disperse the thick clouds that 
hang over the valley of the shadow of death, 
and we are admitted into the presence of the 
Judge of the world ; and see, with the eye of 
faith, the spirits of the just made perfect, before 
we are called upon to resign this corruptible 
body to the shroud and to the tomb. Where 
the spirits of the departed exist, what their con- 
dition, or what their laws of consciousness, or 
means of happiness, man must die before he 
can ascertain. But it is not improbable that 
the invisible world is so mysteriously connected 
with this visible, diurnal sphere, that the cessa- 
tion of our consciousness, as to present things, 
is but the commencement of our consciousness 
of all those unknown realities of the other 
world. Who can say, that we are not at this 
moment surrounded — that we are not at every 
period of our lives encompassed — with a crowd 
of angelic spirits, the anxious witnesses of our 
thoughts and actions ? 



116* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part IV. 



" Millions of spiritual beings walk the earth 
Unseen, both when we wake, and when we 
sleep : " 

and it is only the fragile veil of this body that 
prevents us from distinguishing them ; as soon 
as that is dissolved we shall become spirits 
among spirits. 

Bishop Porteus, in his beautiful and elegant 
discourse on this portion of Scripture, observes, 
that the evident tendency of the whole passage 
is to prepare the minds of his disciples for the 
cruel treatment which both He and they were 
to undergo, and at the same time to raise their 
drooping spirits, by setting before their eyes 
his own exaltation, and their glorious rewards 
in another life. The very mentioning of Christ's 
death, by such men as Moses and Elias, without 
any marks of surprise or dissatisfaction, was of 
itself sufficient to cause a great change in the 
sentiments of the disciples respecting those 
sufferings ; and to soften those prejudices 
against them, the removal of which seems to 
have been one of the more immediate objects 
of the transfiguration. He continues by re- 
marking, that the circumstance of Christ's 
assumption of this splendid and glorious ap- 
pearance at the very time Moses and Elias 
were conversing with him on his suifering-s, 
was a visible and striking proof to his disciples, 
that those sufferings were neither a discredit 
nor disgrace to him, but were perfectly con- 
sistent with the dignity of his character, and 
the highest state of glory to wliich he could be 
exalted. The transfiguration of Christ may be 
considered as a visible and figurative represen- 
tation of Christ's coming in glory to judge the 
world, of a general resurrection, and of a day 
of retribution. For although the resurrection 
is not expressly mentioned in this transaction, 
it is evidently and distinctly implied ; because 
Jesus is there represented in his glorified state, 
consequently the resurrection must be supposed 
to have taken place. In the preceding section 
we read that when Christ should come again in 
glory, he would reward every man according to 
his works (v. 27.), and in confirmation of the 
truths of a resurrection, and a day of retribu- 
tion, Moses and Elias, two just and righteous 
men, who had for many centuries before de- 
parted out of this world, were brought back to 
it again in the possession of a state of glory. 
Elias, having been carried up into heaven with- 
out seeing death, most aptly represents those 
children of light who should be found alive at 
the last day ; and Moses shadows forth the glo- 
rious perfection of those blessed spirits who 
have died in the Lord, and who in the day of 
judgment, their body and soul being united and 
glorified, will receive the reward of their works. 
The glory of Christ, therefore, on the mountain 
was a symbol of liis exaltation to be the Judge 
of the earth, and the glory of Moses and Elias 
was an earnest of a resurrection, and of the re- 



wards and happiness prepared for the righteous 
in heaven. The other great purpose of the 
action on the mount was, to give a figurative 
signification of the abrogation of the Mosaical 
Law, and the commencement of the Christian 
Dispensation, upon which it was to be estab- 
lished. Moses and Elias, as the representatives 
of the Law and the Prophets, who had succes- 
sively testified of the promised Messiah, it 
appears to me, were now, in their glorified 
state, permitted to behold on earth the mag- 
nificent completion of all their predictions ; and 
by their farewell testimony to the truth of his 
Divinity afford to man the most powerful evi- 
dence that human reason could either receive 
or require. By their testimony they acknowl- 
edged the accomplishment of all their prophe- 
cies, and that the commencement of the Mes- 
siah's kingdom was established on the Law and 
the Prophets ; and when the disciples, in an 
ecstasy of happiness, desired to erect three 
tabernacles, God himself proclaimed, " This is 
my beloved Son, hear — hear te him ! " Moses 
and Elias instantly disappear, overshadowed by 
the bright cloud, and Christ alone remains the 
undivided object of all their worship. To Him 
alone are they to build their altars ; to Him 
alone are they to look for happiness and glory ; ' 
and He shall come again with his holy angels, 
and ten thousand times ten thousand shall 
stand before him. The great day wliich God 
has appointed for the duration of this earth is 
rapidly rolling round, with all its successive 
generations ; and He who created man in the 
morning of that day, shall descend again from 
heaven in judgment, when its hour of evening 
closes. His glory then will fill the skies, and 
these stupendous but inferior manifestations 
of his Godhead are but as the morning stars, 
which shall be lost in the glory of that mag- 
nificent sun which shall then beam upon the 
gathered universe. Inspiration itself seems to 
labor under the description of that day. Lan- 
guage fails before the glories and overwhelming 
splendors of the invisible world. " Eye hath 
not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered 
into the heart of man to conceive, what God 
iiath prepared for them that love him." 

The best treatise on the important event we 
are now considering, is that by Witsius, in the 
Meletemata Lcidensia. It is too long to trans- 
late ; but as the book itself is not often to be 
met with, I shall subjoin an abstract of the 
reasoning of the learned author. 

The matter of his treatise is arranged under 
four general heads. 

1. The circumstances. 

2. The glorifying. 

3. The adjuncts. 

4. The sequel. 

These again are subdivided, as follows : — 
The circumstances. — Time, place, persons. 
The glorifying. — Person and apparel ; con- 



Note 22.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*117 



verse with Moses and Elias ; attestation from 
God the Fatlier. 

Adjuncts. — Wealmess of the Apostles ; indul- 
gence shown them by Jesus ; interruption by 
St. Peter. 

Sequel. — Fear of the beholders on his de- 
scent; comfort imparted by Christ; secrecy 
enjoined, and observed by the Apostles. 

The circumstances of the peculiar prophecy 
of the time in which our Lord was transfigured 
have been already noticed. The place is un- 
certain, but is generally supposed to have been 
Mount Tabor. 

The icitnesses were few in number ; but they 
were the same as were required by the Law to 
testify the truth of any fact. Peter, James, and 
John were selected as the most eminent among 
the disciples. 

The transfiguration took place while Christ 
v/as in the act of prayer. 

The nature of the change produced in the 
person, face, and garments of Christ cannot be 
comprehended in this state of our existence. 

The transfiguration took place on our Lord's 
account as well as on our own. The weak- 
ness of his human nature might require such 
support. But it was principally for our sakes, 
that we might believe that Christ was the true 
Messiah. 

The reasons why Moses and Elias appeared 
were, that Moses was the founder of the Jewish 
polity, and Elias was the reformer of the Jewish 
Church, and the most zealous of its prophets. 
Their presence implied, that the ministry of 
Christ was attested by the Law and the 
Prophets. 

Witsius then inquires, Were these persons 
really visible, or merely phantoms in their 
shape .' There is no difliculty about Elias, who 
having been translated in body, may easily be 
conceived to have come down from heaven to 
Christ on the mountain. But how did Moses 
appear, who died and was buried ? From the 
dispute between Michael and the Devil about 
the body of Moses, some imagine that his body 
was preserved from corruption, for the express 
purpose of being restored to him on this occa- 
sion. But however this be, his body certainly 
might have been restored to him ; and it seems 
most probable that such was the case. Whether 
he returned with Elias to heaven, or tarried 
upon the earth to accompany Christ in his 
ascent, is a question of curiosity, sect. 15. 

But how could the Apostles tell who Moses 
and Elias were .' Most probably either by 
divine revelation, or by some emblematical 
tokens, or by the conversation which passed 
between them and Christ, sect. 16. 

They appeared in glory, partly to do honor 

to their Lord, partly to give the Apostles an 

idea of glorified bodies, which they themselves 

should afterwards possess in heaven, sect. 17. 

They talked to our Saviour about his impend- 



ing death, not to point out to him what he had 
to suifer, but that they might assert the mo- 
mentous truth, that the salvation of the human 
race depended entirely on the death of Christ, 
sect. 19. 

Adjuncts. — Drowsiness of the Apostles. — This 
might have happened because it was night, or 
because they were fatigued with ascending the 
mountain, or from the length of Christ's prayers, 
sect. 20. 

The proposal of Peter was inconsiderate, but 
proceeded from a love of his master and zeal 
for his service. It must be dehghtful, he 
thought, to continue for some time longer in the 
enjoyment of such celestial society ; and with a 
view of discovering the will of the Lord, he 
said, " It is good that we should remain here," 
sect. 2.3 and 24. 

The bright cloud was a symbol of the Divine 
Presence, while it seiTed to shroud God's glory. 
Its brightness was contrasted with the darloiess 
and terror that accompanied the descent of Je- 
hovah on former occasions, pointing out the 
mild character of the New Dispensation. It 
also served to prevent the Apostles from looking 
into mysteries, by observing what became of 
the glorified bodies of Moses and Elias, sect. 30. 

The words that were heard to proceed from 
the cloud, are extremely emphatical and impor- 
tant — " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
well pleased ; hear ye him." These v/ords 
contain a declaration of the glorious nature of 
Christ, joined with an injunction to obey him — 
" Hear ye Him :" i. e. Hear Him alone ; where 
there is a tacit contrast with Moses and Elias. 
Christ indeed came to confirm the Law and the 
Prophets ; but he came in a character so trans- 
cendently elevated, that the twinkling sparks of 
the Old Covenant were absorbed in the blaze 
of his Gospel, sect. 33. 

The sum and substance of the Gospel is con- 
tained in this concise declaration from above. 
We are herein told who and what He is, whom 
the Father appointed for the Saviour of the 
human race ; His Only Son ; the object of his 
love ; dear beyond all created beings, sect. 34. 

A most consoling truth ; since the only Son 
of God, for our sakes, was consigned to such 
cruel tortures and so di-eadful a death, sect. -35. 

Sequel. — Fear of the Apostles. — This miglit 
arise from the awful sound of the Voice which 
they heard ; but it was chiefly occasioned by 
visible symbols of the presence of the Divine 
Majesty, sect. 39. 

They saw no one but Jesus only. It was not 
fit tlrat Moses and Elias should remain on the 
earth any longer, as tb-eir ministry was not to 
be confounded and mixed with that of Christ 
and with the apostolic functions, sect. 42. 

The Apostles were commanded by Clu-ist 
not to divulge what they had seen till after his 
resurrection. The foUoiving reasons are as- 
sisrned : — Christ was at that time in his state of 



118* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part IV. 



humiliation, and he ever conducted himself with 
a modesty agreeable to that state ; He therefore 
avoided every kind of display. The Apostles 
were not yet qualified to publish these things, 
by power given them from above. If they had 
done so, they would not have been believed by 
the Jews, until after a more public demonstra- 
tion of his glory, in his resurrection and ascen- 
sion, sect. 43. 

The fidelity of the Apostles on this occasion 
is praiseworthy : although they disputed with 
each other what the resurrection from the dead 
might mean, yet they scrupulously observed the 
injunction of secrecy, sect. 45. 

Such is the brief outline of Witsius' learned 
Treatise on the Transfiguration. He has omit- 
ted, however, to notice the peculiar circumstance 
related Mark ix. 15., that the people who beheld 
our Saviour coming from the mountain were 
amazed at his appearance. Doddridge agrees 
with the conjecture of Whitby, tliat it is prob- 
able our Lord's face shone with rays of glory, 
as the face of Moses did when he came down 
from the mount. Pilkington likewise proposes 
the same idea, as if it was entirely his own. 
" I hope to be excused," he says, " in offering 
a conjecture to illustrate an expression in this 
section, which hath generally been passed over 
by the commentators without any remark. It 
is here said, that the people were greatly 
amazed when they beheld Jesus coming unto 
them ; and no satisfactory account hath been 
given of their surprise or astonishment ; which, 
I am induced to think, proceeded from some 
rays of the heavenly glory, which yet rested on 
our Saviour, and were visible unto them. We 
cannot now well read of the people being 
greatly amazed at the sight of him, without 
recollecting what happened to Moses, when he 
had been more immediately in the Divine Pres- 
ence ; that, at his return to the people, the skin 
of his face shone so, that Aaron and the chil- 
dren of Israel were afraid to come nigh him, 
Exod. xxxiv. 30. And the reader may likewise 
observe, that the word ixda/xOsofiai, which is 
here translated, ' to be greatly amazed,' is used 
by St. Mark, in another place, to signify, par- 
ticularly, the being astonished and terrified at 
a glorious and supernatural appearance," chap, 
xvi. 5, 6. 

In addition to these remarks, it must be ob- 
served, that there were traditions among the 
Jews, that Moses and Elias should return to 
earth during the reign of the Messiah. — Schoet- 
gen, to prove this, quotes Dehaiim Rabba, sect. 
3. fol. 255. 2. and Tanchuma, fol. 42. 1. HorcB 
HcbraiccB, vol. 1. p. 148. 

It may be remarked here, that one Evangel- 
ist, in relating the transfiguration, states, that 
Jesus went up into the mountain six days after 
the previous conversation (vide the preceding 
section), and by another that it was eight days. 
This discrepancy is easily reconciled. St. Mat- 



thew marks the interval of six complete days ; 
whereas St. Luke takes into calculation the day 
on which tire conversation was held, and that 
likewise on which the transfiguration took place ; 
making thereby eight days. 

The sleep of Peter and the Apostles does not 
appear to be generally understood. Some sup- 
pose, that as St. Luke has mentioned this cir- 
cumstance in the midst of his narrative, the 
disciples were asleep during the time of the 
transfiguration, and while Moses and Elias were 
conversing with our Lord. The passage in St. 
Luke must be considered as in a parenthesis ; 
and seems to imply that the Apostles had fallen 
asleep most probably from fatigue, the difiicult 
ascent, or, as others suppose, from the length 
of time in which our Lord continued in prayer. 
Whatever might have been the cause, they 
were certainly awoke from their lethargy by 
the celestial glory that surrounded them. 

Bishop Hall, in his Contemplations, has also 
many admirable remarks on the subject of the 
transfiguration. He arranges his matter under 
the four heads : — of Time, Place, Attendants, and 
Company. His devotional thoughts on the vari- 
ous particulars are eminently beautiful"". 



Note 23.— Part IV. 

The transfiguration of Christ was intended 
to reconcile the minds of the Apostles to the 
sufferings and death of Christ, and to remove 
the inveterate prejudices that prevailed among 
them, and the Jewish converts in general : 1st. 
With regard to his sufferings, which they con- 
ceived to be inconsistent with his dignity. And 
2dly, with regard to the ceremonial Law, which 
they were persuaded was not done away with 
by the Gospel, but that they were to exist to- 
gether in full force, and to be equally obeyed. 
This prejudice continued for many years after 
our Lord's resurrection. St. Paul tells us. Acts 
xxi. 20., " several thousand Jews believed, and 
yet were all zealous of the Law." And it was 
the suspicion that St. Paul had forsaken, and 
taught others to forsake Moses, which brought 
his life in most imminent danger, and actually 
occasioned his imprisonment (Acts xxi. 28-36). 
No wonder, then, that our Lord should impose 
silence on his Apostles at this period of his 
ministry, on the subject of the abolition of the 
Law of Moses. — Bishop Porteus's Lecture, p. 65. 

" Hall's Contemplations, Works, Pratt's London 
edition, 10 vols. 8vo. vol. ii. p. 374. — See also Por- 
teus's Works, vol. V. lecture 15. Dr. Holmes also, 
late Dean of Winchester, the Collator of the Sep- 
tuagint, in a sermon, preached at Oxford, 1777, 
has expressed the same opinions as those of Bishop 
Porteus. — Witsius, Mehtcmnta Lcidensia, Diss. iv. 
De Glorif. in Monte, p. 215. — Whitby in loc. — 
Doddridge, Fam. Expos, sect. 90 and 91. — Pilking- 
ton, Evan. Hist, notes, p. 85. — Schoetgen, Hora 
Hebraiccp, vol. i. p. 148. 



Note 24.-2G.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*119 



Note 24.— Part IV. 

The three Apostles had now beheld their 
God, companion, and friend, the Messiah, in his 
glorified state ; in tliat form and manner in 
which he had appeared to the patriarchs and 
prophets of the ancient time, and in which 
he will ag-ain appear when he shall come 
to judge the living and the dead. After this 
sublime disclosure of his celestial dignity, he 
continually reminded his disciples, and by that 
means prepared their minds for the approach 
of his degrading, cruel, and painful death. The 
saying was hid from them — it was incomprehen- 
sible—they understood it not. For the doctrine 
of the atonement, although prefigured by the 
types, and taught in the institutions of the Law, 
and still more clearly revealed by the Prophets, 
was not thoroughly understood till life and im- 
mortality were brought to light by the Gospel. 
This doctrine was to the Apostles, as well as to 
their countrymen, a stumbling-block. It was, 
and it will ever be, foolishness to the Greek, 
and to all who assimilate to the same specula- 
tive, presumptuous, and philosophizing charac- 
ter. Human reason must here be submitted to 
the Gospel. There must be a prostration of 
the pride of human intellect at the foot of the 
cross, before men with proper humility can 
believe in the salvation purchased for them 
through the atonement of a Divine Being for 
the sins of man. He who rejects this doctrine 
counts the blood of the covenant an unholy 
thing, and violently separates the bond of love 
which unites a fallen man to the mercy of his 
Creator. 



Note 25.— Part IV. 

It is uncertain whether the tribute demanded 
of our Lord was the half-shekel for the service 
of the temple, or the common taxes required 
by the rulers of the country. Both Lightfoot'' 
and Whitby^ have adopted the former opinion, 
which seems to be more consistent with our 
Lord's reasoning, that he was the son of that 
King for whose use the tribute was demanded. 
The conduct of our Lord in this instance affords 
a striking example to all mankind, quietly to 
submit to all the laws and customs of their 
country, which are not hostile to Christianity. 

Jones' considers this as another significant 
action, and remarks on it — " I have a notion of 
my own, for which I can produce no authority 
of any commentator, that the three orders of 
animals, the fowls of the air, the beasts of the 
earth, and the fishes of the sea, represent three 
states of being ; the fowls of the air, the angelic 

^ Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 212. 

" Whitby in loc. 

' Jones's Figurativi Language of Scripturt. 



or spiritual nature, both bad and good ; the land 
animals, the present state of man's life ; the 
fish of the sea, the state of the dead, who are 
silent and invisible. This may appear strange 
and visionary to those who have not considered 
it; but if the distinction is founded on the 
Scripture, then the fish that first cometh up, is 
he that first cometh up from the dead, as Christ 
did, \he first fruits of them that slept : and as he 
rose for our justification, he brought with him 
our ransom, to be paid for those who have no 
tribute money of their own to give. With this 
sense the case was worthy of the divine inter- 
position." I insert this as a curious specimen 
of Jones's interpretation of Scripture ; it is fan- 
ciful, but ingenious. 

.Dr. Owen (apud Bowyer, p. 103) has justly 
observed, that the omission of our translators 
to mark the difference between the didrachma 
(ver. 24) and the stater (ver. 27) has obscured 
and enervated the whole account. The stater 
was equal in value to the didrachma, which was 
equivalent to the half-skekel demanded'^ (Exod. 
XXX. 11-16. and xxxviii. 25-28.) for the ser- 
vice of the temple. 



Note 26.— Part IV. 

The ambitious dispute of the disciples, con- 
cerning their precedency in the kingdom of 
heaven, proves that not even the repeated pre- 
dictions of our Saviour's suflferings and death 
could banish from the minds of his followers 
their preconceived ideas respecting the Mes- 
siah's kingdom. To correct this prevailing 
error, our Saviour now resorts to a different 
mode of undeceiving them. He places a little 
child before them, assuring them, that unless 
they were converted, that is, unless they be- 
came as unambitious and as humble, as mild, 
as meek, and as regardless of all temporal 
power and distinctions as a little child, they 
could not even be admitted into the kingdom 
of heaven. Humility is the characteristic 
virtue of Christianity ; and the highest rewards 
of heaven are promised to the most humble and 
meek : " for he that is least among you all, the 
same shall be great." 

The reason, Michaelis observes on this 
conversation, why apparent contradictions are 
unavoidable in the deposition of several eye- 
witnesses to the same transaction is easy to 
be assigned. They do not all observe every 
minute circumstance of the transaction, but 
some pay particular attention to one circum- 
stance, others, to another ; this occasions a 
variation in their accounts, which it is some- 
times difficult to reconcile. This happened 

'^ See on this subject Elsley in loc, Lightfoot ut 
supra, and Schoetgen's Remarks on Lightfool, 
Hora Hcbrairce, vol. i. p. 151. 



120* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part IV. 



likewise to the Evangelists, as I will illustrate 
by the following instance : — St. Matthew, ch. 
xviii. 1-14., and St. Mark, ch. ix. 33-50., relate 
the same transaction, but in different points of 
view, and for that reason appear, at first sight, 
to contradict each other. 

St. Matthew says, "At the same time came 
the disciples unto Jesus, and said, ' Who is the 
greatest in the kingdom of heaven ? ' " St. Mark, 
on the contrary, "He came to Capernaum, and 
being in the house, he asked them, 'What was 
it that ye disputed among yourselves by the 
way ? ' But they held their peace : for by the 
way they had disputed among themselves, who 
should be the greatest." According to St. 
Matthew, the disciples themselves lay the 
subject of their dispute before Jesus for his de- 
cision : but, according to St. Mark, they even 
refi>se to relate the subject of their dispute, 
though Jesus requested it, because they were 
conscious to themselves that it would occasion 
a reproof The question is, how these accounts 
are to be reconciled. 

Without entering into the various solutions 
which have been given by the commentators, 
I shall only observe, that, as this transaction 
relates to a matter of dispute among the disci- 
ples, it has of course two different sides, and is 
therefore capable of two different representa- 
tions. Some of the disciples laid claim to the 
title of the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, 
among whom we may probably reckon Peter, 
with the two sons of Zebedee, James and John. 
These could hardly expect to escape a reproof, 
and were undoubtedly ashamed, when ques- 
tioned as to the subject of their dispute. Other 
disciples, on the contrary, may be considered 
as the party attacked, who, without claiming 
tlie first rank for themselves, might yet think it 
unjust to be treated as inferiors, since they all 
appeared to be equal. The latter had less 
reason to fear a reproof, since the pure morality 
of Christ, which teaches that every action must 
be estimated by the motives which gave it birth, 
was not then fully understood by his disciples. 
In their outward behaviour, at least, there was 
nothing unreasonable ; and, without being 
guilty of a breach of propriety, they might lay 
their complaints before their Master, and re- 
quest liis decision. It is probable that St. Mat- 
thew was of this party, since a man, who was 
by profession a tax-gatherer, and never particu- 
larly distinguished himself among the apostles, 
would have hardly supposed that he should 
become tlie first in the kingdom of God. He 
relates the transaction, tlierefore, as one of that 
party to which he belonged. St. Mark, on the 
contrary, who derived information from St. 
Peter, considers the matter from an opposite 
point of view. Let us suppose the full sto,te of 
the case to be as follows. 

Some of the disciples, who were of tiie diffi- 
dent party, and laid no claim to the first rank, 



bring the matter before Christ, with the same 
kind of indignation as was displayed by ten of 
the apostles on another occasion, Matt. xx. 24. 
Christ reserves the decision of the dispute till 
they were entered into the house, where they 
were accustomed to meet; he then calls his 
disciples together, and inquires into the subject 
of their dispute, to which Peter, James, John, 
and those in general who had claim to pre- 
eminence make no answer. If tlie transaction 
was literally as here described, it is by no means 
impossible that Matthew and Mark might con- 
sider it from different points of view, and write 
what we find in their Gospels without the least 
violation of truth. The one relates one part 
and the otlaer another part of the transaction ; 
but neither of them relates the whole. If we 
read a few verses further in St. Mark's Gospel, 
we find a circumstance recorded of St. John, 
which St. Matthew passes over in silence, and 
from which it appears that St. John was more 
concerne d in this dispute than most of the other 
disciples. He even ventured, when Christ, 
with a view of introducing a perfect equality 
among his disciples, said, " Whosoever shall 
receive one of these children in my name, re- 
ceiveth me," to doubt of the universality of this 
position, alleging, tliat persons of unexception- 
able character might appeal to the name of 
Jesus, and giving an instance of one who had 
cast out devils in his name, whom the apostles 
had rebuked, Mark ix. 37-38. This again 
occasioned replies from Christ; which, though 
they are mentioned by St. Matthew, have in his 
Gospel a different appearance, and are attend- 
ed with less perspicuity than they are in St. 
Mark's Gospel, because St. Matthew has not 
related the causes which gave them birth. — 
Marsh's Michaelis, vol. iii. part 1. p. 6-9. 



Note 27.— Part IV. 

This is one of the most diSicult passages in 
the New Testament. Beza and Mr. Gilpin 
suppose it to mean, " Every Christian is purified 
by the difficult or fiery trials of life, in the same 
manner as (xul for cbc, as in John xiv. 20. and 
Mark x. 12.) every sacrifice is salted with salt." 

Macknight would read, " Every Christian is 
salted and prepared (jtu^;) for tlie fire," (in the 
dative, as 2 Pet. iii. 7.) i. e. by the apostles for 
the fire of the altar, i. e. as a holy sacrifice to 
God. 

Whitby would render in this manner, " Every 
wicked man shall be so seasoned by the fire 
itself, as to become unconsumable ; and shall 
endure for ever to be tormented." 

Grotius, "Every wicked man shall be con- 
sumed, like the whole burnt sacrifice, yet v,-ith 
unquenchable fire." 

Lightfoot and Doddridge, " He tliat is a true 



Note 2S. 1.-3.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



421 



sacrifice to God shall be seasoned with the salt 
of grace, to the incorruption of glory ; and every 
victim to divine justice shall be salted with fire, 
to endure for ever." 

Clarke, in his Paraphrase, thus interprets 
this verse, " For as every burnt ofiering under 
the Law was first salted with salt, and then 
consumed by fire ; so every one who has been 
instructed in the doctrine of the Gospel, if when 
he is tried, he shall be found deficient, or not 
seasoned, he shall be destroyed by the eternal 
fire of the divine wrath." And he then observes 
in a note from Le Clerc, that tlie emphasis 
of the comparison lies in tlie ambiguity of the 
word r\hD% which signifies both, shall he salted, 
and shall be destroyed. As every sacrifice is 
salted, nSa% with salt, so every apostate shall be 
destroyed, nSo" (in the other signification of 
the word) with fire. 

Schoetgen supposes that an allusion is made 
to the salt, or bitumen, witli which the sacrifices 
were sprinkled, that they might burn more 
easily. He also interprets the passage, " that 
as every sacrifice must be prepared for the 



altar, by the salt which was set apart for that 
purpose, so ought Christians to be imbued with 
the heavenly virtues, to become a living sac- 
rifice to God." He renders the word y.al by 
queinadmodum, on the authority of Noldius. 

Schoetgen, Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 249. Elsley, 
and Clarke's Paraphrase in loc. 



Note 28.— Pakt IV. 

In this passage also our Lord reasserts his 
Divinity. The Jews were accustomed to say, 
that the Shechinah was present where ten were 
assembled to study the Law. The Shechinah 
was considered as the emblem and the resi- 
dence of God. It was used also in some in- 
stances as the name of God. Our Lord here 
assumes to himself the powers and honors 
which the Jews attributed to the Shechinah. — 
Schoetgen, Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 153. and Gill 
in loc. 



PART V. 



Note I. — Part V. 

There is very little difierence of opinion be- 
tn^een the harmonizers as to the place of this 
section. Michaelis, indeed, does not attempt 
to insert it in its probable order, but connects 
it arbitrarily with the mission of the Twelve, 
as a parallel event. Lightfoot endeavours to 
prove that our Lord commissioned the Seventy, 
on his way to Jerusalem, to keep the feast of 
Tabernacles. He supposes, too, that they re- 
turned to our Lord within a very short time, 
even before Christ left Jerusalem. His prin- 
cipal arguments are derived from the expres- 
sion fier^ Tama, Luke x. 1., and that in John 
vii. 10., that he went not up to the feast openly : 
from whence he concludes that the Seventy 
had been previously dismissed. Pilkington 
places this event about the same time, partly 
on account of the latter argument. Doddridge 
and Newcome would refer it also to this 
period; but at a longer interval, before the 
feast : and Doddridge observes, that the space 
between the feast of Tabernacles and the feast of 
Dedication affords but little time for his proposed 
circuit round Galilee after the mission of the 
Seventy. Lightfoot's last argument has con- 
siderable weight with all. 

VOL. II. *]6 



Note 2.— Part V. 

Moses, in the Levitical dispensation, direct- 
ed that six should be returned from each of the 
twelve tribes (whether as a permanent or tem- 
porary council is disputed) to assist him in the 
government of the people ; and these seventy- 
two are generally called the Seventy. Light- 
foot, Selden, and Whitby assert that the San- 
hedrin were rightly called the Seventy, Moses 
himself being the president, and making the 
seventy-first. 

The same difference of opinion prevails 
respecting the number sent forth by our Lord. 
Origen and Epiphanius make them seventy- 
two ; TertuUian and Jerome seventy, as do 
also Clemens Alexandrinus and Irenaeus. 



Note 3.— Part V. 

This section is placed here upon the united 
authorities of Newcome, Pilkington, and Dod- 
dridge. Lightfoot inserts John vii. 2. to 10. in 
his fifty-sLsth section, before the mission of the 
Seventy ; and ver. 10. in a separate section 
with Luke ix. 51. to the end. He has done 



122* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part V. 



this on the supposition that the Seventy were 
sent forth on the road to Jerusalem, but not in 
Galilee. The difference between Lightfoot and 
the other harmonizers, however, is so slight, 
that it seemed to require but little notice. I 
have placed Matt xix. 1. and Mark x. 1. at the 
end of this section, in their most probable 
natural order, and on the authority of Pilkington. 



Note 4. — Part V. 

The brethren of our Lord had long seen his 
miracles, and were satisfied, either that he was 
the Messiah, or a great prophet ; and they were 
desirous that his claims and miraculous powers 
should be manifested to the world. They 
co'uld not reconcile the unostentatious and 
humble life of their Master with his extraordi- 
nary display of divine attributes. And, perhaps 
for a better confirmation of their faith under 
these doubts, they use every argument to 
persuade our Saviour to go to Judsea, that his 
wonderful works might be generally known and 
witnessed. But they understood not that his 
hour was not yet come ; and, to avoid giving 
offence, or attracting attention, he followed his 
brethren to the feast in the most private man- 
ner. This I consider the probable meaning of 
the passage. Diodati, Clarke in his Para- 
phrase, and Lightfoot, vary in their interpre- 
tation. Diodati supposes his brethren did not 
believe with sufficient firmness to enable them 
to undergo danger : Clarke, that his brethren 
imagined that he wished to become the leader 
of a party : Lightfoot, the same in effect as that 
which is here adopted. 

This section gives a lively picture of the 
divisions among the Jews respecting Christ. 
They saw his miracles — they heard his teach- 
ing — they were generally acquainted with his 
history. Yet they could not reconcile what 
they saw with their preconceived notions of 
the Messiah. They rejected his claims, and 
could not comprehend the spiritual meaning of 
our Lord's language. The Christian's peculiar 
happiness and privilege is to see fulfilled, in 
the person of Jesus of Nazareth, all the various 
predictions of the ancient prophets, which 
appear at first sight so inconsistent and so 
irreconcilable. 



Note 5. — Part V. 

These sections are inserted here on the 
concurrent testimony of Lightfoot, Newcome, 
Doddridge, and Pilkington. They are inserted 
by Michaelis in an appendix, as belonging to 
the period which begins with the miracle of 
the feeding the five thousand, and ends with 
the request of the mother of Zebedee's children. 



Note 6. — Part V. 

The Jews, both from their traditions and their 
prophecies, expected that their Messiah should 
be born in Bethlehem. As our Lord's mother 
remained so short a time at Bethlehem after 
our Saviour's birth, it is not surprising that they 
should have forgotten this circumstance, after 
more than thirty years had elapsed. 



Note 7. — Part V. 

How beautiful is the contrast between the 
humility of our Lord, and the half-literary, half- 
spiritual pride of the Jews. Christ, whose 
knowledge of all things, both in heaven and 
earth, was superior to that of men and angels, 
and of which the human intellect cannot form 
an idea, even when it shall be elevated and 
enlarged in the next stage of our existence, 
condescended to the lowest of the people, and 
called all who were meek and lowly, "his 
friends." The Pharisees, on the contrary, 
mistook knowledge for religion, and believed in 
the future happiness of the learned, and the 
condemnation of the ignorant. Those who 
had not devoted themselves to the study of the 
Law were called Vixn lDJ,', the people of the 
earth ; and these were contrasted with the injj; 
lii'llp, the holy people: they considered the 
people of the earth as cursed". 

All mankind, like the Pharisees of old, seem 
to be intent upon despising each other. The 
learned contemn the ignorant ; the gay, the 
sorrowful ; the rich, the poor ; and fashion 
violently breaks asunder the nearest and 
dearest ties of relationship, where the deficien- 
cy of wealth is felt. In this world, pride, rank, 
and affluence, claim the pi-eeminence ; in the 
other, the highest rewards of heaven are prom- 
ised to the most humble and the most meek, 
whether they be rich or poor. 

God prefers the heart to the head ; piety, to 
parts and capacity ; and is much better pleased 
with the right use of the will, than the advantage 
of the understanding''. 



Note 8. — Part V. 

The genuineness of this passage has been 
much controverted. The arguments on each 
side of the question may be seen at great 
length in Kuinoer, who has decided in favor 

" They had a saying, which is preserved in 
Pirke Moth, c. ii. 5. Tori Tixn TZi]) xb pleheius 
nan est p'ms. — Schoetgen, Hor. Heh. vol. i. p. 363. 

ii Spoken of Edward the Confessor, by Collier 
EccJes. Hist. .vol. i. p. 225. 

■^ Comment, in Libras Histor. JY. T.,vo\. iii. p. 286 



Note 9.-11.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*123 



of its authenticity. Erasmus, Cahin, Beza, 
Grotius, Le Clerc, Wetstein, Semler, Schulze, 
Moms, Haenlein, Wegscheider, Paulus, 
Schmidt, and Titman have mipugned its au- 
thenticity ; and, on tlie opposite side of the 
question, may be ranked Mill, Whitby, Heu- 
man, Michaslis, Storr, Langius, Detmersius, 
and others, with Lightfoot, Dr. A. Clarke, Mr. 
Nolan, and Mr. Home. 

Dr. Doddridge'^ has justly observed, that 
tlie Pharisees who brought the woman to 
Clirist wished to render him obnoxious either 
to the people or to tlie Romans. If he con- 
demned the woman to death, it would be con- 
sidered as intruding upon the judicial authority 
of the Romans : if lie acquitted her altogether, 
•it would be considered as sanctioning a viola- 
^on of the Jewish Law. 

On the propriety of our Lord's conduct, in the 
circumstances here recorded, Bishop Law ob- 
serves', when the woman said to be apprehend- 
ed in adultery is brought before our Lord, 
merely with a malicious view of drawing him 
into a difficulty, whatever determination he 
should give (ver. 6.), we find him stooping down, 
and writing on the ground. Where it is ob- 
servable, that aU that he does was in as exact 
conformity as the place would admit to the trial 
of the adulterous wife prescribed by God in 
Numb. v. 11, &c., wiere the priest was to stoop 
down and take. some of the dust from the floor 
of the tabernacle (ver. 17.); and likewise write 
out of the curses denounced upon that occasion 
(ver. 25.) By that act, therefore, Christ de- 
clares liimself wUling to take cognizance of 
this afiair, if they were willing to abide the 
consequence, viz. according to their own 
traditions, to be involved in the same curse if 
tJiey proved equally guilty : on which account 
this way of trial was abolished by the Sanhe- 
drin about that very time ; since that .sin, say the 
Jews, grew then so very common. It is like- 
wise probable that Christ might, by his coim- 
tenance and gesture, show those hypocrites 
how well he was aware both of their ill design 
in thus demanding judgment from Iiim, and of 
their own obnoxiousness to the same punish- 
ment which Moses' Law appointed for that 
crime, and which, through a pretended zeal, 
they took upon themselves the power of exe- 
cuting, though tliey were no less guilty of the 
very same sin, as is most probably implied in his 
words to them. 



Note 9. — Part V. 

Our Lord here claims one of the titles given 
by the Jews to the Deity. Tanchuma, fol. 63. 
3. and Bammidbar Rahha, sect. 15. fol. 229. 1. 

•* Family Expositor, vol. i. p. 527. 

' Reflections on the Life of Christ, 12mo. 1803, 
London, p. 75, 76, note. The same work is gen- 
erally printed at the end of the Theory of Religion. 



The Israelites said to God, "Holy, blessed, 
Lordof the whole worid,uDSi;> Sii^ nj XIH nnx. 
' Thou art the light of the worid.' " If our Lord 
applied the word in this sense, he made himself 
equal with God. But the expression was some- 
times used also as a title of honor to Moses ; 
whom the Jews called aSli'H 11X, " the light of 
the world :" if our Lord referred to this custom, 
he made himself equal to Moses, as the founder 
of a new dispensation. — Schoetgen, vol. i. p. 
366. and Tzerot Hammor, fol. 114. 3. ap. Gill, 
vol. ui. p. 474. 



Note 10.— Part V. 

Had our Lord been younger than the age at 
wlrich the priests assumed their office, the Jews 
would have charged him with presumption, 
ignorance, or vanity. His exalted love, his gen- 
erous compassion, his fervent piety would have 
been attributed to inexperience, to the sallies 
of imagination, or to the youthful ardor of the 
passions. His virtues would have been as- 
sociated in their minds with extravagance or 
romance, with enthusiasm or superstition. His 
pity and forbearance would have been consid- 
ered as the effect of mere feeling, or weakness ; 
his austerity as unnatural, presumptuous, and 
morose. 

Had our Lord, on the other hand, been an 
old man, it would have been said. He had lost 
all interest or concern in those objects and pur- 
suits which kindle the most active and extensive 
desires ; tliat he saw things with different views 
from human beings in general; that he had 
outlived the remembrance of the peculiar trials 
and temptations of early life, and made not 
proper allowances for the infirmities of others. 
Some might have reminded him, that the wisdom 
and experience of age were incompatible with 
the sprightliness and gayety of youth ; others 
might have deemed his opposition to the vices 
and corruption of the times, as proceeding from 
the love of singularity, or desire of distinction. 
His patience and forbearance might have been 
attributed to a deficiency of energy and spirit ; 
and even his resignation in the hour of death, 
to the want of tlie power of enjoyment among 
the living ; and, if he had delayed the work of 
his ministry to a later period, the question would 
have been asked, why he had deferred so long 
the reformation of a sinful and degenerate 
people. — See on this subject, a Sermon by Mr. 
Hewlett, On the Duties of Middle Life, vol. iii. 
p. 278. 



Note 11.— Part V. 

As the end of our Lord's ministry approaches, 
He proclaims, in still plainer language, that 
He possessed the attributes and characters of 
the Messiah. J^^hn, in the commencement of 



124^ 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part V. 



his Gospel, had asserted the preexistence of 
Christ ; and our Lord in this passage declares 
the same truth. 

It appears to me, that our Lord here alludes 
to his eternity, as well as to his preexistence. 
Tiie passage may mean, " I not only exist at 
this moment; hut before Abraham was, I exist." 
I am tlie self-existent ; the same Being which 
in your Scriptures of the Old Testament is 
known as the " I am," of your fathers. The 
schoolmen rightly represent the eternity of 
God as a.punctum stans ; or, as Cowley expresses 
the idea, in his description of heaven — 

" Nothing is there to come, and nothing past, 
But an eternal Now does always last." 

And Dr. Watts— 

" God fills his own eternal Now, 
' And sees our ages waste." 

And Archbishop King has well described the 
Deity, as having neither remembrance of the 
past, nor foreknowledge of the future, but as 
ieing ever existing in all places, and ever en- 
during throughout all time. Therefore what- 
ever has, or is, or can, or will be, form but One 
present Sir Isaac Newton, in his Scholium 
Generale, has expressed his notion of a Deity 
much in the same manner, but in the most 
sublime and expressive language. Alike con- 
scious of the past, the present, and the future, 
our Lord asserts that such is his mode of ex- 
istence, and claims the attributes of Deity to 
the same extent as they appertained to his 
heavenly Father. 

The general body of Christians have under- 
stood this passage as a plain declaration on the 
part of our Lord, that He did not begin to exist 
at the time when he assumed a human body in 
the form of an infant, but that he existed before 
the time of Abraham. 

It is the belief of the Christian Church, and 
it was the faith also of the ancient Jews, that 
the Word of God, their Messiah, existed before 
liis permanent incarnation. He existed before 
the creation of the world, wlien he was One 
with the Father; He existed also after the 
creation of the world, as the Angel Jehovah. 

It will not be possible, in these notes, to 
discuss the various misinterpretations to which 
the Socinian writers have resorted to explain 
away the grammatical sense of this and other 
passages of Scripture, which assert the Divinity 
of Christ. The expression, however, " Before 
Abraham was, I Am," or before Abraham ex- 
isted, I exist, is so satisfactory and so decisive 
that it might have been supposed to have set 
the question at rest for ever. But the sup- 
porters of the Socinian heresy have, at various 
times, employed all their ingenuity and learning 
to give another interpretation to these words — 
and have presented the world with such a selec- 
tion of absurd and contradictory illustrations, as 
to draw upon them the undivided censure of their 



mildest opponent. Dr. Pye Smith, who seems to 
write every sentence of his reply to Mr. Belsham 
with a smile, an apology, or a bow, condemns 
the interpretation of this passage as trifling, 
and absolute folly. Archbishop Magee, in the 
higher tone of dignified rebuke, which becomes 
a champion of the truth, chastises the ignorance 
or blasphemy, of the Socinian heresy, with more 
unsparing severity. 

ITglv '^46Qaau yeviadai., lydi Elfii, are the 
words in the original. This is translated by 
Socinus : " Before Abraham can be Abraham, 
the Father of many nations, I must be, that is, 
the Messiah, or Saviour of the world." Faustus 
Socinus, the nephew of the heresiarch, tells us, 
that his uncle obtained this meaning by divine 
inspiration — non sine multis precihus ipsius, Jcsu 
nomine invocato, i7npetravit ipse. This interpre- 
tation, however, is relinquished by Socinians 
of a later age, who consider, with Grotius, that 
Christ meant only to assert that he was before 
Abraham in the decree of God-^, 



Note 12.— Part V. 

These sections, from seven to eighteen in- 
clusive, with the exception of some few pas- 
sages, which on various authorities are placed 
elsewhere, are inserted here, on the united tes- 
timony of the five harmonizers, by whom I am 
principally guided. They contain an account 
of the actions of our Lord from the feast of 
Tabernacles to that of the Dedication. Several 
chapters of St. Luke relate events which are 
not recorded by the other Evangelists, and 
these are generally referred to the period 
which elapsed between the mission of the 
Seventy and Christ's apprehension. This period 
included both the feast of Tabernacles and the 
Dedication, and it is very difficult, perhaps im- 
possible, to ascertain precisely the exact order 
of the events here mentioned, and to decide at 
which of these feasts they took place. The 
difficulty is further increased by the question, 
whether St. John's Gospel is to be read with 
these chapters of St. Luke, continuously from 
chap. vii. 11. to the conclusion of chap, x., or 
the eighth be divided from the ninth and tenth : 
that is, whether the healing of the man who 
was born blind, was effected by our Lord at the 

-'' Cowley's Davideis, book i. — Watts's Hymns. — 
Archbishop King's Sermons, published at the end 
of his 8vo. edit, of the Origin of Evil. — Sir Isaac 
Newton's Scholium Generale, printed at the end of 
the Principia. — Allix, On the Judgment of the Jew- 
ish Church against the Unitarians, chap. xv. Oxford 
edition, p. 187, &.c. — Dr. Pye Smith, On the Scrip- 
ture Testimony to the Messiah, vol. ii. p. 186. — 
Magee, On the Jltonement, particularly the notes to 
vol. ii. part ii. — Socinus coidra Evtrop. torn. ii. p. 
078. ap. Smith. — And for a furtlior account of 
Wakefield's. Priestley's, and Belsham's criticisms, 
see Archbishop Magee, vol. i. p. 81-88. 



Note 13.-15.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*12; 



feast of Tabernacles, or at the feast of Dedica- 
tion. I have principally observed the order 
proposed by Lightfoot, excepting that some 
passages are arbitrarily inserted elsewhere, on 
the autJiority of Newcome and others. 

Archbishop Newcome places John ix. 10. 
before these chapters of St. Luke. He then 
proceeds with the interruptions before alluded 
to, from Luke x. 17. to Luke xviii. 14. 

Doddridge inserts the cure of the blind man, 
John ix. 10., at tlie feast of the Dedication, as 
Lightfoot has done, but continues the chapters 
of St. Luke to chap, xviii. 14., not perceiving 
sufficient reason to change the order. 

Pilldngton differs from Lightfoot, and arranges 
John vii. 11. to x. 22. before Luke x. 17., and 
continuing as far as chap. xiii. 23., he again 
proceeds to John x. 22. By this means he 
affixes the cure of the blind man to the feast 
of Tabernacles. 

Michaelis seems to have laid aside, in this 
part of his Harmony, every attempt to reconcile 
difficulties. He inserts these chapters of St. 
John in one supplement, and those of St. Luke 
in anotlier. 



Note 13.— Part V. 

The Seventy receive their commission in 
Galilee, some time before the feast of Taber- 
nacles. The exact period of their going out, 
and of their return, is uncertain ; it is most 
probable, however, as the Jews were accus- 
tomed to go up to the feast, that they were pro- 
ceeding to Jerusalem, and met our Lord return- 
ing from the feast, in consequence of the oppo- 
sition of the Jewish rulers to his person and 
teaching. 



Note 14.— Part V. 

there seems to be some abruptness in this ques- 
tion. Our Saviour, in his reply to the lawyer, 
is supposed by Heinsius", to refer him to the 
texts Deut. vi. 5. and Levit. xix. 18., which 
were joined together by the Jews, as a com- 
pendium of the whole Law, and repeated twice 
every day in the synagogue; Kuinoel'', that 
the word Tiwg must be rendered as tI, what? as, 
" What readest thou in the Law ? " and that he 
pointed at the same time with his finger to the 
lawyer's phylactery, on which the words of liis 
answer were written. 

Whenever an opportunity presented itself, 
onr Lord replied to every question proposed to 
him by the Jews, by an allusion to their estab- 
lished laws and customs. 

^ Exerc. Sacr. p. 153. 

'' Kuinoel, In Lib. Hist. JV. T. Comment, vol. ii 
p. 4.-1 

VOL. II. 



Note 15.— Part V. 

In attempting to discover the sense of a para- 
ble, we are required to take into consideration 
the purpose for which it was delivered, and the 
circumstances that occasioned it. We find here 
that the lawyer, wishing to justify himself, and 
considering that he had observed this Law, as 
far as it related to the Jews, whom only he 
acknowledges as his neighboui-s, inquires, 
"Who is my neighbour?" Our Lord answers 
the question by a parable, in which the duties 
we owe to our neighbour are forcibly defined, 
and the extent of those duties pointedly demon- 
strated. We are taught that not only our ac- 
quaintance, our friends and countrymen, are 
included under this term, but that our very ene- 
mies, v/hen in distress, are entitled to our sympa- 
thy, our mercy, and our best exertions for their 
relief. The Jews held the Samaritans in utter 
abhorrence ; in order therefore to impress the 
mind of the inquirer more fully, our Saviour 
obliges the lawyer to reply to his own question ; 
for he was compelled to acknowledge that he 
who showed mercy on him was his neighbour. 
Our Lord, having represented to him the extent 
of the Law, commands him to follow the ex- 
ample of the good Samaritan, and to go and do 
likewise. The circumstances mentioned in this 
parable are, by many, considered as real ; the 
road from Jerusalem to Jericho lay through a 
desert infested by robbers, and which was prin- 
cipally frequented by priests and Levites, in their 
journeyings from the latter to the former place. 
The parable itself has been variously interpreted, 
and by some commentators it is supposed to 
relate only to the compassionate love of Christ 
(who w&s called by the Jews a Samaritan) to 
mankind. In whatever way we consider it, 
the duty it inculcates is most evident, and the 
parable must be regarded as a beautiful ex- 
emphfication of the Law " loving our neigh- 
bour as ourselves," without any distinction of 
person, country, or party. 

Jones, with other commentators, has given a 
fanciful illustration of this parable; and several 
of the primitive fathers have adopted similar 
accommodations. They suppose the certain man 
to signify Aiam— -went down from, Jerusalem, 
his fall — thieves, sin and Satan — half-dead, dead 
in the spirit, his better part — the priest, the 
moral — the Levite, the ceremonial Law, which 
could not afford relief — a certain Samaritan, 
Christ — the inn, the Church — the two-pence, the 
Law and the Gospel ; or (as others conjecture, 
the two Sacraments), the Host, the Ministers 
of the Gospel, with this promise, that whatever 
they shall spend more in health, or life, or ex- 
ertion, shall be amply repaid, when Christ, tlie 
good Samaritan, shall come again in glory. 

Lightfoot lias given the same interpretation. 
It is necessary here to remark, by way of 
caution, in the words of Glassius, in hia fifth 



126* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part V. 



rule for the interpretation of parables, " non est 
opus nimia cura in singulis verbis anxium esse, 
neque in singulis partibus adaptatio, et accom- 
modatio ad rem spiritualem nimis <x>cQt.6u)g quce- 
renda est." — Philolog. Sacra, lib. ii. part i. tr. 2. 
sect. 5. p. 336, &c. See also, on the interpre- 
tation of Scripture, Van Mildert's Bampton 
hectures, with the valuable notes. — Marsh's 
Lectures, part iii. Lectures 17, 18. — Glassii, 
Philologia Saci-a, lib. ii. part ii. sect. 1. p. 263- 
288.— Lightfoot's TForks. 



Note 16.— Part V. 

This section is placed by Archbishop New- 
come before the account of the resurrection of 
L'azarus. As his arguments for so doing do 
not appear satisfactory, I have followed the 
authority of Lightfoot, Pilkington, Doddridge, 
and Michaelis, and have preserved the order of 
St. Luke's Gospel. 



Note 17. — Part V. 

The excellence of our Lord's manner of 
teaching, and the wisdom of his lessons are so 
evident, in the present and the following sec- 
tions, that there can be no necessity for entering 
into any discussion on this portion of the Ar- 
rangement. The tenth section affords us a 
complete picture of the admirable manner in 
which our Lord deduced the most impressive 
lessons from the most common occurrences. 
In the eleventh, he gives to his disciples the 
same perfect and beautiful form of prayer 
which he had previously made known to as- 
sembled crowds. And it is probable he was 
requested to do so at this time by a new 
convert. In the twelfth, we hear his severe 
and just reproof to the Pharisees, who regarded 
only the externals of religion, and were pleased 
with the homage of the multitude, and their 
own outward sanctity. He also encourages 
Ms disciples to acknowledge Him, to fear God 
rather than man, who has no power over the 
soul ; and he warns them, that if they deny him 
against the Avitness of their conscience before 
men, they shall be denied before the angels of 
God — and that to blaspheme against the Holy 
Ghost, which was to impute the actions of 
Christ to an evil spirit, was an unpardonable 
offence, never to be forgiven. That he might 
not excite the indignation of the Pharisees, by 
the exercise of temporal authority, he refuses 
(sect. 14.) to decide a controversy, when applied 
to for that purpose ; but takes advantage of the 
opportunity to reprove covetousness, and by a 
most beautiful and appropriate parable, proves 
the vanity and helpless insufBciency of eartJily 
possessions, and the uncertainty of this life. 



in which alone we can enjoy them. In the 
fifteenth section, he especially charges his dis- 
ciples not to be of uncertain, anxious, wandering, 
unsettled, distracted mind (Luke xii. 29. /xfi 
fjBTswQiQeade, vide Kuinoel in h. v.), but to 
place their faith and confidence in Him who 
provides even for the birds of the air and lilies 
of the field. The sixteenth section is a con- 
tinuation of the same address, exhorting to the 
punctual performance of every duty, as we 
know not when the Son of Man cometh. In 
the seventeenth he again reproves the fastidious 
and absurd manner of keeping the Sabbath, 
when an act of mercy was considered a viola- 
tion of the Law. 



Note 18.— Part V. 

There seems to be some allusion in this para- 
ble to the circumstances in which our Lord was 
now placed. He was proceeding to Jerusalem, 
where he intended, as his hour was approaching, 
to address himself to the rulers of the Jews, 
with as much boldness as he had hitherto spoken 
to the people. He foresaw the result of this 
conduct ; that it would lead to his painful 
death, and the accomplishment of the promises 
of God. The future was ever present to him. 
As the seed was committed to the ground, and 
became a great tree, so in the same manner 
would his kingdom begin from his death, and 
gradually increase and extend itself over the 
world. 



Note 19.— Part V. 

This section contains an account of the cure 
of the blind man at Jerusalem. In favor of the 
opinion that this miracle was effected at the 
feast of Tabernacles, we find Pilkington, New- 
come, Macknight, Cradock, Bishop Richard- 
son, Le Clerc, &c. That it was wrought at 
the feast of the Dedication, the principal 
authorities are Lightfoot and Doddridge, whose 
opinion is here preferred. 

Archbishop Newcome's principal reason is, 
that the word jta^dj'ojt', in John ix. 1. seems to 
refer to the word TjaQri'/ei', used in chap. viii. 59. 

To this it may be replied, that there are most 
powerful reasons for believing with Wetstein 
and Griesbach, that the last seven words oi' this 
chapter (viii.) of St. John, and the word TiaoriYei' 
among the number, were not originally part of 
the Sacred Text. Lampe, however, is very in- 
dignant at this supposition. But tlie authorities 
of the two former critics, united to that of 
Erasmus, Grotius, Mill, Sender, and Kuinoel, 
are sufficient to justify our replying to Arch- 
bishop Newcome's argument in this manner. 
But waving this supposition, that the last clause 
of John viii. 59. is .spurious, it may be replied 



Note 20,2].] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



427 



in the words of Doddridge, "it seems much 
more probable that TtcxQ&ywv might be used 
without reference to naQrj)'ev, than to suppose 
tliat when Christ was fleeing out of the temple 
in the hasty manner described, his disciples as 
he passed should stop Mm, for the purpose of 
putting so nice a question as that mentioned in 
John ix. 2. ; or tliat he should stand still at such 
a moment to discourse witii them, or to perform 
such a cure, in a manner so leisurely, as it is 
plain this was done." — Fam. Exp. vol. ii. p. 71, 
sect. 130. 

The correspondence between nao6.Yb)v and 
Traoriyei' might be mere coincidence ; if it was 
intended by the inspired writer, it would be a 
most unaccountable deviation from the beauti- 
ful simplicity of his usual language. 

The great attention excited by this miracle, 
and its effects, both on the Sanhedrin and 
on tlie people, appear to be the preludes to that 
more universal notice which our Lord obtained, 
when he went up to Jerusalem for the last 
time. On tliis supposition, the feast of the 
Dedication would be its more probable period. 
In Critical Remarks on detached Passages of the 
JVew Testament, by the late French Lawrence, 
LL.D., M.P., &c., we meet with another argu- 
ment in favor of the arrangement now adopted. 
" In John X. 22, several MSS. of good authority 
read tots, instead of Se. It was then at Jeru- 
salem," &c. instead of " and it was. This 
favors the idea of those harmonists who suppose 
the meeting with the blind man to have taken 
place at the feast of the Dedication. After 
having been obliged to hide himself, that he 
might escape stoning, it is not likely that 
Christ should appear again at Jerusalem till he 
went thither to attend the next public festival." 
Such is the remark of a most impartial critic. 
Even if the reading ds, however, remain, the 
22d verse of chap. x. may stDl refer to the 
event related in the preceding as well as in 
the subsequent passages. 

Michaelis refers the contents of these sections 
to the general period in which all the harmoni- 
zers place them ; but he does not enter into 
any details. 

The propriety and wisdom of our Lord's con- 
duct in the various instances recorded in these 
sections, the excellence of his lessons, and the 
manner in which he gradually developed his 
character and claims, seem to be so plainly nar- 
rated, that it is not necessary to enlarge upon 
each incident. For reflections on the character 
of our Lord as a teacher, perhaps the best work 
extant is that of Archbishop Newcome, entitled, 
Ohservations on our Lord''s Conduct ; the best on 
the elevation and dignity of our Lord's charac- 
ter is Craig's lAfe of Christ. Besides these, 
however, there are very many that may be read 
to the gi-eatest advantage, Bishop Law, Taylor, 
Stackhouse, &c. 



Note 20.— Part V. 

The Jews believed in the doctrine of the trans- 
migration of souls — niwyDJ SlJl7J. Josephus' 
tells us that every soul was mcorruptible and im- 
mortal, and tliat the souls of the good passed 
into another body, wliile those of the unright- 
eous were eternally punished. Some suppose 
that it was in allusion to this opinion that our 
Lord was imagined to have been either Elias, or 
Jeremiah, or some one of the prophets. The 
cabalists tell us, that the soul of the first man 
occupied the body of David, and was afterwards 
preserved to inhabit the body of the Messias : 
they deduce this important truth from the 
certain evidence afforded them in the letters 
which compose the name of the Protoplast CDTX- 
These admirable logicians inform us, that the 
first letter X signifies Adam, the second t David, 
the third a the Messias ; and therefore the point 
is proved^. 

For an account of the singular opinions of 
the Jews, alluded to in this verse, see Light- 
foot, vol. ii. p. 568-9. 



Note 21.— Part V. 

Jones gives a curious interpretation of this 
miracle. " That the miracle (he observes) 
might be more instructive, a very peculiar 
form was given to it. Christ moulded the dust 
of the ground into clay, and having spread it 
upon the eyes of the man, he commanded him to 
go, and wash off this dirt in the pool of Siloiim. 
Here the reason of the thing speaks for itself. 
What is this mire and clay upon the eyes, but 
the power this world has over us in shutting 
out the truth ? Who are the people unto whom 
the glorious Ught of the Gospel of Christ cannot 
shine, but they whose minds the god of this 
world hath blinded ? So long as this world 
retains its influence, the Gospel is hidden from 
the eyes of men ; they are in a lost condition, 
and nothing can clear them of this defilement, 
but the water of the Divine Spirit sent from 
above to wash it away. Tliis seems to be the 
moral sense of the miracle, and a miracle thus 
understood becomes a sermon, than which none 
in the world can be more edifying. Our Saviour 
liimself gives the spiritual signification of it in 
words v/hich cannot be applied to a bodily cure 
— ' As long as I am in the world, I am the 
Light of the world.' The whole world, like 
this man, is born blind. I am come to give it 
light, in proof of which I give this man his 
sight." — Jones On the Figurative Language of 
S-zripture, Works, vol. iii. p. 153. See also 
Jortin's Remarks on Eccl. Hist. vol. i. 

' Josephus, De Bell. Judaico, 1. si. c. vii. 
J Vide Witsius. JEgyntiaca, lib. i. cap iv. sect. 
10. 11. 



128* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part V. 



Note 22.— Part V. 

Sect, xxiii.-xxix. These sections are referred 
to the same place by all the harmonizers, except- 
ing that Archbishop Newcome has made various 
transpositions of some passages, and Doddridge 
places them all before the feast of Dedication, 
and prior to his arranging John ix. 19., that he 
may not disturb the order of St. Luke. 



St. Mark place tliis section after their account 
of the decision of our Lord respecting divorces. 
I follow their authority, therefore, in observing 
the present order. Lightfoot, Newcome, Dod- 
dridge, and Michaelis, have arranged the 
sections on the same plan. 



Note 23.— Part V. 

The arguments which induced Pilkington to 
place this section in its present position appear 
to me sufficiently weighty to induce me to 
reject the authority of the other four, who 
would insert it elsewhere. Lightfoot places 
the conversation respecting divorce after Luke 
xviii. 30., as he will not break in upon the sup- 
plementary chapters of St. Luke. Newcome, 
upon very insufficient grounds, has placed this 
conversation after the account of the resurrec- 
tion of Lazarus ; separating the passages Matt. 
xix. 3-12. and Mark x. 2-12. from Luke xvi. 
18. Newcome's note. His argument from 
Matthew xix. 1. and Mark x. 1. proves nothing, 
as these passages are the comiecting links be- 
tween the former and the latter parts of Christ's 
life. Doddridge and Michaehs also consider 
the passages as distinct. 

I have adopted Pilkington's arrangement, 
because the order of the other Evangelists is 
not thereby disturbed; and a reason is given 
for the conversation itself; which would other- 
wise, if confined to the account in Luke xvi. 
18., appear to be strangely abrupt. " In the 
present order," says Pilkington, " the reason is 
evident why the Pharisees came and tempted 
Christ with this question. He had just before 
declared that it was easier for heaven and earth 
to pass away than for one tittle of the Law to 
fail. Upon which they put the case of divorces 
to him ; concluding that he would resolve it 
contrary to the then existing Law; or more 
properly, as Doddridge observes (note to sect. 
135, Family Expositor), contrary to the received 
interpretation of the Law by the school of Hillel, 
who had taught the people that divorces might 
be permitted for comparatively trivial causes." 



Note 24.— Part V. 

Pilkington is anxious, on all occasions, to 
preserve the order of St. Luke, and he has 
not therefore followed a rule of harmonizing, 
which in the great majority of instances is a 
safe guide. The concurrent order of two 
Evangelists is preferable to the arrangement 
adopted by one only. Both St. Matthew and 



Note 25.— Part V. 

Sect, xxxii., xxxiii. These sections con- 
tinue the order of the supplementary chapters 
in St. Luke's Gospel, which had been inter- 
rupted by the insertion of the corresponding 
passages from St. Matthew and St. Mark, in 
the last two sections. The five harmonizers 
are unanimous in placing them in their present 
position. 



Note 26.— Part V. 

There is much difference of opinion among 
the harmonizers concerning the particular 
journey in which the conversation related in 
this section took place. Lightfoot supposes 
that the journey of Christ to Jerusalem, here 
mentioned by St. Luke, is the same with 
tha.t in John vii. 10. Archbishop Newcome 
places it after the feast of the Dedication, sub- 
sequent to Christ's completion of his last pro- 
gress round Galilee, and before his triumphant 
entry into Jerusalem. Newcome's arrangement 
of this section is here adopted, therefore, in 
preference to that of Lightfoot. Doddridge 
has referred this conversation also to the same 
period. Michaelis does not decide the point ; 
and Pilkington, in his anxiety to preserve the 
order of St. Luke's Gospel, has not changed its 
position, but refers it to the same journey. If 
the word dtvaX-qipig, Luke ix. 51., as Schleusner, 
Doddridge, the ancient versions, and by far the 
greater majority of critics assert, signifies the 
ascension into heaven, it would fix the period 
of the circumstance in question to tliis last 
journey of our Lord to Jerusalem. 



Note 27.— Part V. 

Sect, xxxv.-xxxviii. These sections, which 
foUow the order of St. Luke's narrative, are 
placed in their present position on the united 
authorities of the five harmonizers, whose 
labors have principally assisted me in this Ar- 
rangement. 



Note 28.— Part V. 

This section resumes the order of St. Mat- 
thew and St. Mark, as well as continues that 



Note 29.-32.] 



NOTES OX THE GOSPELS. 



^129 



of St. Luke. The event related in it is placed 
here by Lightfoot, -n-ho follows the order of St. 
Lake ; and by Neivcome also, who makes the 
conversation on divorce, and the blessing the 
children, immediately to precede it. Dod- 
dridge, PUkington, and Michaelis, give it also 
its present place. 



Note 29.— Part Y. 

"Ixthe New Dispensation which I have now 
begun to establish — Ye which have now fol- 
lowed me in my despised and afflicted state 
shall be exalted to glory in the triumphant 
reign of the Messiah, which shall be eventually 
established in the world." — See Bishop Blom- 
field on a Knowledge of Jewish Tradition essen- 
tial, &c., notes ; the discussion of Whitby on 
this point; and the passage in Lightfoot, to 
which he refers. 



Note 30.— Part V. 

The expression here used is supposed to 
refer to the manner in which the Romans select- 
ed men for recruiting their armies. The honor 
of being chosen to serve their country in a 
military capacity was esteemed the reward of 
superiority. The consuls summoned to the 
capitol, or the Campus Martins, all citizens 
capable of bearing arms, from the age of seven- 
teen to forty-five. They drew up by tribes, 
and lots were drawn to determine in what order 
every tribe should present its soldiers. That 
which was the first order chose the four citizens 
who were judged the most proper to serve in 
the war : and the six tribunes who commanded 
the first legion selected one of these four, whom 
they liked best. The tribunes of the second 
and third legions likewise made their choice 
one after another ; and he that remained en- 
tered into the fourth legion. A new tribe pre- 
sented other four soldiers, and the .second 
legion chose first. The third and fourth 
legions had the same advantage in their turns. 
In this manner, each tribe successively appoint- 
ed four soldiers, till the legions were complete. 
They next proceeded to the creation of subal- 
tern officers, whom the tribunes chose from 
among the soldiers of the greatest reputation. 
When the legions were thus completed, the 
citizens who had been called, but not chosen, 
returned to their respective employments, and 
served their country in other capacities. — See 
Clarke's Comment, in loc. 



Note 31. — Part V. 

The resurrection of Lazarus is placed by 
Archbishop Newcome after John x., and after 



the supplementary chapters of St. Luke. 
Tatian, Gerson, and some others agree in tlie 
same arrangement. 

After the feast of the Dedication, our Lord 
went to Bethabara, beyond Jordan, the place 
where John baptized (John x. 40). Archbishop 
Newcome supposes, that, as he remained there, 
and as St. John proceeds immediately to the 
resurrection of Lazarus, Mary and Martha sent 
to him while he was now at Bethabara. But 
this gives us no proof that many circumstances 
did not take place during our Lord's abode at 
Bethabara, and likewise, as probable, from the 
13th to the 18th chapters of St Luke, that he 
made another circuit tlirough some parts of the 
country before he went to Bethany to raise 
Lazarus from the dead. It appears, from Matt, 
xix. 1. and Mark x. 1., that after our Saviour 
had performed many miracles, and given those 
evidences of his Divinity which were to precede 
his last journey to Jerusalem, he went beyond 
Jordan, and, we may reasonably conclude, to 
Betliabara ; at which place, according to Light- 
foot, he received the message from the sisters 
of Lazarus. 

Lightfoot further observ-es, that he remained 
in the place where he was when he heard of 
Lazarus' sickness, that he might die before he 
came to him, that God might be the more glori- 
fied by his raising (ver. 15.), so did he make 
sure to stay long enough after he was dead 
before he came, that the glory might be the 
more. Compare ver. 39, with these sayings of 
the Jews, Maym. in Gerushin. per ult "If one 
look upon a dead man within three days after 
his death, he may know him ; but after three 
days, his visage is changed." Again, Lerus. in 
Moed Katon,^fol. 82, col. 2. " Tliree days the 
soul flies about the body, as if thinking to 
return to it : but after it sees the visage of the 
countenance changed, it leaves it, and gets it 
gone for ever." 

Lightfoot's arrangement of the resurrection 
is the same as that of Bishop Richardson, and 
it is sanctioned by the learned Archbishop 
Usher, Lamy, Toinard, and others. 



Note 32.— Part V. 

During our Lord's final journey to Jerusalem, 
he forewarns his disciples of his approaching 
suSerings and death in the fullest manner. 
He explicitly unfolds to the twelve disciples 
the spiritual nature of his kingdom ; but their 
understandings were so blinded by their own 
preconceived ideas of Messiah's power, that 
they knew not the things that were spoken. 
He was now about to perform one of the most 
convincing and stupendous of his miracles ; and 
he embraces the opportunity to predict all that 
awaited him to his disciples. He declares that 



VOL. II 



^17 



l; 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part V. 



ho was going up to Jerusalem, not to assume 
the pomp and robes of royalty, as they but too 
fondly expected, but to be betrayed, to be in- 
sulted, to be scourged, and to be put to death. 
Kis disciples at this very moment, as is evident 
from the conduct of the sons of Zebedee in the 
next section, were ambitiously anticipating their 
temporal honors. 



Note 33.— Part V. 

PiLKiNGTON remarks on this passage : — Three 
Evangelists make mention of Jesus' giving 
sight to a blind man near Jericho ; but there 
are such different expressions, in their several 
accounts of this matter, as have induced several 
harmonists to conclude that different cures are 
related by them. 

1. St. Matthew saith, " As they departed 
from Jericho, two blind men cried out," «Sic. 

2. St. Mark, " As he went out of Jericho, 
blind Bartimaeus began to cry out," &c. 

3. St. Luke, " As he was come nigh unto 
Jericho, a certain blind man cried out," &c. 

The most general conclusion from hence is, 
that the miracle recorded by St. Luke was dif- 
ferent from and previous to that mentioned by 
the other two Evangelists*. 

Another opinion is, that each Evangelist 
relates a different fact'. And a third, that St. 
Mark and St. Luke relate the former miracle, 
and St Matthew the latter". 

The accounts of the several Evangelists re- 
lating to this matter have been connected by 
the most ancient harmonists, and by some of 
the moderns" : but they have not given their 
reasons for so doing. Perhaps they may have 
been the same as have induced me to think that 
they have properly connected them, viz. 

1. The series of the several circumstances 
mentioned by all the Evangelists. (1.) The 
blind man sat by the way-side, near Jericho. 
(2.) He called Jesus the Son of David. (3.) The 
multitude rebuked him. (4.) Jesus stopped and 
called. (5.) The question which Jesus asked, 
and the answer he received are the same in all 
the accounts. And (6.), they all agree that the 
blind man followed Jesus. 

2. If Jesus had wrought a cure of this sort 
just before he entered Jericho, for which all 
the people gave praise unto God, it is not easy 
to imagine that the multitude would, immediate- 
ly after, rebuke another who called upon him 
in the very same manner. And though the 
accounts vary in some particulars, yet no where, 
I think, so much as to make it necessary to 
suppose that they are relations of different 
facts. For, 

* Chemnitius, Richardson, Lamy, Toinard, &c. 
' Molineeus, Garthwait, &c. 
"■ Ludolphas. 

" Tatian, Aramonius, Calvin, Whiston, Le Clero, 
&c. 



3. Though there were two blind men who 
received sight, as St. Matthew expresses it, 
and though St. Mark and St. Luke mention one 
only, yet the accounts cannot be said to be 
contradictory, allowing them to allude to the 
same fact. For the miracle is the same, in the 
cure of one as in the cure of many. BartimsBus 
might be the more remarkable person : and 
tlierefore the mention of the other be purposely 
omitted by the two Evargelists". 

St. Matthew and St. Mark say, that this was 
done at Jesus' departure from Jericho ; and St 
Luke, that it was ii' ru iyyicei.i' avidr ei; 'leoi- 
/w, "As he was come nigh unto Jericho," (ac- 
cording to our translation), which seems to 
imply, that he Avas not yet arrived there : and 
this sense hath been afBxed to the words, as 
far as I can learn, by translators in all times, 
and all languages ; from whence hath arisen 
the seeming difficulty of reconciling the several 
accounts. But if the words may be translated 
at large, " When he was nigh unto Jericho," 
then St Luke's account is very consistent with 
the others, because it determines not whether 
it was before he came to Jericho, or at his de- 
parture from that place, that he wrought this 
miracle. And that the words will bear this 
construction, we may be easily convinced, by 
observing another expresssion of St Luke, of 
the very same sort, xix. 29. jtotJ iyivsTo ih: 
\^yiuBv eig Bedcpayii xul Beduvlav, translated 
again, " When he was come nigh to Bethphage 
and Bethany : " but it evidently appears that 
Jesus was gone from Bethany towards Jerusa- 
lem, when he sent out the disciples, (fcc. And 
all commentators are agreed, that though Jesus 
was then nigh unto Bethany, yet he was going 
from it. And understanding the words here in 
the same sense, St Luke saith, that Jesus was 
now nigh unto Jericho, but going from it ; 
agreeably to the account which both St Mat- 
thew and St. Mark give of this matter. 

Lightfoot observes, " He healeth one blind 
man as he entereth into Jericho, of which St. 
Luke speaketh, and another as he goeth out, of 
which the other two Evangelists speak. Mat- 
thew speaks of two healed as he came out of 
Jericho, comprehending, it may be, the story 
of him who was healed on the other side of the 
town. Mark only mentions one, because he 
rather aimed at showing the manner, or kind of 
the miracle, than the number." — Vol. i. p. 250. 

Doddridge very justly observes, that " this is 
improbable ; for the people would not reprove 
blind Bartimeeus for supplicating our Lord to 
heal him, if a cure so remarkable had been 
wrought but a short time before at the entrance 
into the town. 

" I have endeavoured so to harmonize the ac- 
counts of the Evangelists, that the scene may 
be most vividly presented to the reader. 1 

° Vide Poll Synop in loo. 



Note 34.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*131 



have adopted tJie opinion that two were healed 
— at the same time — but one was more known 
to the people, the more remarkable of the two, 
and more earnest in the expression of his faith 
in Jesus, and in the miraculous cure that had 
been wrought upon him." Doddridge, Fam. 
Exp. vol. ii. p. 138. 

Newcome agrees with Doddridge in this 
opinion. 

In passing through Jericho, Christ heals the 
blind men, and when he leaves that city is met 
by Zacchffius, Luke xix. 2., which evidently 
places this event before the resurrection of 
Lazarus. Then follows the resurrection of 
Lazarus — Clu-ist's retirement at Ephraim — the 
anointing at Bethany, and the entrance into 
Jerusalem. This is the order I have observed, 
in preference to that of Newcome, or Pilking- 
ton. The principal argument of Newcome is 
derived from John x. 40. compared with Joim 
xi. 54-56. ; but this is answered by the suppo- 
sition above mentioned, that Matt. xix. 1. and 
Mark x. 1. represent Christ as being in the 
same place as he is said to have been in John 
X. 40. ; and if the Evangelist's narrative is made 
our guide, it gives us gi-eater space for the 
various circumstances recorded in St. Luke. 



Note 34.— Part V. 

The noble truth, the resurrection of the body, 
is so important to man, that it has been con- 
firmed by the most convincing evidence, and 
the most undeniable facts. Our Lord gave life 
to the human body from the grave in all its 
various stages of corruption and decay. The 
body of the widow's son was restored within 
one or two days after his decease : for he was 
recalled to life as they were carrying him to 
the grave. The resurrection of Lazarus was 
the third instance, and it was attended with 
some striking peculiarities. The body had lain 
four days in the grave. In those warm climates, 
the terrible process of corruption and decay was 
always rapid. The flesh would have begun to 
mingle with its Idndred elements. The rela- 
tions and friends of the departed were so sensi- 
ble of this, that they attempted to dissuade our 
Lord from going to the sepulchre. Although 
they knew that He had raised one man from the 
dead, they did not believe it possible that He 
could restore life to him, who for so many days 
had " said to corruption, — Thou art my father, 
and to the worm, — Thou art my sister and 
brother." Our Lord, however, proceeded to 
demonstrate his almighty power, and the great 
truths he had come down to teach, by the resist- 
less evidence of a public and undeniable fact. 
No sooner were the words uttered, " Lazarus, 
come forth," then he that was dead came forth. 
Unable to walk, for he was swathed, and bound 



both hand and foot in his grave-clothes, ac- 
cording to the Jewish custom, he glided forth 
from the grave, and appeared among the aston- 
ished multitude. His body was unchanged — 
he was again to dwell with his family and 
friends, the same person as he had ever been. 
Like the daughter of Jairus, and the widow's 
son, he was again to resume his place in society, 
to fulfil the ordinary duties of life, and his body 
resumed the same functions and properties as it 
had ever possessed. And we are informed, by 
the history of the early Church, that Lazarus 
lived for many years, an unexceptionable witness 
of the truth of God, and the Divinity of Christ. 
The next great fact which demonstrated the 
resurrection of the body took place at the death 
of Christ. When He bowed his head and gave 
up the ghost, the vail of the temple was rent — 
the ground trembled — the graves were laid 
open — and, after his resurrection, the bodies of 
many holy persons arose and went into the 
city of Jerusalem, and appeared unto many. 
This attendant miracle is so briefly related, 
that we cannot safely deduce many conclusions. 
But that interpretation seems the most satisfac- 
tory, which represents the graves as opening at 
the resurrection of Christ, who is the first-fruits 
of them that sleep ; and that while his body 
continued in the grave, the same process which 
is described in the vision of Ezekiel, 37th chap- 
ter, took place on the bodies of those holy per- 
sons who went into Jerusalem after that Christ 
rose from the dead. The bones came together — 
the sinews were restored — the flesh revived — the 
skin covered it again — and the spirit returned — 
they breathed — they lived — they moved — and 
they appeared to many. 

From this miracle tlie disciples might have 
received the comfortable assurance that Death 
and Corruption had no power to resist the voice 
of their Lord and Master ; it ought to have 
taught them, that though scourged, persecuted, 
and crucified. He had power to lay down his 
life and to take it up again — and the same voice 
which called the spirit of Lazarus from the in- 
visible world, and bade it reanimate the cor- 
rupting body, shall again command the dust to 
live, and the dead to rise. The Scripture has 
given us a moral demonstration of the divine 
power of our Lord which shall effect this mighty 
work ; whenever the morning of the resurrec- 
tion shall dawn, all who have been committed 
to the ground will be included among those 
whose bodies have entirely decayed, mouldered 
into dust, or are in various stags«j of corruption, 
from the first stiflfening of the limbs, to their 
mingling with their kindred elements. As the 
earth is covered with the dew of the morning, 
so, says the Scripture, shall it cast forth her 
dead. The sea shall give up her dead. The 
elements around us shall restore their borrowed 
atoms. Over the surface of the whole earth, 
the dust shall quicken into life ; and man frora 



132* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part V 



the opening graves shall ascend into the air, 
and be summoned in his body before the tribu- 
nal of the Most High, to be judged every man 
according to his works. 

The other Evangelists have omitted the res- 
urrection of Lazarus, because (it is supposed) 
that he was still alive when they wrote, and 
would have been rendered, by notice, more 
liable to persecution. The question is dis- 
cussed by Kuinoel, in loc, who comes to the 
same conclusion. We have hitherto been for- 
tunate enough in this country to have escaped 
from the contamination of the German theo- 
logical speculators on the miracles of Christ, 
&c. Should any student, however, have be- 
come in any degree entangled by them, he will 
find a most admirable antidote in the writings 
of Kuinoel. — See particularly on the Resurrec- 
tion of Lazarus. 

The resurrection of Lazarus was the last and 
most solemn appeal of a miraculous nature 
which he made to the Jewish nation before his 
apprehension. St. John is the only Evangelist 
who has related the miracle, and he proceeds to 
mention the consequences both to Christ him- 
self and to the Jewish nation. Immediately 
after the bystanders had reported the miracle 
to the Sanhedrin, they decided upon putting 
Jesus to death. He therefore retired to 
Ephraim, about twenty miles from Jerusalem, 
that he might escape the persecution of the 
Jews, who were anxiously bent on his destruc- 
tion, John xi. 54., and remained there with his 
disciples until six days before the Passover, 
when he went to Bethany, to sup with Lazarus, 
and was anointed by Mary. The internal evi- 
dence, arising from the conversation which the 
three Evangelists have recorded, seems to be 
decisive of the propriety of this arrangement. 
Our Saviour is represented as going up towards 
Jerusalem, conversing with his disciples, and 
predicting his sufferings and death. The res- 
urrection of Lazarus was the immediate cause 
of those sufferings ; for the public report of this 
miracle induced the Sanhedrin to take their 
most decisive measures against him. The op- 
portunity therefore seemed to be most fit for 
our Lord to demonstrate to his disciples that he 
knew beforehand the consequences of his ac- 
tions, and that the time had come when he was 
to make a free-will offering of himself for the 
sins of the whole world. 



dominion of the Romans, and restore the king- 
dom to Israel. 

The cause of their apprehension seems to 
have been the meek and unostentatious preten- 
sions of our Lord, and his severe reproofs of the 
pride and hypocrisy of the Pharisees and rulers. 
They demanded a Messiah who should appear 
with the insignia, as well as the reality of 
power, and who should not only continue, but 
even enhance to the utmost, the temporal do- 
minion of the Jews. As our Lord did not 
possess the external proofs of royalty, they 
would not believe that He would be able to 
oppose the Roman power, whose vengeance 
they would certainly bring upon themselves, if 
they should acknowledge any other political 
sovereign ; but as the resurrection of Lazarus 
was the cause of this assembling by the Sanhe- 
drin, it is evident that the miraculous powers of 
our Lord must have been known to that body ; 
and the supposition of Lightfoot, therefore, that 
they knew him, is not irrational : they probably 
knew him as a Prophet, but not as the Messiah. 



Note 35.— Part V. 

There is much difficulty in the reasoning of 
the Sanhedrin on this occasion. Why should 
they fear the Romans, even if they had ac- 
knowledged our Lord to be the Messiah ? They 
believed that their Messiah was to be a power- 
ful and mighty king, who would overthrow the 



Note 36.— Part V. 

Commentators are divided respecting the 
meaning of these words. In the former ages 
of the Jewish Church, the spirit of prophecy 
rested with the high priest. As this was the 
great year in which the object of the Jewish 
Dispensation was obtained, and the spirit of 
prophecy, according to the prediction of Joel, 
quoted by St. Peter, was abundantly poured 
forth ; it is supposed that the high priest was 
now inspired to utter certain words, with the 
full meaning of which he was unacquainted, as 
was frequently, and, in the opinion of the Jews, 
uniformly, the case among tlie ancient prophets. 
Others interpret the words according to the literal 
sense in which they were spoken by Caiaphas, 
and suppose that St. John gave them anotlier 
signification. Hausenius, in his learned dis- 
sertation on this subject'', endeavours to prove 
that the words of St John must likewise be in- 
terpreted literally, and that Caiaphas did actu- 
ally prophesy; and as high priest foretell the 
necessity of Christ's death. The question is 
admirably summed up by Hausenius, in his 
seventeenth section. 

"Hoc modo et Saulus, cum suis inter pro- 
phetas relatus, majori violentia spiritus actus 
est. E quibus constat, modum, quo profano 
Caiaphse vaticinium inditum est, omnibus fere, 
qui impiis obtigerunt, tenuiorem, lenioremque 
fuisse." 

He then proceeds in his last section to show 
that though this expression of Caiaphas must 
be considered as a real prophecy, yet the high 

' Printed in the collection of tracts which com- 
pose the nth volume of the Critici Sacri, p. 523. 



Note 37.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



433 



priest liimself was unworthy of the honorable 
name of Prophet. To this purpose he quotes 
the accurate conclusions of Origen ; and thus 
sums up his remarks — " Quamobrem bene ho- 
rum, de quibus loquimur, congnaens in unam 
sententiam divinatio descripta a Basilio est, 
catena, a Dan. Heinsio e MS. edita — nag di xal 
Bula&u nqocpijTEvsi, xal Xa'CAqpas ; oii, x&xsXvoi, 
10-dg Tceidofdi'ovg sl/ov, 6 fiiv cog d(^;jfte^£i)?, 6 81 
(hg ixixvng- ov y&Q ipvxri? yadagijtjg, ovde 8tav- 
ysia vov ivoqihvwg slg S'sdv xal t^iv ixeXdsv 
dvvufuv anavTog- dlV oly.ovofiiy.og iv cfuToTg 6 
loyog, ov y.aTU t7]J' 6.^luv, dXla nqbg tov Huigdi'. 
Idem de Bileamo judicium est R. Isaaci Abar- 
banelis ad Jos.xiii.27, inxnja "iDtJty HD nTI 'D 

nj) hare;' nnaS r\pa -jii^S r'7xnDm "i3T 

Grotius' quotes several curious opinions of 
the ancients respecting the communion of their 
chiefs and superiors with an invisible world. 
Homer tells us that a dream was only to be de- 
pended upon when it occurred to Agamemnon. 
The Spartans esteemed those dreams only as 
prophetical which were presented to the Ephori. 
Oracular responses were given both to Pharaoh 
and Nebuchadnezzar, to Lamech and Balaam. 
And in the former dispensation it belonged to 
the kings, or to the chief magistrate, to consult 
by Urim and Thummin''. 

Dr. Lardner observes on these words, " By 
prophesying — I understand foretelling the event ; 
which it was, in a peculiar manner, the office 
of the priest to do, when he was inquired of, or 
■when God was inquired of by him, concerning 
any important matters under deliberation." 
See 1 Sam. xxii. 11-13. xxiii. 9-11. and 2 
Sam. V. 22-25. He thus paraphrases the whole 
passage — 

" Caiaphas, who was the high priest at that 
time, when it came to his turn to deliver his 
opinion, said, ' You have hitherto talked very 
wealdy and ignorantly ; you may proceed in 
the case before you without hesitation. The 
taking away the life of this man will be so far 
from being ruinous to the whole nation in this 
country, and in other parts, as some of you fear, 
that it will be much for the advantage of the 
people of God, every where.' This, however, 
he said, not merely of himself, but being then 
high priest, he foretold the issue and event of 
their counsels, and of the death of Jesus ; and 
that it would come to pass that Jesus would die 
for that nation, and not for that nation only ; 
but that through his death he would gather to- 

' Critici Sacri in loc, vol. vii. p. ^1. and Joh. 
PrisoEei Annotata, at the end of vol. vii. p. 356. 

' I may here take the opportunity of observing 
a contradiction in the folio edition of Lightfoot's 
IVorks. In his Gleanings on Exodus, Lightfoot 
supports tlie opinion that the high priest heard a 
voice, when consulting the Oracle by Urim and 
Tliurauiin ; but in his sermons he advances the 
opinion that he was suddenly inspired by the 
Spirit of prophecy. — Vide Life nf Ligktfuot, pre- 
fixed to his Works, folio edition. 

VOL. n. 



gether in one the children of God, which were 
scattered abroad"." 

The advice of Caiaphas is such, indeed, as 
might have been expected from an unprincipled 
and worldly politician. He recommends them 
to save the state, by sacrificing the supposed 
author of their apprehended danger. One man 
must die for the people — that is, the life of this 
Jesus, although he has performed mighty works, 
is of no value when compared with the possibil- 
ity of danger. The Evangelist certainly refers 
to this speech of Caiaphas, as if it had been 
spoken under a divine impulse, of which he was 
totally unconscious. 

Diodati, in his Annotations, writes — " God 
guided the tongue of the high priest ; so that 
thinking to utter a speech according to his own 
wicked meaning, he pronounced an oracle ac- 
cording to God's meaning ; as the high priest 
had oftentimes inspirations from God." Exod. 
xxviii. 30. Numb, xxvii. 21. 



Note 37.— Part V. 

ON THE TIME OF THE ANOINTING OF OUR LORD 
AT BETHANY. 

Harmonists have been much divided on the 
proper place of the anointing our Lord at Beth- 
any. Some have supposed that this unction 
was performed twice, others but once. Light- 
foot and Pilkington have embraced the hypothe- 
sis of a twofold unction. Archbishop Newcome 
supposes that there was one only, which he 
places two days before the Passover. Dod- 
dridge and Michaelis have concluded that our 
Lord was anointed once only, and refer the 
event to the sixth day before the Passover. 

After an attentive perusal of the several 
reasons adduced by each harmonist, I have 
adopted the opinion of Michaelis and Doddridge. 
The German harmonist, in his chapter on the 
Rules to be observed in making a Harmony of 
the Gospels, has selected this event as the ex- 
ample by which to illustrate the position " that 
two or more relations may be very similar, and 
yet not the same ,• and these must be carefully 
distinguished from each other." — " The follow- 
ing instance," he observes, " may serve to show 
the manner in which I apply the rules in ques- 
tion. The Evangelists, St. Matthew (chap, 
xxvi. 6-13.) and St. Mark (chap. xiv. 3-9.) have 
related that Christ was anointed in the week 
preceding his death, and all the commentators 
are agreed that both of them mean tlie same 
unction. St. John likewise (chap. xii. 1. 8.) 
relates that Christ was anointed in the same 
week ; and the unction which he describes, is, 
in my opinion, the very same with that which 

' Lardner's Works, vol. i. 4to. edit. p. 211. 

*L . 



134* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part V. 



St. Matthew and St. Mark have recorded ; but, 
according to others, it was totally different, and 
happened four days earlier. Now that two dif- 
ferent unctions happened twice in the same 
week is more than I am able to believe. The 
two unctions above mentioned, if we consider 
as two, what I believe to be one, agree in the 
following circumstances : — 

" 1. Both ha ipened at Bethany. 

" 2. In both cases Jesus was anointed, not 
by his host, but by a woman. However, as 
Clirist was frequently at Bethany, these circum- 
stances are not so very renarkable. 

" 3. Both unctions took place, as I shall prove 
in the sequel, not in the house of Lazarus, the 
friend of Jesus, where we might soonest expect 
him, but at another house. 

" 4. Both happened in the last week before 
the suffering of Christ. 

" 5. In both cases the ointment was so ex- 
pensive, that the unction had the appearance 
of profusion. 

'• 6. In both cases we meet with the remark- 
able circumstance, that the ointment was not 
purchased for the purpose to which it was 
applied, but that it had been preserved for some 
time by the person who used it ; for the disci- 
ples were offended that the ointment was not 
sold and given to the poor; and in the account 
which is given by St. John (chap. xii. 7.) it is 
expressly said by Jesus, ' against the day of my 
burying hath she kept this.' One might almost 
conjecture that it was the remainder of the 
ointment which Mary and Martha had purchased 
for the funeral of Lazarus : the thought presents 
itself at least, on reading St. John's description, 
as not improbable'. 

" 7. In both cases the unction is censured 
by the disciples. 

" 8. In both cases the ground of censure is 
the same. 

" 9. In both cases the unction is defended 
by Jesus, and the same answer given to the 
disciples. 

" 10. The expression, v&q8og nianxri, which 
is not only very unusual, and therefore obscure, 
but occurs in not a single instance either in the 
Septuagint, or in the New Testament, except 
on this occasion, is used both by St. Mark and 
by St. John ; the ointment therefore used in 
both cases was strictly the same. 

" These circumstances are too numerous and 
too particular, to have happened twice : not to 
mention the improbability that the disciples, 
after having been rebuked by Jesus six days 
before Easter, for having censured the unction, 
should presume to repeat their censure on a 
similar occasion, on the second day before Easter. 
For it contained a manifest disregard to Jesus 
himself, which they must have very sensibly 
felt, when he answered them, 'The poor always 

' Marsh's Michaelis, vol. iii. parti, p. 23. 



ye have with you, but me ye have not always,' 
John xii. 8. ; and of which, therefore, they 
would hardly have been guilty only four days 
afterwards. 

" In the two accounts, which are given by 
St. Matthew and St John, I perceive not the 
least variation, except that in some points the 
one is more copious than the other ; but their 
descriptions are so far from being inconsistent, 
that they have all the appearance of proceeding 
from two different eyewitnesses to the same 
fact. 

" 1. According to St. Matthew and St. Mark, 
a woman anoints Jesus ; according to St. John, 
he is anointed by Mary, and, if we may judge 
from what he says in the second verse, by Mary, 
the sister of Lazarus. This however is no con- 
tradiction, when one historian omits the name 
of the woman, the other mentions it. Nay, 
even from the very silence of St. Matthew and 
St. Mark, with respect to the name, may be de- 
duced an argument in support of the opinion, 
that the unction described by St. Matthew and 
St. John is the same. St. Matthew and St. 
Mark must have had particular reasons for con- 
cealing the name of the woman, since, accord- 
ing to their own relation, Jesus declared that 
what she had done should be preached in the 
whole world for a memorial of her. Now this 
cannot have happened unless she was the Mary 
mentioned by St. John: and it would follow, 
from the supposition of two different unctions, 
that the declaration of Jesus had remained un- 
fulfilled. Perhaps the real state of the case is 
as follows : — the two first Evangelists, who have 
made no mention of the raising of Lazarus from 
the dead, that they might not expose him to the 
persecution of the Jewish Sanhedrin, have 
probably, from the same reason, concealed the 
name of his sister Mary, who anointed Jesus with 
the ointment which remained after the inter- 
ment of Lazarus. St. John, on the contrary, 
expressly mentions it, because he wrote after 
the destruction of Jerusalem, and could there- 
fore have no reason for concealing the name 
either of Lazarus or Mary. 

" 2. According to St. Matthew, the enter- 
tainment was given at tlie house of Simon the 
leper ; according to St. John, Lazarus was one 
of them who sat at the table with \\im{e'lg r&i> 
ixfuxsifdvwp), and his sister Martha served. 
Some commentators have considered tliis as a va- 
riation in the account, and have concluded, from 
St. John's description, that the entertainment 
was given at the house of Lazarus. But this is 
certainly not true, since no one in speaking of 
the master of the house would say, 'he was one 
of those who sat at the table.' On the contra- 
ry, this very expression proves that he was only 
a guest, and that the entertainment was given 
at tlie house of a friend, in which his sister, 
who was a diligent housewife (see Lulce x. 40.), 
prepared the table. 



Note 37.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*]3: 



" 3. According to St. Matthew, the woman 
poured the box of ointment on tlie head of 
Jesus ; according to St. John, she anointed his 
feet. But even this circumstance is not suffi- 
cient to prove two distinct unctions, though 
among all the variations it is the most consid- 
erable. That Mary did not leave the head of 
Jesus unanointed, we may take for granted, 
from the general practice of tlie East; but this 
is not related by St. John, who mentions only 
the more extraordinary circumstance, omitted 
by St. Matthew and St. Mark, that the woman 
anointed his feet. It is agreeable to John's 
peculiar manner to relate circumstances omitted 
by his predecessors. 

" 4. According to St. Matthew, the disciples 
in general, according to St. Mark, only some of 
tJiem,had indignation, and censured the woman. 
This cannot be considered as a contradiction : 
for when St. Matthew says, in general terms, 
'the disciples,' it does not necessarily follow 
that he meant all of them, without exception ; 
nor is it probable that all of them expressed 
their opinion. But St. John mentions Judas 
Iscariot, as the person who censured the action. 
Still, however, we cannot conclude that the 
Evangelists have described two different unc- 
tions. One of the disciples must have made a 
beginning, to whom others acceded, though 
probably not in the same words. This person 
is particularly named by St. John, who likewise 
adds the motive which induced him to cast the 
censure. Perhaps St. Matthew and St. Peter 
acceded to the opinion of Judas, but not St. 
John; and hence St. Matthew and St. Mark 
speak openly in the plural number, that they 
might not conceal the part which St. Matthew 
and St. Peter had taken in this unjust censure. 
" It is further objected, that the clear and 
certain marks by which the time is determined 
by the different Evangelists, prove two distinct 
transactions ; that St. John mentions expressly 
the sixth day before Easter (John xii. 1.), and 
St. Matthew as expressly the second day before 
Easter (Matt. xxvi. 2.), as the day on which the 
unction happened: but the assertion appears to 
have no foundation. That St. John has deter- 
mined the date to be the sixth day before the 
Passover is not to be disputed. But St. Mat- 
thew is silent as to the day on which the 
unction happened ; and it is owing only to the 
modern division of Matthew's text into chap- 
ters, that we suppose he has determined the 
time. The Evangelist has not v/ritten, 'On 
the second day before the Passover Jesus was 
at an entertainment at Bethany ;' but aft-?r 
having related a discourse which Jesus had 
made to his disciples, he adds, 'And it came to 
pass, when Jesus had finished all those sayings, 
he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after 
two days is the feast of the Passover, and the 
Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified.' Im- 
mediately afterwards the Evangelist relates the 



plot which was formed against the life of Jesus 
in the following manner : ' Then (tote) assembled 
together the Chief Priests and the Scribes, and 
the elders of the people, unto the palace of the 
high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and con- 
sulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety, 
and kill him. But they said, not on tlie feast 
day, lest tliere be an uproar among the people.' 
Now the word rire, which is capable of a very 
extensive signification, no more determines this 
consultation to have happened on the same day 
on which Jesus delivered his discourse to the 
apostles, than that it happened in the same hour. 
" But even if we admit that both of them 
happened on the same day, it will by no means 
follow, that the entertainment likewise at 
Bethany took place on that day ; at least the 
words with which St. Matthew begins his nar- 
ration of it, ' Now when Jesus was in Bethany, 
in the house of Simon the leper,' contain no de- 
termination of time, and may as easily refer to 
a preceding as a present period. 

•' Still, however, it might be objected, that 
though St. Matthew and St. Mark have not ex- 
pressly mentioned the day on which the unction 
took place at Bethany, they have at least as- 
signed to it a place in that part of their narra- 
tive where they were advanced, namely, to 
within two days of the Passover. Now this ob- 
jection presupposes that the Evangelists always 
wrote according to the order of time, which they 
certainly did not ; and if we only make a dif- 
ferent division of the chapters, and reclton to 
the twenty-fifth chapter the two first verses of 
the twenty-sixth, the unction at Bethany, which 
is related in the following verses, will have less 
reference to the time specified in those tv.-o 
verses." 

" The Jewish Sanhedrin had formed the 
resolution to put Jesus to death, but not on the 
feast day ; and it was the unction at Bethany 
which afforded them the means of getting him 
into their power, though on tlie day v.-liich they 
had endeavoured to avoid. This may be gathered 
from St. Matthew's own relation, who, after 
having described the consultation of the Sanhe- 
drin, immediately relates the unction at Bethany, 
and then adds, ' That one of the twelve, called 
Judas Iscariot, v/ent unto the Chief Priests, and 
said unto them. What will ye give me, and I will 
deliver him unto you?' (Matt. xxvi. 14, 15.) 
The account given by St. Matthew is in some 
measure obscure, because we do not perceive 
in what manner the circumstance of the unction 
excited in Judas the resolution to betray his 
master. But this, we clearly learn, from the 
relation of St. John, from which it appears that 
Judas was properly the person who censured 
the unction, under the pretence that the oint- 
ment ought to be sold for the benefit of the 
poor ; and that this specious pretext likewise 
met with the approbation of other apostles. 
The true reason, as St. John expressly declares. 



136* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part V. 



was the hope of having a further opportunity of 
defrauding the money-bag, which was entrusted 
to his care. The answer therefore of Jesus 
affected Judas in particular, whose guilty con- 
science augmented the severity of the rebuke. 
Under these circumstances, it is by no means 
extraordinary that Judas resolved to take re- 
venge, especially when we consider that he 
was already an apostate (John vi. 67-71.), and 
thought, perhaps, that, if contrary to his belief, 
Jesus was really the Messiah, the measures 
concerted against him would be of no avail ; 
but that, on the other hand, if Jesus was an im- 
postor, he would meet with the fate he deserved. 
It appears, then, that the unction at Bethany, 
which gave rise to the offer of Judas to the 
Sanhedrin, to betray Christ, is more properly 
arranged immediately before the relation of the 
effect which it produced, than it would have 
been, if placed at the beginning of the twenty- 
first chapter, to which it properly belongs, ac- 
cording to the merits of tune"." 

It will be observed, that Michaelis, in these 
observations, has replied to the principal objec- 
tions which have been proposed by Lightfoot, 
Whiston, Whitby, Macknight, and others. 
Archbishop Newcome has reviewed these ar- 
guments in a long note on the subject. 

Bishop Marsh is not satisfied with these ar- 
guments of Michaelis. He observes that Matt, 
xxvi. 2. and Mark xiv. 1. bring their narrative 
down to the third day, and that the assembly of 
the chief priests was certainly held three days 
before the Passover, when Judas betrayed 
Christ ; but it does not therefore follow, as 
Bishop Marsh supposes, that the unction was 
on the same day. St. Matthew connects the 
two events, in order to point out the cause and 
the effect, without distinguishing the precise 
time. St. Mark follows St. Matthew's plan, 
and for the same reason. 

The first day of unleavened bread is men- 
tioned in its order, after the parenthetical nar- 
ration of the causes of the betraying, and has 
no reference to the unction. Bishop Marsh 
justly objects to Archbishop Newcome's order, 
but proposes the opinion, that the unction took 
place on the Wednesday before the Passover. 
This learned theologian, however, does not 
rest this opinion upon the arguments generally 
made use of, but upon a supposed corruption of 
the original text of St. John. As the testimony 
however, of all existing MSS. is against this opin- 
ion. Bishop Marsh conjectures that the corruption 
in question was made at so very early a period, 
that no manuscript extant has the original read- 
ing. It is at all times painful to be compelled 
to differ from an authority so eminent as Bishop 
Marsh ; but it is impossible to approve of any 
emendation of the text of the New Testament, 
which increases instead of lessening difficul- 

" Lightfoot has endeavoured to prove the same 
thing. 



ties ; and is unsupported by the authority ot 
one quotation, version, or MS. extant. The 
Scriptures must be treated with greater vener- 
ation. 

Bishop Marsh, in his note (No. 9.) to this 
section of Michaelis, also endeavours to prove 
that the day on which Christ was betrayed was 
the day of the unction. His arguments do not 
appear satisfactory. The question principally 
rests upon the precise meaning of the word 
t6ts, which Michaelis would render " very soon 
after," and his annotator " immediately after." 

The authority of Dr. Dick, in his Essay on 
the Inspiration of the Scriptures, confirms me 
yet further in the conviction that the unction at 
Bethany took place six days before the Pass- 
over.— See Dick's Essay, p. 300, 301. 



Note 38.— Part V. 

It is not exactly known of what this [vdcgSos 
mariKrj) consisted which was poured upon the 
head of our Lord. The words occur but twice, 
Mark xiv. 3. " There came a woman having an 
alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very 
precious," rilde jvvt] e/ovcra d.l(xt>uaiQOP /uvfiov, 
vuqSov nicriixr^g ttoXvteXovq' and John xii. 3. 
" Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spike- 
nard, very costly," ifec. 'H ovi^ MaqLa laSov- 
(ja XLTQav fivQOv v&gSov teictwxtjc nolvTlfiov. 
Schleusner derives the word manxri from nlt/oj, 
bibo ; and supposes that the ointment could be 
poured out as a liquid. — He quotes, among other 
authorities, the same passage from jiEschylus" as 
Heinsius does, to confirm his opinion. Others 
derive the word from nlcriig, and suppose that 
it merely signifies that the ointment was pure 
and unadulterated. With this opinion Heinsius 
agrees, and defends the interpretation from the 
Hellenistic interpretation of a verse in Isaiah 
xxxiii. 16. £t' rt? elg vhcrov ninoi, ovk r^v dXiS.rju!' 
ovdev, ovSk ^Q^aifiov ov /QiaTOf, ovda nKnbv" . 
Others, rejecting both these opinions, suppose 
the word is not Greek, but Latin, and that viiq- 
Sog ntanx-fi is the same as nardus spicata, hoc 
est, ex spicis expressa, from m.i'C,in), premo, unde 
TTisazi], by metathesis niaiixri, as (peUvrj, for 
Penula. Scaliger reads the word nTiunxri, 
from TiT/ffffw, contundo. Nonnus keeps the 
word as it is in St. John, and gives no explana- 
tion. Lightfoot supposes the word to be de- 
rived from the Syriac KpnD'3 and interprets the 
whole phrase to signify an aromatic confection 
of nard, mastic, or myrobalane. Hartung"" is 
of opinion that the ointment in question was 
brought from Opis, a town near Babylon, 

" Hcinsii Excrclt.ationes SarrcE, p. 218. 

" Prom. Vinct. Glasgow edit, imputed to Por- 
son, line 478. 

^ Apud PfeifFer, Exotkorum JV. T. locus xxii. at 
the end of the Dubia Vexata, p. 916. 



Note 39.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*137 



whence spices and unguents were exported, 
and tliat the true reading, therefore, ought to be 
imaTtxTi;. Larnpe" and Cloppenburg, however, 
reject this interpretation, for the best of all 
reasons when the language of the New Testa- 
ment is under consideration, because the word 
is not to be found in any manuscript or version 
extant; and the latter derives the word from 
the name of Pista, a Persian city, mentioned by 
.iEschylus, Tude fih' TJsQawp twv olxo^iii'on' 
' Ell&d' h aluv ritaTU y.aleXiai, — Persce, line 
1, 2. on which the Scholiast observes, (Jcypoovoi 
d' OTi ndlig iari ITeQawf samdev JJiaTSlQa y.u- 
kov/jsvij, r^f avvy.uipu; 6 TTOirjTTjg riiaT& scpy — ^the 
only objection to this opinion is, that nard does 
not gro\y in Persia. It might, however, be im- 
ported from India, and manufactured there for 
the use of the merchants. Abulfeda is quoted 
both by Lampe and Pfeiffer, to prove that Pista 
was the metropolis of Caramania, a large and 
flourisliing city on the river Indus. 

Pfeiffer, after reviewing these various 
opinions, comes to the same conclusion as 
Luther and Kuinoel (Com. in Hist. lib. JV. T. 
in Mark xiv. 3.) that it signifies unadulterated, 
or pure, and is derived from nlarig. He quotes 
Casaubon's observation, that mcrrixbg signifies 
that which can be depended upon, or which de- 
serves confidence. Eusebius [Demons. Evang. 
lib. viii.) calls the wine of the Eucharist, Kqafia 
mariy-bv ttj; xaivrig diaOrjy.ijg. 



Note 39.— Part V. 

ON ZECHARIAH IX. 9. 

This prediction of Zechariah, four hundred 
years before the event, announced to the people 
of Israel, that the King of Jerusalem, contrary 
to the universal custom of his own and of every 
other nation, should enter into his royal city, 
without any outward pomp and splendor ; that 
he should ride upon the humblest of animals ; 
himself the meekest and lowliest of men, yet 
the Saviour of his people, and, as such, be re- 
ceived by them with the loudest rejoicings and 
acclamations. We are assured, by the Prophet 
Malachi also, that the Messiah should certainly 
visit the second temple at Jerusalem. Let me 
now, then, appeal to the Jew who receives the 
Old Testament, and entreat him to search the 
records of the history of his fathers, and there 
find if any prophet, priest, or Idng, or ruler of 
Israel, before the destruction of the second 
temple, ever entered into Jerusalem, as Jesus 
of Nazareth is here represented to have done ; 
and which of all these rulers of Israel united 
so many of their ancient prophecies in his own 
person. Of all the long train of Persian, Gre- 
cian, Roman, or Jewish rulers, to whom can 

" Vide Lampe On John xii. 3. vol. ii. p. 825, 
note. 

VOL. II. *1S 



we apply the prophecy of Zechariah, and assert 
tliat he rode into Jerusalem humble, royal, 
and a Saviour, visiting and appearing in their 
temple ? Ezra was in their city when the 
prophecy was delivered". The successor of 
the Persian conqueror was reposing in his 
palace. Nehemiah went up to Jerusalem at- 
tended by the captains and cavalry of the king 
of Persia, (Nehem. ii. 9.) When he arose pri- 
vately in the night, he was accompanied by 
few only of his tram, and though he rode, 
it was not in the manner described by the 
prophet" ; and of this his second entrance noth- 
ing is recorded'. 

Did the governors of Syria, under the Persian 
sovereigns of Judaaa, visit Jerusalem in such 
lowly stater Was the prophecy fulfilled in 
Bagoses, when he espoused the cause of the 
usurper of the high priesthood, and imposed a 
fine upon the priests for every offering that was 
brought to the temple ? Did any Persian 
emperor ever enter Jerusalem ; or can it be 
supposed that the prophet alluded to any officer 
who bore an inferior title" ? If it be imagined 
that Zechariah predicted the conquest of the 
Grecian conqueror, when, meeting the high 
priest Jaddua, he venerated, amidst the astonish- 
ment of his attendants, the name of Jehovah, 
glittermg on his tiara"* ; let it be remembered that 

' Vide on the date of this prophecy, &c. £r- 
rangement of the Old Testament, Note 26, Period 
VIII. part ii. and the references in the note. 

" HD 331 'jx ityx nonnn-ox '3 -"ov fx 

Nehem. ii. 12. whereas the predicted King of 
Zechariah was to enter the city, — 

•mjnN-t3n';?-'7iM-nDn-b;r 331 

* Vide Arrangement of the Old Testament, Period 
VIII. part iii. sect. v. 

■^ "Sub prtesidibus hisce alii minorum ordinum ma- 
gistratus fuere ; qui aliquando ni3''Tt5' principes, 
Ezra ix. 1, 2. alias nD'lin, nobiles, magnates, 
patricii, Neh. iv. 14. nonnunquam et niJJv* 'iii? 
principes patrum, seu familiarum, dicuntur, Ezra 
viii. 29. A quibus distinct! fuisse videntur, quos 
CD'JpI seniores, aliquando et CD'JJD secundarios 
sive subalternos judices, sacra historia nuncupat. 
Quibus quandoqae jungitur civium omnium coetus 
n^lUn nSnp congregatio magna. Quorum ordi- 
num diserta mentio Neli. v. 7. contend! cum CD'lin 
nobilibus, et cum u3'JJD secundariis judicibus, 
Junius vertit antistitibus, et indix! illorum caussa 
nSnj nSnp congregationem magnam, Ezra x. 8. 
memoratur CD'Jpin CD'IK/'n jIVJ? senatus princi- 
pum et seniorum, deinde PiSun 'lT\p congregatio 
deportatte multitudinis. Sub auspiciis ducis seu 
proesidis provincialis erat Hierosolyniis secundarius 
quidam prrefectus, seu legatus ipsius praesidis, ex 
tribu Benjaminis : ut colligi potest ex Neh. xi. 9. 
Ibi enim dum enumerantur Benjaminit* Hieru- 
solymis habitanles, laudatur Juda filivis Senufe 
I'Un bj? niiVrj Secundarius supra civitatem." — 
Witsius, Historia Hierosol. Exerc. SacrcB, p. 291, 
sect. 23. 

^ "Alexander enim, ut vidit e longinquo can- 
didatum populum, et sacerdotes in amictu byssino, 
pontificemque in stola hyacinthina aui'o distincta, 
tiarain in capite gestantem cum praefixa lamina 
aurea insculpta nomine JehovsE, solus ad eum 
accedens, noraen illud adoravit, ac salutavit Ponti- 



138* 



NOTES ON THB GOSPELS. 



[Part V. 



Alexander was at the head of his army, neither 
meek, nor poor, nor humble^ Do the pages of 
history unfold any similar event, which occurred 
m the lives of either of the Ptolemies ? whether 
of Lagus, who entered the city on the Sabbath, 
as an enemy and a conqueror, and took away 
many thousands of the people as his prisoners ? 
or of Philadelplms, who reversed the decree, and 
restored them to their own country? or of 
Ptolemy Philopater, who marked the wretched 
Jews with the ivy-leaf, in honor of Bacchus, 
and sacrilegiously attempted to enter the sanc- 
tuary ? can we trace a similitude between these 
men and the King of Israel, at whose coming 
the daughter of Zion was invited to rejoice 
greatly ? 

Let us turn our attention to another dynasty, 
and search among them also for this meek and 
humble Saviour, and King of Israel. Did An- 
tiochus the Great protect the people ? It is 
true that they welcomed, with acclamations, 
his army and their elephants ; but where do we 
read that this king entered Jerusalem on a colt, 
the foal of an ass ? Did Seleucus Philopater 
fulfil the prediction, when he sent Heliodorus 
to plunder the temple : or was his brother, the 
cruel oppressor, the savage murderer, and the 
foulest idolater of all the enemies of Israel, 
more meek and humble, when he profaned the 
temple, and slaughtered the people on the 
Sabbath ? If we look to the history of the 
Maccabean family, we may still proceed in 
vain to find one among them whose character- 
istics, as a leader of Israel, correspond with 
this prediction of the prophet. Mattathias ex- 
cited the people to resistance in defence of 
their religion. Judas entered Jerusalem in 
triumph, purified the temple, and dedicated it 
again to the worship of Jehovah ; as a religious 
and devout man, he, perhaps, might be caUed 
meek and humble ; but where is it recorded 
that he entered into Jerusalem sitting upon a 
colt, the foal of an ass ? Shall we apply the 
prediction to the idolatrous Bacchides, who 
captured the holy city, and murdered the zeal- 
ous Maccabee ? or to any of the sons of the 
Asmoneean family ; whether it be the pious 
Simon, his warlike son, or to the weak and 
profligate Aristobulus, who first assumed the 
diadem, and surnamed himself the King of the 
Jews ; or to his fierce and cruel brother, Alexan- 
der JanniEus ? If it is possible not to turn in 
disgust from the unnatural contests of this 
man's sons, we might inquire if either of these 
were the meek and holy King of Israel, before 
or after the Romans entered Jerusalem on the 
Sabbath, and assisted the royal Jew to slaughter 

ficem. Judseis uno ore Alexandrum consalutan- 
tibus, et in orbem cingentibus, Syriae Reges et re- 
liqui obstupuerunt, vix credentes regem mentis 
essecompotem." — Witsius,ubi sup. sect. 25, p. 292, 
4to. edit. 

' Josephus, Ant. b. xi. eh. viii. 



his countrymen on that holy day .? Pompey, 
who spared the gold of the temple, and Crassus 
who followed him, and despoiled it : Gabinius, 
and Cffisar, and Antipater, with all the mingled 
tribe of Parthian, Roman, and Jewish con- 
tenders, who next crowd the scene, rnay be 
considered as alike falling short of the descrip- 
tion of the prophet. We are now brought to 
the days of Herod the king, the contemporary 
of Jesus of Nazareth, the tributary dependant 
on Rome, the fierce, implacable, and haughty 
murderer of his wife, his people, and his 
children .'' Is this the portrait of the expected 
king of Israel ? Was the destroyer of Ma- 
riamne, the flatterer of Augustus, the slaugh- 
terer of the innocents at Bethlehem, was he the 
meek and humble Saviour, who was to ride into 
the city among the acclamations of the people ? 
Was Herod the king, who died amidst the deep 
and indignant curses of a suffering people ? 
was he who was smitten of God, hateful to his 
own family, and abhorred by his subjects, was 
this the king for whom Zion was to rejoice, 
and the daughter of Jerusalem to be glad ? 
Surely neither this man, nor his tyrannical son, 
nor his family of tetrarchs, nor the corrupt and 
sanguinary governors from imperial Rome, can 
appear as candidates for the title of the true 
King of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth. None but 
the Prophet of Galilee, who worked miracles, 
who fulfilled every prophecy, who was so poor, 
that he had not where to lay his head; so 
humble, that he washed the feet of his disciples, 
whom the people more than once endeavoured 
to make their king ; and who was now received 
among them with acclamations and hosannas, 
none but He accomplished this prediction of 
Zechariah, and entered into Jerusalem, — 

" Just — and having salvation ; 
Lowly — and riding upon an ass. 
And upon a colt, the foal of an ass." 

Brethren of Israel, you acknowledge the 
miracles of Christ, although you impute them 
to magic-''. Your fathers bore witness to his 
blameless life, and to the union in his person of 
many of the characteristics of your expected 
Messiah. Whenever your promised Shiloh 
shall appear, he must manifest himself in the 
same manner as Jesus of Nazareth has already 
done; he must appear in the second temple, 
and accomplish in his own person all the pre- 
dictions of your ancient prophets. That this 
prophecy of Zechariah related to the King 
Messiah, you are presented with proofs, not 
from the writings of the Evangelists (whom we 
indeed believe, like your ancient prophets, to 
be inspired), but from the writings of your own 
talmudists^. For of none other can it be said, 

f See the Toldoth Jesu, in Wagenseil's Tela 
Jgnea. 

" R. S. quoted by Munster, in the Critici Sacri, 



Note 40. 1.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*139 



out of all tlie rulers or conquerors of Jerusalem, 
from the building of the second temple after 
the Babylonian captivity, to its overthrow by 
Titus ; of none other can it be said, that he 
entered into the holy city, riding upon an ass, 
amidst the acclamations of the multitude, and 
the hosannas of the children. 



Note 40.— Part V. 

If the theological student will refer to the 
original of Zech. ix. 9. he will observe that the 
expected King of Israel is called yat:) pnv. 

est ut interpreteris de alio quaiti de Messiah. So 
Clarius — and Grotius quotes also Abenezra and 
Rabbi Saadia Gaon, as referring this passage to the 
Messiah. " Eidem MessiEe,qui asino veetus est,et 
humilem se exhibuit, singularem in ipsa humilitate 
magnificentiam tribuunt." Sohar JVumer. fol. 83. 
col. 332. ubi mystice commentantur ad verba Deut. 
xxii. 10. Nonarabis cum bove,et asino simul. Ille 
estasinus,n^S'; oS^'dS xn't^O NdSo ron,cuiin- 
sidens Rex Messias dominaturus est. — Et hoc quod 
scriptum est Zachar. ix. 9. Pauper et insidens 
asino. Hue pertinet illud R. Joseph! in Sanhedrin, 
fol. 98. 2. 'Veniet Messias, et ego dignus habebor, 
qui sub umbra stercoris asini ejus sedeam,'" &c. 
— Schoetgen, Hor. Heb. vol. ii. p. 543. Bres- 
cith Rabba ad Genes, xlii. 2. apud Raymundum 
Martini, part. lii. distinct, iii. 16. 1. -\hc xn'tVD 
huTtS' l,"iyin'7 t^'^ltyn'"? n'tynn Quando Mes- 
sias Hierosolymam veniet ad redimendum Israel- 
itas tunc ligat asinum suum, eique insidet, et 
Hierosolymam venit, n^JJ^^ n'i]? JHrty ut semet 
ipsum in humilitate gerat, q. d. Zach. ix. 9. pauper 
et insidens asino. See Schoetgen, Hora HcbraiccB, 
vol. ii. p. 59. De Messiah, lib. ii. continens loca 
veteris testamenti quEE Judcci antiquiores potissi- 
mum de Messiah interpretati sunt. Schoetgen, 
vol. ii. p. 64. Schir JYaschirim Rabba, fol. 7. 3. ad 
verba Cantic. 1. Soh'ir Levit. fol. 28. col. 112. 
Schoetgen, vol. ii. p. 219. Dr. Gill's references to 
the talmudical writers on the application of this 
passaofe to our Lord, are— T. Bab. Sanhedrin. fol. 
98. and 99. 1. Brescith Rabba, fol. 66. 2. and 85. 
3. Midrash Koheleth, fol. 63. 2. Zohar in Genes. 
fol. 127. 3. and in Num. fol. 83. 4. and in Deut. fol. 
117 1. and 118. 3. Raza Mehimna in Zohar in 
Lev. fol. 38. 3. and in Num. fol. 97. 3. Modern 
testimonies ; — Sarchi in Isa. xxvi. 6. Baal Hatu- 



As the word p'A'l} is a passive participle, Gro- 
tius would render it salvatus, and expresses his 
surprise that this should have escaped the atten- 
tion of the commentators. Drusius, his con- 
temporary, who was a much more learned man, 
has anticipated this remark, and replied to it. 
He also observes, that the word yvil} is used as 
an epithet; but his rule of interpretation, as 
applied to this form of speaking, is, that where 
a passive participle is thus taken, it implies 
action''. 

Sebastian Schmidt renders the woris, Justus, 
et servatus ille ; and in the margin of our 
authorized translation, " saving himself." 

With respect to the reading of the Aldine 
MS.' (TiJiCsxiv airovc, it is not supported by the 
original, which reads xin yti/im ; had the read- 
ing of the first word been ;?a?ri, as Grotius 
and Houbigant propose, and the word xin omit- 
ted, and the pronominal affix inserted in its 
place, LD]^tffV), the aiiovg might be admitted. 
In the absence of all authority from manu- 
scripts, however, no conjectural emendation can 
be admitted.'. 

Grotius has committed a singular error in 
supposing that this prophecy can refer to the 
entrance of Zerobabel into Jerusalem ; as Zero- 
babel had long been in the city after the return 
from the captivity, before the prophecy was 
written*. 



rim in Exod. fol. 88. 2. Abrabanel. Mashmia 
Jeshua, fol. 15. 4. 

'' Vide Drusius' and Grotius' Annotations in 
Zech. ix. 9. Critici Sacri, vol. v. 

' " Juxta LXX. sic legimus, XaCqt otfuSqa, &vya- 
T£0 Stiov xi'iQvaas, -^vyarfQ ' IeQfiauXi]i,i ■ iSov 6 (iani- 
Xivg on sQx^TCiL 001 Sixatog y.al Gwtviv avrovg, TZQavg, 
y.at fJTt^f(irjy.Mg t.Tt i'TZotvytov, y.ai Tifokov riov. 
Gaude vehementer, filia Sion ; praedica, filia Hie- 
rusalem ; ecce Rex tuus veniet tibi Justus et sal- 
vans ipsos, mansuetus, ascendens super subju- 
galem, et pullum novum. Interpres legisse vide- 
tur avTog, cum Aldina editio habeat avrovg. Porro 
quod hie est salvator, Hebr>Eis estj?tyiJ, alludens 
ad nomen Jesu — Unde locum hunc Judaei juxta 
historiam referunt ad Christum." — Erasmus ap. 
Crit. Sacri, vol. vii. p. 714. 

J Newcome's Minor Prophets, in Zech. ix. 9. 

* Vide Grotius in loo., Critici Sacri, vol. v. 



PART VI. 



Note 1. — Part VI. 

The several circumstances mentioned in the 
sections of this chapter, which relate our Lord's 
conversations, when for the last time he visited 
Jerusalem, as well as the nature of the questions 



proposed, present us with a most lively portrait 
of the manners and opinions of the Jews at this 
period. Schoetgen, and the other writers, who 
have proposed to explain the New Testament 
from the talmudical writings, have bestowed 
much labor on the illustration of some of the 



140* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VI 



phrases, &c. adopted by the Evangelists ; but, 
in g-eneral, the discourses and conversations of 
our Lord are so plain, that none can misunder- 
stand them — so short, none can forget them — 
so perfect, none can add to the force of their 
instruction, or the eloquence of their language. 
To add many notes would be " to throw a per- 
fume on the violet." 

The differences between the harmonizers of 
the Gospels, with respect to the contents of 
this and the following parts of this arrange- 
ment, are of little importance. In general they 
are agreed. The principal differences in this 
part refer to the number of times in which 
the buyers and sellers were driven from the 
temple — the question whether our Lord ate the 
Passover the same day as the Jews — and the 
precise time in which the discourses in St. 
Jokn were delivered. 



Note 2.— Part V. 

Ride on because of the word of truth, of 
righteousness, and of judgment. Enter into 
thine holy city, thou King of Glory. So amidst 
the acclamations of angels didst thou return to 
thy Father. So shall the spirits of the just 
attend thee, when thou shalt again at the end 
of the world go up, from the dissolution of 
nature, to thy Father and our Father, to thy 
God and our God. The hour was approaching 
when the mysterious sacrifice, reconciling the 
heaven and the earth, was to be offered ; and 
Jesus, knowing that all things were to be ac- 
complished, went on to the scene of his suffer- 
ings amidst the homage of the people, and 
appealing to the rulers of Israel, by his fulfil- 
ment of the most peculiar of their prophecies, 
which they had applied to their expected 
Messiah. 

He entered into Jerusalem to fulfil the proph- 
ecies — to resign himself to the will of his Father 
— to become the victim for the sins of man — and 
no one action, after he entered the city, was 
inconsistent with the humble yet sublime char- 
acter which he had assumed, as the powerful 
deliverer, and the passive sacrifice. That there 
might be no possibility of a renewal of the 
former scenes, when the people anxiously 
desired, by force, to make Him a king. He 
discontinued the miracles by which He had 
hitherto demonstrated his authority and power. 
Every evening He withdrew from the city to 
solitude, to prayer, or to converse with his dis- 
ciples on the Mount of Olives. He thus obvi- 
ated the very possibility of suspicion" that he 
was actuated by the desire of temporal aggran- 
dizement. 

"^ That is, among the Jews of his own time. 
But see the German critics quoted, and we may 
frust, refuted by Kuinoel, Comment, in lib. Hist. JV. 
T. in Matt. xxi. and by Rosenmilller, in his Scholia 
on the same chapter. 



Note 3.— Part V. 

It was a law among the Jews, that if any 
person, even of the most inferior rank, addressed 
another in any well-known passage from their 
liturgical services, the person thus accosted 
was bound to reply. They were particularly 
accustomed to apply the 118th Psalm to this 
purpose ; the 25th verse of which was used at 
the feast of Tabernacles. The 24th verse is 
an introduction to the expressions of joy, 
the hosannas wliich the people sung — and it is 
not improbable, therefore, that the words of 
botli these verses were sung on the occasion 
of our Lord's entrance into Jerusalem. The 
people dividing themselves, and, according to 
the custom which had prevailed among them 
from the very earliest ages, which was contin- 
ued by the primitive Churches, and is still pre- 
served in the services of the Episcopal Church, 
repeating alternately the clauses of the pas- 
sages they quoted. It is well known that the 
Evangelists have not been careful to relate 
minutely every incident which occurred when 
they record a fact; and we cannot therefore 
argue from their silence that no other passage 
was sung than the hosanna of the 25th verse. 
It seems more probable that the introductory 
verse would have been likewise added, in which 
case we may conclude that the rhythmical di- 
visions would be preserved, and the burthen, or 
chorus, or song of triumph, with which our Lord 
was welcomed, might be thus arranged — 

nirr r\v!V nDrrrni 
xj nn'Sxn nin' njx 

This is the day which the Lord hath made, 
We will be glad and rejoice in it. 

Saying — 

We pray thee, O Jehovah, save us, we pray ; 
We pray thee, O Jehovah, prosper us, we pray. 

A rhyming ending of this kind was likely to 
dwell on the memory of the devout Jews. The 
ending of the last fine but one, however, is the 
term from which the word is actually derived, 
NJ nj»'l!'in, "Save now, we beseech thee." 
This passage seems to have been the principal 
acclamation with which our Saviour was sa- 
luted ; while many of the multitude added the 
expressions mentioned by St. Luke. 

The conduct of the Pharisees, in reproving 
the people for thus crying out their hosannas, 
instead of uniting with them according to their 
own institutions, must be imputed to their hard- 
ness of heart, and a determination to oppose to 
the utmost the claims and pretensions of the 
Prophet of Nazareth and of GalQee, for — JudcE- 
orum, et PhariscEorum fuit, his puens respon- 
dere ; idque ex institxito majorum suoram. Ve- 
rum axlr/QoxaodUi ipsorum hoc nohiit perndttere. — 
Schoetgen, Hor. Heh. vol. i. p. 170. 



Note 4, 5.] NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. *141 

Note 4. — Part VI. Note 5. — Part VI. 



Ma>->', in his work, On the true Time of 
Christ's Life, is of opinion that the buyers and 
sellers were driven once only from the temple. 
Some harmonizers conclude that they were 
now, the second time, driven out, on the day 
of his triiunphant entn,', others on the day 
after. I have preferred the arrangement pro- 
posed by PUMncrton and adopted by Doddridge ; 
both because the literal interpretation of the 
narrative appears to support the opinion ; and 
it is probable that the repeated opposition of 
our Lord to the traffic which so much benefited 
the priests, by whose permission the merchants 
sat in the court of the temple, contributed to 
his apprehension. It is not likely that one 
repulse from the temple would have been 
sufficient to banish them entirely from so lucra- 
tive an employment. 

The general opinion is, that the buyers and 
sellers were three times expeUed from the 
temple. Once at the first Passover, and twice 
at this time. 

St. Matthew's account runs thus : — on the day 
of the triumphant entry, Jesus went into the 
temple of God, and cast out all them that sold 
and bought, &c. 

Sl Mark mentions that Jesus, at his trium- 
phal entry.went mto the temple, and when he had 
looked round about upon all things, he went 
out of the city. Dr. Lightfoot observes [Horce 
Heb. in loc), that the word 7TEgi6).ew(!cuBro;, 
Mark xi. 11. signifies not, — " a bare beholding, 
or, looking upon," but, — " a looking upon with 
indignation, reproof, and correction." And he 
supposes the word, so understood, to allude to 
the casting the buyers and sellers out of the 
temple, at the time spoken of by St. Matthew. 
At his return the next morning, he cursed the 
barren fig tree, and he again cast the buyers 
and sellers out of the temple. 

It is not improbable, that the traders and 
money-changers should be returned to the 
temple again, though they were cast out the 
day before ; and it may weU be expected that, 
if Jesus found them there, he would drive them 
out again : so far the supposition of there being 
two facts related is very probable. And, be- 
sides, we may observe, that St. Mark mentions 
a restraint, that either was not laid upon the 
people die day before, or, at least, is not men- 
tioned by St. Matthew, viz. that he would not 
suffer that any man should carry any vessel 
through the temple : an additional circum- 
stance, which makes it appear stUl more prob- 
able that Jesus cast them out twice, at the 
several times mentioned by the two Evan- 
gelists. — Pdkington, notes to the Evangelical 
History, p. 47, 48. 



Where, or on what day, these Greeks came 
to see Jesus is not particularly recorded. But, 
as in St. John's present order, this account 
immediately foUows that of the triumphal entry 
into Jerusedem, we have some reason to con- 
clude that it was on that day and in that place ; 
and therefore I have thought it necessary to 
arrange this, and the three following sections, 
amongst the transactions of that day, and be- 
fore Jesus departed out of the city, as men- 
tioned Matt. xxi. 17, 18, and Mark xi. 11, 12. 

It may farther be obsen'ed, that there are 
some notations in these sections, which seem 
to point out the time of their coming, and the 
place where Jesus was. It is probable He was 
now in the temple, whither the Greeks, if they 
were devout strangers, or Proselytes of tlie 
Gate only, could not be permitted to come ; 
they being allowed to go no farther than the 
court of the GentUes. They therefore applied 
to him, to desire him to vouchsafe to come out 
of the temple to show himself unto them. But, 
instead of complying with this request, a 
greater evidence was vouchsafed them : a voice 
came from heaven, in their hearing, which said, 
" I have both glorified my Name, and I will 
glorify it again," referring to the name of God 
being glorified just before Jesus went into the 
temple, in the hosannahs of tlie people. The 
observation of Dr. Lightfoot is worthy our 
remark ; Christ was thrice attested from heaven, 
according to his threefold office. King, Priest, 
and Prophet. At his baptism, when he was 
anointed and entered into his ministry, as the 
great High Priest — at his ti-ansfiguration, for 
the great Prophet to whom all must hearken — 
and now for the great King, when he had 
newly fulfilled this prophecy, — 

" Rejoice, OSion! behold thy King cometh," &c. 

Lardner, Vossius, and Salmasius are of 
opinion that the Greeks here spoken of were 
idolatrous Gentiles ; Whitby, that they were 
Proselnes of the Gate : and Doddridge, Prose- 
lytes of Righteousness. Heuman and Sender 
suppose that they were Jews, whose constant 
residence was among the Gentiles. It seems 
most probable, as they were now at Jerusalem, 
that they had come up to be present at the 
feast of the Passover, and therefore that they 
were of that class of persons who are elsewhere 
called aeSouevoi. The word here used is 
''Elhjveg — " et quanquam," says Kuinoel, " h. 1. 
non additum legitur aeSouevoi, ex usu tamen 
loquendi N. T. quandoque, ut Hieronym. in 
JMatt. xxvi. scribit: mutata re pristinum nomen 
manet : v. Glassius, PhU. Sac. p. 7. Sic quoque 
qui, Act xiii. 42. rd cdrrj dicuntur, v. 43. nomi- 
nantur cre66ue.voi Tiqoar^lvioi. Commode ergo 
et h. 1. Proselyti simpliciter dici potuerunt 



142* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VI. 



"EXhjveg." — Kuinoel, Comment, in lib. Histor. 
M T. vol. iii. p. 525. 



Note 6.— Part VI. 

ON THE "bath col," OR VOICE FROM HEAVEN. 

One of the most ancient tokens of the more 
immediate or more manifested presence of God, 
\yas tiie utterance of an audible voice from 
heaven, in the manner here described ; this 
voice was called by the Jews the Bath Col, or 
the Daughter of the voice. It was generally at- 
tended, as in this instance, with thunder. The 
Jews, who were accustomed to read and to 
hear that it was in this manner their fathers 
were accustomed to hold communion with God, 
said, an angel spoke ; the Greeks, who were 
not so well instructed, thought that it thundered. 

Vitringa*, wlio has written a treatise express- 
ly on this subject, has endeavoured to prove that 
the Bath Col was delivered in four various 
forms. The noan Sip, gentle, low, and as in 
a whisper. In this manner Job was addressed, 
when the ;;?oti'X Slpl nODT ^TV "^^^^ HJIon 
" an image glided rapidly before mine eyes, I 
perceived silence, and a voice." That is, a low 
and still voice whispered from the silence. 

The second kind of Bath Col was an articu- 
late but subdued tone : as Moses heard the voice 
as of a man speaking to him from the mercy- 
seat. This also was in a gentle tone, but not 
so low as in the former instance. Maimonides 
describes it from the traditions of the Jews, as 
a low tone of voice, such as that which a man 
uses when he prays aloud, and is alone. 

The third was, the usual tone of a man 
speaking, as when the Bath Col called to Sam- 
uel. He thought that Eli had called to him ; 
and, in the same way, God conversed with 
Moses, " as a man converses with his friend." 

The fourth, and principal, and most frequent, 
was that form of tlie Bath Col, which was a 
deep and loud sound, jy Sip and a"iSlp' at- 
tended with thunder, and which is described in 
various passages of Scripture, as well as in the 
verse now under consideration. 

Vitringa produces a number of curious illus- 
trations of this mode of revelation from the an- 
cients ; among whom were preserved the wrecks 
and remnants of the original patriarchism, once 
the true religion of the assembled sons of Noah, 
before the corruptions of idolatry had again 
established vice and error among mankind. 

Spencer" has given the same account. The 
Bath Col was a voice which proceeded from 
heaven, by the ministry of an angel : it was so 
called, because the voice was generally attend- 
ed with thunder, which demonstrated its super- 

* Ohserv. Sacrce, vol. ii. p. 232, &c. 
' Dp Lcvihus Hehrmor. Dixsert. vii. De Urim el 
Thummi/in,, vol. ii. p. 923. 



natural origin ; and from which it proceeded as 
from the womb of its mother. Ex tonitru, tan- 
quain ex utero matris sua, prodierit, are the 
words of Danzius, in his treatise De Inaugura- 
iione Christi, &c. Danzius'' and Harenburgh' 
both quote Tosaphoth Cod. Sanhedr. (scil. f. 11. 
a.) to prove that many suppose that they did not 
hear a voice coming from heaven, but that one 
voice seemed to proceed from, or be the echo 
of another. It sometimes happens that a man 
heard a voice as from a distance, which ap- 
peared as an echo. 

Maimonides-'' is of opinion, that the Bath Col 
was merely an imaginary voice, which the in- 
dividual seemed to hear, in consequence of some 
notion suddenly and vividly impressed upon, or 
occurring to his imagination. This opinion is 
common among many of the Jews at present ; 
at least, if I may be allowed to say so, from 
having heard it strenuously defended in a con- 
versation on the subject with one of the most 
learned Jews in this country. It is an opinion, 
however, which is not only contrary to the 
whole testimony of Scripture, which relates, as 
facts, the sudden voice to Adam, Moses, Elijah, 
Samuel, and others ; but it is at variance with all 
the general interpretations of the talmudical 
writers ; and is vehemently objected to by the 
learned Abrabanel, who asserts the ancient 
belief, that the Bath Col was of supernatural 
origin ; and he adduces, among other instances, 
the voice to Samuel, and the Law on Sinai, 
which must be considered as miracles, worked 
upon the air itself, so as to produce an audible 
and distinct sound, as of a voice, which cannot 
possibly be resolved into a deception of the im- 
agination. Abrabanel likewise challenges the 
Cliristians to produce in their favor this proof 
of the truth of their religion. 

The fiejuSaiva^Bv evjp.vdev, "let us depart 
hence," of Josephus, (in HebrcAv, jDna plDJ,) 
when he describes so eloquently the prodigies 
at the siege of Jerusalem, appears to me to be 
the last sound of the Bath Col in the Jewish 
dispensation; the last sigh of the Spirit of 
prophecy in the Mosaic Church. 



Note 7. — Part VI. 

If we regard this fig tree, as a mere emblem, 
or type, we shall find a beautiful and perfect 
harmony throughout the whole narrative. Tlie 

i De Tnauguratioiic Christ!., &c. 

' Johan. Christoph Harenbur^h, De Miraculo 
Pciiti-cnsfdli, in the 13th volume of the Critici Sacri, 
p. 574. He has defined the Bath Col also from the 
Jerusalem Targum. np33 xSp rC!3 Bath Col 
prodiit ii'n)MO:i xSp r-o'intVXl 'xnX 1J0 ex ter- 
ra et auditum est in 'calis. — Jerusalem Ta.rgv.m, in 
Num. xxi. 7. Pirke Tosaphot, In Sanhedrin, c. i. art. 
29. defines it iD'HO XVV CD^DBTI JD XVV '?iptvp 
inx S'p qiiurn egrcderetur tonitru e caslo vox alia 
ex illo prodiens. 

f Apud Vitringam ut supra, p. 352. 



Note 8, 9.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



^143 



religion of the Jews had now become merely 
external, it flourished only in appearance : it 
possessed the leaves, but not the fruits of holi- 
ness. The fig-tree, therefore, became the 
most apt representation of the state of the 
Jews at that time, and of their consequent 
destruction, or withering away. Had it been 
the season of figs, and the fruit already gath- 
ered, the tree would not have been so appro- 
priately the object of a curse, or so expressively 
a type of the Jewish nation. In this, as in 
many other instances, our Saviour predicted 
the future by a significant action, or sign, before 
he judged it expedient to declare it publicly. 
The parable of the fruitless fig-tree (Luke 
xiii. 7.) bears the same signification. 

Another illustration is given of this parable, 
in reference to the first establishment of the 
Levitical priesthood. When an opposition was 
made to the divine ordination of Aaron, the 
Levitical priesthood was ratified and confirmed 
by the mu-acle of a dry rod, which in one night 
budded, blossomed, and brought forth fruits. 
Now, when it was about to be removed, because 
it had ceased to flourish, or to yield its ap- 
pointed produce, its fate was prefigured by a 
contrary miracle, by an apparently flourishing 
tree reduced as it were, in one night, to a dry 
rod, for ever barren. 

The choice of this tree, as an emblem, cor- 
responds with other parts of Scripture, Jer. 
xxiv. 2. Luke xiii. 6. Micah vii. 1. Cant. ii. 11-13. 



Note 8.— Part VI. 

The words xaiQog avxior (" the time of figs,") 
signify the time of gathering, i. e. the Jig 
harvest. Wetstein's observations are worthy 
of notice : he says, that if Christ, when ap- 
proaching a fig-tree at the season when figs 
are ripe, had found nothing but leaves, thia 
would not have afforded a decisive proof that 
the tree was barren, and deserving of a curse : 
for had it been ever so fruitful, all the figs 
might have been previously plucked off. But 
since before the fig harvest it had abundance 
of leaves, it might be justly expected to have 
figs also. Lightfoot remarks, that this cursing 
injured no one, since, as we learn from St. 
Matthew, the tree gre^v by the ivay side. 



Note 9.— Part VI. 

Dr. Hales having taken for granted that the 
temple was cleansed on the Tuesday, and not 
on the Monday, has preferred the order of St. 
Mark, and made some minor alterations in the 
position of these events. The foundation of 
his reasoning is removed by the arguments of 



Pilkington, which are inserted in the note to 
section 3, (Note 4, p. 141-2.) 

In Matt. xxi. 13. when our Saviour drove the 
buyers and sellers out of the temple, he said to 
them, " It is written, ' my house shall be called a 
house (not the house) of prayer,' but ye have 
made it a den of thieves ;" or, if it be read with 
an interrogation, " And have ye made it a den 
of thieves.?" 'YfieTg di: airbv l^noiriuuTS SllH- 
A-4I0N AH2TP.N; then the indignation will 
be increased, from the opposition between 
" God " and " ye." The same is related by 
Mark xi. 17. with the same two words, an-f^laiov 
IjiaiSn', and so by Luke xix. 46. It may be 
asked, why the temple should be said by our 
Saviour to be made anrpMwv XTjajai', a cave of 
robbers ; was it because there were some who 
bought and sold in it ? or because the money- 
changers, or those who sold doves, sat there ? 
None of those persons could be called Ir^arul, 
latrones, or public robbers: nor did their bu- 
siness lie in ajTrjlaioc, spelunca, dens or caves, 
so as to cause the temple, in which they were, 
to be called anr'jXcciov. St. John, however, in 
his account of this matter, mentions a circum- 
stance, without the knowledge of which, the 
reason of this expression, ann'ilaioi' Irjaiar, in 
the other three Evangelists, and in Jer. vii. 11. 
whence it is taken, could not have been under- 
stood, and very probably that is the reason why 
it is mentioned by him, chap. ii. 14, 15. " and 
(Jesus) found in the temple those that sold oxen 
and sheep, [BOAS nal nPOBATA,) and 
doves, and when he had made a scourge of 
small cords, he drove them all out of the 
temple, and the sheep, and the oxen." Now it 
is well known to those who are moderately 
versed in antiquity, that the Irjaral were wont 
to bring into their anrilaia, or caves in tlie 
rocks, the oxen and sheep which they liad 
stolen. Such an one was Cacus in Virgil, 
JEneid. viii. 193. who stole Hercules' oxen, 

" Hie spelunca fuit vasto submota recessu," &c. 

who is called by Propertius, iv. 10. " metuendo 
Raptor ab antro," i. e. l-rjariig dmb anyjltxlov. 
Hence aTTt'if-aiop Ir^anxov in Heliodorus ^thio- 
pic, V. 2. See Plutarch in Sertor. p. .576; and 
Josephus often in Bella Judaico, and in Antiq. 
xiv. XV. p. 651. ed. Huds. where he makes men- 
tion of lyjaTCbf Tivwv iv amiXnwlc xaioiy.ouVTwv . 
So that our Saviour had just reason to resent 
their profanation of his Father's house ; as if 
he had said, — God hath declared in the Scrip- 
tures, my temple shall be a place of prayer, 
have ye (supposing it to be read with an inter- 
rogation) the boldness to convert it to the use 
ivhich robbers make of their caves, and to turn 
it into a receptacle and stall for oxen and sheep ? 
But nobody, I imagine, could have known the 
meaning and propriety of the words ani]luiov 
and Ir^arwv, if St. John had not informed us 
that oxen and sheep were brought into the 



144* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VJ. 



temple to be sold ; whereby the prophecy of 
Jer. vii. 11. Mr^ anrilaiov IriaTOv 6 ol'xog jxb (to 
which our Saviour alludes) was fulfilled; for 
the temple could not have been called anrikaiov 
hT]aT(hv, had not oxen and sheep been brought 
into it. See Bowyer. 



Note 10.— Part VI. 

CD'in npU' Nin was the epithet attached by 
the Jews to any of their learned or eminent 
men, who excelled in explaining the difficulties 
of Scripture^. 

Peter was told, if he had faith he should be 
able to remove mountains, &c. It is difficult 
to perceive the immediate connexion between 
the surprise of Peter and the exhortation of 
our Lord. It may possibly refer to the power 
which was afterwards given to the apostles 
to interpret the Scriptures in their spiritual 
sense, and to change the religion of the world. 
Such is the supposition of Witsius, that St. 
Peter understood that Christ, by the withering 
away of the fig tree, intended to signify the de- 
struction of the Jewish Church ; and that Christ 
alluded, in Mark xi. 23. to that apostle becom- 
ing the means of throwing the mountain (the 
temple) into the sea (the world): that is, that 
St. Peter should be chosen to open the doors of 
the Church to the Gentile world''. 



Note 11.— Part VL 

To prove that the Jews refer this passage to 
the Messiah, Schoetgen quotes Rasche ad Mi- 
cah v. 1. and Abrabanel ad Zachar. iv. 10. — 
Schoetgen, Hor. Htb. vol. i. p. 174. 



Note 12.— Part VI. 

Bishop Warburton endeavoured to show 
that the doctrine of the resurrection could not 
be proved from the Law of Moses ; he omitted, 
in this paradoxical attempt, to confute the ar- 
gument which may be derived from the tradi- 
tional interpretation of their Scriptures, by the 
Jews. The Sadducees, like sects in all Church- 
es, became a party, by rejecting the common 
faith of their countrymen, and by affecting a 
singularity of opinion. The Jews were accus- 
tomed to censure all who denied that the resur- 
rection could be proved from the Law: "Hi 
sunt qui partem non habent in seculo futuro ; 
qui dicunt. Legem non esse de ccelo, n"nn j'X 

^ See Lightfoot, 8vo. edit. vol. iii. p. 135. 

* Witsii Melet. Leidens. dejicu Maled. sect. xv. 



minn ]n O^nan et resurrectionem non pro- 
bari posse ex lege' ". 

The Sadducees asked the question that 
follows, for the purpose of ridiculing the doc- 
trine of the resurrection. In our Lord's an- 
swer, he not only rectified their opinions, but 
so explained the doctrine, as to overthrow the 
erroneous decision of the Pharisees on the same 
point, who had decided that if two brothers 
married one woman, she should be restored at 
the resurrection to the elder, or to him to whom 
she had been first married-'. 



Note 13.— Part VI. 

That the expected Messiah should be the 
son of David was a thing well known among 
the Jews, and universally acknowledged, see 
John vii. 42. ; and is a most powerful proof 
against them that the Messiah is come. Their 
families are now so perfectly confounded, that 
they cannot trace back their genealogies with 
any degree of certainty : nor have they been 
capable of ascertaining the different families of 
their tribes, for more than sixteen hundred 
years. Why then should the Spirit of proph- 
ecy assert so often, and in such express terms, 
that Jesus was to come from the family of 
David, if he were to make his appearance 
when the public registers were all demolished ? 
Is it not evident that God designed that the 
Messiah should come at a time when the public 
genealogies might be inspected, to prove that 
it was He who was prophesied of, and that no 
other was to be expected ? The Evangelists, 
Matthew and Luke, were so fully convinced of 
the conclusiveness of this proof, that they ap- 
pealed to the public registers ; and thus proved 
to the Jews, from their own records, that Jesus 
was born of the family mentioned by the prophets. 
Nor do we find that a Scribe, Pharisee, or any 
other, ever attempted to invalidate this proof, 
though it would have essentially served their 
cause, could they have done it. But, as this 
has not been done, we may fairly conclude it 
was impossible to do it. Clarke in loc. 



Note 14. — Part VL 

Our Lord, no longer under restramt from 
fear of apprehension, as he was now on the 

* Aroda Sara, fol. 13. 1. Sanhedrin, fol. 90. I. 
Ap. Schoetgen. Hora lleb. vol. i. p. 176. 

J The same idea, that in the resurrection, &c. 
Matt. xxii. 30. is found in Massechclh Derech Erez, 
in JaU-ut Rubeni, fol. 13-^.. 1. n'7;'oS T{TIS' px in 
codo non sedent (ad mensam) "l^Hii'l nSoS xSl 
neque edunt aut bihunt ; n^DIl n^na xSl neque 
liberos generant,'' &c. It hkewise occurs in Bera- 
choth, fol. 17. 1. and in Sohar Exod. fol. 48. col. 
190. and Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 178. 2. 



Note 15.-! 7.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*145 



point of offering Himself a willing- victim, re- 
proached the Pharisees in the strongest terms, 
in tJie presence of all the people, for their 
shameful pride and hypocrisy, and for their 
wilful misapprehension of the spirit and intent 
of the Law of Moses. In tliis passage he seems 
particularly to allude to the custom prevalent 
among the more ostentatious of them, but con- 
demned by others, of covering their head and 
eyes, lest they should look even upon the 
Tvickedness of the world, upon wicked men, or 
upon any tiling wliich might incite them to evil. 
In consequence of this practice, they would 
sometimes strike against a wall, and cover them- 
selves with blood. The talmudist who describes 
it, ":imx 'J3 nmS x'^x tri'-D-^ o'^i/S xbi 
eos hoc non fecisse ad gloriam Dei, sed ut ho- 
mines deciperent. Vides (Schoetgen adds) ergo 
JudfEos avToy.aTcty.olrov;, et veritatem verborum 
servatoris etinm inimicorum ipsiiis testimonio 
comprobatam'' ." It must, however, be remem- 
bered, that the Pharisees did but disguise the 
traditional truth received from their ancestors. 
Bishop Blomfield has admirably discussed this 
Siibjectwith great skill and learning. His con- 
clusions may be expressed in that of Schoetgen. 
" Quamvis vero Christus Pharisseos tantopere 
refutat, non tamen existimandum est, ipsum 
omnes Judseorum doctrinas absolute rejecisse. 
Credibile quippe est, in antiquiore Judaeorura 
Ecclesia circa et post Esrse tempora multa 
viguisse veritatis antiqua; ac nondum depravatse 
vestigia. Veritatis, inquam, illiusque turn quod 
ad dogmata, turn quod ad mores spectat, con- 
siderate. Qusecunque ergo cum oeconomia 
nova et perfectione, quam a nobis Christus re- 
quirit, conveniebant, ilia omnia retinuit. Unde 
non mirum, multa a Lightfooto et nobis ex Pan- 
dectis Judseorum adferri potuisse, quae cum 
doctrina Salvatoris omnino conveniunt. Anti- 
quiores Judsei eadem statuerant, sed fermentum 
Pharisaicum, quod vehementer urget servator, 
omnia polluerat" — Schoetgen, vol. i. p. 27. 



Note 15. — Part VI. 

Whe_v a Gentile was converted to Judaism, 
he was said to have come ny^BTi 'DJ3 nnn, 
" under the wings of the Shechinah." In using 
this expression, therefore, our Lord again as- 
serted his Divinity, and reminded the Jews of 
the doctrine he had before taught Nicodemus, 
that the people of Israel themselves were re- 
quired to enter into his kingdom as new crea- 
tures, as proselytes to a New Dispensation. — 
See many instances in Schoetgen. Hor. Heb. 
vol. i. p. 208. 

The remark of Dr. Hales on this passage, 

<= Anich. fol. 127. 4. ap. Schoetgen. Hora He- 
braic(B, &.C. vol. i. p. 205. Bishop Blomfield's 
Tract, Knoicledge of Jewish Traditions essential to 
an accurate Interpretation of the Sew Testament. 

VOL. II. *19 



appears to me to be too refined and hypercritical, 
and censures unjustly the translation in the au- 
thorized version. He observes, " the word in 
the original is oovig, which is generic ; and 
surely more applicable to that noblest of birds, 
the eagle and his brood, than to the 'hen and 
chickens ' of the English Bible." And he sup- 
poses that our Lord, " as the tutelar God of 
Israel, alludes to his former comparison, in the 
divine ode of the parent eagle, training his young 
brood, after he had brought them on eagles' 
wings to himself, to Mount Sinai'." This 
learned writer, however, has not taken into 
consideration, that tlie comparison of the hen 
and chickens was known from the earliest times 
to the Jews, and was frequent and familiar 
among them ; and that this humble metaphor 
was much more suited to the genius and nature 
of the Christian religion. When the tribes of 
Israel, under the guidance of the God of their 
fathers, departed from the wilderness, with the 
fierceness and fearlessness of youthful and im- 
petuous warriors ; when they seized upon their 
divinely-conquered provinces, and triumphed 
in the spoil of their enemies, they were as 
justly, as they were sublimely, compared to the 
young eagles soaring from their inaccessible 
heights at the call of their parent, and darting 
like lightning upon their ignoble prey. The 
comparison of our Lord is consistent with the 
nature and design of his more perfect Dispen- 
sation of reconciliation and love. His disciples, 
like their Master, were to be meek and lowly 
in spirit, and they were to be sheltered and 
nourished under the saving wings of their kind 
and merciful Protector. 



Note 16.— Part VT. 

The ancient Jews were accustomed to caU 
the temple n'^n "the House," to show its 
great superiority to any other building. They 
called it likewise "Domus Sanctuarii," r\'2 
K^npran, and a'nSi;; n-3, "Domus sterna^." 
And this house, or temple, which has now, for 
near eighteen centuries, continued desolate, in 
fulfilment of the prophecy in the next verse, shall 
be again rebuilt, and on the mountains of Israel 
the tribes shaU again plant the olive and the 
vine, and offer up their praises and thanks- 
giving in a more glorious temple than that of 
Solomon. Glorious things shaU be spoken of 
thee, thou city of God ! 



Note 17.— Part VI. 

A CURIOUS law, which prevailed among the 
Jews at that time, prohibited one mite, as we 

' Hales's Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. part 2. 
"" Schoetgen. Hor. Heb. vol. i.'D.'210. 



146* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VI. 



translate the word lenrdi', to be put into the 
treasury. The poor widow, therefore, in cast- 
ing two mites, her little all, into the treasury, 
gave the smallest sum permitted by the Law. 

.-npTi' W ^pnx*? nt3n3 rmx jn' xS non ponat 

homo lEnrbv in cistam eleemosynarum. — Bava 
Bathra, fol.lO. 2. ap. Schoetgen, Hor. Heb. vol. 
i. p. 250. 



Note 18.— Part VL 
on the destruction of jerusalem. 

In the ancient times of the world, when all 
mankind began to apostatize from the faith of 
their fathers, it pleased the true God to select 
the illustrious ancestor of the now scattered 
sons of Israel, to maintain and perpetuate the 
true religion. Thus, for a long series of ages, 
the God of Nature demonstrated to the whole 
world that He was the God of the Church also, 
by the most stupendous miracles in favor of 
the chosen family of Abraham. For them the 
sea was divided, the tides of rivers were 
stopped, and the waters rose up in heaps. 
Fountains broke forth in the desert; decay ap- 
proached not their garments, nor fatigue their 
limbs. The god of the idolaters stood still in 
the temple of heaven, and the moon paused 
in her course at the voice of a mortal. For 
them the fire descended from heaven. God 
himself reigned over them, enthroned in a 
pillar of fire at night, and a cloud by day. He 
was their King, He was their Deliverer. What- 
ever were their wanderings or deviations from 
his institutions ; continued miracles and the 
Spirit of prophecy demonstrated the perpetual 
superintendence of a presiding Providence. 
The records, handed down from their fathers, 
have been faithfully preserved ; and we are there 
assured that the same power which ordained 
these wonders for the family of Abraham in 
the olden times will never leave them nor 
forsake them: 

" Can a woman forget her sucking child ? " — 

" Yea, they may forget. 
Yet will I not forget thee ! " 
Is God unchangeable ? 

"Is he a man, that he should lie ; 
Or the son of man, that he should repent ?" 
To what condition are his people reduced? 
Nearly two thousand years have elapsed since 
their holy city was burnt with fire, and their 
nation scattered among their insulting Gentile 
brethren. To the intolerable sufferings of the 
sons of Israel during this long period, it is not 
necessary to make further allusion: they are 
stamped on every page of history. The Jews 
are still dispersed over every part of the known 
world. " Among us, but not of us," they 
wander over the earth, banished from their holy 



city, from that city which was the joy of the 
whole earth, the residence of their prophets, 
the seat of the greatness of their kings, tlie 
home, and the capital, as they fondly believed, 
of their expected Messiah. From the con- 
templation of the former splendor and present 
depression of the house of Israel, I would 
request the modern Jew, who believes in the 
truth of those Sacred Books which have been 
transmitted to him from his illustrious an- 
cestors, to propose to himself this question, 
Whether it is probable that the God of their 
fathers should thus consign the peculiarly 
favored family of Abraham to exile and misery 
the most intolerable, for so long a space of time, 
without some adequate cause ? Is it probable 
that Jerusalem, the holy city, the city of the 
Great King, should be burnt with fire, and be 
trodden under foot of the Gentiles, and no 
warning voice be given, either by miracle, or 
by prophecy '? When the Chaldeans polluted 
the sacred territory, and destroyed the carved 
work of the first temple, Ezekiel denounced 
the coming vengeance ; and Jeremiah wept 
night and day for the transgression of the 
daughter of his people. When a greater and 
more lasting punishment was about to be 
inflicted, was it not to be expected that a 
prophet should arise among the people of God, 
to appeal to them, with the stern dignity of 
Ezekiel, or tlie tender yet majestic eloquence 
of Jeremiah ? The books of the Christian 
Scriptures alone solve this difficulty, and assure 
them that this expectation was not unreason- 
able. They tell them that the Greatest of all 
prophets appealed to them ; the Son of David 
addressed them, but they would none of his 
reproof; He foretold, in his very last predic- 
tion, with sympathizing energy, the fearful 
destruction that awaited their beloved city, 
and its unbelieving inhabitants ; offering at 
the same time the means of salvation to the 
faithful few. 

At this time the Jews, through all ranks and 
classes, were zealous for the Law of their 
fathers ; so that they were willing to perse- 
cute every one, even of their own nation, v>rho 
spoke but with indifference of its sanctions. 
Must not, then, some unacknowledged and pro- 
portionate crime have been committed, which 
could thus call down the just judgment of the 
God of their fathers ? The Christian Scrip- 
tures alone can solve the mystery, and vindicate 
the unchangeableness of the God of Israel. 
Here is related tlie hitherto unrepented and 
proportionate crime. They rejected their long- 
promised Messiah ; they crucified the Lord of 
life ; they nailed him to the cross ; they clam- 
ored for his blood. For this their holy city is 
left unto them desolate ; for this they have been 
for so many centuries the scorn and outcasts 
of mankind. The fall of Jerusalem, the 
miseries of its inhabitants, and the evils that 



Note 18.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



^47 



have so long pursued tlie sons of Israel, have 
been uniformly regarded as monuments of the 
truth of Christianity, and the most undeniable 
and solemn appeal to the Jewish nation. And as 
this prediction of our Lord is the most remark- 
able in the New Testament; so also are the 
destruction it predicts and the present condition 
of the Jews, without any exception whatever, 
the most calamitous, and the most striking, and, 
on all known principles of action, the most 
unlooked-for, unaccountable events in history. 

Let us now consider the occasion on whicli 
the predictions were spoken. When our 
Saviour pronounced his pathetic lamentation 
over Jerusalem, he was in the temple, sur- 
rounded by the multitude and liis own disciples ; 
when he left it, " his disciples came to him for 
to show him the buildings of the temple, how 
it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts." 
They seemed, by this action, to infer that such 
a magnificent edifice could not be destroyed. 
But, as our Saviour had prophesied its total 
ruin and desolation, they were anxious to know 
more of tliese things, and, as soon as he had 
disengaged himself from the multitude, they 
came unto him privately, as he was sitting on 
the Mount of Olives ; and entreated Him to tell 
them, when will these things be, and what the 
sign of his coming and (t>),' avvielslag tov 
alavog) of the end of the world ? From this 
question, it appears evident that the disciples 
viewed the coming of Christ and the end of the 
world or age, as events nearly related, and 
which would indisputably take place together : 
they had no idea of the dissolution of the 
Jewish polity, with its attendant miseries, as 
really signified by, or included in, either of 
these events. They imagined, perhaps, a great 
and awful change in the physical constitution 
of the universe, which they probably expected 
would occur within the term of their own lives ; 
but they could have no conception of what was 
really meant by the expression which they 
employed, the coming of Christ. " From their 
very childhood," says a judicious and penetrat- 
ing commentator, " they imagined that the 
temple would stand to the end of time : and 
this notion was so deeply fixed in their minds, 
that they regarded it as impossible for the 
temple to be overthrown, while the structure of 
the universe remained. As soon, tlierefore, as 
Christ tnld them that the temple would be 
destroyed, their thoughts instantly ran to the 
consummation of all things. Thus they con- 
nect with the destruction of the temple, as 
things inseparable, the coming of Christ and 
the end of the world." Rosenmiiller observes 
on this passage, " it is certain that the phrase, 
T, avviileia lov alwfog, is understood in the 
New Testament (Matt. xiii. 39, 40. 49. xxviii. 
20.) of the end of the world. The disciples 
spoke according to the opinions of their country- 
men, and believed that the end of this world, 



and the beginning of a new one, would follow 
immediately upon the destruction of the 
temple"." 

The coming of Christ, and the end of the 
world, being therefore only different expres- 
sions to denote the same period as the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem, the purport of the disciples' 
question plainly is, When shall the destruction 
of Jerusalem be — and what shall be the signs 
of it ? The latter part of the question is the 
first answered, and our Saviour foretells, in the 
clearest manner, the signs of his coming, and 
the destruction of Jerusalem. He then passes 
on to the other part of the question, concern- 
ing the time of his coming. History is the only 
certain interpreter of prophecy : and by a com- 
parison of the two, we shall see with what 
stupendous accuracy the latter has been ac- 
complished. Our blessed Saviour foretells, as 
the Jirst sign of his coming, that there should 
be false prophets (Matt. xxiv. 4, 5.), adding 
(Luke xxi. 8.), " the time draweth near ;" and 
we find, in a very short time, this prophecy 
began to be realized. Very soon after our 
Lord's decease, Simon Magus appeared, and 
bewitched the people of Samaria, &c. Acts 
viii. 9, 10. See also Acts xxi. 38. 

Of the same stamp and character was also 
Dositheus, the Samaritan, who pretended that 
he was the Christ foretold by Moses. 

About twelve years after the death of our 
Lord, when Cuspius Fadus was procurator of 
Judsea, arose an impostor of the name of Theu- 
das, who said he was a prophet, and persuaded 
a great multitude to follow him with their 
best eSects to the river Jordan, which he 
promised to divide for their passage; "and, 
saying these things," says Josephus, "he de- 
ceived many :" almost the very words of our 
Lord. 

A few years afterwards, under the reign of 
Nero, while Felix was procurator of Judaea, 
impostors of this stamp were so frequent, that 
some were taken and killed almost every day. 
Jos. Ant. b. XX. c. 4. and 7. It was a just judg- 
ment for God to deliver up that people into the 

" '■ Discipuli communiJudsGorum occupati errore 
arbitrabantur, Messiam preesentem Gentium vic- 
torem extiturum, atque triumphorum suorum cele- 
britate universum, qua patet, orbem esse impletu- 
rum ; porro ex ejus victoriis profundissimam pacem 
regni ejus esse extituram, in qua felicissima futura 
esset eorura, qui in partes regni ejus venirent, 
apostolorum et disci pulorum conditio : turn denique 
unam veram religionem, sublato omni dissensu, 
idololatrii et falsA prophetii submotA, orbem ter- 
rarum esse occupaturam. Hanc vero rcaosniav 
illustratura esse signa quaedam luculenta, vel ex- 
traordinarios quosdam eventus, quibus adesse jam 
eum ad regnum ejusmodi capessendum constet, 
recepta turn fuit, et hodie adhuc est JudcBorum 
opinio," &c. — Rosenmiiller, Scholia in Matt. vol. 
i. p. 469-70. — Rosenmiiller refers in this last sen- 
tence to the custom said to be observed among the 
Jews of opening their windows in a thunderstorm, 
in expectation of their Messiah. 



148* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VI. 



hands of false Christs, who had so wilfully re- 
jected the true one. 

The next signs given by our Lord are, 
" Wars and rumors of wars," &c. These may 
be seen in Josephus (b. xviii. c. 9. Wars, b. xi. 
c. 10.), especially as the rumors of wars, when 
Caligula ordered his statue to be set up in the 
temple of God, which the Jews having refused, 
had every reason to expect a war with the 
Romans ; and were in such consternation on 
the occasion, that they even neglected to till 
the ground: but their fears were soon dissipated 
by the timely death of that emperor. 

" Nation shall rise up against nation." This 
portended greater disturbances than those 
which took place under Caligula, in the latter 
times of Claudius, and in the reign of Nero. It 
foretold the dissension, insurrections, and mu- 
tual slaughter of the Jews, and those of other 
nations, who dwelt in the same cities together ; 
as particularly at Csesarea, where the Jews and 
Syrians contended about the right of the city, 
which ended in the total expulsion of the Jews, 
above 20,000 of whom were slain. The whole 
Jewish nation, being exasperated at this, flew 
to arms, and burnt and plundered the neighbour- 
ing cities and villages of the Syrians, making 
an immense slaughter of the people. The 
Syrians, in return, destroyed not a less number 
of the Jews. At Scythopolis they murdered 
upwards of 13,000 ; at Ascalon they killed 2500 ; 
at Ptolemais they slew 2000, and made many 
prisoners. The Tyrians also put many Jews 
to death, and imprisoned more : the people of 
Gadara did likewise; and all the other cities 
of Syria, in proportion as they hated or feared 
the Jews. At Alexandria the Jews and hea- 
thens fought, and 50,000 of the former were 
slain. The people of Damascus conspired 
against the Jews of that city, and assaulting 
them unarmed, killed 10,000 of them. 

" Kingdom against kingdom." This portend- 
ed the open wars of different tetrarchies and 
provinces against each other. That of Jews and 
Galileans against the Samaritans, for the mur- 
der of some Galileans going up to the feast of 
Jerusalem, while Cumanus was procurator. 
That of the whole nation of Jews against the 
Romans and Agrippa, and other allies of the 
Roman empire ; which began when Gessius 
Florus was procurator; and that of the civil 
war in Italy, when Otho and Vitellius were 
contending for the empire. It is worthy of 
remark, that the Jews themselves say, " In the 
time of the Messiah, wars shall be stirred up in 
the world ; nation shall rise against nation, and 
city against city." — Sohar Kadash. Again, Rab. 
Eleasar, the son of Abina, said, " When ye see 
kingdom rising against kingdom, then expect 
the immediate appearance of the Messiah." — 
Berashith Rabba, sect. 42. 

" There shall be famines and pestilences, and 
earthquakes in divers places." And we find a 



famine foretold by Agabus (Acts xi. 28.), which 
is mentioned by Suetonius, Tacitus, and Euse- 
bins, which came to pass in the days of Claudius 
Caesar ; and was so severe at Jerusalem, that 
Josephus says {.Jlnt. h. xx. c. 2.), many died for 
lack of food. Pestilences are the usual attend- 
ants of famines ; as the scarcity and badness of 
provisions generally produce epidemic disor- 
ders. There were several earthquakes likewise 
in those times to which our Lord refers ; par- 
ticularly one at Crete, in the reign of Claudius ; 
one at Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, and Samos ; 
one at Rome, mentioned by Tacitus ; and one 
at Laodicea, in the reign of Nero, in which tiie 
city was overthrown, as were likewise Hierapo- 
lis and Colosse ; one at Campania, mentioned 
by Seneca ; and one at Rome, in the reign of 
Galba, mentioned by Suetonius, in the life of 
that emperor. Add to all these a dreadful one 
in Judsea, mentioned by Josephus [Wars, b. iv. 
c. 4.), accompanied by a dreadful tempest, violent 
winds, vehement showers, and continual light- 
nings and thunders ; which led many to believe 
that these things portended some uncommon 
calamity. 

" That there shall be fearful sights and great 
signs from heaven" (Luke xxi. 11). Josephus, 
in his preface to the Jewish War, mentions, 
that a star hung over the city like a sword ; and 
a comet continued a whole year. The people 
being assembled at the feast of Unleavened 
Bread, at the ninth hour of the night, a great 
light shone about the altar and the temple, 
and tliis continued for half an hour. The east- 
ern gate of the temple, which was of solid 
brass, and could hardly be shut by twenty men, 
and was fastened by strong bars and bolts, was 
seen at the sixth hour of the night to open of 
its own accord! Before sunsetting there were 
seen, over all the country, chariots and armies 
fighting in the clouds, and besieging cities. 
At the feast of Pentecost, when the priests 
were going into the inner temple by night, to 
attend their service, they heard first a motion 
and noise, and then a voice as of a multitude, 
saying, "Let us depart hence." What Jose- 
phus reckons one of the most terrible signs of 
all was, that one Jesus, a country fellow, four 
years before the war began, and when the city 
was in peace and plenty, came to the feast of 
Tabernacles, and ran crying up and down the 
streets, day and night: " A voice from the East, 
a voice from the West! a voice from the four 
winds! a voice against Jerusalem and the 
temple ! a voice against the bridegroom and 
the bride ! and a voice against all the people !" 
Though the magistrates endeavoured, by stripes 
and tortures, to interrogate him, they could ob- 
tain no answer but the mournful cry of, "Woe, 
woe to Jerusalem I" and this he continued to do 
for several years together, going about the 
walls, and crying with a loud voice, "Woe, v7oe 
to the city, and to the people, and to tlie 



Note 18.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



^149 



temple I" and, as he added, "Woe, woe to my- 
self," a stone from some sling or engine struck 
him dead on the spot ! 

These were indeed fearful signs and wonders ; 
and there is not a more credible liistorian than 
the one who relates them, who appeals to the 
testimony of those who saw and heard them. 
But an additional evidence is given to his relation 
by the Roman historian, Tacitus, who presents 
us with a summary account of the same occur- 
rences ; and as " the testimonies of Josephus and 
Tacitus confirm the predictions of Christ, so the 
predictions of Christ confirm the wonders record- 
ed by these historians"." But these were only the 
beginnings of sorrows (Matt. xxiv. &.), and from 
the calamities of the nation in general, Christ 
passes to those of the Cliristians in particular 
(Matt. xxiv. 9. Mark xiii. 9.-11. Luke xxi. 13-15.) 
We need look no further than the Acts of the 
Apostles for a melancholy proof of the truth of 
their predictions. But although the followers of 
Christ's religion were persecuted beyond meas- 
ure, it is a remarkable fact, and a signal act of 
Divine Providence, that none of the Christians 
perished in the destruction of Jerusalem. So 
literally was that assertion fulfilled, "There 
shall not a hair of your head perish." And, not- 
withstanding the persecutions and calamities of 
the Christians, it was prophesied, " This Gospel 
of the kingdom shall be preached in all the 
world, for a witness unto all nations, and then 
shall the end come." And accordingly we find 
from the writers of the history of the Church, 
that before the destruction of Jerusalem the 
Gospel was not only preached in the Lesser 
Asia, and Greece, and Italy, but as far north- 
ward as Scythia, as far southward as Ethiopia, 
as far eastward as Parthia and India, and as far 
westward as Spain and Britain. Agreeably to 
this^ Eusebius'' informs us that the apostles 
preached the Gospel in all the world, and some 
of them (probably either St. Simon or St. Paul) 
! passed beyond the ocean to the Britannic isles. 
'""Theodoret likewise affirms, that the apostles 
1 had induced every nation and kind of men to 
\ embrace the Gospel, among whom he reckons 
I particularly the Britons ; and St. Paul himself 
declares, the Gospel "is come into all the 
world, and preached to every creature under 
heaven;" and (in Rom. x. 18.) he elegantly 
\ applies to the lights of the Church these words 
\ of the Psalmist, — 

" Their sound went into all the earth. 
And their words unto the ends of the world." 

And all this was fulfilled to convince every 
nation of the crying sin of the Jews, in crucify- 
ing the Lord of glory, and of the justice of 
God's judgment upon them. And then came 

° Jortin. 

f Demonst. Evang. lib. iii. cap. 5. sect. 112. edit. 
Paris, 1G28. and Theodor. Serm. ix. torn. iv. p. 610. 
edit. Paris, 1642. ap. Jortin. 

VOL. II. 



the end, the time of the destruction of Jei-usa- 
lem, and of the Jewish polity, when the abomi- 
nation of desolation stood in the holy place. 
The verses (15 and 16 of Matt, xxiv.) are ex- 
plained by the parallel passage in Luke xxi. 
20, 21. The Roman army is the abomination of 
desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, 
chap. ix. and xi., and it is so called, from its 
ensigns and images, which were abominations 
to the Jews ; and Josephus informs* us, that 
after the city was taken, the Romans brought 
these ensigns into the temple, placed them over 
against the eastern gate, and there sacrificed 
to them. 

" Then let them which be in Judsea flee into 
the mountains." This counsel was remem- 
bered, and wisely followed by the Christians 
afterwards. And we find it accordingly most 
providentially ordered, that Jerusalem should 
be encompassed with armies, and yet that the 
Christians should have favorable opportunities 
of making their escape. Josephus (sect. iv. p. 
1102. edit. Hudson) tells us that Cestius Gallus, 
in the 12th year of Nero, if " he had been in- 
clined to break through the walls of the city by 
force, would instantly have taken it, and put 
an end to the war ;" but, contrary to the expec- 
tation of all, and without any just cause, he 
departed. Vespasian was deputed in his place, 
as governor of Syria, and to carry on the wars 
against the Jews ; and when he had subdued 
all the country, and was preparing to besiege 
Jerusalem, the death of Nero, and soon after- 
wards that of Galba, compelled him, from the 
disturbances and civil wars that ensued in his 
own country, to defer for some time his plan 
of operations against Jerusalem. These ap- 
parently/ incidental delays enabled the Chris- 
tians to provide for their safety ; and Eusebius 
and Epiphanius inform us, that all who believed 
in Christ left Jerusalem, and fled to Perea, and 
other places beyond the river Jordan. Jose- 
phus also remarks, after tlie retreat of Cestius 
Gallus, "Many of the illustrious Jews departed 
from the city, as from a sinking ship." After 
this period, when Vespasian was confirmed 
in the empire, Titus surrounded the city with 
a wall, thirty-nine furlongs in dimensions, 
strengthened with thirteen forts, so that, Jose- 
phus says, " with all means of escaping, all 
hope of safety was cut oft' from the remaining 
Jews." So marvellously did our blessed Sa- 
viour insure, by his prophecy, deliverance to 
those who believed on him, and had faith in his 
promises : and so always " The Lord knoweth 
how to deliver the godly out of temptations," 
2 Pet. ii. 9. Our Saviour makes use of the ex- 
pressions in Mark xiii. 15. and Matt. xxiv. 18. 
to signify that the departura of the Christians 
must be as sudden and hasty as Lot's from the 
destruction of Sodom. 

' Ardlq. lib. xviii. cap. 6. sect. 3. ed. Hudson. 



50* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VI. 



" For then shall be great tribulation." No 
history can furnish us with a parallel to the 
calamities and miseries of the Jews : rapine, 
murder, famine, and pestilence within ; fire and 
sword, and all the horrors of war without. Our 
Lord wept at the foresight of these calamities ; 
and it is almost impossible for any humane 
person to read the relation of them in Josephus 
without weeping also. St. Luke, chap. xxi. 
22., calls these the days of vengeance, that all 
things which were written might be fulfilled. 
These were the days in which all the calami- 
ties predicted by Moses, Joel, Daniel, and other 
prophets, as well as those foretold by our Sa- 
viour, met in one common centre, and were ful- 
filled in the most terrible manner on that 
generation. These were the days of vengeance 
in another sense, as if God's judgments had 
certain periods and revolutions ; for it is re- 
markable, that the temple was burnt by the 
Romans in the same month, and on the same 
day of the month, on which it had been burned 
by the Babylonians. See Josephus, Wm; b. vi. 
c. 4. Josephus computes the number of those 
who perished in the siege at eleven hundred 
thousand, besides those who were slain in other 
places, JVm; b. vi. c. 9; and if the Romans had 
gone on destroying in this manner, the whole 
nation of the Jews would in a short time have 
been utterly extirpated; but, for the sake of 
the elect (the Jews), that they might not be 
entirely destroyed, and, for the sake of the 
Christians particularly, the days were shortened. 

Josephus relates, that the Jews themselves 
first set fire to the porticos of the temple, and 
then the Romans ; when one of the soldiers, 
neither waiting for the word of command, nor 
fearing to perpetrate such an action, but hurried 
on by a divine impulse, threw a burning brand 
in at the golden window, and thereby set fire 
to the buildings of the temple itself. Yet 
Titus was still for preserving the holy place, 
but the anger and hatred of his soldiers against 
the Jews overcame their reverence for their 
general ; a soldier in the dark set fire to the 
doors, and thus, as Josephus says, "the temple 
was burnt, contrary to tlie will of Csesar." 
The Romans burnt the most extreme parts of 
the city, and dug up the foundations of the 
walls, reserving only three towers, and a part 
of the wall, as a memorial of their own valor, 
and for the better encampment of the soldiers. 
Afterwai-ds, we read in the Jewish Talmud, 
and in Maimonides, that Terentius Rufus, who 
was left to command the army, did with a 
ploughshare tear up the foundation of the 
temple ; thereby signally fulfilling the prophecy 
of Micah, iii. 12. Eusebius too affirms, that it 
was ploughed up by the Romans, and that he 
saw it lying in ruins. So literally were our 
Saviour's words accomplished, in the ruin and 
desolation of the city and of the temple. 
JosBTjhus further asserts, that there was no 



part of Judaea which did not partake of the 
calamities of the capital city. The Romans 
pursued, and took, and slew the Jews every 
where, fulfilling again that prediction, " Where- 
soever the carcase is (the Jewish nation, 
morally and judicially dead), there will the 
eagles (the Romans, whose ensign was an 
eagle) be gathered together." 

Jerusalem also, according to the prediction 
of our Lord, was to be trodden down by the 
Gentiles. Accordingly it has never since been 
in the possession of the Jews. It was first in 
subjection to the Romans, afterwards to the 
Saracens, then to the Franks, next to the 
Mamelukes, and now to the Turks. Thus has 
the prophecy of Christ been most literally and 
terribly fulfilled, on a people who are still pre- 
served, as continued monuments of the truth 
of our Lord's prediction, and of the truth of 
the Christian religion"". 

We have hitherto considered this passage as 
relating to the destruction of Jerusalem only, 
which was its primary application ; but, like 
every other prophecy, it had its literal and 
typical signification. Our Saviour loses sight, 
as it were, of his former subject, in the con- 
templation of the end of the world, and the 
general judgment. " It appears," says Bishop 
Newton, " next to impossible, that any man 
should duly consider these prophecies, and 
their exact completion, and, if he is a be'iever, 
not be confirmed in his faith, or if he is an 
infidel, not be converted." As soon as the 
Gospel is preached to every creature now under 
heaven, and the fulness of the Gentiles be 
accomplished, then shall the Son of Man come 
in the clouds of heaven, to take vengeance on 
his enemies ; and with great power and glory 
bring deliverance, as in the days of the de- 
struction of Jerusalem to those who believe in 
Him, and trust in his promises for salvation and 
mercy". 



Note 19.— Part VI. 

Even upon the Unitarian hypothesis, our 
Lord was the Greatest of prophets ; and as 
Daniel had been able to fix the time of the first 
advent, it must naturally excite surprise, that 
the Messiah did not know the time of his own 

*" Bishop Newton On the Prophecies. 

' For a further comparison of this great prophecy, 
and its primary fulfihnent, see Archbishop New- 
come's Lif<- of Christ, who endeavours to explain 
away many of the prodigies related by Jose- 
phus. — Jortin's Ecclesiastical. History. Mr. Gis- 
borne's work lately published. — Bishop Horsley's 
Sermons, on the application of the Prophecy to the 
end of the world. — The various Commentators ; 
and Dr. Adam Clarke's notes to the chapters in 
St. Matthew. — Dr. Males on the four Hypotheses 
of the various Interpreters of these Prophecies.— 
Analysis, vol. ii. part. ii. p. 1270. 



Note 20.-23.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



^151 



second advent. The best mode of resolving 
the difficulty appears to me to be that which 
malces olSsi' equivalent to the causative of i'T ; 
in which case the verse may be thus rendered : 
" But the hour of the second advent, neither 
man, nor angels, nor I the Messiah, have made 
known to the world : my Father only shall 
reveal it, by the suddenness of that day of 
judgment, in which He has appointed the Son 
to manifest himself in the glory of the Father." 



Note 20.— Part VI. 

Ijj tills and the two following parables, our 
Saviour insists upon his unexpected and sudden 
judgment. It is here described as a thief 
ready to steal into the house, if not constantly 
watched. This comparison is frequent ; Luke 
xii. 39. 2 Pet. iii. 10. Rev. iii. 3. and xvi. 15. 
As these parables were at the time exclusively 
addressed to the disciples, they must be sup- 
posed to refer primarily to their ministry. They 
are, however, equally applicable to all Chris- 
tians — " What I say unto you I say unto all, 
Watch !" Mark xiii. 37. Luke xii. 41. 



Note 21.— Part VI. 

This is one of the passages on which many 
excellent men have endeavoured to establish the 
doctrine of a personal election to eternal life : 
whereas the expression is a mere Hebraism. 
The Jews believed that there was a temple in 
heaven prepared for their nation before the 
foundation of the world ; and in allusion to 
this received opinion, this expression is here 
used, ■fiTOifxaaf/evrjv, " Heb. |pina — Tanchuma, 
fol. 61. 4. Templum superius, sc. caleste, 
ruDblJ/n xbiy n;? [pino Xmiy quod prapara- 
tum erat, antequam mundus crearetm-y The 
whole parable abounds with Hebraisms. — 
Schoetgen, Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 219. 



Note 22.— Part VL 

The priests in this instance feared the 
people, and therefore delivered om' Lord to the 
Roman governor, whose power and authority 
would prevent the possibility of a rescue. 
Such is the opinion of Schoetgen, who quotes 
Sanhedrin, fol. 89. 1. Hor. Hch. vol. i. p. 224. 



Note 2.3.— Part VI. 

The question concerning the anointing at 
Bethany has been already discussed. 1 have 



placed the account of Judas going to the chief 
priests to betray Christ in this section, on the 
authority of Michaelis and Doddridge, who 
suppose that several days elapsed between 
the anointing at Bethany, and Judas' betrayal. 
Bishop Marsh, on the contrary, supposes that 
the assembling of the chief priests, the anoint- 
ing at Bethany, and the betrayal by Judas, were 
simultaneous, or, more properly, continuous 
actions. 

" That the rebuke," he observes, " which 
Judas Iscariot received from Christ at the 
anointing in Bethany, determined him in his 
resolution to betray his Master ; that Christ's 
rebuke, therefore, and Judas's revenge were 
cause and effect, and that the account of the 
one is very properly joined by St. Matthew 
(and also by St. Mark) to the account of the 
other, I readily admit with Michaelis, in opposi- 
tion to Dr. Priestley, who says, in his Ohserva- 
tions on the Harmony of the Evangelists, p. 
100, that the verses of Matt. xxvi. C-13., which 
contains an account of the anointing, ' stand 
very awkwardly in their present situation.' 
But I cannot agree with him in the opinion, 
that several days elapsed between the anoint- 
ing at Bethany, and Judas going to the assembly 
of the chief priests with an offer to betray 
Christ ; and consequently that the account of 
the anointing at Bethany belongs to Matt. xxi. 
according to the order of time. For whoever 
reads in connection Matt. xxvi. 1-11. must per- 
ceive that these three facts, 1st, Assembling the 
chief priests and elders at the house of Caia- 
phas ; 2dly, The anointing of Christ at Bethany ; 
and 3dly, Judas's departure from Bethany, to 
go to the assembly of the chief priests, are 
represented by the Evangelists as facts im- 
mediately connected one with another ; and not 
as facts which were separated from each other 
by the intervention of all those transactions, 
which had been recorded in several preceding 
chapters. St. Matthew having mentioned, in 
ver. 2, that ' after two days was the Passover,' 
immediately adds, in ver. 3, rdre avviy/dijuai' ol 
uo/uqslQ, y.. t. ).. And St. Mark says (xiv. 1.), 
^Hy (Je TO TX&axa y.ul id &'C,vfia fieiu dvo -i]uiQttg' 
jtal It^TOvv ol (xQxieoEig, x. r. I. Both St. 
Matthew and St. Mark, therefore, represent the 
assembly of the chief priests as held on the 
third day before the Passover; and though 
Michaelis will not allow any detenninate mean- 
ing to TOTE in St. Matthew's account, we cannot 
explain away what is said by St. Mark. St. 
Matthew then proceeds, in ver. 6, Tov dt 'Ljaov 
y£i'o/-tirou iv BijOufla, iv olxla ^liwno; tov 
leTToov, y.. T. I. And St. Mark, ver. 3, Kcd 
orTog auiov if Bi/davlq, iv lij olala Slfiwi'o: 
TOV ).En(jov, y.. T. I. They then relate the 
anointing, with Christ's conversation on it, 
which being ended, St. Matthew continues, in 
ver. 14, Tore nogsvdflc slg tUiv d(j)dsy.a, 6 ).ey6- 
/jEi'og 'loidat ' lay.aQib'nrig, nqbg lovg icgxieqilg. 



152* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VI. 



elne- x. r. I. And in St. Mark, in ver. 10. Kul 
6 'loitdag 6 'lay.uQtdnrjg, elg tuc ddidexa, inijWs 
Tiqbg TOvg diQ/ieQetg, x. t. I. Then again it is 
evident that both St. Matthew and St. Mark 
represent Judas as going immediately from the 
anointing at Bethany (a village not more than 
two miles from Jerusalem) to the assembly of 
the chief priests and elders, which was held 
during the anointing, and which did not break 
up before the arrival of Judas." — Michaelis, 
vol. iii. part iv. p. 24. 

In reply to this argument, I would suggest 
the total absence of proof from the words of 
St. Matthew, that the Evangelist intended, as 
the bishop supposes, to represent these events 
as continuous. Three circumstances are re- 
corded ; the meeting of the priests, the anoint- 
ing, and the betrayal ; and the point in dispute 
must be decided by the meaning of the words 
which are thought' to connect them as three 
several events which took place at the same 
time. The two first verses of Matt. xxvi. ought 
to have concluded the preceding chapter. The 
expression which ends ver. 2, is the sentence 
which completed our Saviour's predictions con- 
cerning Jerusalem, and the illustrative parables 
which followed them. From narrating the 
discourse of our Lord, the Evangelist proceeds 
to his actions, using the word tots, a word of 
very indefinite signification, which may not 
improperly be translated, "about that time." 
He relates the fact, that about the time when 
our Lord finished his predictions, the chief 
priests, avvi\y_di]crav, " were assembled together." 
He then, somewhat abruptly, proceeds to give 
an account of the cause of our Saviour's be- 
trayal by Judas to this assembly of the priests, 
which he imputes to our Lord's reproof of his 
apostle's disguised covetousness. In ver. 14, 
the Evangelist introduces the effect of this 
reproof by the same word x6ze, and it seems 
intended to imply, not that Judas went that 
moment to the priests, but that he went about 
that time, or as soon as possible, to the council 
of the chief priests ; and by introducing the 
consequence of our Lord's reproof thus ab- 
ruptly, St. Matthew seems to hint that the 
assembly of priests, to whom Judas applied, 
was now sitting at the very time when our 
Lord had finished his predictions. Bishop Bar- 
rington, apud Bowyer, would insert Matt. xxvi. 
6-13. as a parenthesis. 

But Bishop Marsh observes, with reference 
to the argument from tlie word t6te, that even 
if this be insufficient to prove that Michaelis 
is mistaken, yet we cannot explain away what 
is said by St. Mark — ^i' 8h ib n&axa y.ul ret 
ciZuj.iit freidi dvo -fiju^oag, &c. who, as well as 
St. Matthew, represents the assembly of priests 
as meeting three days before the Passover. 
In reply to which it may be answered, that it 
is acknowledged a meeting of the priests was 
then held ; but the question is whether the 



anointing took place at that time : and here 
we are again brought to the word rore, Matt. 
xxvi. 14., and to an expression in St. Mark, xiv. 
10., which does not even allude to the exact 
period at which the betrayal took place 

'lovdag (jcnrilOe nqbg joiig dig%ieQetg, &c. 

The Evangelist appears to relate the reproval 
at Bethany as the cause of the treason of 
Judas, without referring to the time that this 
offence should be committed. 

T6ts — non proprie videtur adverbium esse, sed 
accusativas neutrius generis, ellipiice positiis, ut 
plene dicatur neql zore rb jiiqog -/Qovov, id quod 
colligi potest ex loco Lysias, Orat. vi. cap. 2. ov 
■d'uvjj.aUTbv, el t6tb rtif fioQlag ^^ixOTiTOf, iv u 
ov8i TO! -^/uiTega otiTav q>vk(!cTTeiv iSvv&^edu, 
It is true it is generally used in the New 
Testament adverbially, but as frequently in its 
general, as it is in its more definite significa- 
tion. The word occurs one hundred and fifty- 
six times in the New Testament ; and if we 
refer to any passages taken in their consecutive 
order, we shall find that this preceding remark 
is correct. Thus we meet it in Matt. ii. 7, 16, 
17, and iii. 5. In the two first and last of 
these it is used in the more general sense, and 
many would interpret the third passage in the 
same way ; and so it must be interpreted in 
the great majority of the passages in which it 
occurs. If we refer to the Septuagint, which 
is generally supposed to use the Greek words, 
in precisely the same sense as the New Testa- 
ment, we shall find that the remark of Michae- 
lis is amply justified. Thus the Septuagint 
render the Hebrew XTin n;73, Isaiah xx. 2. by 
the word t6te. 



Note 24.— Part VI. 

ON THE QUESTION, WHETHER OUR LORD ATE 
THE PASSOVER IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE 
INSTITUTION OF THE EUCHARIST.^ 

Before we enter upon the discussion of 
the difficult question, Whether our Lord ate the 
last Passover with his disciples, before the 
institution of the holy Eucharist, it will be 
useful to consider the manner in which the 
Jews were accustomed to commemorate their 
deliverance from Egypt, by the celebration of 
the Passover. Lightfoot has collected a vari- 
ety of passages from Maimonides and the 
Jewish writers, describing the manner in which 
this feast was observed. In reference to the 
reclining attitude in which tlie Evangelists 
represent our Lord at the last supper, he has 
collected, among others, the following illus- 
trative passages: — SjX'' xS hii'rJl^'^v; 'U'lS'SX 
DD'ty 1>' Pesach, cap. x. hal. 1. And again, 
R. Levi saith, " It is the manner of slaves 
to eat standing ; but now let them eat lying 



Note 24. 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*153 



along', tliat it may be Ivnown that they are gone 
out of bonclage to liberty." — " We are obliged," 
says Maimonides, " to lie down when we eat, 
that we may eat after the manner of kings and 
nobles." 

Lig-htfoot then proceeds to give an account 
of the manner in which the paschal supper was 
conducted. It began, 1st, With presenting a 
cup of wine mingled with water to each as- 
sembled guest, over which the master of the 
famil}', or some one deputed for that purpose, 
pronounces a benediction :■ — " Blessed be He 
that created the fruit of the vine ;" and then ho 
repeats the consecration of the day ; that is, 
they give tlianks, and drink up the wine. 2dly, 
They washed their hands, after which the table 
was crowned with two cakes of unleavened 
bread, bitter herbs, and the paschal lamb roast- 
ed whole ; which three things were appointed 
by the Law. To these were added the remains 
of the Chagigah, or peace offerings of the pre- 
ceding day, and other meats, with the sour 
sauce, called TDTin or charoseth, which was 
thick, and intended to represent the bricks their 
ancestors made in Egypt. Then the person 
presiding takes a small piece of lettuce, which 
he eats, and those with him, blessing God for 
the fruits of the earth ; and afterwards a piece 
of unleavened bread, dipped in the bitter 
herbs. 3dly, All the dishes were removed from 
the table, and the children were instructed in 
the nature and intention of the feast, the sig- 
nification of the bitter herbs, unleavened bread, 
&.C. generally from Exod. xii. 26, dtc. and Deut. 
xxvi. 5-11. ; and this explanation was called 
the Hagannah, 1 Cor. xi. 36. 4thly, After this 
preparation the supper was again set before 
them, when each person lifted up in his hands, 
first the bitter herbs, and then the unleavened 
bread, and joined in declaring that they ate 
them in commemoration of the bondage, and 
great deliverance of their fathers in Egypt ; 
and ended by calling on all to sing praises to 
God, in the 113th to the 114th Psalm, and 
having blessed the Lord, they drank ofi" the 
second cup. 5thly, The hands are again wash- 
ed, and the master of the house, or the officiat- 
ing person, takes the two unleavened cakes, 
breaks one, and places that which is broken 
on the other. He then blesses it ; and putting 
some bread and bitter herbs together, they dip 
them in the same sauce, and again bless God. 
After the same manner they first give thanks 
over the flesh of the Chagigah of the fourteenth 
day, and partake of it ; and then over the lamb, 
and eat of it : after which they may lengthen 
out the supper, and partake of what they 
please, taking care only to conclude with a 
small piece of the paschal lamb ; as much, at 
least, as an olive : after which they were not 
allowed to take any more food that night. 6thly, 
They again wash their hands, and the master 
VOL. II. *20 



of the family says the blessing of the meat, 
over the third cup of wine, which they then 
drank ; and this cup was commonly called the 
cup of blessing, xnj"i3"! KDDis', to which allusion 
is made 1 Cor. x. 16. A fourth cup of wine is 
mingled, over which they continue the Hallel 
(or hymn of five Psalms), beginning where they 
left off, at the llStli to the 118th Psalm ; and 
finish with a prayer. After the destruction of 
Jerusalem, a small piece of unleavened bread 
was substituted as the ApMcomcn, or last 
morsel, instead of the paschal lamb ; for which 
purpose a piece of the broken cake was re- 
served under a napkin ; probably because there 
was no temple in which the appointed victim 
could be sacrificed. It is impossible for us 
now to ascertain, whether our Saviour made 
use of this fourth cup or not ; we are only 
informed, by tiie Evangelists, that our Lord 
and his disciples sang a hymn (Matt. xxvi. 30. 
Mark xiv. 26.) before they went to the Mount 
of Olives. 

We are now brought to the consideration 
of that most difficult and perplexing question, 
" Whether our Lord ate of this Passover with 
his disciples on the evening preceding his cru- 
cifixion." The Evangelists, in relating this 
part of our Saviour's life, use some expressions 
which at first sight appear contradictory to each 
other. St. John, for instance, seems to differ 
from the other three, as to the time that the 
Jews partook of the Passover, and supposes 
that they did not eat it on the same evening as 
our Saviour and his disciples ; while they all 
agree that the night of the day in which Christ 
ate the Passover (or what is called the Pass- 
over) was Thursday. Our Lord is further said 
to command his disciples to prepare for eating 
the Passover, and that he had earnestly desired 
to eat this Passover with them. Yet we read, 
that on the day after that on which our Lord 
and his disciples had thus celebrated the Pass- 
over, the Jews refused to go into the judgment- 
hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they 
might eat the Passover. Now it was appointed 
by the Law, that all the people should eat of 
the Passover on the same day. There appears 
therefore to be some contradiction or difficulty 
which requires explanation ; and the particu- 
lar attention of the harmonizers and commen- 
tators has been consequently directed to this 
point. 

The latest theologians who have devoted the 
greatest attention to this subject are Dr. Clarke, 
in his Treatise on the Eucharist, and Mr. Benson, 
in his work On the Chronology of the Life of our 
Lord. They have so thoroughly investigated 
the subject, that little more will be necessary 
than to take advantage of their labors. 

Four opinions have been advanced by various 
theologians, the last of which seems to be most 
consistent with the accounts of the Evangelists, 



154* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VI. 



and to reconcile all the difficulties and appar- 
ent contradictions. 

The first is, that Christ did not eat the Pass- 
over on the last year of his ministry. 

The second, that he did eat it that year, and 
at the same time with the Jews. 

The third, that he did eat a passover ; but 
one of his own institution, very different from 
that eaten by the Jews. 

The fourth, that he did eat the Passover that 
year, but not at the same time with the Jews. 

The arguments in support of these four 
different opinions, are clearly and briefly sum- 
med up by Dr. A. Clarke, in his Introduction 
to his Discourse on the Eucharist. In favor of 
the first opinion. That Christ did not eat the 
Passover, it is observed, " The Jews ate their 
Passover on the next day." 

• St. John does not call the supper which Christ 
ate with his disciples a Passover supper, but, 
on the contrary, says it was before the feast of 
the Passover — jtqo ttjc: eoQjrig tov n&a/ct, by 
which Dr. Wall thinks he means the day be- 
fore the Passover, or, as we should say, the 
Passover eve. 

"Now this was the same night and same 
supper," says Dr. Wall, "which the three do 
call ' the Passover,' and ' Christ's eating the 
Passover ;' I mean, it was the night on which 
Christ was (a few hours after supper) appre- 
hended, as is plain by the last verse of that 
thirteenth chapter. But the next day (Friday 
on which Christ was crucified) St. John makes 
to be the Passover day. He says (chap, xviii. 
28.), the Jews would not go into the judgment- 
hall on Friday morning, lest they should be 
defiled, but that they might eat the Passover, 
viz. that evening. And chap. xix. 14., speak- 
ing of Friday noon, he says, it was the pre- 
paration of the Passover. Upon the whole, 
John speaks not of eating the Passover at all ; 
nor indeed do the three speak of his eating any 
lamb. Among all the expressions which they 
use, of 'making ready the Passover;' 'prepare 
for Me to eat the Passover ; ' ' with desire have 
I desired to eat this Passover with you,' &.c. 
there is no mention of any lamb carried to the 
temple to be slain by the Levites, and then 
brought to the house and roasted ; there is no 
mention of any food at the supper besides bread 
and wine ; perhaps there might be some bitter 
herbs. So that this seems to liave been a com- 
memorative supper, us^ed by our Saviour instead 
of the proper paschal supper, the eating of a 
lamb, which should have been the next night ; 
but that He himself was to be sacrificed before 
that time would come. And the difference be- 
tween St. John and the others is only a dif- 
ference in words and in the names of things. 
They call that the Passover which Christ used 
instead of it. If you say, why then does Mark, 
xiv. 12., call Thursday the first day of unleav- 



ened bread, when the Passover must be killed ? 
we must note their day (or vvx6r\fxeQov) was 
from evening to evening. This Thursday 
evening was the beginning of that natural day 
of twenty-four hours, towards the end of which 
the lamb was to be Idlled ; so it is proper, in the 
Jews' way of calling days, to call it tliat day." 

The second opinion is. That he did eat the 
Passover tliat year, and at the same time with 
the Jews. 

The late Dr. Newcome, archbishop of Ar- 
magh, is of a very diflferent opinion from Dr. 
Wall ; and, from a careful collation of the 
passages in the Evangelists, concludes, "that 
our Lord did not anticipate this feast, but par- 
took of it with the Jews on the usual and na- 
tional day." 

" It appears," says he, " from the Gospel 
history (see Mark xv. 42., and xvi. 9.), that our 
Lord was crucified on Friday. But the night 
before his crucifixion, on which he was betrayed 
(1 Cor.xi. 2.3.), he kept the Passover, and that 
he kept it at the legal time is thus determined. 
In Matt. xxvi. 2., and in Mark xiv. 1., it is said 
that the Passover, xul rd a'C,v/ua, were after two 
days ; or on the day foUowmg that on which 
Jesus foretold his sufferings and resurrection to 
his disciples. Matt. xvi. 21, &c. Mark viii. 31, 
&c. and Luke ix. 22, &c. 

" The Evangelists, proceeding regularly in 
their history (Matt. xxvi. 17.), and in the par- 
allel places (Mark xiv. 12, &c. Luke xxii. 7, 
&c.), mention is made of this day, and it is 
called the first day of unleavened bread, when 
they killed the Passover, i. e. by general cus- 
tom : and St. Luke says, that the day came, 
which, ver. 1, was approaching, when the Pass- 
over must be killed ; i. e. by the Law of Moses. 
The 14th of Nisan is therefore meant ; which 
is called jt^wtt] &'C,v/iiMt', the first of unleavened 
bread. 

" During the week, therefore, of our Lord's 
passion, the Law of Moses required that the 
Passover should be slain on Thursday after- 
noon ; but our Lord partook of it on the night 
immediately succeeding ; Matt. xxvi. 19, 20. ; 
and the parallel places, Luke xxii. 14, 15. ; and 
therefore he partook of it at the legal time. 

" Mark xiv. 12. Luke xxii. 7. equally prove 
that the Jews kept the Passover at the same 
time with Jesus." 

To the objection (John xviii. 22.), That the 
Jews avoided defilement that they might cat 
the Passover, the bishop answers, " That they 
meant the paschal sacrifices ofliered for seven 
days ; and they spoke particularly in reference 
to the ].5th of Nisan, which was a day of holy 
convocation." 

To the objection taken from John xix. 14., 
That the day on which our Lord was crucified, 
is called naQaaxEvri tov Tl&axa, the prepara- 
tion of the Passover, he replies, " That in Mark 



Note 24.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



^155 



XV. 42, nagaaxsv)), preparation, is the same as 
nooa(x6f}aTOi', the day before the Sabbath; and 
so in Luke xxiii. 54. ; therefore by TTuoaaxevri 
ToO n&crxa, we may understand the preparation 
before that Sabbath which happened during the 
paschal festival." This is the substance of 
Archbishop Newcome's reasoning, in his Har- 
mony and Notes. See the latter, p. 42-45. 

To this it is answered. That the opinion 
which states that our Lord ate the Passover the 
same day and hour with the Jews seems scarce- 
ly supportable. If he ate it the same hour in 
which the Jews ate theirs, he certainly could 
not have died that day, as they ate the Pass- 
over on Friday, about six o'clock in the evening ; 
if he did not, he must have been crucified on 
Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, and could not 
have risen again on the first day of the week, 
as all the Evangelists testify, but on the second, 
or Monday, which I suppose few will attempt 
to support. On this, and other considerations, 
I think tlais point should be given up. But 
others argue thus : — 

"That Christ intended to eat a Passover 
with his disciples on this occasion, and that he 
intensely desired it too, we have the fullest 
proof from the three first Evangelists. See 
Matt xxvi. 1-3. 17-20. Mark xiv. 12-16. Luke 
xxii. 7-18. And that he actually did eat one 
with them must appear most evidently to those 
who shall carefully collate the preceding Scrip- 
tures, and especially what St. Luke says, chap, 
xxii. 7-18. ; for when Peter and John had re- 
ceived their Lord's command to go and prepare 
the Passover, it is said, ver. 13., 'they went and 
found as he had said unto them ; and they made 
ready the Passover,' i. e. got a lamb, and pre- 
pared it for tlie purpose, according to the Law. 
Ver. 14. ' And when the hour was come (to eat 
it) he sat down, iifinEae, and the twelve apos- 
tles with him.' Ver. J 5. 'And he said unto 
them. With desire have I desired to eat this 
Passover with you before I suffer ;' where it is 
to be noted, that they had now sat down to eat 
that Passover which had been before prepared, 
and that every word which is spoken is pecu- 
liarly proper to the occasion. ' With desire 
(says our Lord) have I desired, tovto to /7(i(T/« 
(jcayfif, to eat this very Passover;' not iadlsiy 
TO nii.ayji, to eat the Passover, or something 
commemorative of it, but toCto to Jlua/u, 'this 
very Passover:' and it is no mean proof that they 
were then in the act of eating the flesh of the 
paschal lamb, from the use of the verb cpaystr, 
which is most proper to the eating of flesh ; as 
iadleiv signifies ' eating in general,' or ' eating 
bread, pulse,' &c. The same word, in refer- 
ence to the same act of eating the Passover, 
not to the bread and wine of the holy supper, is 
used, ver. 16. ' For I say unto you, I will not 
any more eat thereof, ov /<tj qxiyco l^ uvtov, I 
will not eat of him or it' viz. the paschal lamb, 
until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God ; i. e. 



this shall be the last Passover I shall celebrate 
on earth, as I am now about to suflTer, and the 
kingdom of God, the plenitude of the Gospel 
Dispensation, shall immediately take place.' 
And then, according to this Evangelist, having 
finished the eating of the paschal lamb, he in- 
stituted the bread of the Holy Supper, ver. 19., 
and afterwards the cup, ver. 20., though he and 
they had partaken of the cup of blessing (usual 
on such occasions) with the paschal lamb im- 
mediately before ; see verse 17. Whoever 
carefully considers the whole of this account, 
must be convinced that, whatever may come of 
the question concerning the time of eating the 
Passover, that our Lord did actually eat one 
with his disciples before he suffered." 

The third opinion which we have to examine 
is this — Our Lord rfic? eat a Passover of his own 
instituting, but widely diiFering from that eaten 
by the Jews. 

Mr. Toinard, in his Greek Harmony of the 
Gospels, strongly contends that our Lord did 
not eat what is commonly called the Passover 
this year, but another of a mystical kind. His 
chief arguments are the following : — 

It is indubitably evident, from the text of St. 
John, that the night on the beginning of which 
our Lord supped with his disciples, and instituted 
the holy sacrament, was not that on which the 
Jews celebrated the Passover ; but the pre- 
ceding evening, on which the Passover could 
not be legally offered. The conclusion is evi- 
dent from the following passages. John xiii. 
1. " Now before the feast of the Passover, when 
Jesus knew," &c. Ver. 2. " And supper (not 
the paschal, but an ordinary supper) being 
ended," &c. Ver. 27. " That thou doest, do 
quickly." Ver. 28. " Now no one at the table 
knew for what intent He spake this." Ver. 29, 
" For some thought, because Judas had the bag, 
that Jesus had said unto him. Buy what we 
have need of against the feast," &c. Chap, 
xviii. 28. " Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas 
unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; 
and they themselves went not into the judg- 
ment hall, lest they should be defiled ; but that 
they might eat the Passover." Chap. xix. 14. 
" And it was the preparation of the Passover, 
and about the sixth hour." Now, as it appears, 
that at this time the disciples thought our Lord 
had ordered Judas to go and bring what was 
necessary for the Passover, and they were then 
supping together, it is evident that it was not 
the paschal lamb on which they were supping ; 
and it is as evident, from the unwillingness of 
the Jews to go into the hall of judgment, that 
they had not as yet eaten the Passover. These 
words are plain, and can be taken in no other 
sense, without ofifering them the greatest vio- 
lence. 

Mr. Toinard having found that our Lord was 
crucified on the sixth day of the week (Friday), 
during the paschal solemnity, in the thirty-third 



156* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VI. 



year of the vulgar eera, and that the paschal 
moon of that year was not in conjunction with 
the sun till the afternoon of Thursday, the 19th 
of March, and that the new moon could not be 
seen in Judaea until the following day (Friday), 
concluded that the intelligence of the cpdcrig, 
or appearance of the new moon, could not be 
made by the witnesses to the Beth Din, or Sen- 
ate, sooner than Saturday morning, the 21st of 
March. 

Mr. Toinard therefore supposes, that our 
Lord substituted a Passover, for the Passover ; 
and instituted the holy Eucharist, in place of 
the paschal lamb ; and thus it will appear, he 
ate a Passover with his disciples the evening 
before his death, the mystical Passover or sacra- 
ment of his body and blood ; and that this was 
the Passover mentioned by St. Luke, which he 
so ardently longed to eat with his disciples 
before he suffered. On this hypothesis, the 
preparation of the Passover must be considered 
as implying no more than, 1st, providing a con- 
venient room ; 2ndly, bringing water for the 
baking on the following day, which would not 
have been then lawful ; Srdly, making diligent 
search for the leaven, that none might remain 
in the house, according to the strict Law of 
God, Exod. xii. 15-20. xxiii. 15. and xxiv. 15. 
These, it is probable, were the acts of prepara- 
tion the disciples were commanded to perform. 
Matt. xxvi. 18. Mark xiv. 1.3, 14. Luke xxii. 8- 
11., and which, on their arrival at the city, they 
punctually executed, Matt xxvi. 19. Mark xiv. 
16. Luke xxii. 1.3. Thus every thing was pre- 
pared, and our Saviour was offered up — the 
sacrifice of the real paschal lamb was attended 
in every respect with the very same ceremo- 
nies as had been appointed in the old covenant 
to precede the sacrifice of the typical victim, 
thereby fulfilling every tittle of the Law, and 
bringing in a new and more perfect dispensa- 
tion, wherein should be no more shedding of 
blood. Lightfoot agrees with Toinard in his 
hypothesis ; his words are, speaking of the third 
cup, or the cup of blessing — " And now was 
the time when Christ, taking bread, instituted 
the Eucharist ; but whether was it after eating 
those farewell morsels, as I may call them, of 
the lamb, or instead of them ? It seems to be 
in their stead, because it is said by St. Matthew 
and St. Mark, tadioi'Twi' ainwf. Sic. 'As they 
were eating, Jesus took bread.' Now, without 
doubt, they speak according to the known and 
common custom of that supper, that they might 
be understood by their own people. For all 
Jews know well enough, that afler the eating of 
those morsels of the lamb it cannot be said, as 
they were eating, for the eating- ended v/ith those 
morsels. It seems therefore more likely, that 
Christ, when they were now ready to take those 
morsels, changed the custom, and gave about 
morsels of bread in their stead, and instituted 
the Sacranient" 



The fourth opinion is. That our Lord did eat 
the Passover this year, but not at the same 
time with the Jews. This opinion appears to 
be that which is most consistent with Scripture. 
I can only say, with Mr. Benson, " I have with 
great care examined the arguments produced 
on both sides in this controversy, and my ulti- 
mate conviction is, that whilst the words of St. 
Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke necessarily 
compel us to believe that the majority of the 
Jews sacrificed the paschal lamb on the same 
day with our Saviour, the expressions of St. 
John lead us irresistibly to the conclusion, that 
many of the Scribes and Pharisees, and other 
leading characters amongst them, did not sacri- 
fice it until the evening of the following day — 
until after our Saviour himself had been cru- 
cified. Two passages produced from this Evan- 
gelist may, and perhaps ought, to be otherwise 
interpreted ; but a third is, I think, quite con- 
clusive. I allow that the phrase ttqo jrjg lo^rrj; 
Tov n&axa, in chap. xiii. 1., means tiiat it 
was the preparation of the paschal Sabbath, or 
that Sabbath which occurred in the paschal 
week. But no critical distortion appears to me 
capable of giving to chap, xviii. 28. y.ul uiiol ovx 
elar^Wov elg t6 rrQaiTwgtor, "va fifj /[tinvdSxnt', 
ill' "iva cp&yMui TO riua-/" — ^"Y other meaning 
or translation than this, ' And they themselves 
went not into the judgment-hall, lest they should 
be defiled, but that they might eat the paschal 
offering,' the sacrifice of the Passover. The 
word /7(i(T/«, when alone, is not always used 
exclusively for the paschal lamb, but often in 
a more enlarged and extended sense, for the 
whole feast of unleavened bread ; but the 
phrase (pay el v t6 n6.a)(a, though used by each 
of the first three Evangelists, and more than 
once, is never applied except to the eating of 
the paschal offering itself, at the time appointed 
in remembrance of the Lord's Passover in 
Egypt. The inference, therefore, from the 
words of St. John above quoted is, that the 
Priests and Pharisees did not eat this Passover 
at the same time with the rest of the Jews ; 
and this difference may be accounted for on 
the supposition that our Lord was ci-ucified 
Julian Period 4742." 

The Passover was commanded to be cele- 
brated in the first month, Nisan, or Abib, which 
corresponds to the months of March and April 
in the Christian year. It was to be killed " in 
the fourteenth day of the first month ; at even 
is the Lord's Passover," Levit. xxiii. 5. "the 
whole congregation of Israel shall kill it in the 
evening." If our Saviour then ate of the 
paschal lamb with his disciples, he would eat 
it on the day when the Passover ought to be 
killed, on the evening after the fourteenth. 

It will be admitted, that if our Lord had de- 
termined upon observing the Passover, and if 
there is in truth any difference between the 
Jews and our Saviour on the day on which it 



Mote 24.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*157 



was to be eaten, the error woulcl be not on the 
part of Jesus himself, but of the Jews who 
dilfered from him. Neither his character, con- 
duct, nor sentiments, will for a moment permit 
us to believe that he disobeyed, in the slightest 
degree, the or-dinances of the Mosaic Law, in 
deference to any traditions which existed 
among tlie Scribes and Pharisees. If He re- 
fused to follow, upon this occasion, the practice 
of tlie high priests, and others among the Jews, 
his refusal must be referred to some deviation 
in their practice from that which had been 
formerly prescribed to their forefatliers. Our 
Lord was right, and they were wrong. What- 
ever rules might have guided them, He at least 
would have eaten the Passover on the day, 
"when the Passover ought to be killed," ^y fi 
"EJEI &veadai to Uua/a, (Luke xxii. 7.) 

It is well known that the months of the Jews 
were lunar mnntlis, but in what manner they 
were measured and dated, whether from the 
phasis or appearance of an illuminated portion 
of the moon's disk, or from tables in which her 
mean motion was calculated, and adapted to 
the purpose ; or by some faulty and inaccurate 
cycl^ of their own, or by some other method 
altogether different from these, is a point upon 
which the most learned have disputed in every 
age ; and wliich, I apprehend, can never be 
settled with any degree of satisfaction, from 
the remaining scanty and inadequate hints 
which form tlie only materials for our judgment. 

Mr. Mann, De ^inji. Christ, cap. xx. 23., 
argues very strongly for tlie antiquity of the 
astronomical method of computation at present 
in use amongst the Jews, and contends that it 
was tiie method adopted so eai-ly as the times 
of our Saviour. 

Epiphanius, H(B)\ 51. cum animadv. Peiavii, 
on the other hand, broadly asserts tliat the 
Jews, in our Saviour's time, followed the calcu- 
lations of a faulty and inaccurate lunar cycle, 
by means of which they anticipated, in the 
year of his crucifixion, the proper period for the 
celebration of the Passover by two days. Peta- 
vius defends this opinion ; and he and Kepler 
have both, with much labor, endeavoured to 
draw out a set of tables upon the principles 
which Epiphanius has laid down ; but there is 
so much obscurity, and even contradiction, in 
tlie passage in which that father treats upon the 
subject, that it would be quite impossible to 
STV whether they are right or v/rong in their 
conclusions. 

The rabbinical doctors (and Maimonides in 
particular) have refen-ed to a third method, and 
stated that the ancient Jews reckoned the be- 
ginning of tlieir months from the phasis of the 
moon, and that their present mode of calcula- 
tion was not introduced until after the final 
dispersion of the nation. Before that period, 
they assert, that there were in Judcea several 
(TvvE'5-Qici, or committees (as we should term 

VOL. II. 



them), under the general superintendence, and, 
as it were, branches of a central committee 
fixed at Jerusalem. The members of this com- 
mittee were in possession of certain tables, 
containing calculations of the motions of the 
moon, which being inspected, it was thence 
determined when the new moon ought and 
would most probably appear. They sent out 
some approved and steady persons to observe 
whether the moon did appear at the time at 
which they expected her appearance, or not. 
If these persons beheld the phasis on the night 
after the twenty-ninth of the current month, 
they immediately proclaimed the new moon: 
thus determining what would otherwise have 
been the thirtieth day of the current month, to 
be the first of the succeeding one. If the 
watchers did not return with intelligence of the 
observation of the phasis before the niofht after 
the thu'tieth day of the current month, they fixed 
the commencement of the succeeding month 
on the following day, making the current month 
consist of thirty days. In other words, they 
determined the current month to consist of 
twenty-nine or thirty days, according as their 
watchers did, or did not return with intelli- 
gence of having seen the new moon before the 
conclusion of the thirtieth day. 

After the central committee had thus fixed 
the day of the new moon, messengers were 
sent to the several cities within the distance of 
a ten days' journey from the metropolis, to 
announce the fact. The council at Jerusalem, 
however, did not settle for themselves, and 
their own practice, whether the intercalary 
month should consist of twenty-nine or thirty 
days, until the conclusion of that month and 
the appearance of the new moon of the suc- 
ceeding month Nisan, had pointed out which 
number of days it ought to consist of. Hence 
it is evident that there miglit, and would some- 
times be, a difference between the members of 
the Jerusalem council and the rest of the Jews, 
in tlieir mode of reckoning the first day of the 
month Nisan. If the council announced to the 
nation at large an intercalary month of twenty- 
nine days only, and afterwards found out that 
they were wrong in their calculations, and that 
it ought to have consisted of thirty days, it is 
evident that in that year the persons composing 
and adhering to the practice of the council 
would differ from the rest of the Jews in count- 
ing the first, and therefore the fifteenth day of 
Nisan. What was the fifteenth of Nisan to 
the one, would be the sixteenth to the other ; 
and perhaps some circumstance of this nature, 
at present unknown to us, may have occasioned 
the difference, if there really was any differ- 
ence, amongst the Jews, as to the day of 
the celebrrition of the Passover in the year 
of our Lord's crucifixion. Perhaps from t/iis 
very cause we may explain why, as is sup- 
posed bv mar.y, our Saviour and his disciples, 



158* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VI. 



and the generality of the Jews, sacrificed the 
paschal lamb on the evening of the Thursday, 
and the Scribes and Pharisees, and others, not 
until that of the Friday in passion week ; in 
other words, why our Lord considered the 
Friday, and others the Saturday, as the fifteenth 
day of Nisan ; but, without insisting further 
upon this, it is plain that the proclamation of 
the time of the new moon's appearance did not 
always determine the Jews in fixing the first 
day of the month, and more especially that it did 
not always do so with regard to Nisan. This 
is sufficient to show, that we are still in such a 
degree of ignorance with regard to the method 
of calculating the Jewish months and years, as 
to prevent our deciding with absolute certainty 
upon the day on which the Passover took place 
in the year of our blessed Saviour's crucifixion. 
The learned Cudworth, in his admirable 
Treatise on the Jewish Passover, has proved, 
from the Talmud, Mishna, and some of the 
most reputable of the Jewish rabbins, that the 
ancient Jews, about our Saviour's time, often 
solemnized as Avell the Passovers as the other 
feasts, upon the ferias next before and after the 
Sabbaths. And that the Jews in ancient times 
reckoned the new moons not according to astro- 
nomical exactness, but according to the (pdaig, 
or moon's appearance ; and, as this appearance 
mia-ht happen a day later than the real time, 
consequently there might be a whole day of 
difference in the time of celebrating one of 
these feasts, wliich depended on a particular 
day of the month; the days of the month being 
counted from the (pdatg, or appearance of the 
new moon. As he describes the manner of 
doing this, both from the Babylonish Talmud, 
and from Maimonides, I shall give an extract 
from tins part of his work, that my readers 
may have the whole argument before them. 

" In the great, or outer court, there was a 
house called Beth Yazek, where the senate sat 
all the 30th day of every month, to receive the 
witnesses of the moon's appearance, and to 
examine them. If there came approved wit- 
nesses on the yOth day, who could state they 
had seen the new moon, the chief man of the 
senate stood up, and cried tyTpn, mckuddash, 
" It is sanctified ;" and the people, standing by, 
cauo-htthe word from him, and cried Mekuddash! 
viekuddash ! But if, when the consistory had sat 
all the day, and there came no approved wit- 
nesses of the phasis, or appearance of the new 
moon, then they made an intercalation of one 
day in the former month, and decreed the fol- 
lowing one and thirtieth day to be the calends. 
But, if after the fourth or fifth day, or even 
before the end of the month, respectable wit- 
nesses came from far, and testified they had 
seen the new moon, in its due time, the senate 
were bound to alter tlie beginning of the month, 
and reckon it a day sooner, viz. from the 
thirtieth day. 



" As the senate were very unwilling to be at 
the trouble of a second consecration, when they 
had even fixed on a wrong day, and therefore 
received very reluctantly the testimony of such 
witnesses as those last mentioned, they after- 
wards made a statute to this effect — That 
whatsoever time the senate should conclude 
on for the calends of the month, though it were 
certain they were in the wrong, yet all were 
bound to order their feasts according to it." 
This, Dr. Cudworth supposes, actually took 
place in the time of our Lord, and '• as it is 
not likely that our Lord would submit to this 
perversion of the original custom, and that 
following the true (pdaig, or appearance of the 
new moon, confirmed by sufficient witnesses, 
he and his disciples ate the Passover on that 
day ; but the Jews, following the pertinacious 
decree of the Sanhedrin, did not eat it till the 
day following." Dr. Cudworth further shows 
from Epiphanius, that there was contention, 
■d-oQvSog, a tumult, among the Jews about the 
Passover, that very year. Hence, it is likely 
that the real paschal day observed by our 
Lord, his disciples, and many other pious Jews, 
who adopted the true cpuaig, phasis, was only 
the preparation or antecedent evening to others, 
who acted on the decree of the Sanhedrin. 
Besides, it is worthy of notice, that not only 
the Karaites, who do not acknowledge the 
authority of the Sanhedrin, but also the rabbins 
themselves grant, that where the case is doubt- 
ful, the Passover should be celebrated with the 
same ceremonies, two days together ; and it 
was always doubtful when the appearance of 
the new moon could not be fully ascertained." 
In corroboration of this opinion, Bishop 
Pearce supposes, that it was lawful for the Jews 
to eat the paschal lamb at any time, between 
the evening of Thursday, and that of Friday ; 
and that this permission was necessary, because 
of the immense number of lambs which were 
to be killed for that purpose, as in one year 
there were not fewer than 256,500 lambs 
offered. See Josephus, War, b. vii. c. ix. sect. 
3. In Matt. xxvi. 17. it is said. " Now the first 
day of the feast of Unleavened Bread ( Tf^ d'l 
TTQmrj 7U)v (XLVfiMf), the disciples came to Jesus, 
saying unto him, 'Where wilt thou that we 
prepare for thee to eat the Passover .'' ' " As the 
feast of Unleavened Bread did not begin till 
the day after the Passover, the fifteenth day of 
the month (Lev. xxiii. 5, 6. Num. xxviii. 16, 
17.) this could not have been properly the first 
day of that feast ; but as the Jews began to 
eat unleavened bread on the fourteenth day 
(Exod. xii. IB.), this day was often termed the 
First of Unleavened Bread. Now it appears 
that the Evangelists use it in tliis sense, and 
call even the paschal day by this name. See 
Mark xiv. 12. Luke xxii. 7. 

Mr. Benson's profound and sagacious reason 
ing on the time of our Lord's crucifixion, can 



Note ^4.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*159 



only be appreciated by those who are acquaint- 
ed with the difficulties of this subject, and have 
followed his argument through all its ramifica- 
tions. It is to be regretted, that the learned 
men who have endeavoured to decide this point, 
have not sufficiently examined the data, which 
enabled Mr. Benson to come to his very satis- 
factory conclusions. That the reader may per- 
ceive the discrepancies to which I allude, I 
here subjoin from Bowyer the various decisions 
of former chronologers. 

"It has been computed," he observes, "that 
from tlie twentieth to the fortieth year of Christ, 
the only Passover full moon which fell on a 
Friday, was April 3, A. D. 33, in the year of 
the Julian Period 4746. And yet Mr. Mann, 
in support of his hypothesis, computes it to 
have been so likewise March 2% A. D. 26, 
.Julian Period 4739. Differences there will be, 
while some calculate by astronomical full 
moons, others by cycles ; and while we know not 
whether the Jews kept the true or the mean 
full moons ; or what cycle they followed. That 
which prevailed in the time of Epiphanius, 
Dodwell observes, De Cyclis, p. 429, was differ- 
ent from the Cahppic, the Hippolytan, and from 
what the Jews now follow ; from which last, 
however, Scaliger and Mr. Mann compute. And 
even, if we knew the cycle, what certainty 
could we expect when Maimonides and other 
writers tell us, that in a backward season they 
occasionally intercalated a month, that the 
harvest might be ripe enough to have the first 
fruits of it offisred on tlie second day of the 
passover' ? 

' Vide Dr. A. Clarke On the Eucharist, second 
edit. 1814, p. 9-35. Benson's Chronology of the 
Life of Christ, p. 222, &c. — Bowyer's Critical Con- 
jectures. — Clarke's Commentary on the passages 
in St. Matthew, in which the account of the last 
Passover is given. — Cudworth's Treatise, printed 
at the end of the Intellectual System. — Jackson's 
Chronology, vol. ii. p. 19. 



" Sir Isaac Newton, in his Observations on 
the Prophecies, p. 163, mentions another Jewish 
rule for calculating the time of the Passover. 
To avoid the inconveniences of two Sabbaths 
together, wliich prevented burying their dead, 
and making ready fresh meat, &c. they post- 
poned their month a day, as often as the third 
of the month Nisan was Sunday, Wednesday, 
or Friday ; and this rule they called, nx, 'Adu, 
by the letters N, -\, % signifying the 1st, 4th, 
and 6th days of the w-eek, which days we call 
Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. 

" Postponing therefore (a day in) the Pass- 
over months above, the 14th day of the month 
Nisan, (which, A. D. 31, fell on Tuesday, 
March 27,) will fall on Wednesday, March 23 

" In A.D. 32, (which fell on Sunday, April 
13,) will fall on Monday, April 14. 

" In A.D. 33, (which fell on Friday, April 3,) 
will fall on Friday, April 3, likewise. 

"In A.D. 34, (which fell on Wednesday, 
March 24, or rather, for the avoiding the equi- 
nox, which fell on the same day, and for having 
a fitter time for the harvest, on Thursday, 
April 22,) will fall on Friday, AprU 23. 

"In A.D. 36, (which fell on Tuesday, April 
12,) will fall on Wednesday April 13. 

" In A.D. 36, (which fell on Saturday, March 
31,) will fall likewise on the same day." 

Here the 33rd and 34th are both years on 
which the Passover fell on a Friday ; and Sir 
Isaac Newton determines for the 34th, two 
years after 32, when the Passover fell very late. 

I shall subjoin the several computations of 
the paschal full moons,- by Roger Bacon, in his 
Opus Magnum, p. 131. Jos. Scaliger and Nic. 
Mann, De veris aiinis JV. D. Jesu Christi, &c. 
p. 239. R. Dodwell, De Cyclis, p. 848. Mr. Fer- 
guson in his Astronomy, Sir Isaac Newton On 
the Prophecies, and Lamy in his Harmony, by 
which the reader will judge with what variety 
they have all been certain. 



Julian 
Period- 


A.D. 


Roger Bacon, 

Day of 
Month. Wee.k. 


Mann & ScAL. 

Dav of 
Month. Week. 


Dodwell. 

Day of 
Month. Week. 


Ferguson. 

Day of 
Month, Week, 


Sir I, Newtox, 

Day of 
Month, Week. 


Lamy. 
Month. Day. Ho. Mat. 


4739 


26 


March 21. 


5 


.March 22. 


6 


April 20. 


7 


April 20. 


7 






4740 


27 


April 9. 


5 


April 9. 


4 


April 9. 


4 


April 10, 


5 






4741 


28 


March 29. 


2 


March 29. 


2 


March 28. 


1 


March 30, 


3 




March 29 


6 8 Mat. 


4742 
4743 


29 


April 17. 


1 


April 16. 


7 


April 16. 


7 


April 17. 


5 




April 17. 


6 


30 


April 6. 


4 


April 5. 


4 


Ai>ril 12. 


4 


April 5, 


4 




April 6, 


10 .55 Vesp. 


4744 
4745 
4746 


31 
33 


Mai-cli 27. 


3 


March 2j. 


2 


March 23. 


2 


March 27, 


3 


March 28. 4 


March 27 


2 10 


April 13. 


2 


April 14. 


2 


April 12, 


7 


April 15. 


3 


April 14, 2 


April 14. 


12 Mat. 


33 


April 3. 


4 


April 3. 


6 


April 4, 


7 


April 3. 


4 
5 


April 3, 6 


April 3, 


5 50 Vesp. 


■4747 
4748 


34 


Mardi 23. 


4 


March 23. 


2 


March 24, 


4 


April 22, 


April 23, 6 


March 23. 


p.ob. 018F. 


35 


April 11. 


2 


April 11. 


2 


April 23, 


4 


April 11, 


2 


April 13. 4 


April 11. 


n 10 Mat. 


4749 


35 
37 








I 


March 30 


5 48 Vesp. 


47.50 






i 


April 18. 


2 38 


1 4751 


38 






! 


April 8. 


5 58 iMat. 



To which might be added the calculations 0f Bedford and Hales. 



160* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VI. 



Note 25.— Part VI. 

It is not certain where this section ought to 
be inserted. Michaelis and Newcome place 
the washing of the disciples' feet after the pre- 
paration of the Passover, and the promise of 
Judas to betray Christ; Pilkington and Light- 
foot before those events. Michaelis represents 
the washing as taking place before the feast of 
the Passover. The rest of the harmonizers 
principally arrange it at the supper at Bethany. 



and had not time then to listen to or correct 
their erroneous inferences, Ixuvov ian, absur- 
dum est, quod profertis, desinite tarn anilia pro- 
fari. — 'Ixavop iari, eadem est cum. T^T, sujjicit 
tibi, quas a Judads adhibetur, quoties ah altera 
absurdum quid prof ertur, qui taccrc dehebat, &c, 
— See Lightfoot and Schoetgen, vol. i. p. 313. 



Note 30.— Part VI. 



ON THE INSTITUTION OF THE EUCHARIST. 



Note 26.— Part VI. 

This is also a Hebrew phrase. Among the 
instances collected by Schoetgen is a senti- 
ment which ought to be deeply engraven on 
the memory and the conscience of all who can 
appreciate the privilege of possessing and 
studying the Scriptures. " Quicunque scit Le- 
gem, etnonfacitillamCDSljrS n:^' xSty lb nma, 
melius ipsi esset, si non venisset in mundum." 
"If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye 
do them." ScJiemoth Rabba, sect. 40. fol. 135. 1, 
2. apud Schoetgen, Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 225. 



Note 27.— Part VI. 

This was the most solemn manner of express- 
ing an affirmative. "Berachoth Hier. citante 
Wagensiel Ad Sota, p. 1001. Zipporenses 
quEerebant, numquid R. Judas mortuus esset? 
Filius Kaphrffi respondit, ]innDX Jinx, vos 
dixistis." Schoetgen, Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 225. 



Note 28.— Part VI. 

" When thou art converted ;" when thou 
hast recovered from that fall which 1 foresee. 



Note 29.— Part VI. 

This part of Christ's address to his disciples 
has been much misunderstood. From ver. 35, 
our Lord's intention may be supposed to be, to 
remind them that all their wants had been 
hitherto supplied. But now, as he was about 
to be removed, he forewarns them that it would 
be hereafter necessary for them to act for them- 
selves, and to provide against danger and diffi- 
culty. The disciples interpreted this literally, 
as appears from ver. 38, when our Lord sliglitly 
censures their misapprehension, by "it is 
enough," and so closes the conversation. He 
was about to enter the scene at Gethsemane, 



A FEW hours only before his death, our bless- 
ed Saviour instituted the holy Eucharist. He 
knew that the long and progressive series of 
prophecies, visions, types, and figures, wliich 
had predicted his incarnation and sufferings, 
were now on the point of being accomplished. 
He knew that the Mosaic Dispensation was on 
the point of being completed, with all its typical 
ceremonies and observances. A new and 
spiritual kingdom was to be engrafled on it, 
with other rites and other sacraments. The 
holy of holies was soon to be thrown open ; and 
man, sinful man, through the atoning blood of a 
Redeemer, was to be permitted to hold there 
the highest communion with his Maker, in 
commemoration of the exceeding great love 
and all-sufficient sacrifice of his only Son. 
That we may endeavour to arrive at a clearer 
comprehension of this great mystery, and those 
holy memorials, which our Lord instituted " for 
the continual remembrance of his death," it 
will be advisable to refer to the Jewish feasts 
in the Levitical Law, which evidently prefigure 
the great sacrifice of Christ, which was to be 
offered as an atonement for the sins of man. 
In pursuance of this plan, we will consider the 
nature of the Jewish feasts, and the analogy 
which the Christian feast of the Lord's Supper, 
in which we eat and drink the body and blood 
of Christ, bears to the ancient rite among the 
Jews of feasting upon things sacrificed, and 
eating of those things that were offered up to 
God. The Jewish sacrifices are generally di- 
vided in the following manner. 

First, Such as were wholly offered up to 
God, and burnt upon the altar : these were the 
holocausts, or burnt offerings. Secondly, Such 
as were not only ofl^'ered up to God upon the 
altar, but of which the priests also had a part 
to eat; and which were again subdivided in the 
sin offerings, and the trespass offerings. Third-' 
ly, Such as were not only offered up to God, 
and a portion bestowed on the priests also, but 
of which the owners themselves had a share 
likewise: these were called CD'oSty, or peace 
offerings, which contained in them, as the Jew- 
ish doctors speak, pSn^ jnm phw iID^if'l pSn 
hvDh " a portion for God, and the priests, and 
the owners also." 



Note 30.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*161 



The first of these, perhaps, to signify some 
especial mystery concerning Christ, were whol- 
ly offered up to God, and burnt upon the altar ; 
yet when they were notTn"^ nU3ip, offerings 
for the whole congregation, but for any particu- 
lar person, there were always peace offerings 
regularly annexed to them, that the owners, at 
the same time when they offered a sacrifice to 
God, might feast upon that sacrifice. 

The second of these were not eaten by the 
owners, but by tlie priests ; to show that the 
owners, being for the present in a state of 
guilt, for which they now made atonement, 
being not worthy, the priests, acting as their 
mediators to God, and as their proxies, did ecd 
of the sacrifice for them. 

Thirdly, In the peace offerings; because 
such as brought them had no uncleanness upon 
them (Levit. vii. 20.), and so were perfectly 
reconciled to God, and in covenant with him ; 
therefore they were in their own persons to eat 
of those sacrifices, which they had offered unto 
God as a federal rite between God and them. 
These sacrifices were considered to bring peace 
to the altar, to the priests, and to the owners ; 
as they each separately partook of them. 
Throughout Scripture we find that the eating 
of the sacrifice was a due and proper appendix 
unto all sacrifices ; and that it is mentioned 
continually as a rite belonging to sacrifice in 
general ; see Exod. xxxiv. 15. Numb. xxv. 2. 
Psalm cvi. 23. Exod. xxxii. 6. 1 Sam. ix. 13. 
and xvi. 2-11., with many others. Profane writ- 
ers likewise frequently mention this custom, as 
being always observed by the heathen in their 
sacrifices. Homer alludes to it. Plato, in his 
second book De Legibus,ca\h these feasts 'EoqtuI 
fiBtdi. iheTof, feasts after divine worship offered 
up to the gods. Plutarch also reports of Cati- 
line and his conspirators, ore xuiuOvaavTsg 
dvdoomov, eyevauvTO twj' aaQxwv, that sacri- 
ficing a man, they did all eat somewhat of the 
flesh ; using this religious rite as a bond to con- 
firm them together in their treachery. From 
the universal prevalence of this rite, then, we 
have every reason to consider it as having been, 
from the very earliest period, divinely appointed 
and originally a part of the primeval rehgion ; 
typifying the atoning sacrifice of the future 
Messiah, who expressly declares, " Except ye 
eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his 
blood, ye have no life in you," John vi. 51-56. 
" Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us ; 
therefore let us keep the feast (that is, the pas- 
chal feast, upon this sacrificed Christ) with the 
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth," — 
1 Cor. V. 7, 8. Wherefore I conclude that the 
Lord's Supper is a feast upon a sacrifice, or 
Epuliim ex Ohlatis, in the same manner as the 
Jewish feasts upon sacrifices under the Law, 
and the feasts upon 'EIJSlAOeYTA (things 
offered to idols], among the heathens. And 
this I think will be proved by a reference to the 
VOL. II. *21 



tenth chapter of 1 Cor. from the 13th to the 22d 
verses, where St. Paul supposes these three are 
parallels, and that a perfect analogy exists be- 
tween them, or else the whole strength of his 
argument fails. 

Again, Under the Law, the eating of the 
feasts upon God's sacrifices was considered as 
a federal rite between God and those that 
offered them, in the same way as the ancient 
Hebrews and other eastern nations ratified and 
sealed every covenant by eating and drinking 
together ; and, among them, it was accounted 
a most heinous offence to be guilty of the 
breach of a covenant thus confirmed. Salt, 
as the natural appendix of all feasts, was 
always put upon every sacrifice, and was re- 
garded as a symbol of friendship and kindness ; 
from whence the ancients called it Jlmicitia 
Symholum. And from this custom the proverb- 
ial expression among tlie Greeks originated — 
"Alug Kul 7^'J;7TeCa, " salt and the table;" and 
among whom the violation of a covenant of 
salt was considered as the violation of the most 
sacred league of friendship. Several pas- 
sages of Scripture are illustrated by the appli- 
cation of this custom, Lev. ii. 13. Num. xviii. 
19. 2 Chron. xiii. 5. Further, when God de- 
livered the Israelites from the bondage of 
Egypt, he manifested himself in a peculiar 
manner among them ; and while they sojourned 
in tents in the wilderness, He commanded a 
tent, or tabernacle, to be built, that he might 
sojourn with them also. But when the Jews 
took possession of their land, and built them 
houses, God would have a fixed dwelling place ; 
and his moveable tabernacle was turned into a 
standing temple. And, to make the analogy 
more complete, it was furnished with things 
suitable to a dwelling place — a table, with a 
candlestick: the former always furnished with 
bread, having dishes, spoons, bowls, and covers, 
belonging to it ; and the candlestick having its 
lamps continually burning. There was also a 
continual fire kept in the house of God upon 
the altar. And, to carry the resemblance still 
furtlier, meat and drink were brought into the 
house of God ; for besides the flesh of the 
beasts offered up in sacrifice, which were partly 
consumed on the altar, and partly eaten by the 
priests, as a portion of God's family, and so to 
be maintained by him, there was a mincah, or 
meat offering, and a libamen, or drink offering, 
which were always joined to the daily sacrifice. 

The sacrifices, then, being God's feasts, they 
that did partake of them must be considered as 
his convivfe (guests), and in a manner to eat and 
to drink with Him. That sacrifices were thus 
regarded as a federal rite in Scripture is proved 
in Levit. ii. 13. in Num. xviii. 19. and 2 Chron. 
xiii. 5. where it is called " the salt of the cov- 
enant," and " a covenant of salt," to signify 
tliat as men ratified their covenants by eating 
and drinking, to which salt was a necessary 



162* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VI. 



appendix, so in the same way God, by tliese 
sacrifices and feasts upon them, did ratify and 
conf.rm his covenant with tliose that were par- 
takers of them ; who, as it were, might be con- 
sidered as eating and drinking ivith Him — 
God's portion of the covenant being visibly 
consumed by his holy fire on the altar, which 
was always kept burning there. — See Levit. ix. 
24. 2 Chron. vii. 1. Fire liliewise, the symbol 
of the Lord's presence, fell frequently on the 
victims offered to the Lord, as a visible demon- 
stration of his acceptance of his portion, and of 
his entering into covenant with the offerers. — 
See Gen. iv. 4. xv. 17. Judges xiii. 20, cSic. 

As we have now shown that the sacrifices 
of the Levitical Law, with the feasts upon 
those sacrifices, were regarded as federal rites 
between God and men, in like manner the 
Lord's Supper, under the Gospel dispensation, 
which we have already proved to be Epulum 
Sacrificiale (a feast upon a sacrifice), must also 
be considered as Epulum Faderale, a federal 
feast of reconciliation and amity between God 
and men, by which we are taken into a sacred 
covenant, and an inviolable league of friendship 
with Him. In comparing this account of tlie 
ancient mode of celebrating the Jewish feasts 
with the institution of the Holy Sacrament 
given by the inspired writers, it is to be re- 
marked, that when Christ instituted the eucha- 
ristical feast, he said, " This is my blood of the ' 
New Testament " — " This cup is the New Tes- i 
tament in my blood ;" that is, not only the 
seal of the old covenant, but the sanction of i 
the new covenant. The confirmation of the \ 
old covenant was by the blood of bulls and of 
goats (Exod. xxiv. 5. and Heb. ix. 19.), because 
blood was still to be shed. The confirmation 
of the new covenant was by a cup of wine ; 
because under the New Testament there is no 
further shedding of blood, Heb. ix. 26. x. 18. 
Again, our Lord says of the cup, "This 
cup is the New Testament in my blood ; in the 
same way as the cup of blood in the Levitical 
Law (Exod. xxiv. 6.) was the Old Testament in 
my blood. There all the articles of that cov- 
enant being read over, Moses took half of the 
blood and put it in basins, and sprinkled all the 
people with it, and said, " This is the blood of 
the covenant which God hath made with you ;" 
and thus that old covenant or testimony was 
established. In like manner Christ, being now 
about to bring in another and more perfect dis- 
pensation, having published all the articles of 
the new covenant, confirms it by the breaking 
of bread, saying, " This is my body in the New 
Testament, or Covenant, in the same sense as 
the paschal lamb has been hitherto my body in 
the old dispensation. Eat ye all of it." He then 
takes the cup, saying, " This is my cup in the 
New Covenant, in the same sense as the blood 
of bulls and goats have been my cup in the old 
covenant. Drink ye all of it; having your 



hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience," Heb. 
X. 22. 

The legal sacrifices were but types and shad- 
ows of the true Christian sacrifice ; and were, 
therefore, with their feasts, constantly renewed 
and repeated : but now that Christ, as a lamb 
without blemish, and without spot, foreordained 
before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. i. 20.), 
has been sacrificed for us, there remain no more 
typical sacrifices, but only the feasts upon the 
One Great Sacrifice, which are still, and ever 
will be, symbolically continued in the Lord's 
Supper. " He that eateth my flesh, and drink- 
eth my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." 
John vi. 56. 

There are still many other resembling cir- 
cumstances between the Jewish Passover and 
the Christian Eucharist. The Passover was of 
divine appointment, and so is the Eucharist. 
The Passover was a sacrament, and so is the 
Eucharist. The Passover prefigured the death 
of Christ before it was accomplished — the Eu- 
charist represents, or figures out, the death now 
past. As he who in the Jewish Law did not 
I keep the Passover bore his own sin, and was to 
be cut off from Israel, Exod. xii. 1.5. Num. ix. 
i 13., so he also who neglects the Holy Eucharist 
!in tlie Christian dispensation,renouncesallin- 
1 terest and benefit in the atonement and sacri- 
fice of Christ, and shall also bear his own sin. 
As the Passover was to continue as long as the 
Jewish Law was in force, so the Eucharist is 
to continue till Christ shall come to judge the 
world. The same forms and expressions were 
likewise observed in both institutions. 

In the paschal supper the master of the 
house took bread, and gave thanks to God ; so 
did Christ. It was customary for him after- 
wards to break it, either before or after the 
benediction, and to distribute it to his family, as 
it does not appear they were permitted to take 
it themselves. That these forms were observed 
by our Lord is evident. In the same manner, 
at the paschal feast, the master was accustomed 
to take a cup of wine, pronouncing a blessing 
over it ; so likewise did Christ. In both cases 
tiie blood was a token or sign of the covenant 
entered into between God and man, which was 
at once ratified by pouring out the blood of the 
lamb, and by feeding on the flesh of the sacri- 
fice. " If ye know these things, happy are ye if 
ye do them." 

It is far beyond the limits of a note to enter 
into the various interpretations of Scripture 
given by the Socinian and Papist, in defence of 
their peculiar errors. As the doctrine of tran- 
substantiation, however, the principal error of 
the latter, is founded on the words, " This is 
my body," I would wish to direct the attention 
of my readers to the true scriptural signification 
of this passage, which the Romanist interprets 
literally, and the Protestant figuratively. 

To find out the meaning of any passage in 



Note 30.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



^163 



Scripture, our only safe plan is, to make the 
Scripture its own interpreter, that is, to examine 
in what sense similar modes of expression, with 
that under discussion, are used in the Sacred 
Writings. In the present instance we must 
recollect our Lord spoke a dialect of the same 
language in which the Old Testament was 
written. If we discover therefore parallel ex- 
pressions in the Old Testament to that wliich 
is now used by our Lord, we are warranted, by 
all the rules of criticism, to interpret the latter 
in the same manner as we interpret the former. 
Both are to be literally, or both figuratively in- 
terpreted. 

The Hebrew, Syro-Chaldaic, and Aramaic 
dialects, have, generally speaking, no word 
which expresses, " to denote," " to signify," " to 
represent." The inspired writers of the New 
Testament, following the idiom of the Hebrew 
language, although they wrote in Greek, 
abounded with expressions derived from the 
language of their country. Even in our own 
language, although we have terms enough to 
fill up the ellipsis, the same form, or idiom of 
speech, is common. Suppose a man, on enter- 
ing into a museum enriched with the remains 
of ancient Greek sculpture, has his eyes at- 
tracted by a number of curious busts, and on 
inquiring what they are, he learns, that this 
is Socrates, that Plato, a third Homer; others 
Hesiod, Horace, Virgil, Demosthenes, Cicero, 
Herodotus, Livy, Caesar, Nero, Vespasian, &c. 
Is he deceived by this information ? Not at all : 
he knows well that the busts he sees are not the 
identical persons of those ancient philosophers, 
poets, orators, historians, and emperors, but only 
representations of their persons in sculpture ; 
between which and the originals tliere is as 
essential a difference as between a human body, 
instinct with all the principles of rational vi- 
tality, and a block of marble. Innumerable in- 
stances are found in Scripture where tliis 
manner of speaking is observed. In Gen. xli. 
26. it is said, "The seven kine are (i. e. repre- 
sent) seven years." " This is (i. e. represents) 
the bread of affliction." "The ten horns are 
(i. e. signify) ten kings," Dan. vii. 24. "They 
drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, 
and that Rock was (i. e. represented) Christ," 1 
Cor. x. 4. In Rev. i. 20. " The seven stars are 
(i. e. represented) the angels of the seven 
churches : and the seven candlesticks are (i. e. 
represent) the churches." In Matt. xiii. 38, 39. 
"The field is [i. e. represents) the world: the 
good seed are (i. e. represent or signify) the 
children of the kingdom: the tares are (i. e. 
signify) the children of the wicked one," &c. 
In John vii. 36. we find Tig 'ESTIN ohog 6 
lojog ; " What is this saying ?" (i. e. its signifi- 
cation.) In John x. 6. " They understood not 
what things they were," tIpu 'HJV, (i. e. their 
signification). Acts x. 17. Tl &f "EIH t6 
oqafia, "What this vision might he;" properly 



rendered by our translators, " What this vision 
should mean." Gal. iv. 24. " For these are the 
two covenants," Ainai, yixQ EI2I dvo diadrixai, 
i. e. these signify the two covenants. Luke xv. 26. 
" He asked, tI EIH ravia ; what these things 
meant.'" And very many others might be 
quoted to the same purpose. These passages 
appear to be so evidently parallel with that be- 
fore us, that we conclude they are to be inter- 
preted in the same manner, and that our Lord 
therefore intended, when he took the bread, to 
say, "this bread represents, or signifies, my 
body ;" and consequently that the conclusion of 
the Romanist, who supposes that the bread is 
changed into the real body, and the wine into the 
real blood of Christ, is founded on error. To give 
an idea of the many dogmas that necessarily at- 
tend the doctrine of transubstantiation, I tran- 
scribe the eighth lesson of the Catechism for the 
use of all the Churches in the French Empire, pub- 
lished in 1806, with the bull of the pope, and the 
mandamus of the archbishop of Paris ; which is 
exactly a counterpart to all that have been pub- 
lished from time immemorial in the jBrsiah 
church«e-^ — 

" Q. What is the sacrament of the Eucharist ? 
" A. The Eucharist is a sacrament which 
contains really and substantially the body, 
blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, under the forms and appearance of 
bread and wine. 

" Q,. What is at first on the altar, and in the 
chalice ? Is it not bread and wine ? 

" A. Yes : and it continues to be bread and 
wine till the priest pronounces the words of 
consecration. 

" Q. What influence have these words .' 
" A. The bread is changed into the body, and 
the wine is changed into the blood of our Lord. 
" Q. Does nothing of the bread and wine 
remain ? 

" A. Nothing of them remains, except the 
forms. 

" Q,. What do you call the forms of the bread 
and wine ? 

" A. That which appears to our senses, as 
color, figure, and taste. 

" Q,. Is there nothing under tlie form of bread 
except the body of our Lord ? 

" A. Besides his body, there is his blood, his 
soul, and his divinity ; because all these are in- 
separable. 

" Q.. And under the form of wine ? 
" A. Jesus Christ is there as entire as under 
the form of the bread. 

" Q,. When the forms of the bread and wine 
are divided, is Jesus Christ divided ? 

" A. No : Jesus Christ remains entire under 
each part of the form divided. 

" Q,. Say, in a word, what Jesus Christ gives 
us under each form. 

" A. All tliat he is, that is, Perfect God and 
Perfect Man. 



164=* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VI. 



" Q. Does Jesus Christ leave heaven to come 
into the Eucharist ? 

" A. No : he always continues at the right 
hand of God, his Father, till he shall come at 
the end of the world, with great glory, to judge 
tlie living and the dead. 

" Q,. Then how can he be present at the 
altar ? 

" A. By the almighty power of God. 

" Q,. Then it is not man that works this 
miracle ? 

" A. No : it is Jesus Christ, whose word is 
employed in the sacrament. 

" Q,. Then it is Jesus Christ who consecrates ? 

" A. It is Jesus Christ who consecrates ; the 
priest is only his minister. 

" Q,. Must we worship the body and blood of 
Jesus Christ in the Eucharist ? 

' " A. Yes, undoubtedly ; for this body and 
this blood are inseparably united to his divinity. 

" The priest, in giving the consecrated wafer 
to the communicant, says, ' Behold the Lamb 
of God ! Behold Him who taketh away the sin 
of the world !' Then he and the communicant 
repeat thrice, 'Lord, I am not worthy thou 
shouldst enter my roof; speak, therefore, but 
the word, and my soul shall be healed,' the 
communicant striking his breast in token of his 
unworthiness. Then (says the Directory) 
having the towel raised above your breast, your 
eyes modestly closed, your head likewise raised 
up, and your mouth conveniently open, receive 
the holy sacrament on your tongue, resting on 
your under lip ; then close your mouth, and say 
in your heart, ' Amen, I believe it to be the 
body of Christ, and I pray it may preserve my 
soul to eternal life.'" — Ordinary of the Mass, 
p. 33. _______ 

tnT4irtiipf5iiia^hg 




This note has been principally collected from 
Dr. Cudworth's learned Treatise on the Lorcfs 
Supper, at the end of the Intellectual System, 
4to. vol. ii. See also Dr. Adam Clarke's Dis- 
course on the Holy Eucharist ; and Lightfoot 
On the Divine Origin of Sacrifice. And on the 
typical meaning of the Passover, the Abridg- 
ment of the learned Witsius's Remarks, in 
Home's Critical Introduction, 1st edit vol. i. p. 
150-154. 



Note 31.— Part VI. 

Various interpretations are given to this pas- 
sage : some commentators suppose it was ac- 
complished when Christ ate and drank with his 
disciples after his resurrection, Acts i. 4. x. 41. 
John xxi. 13. Luke xxiv. 30, 43. ; others that the 
word kingdom here signifies the Gospel-state, 
The most probable signification seems to be. 



that he will no longer commemorate this, or 
any other deliverance, till he celebrates togeth- 
er with his apostles tlie great day of redemption 
in the future world. The expression drinking 
wine indicates feasting, under which the future 
happiness is often represented in Scripture— 
Isa. xxii. 13. and Ivi. 12. Matt. viii. 11. and 
xxii. 4. 

The wine is called new, figuratively express- 
ing those unknown heavenly festivals prepared 
for man in his state of immortality. The king- 
dom of the Father here seems particularly to 
refer to tlie future state after the final judg- 
ment : for then, and not till then, is the kingdom 
delivered up to the Father, 1 Cor. xv. 24-28. ; 
and in no part of the New Testament is Christ's 
kingdom between his resurrection and ascension 
called the kingdom of his Father. 

\in'' iioTi, or better, djiaQTl, omnino,! will not 
at aU drink of the fruit of the vine, &c. Aris- 
tophan. Plut. act. ii. scene 2. 

Toxig de^tovg, kuI a(bq>govag, 

(inaQxl n).ovTrjaa(, nonfiaw, 

gnavos et frugi homines omnino divites faciam. 
See Matt. xxvi. 64. and Rev. xiv. 3. Jo. Alberti, 
JVot. Philol. Bowyer, Crit. Conj. p. 124. and 
Hammond in loc. 



Note 32.— Part VI. 

From the expression, "Arise, let us go 
hence," it may be inferred that our Saviour 
now left the room, and went to the Mount of 
Olives, when the conversation and exhortations 
related in the following sections were con- 
tinued. 



Note 33.— Part VI. 

The scene of the first temptation was in the 
garden of Eden ; there Adam fell, and brought 
sin into the world. To complete the parallel, 
the second Adam, in the garden of Gethse- 
mane, submitted to his last and fearful tempta- 
tions, when all the powers of darkness were let 
loose against him (Luke xxii. 53.) ; and, by a 
perfect obedience, revoked our sentence of con- 
demnation. In the temptation in the wilder- 
ness, we read that the Devil departed from him 
only for a season. In this hour of agony he 
renews his assault with better hopes of success ; 
and our Saviour, as soon as he enters the gar- 
den, appears conscious of his power, although 
not visible to mortal eye : He said to the disci- 
ples, "Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder; 
pray ye also not to enter into temptation." 
After the temptation in tlie wilderness, we 



Note 34.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*165 



read that an Angel ministered to him ; and now, 
in this hour of despondency and suffering, there 
appeared an Angel, strengthening him. 



Note 34.— Part VI. 

" If we consider," says an eminent divine, 
" the circumstances of Christ's agony in the gar- 
den, it is evident it was the effect of some more 
powerful cause than merely a natural fear of 
his ensuing agonies and death ; for he bore liis 
death far better than his agony. He had no 
sooner entered on the scene of his trial, but ' he 
began to be sorrowful,' to ' be sore amazed,' to 
' be very heavy,' which words, according to 
their original signification, declare him to have 
been suddenly oppressed with a mighty dejec- 
tion of spirits, which, arising from some fearful 
spectacle, or imagination, overwhelmed his soul 
with an unknown and inexpressible anguish. 
They intimate, that at this dark hour, he was 
assaulted by devils, who exercised all their 
power and malice, to tempt him to renounce his 
merciful design. If we consider the warning 
our Saviour gave his disciples, when they en- 
tered the garden with him (Luke xxii. 40.), of 
the extraordinary danger they were in of falling 
into temptation, it seems very probable that he 
expected, and found there an extraordinary con- 
course of tempters, or evil spirits ; for he repeats 
the same admonition when he finds his disci- 
ples asleep, saying, ' Watch and pray, that ye 
enter not into temptation,' (Matt. xxvi. 4L) 
And since his sufferings in his agony are de- 
scribed with more painful circumstances than 
his sufferings on the cross, we have just reasons 
to conclude they were inflicted on him by more 
malignant and more powerful executioners ; and, 
consequently, that he endured the torments of 
men only on the cross, but of devils in the gar- 
den. His body was crucified on the cross; his 
mind in the garden. As Adam had offended in 
both, so Christ suffered in both. 

" The unaccountable drowsiness, which seized 
the disciples at this period, may also have been 
produced by the agency of infernal spirits, for 
the purpose of having our Saviour alone during 
their conflict with him, thereby hoping to gain 
a greater advantage over him. St. Luke im- 
putes this drowsiness to sorrow ; but it is not 
probable that ynere sorrow alone should necessi- 
tate three men to fall asleep together, under the 
most awakening circumstances. Why did it not 
• as well force them to fall asleep afterwards, 
when their Lord was apprehended, condemned, 
and crucified? at which time they were 
doubtless more sorrowful than they were at 
Gethscmane. May it not then be possible that 
some secret influence was added to the causes 
assigned by the Evangelist, and that our Sa- 
viour, experiencing in himself the power and 



malice of Satan and his emissaries, admonished 
his disciples, who were much less capable of re- 
sisting, to be upon their guard, lest they in their 
turn sliould be tempted also''." Christ, as we have 
already shown (note 51, p. *47), began his incar- 
nate life as the second Adam, in the very spot 
to which the disobedience of the first Adam liad 
driven him. In a typical point of view, we may 
now consider the second Adam as having re- 
deemed, by his perfect innocence and obedi- 
ence, the possession of that garden from which 
the first Adam had been expelled; and liere 
again the Devil (for he had only departed from 
him for a season) assaOed him with all his 
powers of darkness, torturing his suffering and 
afflicted spirit with the most dreadful phantoms 
and apprehensions ; and endeavouring, by every 
art of malice and invention, to divert him from 
his glorious purpose of laying down his life for 
the world. The expression, " My soul is ex- 
ceeding sorrowful, even unto death," nsgthmog 
iaiiy -fj ipv/ri fiov, may infer, "liis soul had 
been struggling under some mortal pang, and 
the pains of hell had got hold upon it." God 
permitted him to be assailed with the utmost 
force of temptation to which his assumed nature 
could be exposed. " For in that He himself 
hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to suc- 
cour them that are tempted." Some consider 
that the infernal spirit suggested the most 
agonizing and wicked delusions, such as it is 
not lawful for man to utter ; nor possible, with- 
out Satanic agency, for man to conceive. Cal- 
vin believes that the wrath of God was so poured 
out upon him, that the atonement could only 
be completed by his undergoing that agony; 
which, in the future world, is prepared for tlie 
impenitent. 

In my own opinion, the parallel between the 
first and second Adam, which, we find from the 
Holy Scriptures, has been so minutely and re- 
markably observed, here closes. The second 
Adam, ffom the wilderness into which the first 
Adam fell, traced back step by step, by a most 
divine life, the condemnation of the first Adam, 
till he arrived again at the scene of his dis- 
obedience, where, as the substituted victim, 
He submitted to that spiritual suffering and 
death, which had been pronounced against the 
first man. He submitted the offending nature 
to the tree of the cross, reconciled justice with 
mercy, and restored to tlie human race, through 
the influence of his spirit, the capability of 
regaining that spiritual state of blessedness 
and glory in which the first Adam had been 
originally created. 

By Christ's death. He hath destroyed him 
that hath the power of death, that is, the Devil, 
(Heb. ii. 14.) And hence the Apostle tells us, 
that unsubdued by infernal attacks and tempta- 
tions, "He swallowed up death in victory." 

" Scott's Christian Life, pp. 449, 450. 



166* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VII. 



He despoiled principalities and powers, and 
made an open show of them, triumphing over 
them. Satan, as lightning, falls from heaven ; 
his kingdom is taken away from him ; and man, 
believing man, is ransomed from his malignant 
power, and by the intercession of the Mediator, 
and the influence of the Holy Spirit, is restored 
again to the favor of his God. 



Note 35.— Part VI. 
The whole of this transaction shows that 



our Lord had perfect power over his enemies, 
if he had chosen to exert it, (Matt. xxvi. 53.) 
By a look, the guards, who attempted to seize 
him, were smitten to the ground. When Peter 
afterwards struck the servant of the high 
priest, and smote oflf his ear, the Roman sol- 
diers, who were never resisted with impunity, 
would doubtless have revenged themselves on 
the disciples, if they had not been supernat- 
urally protected — He had power to lay down 
his life, and to take it again : but he completed 
the mysterious sacrifice, and man was saved, 
and the Scripture fulfilled. 



PART VII. 



Note 1.— Part VII. 



Note 3.— Part VII. 



The Annas here mentioned is called by 
Josephus, Ananus. He had been deposed from 
the pontifical ofiice by the Roman power ; but 
his influence on that account had been rather 
increased than lessened among his countrymen. 
Under these circumstances, however, he could 
not with prudence openly interfere ; but, from 
the passage before us, we may infer the great 
authority he still possessed ; and it is more than 
probable that he privately suggested every 
measure that had been already devised against 
our Lord ; and that on the present occasion he 
still continued to direct by his counsel and 
advice. — See John xviii. 24. Although Annas 
was deprived of the oSice of high priest, the 
Jews still acknowledged him as such, as we 
find from Acts iv. 6., where he is so called. His 
influence was so great, that he saw five of his 
own sons successively in possession of the 
high priesthood ; and several also of his sons- 
in-law, among whom was Caiaphas. 



This was only done by the high priest in 
cases of blasphemy. 



Note 2.— Part VII. 

This passage of Daniel, to which our Lord 
refers, was always considered by the Jews as 
a description of the Messiah. Our Saviour, 
therefore, now in his lowest state of humilia- 
tion and depression, asserted his claims as the 
Messiah, who should appear again in the clouds 
of heaven, as the judge of the world. — Sohar 
Genes, fol. 85. col. a38, &c. Dan. vii. 13. XT 
NTTtyo XdSd "This is the king Messiah." — 
Schoetgen, Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 233. 



Note 4.— Part VII. 

Christ was first arraigned before the high 
priest, then before the whole Sanhedrm (Mark 
XV. 1.), before both of whom he was accused of 
blasphemy, and on this charge was by both 
condemned. Matt. xxvi. 65, 66. He v^^as next 
taken before the Roman governor, as guilty of 
sedition, and acquitted, John xviii. 38. xix. 4, &c. 
When the Jews therefore saw this, they were 
compelled to acknowledge the real grounds of 
their prosecution : " We have a Law, and by 
our Law he ought to die, because he made 
himself the Son of God." But, finding that 
this charge also was disregarded by Pilate, who 
was still inclined to acquit him, (for blasphemy 
against the God of the Jews was not considered 
by the Romans to be a crime,) they, in despair, 
make a personal attack upon Pilate himself, 
and threaten, if he does not comply with their 
demands that he be crucified, to accuse him to 
Tiberius (whose suspicious and jealous nature 
was generally known) of remissness in duty, 
and negligence in the suppression of sedition 
and rebellion. Intimidated and overcome by 
this menace, he yields to their importunate 
solicitations, and condemns_a man, whom he 
publicly acknowledges to be innocent, to the 
ignominious death of a common malefactor, 
tliat he may screen himself from tlie malice of 
his accusers. 



Note 5.-7.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



=167 



Some objectors to Christianity have argued, 
tliat the Jews could not have believed in the 
reality of the miracles of our Saviour, or they 
would not have delivered him up to the Roman 
governor. They deem it scarcely possible that 
a whole nation would cry out for the scourging 
and crucifixion of a man, who gave sight to the 
blind, healed the sick, and raised the dead to 
life. It is implied in tliis objection, that the 
contemporaries of Christ discredited his mira- 
cles, because he was rejected and crucified; 
whereas the Jews of every age have contended, 
that miracles afford no proof of the divine mis- 
sion of a prophet who teaches false doctrines, 
such as tliey suppose Jesus to have taught ; and 
consequently, according to their notions, he 
might have been persecuted and crucified by 
their ancestors, while the reality of his miracles 
was fuUy admitted. They even go so far as to 
assert, that in their Law against false prophets, 
Deut xiii." the clause in ver. 6, was firamed for 
the individual case of Jesus Christ, and that it 
points to him in particular. " This is Jesus," 
say they, " who denied his father, saying, that 
he had a mother, but not a father ; that he was 
the Son of God, and that He himself was also 
God." Maimonides may be supposed to give 
the general opinion of the Jews, when he 
alBrms that the miracles of a prophet, who 
recommends the worship of other gods, are no 
criteria of the truth of his pretensions, " Be- 
cause the testimony of the understanding, 
which proves the falsity of his professions, is of 
more weight than that of the eyes which see 
his miracles'"." 

The Jews saw and acknowledged the miracles 
of Christ, but imputed them to the agency of 
e\Tl spirits (Matt. xii. 24. Luke xi. 15.) permitted 
by God to try the firmness of their faith, and 
the constancy of their obedience to the Mosaic 
Law, Deut. xiii. 3. : on the other hand, they 
heard him assert his own divine nature — the 
latter they considered as blasphemous ; and the 
supposed impiety and impossibility of this claim, 
in their opinion, overturned the weaker evidence 
of undisputed miracles wrought in its support: 
they weighed what to them appeared opposite 
evidences, and the preponderance of that side 
on which their prejudiced opinions had placed 
the greater weight, accounts for the persevering 
conduct of the Sanliedrin, and the persecuting 
infidelity of the people". 

Bishop Blomfield has justly observed, that the 
sum of the oflfence given by our Lord to the 
Chief Priests was, his laying claim to the title 
of the Messiah : a title to which they did not 

" See Fagius On Chald. Paraph. Deut. xiii. in 
the Critici Sacri, and on Deut. xviii. 15. vol. ii. p. 
87, and 12.3. 

^ ^laimonides PriBf. in Misnam, p. 3. ed. Suren- 
husii ap. Wilson. 

■^ See on the subject of this note, Wilson's 
Method of explaining the JVeic Testiment. first and 
second chapters. 



imagine that any mere human being, as Jesus 
seemed to be, could have any right. Could he 
but have convinced the leading Jews of the 
justice of these pretensions, they would not 
have objected to Ins assumption of divine at- 
tributes. The fact is, that for any man to pro- 
fess himself to be the Messiah was considered 
as an oflence against their Law, inasmuch as 
by so doing he made himself the Son of God. 
" We have a Law, and by our Law he ought to 
die, because he made himself the Son of God." 
This remark fully answers that objection to the 
Di\'inity of Christ proposed by Dr. Priestley, who 
maintains the position that the Jews did not 
e.xpect their Messiah to be a divine personage ; 
which point is inconsiderately allowed by Mr. 
Wilson, in his answer to this great advocate of 
Unitarianism''. 



Note 5.— Part VII. 

This section is arranged in its present order 
on the plan of PUldngton. 



Note 6. — Part VII. 

St. Matthew, in recording the accounts of 
the suflTerings of our Lord, has omitted to mention 
that the soldiers and servants blindfolded him ; 
yet he relates the indignity which immediately 
followed tliat insult, "Prophesy unto us, thou 
Christ, Who is he that smote thee ? " These 
words, according to Markland, have an imme- 
diate reference to the preceding action. When 
Christ was blindfolded, they ask him in derision, 
and according to the custom of a well-known 
game, if he can now tell by his prophetic spirit 
who it was that struck him. There is a bur- 
lesque sarcasm in the word 7Tgoq:rjTevaov, which 
signifies " to prophesy," or " to guess," or " to 
tell." — Another sarcasm is implied in the word 
XoicTTS, both being intended as sneers at Jesus 
being accounted a prophet, which could not have 
been so strongly expressed if the word li^oi' had 
been used instead of 7Tooq:-rjevaoi', as if they 
had said, " O thou Messiah, thou great prophet, 
teU us by thy prophetic spirit who it is that 
struck thee?" — Vide Prelim. Observ. to Bow- 
yer's Conjectures, p. 36. 



Note 7. — Part VII. 

Archbishop Newcojie has placed the three 
denials of St. Peter immediately after the ap- 

'^ See Bishop Blomfield's Dissertation on the 
Knowledge of a Redeemer before the Adrent, p. 11.5 ; 
and Wilson ut supra. 



168* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VII- 



prehension of our Lord ; Pilkington, after he 
had been beaten and insulted by the servants 
and soldiers. Not only do the arguments of 
the latter writer appear to me to be most satis- 
factory, but there seems to be internal evidence 
that Pilkington is more correct. The courage, 
that made Peter recover first from the general 
consternation that had seized upon all the 
disciples, would not forsake him without a 
cause, merely because he had entered into the 
palace. He probably expected a different re- 
sult to the examination, and imagined that our 
Lord would have miraculously delivered him- 
self from the power of his enemies ; and he 
therefore willingly waited among the servants 
" to see the end." But when he saw, equally 
to his surprise and horror, for the first time, that 
our Lord was thus grievously treated, his con- 
fijlence began to waver and his faith to fail. At 
this moment the servant who kept the door, and 
had left her charge to approach to the fire, 
knew Mm by the blaze of the fire (as Dr. 
Townson ingeniously translated the word cp&g, 
Luke xxii. .56.), and challenged him as the dis- 
ciple of the despised Nazarene. 

I cannot account for Archbishop Newcome's 
silence, in his notes to the Harmony, respecting 
Pilkington's order of the denial of Peter. He 
frequently refers to Pilkington. 



Note 8.— Part VH. 

The Jewish doctors distinguished the cock 
crowing into the first, second, and third. The 
first was called. ^DJn nt<'"p — the second 
njiytvn — when he repeats it. The third 
tffhv>^iy2 — when he does it the third time, as in 
Mark xiii. 35. Luke xii. 38. This custom was 
observed also by heathen nations. According 
to St. John, xiii. 38., St. Luke, xxii. 34., and St. 
Matthew, xxvi. 35., our Saviour predicts " the 
cock shall not crow," that is, shall not have 
finished his crowing, "before thou deny me 
thrice." Lightfoot" reconciles the words of 
these three Evangelists with those of St. Mark, 
by suggesting, that as the hour approached 
when the event was to take place, our Saviour 
specifies more particularly the time, and says, 
Mark xiv. 30. "Verily I say unto thee, that 
this day, even in this night, before the cocls: 
crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice." Pilk- 
ington supposes, that the words, " tlie cock shall 
not crow before thou shalt thrice deny that thou 
knowest me," should be taken literally, signify- 
ing that the cock should not crow at all before 
thou shalt thrice deny me ; and he concludes, 
there is a double signification attached to these 
separate predictions, and a double accomphsh- 
ment of them. He argues, according to St. 

' Vide Lig-htfoot on John xiii. 38. Works, vol. 
ii. folio edit. Dr. Bright's. 



John's Gospel, that these words were primarily 
fulfilled by St. Peter, when he was admitted 
into the palace. The first denial was made to 
the damsel who kept the door, and had per- 
mitted him to enter. It is very natural to 
imagine that a clamor would be raised against 
Peter upon her accusation ; as the people 
would conclude that the damsel who kept the 
door, and let him in, must have good reason for 
her suspicion ; and accordingly St. John tells 
us, that the servants who were warming them- 
selves at the fire with Peter, again questioned 
him about this matter, and that he denied being 
a disciple of Christ the second time. Imme- 
diately upon, or soon after this, Malchus's 
kinsman recollected seeing Peter in tlie garden 
with Jesus, and charged him therewith ; but 
Peter denied it a third time. And St. John 
observes, that upon this immediately the cock 
crew. And thus it appears how those words of 
our Saviour were verified, " Before the cock 
crow (at all), thou shalt deny me thrice." 

St. John, having thus shown the accomplish- 
ment of these words of our Lord, takes no 
notice of any other of Peter's denials, but of 
these three only, which were made at the fire, 
whereas tlie other Evangelists take notice of 
denials made after these ; and so show us the 
propriety of that other expression, " Before the 
cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice." 
They consider the several particular denials 
at the fire made at the same time, and in the 
same place, only as one general denial : and so 
St. Mark tells us, that, after Peter had denied 
at the fire, and was gone out into the porch, the 
cock crew the first time ; and this appears to 
be the same crowing which St. John speaks of, 
as immediately succeeding Peter's three several 
denials of his Master there. 

The second general denial was made in the 
porch. This evidently appears from the ac- 
counts both of St. Matthew and St. Mark. 
And, from what is related, we must conclude, 
that the denial there was not single, but that 
many then charged him together (as they had 
done before, and as we may easily imagine 
they would do, in such a riotous assembly), and 
that he again there denied to them all. For St. 
Luke tells us, that a man charged him, and 
said, " Thou art one of them ;" and he replied, 
and said, " Man, J am not." St. Mark, that he 
denied what a maid was insinuating, " that he 
was one of them:" and St. Matthew, that "he 
denied with an oath, I do not know the man," 
upon a maid's affirming that he was with Jesus 
of Nazareth. 

The place of the third general denial is not 
specified, any farther than that it was in the 
same room or court where Jesus was, who 
"turned and looked upon Peter." The time 
of it is said by St. Mark, to have been a little 
after the second, [fieidi fji.i<Q6>'.) St. Matthew 
makes use of the same expression ; and St, 



Note 9.-12.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



469 



Lulce particularly mentions, that it was " about 
the space of one hour after." This also ap- 
pears to have been a general accusation, and 
so must have been a general denial ; for though 
St. Luke only mentions one man's charging 
Peter at this time, yet St. Matthew and St. 
Mark tell us, tha,t they that stood by charged 
him with being a Galilean, and a disciple of 
Christ, and that in such a pressing manner, that 
"he began to curse and to swear he did not 
know the man." And upon tliis St. Mark tells 
us, that " the cock crew a second time :" before 
which Peter had denied " Christ at three several 
times, and in three several places ;" and so 
had remarkably fulfilled the second significa- 
tion of the prediction, " Before the cock crow 
twice, thou shalt deny me thrice." 

If it shall appear that there is nothing forced 
or misrepresented in the relation of this matter, 
then it must be allowed that the evangelical 
accounts are so far from being contradictory 
or inconsistent, that they greatly illustrate each 
other, and show the true meaning, and the full 
accomplishment of what our Saviour foretold 
with respect to this event-^. 



Note 9.— Part VIL 

Pfeiffer, in the last treatise of his Duhia 
Vexaia, endeavours to prove tliat the common 
dialect, both of Galilee and Judsea, was not 
Hebrew, but Syro-Chaldaic, or Aramaic, mixed 
■with Greek, and that they differed only in 
accent and pronunciation. The learned men, 
of both countries, understood and conversed in 
pure Hebrew. The Galilean dialect consisted 
in a corrupt and confused pronunciation of the 
common Syro-Chaldaic, and this dialect was 
the vernacular language of the apostle. 

Schoetgen^, among others, mentions, Bres- 
cith Rabha, sect. xxvi. fol. 26. 3. pnilX xS'''7jn 
XM'X N'vnS in Galilaa serpentem, qui alias 
N'Vn dicitur, vacant X'VX ut pro n usurpent N. 

Home and Pfeiffer, as weU as the two last- 
mentioned authorities, have collected similar 
instances. 



Note 11.— Part VII. 

The account of the death of Judas is attend- 
ed with some difficulty. The manner in which 
Weston reconciles St. Matthew and St. Luke 
seems to be the most preferable. St. Matthew 
says dji/j'/^otTO, "he hanged himself," and St. 
Luke that he nQijv^q yefd/usi'og, " falling head- 
long," as we have translated it (Acts i. 18.), 
"burst asunder in the midst, and his bowels 
gushed out." Some suppose Judas to have 
fallen on his face afler hanging, by the break- 
ing of the rope. Others, that he was choked 
with grief, and burst asunder. Weston 
renders the passage. Matt, xxvii. 5., "he stran- 
gled himself, and the rope failing, he fell head- 
long, and his bowels gushed out." This solu- 
tion appears to be more satisfactory than any 
other. See Weston apud Bowyer's Critical 
Conjectures, p. 128, 129. See also the refer- 
ences in Archbishop Newcome's note, and the 
commentators. 



Note 12.— Part VH. 



Note 10.— Part VII. 

I AM induced to place this section here, be- 
cause it does not appear that the Sanhedrin re- 
turned to their council chamber in the temple 
afler our Lord had been condemned by Pilate, 
and we must therefore refer the repentance of 
Judas to his condemnation by the Sanhedrin in 
the temple. 

f Pilkington, Notes to the Evangelical History, 
0. 55. 

^ Schoetgen, vol. i. p. 235. 

VOL. II. *22 



The words quoted here are not in the prophet 
Jeremiah, but in Zechariah xi. 13. But St 
Jerome says, that a Hebrew, of the sect of the 
Nazarenes, showed him this prophecy in a 
Hebrew apocryphal copy of Jeremiah; but 
probably they were inserted there, only to 
countenance the quotation here. One of Col- 
bert's, a MS. of the eleventh century, lias 
Zax&Qtov, Zechariah ; so has the later Syriac 
in the margin, and a copy of the Arabic, quoted 
by Bengel. In a very elegant and correct MS. 
of the Vulgate, in the possession of Dr. A. Clarke, 
written in the fourteenth century, Zachariam is 
in the margin, and Jerimiam is in the text ; but 
the former is written by a later hand. Jere- 
miah is wanting in two MSS., the Syriac, later 
Persic, two of the Itala, and in some other Latin 
copies. It is very likely that the original read- 
ing was did. Tov nqocpriiov, and the name of no 
prophet mentioned. This is the more likely, as 
Matthew often omits the name of tlie prophet 
in his quotations. See chap. i. 22. ii. 5, 15. xiii. 
35. and xxi. 4. Bengel, Dr. A. Clarke, and Home 
approve of the omission. 

" It was an ancient custom among the Jews," 
says Lightfoot, "to divide the Old Testament 
' into three parts ; the first, beginning with the 
Law, is called The Law; the second, begin- 
ning with the Psalms, was called The Psalms ; 
the third, beginning with the prophet in ques- 
tion, was called Jeremiah ; thus, then, the writ- 
ings of Zechariah and the other prophets being 
included in that division tlrat began with Jere- 
miah, all quotations from it would go under tlie 
name of this prophet." If this be admitted, it 
solves the difRculty at once. Lightfoot quotes 



.70* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VH. 



Bava Bathra, and Rabbi David Kimchi's pref- 
ace, to the Prophet Jeremiah, as his authori- 
ties ; and insists that the word Jeremiah is per- 
fectly correct, as standing at the head of that 
division from which the Evangelist quoted, and 
which gave its denomination to all the rest''. 



Note 13.— Part VII. 

ON THE QUESTION, "WHETHER THE JEWS, AT 
THE TIME OF CHRIST, HAD THE POWER OF 
INFLICTING CAPITAL PUNISHMENT 



S" 



Much discussion has taken place on the 
question. Whether the Jews, in the time of our 
Lord, retained the power of life and death? 
Lightfoot, Dr. Lardner, Doddridge, and others, 
have strenuously defended the negative ; Biscoe 
is the principal author, of late date, who has 
adopted the affirmative. 

Two kinds of arguments have been used to 
prove that the Jews were deprived of the power 
of inflicting capital punishments : one taken 
from the Roman laws, or the nature of the 
Roman government ; the other from certain 
passages in the New Testament. 

The judge, according to the Roman laws, 
exerted in criminal affairs the Imperium mei-um ; 
in civil causes, Imperium mixtum. Proconsuls 
and presidents of provinces, as Pilate was, pos- 
sessed both these powers. They were the 
representatives of, and next to, the emperor, in 
their respective provinces. 

The arguments by which the position is de- 
fended, that the Jews had not the power of life 
and death at this time, are thus proposed and 
answered by Biscoe'. 

1. There was a Roman law, which states, 
that the municipal magistrate cannot do those 
things which have more of imperium than of 
jurisdiction ; the municipal magistrates not 
having it in their power to enforce their orders. 

Jlns. It cannot be proved that this law exist- 
ed at the time in question : and even if it had, 
there is sufficient grounds for concluding it was 
confined to the municipes, who were Roman 
citizens, and therefore to be tried and punished 
by magistrates of the first rank ; and that it did 
not extend to the provincials, who were less re- 
garded, and lefl more under the power of their 
own magistrates. 

2. The power of inflicting capital punish- 
ments could not be exercised by any magis- 
trate, unless it were given him by some special 
law or constitution ; therefore this power could 

'' Vide Dr. A. Clarke's Comment, in loc, Light- 
foot's Harmony, Pitman's 8vo, edit. vol. ii. p. 157, 
1.58, and the note on the Prophecies of Zechariah, 
in the Arrangement of the Old Testament, Period 
VIII. part ii. Note 26. 

' Biscoe On the Acts, vol. 1. p. 116. 



not be transferable to magistrates who held a 
delegated jurisdiction. 

Aris. Nothing is more certain than that 
many cities, and some whole countries, had ob- 
tained from the people and emperors of Rome, 
the privilege of being governed by their own 
laws, and by their own magistrates, in a 
greater or less degree. The Carthaginians, 
after the second Punic war, had the power of 
executing their own laws, even in capital 
punishments ; and many other instances might 
be enumerated. Why may we not, then, 
suppose that the people of Judaea were equally 
favored ? It may indeed be shown, from many 
things recorded in history, that the Romans 
were more peculiarly disposed to be favorable 
to the Jews. 

3. According to the civil law of Rome, the 
presidents alone possessed the Merum Imperium, 
or the power of sitting in judgment on, and ex- 
ecuting criminals, in those provinces over which 
they were placed. 

Ans. This is taking for granted the thing that 
is questioned. It is acknowledged that the 
Jewish magistrates had the power of inflicting 
lesser punishments ; but how could this be, if 
the cognizance of all criminal causes was solely 
in the president, and not the least part of this 
power could be delegated ? The Jewish magis- 
trates must have received their power to exe- 
cute these minor punishments either by some 
special law, or, which is more probable, (as 
there is no record of such law in their favor,) 
they, like other nations, were allowed the privi- 
lege of their own laws. 

We now proceed to the arguments from the 
New Testament. 

1. The most plausible of all is, that saying of 
the Jews to Pilate, " It is not lawful for us to 
put any man to death" (John xviii. 31.), which 
is represented as an ample acknowledgment 
from the Jews themselves, that they had not at 
that time the power of inflicting capital punish- 
ments. 

Ans. The context proves that these words 
do not imply that the Romans had deprived 
them of the liberty of judging men by their 
own Law, but show, on the contrary, that they 
had the option of trying Jesus themselves, or 
of giving him up to the Roman governor. For 
Pilate had only a moment before said, " Take 
ye him, and judge him according to your Law." 
Their answer is evidently a refusal of the 
governor's offer ; and if we interpret the words 
in any other way, we are naturally brought to 
the conclusion, that Pilate, when he said, 
" Judge him according to your Law," spoke in 
mere mockery, and intended to remind them of 
their subjection, which is not probable, as he 
was then called upon to act in his official ca- 
pacity. Something more therefore must be un- 
derstood than what is expressed ; and nothing I 
think can be so reasonably supplied to make 



Note 13.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*171 



the sense complete, as that which regards the 
time in which the conversation took place, 
namely, tJie first day of the Passover week, and 
the preparation for the Sabbath — " It is not law- 
ful for us to put any man to death during this 
holy festival." In the same manner it was not 
lawfu] for them to go into the judgment hall 
(John xviii. 28.) Pilate, who had been long 
governor, must have been well acquainted with 
their customs, and must have perfectly compre- 
hended their meaning. St. Augustine, Cyril, 
and several other ancient fathers, put the same 
construction on these words, wliich agrees 
exactly witli the rule laid down in the Talmud. 
The Mishna says expressly that capital causes, 
in which the criminal was condemned, were 
always to be finished after the trial began, for 
which reason these trials were never to begin 
the day before the Sabbath, or the day before a 
festival ; neither is it probable that the Jews, 
who were forbidden to do any servile work on 
the Sabbath, would put a criminal to death at 
this holy season, in honor of which a prisoner 
was wont to be released to them. If, in answer 
to this, it be affirmed, that some prisoners were 
reserved to the time of their great feasts, that 
the exemption might be the more public, it is 
true that three or four instances of this kind are 
recorded ; but it does not seem probable that 
even these executions took place on their prin- 
cipal festivals, which were as strictly observed 
as their Sabbaths ; but on their Moed Katon, or 
lesser holidays ; between the first and last days 
of their great feasts, which, by divine appoint- 
ment, were kept with the gi-eatest solemnity. 

The day on which our Lord was put to death 
was the first day of the Passover week, and the 
15th day of the month. It was unlawful for 
them to try him on the 14th, or to put him to 
death on the 15th (Levit. xxiii. 5, 7.), and the 
next day was the Sabbath : therefore the Jews 
must have reserved him in custody for some 
days, before they could have executed him 
according to their own laws. But such delay 
would have been dangerous in the extreme, as 
they feared the people might attempt a rescue, 
(Luke xxii. 2. Matt. xxvi. 5.) They therefore 
used every argument, even to threatening, with 
Pilate, to procure his condemnation. An addi- 
tional evidence in favor of this side of the 
question is given us in the words of St. John 
(xviii. 3L), who, when the Jews reject the offer 
of Pilate, saying, " It is not lawful for us to put 
any man to death," adds, " that the saying of 
Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, sig- 
nifying the death he should die." If we do 
not consider the subject in this point of view, 
the prediction of our Lord (John xii. 32, 33.), 
which foretells the manner of his death, ceases 
to be a prophecy, for if the Jews no longer 
retained the power of inflicting capital punish- 
ments, there could not be much difBculty in 



specifying the particular death of a crimina. 
according to the Roman laws. 

2. Pilate says to our Lord, " Knowest thou 
not that I have power to crucify thee, and 
power to release thee ? " which words are said 
expressly to declare, that Pilate was the su- 
preme and only judge who was invested with 
the power of pronouncing sentence of absolu- 
tion or condemnation. 

^ns. It is granted, that Pilate was judge 
and governor of Syria, in this and every other 
case, within the province of Judasa ; but this 
does not prove that he was the only judge ; nor 
does it from hence follow that the Jews had not 
the privilege of trying and executing their own 
criminals. 

3. Again, the Jews say to Christ, " Moses 
in the Law commanded that such should be 
stoned : but how sayest thou ? " It is added, 
" This they said, tempting him, that they might 
have to accuse him ; " which is interpreted 
thus : — " If he had determined, the woman taken 
in adultery should be stoned, according to the 
Mosaic Law, they designed to accuse him to 
the Roman governor; because, if the Jews 
were prohibited from the use of their own laws, 
this act might have been considered as sedi- 
tious : If, on the contrary, he had decided that 
she ought not be stoned, they would have 
accused him of derogating from the Law of 
Moses, and have thereby lessened his influence 
among the people." 

Ans. This is taking for gi-anted the point to 
be proved, without one word being said in its 
confirmation. It is probable the only snare 
here laid was to obtain from our Saviour some- 
thing in derogation of the Law of Moses. He 
had so often preached the doctrine of forgive- 
ness to the greatest extent (Mark iii. 28.), that 
the Pharisees might have hoped he would have 
committed himself, by deciding against the 
execution of the Mosaic penalties in this in- 
stance ; and thereby have furnished them with 
matter of accusation against him, both before 
the Jewish magistrates and the people ; and, 
if necessary, before Pilate also. 

Many more arguments are adduced by 
Biscoe in support of his opinion. " It cannot 
be denied," he says, " that in the Acts of the 
Apostles there is one very plain instance in the 
case of the protomartyr Stephen, of the coun- 
cil's sitting and hearing witnesses (Acts vi. 12, 
to the end), and that his execution was per- 
formed according to the Law of Moses. Com- 
pare Deut. xvii. 5, 6, 7. with Acts vii. 58, 59. 
He is cast out of tlie city, and the witnesses 
throw the first stone. Some, even here, bring 
in tJre objection, that there is no relation of 
any sentence pronounced ; but surely an histo- 
rian seldom enters into detail of a trial ; he 
confines himself to the most remarkable circum- 
stances. Common ceremonies are omitted, as 



.72* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VII. 



being too generally known to be mentioned. 
And these particulars of St. Stephen's trial 
would never have been recorded, had it not 
been for his noble speech, and to show us the 
frame of mind of the Apostle Paul at that time. 
If indeed the Jews did not possess the power 
of putting Stephen to death, if he should be found 
guilty, for what purpose did they meet together ? 
If they did, the thing contended for is granted ; 
and it is of little import whether the sentence 
was actually passed or not." 

Again, it is related that Peter and the other 
apostles were brought before the council (Acts v. 
27.), who, it is expressly said, "took counsel to 
slay them" (Acts v. 33.), and would doubtless 
have put their design into execution, had they not 
been dissuaded from it by Gamaliel. Is it prob- 
able that St. Luke, who mentions all these pro- 
ceedings shouldnothave once intimated that they 
exceeded their power in so doing, if the Romans 
had prohibited them from exercising their own 
punishments ? But, on tlie contrary, we find 
the high priest and the elders asserting their 
authority in open court, in the presence of the 
Roman governor himself, who was seated as a 
judge, without any reproof on his part. Ter- 
tullus declares to Felix, in the case of St. Paul, 
•whom " we took and would have judged accord- 
ing to our Law," (Acts xxiv. 6.) If the exer- 
cise of their Law had been taken from them, 
what possible construction could have been put 
upon such a declaration, but open rebellion 
against the Roman states ? and could any 
magistrate have suffered it to pass unnoticed ? 
St. Paul himself acknowledges the power of 
the Jewish council (Acts xxiii. 3.), and it is 
evident from the accusation that his was a 
capital cause. It may be further observed, in 
support of this opinion, that the four Evangel- 
ists are unanimous that the Jews attempted to 
prosecute our Saviour for the capital crime of 
Sabbath-breaking, that they might put him to 
death, Matt. xii. 10. Luke vi. 7. John v. 9, 10, 
1 6. ; and Mark, chap. iii. 2., says, " They watched 
him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath 
day ; that they might accuse liim ;" but evidently 
not before the Roman governor, for it would have 
been difficult to have convinced him tliat the 
performance of a wonderful and beneficent 
action on the Sabbath day was worthy of death. 
Who then can doubt that our Saviour was to be 
prosecuted before the Jewish council, who took 
counsel how they might destroy him ? (Matt. xii. 
14.) and he only avoided the impending danger 
by removing from thence to the sea of Galilee. 
(Mark iii. 7. and John vi. 1.) " After these 
things Jesus walked in Galilee : for he would 
not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to 
kni him," John vii. 1. 

If the Jews had not sought to talce away the 
life of Christ by judicial proceedings, why 
should he avoid Judeea, and all places subject 



to their jurisdiction ? Had they meditated his 
destruction by a private hand, or by making 
interest with the Roman governor to execute 
him, he might have been as secure from these 
dangers by withdrawing into some of the re- 
moter parts of Judcea, as by removing into 
Galilee. But it was well known to the people 
of Jerusalem that the Sanhedrin were lying in 
wait for him ; and that he was under prosecu- 
tion for capital crimes. When he appeared at 
the feast of Tabernacles, they said, " Is not this 
he, whom they seek to kUl ? " — " Do the rulers 
know indeed that this is the very Christ.'" 
John vii. 25-27. And afterwards we find 
several bystanders wished to apprehend him, 
but did not, because his hour was not yet come, 
(John vii. 30.) They seem to have been re- 
strained by some supernatural influence. From 
the obvious construction of these passages, we 
have reason to infer that the Jewish magistrates 
executed their own laws in capital cases. 

After the resurrection of Lazarus, we read, 
the chief priests and Pharisees gathered a 
cotmcil, and determined to put our Saviour to 
death, (John xi. 47, 53.) And a short time 
afterwards we are told, the chief priests con- 
sulted how they might put Lazarus also to 
death, (John xii. 10.) But what gives addi- 
tional weiglit to this argument is the fear of 
the people, so frequently expressed. Matthew 
(xxi. 46.) says, "when the chief priests and 
Pharisees sought to lay hands on him, they 
feared the multitude ; " also (Matt. xxvi. 4, 5.) 
Mark, xi. 18., also relates, that the Scribes and 
chief priests sought how they might destroy 
him ; " for they feared him, because all the 
people were astonished at liis doctrine ;" and 
again, "they sought to lay hold on him, but 
feared the people." (Mark xii. 12.) See also 
Luke xix. 47, 48. and xx. 19. and xsii. 2. If 
the Jews had meditated the destruction of our 
Saviour by any private hand, or in any extra- 
judicial manner, or if they had intended to use 
their influence with the governor, to prevail 
upon him to pronounce a sentence of con- 
demnation, — if sufficient evidence was wanting 
to establish his crime, why had the chief priests 
and Pharisees so much reason to fear the 
people .' The instigators and actors in these 
cases might perhaps have had some reason to 
fear; but to suppose that the whole body of 
Jewish magistrates should be so affected, when 
the discovery was so improbable, seems wholly 
incredible. Who could force the assassin to 
acknowledge his guilt, when the magistrates of 
course woxdd not ? It must, therefore, be an 
act of the great council of the Jewish nation, 
and not any secret means of destruction, which 
is referred to, in those places of the Gospels, 
where this general fear is expressed ; for we 
read, tlie chief priests, the Scribes, and the 
elders were afraid of the people. They were 



Note 13.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



^173 



afraid to put Jesus to death, in the same manner, 
and for the same reason, tliat Herod was afraid 
to put John the Baptist to death, " they feared 
the multitude," (Matt. xiv. 5.) And this fear, 
finally, induced them to lay snares for him in 
his discourses, that they might draw from hun 
something contrary to the Roman state, and 
make him obnoxious to the Roman governor, 
(Luke XX. 19, 20.) And when our Saviour was 
at last unexpectedly delivered into their hands, 
their precipitate and unusual conduct showed 
the greatness of their alarm. Our Lord was 
seized, examined, and convicted, by the high 
priest and SanJiedrin in one night. 

They would have executed him by their own 
Laws, had it not been the day of the Passover, 
when " it was not lawful for them to put any 
man to death :" and they feared a tumult among 
the people too much, to detain him in prison 
till they could exercise this power. They 
therefore lost no time in delivering him up to 
Pilate, well knowing, that, by this step, all 
responsibility was taken from them : and, in 
case of any disturbance, the assistance of all 
the mOitary force of the province would be 
called out. They accuse him to Pilate, not 
only of blasphemy, but sedition ; and he at last 
is so intimidated, that, contrary to his conscience, 
he is compelled, as Csesar's representative and 
friend, to take cognizance of the offence, and 
put Christ to death, after the Roman custom ; 
and thus our Lord's prediction was fulfilled. 

The talmudists mention many instances prov- 
ing that the power of inflicting capital punish- 
ments was retained by the Jews : the Gemara 
expressly asserts that the four capital punish- 
ments inflicted by the Jewish council or magis- 
tracy were in use during the forty years before 
tlie destruction of Jerusalem ; though, accord- 
ing to the talmudists, they were much inter- 
rupted. But even this was owing, as Josephus 
has shown, to the corruption and maladminis- 
tration of the Roman governors ; who were 
induced by bribes, or the share of plunder, to 
use their influence to protect criminals from 
those punishments denounced against them by 
the Jewish laws. Even Felix himself em- 
ployed robbers to murder Jonathan, the high 
priest, for having reproved him for injustice ; 
and after this time murders were not only 
frequent, but committed with impunity. The 
corruption of this governor is hinted at. Acts 
xxiv. 26. Josephus also asserts that Albinus 
dismissed all malefactors for money ; and that 
Gessius Floras was sharer with such in their 
unlawful gains. 

Josephus never alludes to the supposed loss 
of their power by the Jews ; on the contrary, 
he obser^'es, that the Sadducees are cruel 
above all the Jews in matters of judicature^', 

i OiTZiij ft'ot tisqI rcig xoinsig ojiio'i, tzoqU nuvrag 
Tovg 'lovSalov;. — P. 896, b. 37. 

VOL. II. 



and at that time they had been fifty years under 
the Roman power. 

Josephus asserts also, that in cases of dispute 
concerning the Mosaic Laws and institutions, 
the power of inflicting capital punishment was 
left to the high priest'. 

In speaking of the Essenes, Josephus ex- 
pressly affirms, " that if any one speaks evil 
of any of their legislators, he is punished with 
death'. 

Such is a brief abstract of the reasoning of 
Mr. Biscoe on this subject, which appears sat- 
isfactorily to refute the principal arguments of 
Lardner on the other side of the question. 

Lightfoot, in his Tahnudical Exerciiations, 
after a long discussion on tlie question, Whether 
the Jews at this time retained the power of 
life and death ? remarks, that it is the received 
opinion, that the Romans divested the council 
of their authority, and took away from them 
the power of inflicting capital punishments. 
And this argument is defended from that tra- 
dition of the talmudists, which says, that the 
Great Council removed from the room Gazith, 
where alone they could pass a sentence of 
death, forty years before the destruction of 
Jerusalem ; from which it is inferred, that the 
power of judging in cases of life and death 
could not proceed, because the lesser councils 
were not permitted to sit on capital judgments, 
unless the Great Council was in its proper place 
and capable of receiving appeals ; the room 
Gazith being near the Divine Presence, half 
of it ivithin, and half without the holy place. 
In answer to this assertion it is observed, " But 
if this indeed be true, 1st, What do then those 
words of our Saviour mean, ' They will deliver 
you up to the councils ' ? 2d, How did they put 
Stephen to death ? .3d, Why was Paul so much 
afraid to commit himself to the council, that 
he chose rather to appeal to Cssar ? " 

"The talmudists excellently weU clear the 
matter, and the reason was this, "ly'iJJT I'm ]10 
JToS iSt nSi pni'n inS because tliey saw 
murderers so much increase, that they could not 
judge them : they said, therefore, ' It is fit that 
we should remove from place to place, that so 
we may avoid the guilt of not judging right- 
eously in the room Gazith,' which engaged 
them to do so. The number and boldness of 
thieves and murderers were so great, and the 
authority of the council so weak, tliat they 
neither could nor dared put them to death." 

And again it is said, in another talmudical 
tradition, " Since the time that homicides mul- 
tiplied, the beheading the heifer ceased, Sotah, 
fol. 47. 1 ; so in the case of adultery: and since 
the time that adultery so openly advanced 

'' Josephus, Antiq. xiv. 10. 2. Bell. Jud. 1. vi. 
2. 4. 

■ ICuv SXunip>;iii'nij Tic si'c Tovrov. xoX:liLeo-9at Set- 
vLrai. — De Bell. Jxid. 1. 2. c. 8. sect. ix. 



174* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VII. 



under the second temple, they left off trying 
the adulteress by the bitter water, &c. Maimon. 
in Sotah. chap. iii. So that we see the liberty 
of judging in capital matters was no more taken 
from the Jews by the Romans, than the behead- 
ing of the heifer, or the trial of the suspected 
wife by the bitter waters was taken away from 
them, which no one will affirm." 

" The slothfulness of the council destroyed 
its own authority ; the Law slept while wicked- 
ness was in the height of its revels ; and prim- 
itive justice was so out of countenance, that 
as to uncertain murders they made no search, 
and against certain ones they framed no judg- 
ment. The Sanhedrin, from mere inactivity, 
or a foolish tenderness towards an Israelite, 
as a seed of Abraham, so far neglected to pun- 
ish bloodshed, and other crimes, that wicked- 
Hess grew so untractable, that the authority of 
the council trembled for fear of it, and dared 
not kill the Idllers. In this sense that saying 
must be understood, ' It is not lawful for us to 
put any man to death ;' for it is evident, when 
they make this assertion they do not deal fairly 
with Pilate ; for their authority of judging had 
not been taken from them by the Romans, but 
lost by themselves, and despised by the people. 
Under these circumstances it was only ex- 
ercised when there was no danger to be appre- 
hended. They were happy enough to use it 
when they had tlie opportunity of judging, 
persecuting, and torturing poor men and Chris- 
tians ; and they would certainly have con- 
demned our Saviour to death, had they not 
feared the people, and if Providence had not 
otherwise determined it." 

Liglitfoot mentions many other circumstances 
wliich took place after Judaea had long been 
subject to the Roman yoke, which clearly 
affirm the opinion, that the authority of the 
council in capital matters was not taken away 
by the Romans ; and he agrees with Biscoe in 
supposing that it was gradually, from various 
causes, relinquished by the Jews themselves, 
and that it imperceptibly lapsed into the hands 
of the Romans'". 

The Romans were always the ruling power 
wherever their conquests extended. They 
varied in the privileges they granted, but uni- 
forinly retained in their own hands the influence 
of the sword. The consequence would natur- 
ally be, that on all important occasions nothing 
could be done without their sanction or conni- 
vance. The Municipia and some provinces 
were certainly allowed nominally to be gov- 
erned by their own laws and customs : but this 
very permission seems to have introduced such 
irregularities into the government, that they 
petitioned to have the anomalous privilege 



removed, and to become at once subject to the 
Roman laws. The reason evidently was, that 
the power of the sword, the influence of the 
Roman name, and their unavoidable interfer- 
ence in the government of their native magis- 
trates, had greatly interrupted, and oftentimes 
suspended, the practice of their national laws ; 
and such, as it appears to me, was the situation 
of Judasa, at the time of our Lord's condem- 
nation. The power of life and death had not 
been formally abrogated by the Romans ; but 
the grant which secured to the Jews their own 
rights and privileges had been gradually set 
aside by the influence of the Roman authority, 
which had in some measure superseded the 
Jewish magistracy". 



249. 



Hebrew and Talviud. Exercit. vol. ii. p. 248, 



Note 14.— Part VII. 

Some time before this reconciliation, Pilate 
had dedicated some shields of gold to Tiberius, 
and placed them in the palace of Herodium. 
The Jews, imder the sanction of Herod, peti- 
tioned Pilate for their removal, but in vain. 
They determined therefore to appeal to Tibe- 
rius, and for this purpose sent a deputation to 
the emperor, at the head of which were the 
four sons of Herod. This act seems to have 
been the cause of their difference, as it was 
regarded by the Jews and by Herod as a viola- 
tion of their religion ; and Herod was not 
reconciled to Pilate till the Roman governor, 
desirous not to assist the Jews in the condemna- 
tion of our Lord, acknowledged the power of 
Herod, by sending to his tribunal at Jerusalem 
the holy Jesus. 

Dr. Townson justly observes, that it is prob- 
able both Pilate and Herod occupied different 
parts of the palace called Herodium, which 

" See Bowyer's Critical Conj. p. 3] 8 ; Doddridge, 
Rosenmuller, the discussion of Lardner, in his 
Credibility, &c. Lightfoot, in liis Taimudical Ex- 
ercitations upon the Acts, observes, on the occasion 
of the Sanhedrin granting letters to Paul to go 
to Damascus, that the power of life and death was 
not yet taken from the Sanhedrin. Selden is of 
opinion, that the power of the Sanhedrin to pun- 
ish capitally was only much interrupted and dis- 
used at the time of the crucifixion. Krebsius, 
quoted by Rosenmilller, is of opinion that the 
power of inflicting capital punishments, in cases 
of offences against religion, was left to the Jews; 
but in civil offences it was taken away — " in 
criminibus autem aliis, e. g. seditionis, tumultus, 
perduellionis, et ad lassani majestatem Caesaris 
pertinentibus, illud jus iis non fuisse concessum." 
Kuinoel has adopted also this conclusion of Biscoe 
— " Mihi perplacet Augustini et Chrysostomi ratio, 
etiam Semlero probata, qua Judajorum verba v. 31. 
ad diem referuntur hoc sensu ; ' nobis non licet 
quenquamsupplicioafKcereob religionem dieifesti ; ' 
erat enim naoaaxevii Toxi nun /a, xix 14-42. quam 
eamdem ob causam, neque prsetorium ingressi 
erant coll. v. 28." — Kuinoel in Jolian. xix. 31. 



Note 15.-18.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*175 



some time before had been built by Herod the 
Great. It consisted of two distinct spacious 
buUdings, one of which was named Ceesareum, 
and the otlier Agrippeum: it stood near the 
temple'. 



Note 15. — Part VII. 

HoTTiNGER has written a treatise on this 
passage, De ritu dimittendi reum in festo Pas- 
chatis ; which is bound up in the tliirteenth 
volume of the Critici Sacri. He opposes the 
opinion of Whitby, that a prisoner was released 
only at the feast of the Passover. He con- 
siders the custom (quoting Grotius and Ger. 
Vossius) as contrary to the stern inflexibility 
of the Mosaic institutions ; " Erat siquidem 
divina per Mosen lata lex x^'Q^S olxiiq^iw, sine 
omni misericordia, Heb. x. 28. Nee cuiquam 
homini data ignoscendi potestas, non Regi, non 
Synedrio, non populo," sect x. and xx. 

This deviation from their established Law is 
a proof how much the Levitical institutions 
had been relaxed from their appointed rigor 
and severity. The origin of this emancipation 
is unknown. 



Note 16.— Part VII. 

It is very probable tliat the chief priests 
and elders who " persuaded the multitude that 
they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus" 
(Matt xxvii. 20.), had placed their own creatures 
and dependents as near as they might legally 
approach (John xviii. 28.) the door of the judg- 
ment hall, that they might obtain the release 
of Barabbas, and secure the destruction of 
Jesus ; for immediately after, they clamorously 
demanded the crucifixion of Christ; so anxious 
were the chief priests for the immediate con- 
demnation of our Lord, and so fearful lest his 
innocence should protect him from their malice. 



Note 17.— Part VII. 

The guilt of condemning our Lord must 
almost entirely rest upon the unhappy nation 
whom he had designed to save, (John xix. 11.) 
Pilate made five successive efforts to deliver 
Jesus from their inveterate hatred, and was 
induced, at last, unwillingly to yield him up, 
from tlie apprehension of his own personal 
safety. He was afraid, that, if he did not com- 
ply with the violent and clamorous importuni- 

° Philo leg. ad Caium, vol. ii. p. 589. ed. Mangey 
ap. Townson. — See also Hales's Analysis, vol. i'i. 
part ii. 



ties of the Jewish rulers, there would be a 
commotion among the people, who were se- 
ditiously inclined, and were assembled at this 
time in great numbers, from all parts of Judaea, 
for the celebration of the Passover. In all 
probability Pilate was not provided with suffi- 
cient force to ensure perfect tranquillity on 
these gTeat festivals: their very solemnity 
would be considered as the best guarantee for 
the observance of propriety and good conduct. 



Note 18.— Part VII. 

ON MARK XV. 25. AND JOHN XIX. 14-16. 

This is one of those passages in which the 
Evangelists are supposed to be inconsistent. 
St. Mark says, chap. xv. 25. " It was the third 
hour, and they crucified him:" St. John tells 
us, " It was about the sixth hour ; and Pilate 
delivered him to be crucified," John xLx. 14-16. 
Various modes have been adopted to reconcile 
these apparent differences. One, and that the 
most usual, and at all times the most objection- 
able, is the supposition of a false reading. It 
is urged, that in ancient times, all numbers 
were written in manuscripts, not at length, but 
with numeral letters, it was easy for -/, three, 
to be taken for 5, six. Of this opinion are Gries- 
bach, in his elaborate edition of the New 
Testament, Sender, Rosenmiiller, Doddridge, 
Whitby, Bengel, Cocceius, Beza, Erasmus, and 
by far the greater part of the most eminent 
critics. Besides the Codex BezcE, and the 
Codex Stephani (of the eighth century), there 
are four other manuscripts, which read tq'.tti, 
the third, in John xix. 14. as well as the Akx- 
andnan Clironicle, which professes to cite 
accurate manuscripts— even the autography of 
St. John himself. Such also is the opinion of 
Severus Antiochenus, Ammonius, and some 
others, cited by Theophylact on the passage ; 
to whom must be added Nonnus, a Greek poet 
of Panopolis, in Egypt, who flourished in the 
fifth century, and wrote a poetical paraphrase 
of the Gospel of St. John, and who also found 
rglrrj in the manuscript used by him''. 

Others have supposed, that the Evangelists 
have adopted different methods of calculation. 
Notv/ithstanding the authorities above adduced, 
they observe that none of the ancient transla- 
tors read " the third hour " in John : they there- 
fore solve the difficulty (imperfectly it must be 
confessed) by considering the day as divided 
into four parts, answering to the four watclies 
of the night These coincided with the hours 
of thi-ee, six, nine, or twelve ; or, in our way of 
reckoning, nine, twelve, three, and six, which 
also suited the solemn times of sacrifice and 

'' Vide Home's Tntroduct. 



176* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VII. 



prayer in the temple. In cases, they argue, 
in which the Jews did not think it of conse- 
quence to ascertain the time with great accura- 
cy, they did not regard the intermediate hours, 
but only those more noted divisions which hap- 
pened to come nearest the time of the event 
spoken of. Adopting this method of reconcilia- 
tion. Dr. Campbell remarks, that Mark says, 
" it was the third hour," from which we have 
reason to conclude that the third hour was past. 
John says, " It was about the sixth hour," from 
which he thinks it probable that the sixth hour 
■was not yet come. On this supposition, though 
the Evangelists may, by a fastidious reader, be 
accused of want of precision in regard to dates, 
they will not, by any judicious and candid critic, 
be charged with falsehood or misrepresentation. 
Who would accuse two modern historians of 
cqntradicting each other, because, in relating 
an event wliich had happened between ten and 
eleven in the forenoon, one had said it was past 
nine o'clock ; the other that it was drawing 
towards noon' ? 

There is, however, in fact, no real difference 
between the Evangelists ; and this is fully 
shown by the admirable reasoning both of Dr. 
Townson and Pilkington. If we review the 
whole of the transaction which took place at 
the crucifixion, and endeavour to assign their 
respective periods to each, it will be found that 
St. John calculated his time by the Roman or 
Asiatic method, from mid-night to mid-day, and 
from mid-day to mid-night. If we allow the 
sixth hour, mentioned by St. John, to mean the 
sixth hour in the morning, it will suit the place 
in which it stands admirably well, which the 
third hour would not. 

The night wds divided into twelve hours, or 
four equal watches. Of the latter division we 
have several traces in the Gospel. St. Mark 
thus enumerates them : 6ipk tj ^eaovvxrlov, ?) 
dilsxTOQOcpan'lag ^ ngaii, Mark xiii. .35. ; the cock 
crowing was from twelve to three, and tlie last 
from three to six. 

The six o'clock of St. John was the end of 
the nQMi. Let us examine the division of time 
from the beginning of the iilsxTogoq)0)t'[a, cock- 
crowing, to the end of the nowt, last watch. 
The apprehension in the garden appears to 
have been made about ten o'clock on Thursday 
night, and Jesus was then led away to Annas. 
About eleven he was sent to Caiaphas. About 
midnight Peter denied him the first time, at 
the first cock-crowing. Soon after midnight he 
was condemned by the high priest, &c. ; after 
that he was abused by the officers and servants, 
and Peter denied him a second time. About 
three in the morning, i. e. at the second cock- 
crowing, Peter denied him the third time. 
About four, " as soon as it was day," the San- 
hedrin met ; and in a little time they again con- 

' Campbell, on John xix. 14. 



demned him. About five, " when it was early," 
they led him away to Pilate ; and, " about the 
sixth (Roman) hour," i. e. between six and nine 
o'clock in the morning (for when mention is 
made of a Roman watch hour, viz. the third, 
sixth, ninth, or twelfth, it often includes the 
whole space of time contained in that watch), 
PUate gave the final sentence against Jesus ; 
and, in consequence thereof, they led Jesus 
away, and crucified him " at the third (Jewish) 
hour," i. e. about nine o'clock in the morning, 
or between that time and the commencement of 
the next watch. 

The events that happened between his being 
first taken before Pilate, and his final condem- 
nation by the Roman governor, would occupy 
about two hours and a half; many things 
favored, and many demanded expedition. 

If Caiaphas did not send to Herod and Pilate 
when our Lord was first brought prisoner to his 
house, he would probably despatch messengers 
to them as soon as he was condemned in the 
Council. To the former, to request he would 
watch over his Galilean subjects, lest they 
should make a disturbance in favor of Jesus ; 
and to Pilate (who gave the soldiers to assist in 
the apprehension of Christ), to acquaint him 
with their intention of bringing the prisoner 
before him. As this was the time of the Pass- 
over, when a great concourse of a mutinous 
nation was assembled at Jerusalem and its ad- 
joining villages, it was the duty of Pilate and 
Herod to exert the utmost vigilance, even witli- 
out the occurrence of any unusual event The 
rulers of Judsea might, perhaps, at this time 
have been alarmed at the intelligence of the ac- 
clamations of the people, some days before. It 
cannot therefore excite surprise, that on such 
an occasion as this, Pilate, and quickly after 
him Herod, was early up, and ready to receive 
the Jewish rulers as soon as they appeared. 
The first time they continued but a little while 
with Pilate ; for when he was told that Jesus 
belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he forthwith 
sent our Saviour to him. Herod and Pilate 
came but seldom to Jerusalem, and on these 
occasions they were, in all probability, accom- 
modated in the Herodian palace, which was 
very extensive, and consisted of two spacious 
and distinct buildings. Josephus in conse- 
quence calls it not a palace, but palaces. This 
superb edifice, as well as the tower Antonia, 
Ti^hich was a palace and tower together, stood 
near the temple, and communicated with it. 
Little time therefore being lost in removing 
from place to place, (the high priest being 
also lodged near the temple,) the first exam- 
ination before Pilate, and the interview with 
Herod, might come within such compass, as 
that our Lord might be remanded to Pilate by 
five in the morning, at which time it was broad 
day-light. 

There was a great eagerness for a speedy 



Note 19.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



n- 



determination on one side, and a necessity for 
it on the other. The Jewish rulers, jealous 
of delay, and of a variable multitude, pressed 
on while circumstances favored. Pilate well 
knew the seditious spirit of the nation, restless 
under a foreign yoke, and rendered confident 
by their great increase of numbers in conse- 
quence of the Passover. He twice interrogated 
Jesus in the preetorium, with the sound of their 
outcry, as it were, in his ears ; and found it 
requisite to determine speedily whether he 
would appease them by compliance, or repel 
them by force, which on the present occasion 
would not have been expedient. This brings 
us, then, either to the sixth hour in the morn- 
ing, or to tlie sixth hour of mid-day. But the 
latter construction corresponds neither with the 
other Evangelists, nor upon the whole with St. 
Jolm himself, John xviii. 28., the detail of 
whose narrative conveys no idea of so much 
time. 

We come to the same conclusion by a cal- 
culation of the time mentioned by the other 
Evangelists. The hour of crucifixion is given 
by St. Jlark, chap. xv. 25., whose testimony is 
confirmed by those of St Matthew and St. 
Luke. It was the third hour, or nine in tlie 
morning. Let us consider, first, from this 
given hour, by a retrogi'ade calculation, what 
time the procession from the preetorium to 
Mount Calvary, and the act of crucifying our 
Lord probably occupied ; secondly, before this 
procession began, what time he was detained 
in the prEetorium afl;er Pilate had delivered him 
to be crucified ; and, thirdly, how long the sen- 
tence of death was delayed after Pilate sat 
down on the tribunal. 

1. Although Mount Calvary was near to 
tlie city, the procession must have been slow. 
Christ was weakened by his agony in the 
garden, and by the pain and loss of blood he 
sustained from the cruel scourging, and fi-om 
tlie insulting mockery of the soldiers. It was 
usual for the people to ill treat the criminals 
who went to crucifixion. He himself carried 
his cross to the gate of the city, and although 
it was there laid on Simon the Cyrenian, he 
had still farther to go, and an eminence to as- 
cend. To this procession, and the necessary 
preparations for the crucifixion, we cannot 
allot less than an hour, and this brings us to 
eight in the morning. 

2. Before he was led forth, the two robbers 
were to be condemned ; for in cases where no 
appeal lay to the emperor, or Roman senate, 
the examination for atrocious offences was 
little more than nominal ; and the speedy sen- 
tence of the judge was followed by the imme- 
diate punishment of the criminal. 

Probably, while our Saviour's trial was pend- 
ing, these malefactors were brought from the 
prison to the hall, where the soldiers kept guard 
that they might be in readiness. In this place, 



perhaps, tlie penitent thief might have wit- 
nessed the deportment of Jesus, while he was 
scourged and insulted by the Roman soldiers ; 
and might have conceived that sense of his 
meekness, holiness, and majesty, which pre- 
pared liim for the grace of a perfect confession 
of faith, upon the cross. To the time employed 
in the trying, condemning, and scourging of 
these men (according to the Roman law), may 
we not reckon another full hour? In the 
meanwhile Christ was guarded by the soldiers ; 
into whose hands therefore he was delivered 
at seven, or rather earlier. 

3. When Pilate had taken lus seat on the 
tribunal, to pronounce sentence of death on 
Christ, he was interrupted by the message of 
his wife ; still hesitating — he again expostula- 
ted with the Jews, and declared the innocence 
of Jesus ; and, when he could prevail nothing, 
he washed his hands before the multitude, and 
then decreed his condemnation. These various 
particulars might altogether occupy about 
another hour, and they bring us again to the 
same point — within half an hour of six. Here 
then the computations meet, whether we reckon 
firom the proi, or back from the third hour: 
by either account, PUate " sat down in the 
judgment-seat" between six and seven in the 
morning. 

The conjecture of Grotius, adopted by Dr. 
Randolph and other learned men, is very 
ingenious, but is unsupported by authorities. 
The Jews, he observes, divided the day into 
four quarters, as they did the night ; each con- 
sisting of three hours ; and, whatever was done 
within the space of one of these quarters, 
might be reckoned to the hour at which the 
quarter began, or at which it ended. The 
second quarter began at the third hour, about 
which time it was supposed our Lord was con- 
demned, and it ended at twelve ; about which 
time he was crucified. St. John mentions the 
time of Ms condemnation, St. Mark of his cruci- 
fixion. St. John distinguishes the beginning 
of the second quarter of the day by its latest 
term, the sixth hour ; and St. Mark the conclu- 
sion of it, by its earliest term, the third hour. 
But this hypothesis appears much too forced to 
be tenable. 



Note 19.— Part VIL 

There is no greater difference between the 
meaning of the words y.oy.y.li'Tjp and nooqivqovv, 
than there is if one English reader should say 
a red robe, and another a reddish robe ; or 
than if one French author should use the word 
rouge, and another rougecdre. — PHkington, notes 
to sect. 442. 



VOL. II, 



^23 



178* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VII. 



Note 20.— Part VII. 

Thorns were the first produce of the earth 
after the fall of man, and they were worn by 
our Lord, as a part of his punishment. They 
were the first fruits of the curse, and were 
appropriately placed on the head of the Sacred 
Victim. 

Bishop Pearce and Michaelis are of opinion 
that the crown of thorns was not intended to 
be an instrument of punishment or torture to 
his head, but rather to render our Lord an object 
of ridicule; for which cause they also put a 
reed in his hand, by way of sceptre, and bowed 
their knees, pretending to do him homage ; 
and that the crown was not probably of thorns 
in our sense of the word. Mark xv. 17. and 
John xix. 5. term it d.jt&t'dii'ov aTicpnfov, which 
might be translated an " acanthine crown," or 
wreath formed out of the branches of the herb 
acanthus, or bear's-foot. This is a prickly 
plant, though not like thorny ones, in the com- 
mon meaning of that word. 

Some are of opinion that the plant was simi- 
i lar to that which we call holly : they say that it 
was selected on account of its resemblance to 
laurel, with which conquerors were crowned ; 
and they think that the opinion has given rise 
to the name ; holly, quasi holy, in reference to 
I the use made of it on this occasion. 



by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans (ch 
xvi. 1.3.) which was written many years after 
the Gospel of St. Mark. 



Note 21.— Part VIL 

Our Lord would not reveal his dignity to 
Pilate, because he would not have believed 
him, and because, as a judge, Pilate was only 
concerned with his innocence : neither had the 
time come for an appeal to the Gentiles. 



Note 22.— Part VII. 

By comparing these two passages we obtain 
one of those innumerable minor yet important 
proofs of the authenticity of the Scriptures, which 
demonstrate the impossibility of their being 
forgeries. St. Luke, who wrote for the Gen- 
tiles of Asia, merely mentions the name and 
country of Simon, who was probably known to 
the early Christians by character. St. Mark, 
however, who addressed liimself at the dictation 
of St. Peter (by whose name therefore this Gospel 
might more properly be called) to the converts 
at Rome, adds, that Simon was the father of 
Alexander and Rufus, the latter of whom being 
a well-known member of the Roman Church, 
inquiries might be made by the people, of Rufus 
himself, respecting the circumstances of the 
crucifixion, which he in all probability would 
have received from his father. Rufus is salyted 



Note 23.— Part VII. 

ON MATTHEW XXVII. 34. AND MARK XV. 23. 

The .Tews always gave wine with incense in 
it, to stupify and intoxicate the criminal. The 
custom originated in the precept (Prov. xxxi. 
6.), " Give strong drink unto him that is ready 
to perish," i. e. " to him who is condemned to 
death." It would appear from the preceding 
narrative, that three potions were certainly 
oifered to our Lord, two when he arrived at 
Golgotha (Matt, xxvii. 34. and Mark xv. 23.), 
and the third after he had been for some time 
on the cross. The first draught, vinegar 
mingled with gall, was most probably offered 
to him in malice, and derision of his sufferings ; 
our Lord refusing to drink of it, the intoxicat- 
ing draught, which was usual on such occasions, 
was then presented ; but he declined tasting of 
either, and drank only of the third, the vinegar, 
or posca, the common drink of tlie Roman sol- 
diers ; and which was placed in a vessel near 
the cross for their accommodation. 

He was faint and exhausted in body ; and 
though his powers of mind were the same, he 
required that his humanity should receive the 
refreshment proffered to him by the bystander. 

Although, as we have seen, there appears no 
difficulty or discrepancy in the accounts of St. 
Matthew and St. Mark, Michaelis does not hes- 
itate to assert, that there exists a manifest con- 
tradiction. He has consequently endeavoured, 
by conjecture, to reconcile the supposed 
difference, and has had the singular misfortune 
to be refuted by himself; by his editor. Bishop 
Marsh, who has substituted an equally unten- 
able conjecture ; and, lastly, by the critic of 
both. Archbishop Laurence. After comparing 
the two accounts of St. Matthew and St. Mark, 
Michaelis decides that St. Mark has given tlie 
correct history, and that St. Matthew's Gospel, 
wjiich was originally written in Hebrew, was 
inaccurately translated into Greek. He sup- 
poses that the words used in the Hebrew Gospel 
of St. Matthew, were such as agreed with the ac- 
count given by St. Mark, and at the same time 
were capable of the construction which was put 
on them by St. Matthew's Greek translator. Sup- 
pose St. Matthew wrote NinnD X'Sn, which 
signifies " sweet wine with bitters," or " sweet 
wine and myrrh," as we find it in Mark ; and 
Matthew's translator overlooked the yod •• in 
a'hn ; he took it forxSn, which signifies "vine- 
gar ; " and " bitter," he translated by xo^f ^^ 
it is often rendered in the Septuagint. Nay, 
St. Matthew, he propeeds, may have written 



N( TE 24.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*^179 



H'jn, and have still meant to express " sweet 
wine ;" if so, the difference only consisted in 
the points ; for the same word, which, when 
pronounced " hale," signifies " sweet," denotes 
as soon as it is pronounced " hala," " vinegar." 
The translator of St. Matthew's Gospel mis- 
understood the words of the original, but St. 
Mark has given tlie true account. 

In this criticism, Michaelis may be considered 
as having refuted himself; for he tells us (p. 
151.), that as the Hebrew original of St. 
Matthew is lost, a comparison can never be 
instituted between that and the Greek version ; 
and tills comparison alone can decide the 
question, if there is any variation between 
them. It must be observed in answer, it is 
not possible to ascertain certainly whether St. 
Matthew wrote in Hebrew or not. 

Bishop Marsh has remarked, that the pro- 
posed Chaldee reading of Michaelis cannot 
possibly have given rise to the expression in 
St. Mark's text : neither is the construction of 
N'^n coiTect. Having pointed out the weak- 
ness of the other parts of Michaefis's criticism, 
the learned Bishop has proposed a similar eluci- 
dation upon the same principle of conjecture. 
He supposes that the original Chaldee text was 
N11D3 D'Sn XiDH ; and that Xinn, which 
means wine, was confused with X^fDH, vinegar; 
and likewise Nlin, myrrh, with NTiD, gall. In 
refutation of these hypotheses. Archbishop 
Laurence observes : " This strange confusion 
of words, whether attributable to a transcriber 
or translator, is greater than seems hkely to 
have happened." Aware of the objection, 
Bishop Marsh afterwards proposes another 
illustration, and presumes that the Chaldee text 
ran thus, XIIOD i:D^D3 XIDH which may be ren- 
dered, vinum conditum myrrhd. Yet he adds, 
that as Ton, when a participle, has the signifi- 
cation of turbidum fieri, as well as that of 
vinum, when a substantive: and as trj'D^, 
when a substantive, means acetuni, as well as 
conditum, when a participle, upon this construc- 
tion the words may be translated, aceturn turha- 
tum felle ; still supposing, as in the preceding 
instance, xiio to be mistaken for XTin. "With 
respect however to this suggestion," says Arch- 
bishop Laurence, " may it not be fairly ques- 
tioned whether CD'DD in ancient Chaldee really 
signifies " vinegar." No such meaning is 
affixed to it in Buxtorf 's Lexicon Chaldaic. et 
Syriac, nor in the Syrochald. Diction, annexed 
to the Antwerp Bible. In the elder Buxtorf's 
Lexicon Chaldaic. et Rabbinic, this sense is 
indeed given to it; nevertheless, not as the 
ancient Chaldee sense, but as one of a more 
recent date, as one to be found only in the 
Rabboth and the Jerusalem Talmud. The time 
of the compilation of the Rabboth has been 
fixed by the .Tews to about the year 300 after 
Christ ; but some Christians place it at a later 
period. Wolf observes, "Fatendum hoc est. 



pro antiquitate rei alicujus demonstranda non 
satis tuto ad Rabboth provocari posse, cum 
nullo argumento constet, quo tempore hsec vel 
ilia narratio aut expositio subnata sif. 

The Jerusalem Talmud is said by Buxtorf 
to have been composed about the year 2-30, or, 
according to others, about the year 270 (Wolfii 
Bib. Hebrcea, vol. ii. p. 683) ; but Lightfoot, in 
his Hora Heb. in Evang. Matthcei, contends, 
that it was not written until the fourth century". 

Schoetgen also, among the apparent contra- 
dictions of the New Testament, enumerates 
this between St. Matthew and St. Mark, with 
respect to the potion oflPered to our Lord upon 
the cross. St. Matthew, he observes, tells us, 
they gave liim vinegar, mingled with gall, 
o?oc iMSTci ;(olrig fie/MY/tiEfov (Matt, xxvii. 34.) 

St. Mark, that they. gave him ^a/xvQviaftivov 

ohot' (Mark xv. 24.) Schoetgen would reconcile 
the two passages by saying, ut myirha una cum 
felle dicatur admixta potui, atque vinum fuisse 
aciduin, quod indistincte vinum, et aceium ap- 
pellari solet. He then goes on to show, that 
the sour wine was indiscriminately named wine 
or vinegar ; and the wine offered to our Lord 
might in like manner be called either wine or 
vinegar. 

I cannot but conclude, after an attentive 
perusal of these and some other criticisms, that 
the simplest mode of interpreting the passages 
in question is the best, as being equally con- 
sistent and satisfactory. The first potion was 
probably given to our Lord in derision ; the 
second, the stupifying draught usually adminis- 
tered to criminals ; and the third called for from 
the sufferings of the moment. The hyssop 
mentioned by St. John in the next verse, may 
perhaps be considered as possibly to allude to 
one of the types, which were permitted to point 
out Christ as the typical paschal lamb. The 
Jews always commenced this feast by the eat- 
ing of bitter herbs dipped in vinegar, which 
was considered as emblematical of purity : see 
Psalm li. 7. 

It must be observed, that in Matt, xxvii. 34., 
instead of o^og, many MSS. read ohov. The 
posca, or common drink of the Roman soldiers, 
was known by each name : they both convey 
the same sense'. 



Note 24.— Part VII. 

Off THE SUPERSCRIPTION ON THE CROSS. 

The Christian world is deeply indebted to 
the accurate and learned Dr. Townson for his 

'■ BiMlothecaHebr(Ba,Yo\.\\.^.X'&.Q,sxt. Rabboth. 

" Cent. Chorograph. c. 8]. p. 144. 

' See Archbishop Laurence's Sermon on Excess 
ill PhUological Speculation, p. 39, notes. Marsh's 
Michaelis, vol. iii. p. 159, and part. ii. p. 127-8. 
Schoetgen, HorcE Hebraicce, vol. i. p. 236. Adam 
Clarke's Commentary. Home's Critical Introduc- 
tion, second edition, vol. iii. p. 115. 



180* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VII 



ingenious criticism on the title placed by Pilate 
on the cross. The apparent discrepancy be- 
tween the accounts of this title given by the 
Evangelists, had been urged as an objection 
against the inspiration and veracity of the 
sacred writers. The superscription on the 
cross was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and 
Latin ; and as the Evangelists all mention the 
title differently. Dr. Townson conjectured that 
it was possible it might have slightly varied in 
each language. As St. Luke wrote for the 
Gentiles in Achaia, it is probable that he would 
prefer mentioning the Greek inscription. As 
St. Matthew addressed the Jews, it is likely 
therefore that he should use the Hebrew. And 
as St. Mark principally wrote to the Romans, 
he would naturally give the Latm inscription. 
I have observed in my arrangement the order 
proposed by Dr. Townson. He remarks, the 
Evangelists all mention this superscription, but 
every one with some diiference, except in the 
last words. The King of the Jews. 

We may reasonably suppose St. Matthew to 
have recited the Hebrew :— 

THIS IS 
JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 

And St. John the Greek : — 

JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING 
OF THE JEWS. 

If it should be asked, why "the Nazarene " was 
omitted in the Hebrew, and we must assign a 
reason for Pilate's humor, perhaps we may 
thus account for it : He might be informed that 
Jesus in Hebrew denoted a Saviour (John xi. 
49-51.), and as it carried more appearance of 
such an appellative, or general term, by stand- 
ing alone, he might choose, by dropping the 
epithet, The JVazarene, to leave the sense so 
ambiguous, that it might be thus understood : — 

THIS IS 
A SAVIOUR, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 

Pilate, as little satisfied with the Jews as 
With himself, on that day, meant the inscription, 
which was his own, as a dishonor to the na- 
tion ; and thus set a momentous verity before 
them, with as much design of declaring it, as 
Caiaphas had of prophesying, that Jesus should 
die for the people (John xi. 49-51.) The am- 
biguity not holding in Greek, the Nazarene 
might be there inserted in scorn again of the 
Jews, by denominating their King from a city 
which they held in the utmost contempt, (John 
J. 46.) 

Let us now view the Latin. It is not as- 
suming much to suppose, that Pilate would not 



concern himself with Hebrew names, nor risk 
an impropriety in speaking or writing them. It 
was tliought essential to the dignity of a Roman 
magistrate, in the times of the republic, not to 
speak but in Latin on public occasions (Vale- 
rius Maximus, b. ii. c. ii. § 2.), of which spirit 
Tiberius the emperor retained so much, that in 
an oration to the senate, he apologized for using 
a Greek word ; and once, when they were draw- 
ing up a decree, advised them to erase another 
that had been inserted in it. (Sueton. in 
Tiberi, c. 71.) The two words were monopoly 
and emblem. And though the magistrates in 
general were then become more condescending 
to the Greeks, they retained this point of state 
with regard to other nations, whose languages 
they esteemed barbarous, and would give them- 
selves no trouble of acquiring. Pilate indeed, 
according to St. Matthew, asked at our Lord's 
trial, "Whom will ye that I release unto yon, 
Barabbas, or Jesus, which is called Christ?" 
And again, "What shall I do with Jesus, which 
is called Christ ? " But I judge this to be re- 
lated, as the interpreter by whom he spake de- 
livered it, in Hebrew. — (See Wolfius on Matt. 
xxvii. 2.) For if the other Evangelists have 
given his exact words, he never pronounced the 
name of Jesus, but spake of him all along by a 
periphrasis : " Will ye that I release unto you 
The King of the Jews ? " " fFliat will ye then, 
that I shall do unto Him whom ye call The 
King of the Jews?" Thus he acted in confer- 
ence with the rulers, and then ordered a Latiu 
inscription, without mixture of foreign words, 
just as St. Mark repeats it: — 

THE KING OF THE JEWS, 

which is followed by St. Luke, only that he has 
brought down This is, from the above super- 
scription, as having a common reference to 
what stood under it. 

THIS IS 
THE KING OF THE JEWS. 

It is very possible that a better account may 
be given of the three forms of the inscription ; 
but I think I am well founded in asserting that 
there were variations in it, and that the shortest 
was that of St. Luke, in the Latin. — Townson's 
Works, vol. i. p. 199. 

S. Reger has published a Dissertation on the 
Title on the Cross, and comes nearly to the 
same conclusions as Townson, who does not 
however refer to, nor appear to have seen his 
treatise. He supposes that the inscription 
varied in each language, and that they might 
have been written on three several tablets in 
this manner : — 



Note 25.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



481 



OYTO2: 

E2TIIV 

BJ2IAEYS 

TP.N 

lOYAAUlN. 



HIC EST 

JESUS 

REX JUD^- 

ORUM. 






Luke xxiii. 38. 



Matt, xxviii. 37. 



John xix. 19, 



He mentions many opinions on the imagined 
difficulty — " Alii enim duos Evangelistas Mat- 
thsBum et Lucam duo verba oSr^g iaziv, non 
ex titulo descripsisse, sad sententias perfi- 
ciendffi gratia adjecisse. Alii vero Marcum et 
Johannem dicta verba neglexisse ; praeterea 
tres reliquos cognomen JVazareni ; Marcum et 
Lucam vero nomen proprium JESUS omisisse, 
quamobrem ex omnium Evangelistarum descrip- 
tionibus tres conformes formant inscriptiones, 
hoc modo: HD'^-in;':! TjSo nv3n priff] r{>tr\ oviog 

idTiv 'Iijaovg Na'C&Qttiog 6 (iucnlsvg ^ lovdaluiv. 
Hie est Jesus Nazarenus Rex JudEeorum." — 
See the Dissertation ap. Crit. Sac. vol. xi. p. 
241, &c. 



Note 25.— Part VIL 

ON THE NECESSITY OF THE ATONEMENT. 

He hangs upon the cross, for us, and for our 
salvation ! The Son of God dies for the restor- 
ation of man ! The manifested God, who was 
present at the creation of this scene of his 
glory ; who, for the sins of one generation of 
man, brought the deluge of waters upon the 
earth ; He who was seen in the firmament, 
commanding the fire to descend upon the Cities 
of the Plain ; the Dweller between the cheru- 
bim, the Form which tabernacled in the moving 
flame, guiding his people through the wilder- 
ness ; the King of glory, the Lord of angels, 
the Ruler of the universe, " the Man that was 
the Fellow of Jehovah," the future Judge of the 
word, He hangs upon the cross, and offers 
himself a willing sacrifice for the sins of an 
offending world. That this Holy and Mighty 
Being should die as a man, amidst the indigni- 
ties and cruel mockings of the higher as well 
as of the lower ranks of his people for the sins 
of those who pierced him, and of all who in 
ages to come should beheve in this wonderful 
atonement, is a mystery so truly sublime, that 
the intellectual powers of man, while in the 
body, cannot fully comprehend its effects and 
benefits. This Wonderful and Holy Being, 
whose mysterious death we are now contem- 
plating, is revealed to us, not merely as the Lord 
of mankind, but as the Superior of angels. 
Evil spirits knew Him, and fled : good spirits 
ministered to Him. He spake of the invisible 

VOL. II. 



world, as of the scene of existence to which 
He had been accustomed, and of angels and 
devils as his obedient or rebellious subjects. 
It is evident, therefore, that the actions of our 
Lord, while in his state of humiliation, were 
the subjects of attention to an innumerable host 
of intellectual and spiritual creatures who, we 
may suppose, are all more or less interested in 
the heavenly sacrifice. Angels in humble sub- 
mission desired to look into this great mystery ; 
fallen spirits retained the malignity of their evil 
nature, saw, believed, and trembled. They fell 
from their high estate by their own pride and 
ambition, without external temptation, and they 
are left to the consequences of their wilful dis- 
obedience. Man, having been created of a 
compound nature, and liable to evil, did not, 
like them, fall away by his own original, innate 
perverseness, but by the enticements of a supe- 
rior and evil spirit. For man Christ died — for 
man there is hope of salvation, and at this 
solemn moment the seal was affixed to his par- 
don. Now was the sentence of eternal punish- 
ment pronounced upon the evil spirits. Satan 
fell as lightning from heaven ; and the captivity 
of hell was led captive. The voice of mercy 
confirmed the angels in their obedience, and 
taught them also that there was no more sacrifice 
for sin : and the human race were emancipated 
from the bondage and degradation of the Fall, 
and exalted to become, with the angels, the 
sons of God. Thus was moral order, which 
had been disturbed through the dominion of evil, 
by the sin and disobedience of the first Adam, 
restored to the whole universe by the triumph- 
ant sacrifice of the second Adam. 

Sufficient, therefore, is revealed to us to con- 
vince us of the necessity of this great atone- 
ment, and to demonstrate to us the holy indig- 
nation of the Almighty God against sin and 
sinners. We all carry about within us the sad 
marks of our fallen nature. The remembrance 
of some past sin continually arises to embitter 
our happiness, and to convince us that we have 
no power to help ourselves. Man requires 
some otlier atonement, some other intercession. 
His former sins cannot be cancelled by peni- 
tence or reformation", the only offering he has 
it in his power to make ; " the convert and the 
sinner are the same individual person ; and as 

" Balgiiy, a.3 quoted by A.rchbishop Magee, p. 

04, vol, r. ' 



182* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VII. 



such, must be answerable for his whole conduct. 
His sentiments of himself can only be a mixture 
of approbation and disapprobation, satisfaction 
and displeasure. His past sins must still, how- 
ever sincerely he may have reformed, occasion 
self-dissatisfaction: and this will ever be the 
stronger the more he improves in virtue. Now, 
as this is agreeable to truth, there is reason 
to conclude, that God beholds him in the 
same light." Therefore man's redemption 
must be accomplished by other than himself 
It is further evident that the blood of bulls and 
of goats could not take away sin ; they were 
not of the same nature and origin as man, and 
therefore incapable of making an expiation for 
the sin he had contracted. These were only 
the types and figures of a more perfect sacri- 
fice — of that holy victim who was appointed 
before the foundation of the world. Neither 
could the sacrifice of any ordinary man make 
satisfaction for us, because it is clear he would 
only suffer tliat punishment which his own sins 
had deserved ; and no satisfaction can be made 
for others, by suffering that which justice re- 
quires for our own offences. No ordinary man 
could raise himself from the dead, or procure 
that redemption for another, which he could 
not obtain for himself. Neither could any or- 
dinary man make satisfaction to the violated 
laws of God by a life of sinless obedience. He 
only who had power to lay do'wn his life, and 
take it up again, could procure for man a resur- 
rection, and deliver him from the eternal death 
his sins had incurred. He alone, who took 
upon him human nature, that He might set us 
an example of human virtue, "who knew no 
sin," who was perfect and spotless, the Lamb 
of God, could satisfy the purity of divine justice 
or reconcile it with his mercy, and the economy 
of his government. Throughout the whole 
system of the divine dispensations, the Father 
uniformly acts by the ministry of the Son, and 
the Son by the ministry of the Holy Ghost. 
Had the divine acceptance been wanting to the 
oblation of our Lord's body, whatsoever virtue 
it possessed in itself, it would have been in- 
capable of procuring the pardon of sin, or of 
redeeming man from its punishment and power. 
Whatsoever he purchased for us, he purchased 
of the Father by compact, or agreement" ; and 
He is now exalted to the right hand of God, to 
make there his mysterious intercession for the 
sins of his people. 

As the second Adam, the blessed Lord took 
our humanity ; he restored it to its original 
dignity and innocence, and then made a sacri- 
fice of it upon the cross, as a vicarious atone- 
ment for the sins of the first, and through him 
of all mankind. He was nailed to the accursed 
tree, the emblem of Adam's transgression, and 
was crowned with a crown of thorns, the first 

" See also Whitby, and Scott's Christian Life. 



fruits of his disobedience. The religion which 
he died to establish was of an internal, spiritual 
nature. It was a life of holiness and self-sacri- 
fice. It required the crucifixion of the whole 
animal and inferior nature ; and that the 
motives, and even the thoughts of the heart, 
should be brought into subjection. It required 
a new birth, a new life, of which" baptism isthe 
beautiful ■eioblem, teaching us, that as infants 
are washed immediately on their natural birth, 
so must the children of God, with Christ, be 
born again through the grave and death of sin, 
into the spiritual kingdom, by water and the 
Spirit. If, during the progress of life, the 
animal is allowed to triumph over the spiritual 
man, then the sin of the first Adam still cleaves 
to us, and the sacrifice of the second Adam 
pleads for us in vain. The animal life perishes 
with the body ; the accountable life exists 
through eternity. If the natural man be spirit- 
ualized by the subjugation of the ffesh, he be- 
comes pure and holy, the companion of angels ; 
but if he be polluted and degraded by his con- 
tagion, he then defiles himself, loses the divine 
properties of his first being, and is fitted only 
for association with devils and evil spirits. To 
this fearful condition man was reduced by 
the fall of the first Adam. To revoke this 
curse, Christ, the second Adam, became our 
atonement, by the sacrifice of the whole of the 
offending, but, in him, sinless nature, upon the 
tree of the cross : demonstrating to all the 
world, that the sacrifice of self is the way of 
salvation, and the most acceptable offering that 
man can render to his Creator. 

Deeply do I pity that blind man, who prefers 
rather to trust to his own merits, than by 
faith in the great atonement to hope for salva- 
tion through the blood of Christ. Deeply do I 
feel for him, when he shall be called upon to 
appear before the judgment-seat of a rejected 
Saviour, with all his imperfections, all his frail- 
ties, and all his violations of duty upon his 
head, to answer in an unknown state of incon- 
ceivable glory, before men and angels, for the 
sins committed in the body ; having spurned 
the sheltering protection of that MAN who is 
both a covert from the wind, and a refuge from 
the storm. How can he hope to escape the 
wrath of God pronounced upon every offender 
against his holy laws, when his own beloved 
Son, as our substitute, who alone bore our sins, 
underwent such dreadful agonies, both in body 
and soul? He, who has declared himself of 
purer eyes than to behold iniquity, has also de- 
clared, as fully and plainly, and as repeatedly, 
that " without shedding of blood there is no 
remission of sins :" and what blood can have 
been shed for their remission, but the blood of 
Christ ?. 

Bishop Watson, in speaking of that arrogant 
and dogmatical theology, that decrees the re- 
jection of the doctrine of atonement, as incon- 



Note 26, 27.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



= 183 



sistent with the divine attribute of mercy, uses 
the following just observations: — "We know 
assuredly that God delighteth not in blood ; 
that he hath no cruelty, no vengeance, no ma- 
lignity, no infirmity, nor any passion in his 
nature : but we do not know whether the requi- 
sition of an atonement for transgression may 
not be an emanation of his infinite mercy, rather 
than a demand of his infinite justice. We 
do not know whether it may not be the very 
best means of preserving the innocence and 
happiness not only of us, but of all other free 
and intelligent beings. We do not know 
whether the suffering of an innocent person 
may not be productive of a degree of good, in- 
finitely surpassing the evil of such sufferance ; 
nor whether such a quantum of good could by 
any other means have been produced""." 



Note 26.— Part VII. 

Our Lord, at the time when he made the 
gracious promise to the criminal on the cross, 
was reduced to the lowest state of degradation 
and contempt. He was deserted by all but his 
beloved disciple, liis mother, and two other holy 
women, who were standing by the cross, the 
weeping and agonized spectators of his suffer- 
ings. His disciples had forsaken liim and fled. 
The assembled multitude of his enemies and 
persecutors embittered every pang, by their 
cruel and exulting mockeries. The Evangelists 
mention all kinds and classes of people, as if 
for the purpose of demonstrating the universal 
rejection of our Lord by the Jewish nation. 
The people stood beholding — and the rulers 
with them, deriding — the soldiers mocked him, 
coming to him, and offering him vinegar — the 
passers hy reviled him, and railed on him — the 
chief priests mocked him, with the sciibes and 
elders — even the very thief on the cross reviled 
him, and joined in the common mockery. At 
this moment of general insult and rejection, 
the penitent thief alone declared his belief in 
the innocence of the holy Jesus, and made a 
public confession of liis faith in the divine 
sufferer. 

Our Lord's answer to tlie penitent thief fully 
declared that, although in his human form he 
was faint and dying, enduring the extreme of 
pain and torture, he was the Lord of the invisi- 
ble world, and still retained his divine attribute, 
the power of forgiving sins. The assembled 
people loudly and unanimously demanded of 
him to prove his former pretensions by a 
miracle. They called upon him to come down 
from the cross to save himself, and they would 
believe him. They seemed to consider this as 
a fair cliallenge. They supposed it impossible 

" Two Apologies, &c. pp. 466, 467. 



that any one, who possessed the power, would 
not use it under such trying circumstances. 
They therefore required him to release his body 
from torture, from the nails, and the wood, and 
come among them. But, ever consistent with 
himself, and faithful to the duties of his divine 
mission, instead of complying with their wishes, 
whicli were confined to temporal objects, he 
showed the nature of his kingdom by the prom- 
ise of salvation to a repentant soul. The Jews 
had frequently threatened to kill Christ, because 
he asserted his power to forgive sin. " Who 
can forgive sins," they exclaimed, " but God 
alone ?" and therefore, according to their own 
acknowledgment and belief, he still persevered 
in his divine claims ; and at the point of death 
proclaimed that their long-promised God was 
before them, obscured in the form of a man. 

The forgiveness of the penitent thief may 
be considered as revealing to us that God's 
mercy may be extended to the last moments of 
life ; but we have no reason whatever to pre- 
sume that it shall be so with any of us. No 
human being can ever again be placed in the 
same situation as this criminal. We cannot 
be called upon to follow our Saviour to Calvary, 
to witness his dying agonies ; to hear the bitter 
tauntings of the rabble, and, in tlie midst of 
derision and suffering, to declare our faith in a 
crucified Saviour. When Christ shall again 
become visible to man. He will be seen in his 
glory, and all the holy angels with him. Let 
no man therefore be guilty of delaying repent- 
ance, with the hope of eventual salvation, be- 
cause the penitent thief was forgiven at the 
last. The account of the pardoned criminal is 
related by one Evangelist only, as if the Holy 
Spirit foresaw the perversion of the passage. 
" One instance only," to use the language of a 
celebrated divine, " of the acceptance of a 
dying repentance is recorded ; one, that none 
might despair, and only one, that none might 
presume." 



Note 27.— Part VII. 

ON OUR lord's exclamation on the cross. 

Dr. Edwards thinks that the words were 
repeated twice. The commentators have been 
much divided as to tlieir signification. Rosen- 
mliller considers the words of our Lord as an 
expression of suffering and of prayer, which 
he appropriated to himself. Such also is the 
opinion of Dr. Pye Smith, who both in his 
excellent Discourse on the Atonement, and in 
his work On the Person of Christ, considers the 
words as connected with the sequel and general 
design of the Psalm, of which it is the com- 
mencement, and expressing the extinction of 
all present and sensible comfort. Such also is 
the generally-received opinion, and the writers 



184* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VII. 



in the Cntici Saai, on Matt, xxvii. 46. interpret 
the Dassage in a similar manner. 

Lightfoot, however, has proposed another 
interpretation of our Lord's exclamation ; he 
would read it, not, " Why hast thou forsaken 
me, or left me to the feeling of any spiritual 
desertion;" but, "Why hast thou left me to 
such hands, and to such cruel usage ?" 

Dr. A. Clarke is likewise inclined to favor 
this interpretation. The exclamation of our 
Lord (Matt, xxvii. 46.) he would thus render: 
" How astonishing is the wickedness of those 
persons, into whose hands I have fallen." God 
is said in Scripture to do, what he permits to 
be done, and no decisive argument can be 
drawn therefore from the expression to prove 
that he was deserted by his Father. He con- 
firms this interpretation from Mark xv. 34. ; the 
w®rds of which passage, he observes, agree 
pretty nearly with this translation of the 
Hebrew — Elg rl fis syxmihTTEg ; " to what 
(sort of persons, understood) hast thou left 
me .'" A literal translation of the passage in 
the Syriac Testament gives a similar sense : 
Jld quid dereliquisti me ? " To what hast thou 
abandoned me ?" And an ancient copy of the 
old Itala version, a Latin translation before the 
time of St. Jerome, renders the words thus: 
Q^imre me in opprobrium dedisti? "Why hast 
thou abandoned me to reproach ?" 

" It may be objected, that this can never 
agi-ee with the ifuTl, ' why,' of Matthew. To 
this it is answered, that Ivarl must have here 
the same meaning as elg rl, as the transla- 
tion of noS, lama ; and that if the meaning be 
at all different, we must follow that Evangelist 
who expresses most literally the meaning of 
the original : and let it be observed, that tlie 
Septuagint often translate nnS by ifarl, in- 
stead of etg 7l, which evidently proves that it 
often had the same meaning. Whatever may 
be thought of the above mode of interpretation, 
one thing is certain, that tlie words could not 
be used by our Lord in the sense in which they 
are generally understood. This is sufficiently 
evident ; for he well knew why he was come 
unto that hour, nor could he be forsaken of God, 
in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead 
bodily. The Deity, however, might restrain so 
much of its consolatory support, as to leave the 
human nature fully sensible of all its sufferings ; 
so that the consolations might not take off any 
part of the keen edge of his passion : and this 
was necessary to make his sufferings meritori- 
ous. And it is probable, that this is all that is 



intended by our Lord's quotation from the 
twenty-second Psalm. Taken in this view, the 
words convey an unexceptionable sense, even 
in the common translation'^." 



Note 28.— Part VII. 

In John xix. 28. we read, " Jesus knowing 
that all things were now accomplished, that the 
Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst ;" and 
now, that he hath taken the vinegar, he said, 
" It is finished," that is, this act was the last 
circumstance that remained to be fulfilled of all 
the ancient prophecies and predictions. He 
took the proffered cup of vinegar, and thereby 
closed and sealed, by his blood, the Levitical 
Dispensation, and brought in a more perfect 
one. 

" They gave me gall for my meat, 
In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." 

Ps. Ixix. 21, 

Even the most minute circumstances of our 
Saviour's life and death were foretold by the 
Spirit of prophecy many centuries before his 
birth, and they have all been literally and ab- 
solutely fulfilled. See the eloquent passages 
of Taylor, Horsley, and Porteus, on this section. 



Note 29.— Part VII. 

It is singular that our translators have not 
observed the three modes of expression which 
the Evangelists have here adopted. Mark and 
Luke say ^fe'rrj'eiiaf, "he expired." John xix. 
30. nagiduitE ri nvsvfxa, "he yielded up his 
spirit." Matthew xxvii. 50. (xcprix^ ^6 nvev/ua, 
" he dismissed his spirit." The spirits of mere 
men are in general violently separated from 
the body, in a way over which they can have 
no control : it was for our Lord only to die as 
the Prince of Life, by an act of supernatural 
power, and to separate, at his own pleasure, 
and at his own command, the spirit from the 
body. 

^ Edwards, ap. Doddridge in loc. Smith's Z)js- 
course on the Atonement, p. 34, 35 ; and Scripture 
Testimony, &c. vol. ii. part i. p. 357. Rosenmuller 
in loc. Lightfoot, 8vo. edit. vol. viii. p. 167. A. 
Clarke, in Matt, xxvii. 46. 



Note 1.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*18^ 



PART VIII. 



Note L- Part VIII. 

ON THE BURIAL AND RESURRECTION OF OUR 
LORD. 

When our first parents disoLeyed the com- 
mand of God, we are told, that their " eyes 
were opened." The word in the original lan- 
guage"", which is thus rightly translated, is ap- 
plied to the breaking forth of a flower from its 
calyx. The proper meaning, therefore, of the 
passage seems to be, that as a flower bursts 
forth at the appointed season from the dark- 
ness and imprisonment of the enclosing calyx, 
so did our first parents enter upon an entirely 
new mode of existence, when they had taken 
of the forbidden fruit. We are unable to form 
any adequate idea of their condition in a state 
of innocence. Our notions are so uniformly 
derived from experience, that we cannot, from 
the intended indefiniteness of the language of 
Scripture, represent to ourselves the primeval 
innocence and happiness of a sinless state. 
Whatever it might have been, the narration of 
the Fall assures us of this important fact, that 
their condition in their new existence arose out 
of the state of their minds, in their former 
paradise. They desired evil before they com- 
mitted an act of sin, and thus began an unfit- 
ness for remaining in a spiritual and perfect 
state: they accomplished the act which was 
forbidden, and thus completed that unfitness. 
The account of the Fall shows us that the prin- 
ciple of evil being admitted into the heart, and 
ruling there, renders man unfit for the im- 
mediate presence of God, in a spiritual or 
heavenly condition, and therefore banishes us 
from heaven by its own nature : and those, 
therefore, who die under its influence, carry 
with them into an invisible state, an eternal 
incapacity for the enjoyment of that place or 
state, to which Christians will be exalted. As 
our first parents carried with them, into the 
new and fallen condition, into which sin had 
brought them, the memory of their transgres- 
sion, the consciousness of the justice of God, 
and all the same powers of reasoning, will, 

"■ np3 from an Arabic root, " protuberavit flos, 
vel pressius, rosa quae crepantem jam calycem ef- 
findit, indeque eminere, et protuberare incipit. 
Hinc transfertur ad oculus, nominatim catuli, quum 
eos prima vice aperit qua velut calyce efRso patent, 
nam tunc vibrantissima catulorum acies, deinde 
hominum, quorum oculi protuberante acie perspi- 
caces facti sunt." Nova V. T. clavis, Johan. Henric. 
Meisner, vol. ap. Gen. iii. 5. 

VQL. II. *24 



reflection, and the other intellectual faculties, 
which they had before exercised and perverted 
— in like manner shall all their descendants 
enter upon their future life, with the conscious- 
ness of their relative situation with respect to 
the Almighty, with the memory of the actions 
done in their state of probation, and with all 
the powers and faculties which now enable 
them to think, act, and reason. If the soul be 
immortal, its properties and powers must be 
immortal also. The man continues the same, 
both in the present and future stages of his 
existence, so long as the same consciousness, 
memory, and powers are united''. 

The doctrine of the resurrection of the body 
is one of the most important in the Inspired 
Volume, and as such a visible demonstration 
of its truth has been vouchsafed to us in the 
Patriarchal, the Levitical, and Christian Dis- 
pensations. The resurrection of the body of 
Christ is an earnest of our own resurrection, 
and shows us in what form we shall arise from 
the dead: for we are assured that we shall be 
like unto him. As the second Adam rose from 
the dead with a real body, so shall he also 
"cause the fashion of our body of humiliation to 
be made like unto his body of glory, according 
to the energy of his power, subduing all things 
to himself." The resurrection shows to us the 
manner in which we shall be clothed with a 
body, which shall be suited to the invisible 
world. It has completed the chain of evidence 
which convinces us of our immortality. It 
demonstrates, by an undeniable fact, the cer- 
tainty of our future existence, and the unjus- 
tifiable folly of those who live in this stage of 
their being without preparation for the next. 
It is the one indissoluble link which unites 
heaven and earth. 

In proportion to the importance of this fun- 
damental doctrine has ever been the discussion 
respecting its evidence and truth. Various 
objections have been at various times adduced, 
for the purpose of impugning the truth of the 
different accounts of the resurrection given by 

^ I have not thought it necessary to allude here 
to the curious questions which have been agitated, 
respecting the nature of the body of Adam before 
he fell ; and whether we sliall rise from the dead 
in the same form, or whether the resurrec- 
tion body will be surrounded with a glory, such 
as clothed the form of the man who is represented 
by Ezekiel as appearing between the cherubim. — ■ 
See on these points, Lord Barrington's Essay on 
the Dispensations, 1732, p. 11, note. 

■^ Horsley's Four Sermons on the Resurrection, 
p. 219. 



186* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VIIl 



the Evangelists. These may be all classed 
under the separate heads of— difficulties 
arising from the conciseness and studied brev- 
ity of the Evangelists — from the accounts of the 
angels, whether they were the same or different 
— from the terms used by the Evangelists to 
denote the respective times, when the several 
parties who attended at an early hour at the 
sepulchre set out, or arrived there— and like- 
wise the difficulty which arises from the de- 
scription of the tomb. These objections will 
be discussed in the notes to this part, which 
has been arranged after a most careful and 
repeated investigation of the several plans of 
harmonies, proposed by the principal writers on 
the subject. It may, however, be necessary to 
premise, with respect to the first principal diffi- 
culties now mentioned, that the Evangelists 
■wrote without any intention of giving a harmo- 
nized narrative of all the occurrences which 
took place on the morning of the resurrection. 
Each mentions more particularly the circum- 
stances which he considered most important to 
be known by those whom he addressed ; and, 
in most instances, one seems to supply what 
the other had omitted. 

The intention of St. Matthew was, to coun- 
teract the impression produced by the falsehoods 
of the high priests, and the keepers of the 
sepulchre. St. Mark notices those things of 
which St. Peter, under whose inspection his 
Gospel was written, must have been an eye- 
witness : and St. Luke takes up the narrative 
of events on the day of the resurrection where 
St. Matthew left off, and introduces another 
party, who came later to the sepulchre ; and 
adds some things which took place on that day, 
which St. Matthew had omitted. John added 
some events in which liimself had been more 
especially concerned, and which he had wit- 
nessed. 

The second difficulty, the appearances of the 
angels, has been considered as the most im- 
portant, but without just reason. We are un- 
acquainted even with the laws of animal life ; 
we know of some facts, and deduce some in- 
ferences, but of the laws of life we still remain 
io-norant. It ought not, therefore, to excite 
surprise that we cannot comprehend the laws 
of angelic life. These beings might have be- 
come visible or invisible at pleasure ; or they 
might at pleasure have altered their appearance. 
The same angel spirit who assumed a terrible 
countenance to overawe the guards might have 
put on a mild and tranquil aspect when he ad- 
dressed the women. Other angels might have 
been attending, though they were invisible while 
their companions spoke : and though a short time 
only elapsed between the arrival of the second 
party, and the departure of the first, no diffi- 
culty can be justly drawn from the inquiry, 
whether it was the same angel or another? 
The general conclusion, however, is, that the 



angels of St. Matthew and St. Mark weri5 
different. The angel mentioned by Matthew, 
xxviii. 1., sate in the porch of the tomb, and 
had assumed a terrible appearance to overawe 
the guard ; but the angel, Mark xvi. 5., was 
another withinside the sepulchre, in the inner 
apartment. The two angels spoken of by John, 
XX. 11., were seen some short time after those 
mentioned by Matthew and Mark (Matt, xxviii. 
1. and Mark xvi. 5.), but whether they were 
the same, or different, cannot possibly be ascer- 
tained. Neither can it be determined whether 
the angels wlio manifested themselves to the 
second party of women, recorded by St. Luke, 
xxiv. 4., were the same or different. Tiiey are 
represented as appearing like lightning, with a 
raiment white as snow — as young men clothed 
in long white garments, the appointed guar- 
dians of the crucified body of their Lord, and 
the happy spectators of his glorious and tri- 
umphant victory over death, and the powers of 
darkness. 

The third difficulty, respecting the time, will be 
discussed in the notes to the seventh section. 

The fourth difficulty is local, and has arisen 
from want of sufficient attention to the particu- 
lar structure of the holy sepulchre ; which con- 
sisted of two parts, the porch, or anti-chamber, 
from which a narrow passage led into the inner 
vault, or tomh, where the body was deposited. 
Matthew critically distinguishes rdqiog, " the 
tomb," from /ifij/nElov, "the sepulchre," in 
general. The other Evangelists use .wj'rjua, 
and fivrjfxtXov indiscriminately''. This difficul- 
ty will be more particularly considered in the 
notes to the twelfth section. 

In reply, however, to all the general objec- 
tions which have been made to the minor cir- 
cumstances here alluded to, we may assert, 
with the utmost boldness and confidence, that 
we have abundant and every requisite evidence 
to convince us of the truth and certainty of the 
fact, of the resurrection of the body of Christ. 
It would be impossible to enumerate the many 
writers who have illustrated this subject, and 
demonstrated the certainty of the fact. The 
last" who has discussed it has considered the 
various proofs, as they may be derived, — 

1st, From the prophecies of Jesus, that at a 
certain time he was to rise from the dead. 

2d, From the fact that at this precise time 
his body was, by the confession of all who had 
access to know, not to be found in the sepulchre 
in which it had been laid, altliough the most 
effectual precaution had been taken to prevent 
its removal. 

3d, From the positive testimony of the dis- 
ciples, that after this time they frequently saw 
him, conversed with him, and received from 

•^ See Schleusner, Cranfield, and Townson's notes. 
* Cooke's View of the Evidence of the Resur- 
rection. 



Note 1.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*187 



him those instructions upon wliich they acted in 
publishing- his Gospel. 

4tb, From the success which attended their 
preaching-, founded upon the alleged fact that 
he had actually risen. 

All of which arguments are considered at 
great length, in an admirable and forcible man- 
ner. Mr. Home-'' too has summed up the col- 
lective evidence in support of this great event 
•with his usual perspicuity. " If we peruse," he 
observes, " the history of that event with care, 
we must conclude either that Christ arose, or 
that his disciples stole his body away. The 
more we consider the latter alternative, the 
more impossible it appears. Every time, in- 
deed, that our Saviour attempted to perform a 
miracle, he risked his credit on its accomplish- 
ment : had he failed in one instance, that would 
have blasted liis reputation forever. The 
same remark is applicable to his predictions : 
had any one of them failed, that great charac- 
ter which he had to support would have re- 
ceived an indelible stain. Of all his predic- 
tions, there is none on which he and his 
disciples laid greater stress, than that of his 
resurrection. So frequently, indeed, had Jesus 
Christ publicly foretold that he would rise 
again on the tlaird day, that those persons who 
caused him to be put to death, were acquainted 
with this prediction ; and, being in power, used 
every possible means to prevent its accomplish- 
ment, or any imposition on the public in that 
affair. 

" After the crucifixion and death of Christ, 
the chief priests applied to Pilate, the Roman 
governor, for a watch, and sealed the sepulchre 
in which the body was deposited. By this 
guard of Roman soldiers was the tomb watched ; 
and on the resurrection of Christ, they went and 
related it to the chief priests, who bribed them 
with money, promising to secure their persons 
from danger, and charged them to affirm, that 
Christ's disciples stole his body away while 
they were sleeping, (Mattliew xxviii. 11-15.) 
This flight of the soldiers, theii- declaration to 
the high priests and elders, the subsequent 
conduct of the latter, the detection and publi- 
cation of their collusion with the soldiers by 
the apostles, and the silence of the Jews on 
that subject, who never attempted to refute or 
to contradict the declarationsof Christ's disci- 
ples — are all strong evidences of the reality and 
truth of his resurrection. A few additional 
considerations will suffice to show the false- 
hood of the assertion made by the chief priests. 

" On the one hand, the terror of the timid dis- 
ciples, who were afraid to be seen, and the 
paucity of their number ; on the other hand, 
the authority of Pilate and of the Sanhedrin ; 
the great danger attending such an enterprise 
as the stealing of Christ's body, the impossibil- 

/ Introduction to the Critical Study, &c. vol. i. p. 
595, &c. 



ity of succeeding in such an attempt, both from 
the number of armed men who guarded the 
tomb, and also from the lightness of the night, 
it being the time of full moon, at the great 
annual festival, when the city was full of 
people, and many probably passed the whole 
night (as Jesus and his disciples had done) in 
the open air, the sepulchre also being so near 
the city as to be enclosed within the walls ; all 
these circumstances combine to render such an 
imposture as that, which was palmed upon the 
Jews, utterly unworthy of credit. For, in the 
■first place, is it probable that so many men as 
composed the guard would all fall asleep in the 
open air at once ? 2. Is it at all probable that 
a Roman guard should be found off their watch, 
much less asleep, when, according to the Ro- 
man military laws, it was instant death to be 
found in such a state ? 3. Could they be so 
soundly asleep as not to awake with all the 
noise which must necessarily be made by re- 
moving the great stone from the mouth of the 
sepulchre, and taking away the body ? 4. Is it 
at all likely that these timid disciples could 
have had sufficient time to do all this, without 
being perceived by any person ? How could 
soldiers, armed, and on guard, suffer themselves 
to be overreached by a few timorous people? 
5. ' Either,' says Augustine, ' they were asleep 
or awake : if they were awake, why should 
they suffer the body to be taken away ? If 
asleep, how could they know that the disciples 
took it away ? How dare they, then, depose that 
it was stolen ? ' From the testimony of the ene- 
mies of Christianity, therefore, the resurrection 
of Christ may be fully proved. 

"Further, the conduct of the priests and elders 
towards the soldiers evidently implies a convic- 
tion that our Saviour was actually risen. They 
were now certain that he was not in the tomb. 
If there had been any suspicion that his dis- 
ciples were in possession of the dead body, 
these rulers, for their own credit, would instant- 
ly have imprisoned them, and used means to 
recover it, which would have quashed the report 
of his resurrection for ever. There can be 
no doubt, therefore, of their conviction that he 
was actually risen from the dead. If Jesus 
had appeared to the priests and rulers, it could 
have served no good purpose, as they were 
already convinced of the fact, but would not 
acknowledge it to the people. Supposing that 
his appearance to them, afler his resurrection, 
would have changed their minds, and induced 
them publicly to confess the truth, the testimony 
of the priests and rulers would have been very 
suspicious to posterity ; it would have been 
said that they were influenced by some politi- 
cal motive. Besides, this would have weak- 
ened the testimony of the disciples ; for the 
men who bribed the soldiers could secretly have 
bribed the.m; therefore the support of the priests 
and rulers would have rendered the declaration 



188* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VIII 



of the chosen witnesses suspicious. Their 
inveterate opposition to the cause, and violent 
persecution of the Christians, remove all sus- 
picion of priestcraft and political design. If the 
disciples had agreed to impose upon the world 
in this affair, common sense would have directed 
them, first to spread the report that our Lord 
was risen from the grave, and then to employ 
an individual, whom they could trust, to per- 
sonate him, and to appear before the multitude 
in such a manner and at such times as would 
not endanger a discovery : as our Lord never 
appeared to the multitude after his resurrection, 
this removed all suspicion that the disciples had 
contrived a scheme for deceiving the people. 

" These considerations show tliat our Saviour's 
appearance, after he rose from the dead, only 
to a competent number of witnesses, who were 
intimately acquainted with him before his de- 
cease, is a circumstance highly calculated to es- 
tablish the truth of his resurrection to posterity. 
" The character of the apostles also proves the 
truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ ; and 
there are nine considerations which give their 
evidence sufficient weight, viz. 

" 1. The condition of these witnesses. — They 
were not men of power, riches, eloquence, or 
credit, to impose upon the world. They were 
poor, and mean, and despised : they were also 
incredulous of the fact itself. It is evident, 
that though our Saviour foretold his resurrec- 
tion, yet after his death the disciples did not 
expect it, and therefore were with difficulty 
convinced of its reality. But as it was a subject 
of the highest importance to them and to the 
world, they obtained the fullest satisfaction of 
its truth. Intimately acquainted with his person 
after his resurrection, they felt his body, fre- 
quently examined his person, renewed the 
private conversations which he had with them 
before his decease, and enjoyed an intimacy 
with him, as removed the possibility of their 
being deceived. 

"2. The number of these witnesses. — This was 
more than sufficient to establish any fact. 
When St. Paul published a defence of our 
Lord's resurrection, he declared to the world 
that Jesus appeared to five hundred witnesses 
at one time ; and he appealed to a number of 
them, who were then alive, for the truth of his 
assertion. Could all those men agree volun- 
tarily to maintain a vile falsehood, not only 
altogether unprofitable, but also such as involved 
them in certain dishonor, poverty, persecution, 
and death ? According to their own principles, 
either as Jews or Christians, if this testimony, 
to which they adhered to the last moment of 
their lives, had been false, they exposed them- 
selves to eternal misery. Under such circum- 
stances, these men could not have persevered 
in maintaining a false testimony, unless God 
had wrought a miracle in human nature to 
enable impostors to deceive the world. 



"3. The fads, which they themselves avow: — 
not suppositions, distant events, or events re- 
lated by others, but real facts, which they have be- 
held with their own eyes. " That .... which vve 
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked 
upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of 

Life declare we unto you." (1 John i. I. 3.) 

" 4. Observe the tribunals before which they 
gave evidence. The members of these tri- 
bunals were Jews and heathens, philosophers 
and rabbis, courtiers and lawyers. If they had 
been impostors, the fraud would certainly have 
been discovered. 

" 5. The place in which they bore testimony. — It 
was not at a distance where it would have been 
difficult to detect them if they asserted a false- 
hood ; but at Jerusalem, in the synagogue, in 
the prsetorium. 

" 6. The agreement of their evidence. — These 
witnesses were separated from one another : 
many of them were imprisoned, separately 
examined, severely tried, and cruelly tortured, 
yet they all agreed in every part of their testi- 
mony. In no instance whatever did they con- 
tradict either themselves or one another; but 
cheerfully sealed with their blood this truth, — 
that they saw and conversed with Jesus after 
he was risen from the dead. Every person, 
possessed of common sense, must see the 
absolute impossibility of this agreement among 
the witnesses, if the subject of their testimony 
had been a falsehood. 

" 7. The time when this evidence was given. — It 
was not after the lapse of several years, but only 
three days after our Saviour's crucifixion, that 
they declared he was risen — yea, even before 
the rage of his enemies was quelled, and while 
Calvary was yet dyed with the blood they had 
shed. If the resurrection of Christ had been a 
fraud, it is not likely that the apostles would 
have come forward in open day, and thus pub- 
licly have affirmed it. 

"8. Consider the motives, which induced them 
to publish the fact of Christ's resurrection : — 
It was not to acquire fame, riches, glory, or 
profit. — By no means. On the contrary, they 
exposed themselves to sufferings and death, 
and proclaimed the truth from a conviction of 
its importance and certainty. 

" 9. Lastly, the miracles performed by these 
witnesses in the name of Jesus, and in con- 
firmation of their declaration concerning the 
resurrection of Jesus, are God's testimony to 
tlieir veracity. No subject was ever more 
public, more investigated, or better known, 
than the transactions of the apostles. St. Luke, 
an historian of great character, who witnessed 
many of the things which he relates, published 
the Acts of the Apostles among the people who 
saw the transactions. It would have blasted 
his character to have published falsehoods 
which must instantly be detected ; it would 
have ruined the credit of the Church to have 



Note 1.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



a 89 



received, as facts, notorious falsehoods. Now 
the Acts of the Apostles were written by St. 
Luke, received by the Church, and no false- 
hood was ever detected in that book by Jew or 
GentOe. The primitive fathers attest its truth 
and authenticity, and heathen authors record 
some of tlie important facts which are related 
by the sacred historian. In the second chapter, 
we are informed that the apostles, who were 
known to be unlearned fishermen, began to 
speak tlie several languages of those people, 
who at that time were assembled at Jerusalem 
from different countries. When the people 
were astonished at this undoubted proof of 
inspiration, the apostles thus addressed the 
multitude: — 'Ye men of Israel, hear these 
words ! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of 
God among you, by miracles and signs (which 
God did by him in the midst of you), as ye your- 
selves also know — this Jesus hath God raised 
up, whereof we are all witnesses.' To the 
gift of tongues, as a proof of inspiration, was 
added a number of undoubted miracles, in con- 
firmation of this testimony concerning Jesus 
Christ, which are related in the Acts of the 
Apostles, and were published among the people 
who witnessed them." 

Though these arguments are apparently 
sufficient to satisfy the most determined skeptic, 
we are by no means contented to rest the 
merits of this cause upon general statements 
alone. As the Evangelical narrative has been 
so frequently objected to by the opponents of 
Christianity, many writers who have been as 
willing as the most resolute skeptic to abandon 
the cause of Christianity, if they had deemed 
it on inquiry to be unworthy of support, have 
devoted so much attention to this part of the 
inspired history, that every incident recorded, 
and every word that relates it, have been repeat- 
edly examined with the most acute and diligent 
attention : and the result has been, to place the 
authenticity of the sacred story on the firmest 
foundation. 

The principal embarrassment in the history 
of the resurrection arises from the account of 
the time at which the women came to the 
sepulchre. It was long supposed that they 
came there together, and a great difficulty was 
consequently felt, as to the one angel men- 
tioned by Matthew and Mark, and the two men- 
tioned by St. Luke. Lightfoot has endeavoured 
to reconcile this apparent discrepancy, by sup- 
posing that they saw one angel, as they went 
together, sitting on the entrance stone, and 
another in the inside ; a solution which appears 
by no means-satisfactory. The reasoning by 
which the later harmonizers have concluded 
that there were two, and not one party of 
women only, will be given in the notes to the 
second section. 

By one of those singular coincidences which 
sometimes occur, three competent and learned 



men were engaged at the same time in study 
ing the scriptural account of the resurrection. 
These were Pilkington, a country clergyman, 
whose work is a monument of patient investiga- 
tion ; Doddridge, the weU-known author of the 
Family Expositor ; and West, a layman ; whose 
Treatise on the Resurrection will always be 
valued by those who would understand the 
evidences of their religion. These three 
writers, unknown to each other, aU came to 
similar conclusions respecting two companies 
of women, fllr. West's work was actually 
published when PUkington's was ready for pub- 
lication ; and the latter has directed his reader 
to correct one of his sections, in consequence 
of Mr. West's obsers-ations on the resurrection. 
The section itself had been printed off. Dr. 
Doddridge had but just published the part of 
his Expositor, containing the Gospels, and at 
the end of his postscript to this part of his 
work, he thanks Mr. West for the advantage he 
had derived from his labors, and points out in 
what respects they had differed from each other. 
The only variation with respect to the two 
parties of women is, that Doddridge supposed 
them to have left the city by different ways, 
and therefore that they did not meet till they 
arrived at the tomb. 

As it may seem necessary to give some 
account of the several theories of the three 
authors who have so deeply studied this subject, 
(before the plan I have adopted be considered,) 
I shall give here the abstract of the harmonies 
of the resurrection proposed by West, and by 
Dr. Townson ; the elaborate work of the latter 
being a correction, and a more systematic 
arrangement of the whole account laid down 
by the former. To these I shall add that of 
Mr. Cranfield, of Trinity coUege, Dublin, who, 
in a prize essay on the subject, proceeded with 
great attention once more through the whole 
mass of reading necessary to enable him to 
decide on some minute points in which he differs 
from Dr. Townson. In the disposal of each 
event in this Arrangement, no notes wOl be 
requisite where the harmonizers are agreed ; 
where they differ, the reasons will be assigned. 
I have endeavoured to express in the titles to 
the sections, the conclusions to which I have 
been led from the perusal of these authors. 

The best abstract of Mr. West's plan is that 
compiled by Dr. Doddridge, in tlie postscript to 
the first part of the Family Expositor. 

" During the time of our blessed Redeemer's 
lying in the grave, several of the pious women 
who had attended him from Galilee, together 
with some of their female friends and acquaint- 
ance at Jerusalem, agreed to meet at his sepul- 
chre early on the morning of the third day, to 
embalm the body. Mary Magdalene, the other 
Mary, Salome, and Joanna, were principal 
persons in this appointment : the chief care of 
preparing, that is, pounding, mixing, and melting 



190* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VIII. 



the spices, was left to Joanna and her company, 
who were to he there about sunrising ; whereas 
the two Marys and Salome (of whom Matthew 
and Mark chiefly write) came thither, ngwi, be- 
fore the appointed time early in the morning, or as 
tlie day dawned, in order, d-e^Qriaui, to view the 
sepulchre, that they might judge whether they 
and their companions could be able to remove 
the stone which closed it, or whether it would 
be necessary to call in other assistance, as 
they then knew nothing of the guard which 
was set upon it. While these three women 
last mentioned were on their way, Jesus arose, 
when the angel had opened the sepulchre and 
struck the guards into amazement and conster- 
nation ; the consequence of which was, that 
some of them went to the Jewish rulers, and 
joined in contriving and propagating the sense- 
less falsehood of the body being stolen, and 
others went into other parts of the city, and 
told the matter as it really was. In the mean 
time, the angel disappeared, and Mary Magda- 
lene, approaching the sepulchre, discerned from 
some distance that the very large stone that 
stopped it was rolled away, and, concluding 
from thence that the body was removed, left 
the other Mary and Salom6 to wait for Joanna 
and her company, while she herself ran to 
Peter and John, to acquaint tliem with what 
she had discovered. While she was gone, 
these two (the other Mary and Salom6) went 
toward the sepulchre, and entering into it, saw, 
to their great astonishment, an angel, who told 
them that Jesus, whom he knew they sought, 
was not there, but was risen from the dead, 
and gave it them in charge to go and acquaint 
his disciples with it, and to let them know that 
he would give them a meeting in Galilee. The 
greatness of their consternation prevented them 
from saying any thing immediately to any one, 
even to some of their own company, who might 
pass and repass within their view at least, and 
so occasioned a delay which left room for some 
other circumstances. Just as they were on 
their return, Peter and John came (perhaps 
passing by them at some distance,) and Mary 
Magdalene followed them. John at his first 
arrival only looked into the sepulchre ; but 
when Peter came and entered it, John went in 
too, and from the circumstances in which he saw 
things, believed that Jesus was risen ; though 
the angel (who could appear or disappear at 
pleasure) did not render himself visible to either. 
They returned to the city ; and Mary Magdalene, 
who was now alone, stooping down to look into 
the sepulchre, saw two angels; but (perhaps 
imagining they were two young men, whom'curi- 
osity or accident might have brought thitlier) 
took little notice of them, and continued weep- 
ing in deep thought and distress, till Jesus 
appeared, and made himself known to her in 
those very remarkable words, John xx. 17., 
which Mr. West illustrates with some very 



peculiar observations^. Leaving her very 
suddenly, our Lord appeared to the other Mary 
and Salom6, whom he permitted to embrace 
his feet, comforted them under their fear, and 
renewed the assurance the angel had given 
them, that he would meet his disciples in 
Galilee. While these things were passing at 
some distance, and the scene at the sepulchre 
was clear, Joanna and the women who brought 
the spices (and of whom Luke only writes) 
came, and entering into the sepulchre, at first 
saw no one in it, till the two angels, who a few 
minutes before had appeared to Mary Magda- 
lene, made themselves visible to Joanna and 
her attendants, and assuring them of the resur- 
rection of Jesus, reminded them how it had 
been foretold by himself, with the previous 
circumstances of his sufferings, but gave them 
no charge concerning the information to be 
carried to the apostles ; that having been com- 
mitted to the others. Yet (as it was natural 
to suppose they would) some of this second 
company ran to the city, and, by whatever 
accident it happened, reached the eleven, and 
some other disciples who were with them, 
before the two Marys and Salome arrived, 
telling them (which was all they could tell 
them), that they had seen a vision of angels, 
who asserted that Jesus was alive. Peter, on 
this, ran a second time to the sepulchre (Luke 
xxiv. 12.), and not entering as before, but only 
stooping down and looking into it, he saw no 
angels, or any thing else but, rd 6d6via xetfieva 
/ii6va, ' only the linen clothes lying ' there, on 
which he returned ; and just on his making that 
report, the two disciples who went that day to 
Emmaus, or some from whom they received 
their information (Luke xxiv. 22-24.), left the 
place before the arrival of the two Marys and 
Salom6 ; who retarded, as was hinted above, 
by some unknown accident, (perhaps by guess- 
ing wrong as to tire place where they might 

^ " Mr. West observes, that this text, ' I am not 
yet ascended,' &c. comprehends in a few words a 
variety of most important hints, which have not 
commonly been taken notice of in them ; particu- 
larly that our Lord intended by them to recall to 
the minds of his disciples the discourse he had with 
them three nights before, in which he explained 
what he meant by going to the Father (John xvi. 
28.) ; and by twice using the word ' ascend,' de- 
signed to intimate, that he was to go up to heaven, 
not merely in spirit, as the pious dead do, but by a 
corporeal motion and translation, and that it would 
be some time before he took his final leave of earth 
by this intended ascension ; all which weighty ex- 
pressions and predictions concur with a thousand 
other circumstances to show how impossible it was 
that such an apprehended appearance should have 
been merely the result of a disordered imagination ; 
a consideration which Mr. West illustrates at large, 
as he also does the mistaken apprehension of the 
disciples, who, when some of their companions, 
whose veracity they could not suspect, testified 
they had seen the Lord, thought his body was not 
risen, but that it was only his spirit that appeared 
to them. " 



Note 1.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



^191 



find the largest company together,) at last, how- 
ever, reached them, and made abundant satis- 
faction for the little delay (for all might 
perhaps have passed in an hour), by assuring 
them, not only that they also had seen an 
angel, who informed them of their Lord's res- 
urrection, but that Jesus himself had appeared 
to them, and had even permitted himself to be 
touched by two of them." 

This is Mr. West's scheme of this important 
story; and the reader will perceive, that it 
chiefly differs from that of Dr. Doddridge in 
these two circumstances : — ^That it supposes 
the women to have made two different visits to 
the sepulchre, and, in consequence of that, two 
distinct reports ; whereas his unites them, 
(though he does not suppose they came all 
together, but that they met there): and that it 
also makes Peter to have run to it twice, of 
which there can be no reasonable doubt, though 
Dr. Doddridge, before he perused Mr. West's 
plan, had incorporated Luke's account with 
that of John, relating to his running thither 
with John, on Mary Magdalene's first report. 

Dr. Townson prefaces his plan by observing, 
that the chief difficulties which occur in the 
evangelical history of the Lord Jesus, from his 
death to his ascension, are found in the morn- 
ing of his resurrection. The events related 
of it fell within a short space of time, and were 
nearly coincident, or quickly successive to each 
other. They are told briefly, and but in part, 
by the Evangelists, with few notes of time or 
order in the Gospel relative to anotiier. It can- 
not therefore excite surprise, that learned men 
have judged variously of their connexion, and 
have pursued different methods of reducing 
them into one narrative. Many of them have 
succeeded so far as to show by a very probable 
arrangement, that the Gospels are wholly recon- 
cileable with each other. 

This is an important point ; yet what may 
suffice to prove that there are not characters of 
disagreement in the facts recorded, may not 
quite satisfy us that they are altogether rightly 
methodized. 

Mary Magdalene is mentioned by St. Mat- 
thew, St. Mark, and St. John, as going early to 
the sepulchre on the first day of the week. St. 
Mark joins two others with her; Mary the 
mother of James, and Salome the mother of 
Zebedee's children. He names these three ; 
and his context will not allow us to suppose 
that there was any other person of their party. 
St. Luke, who speaks of a greater number of 
women going to the sepulchre, has so guarded 
his account of them as not to include the three 
just mentioned; and what is said by him of 
their vision and behaviour at the sepulchre is 
totally unlike any thing that is related of the 
two Marys and Salome. If these things can 
be made to appear evident, from a comparison 
of the Evangelists, we must then, in justice to 



them, consider the women as going to the sep- 
ulchre in a less and larger company. 

I shall now subjoin, however, a summary of 
the arrangement proposed botli by Dr. Townson 
and Mr. Cranfield, and add a table of Scripture 
passages. The reader will be then able to 
perceive, at one view, the variation of the Ar- 
ranger from both, and his agi-eement or dis- 
agreement with either. The following is a 
summary of Dr. Townson's proposed arrange- 
ment : — 

Section I. — Friday Evening. Our Lord's 
disciples, and the women that had followed him 
from Galilee, were not absent from his crucifix- 
ion, " They stood beholding afar off." 

Only his Virgin Mother, Mary her sister, 
mother of James and Joses, and Mary Mag- 
dalene, with the disciple whom Jesus loved, and 
to whose protection he then recommended his 
mother, are mentioned as venturing to approach 
his cross. 

But when Joseph of Arimathea had obtained 
leave from Pilate to inter the body, the Gali- 
lean women in general followed it to the sepul- 
chre, and saw where and how it was laid. 
They then hastened to the city, to purchase 
and prepare spices that evening, for anointing 
it as soon as might conveniently be done after 
the Sabbath ; which, as beginning about sun- 
set, was then coming on. But Mary Magda- 
lene and the other Mary, two of those who had 
been standing by his cross, did not depart with 
the rest. They continued " sitting over against 
the tomb." 

Section II. — Saturday. — Towards the close 
of this day, which was the Jewish Sabbatli, the 
chief priests and Pharisees, with Pilate's per- 
mission, set a guard upon the sepulchre, which 
was to secure it till the end of the third day. 

The same evening, when the Sabbath was 
over, Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, 
who had lost their opportunity before, bought 
their share of spices, with the concurrence of a 
third, Salom6, the mother of Zebedee's chil- 
dren, who had probably been engaged the fore- 
going evening in attending and supporting the 
mother of our Lord, whom he had recommend- 
ed to the protection of her son, the beloved 
disciple. 

Section III. — Sunday Morning. — Very early 
the next morning, and probably before the time 
settled for opening the sepulchre, these three 
women hastened to visit it by themselves. 

The two Marys set out before it was daylight, 
I presume because they lodged further from 
the sepulchre than Salome, whom they called 
upon to accompany them ; and while they were 
on tlieir way, an angel descended, and rolled 
away the stone that closed the entrance of the 
tomb, and Christ arose. 



192* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VIII. 



The g-uard, terrified at the sight of the angel, 
retired from the sepulchre as he approached it, 
and, when they were a little recovered from 
their consternation, quitted the garden in which 
it stood. 

The women arrived when the soldiers were 
gone, and at the rising of the sun. On drawing 
near to the sepulchre they perceived that the 
stone was rolled away: and Mary Magdalene, 
concluding that the body was removed, hurried 
back to tell Peter and John. 

When she was gone, the other Mary and 
Salome came to a resolution of examining more 
exactly; and ventured into the sepulchre, in 
the first part of which, it being divided into two, 
they beheld an angel sitting on the right side, 
wJio bade them not be afraid, assured them that 
Jesus was risen from the dead, and sent a mes- 
sage to his apostles by them. Having heard 
his speech, they hastened out of the sepulchre 
and to a distance from it, with fear and great 

joy- 
Soon after came Peter and John ; and, having 
inspected the tomb, without seeing the angel, 
or speaking to the women that had seen him, 
departed. 

Section IV. — Sunday Morning. — Mary Mag- 
dalene followed, as fast as she was able, and 
when they went away, staid behind weeping 
at the sepulchre ; then, after a little pause, 
stooped down, and looked into the tomb, where 
two angels were sitting, who asked her why 
she wept ; to whose question having returned 
an answer expressive of her anxiety about the 
body of our Lord, she drew back, and saw him 
standing by her, but at first did not perceive 
who he was. He quickly made himself known 
to her, and sent a message to his apostles by her. 

Section V. — Sunday Morning. — Mary Mag- 
dalene, in going to communicate her happy in- 
telligence to them, fell in again with her two 
friends, the other Mary and Salome. In their 
way Christ met them, and bid them " All hail !" 
He then permitted them to embrace liis feet, 
and repeated the substance of the message to 
the apostles, which the angel, seen in the sep- 
ulchre, had delivered to the two latter. 

While these things were doing, a party of 
the guard came into the city to the chief 
priests, by whom, and a council of the elders 
called together, they were instructed what re- 
port they should spread on this occasion. 

Section VI. — Remaining Transactions of 
Sunday Morning. — Another company of women, 
at the head of whom was Joanna, came now to 
the sepulchre. Some of these had been ready 
to set out early for it. 

But while they were collecting their whole 
party, and proceeding slowly in waiting for 
each other the time, which they had probably 



agreed on for meeting there to anoint the body, 
might be a little past. They therefore ex- 
pressed no wonder, as had the former party, 
at seeing the tomb open. Their surprise was, 
when tlaey had entered and searched it, not to 
find the body of the Lord Jesus ; when two 
angels stood by them, and assured them that he 
was risen, and reminded them of a prophecy 
concerning his own death and resurrection, 
which they had heard him utter in Galilee. 
The women recollected the prophecy, and went 
and reported " all these things unto the eleven, 
and to all the rest" 

Other evidences of the Lord's resurrection 
had been laid before them by the two Marys 
and Salom6, but to little purpose. So strong 
were their prejudices, that the words of the 
women seemed to them as idle tales. 

Yet St. Peter was so struck with their ac- 
counts, that he ran to the sepulchre, to see if 
he could there behold the angels of whom they 
had spoken. 

Section VII. — Sunday Afternoon and Eve- 
ning. — It is not said in what time of this day 
our Lord appeared to St. Peter; but it was 
probably after Cleopas and his companion 
were set out from Jerusalem. These two were 
joined on the road by a stranger, whom they 
discovered at Emmatis to be the Lord himself. 
On this discovery they hastened back to Jeru- 
salem, to the apostles assembled privately with 
some others of the disciples, and found them 
in possession of the fact respecting St. Peter. 
They then began to relate their own story, 
when the Lord himself stood in the midst 
of them, and having composed their minds, 
alarmed at his appearance, and having satisfied 
their doubts, left tliem full of joy that they had 
seen the Lord, 

Section VIII. — The six Days following that 
of the Resurrection. — It is not recorded that our 
Lord showed hmiself to any of his disciples 
during this interval. He seems to have left 
them to the testimony of those who had seen 
him ; and they endeavoured to persuade their 
brethren of the reality of his resurrection, but 
without working a thorough conviction in their 
minds. Among those who had been absent 
when he appeared on Sunday night, was St. 
Thomas, who spoke his own and the sentiments 
of others in declaring, that nothing sJiort of 
ocular demonstration could clear up his doubts. 

Section IX. — The Octave of the Resurrec- 
tion.— On this day the apostles were assembled 
probably in the same place, plainly at Jerusa- 
lem, and with others of the disciples, when the 
Lord came to them as before, the door being 
again fastened, and reproved them, at least in 
addressing himself to St. Thomas, " for their 
unbelief and hardness of heart, because they 



N0T£ 1.] 



NOTES o:n' the gospels. 



^193 



believed not them which had seen him after he 
was risen." St Thomas with all humility con- 
fessed Ms offence, and no more difficulty re- 
mained with him and those of the company who 
were in the same situation. It is likely that our 
Lord now appointed the time and place in Gali- 
lee, where they should see him again. 

Sectio>' X. — The time in which the Disci- 
ples were in Galilee. — The apostles then left 
Jerusalem, and went into Galilee ; and it seems 
as if they were allowed to communicate the de- 
sign of their going to many of the followers of 
Christ, and that a multitude of them resorted to 
the mountain in GaUlee, where he had promised 
to meet them. As soon as tliey beheld liim, 
they paid their adoration to him. Some, how- 
ever, that had not seen him before, and then 
saw him at some distance, were not without 
their doubts of his bodily presence. But he 
graciously came and conversed with them, and 
satisfied aU, that it was he himself, risen from 
the dead. He then declared, that alL power 
was given unto him in heaven and in earth. 

Sectio>' XI. — The Disciples still in Galilee. 
— Before the disciples quitted Galilee, our Lord 
again showed himself to seven of them, by the 
lake of Tiberias. He there signified in what 
manner St Peter should die, and that St. John 
should long survive. 

Section XII. — From the Return of the Dis- 
ciples to Jerusalem to the Ascension. — The dis- 
ciples went back to Jerusalem, earlier I pre- 
sume than was necessary to prepare for the 
feast of the Pentecost (Acts xs. 16.), and that 
therefore they v.'ent by a divine direction. 

While they were assembled there, Christ in- 
structed them in the things pertaining to the 
kingdom of God ; and when the fortieth day, 
including that of his resurrection, was come, 
he led them out as far as to Bethany ; and 
he lifted up his hands and blessed them ; and, 
while he blessed them, he was parted from them, 
and carried up into heaven, and sat down on the 
right hand of the Majesty on high. 

The disciples having paid their adoration to 
him, returned to Jerusalem with srreat joy, and 
passed their time in tlie temple, praising and 
blessing God, and preparing their hearts for the 
promised descent of the Holy Spirit upon them, 
who was to enable them to go forth and preach 
the glad tidings of salvation successfully to 
Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles. 

Mr. Cranfield has arranged his Harmony in 
twelve sections, the titles of which sufficiently 
explain the alterations he proposes in the dis- 
position of events given by his learned prede- 
cessor. 

Sectio>' I. — The women (ilary Magdalene, 
TOL. n. *25 



Mary the mother of James, and Salome) set out 
to view die tomb — an angel descends — opens 
the tomb — Christ rises from the dead. 

S£CTio>' II. — The women arrive — and see 
the stone taken away — Mary, concluding that 
the body of Christ had been removed, runs to 
inform the disciples — the other two women 
remain behind — the transactions at the tomb 
during Mary Magdalene's absence. 

Sectio.v III.— Peter and John, in conse- 
quence of Mary Magdalene's report, set out 
with Mary Magdalene for the sepulchre — they 
examine the tomb, and depart — Mary Magda- 
lene stays at the tomb — Christ appears to her. 

Sectio>" IV. — Mary Magdalene goes with 
the message she received from Jesus, and falls 
in with the other Mary and Salome, who were 
waiting for her at some distance from the sep- 
ulchre — Jesus appears to the three, and sends 
a message to the disciples — as they are going, 
the watch report to the chief priests — the trans- 
actions at the tomb. 

Section V. — Besides the three women 
already mentioned, another company of Gah- 
lean women arrive, after these events, at the 
sepulchre — what then took place at the tomb — 
Luke collects briefly the testimony of both 
parties — the disciples continue incredulous — 
some of the disciples visit the tomb. 

Section VI. — Christ appears to St. Peter — 
the two going to Emmaus — who go to the dis- 
ciples — Christ appears to all. 

Section VII. — The rest of the disciples are 
incredulous — particularly Thomas. 

Section "VT^II. — Christ appears to all — 
Thomas believes. 

Section IX. — Christ appears to the disciples 
in Gahlee. 

Section X. — The disciples still in Galilee — 
Christ appears to them at the sea of Tiberias. 

Section XL — Christ appears to all the 
apostles at Jerusalem. 

Section XII. — Christ leads his disciples as 
far as Bethany — commissions them to prosely- 
tize all nations — and ascends to heaven. 

It is not necessary to insert here the plan of 
the Arranger ; it is given in the titles to the 
respective sections. If these titles should be 
regarded by any as too minute, he would reply, 
his object has been to examine every incident, and 
every supposed difficulty in the fullest manner. 



194* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VIll. 



TOWNSON. 


Cranfield. 


Arranger. 


Section I. 




Section L 


Section I.— Part VIII. 


Friday Evening. — Resurrection. 


Friday Evening. — REsnRRECTioN. 


From the Death of 


Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


Matt. Mark Luke John 


Christ to his Ascen- 
sion into Heaven. 


xxvii. 55. XV. 40. xxiii. 49. 


xix. 


xxviii. 1. xvi. 2. xx. 1. 




56. 

41. 




2. 
3. 

4. 


Matt, xxvii. 57-60. 




Mark xv. 42-46. 


25-27 


Luke xxiii. 50-54. 


57. 42. 50. 


38. 


xxvii. 52. 


John xix. 38, to the end. 


43. 51. 




53. 




58. 43. 52. 


38. 




Section II. 


44. 






Mark xv. 47. 


45. 


38. 




Luke xxiii. 55. 


59. 46. 53. 


38. 








39. 




Section III. 




40. 




Luke xxiii. 56. 


60. 46. 53. 


41. 






54. 


42. 




Section IV. 


47. 55. 






Matt, xxvii. 61. 


56. 








61. 






Section V. 
Matt, xxvii. 62, to the end. 


Section H. 




Section II. 


Section VI. 


Saturday — Conclusion of the Sab- 


Saturday — Conclusion of the Sab- 


Mark xvi. 1. 


bath — Sabbath over. 




bath — Sabbath over. 




Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


Matt. Mark Luke John 


Section VII. 


xxvii. xvi. 




xxviii. xvi. xx. 


Matt, xxviii. 1. 


62-66. 




3,4. 1,2. 


Mark xvi. pai-t of ver. 2. 


1. 




5-8. 5-8. 


John XX. part of ver. 1. 


Section IIL 




Section III. 


Section VIII. 
Matt, xxviii. 2-4. 


Easter Morning. 




Easter Morning. 




Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


Matt. Mark Luke John 


Section IX. 


xxviii. 1. xvi. 2. 


XX. 1. 


xvi. xxiv. 12. XX. 3-6. 


Matt, xxvii. part of ver. 52, 


2-4. 




14. 


and ver. 53. 


2. 




9. 




3. 




14-17. 


Section X. 


4. 


1. 




Mark xvi. part of ver. 2, 




2. 




and ver. 3, 4. 


5. 






John XX. part of ver. 1. 


5. 6. 








6. 






Section XL 


7. 7. 

8. 8. 






John XX. 2. 


2-9. 




Section XII. 








Matt, xxviii. 5-7. 


Section IV. 




Section IV. 


Mark xvi. 5-7. 


Sunday Morning. 




Sunday Morning. 


Section XIII. 


Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


Matt. Mark Luke John 


Matt, xxviii. 8. 




XX. 


xxviii. XX. 18. 


Mark xvi. 8. 




10-17. 


9-15. 


Section XIV. 


Section V. 




Section V. 


John XX. 3-10. 


Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


Matt. Mark Luke John 




xxviii. xvi. 9. 


XX. 


xvi. xxiv. 


Section XV. 


part of 17. 


1-9. 


John XX. part of ver. 11. 




18. 


10. 10. 








11. 


Section XVI. 


9-15. 




11. 


John XX. part of ver. 11, 






24. 


ver. 12, 13, and part of 
ver. 14. 


Section VL 




Section VL 


Section XVII. 


Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


Matt. Mark Luke John 


xvi. xxiv. 




xvi. 12. xxiv. 34. xx. 


Mark xvi. 9. 


1-10. 




13-16. 


John XX. part of ver. 14, 


10. 10. 




12. 16-35. 


and ver. 15-17. 


10. 
11. 11. 




19. 
36-40. 19. 


Section XVIII. 


12. 




40-43. 20. 


Matt, xxviii. 9, 10. 






23. 


John XX. 18. 



Note 1.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*195 



TOWNSOJJ. 


Cranfield. 


1 
Arrangeb. 


Section VII. 




Section VII. 




Section XIX. 


Evening of Easter-day. 


Evening of Easter-day. 


Matt, xxviii. 11-15. 


1 Cor. Mark Luke 


John 


Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


Section XX. 


XV. xvi. xxiv. 


XX. 


xvi. 


XX. 


Luke xxiv. 1-3. 


4,5. 




13. 






34. 






24,25. 


Section XXI. 


12. 








Luke xxiv. 4-9. 


13-33. 


19. 






Section XXII. 


34-36. 

37-39. 

40. 


19. 

20. 






Mark xvi. 10. 
Luke xxiv. 10. 


41,42. 










43. 


20. 
21-23. 






Section XXIII. 
Mark xvi. 11. 
Luke xxiv. 11 . 


Section VIII. 




Section VIII. 




Section XXIV. 


Between Easter and next Sunday. 


Between Easter and next Sunday. 


Luke xxiv. part ofver. 12. 


Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


Section XXV. 


xvi. 13. 


XX. 


xvi. 


XX. 






24. 


13. 




Luke xxiY.part ofver. 12. 




25. 




24,25. 


Section XXVI. 
Mark xvi. 12. 


Section IX. 




Section IX. 




Luke xxiv. 13-32. 


First day after the Resurrection. 


First day after the Resurrection. 


Section XXVII. 


Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


Mark xvi. 13. 


xvi. 14. 


XX. 


xxviii. 




Luke xxiv. 33-35. 


"1 


26. 


16-18. 






27. 






Section XXVIII. 


4 


28. 






Luke xxiv. 36-43. 


29. 






John XX. 19-23. 


Section X. 




Section X. 




Section XXIX. 


Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


John XX. 24, 25. 


xxviii. 






xxi. 




16-18. 






1-24. 


Section XXX. 
Mark xvi. 14. 


Section XI. 




Section XI. 




John XX. 26-29. 


Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


1 Cor. Mark Luke 


Acts 


Section XXXI. 




xxi. 


XV. xxiv. 


i. 


Matt, xxviii. 16, 17, and 




1-24. 


7. 44-49. 
49. 


4. 
5. 


part of 18. 

Section XXXII. 
John xxi. 1-24. 


Section XII. 




Section XII. 






Matt. Mark Luke 


John 


Matt. Mark Luke 


Acts 


Section XXXIII. 


xxviii. xvi. xxiv. 


XX. 


xviii. xvi. xxiv. 


i. 


Acts i. 4, 5. 


44-48. 




X. 50. 




Luke xxiv. 44-49. 


19. 15. 




18. 15. 


6,7. 




20. 16. 




18. 


2. 


Section XXXIV. 


49. 
17. 

18. 49. 
20. 

19. 

50. 




19. 15. 

20. 16-18. 50,51. 

19. 

52. 
20. 52, 53. 


9-11. 


Matt, xxviii. part of ver. 

18, ver. 19, 20. 
Mark xvi. 15, to the end. 




12. 


Luke xxiv. 50. to the end. 
Acts i. 6-12. 


19. 51. 






John 




52, 53. 






.XX. 


Section XXXV. 


20. 






30,31. 


John XX. 30, 31, and 




30, 31. 




xxi. 25. 


xxi. 25. 




xxi. 25. 









196* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VIII 



It does not appear necessary to enter into 
any detailed examination of the harmony pro- 
posed by Hales, Newcome, Macknight, or 
Doddridge. The first of these agrees generally 
"vvith Townson— Newcome's plan is among the 
number studied by Cranfield, as are also those 
of Macknight and Doddridge. Since Mr. 
West's publication indeed, the differences have 
been very few, and are so entirely questions of 
opinion, that their decision does not in the least 
affect the veracity of the Evangelists''. Thus — 
it cannot be made evident at what exact time 
our Lord showed himself to St. Peter on the day 
of his resurrection, but all are agreed as to the 
fact. We may, in short, consider the question 
respecting the consistency of the four Evan- 
gelists, to be completely set at rest by the 
labors of these learned authors. They have 
left little more to be done by their successors 
than to incorporate the results of their labors, 
and thus make their researches and their dis- 
coveries familiar to the common reader. They 
will always be enumerated among the most 
eminent illustrators of the Sacred Volume. 
They have consecrated their jewels to the 
service of God, and their offerings will ever 
shine among the most brilliant ornaments of 
his holy temple. 



Note 2.— Pakt VIII. 

Mark xv. 42. iijilag ysvofiivTjg, " the early 
evening being now come," or "being imme- 
diately past," for the word yevo/iivTjg has both 
these meanings. The early evening began at 
three in the afternoon, and continued till sun- 
set ; or till about six, and a little after. The 
late, or second evening, began at six, and lasted 
till nine. Both evenings are called 6i///« : but 
St. Luke describes the earlier evening by a 
periphrasis, and that which began at sunset by 
the proper name among the Greeks, kaniqa, 
Luke xxiv. 29. 



Note a— Part VIII, 

In Isaiah liii. 9. we read, — 

" He made his grave with the wicked. 
And with the rich in his death." 

On referring to the original, it will be ob- 
served that the word CD''i>tJ'T may be the dual 

'' When this part of the work was going to 
press, I procured a work entitled The JYeio Trial of 
the Witnesses. It revives many of the exploded 
and long-answered objections — urges no new 
remarks — and does not appear worthy of more 
especial notice. Assertion supplies the place of 
argument, as is usual in the great majority of 
books of this nature. 



number, and that j,'ty"t is the singular. The 
construction therefore may be, "His death 
shall be with two criminals, and with one rich 
man'." This rendering adds great force to 
the prophecy. 

The peculiar providence of God ordained, 
that our Lord should suffer on a day succeeded 
immediately by the Jewish Sabbath, and in a 
place where an honorable disciple of his had 
a sepulchre, so lately hewn in the rock, that no 
one had ever been laid in it. These things 
decided at once where the body should be de- 
posited, when leave to dispose of it had been 
obtained by Joseph. His own-, new sepulchre 
was nigh at hand. Had it been at a distance, 
the case would have been altered. The follow- 
ers of our Lord v/ould have been inclined to 
carry his body first to the house of some friend, 
where they would naturally suppose they could 
perform the ceremonies previous to interment 
with more honorable tokens of respect. But 
while they had been studying to complete them 
with order and decorum, the Sabbath would 
have come on ; and then, wherever the body 
was, it must have remained till that day of rest 
was over, and the third was begun, on which 
he was to rise from the dead. A providential 
concurrence of circumstances compelled them 
to take it directly from the cross to a place that 
best suited the great event of the third day ; 
and where, in the mean while, the Jewish rulers 
had access to it, and before the beginning of 
that day set a guard upon it, as a testimony 
against themselves. If Joseph of Arimathea 
h?.d not begged the body, it would have been 
buried in the common grave with the male- 
factors. In making this request, it is not prob- 
able that he could have been actuated by the 
idea that he was thereby fulfilling a prophecy. 
We must consider the circumstance as one of 
those minute and apparently accidental events, 
which demonstrate to us that the providence of 
God overrules all the actions of man to the 
accomplishment of his own purposes. 



Note 4.— Part VIII. 

ON THE OPINION THAT "TWO PARTIES OF 
WOMEN VISITED THE SEPULCHRE." 

As these are the first passages in which the 
different women are severally referred to, we 
may take the opportunity of inquiring whether 
that opinion may be considered as correct, 
which has within the last century been so stren- 
uously defended, — that there were two parties 
of women who attended at the sepulchre. We 

' See Doddridge in loc. and Schoetgen on the 
manner in which the ancient Jews interpreted the 
passage, Hor. Hch. vol. ii. p. 552, 553. — Lightfoot's 
HaTmony, 8vo. edit. vol. iii. p. 168. 



Note 4.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



197 



must first examine the accounts of the number 
which were present at the crucifixion, and at 
the interment of the body. 

The women named in this part of the 
Gospels, besides the Vii-gin Mother of our 
Lord, are tliese : — 

Jlary Magdalene, whose name occurs in all 
tlie Gospels, and, except John xix. 25., is con- 
stantly mentioned first. 

Mary the mother of James the Less, and 
Joses, supposed to be Mary the wife of Cleo- 
pas, the sister of our Lord's mother, John xii. 
3o. ; and if so, the Evangelists all speak of her. 

Salome, the mother of Zebedee's children ; 
compare Matt xxvii. 56. with J\Iark xv. 40. St. 
Mark only has given us her name. 

Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, 
mentioned by St. Luke only, viii. 3. and xxiv. 10. 

The blessed virgin mother of Christ ha\"ing 
been recommended by him, while she stood 
by his cross, to the protection of St. John ; the 
mother of this his beloved disciple seems 
pointed out by that recommendation, as the 
proper person to attend and support her in the 
extremity of her grief, and to be with her at 
his abode, when he had conducted her tliither ; 
and it is further probable that Salome bore this 
part in the melancholy offices of that evening, 
because St Matthew mentions only tlie two 
Marys, with whom she is naturally joined, as 
sitting over against the tomb after the inter- 
ment ; St. Mark also mentions only these two 
on that occasion ; whence we presume that she 
was not with them when they followed the 
body to the sepulchre. 

The Galilean women, who had attended the 
body of our Lord to the sepulchre, and seen 
how he was laid, then went back to the city, 
to prepare spices and ointments before the com- 
mencement of the Sabbath, that they might be 
ready for use on the morning after it. To pre- 
pare these spices was probably little more than 
to purchase them, according to a remark of Dr. 
Lardner ; for in so populous a city as Jerusa- 
lem, where there was a constant, and often a 
sudden demand for them, they would be sold 
ready compounded. Short, therefore, as the 
time was before the Sabbath began, it would 
be sufficient for this purpose. And that the 
women did so employ it is manifest from St 
Luke, whose words literally translated run 
thus : — " And the women also which came with 
him from Galilee followed after, and beheld the 
sepulchre, and how his body was laid ; and 
being returned, prepared spices and ointments. 
And they rested indeed the seventh day, 
according to the commandment ; but on the 
first daj' of the week, very early in the morning, 
they went into the sepulchre, carrying the spices 
which they had prepared." — Luke xxiii. 55, 56. 
xxiv. 1. On which words Grotius observes, 
that nothing can be clearer than that the spices 
were purchased by these women on the evening 

TOL. II. 



before the Sabbath, and not after it But this, 
which is so clear of the Galilean women in gen- 
eral, is to be understood with an exception of 
tliree of them ; Salome, Mary Magdalene , and 
Mary the mother of James. 

It is probable, as hath been shown, that 
SaIom6 was not in the procession to the sepul- 
chre ; and it is no less probable, that the two 
Marys did not quit it with the other Galilean 
women. Matt, xxvii. 59-61. The words of St. 
Matthew seem to imply, that even after the 
closing of the sepulchre, they still lingered near 
it, till it was too late to purchase their spices 
that evening. The fact is certain that they 
purchased none till the Sabbath was past 

Let us now consider the objections which 
have been, or may be made to tliis arrangement 

It may be said, if we divide the women into 
two parties, it is not easy to apprehend how 
they could have been at the sepulchre without 
any sight of each other ; since aU the Evangel- 
ists assign nearly the same time for their coming 
thither. It is to be remembered, that the verb 
sg/ofitti, used by the Evangelists, bears the 
sense of " going " as well as " coming ; " and it 
here means, the time when the women went 
from their several houses ; in which case there 
is no difficulty in conceiving the means that 
may have kept the two parties asunder, as long 
as we suppose it requisite. 

Let us but consider the situation of certain 
places in Jerusalem, and we shall find it not 
only possible, but probable, that these things 
should have fallen out as they have been stated ; 
and indeed that they could not well have hap- 
pened otherwise, if we may rely on a map of 
that city, not of arbitrary construction, but com- 
piled from ancient documents. In Zebedee's 
house, Salome, whether then his wife or widow, 
would abide with her son St John. It stood 
very near to that which tlie map of Dr. Town- 
son, which is here referred to, calls the Dung- 
gate ; which opened the nearest way to the 
sepulchre from that part of the town. In this 
house would be deposited the spices prepared 
on the preceding evening by her, Mary Mag- 
dalene, and the other Mary, as the most con- 
venient place from wliich they might be taken 
to the sepulchre. Her friends, the two Marys, 
who had staid at the sepulchre by themselves 
on Friday evening, probably lodged together, 
in an interior part of tlie city, at least more 
remote from the Dung-gate, and on that account 
went forth before it was clear daylight, that 
they might be in good time at Zebedee's house ; 
from which, when all things were ready, they 
and Salome proceeded to the sepulchre, so as 
to be there at the rising of the sun. The 
lodgings of Joanna, whose husband was steward 
to Herod, we may fix in or near the palace ; the _ 
direct way from which to the sepulchre was 
through the Gate of the Valley. It is seen, 
at once, that this palace and Zebedee's house 



198* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VIII. 



were in different quarters of the city. They, 
therefore, who started from either, had little 
inducement to make such a round, as would be 
necessary to call at the other ; when it was 
supposed they would all meet at the sepul- 
chre. 

The map of Dr. Townson shows also, that 
the distance from Herod's palace to the sep- 
ulchre was at least twice as much as from 
Zebedee's house. If, therefore, the three 
women that went from the latter to the sep- 
ulchre, and reached it about six, were half an 
hour in going, they who set out from the palace, 
at the same rate of walking, twice the distance, 
would be there half an hour later. But we can 
hardly believe them to have been thus expe- 
ditious, as to have arrived but half an hour after 
the first party. Early in the morning, as 
Joanna and one or two of her friends were 
prepared to set out, they had to wait for others, 
who might live at some distance, or not be 
quite so punctual ; and, when they were col- 
lected, the women of GalUee, and the women 
of Jerusalem, if any of them were slow walkers, 
the rest could get on no faster, if they were 
to keep together in a body. We may therefore 
well allow near an hour between the arrivals of 
the two companies at tlie sepulchre ; and tliis 
is amply sufficient for all that is supposed to 
have happened in the interim. 

The errand of the women, who had seen an 
angelic vision, was to the apostles ; of whom, 
St. John would dv/ell in his own house, that 
had been his father Zebedee's. Nor was St. 
Peter's far from him, John xxii. 2. To tlaese 
the women would first repair, as Mary Magda- 
lene had before. And wherever the rest of the 
apostles were to be found, unless the path 
towards their lodgings lay through the Gate of 
the Valley, which we have no reason to suppose, 
the company that first retired from the sepul- 
chre could not meet the other advancing 
towards it. Herod's palace may be admitted 
to have been where the map places it. It may 
seem more questionable, how the site of Zebe- 
dee's house, originally, we may imagine, an 
obscure building, could be recovered, when the 
whole city had been razed to its foundations. 
But Jerusalem stood on the risings and sink- 
ings of very uneven grounds, intersected as 
well as encompassed with walls, the bases of 
which would remain ; and thus the parts into 
which it had been distributed, and the contents 
of each division, were more easily recollected 
and ascertained, than if the like calamity had 
befallen a city built on a plain. And the Chris- 
tians who had retired to Pella, and the moun- 
tains beyond Jordan, before the siege, being- 
returned to it after its destruction, would be 
guided by certain standing marks to the struc- 
tures which they had before held in veneration. 
And to rebuild them as near as might be in the 
old places, and call them again by their old 



names, might be no unpleasing consolation to 
those who resettled in the fallen city. Nor 
from the desolation of Jerusalem to the present 
day has the succession of its Christian inhab- 
itants been ever long interrupted; often as it 
has changed its masters, and suffered by 
its conquerors, Romans, Persians, Saracens, 
Mamalukes, and Ottomans. If fable had added 
its conceits to traditionary truths in these mat- 
ters, yet I do not find that it has interested 
itself about Zebedee, or told any thing of him 
that required his presence, or an abode for him 
at Jerusalem. The true reason why a house is 
assigned him in it seems to have been, that he 
really had one, the same probably which his 
son, St. John, called his own house (John xix. 
27.) ; it might come to them from their ances- 
tors ; and Zebedee, though he resided in 
Galilee, might feel the usual reluctance to part 
with ills inheritance, and that in the holy city. 
It might even be more valuable to him and his 
friends, at the great festivals, and on other 
occasions, than the price of a dwelling in such 
a part of the city. 

In order therefore to illustrate tliis plan. Dr. 
Townson has given in his elaborate work a very 
satisfactory map of Jerusalem, on which we 
may rely, as it is not one of arbitrary construc- 
tion, but compiled from ancient documents, 
by Villalpandus. In this map are distinctly 
pointed out the site of the house of Zebedee, 
of St. Mark, of St. James, and St. Thomas. 

Villalpandus was a learned Spaniard of Cor- 
dova, well known for the Commentary on 
Ezekiel, and Designs of Solomon's Temple ; and 
celebrated by many authors of name for his 
skUl and accuracy in these researches. Among 
other eminent men who have adopted his to- 
pography of Jerusalem as the most satisfactory, 
is Bishop Walton, in his Polyglott. 

These four houses that are numbered in 
Dr. Townson's map, and did not come properly 
under the consideration of VUlalpandus, are 
from the view of Jerusalem, given by Cotovicus, 
an eminent civilian of Utrecht, who visited 
Palestine in the year of our Lord 1598. 

Though in this view he sets down the Dung- 
gate not as it stands in Villalpandus, but as in 
the present city, much changed in situation and 
shape fi'om its ancient form ; yet he places the 
houses in question precisely as they are dis- 
posed in Villalpandus's map, near to a line by 
which he distinguishes the course of the wall 
that divided the old city from Mount Calvary. 
Herman Witsius says of him, that he examined 
Jerusalem with curious eyes. And so certainly 
tliought a traveller of great note, who was 
there about twelve years after him, our coun- 
tryman, Mr. George Sandys. For the draw- 
ings of Cotovicus of the temple, of the holy 
sepulchre, and other parts of Jerusalem, are 
closely followed in Sandys' Travels ; and the 
praise which Mr. Maundrell bestows on the 



Note 4.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



^199 



latter for exactness in these matters belongs 
equally to the other. 

The map of ViUalpandus, with the addition 
of tlie houses from Cotovicus, illustrates the in- 
cidents of the morning of the resurrection, as if 
it were fabricated for tliat very purpose. And 
yet we may venture to affirm, that these learned 
men had not the most distant idea of the use 
to which their designs are applicable. Their 
notion, it may be presumed, was the same as 
was generally entertained, that the women all 
went to tlie sepulchre in one company, which 
is not particularly favored by either place sep- 
arately ; and, when they are thus united, is 
rather discountenanced by them ; for hence it 
appears, while all the women were hastening 
to the same place, how much time some of them 
must lose by going to join the others, for the 
sake of setting out with them. The history 
not being framed to tally witli the map, nor the 
map with the history, their undesigned agree- 
ment adds to the credibility of both. 

Leaving, however, all arguments of this na- 
ture, let us consider the more authentic evidence 
derived from the sacred narrative itself, that the 
women were divided into two parties. These, 
for the sake of method and clearness, shall be 
reduced under certain heads. 

1. St. Mark's account of the women that 
went to the tomb on the morning of the resur- 
rection, does, in just construction, exclude all 
but those whom he names. 

He speaks of these women, or some of them, 
in the five following places. First, " There 
were also women looking on afar off: among 
whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother 
of James the Less, and of Joses and Salome ; " 
XV. 40. Secondly, " And Mary Magdalene and 
Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he 
was laid ;" xv. 47. Thirdly, " And when the 
Sabbath was past, Mary Blagdalene, and Mary, 
the mother of James and Salome, bought sweet 
spices, that they might go and anoint Mm ;" 
xvi. 1. Fourthly, " And very early in the morn- 
ing of the first day of the week they go unto 
the tomb;" xvi. 2. Fifthly, "Now Jesus, 
having risen early the first day of the week, 
appeared first to Mary Magdalene ;" xvi. 9. 

2. St. Luke's account does not include the 
women named by St. Mark ; it bears tokens 
of being the description of an entirely distinct 
company. 

In speaking of the women that attended the 
body of Christ from the cross to the tomb, St. 
Luke does not say, the women also that came 
with him from Galilee ; but, as we shall find 
if we consult the original, " women also that 
came with him from Galilee" (Luke xxiii. 
55.), there being no article accompanying 
yvyaZy.eg, which therefore allows us, with good 
reason, to conjecture that he intended to com- 
prehend only the majority, not the whole com- 
pany of these women, in liis subsequent account 



of them ; nor at present does he mention any 
of them by name. He speaks of them as fol- 
lows : " And women also tliat came with him 
from Galilee followed after, and beheld the 
tomb, and how his body was laid ; and, being 
returned, prepared spices and ointments." 

3. The accounts given of the conduct of the 
women, when they arrived at the tomb, imply a 
first and second company. And besides the 
vision to Mary Magdalene alone, there were 
two angelic appearances and speeches, each to 
a diflFerent set of women, in the tomb. 

St. John says, that when Mary Magdalene 
saw the stone taken away from the tomb, " she 
runneth and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the 
other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto 
them, ' They have taken away the Lord out of 
the sepulchre, and we know not where they 
have laid him,' " xx. 2. As these words evi- 
dently imply that the other women who came 
to the tomb with Mary Magdalene felt the same 
disappointment and concern with her in the 
same situation ; so also they clearly show, that, 
before the women entered the tomb, they were 
very well assured that the body of Jesus was 
not in it. They imply another thing : that so 
early was the arrival of the women at the tomb, 
that they had not the smallest idea that any of 
his friends would be there before them to get 
it open. 

But this wiU receive stiU greater confirmation 
from the two subsequent positions. 

4. The accounts given of the behaviour of 
the women in the tomb are accounts of two 
diiferent parties. 

The women, whom St. Matthew and St. Mark 
speak of, were affrighted, not only at the first 
sight of the angel, but after he had done 
speaking to them. Both Evangelists repre- 
sent them as hastening away from his pres- 
ence, by going out quickly, and fleeing from the 
tomb. 

But the women described by St Luke were 
calm and composed ; and if they had recovered 
such presence of mind while the angels were 
yet speaking, there is no reason to imagine that, 
having heard such happy intelligence, they were 
then seized with a sudden terror, and fled from 
the tomb trembhng and amazed. St. Luke's 
words certainly convey no such idea of their 
departure from it. 

5. The speech of the two angels, considered 
as spoken to a subsequent company, has an 
obvious propriety. 

It would be presumption to affirm, antece- 
dently, what the two angels ought or ought not 
to have spoken ; but when we have their speech 
before us, we may examine and judge, whether 
tlie circumstances of it suit better with the 
whole company of the women, or with one part 
of them, not exactly in the same situation with 
the other. If the women did not visit the tomb 
all together, the going thither of Joanna and 



200* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part Vlll. 



her party has been rightly placed, after Mary 
Magdalene had left it a second time, and when 
our Lord had showed himself to her. And but 
a short space intervened between this going 
thither, and his meeting the two Marys and 
Salom6, saying unto them, " All hail !" At 
tliis juncture it was that the two angels were 
addressing themselves to Joanna and those who 
had just searched the tomb with her. When 
therefore Christ was not only risen, but had ap- 
peared in that body which the Father had raised 
from the grave, it might well be asked of those, 
who were much perplexed because they found 
not his body where it had been deposited, 
" Why seek ye the living among the dead? " 

In every point of view, then, the division of 
the women into two distinct companies, going 
successively to the tomb on the morning of the 
resurrection, corresponds exactly with the 
evangelical accounts of tlie incidents of that 
morning. It embraces all the circumstances 
related of the women, and of the angels seen 
by tliem, and unites the whole into one intel- 
ligible, consistent history. 

See, botli for this and the subsequent notes 
on the following sections, Cranfield's Harmony 
of the Resurrection, and Dr. Townson's Dis- 
courses, with their references. 



Note 5.— Part VllL 

We read, in Matt, xxvii. 59-61, " And when 
Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a 
clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new 
tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock : 
and he rolled a great stone to the door of the 
sepulchre, and departed. And (or, But) there 
was Mary Magdalene and tlie other Mary sitting 
over against the sepulchre." The words seem to 
imply an opposition between the departing of 
Joseph, and the abiding of the two women ; and 
that this sitting over against the tomb was sub- 
sequent to the closing of it with a great stone. 
This solemn act could not force them away 
from the object of tlieir grief. They still lin- 
gered as near to it as they could, sitting on the 
ground. And in this posture of mourning they 
continued, till reverence for the Sabbath obliged 
them to retire ; when it was too late to prepare 
their contingent of spices. — Dr. Townson, vol. 
ii. p. 86. 



the morning when he arose, sufficiently proves 
that they had not anticipated any other obstacle 
to the embalming the body, but tliat which might 
be occasioned by the size of tlie stone. They 
were utterly unprepared to meet with a guard, 
or to find the seal of tlie Sanhedrin on the tomb. 
This conduct, however, of the rulers of the 
people, was attended witli many important ad- 
vantages. They satisfied themselves that the 
dead body was safely lying in the tomb, before 
they proceeded to place the seal. Their testi- 
mony, therefore, that our Lord was really dead, 
must have corroborated in the strongest manner 
the great truth of the resurrection, and tliat our 
Lord had risen, as the apostles declared ; for no 
common power could have eluded the jealous 
caution of the rulers, or have escaped the pro- 
verbial vigilance of a Roman guard. Their 
sealing the sepulchre also prevented the viola- 
tion of the tomb, by any of the guard themselves, 
who might have been tempted to steal the spices 
in which the body was enclosed. 



Note 6.— Part VIII. 

This conduct of the Pharisees and chief 
priests compelled them also to become unwilling 
witnesses of tlie resurrection of our Lord. The 
attempt of the women to enter the sepulchre on 



Note 7.— Part VIII. 

The word rjydQaaav properly signifies not 
"they had bought," but "they bought." The 
Vulgate renders it " emerunt." Mary Magda- 
lene and the other Mary had staid at the sep- 
ulchre till it was too late to buy their spices ; 
but both they and Salom6 took the earliest op- 
portunity of procuring them after the Sabbath 
was over; that is, after six o'clock in the 
evening of Saturday, the day preceding the 
resun'ection. The word was rendered " had 
bought," by our translators, on sufficient au- 
thority ; for the perfect tense is sometimes 
used in tliis manner. — (See Chandler on Matt, 
xxviii. 17.) It is, however, most probable, that 
they supposed this translation to be absolutely 
necessary to render the Evangelists consistent 
witli themselves. In Luke xxiii. 56., they read 
that the spices were prepared before tlie evening 
of the Sabbath. They supposed, according to 
the general notion, that there was one party 
only of women ; and imagined there would be 
an absurdity in so translating Mark xvi. 1., as 
if that one party had procured additional spices 
after the Sabbath. Whereas it is by a scrupu- 
lous adherence to the plain meaning of tlie 
Scripture that all difficulties are removed. The 
comparison of these two passages might alone 
have been sufficient to show that there were 
two parties of women. This seems to have 
escaped the attention of Mr. Valpy ; who, in his 
valuable edition of the Greek Testament, ob- 
serves, that the word ought to be rendered as 
if it was preterpluperfect. His argument is 
derived from Luke xxiii. 56., wiiich refers only 
to the other party of women. 



Note 8.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*201 



Note 8.— Part VIII. 

ON THE TIME WHEX THE WOMEX SET OCT FOR, 
A>T ARRIVED AT, THE SEPULCHRE. 

We now come to the question concerning' 
the time when the women set out for, and 
reached, the sepulchre. This difficulty, like all 
others, vanishes on a careful examination of the 
language of tlie Evangelists. 

Lightfoot" has attempted to illustrate the 
various expressions of the Evangelists, which 
describe the time when the women came to 
the sepulclire, from the distinction of twilight 
among the rabbins. His reasoning is founded 
on the old supposition, that there was but one 
part}'' of women; and is, besides, arbitrary and 
unsupported by authority. To inquire more 
accurately into the time, we must endeavour to 
ascertain the full meaning of the terms which 
are used by the Evangelists. The words of St. 
Matthew are, oipe da au66it.rotv, ir^ IriKfotay.ovari 
el; jidup aaSSi'xTO))', i^lde. "Late after' the 
Sabbath, at the dawning of tlie first day of the 
week." 

Tf^ inicpiuay.ovari, " at the dawning," is used 
for (Tvv rfi £0) emcfoiTy.ovari, " along with the 
dawning morn." '?lWs — the proper meaning 
of this word seems to be, that they set out from 
their homes at this time. The word eo/ouai 
signifies both, " to go to," or, " set off to," as 
well as, " to arrive at," any place. 

Mark xvi. 1, 2. toC diuysvofiii'ov aaSSdrov, 
l.iuv TTQuJL T^j (iiag aa66(j.TO)P. " After the 
Sabbath was thoroughly past, very early on the 
first day of the week." 

Here Siaysvouii'ov aa68uTov, is explanatory 
of Matthew's oipe aaSSdruv: dta in composi- 
tion sti-engthening the signification. IT§o)i: in- 
cludes the whole time of the early watch ; and, 

" The distinction of twilight among the rabbins 
is thus given by Lightfoot; — 1. N'^riB'T NnS"X 
<• The hind of the morning, the very first percept- 
ible light of the dawn, the women went towards 
the sepulchre." 2. p^S nSjH I'3 "I'n'iya '■ when 
the ditference between purple and white may be 
distinguished." 3. nii'On I^X^i^O "when the 
east begins to lighten." 4. nariD "I'JD " sun-rise." 
According to these four phrases we may interpret 
the evangelical narratives. St. Matthew says, tij 
iTiipoirixovari, "as it began to dawn." St. John 
says, TTQun ay.oria; tVi oyo>;;, " early in the morn- 
ing, while it was yet dark." St. Luke"s expres- 
sion corresponds to the third, oo.Soot; jia&iog, " very 
early in the morning : " and St. Mark uses a phrase 
corresponding to the fourth, Jiav nomi, •• very 
early in the morning;" and yet ai«T£t'/tavroe tou 
i/'.iov, "at the rising of the sun." — Lightfoot's 
Works, Dr. Bright's edit. vol. ii. p. 3.59. 

' The word owi ought to be translated " after," 
"late after," or "long after;" for the Sabbath 
araong the Jews ended on the Saturday night, 
when it could not be dawning towards the first day 
of the week. Schmidius has quoted Plut. in jXuma, 
oipi Tov {iani/JuK /oovov, " after the time of the 
king; " and Philostratus, oWi tmj- Toohxwv, " after 
the Trojan war." — See also Bos. Exercit. ap. Bow- 
yer, p. 134. 

VOL. n. *26 



to mark the dawn, Mark adds Uav, "very," 
which is especially put elliptically for evvv/ov 
llai',hy Mark liimself, i. 35. "very far in the 
night." 

The 7T0b)t was the epithet given to tlie last 
watch, from three in the morning to six ; the 
time therefore implied by St. Mark was proba- 
bly about four o'clock, or a little after. 

Luke expresses the time, r-i] (5t ,«(« rwy 
aaS66iicav ogOoov 8u6iog. " On the first day ot 
the week, while the rising [sun] was itt-pT 
sunk beneath the horizon. 

The morning twilight begins as soon as the 
sun arrives within eighteen degrees below the 
horizon, for then the smallest stars disappear. 
This phrase also is used by the best classical 
writers: Aristophanes, Thucydides, Aristides, 
&c. use it, and Plato explains it, ^H ov ttqoii en 
icFTiv ; navi fiev ovv — bgdoo; ^adv;. "Is it 
not yet early — surely it is — the rising [sun] is 
deep." — Crito, p. 32. It is not, however, of so 
much importance to consider, in this place, the 
passage of St. Luke, as he relates the time at 
which the second party proceeded to the sep- 
ulchred 

John expresses the precise time of the nguit 
or " early watch," differently from Mark. Tf^ 
de ftia Twv aaSSdnn', Tiooit, crxoilug irt oiiai,;. 
" On the first day of the week, early, while it 
teas still darky This is more definite than St. 
Mark. .Tzorto should not be rendered " dark," 
as in our translation. It is a diminutive of 
crxoTog. Jlooii, in'' rpi, ol avv Tsv/sai, d'ot^r^-/- 
Oeyreg. " Early about mom, they armed with 
their weapons," where iW rjot seems to be a 
contraction of vrcoffumy.ovarjg ioj, " sublucente 
Aurora." 

The first part only of the second verse of 
Mark xvi. is inserted in this section, on the 
supposition of Townson, and more particularly 
of Cranfield, who considers tie latter clause 
only to relate to the arrival of the women at 
the sepulchre, while the former refers to the 
time of their leaving home''. 

The principal difficulty in reconciling these 
various accounts arises from the expression 
here used by St. Mark, the word eo/ouca being 
supposed, by commentators, to signify both to 
arrive at the sepulchre, or to leave their own 
homes to go there. "Those who support the 
latter opinion," says Mr. Cranfield, " have no 
doubt the best of the argument, and have of- 
fered very probable reasons for the justness of 
their plans'." However, as some have objected 
to this opinion, it may be proper to see how far 
the setting out of the women admits of incon- 
trovertible proof, by a comparison with one text 

'^ Vide section x. and note. 

^ West On the Resurrection, third edition, p. 38, 
39. 

' See Godwin's Moses and Aaron, lib. iii. p. 81, 
82; and Bishop Newcome's Harmony of the Gos- 
pels, notes, p. 58. 



202* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part Vlll 



and the other ; in order to which, it is necessary 
that we should first bring in view the following 
words of St. Mark, Kd llav ttqoiI — eq^o^'tui inl 
TO fii/ijueTor, xvi. 2. The word nQtiit signifies 
the last quarter of the night, called the morning 
watch, consisting of the three hours next before 
the rising of the sun, and ended at it-''. The 
phrase llnv nguit, must denote the beginning, 
or not long after the beginning, of this v/atch, 
and also the dawning of the day ; as will easily 
appear from another passage in the same 
Evangelist, which is jrgwi, evvv^ov Xiav, chap. i. 
35. The word h'vvxov, as it stands here, I 
suppose to signify the darkness of the night ; 
and St. Mark appears to have used it explana- 
tory of Uav Tiqoii. The meaning, therefore, of 
the whole phrase seems to be, towards the end- 
ing of the night, or near the dawning of the 
day ; and perhaps the words may admit of a 
more proper translation than that we find in the 
established version, viz. "Very early in the 
morning, towards the dawning of the day." It 
might hence be fairly concluded, had we no 
other argument to go upon, that llav Trgixft (xvi. 
2.) signifies somewhat the same time as liav 
nQM't (i. 35.) But that the phrase alludes to the 
dawning of the day appears evident from the 
parallel place in St. John, where the words 
axoTlag en ovarjg, are designed to show in what 
part of his 7750/1 the act of the women took 
place. It is also worthy of regard, that St. 
Matthew likewise, in the parallel passage, 
speaks of the act of the women as taking place 
at the dawn. The word Uav, therefore, is used 
in a very emphatic and significant sense, and 
every way concurs to show that St. Mark meant 
to point out by it, the early part of the morning 
watch, or the beginning of the dawn. But the 
same Evangelist (xvi. 9.) has dropped the very 
significant Uuv, and only says, that Jesus arose 
nobii. This variation of expression, in respect 
of different facts, denotes that what the one de- 
scribed as taking place ^i'« J' ngoil, "very early 
in the morning," did happen prior in time to 
that which took place, tiqo)); only " early in the 
morning." The dropping of an adjunct of a 
superlative sense, and using the word of posi- 
tive import only, by itself, is a strong indication 
of this. When the women now arrived at the 
sepulchre, they were-almost instantly acquaint- 
ed by the angelic vision that Jesus was risen. 
He arose therefore before the women an-ived : 
but his resurrection took place nQut, only 
" early in the morning ;" consequently St. Mark 
has used the verb tQ^o/nai,, to express some 
other act of the women which took place llat' 
rcguit, "very early in the morning," before Jesus 
arose ; and what can this be but their setting 
out from their homes ? Now the rest of the 
Evangelists express, by the same verb, an act 
of the same women which took place at break 

/ See Cranfield's observations in loc. 



of day, a point of time exactly parallel with the 
lldi' TTQoit of St. Mark: but this cannot be their 
arrival, because the distance of the sepulchre 
from Jerusalem was such, as to render it alto- 
gether impossible that they could be there in- 
stantaneously. They therefore speak of the 
setting out of the women ; and this is agree- 
able to the series of St. Matthew's narration. 
We shall only observe, that the Evangelists 
have left us to infer the arrival of the women 
from their subsequent contexts ; in which it is 
so clearly implied, that there was no necessity 
for them to give us any express information 
about it. 

The words of the section, then, may be thus 
paraphrased : — 

Matt, xxviii. 1. Afler the Sabbath, 

Mark xvi. 2. at about four in the morning, 

the first day in the week, 
John XX. 1. while it was still dark. 

Matt, xxviii. 1. as the dawn of the first day 
of the week was beginning, 
Mary Magdalene and the 
other Mary left their home, 
Mark xvi. 2. and go to the tomb, 
Matt, xxviii. 1. to view the tomb. 



Note 9.— Part VIII. 

Bishop Horslet has supposed that the 
women saw th? descent of the angel, and the 
rolling away the stone ; but it is evident that 
this opinion is erroneous, for they did not arrive 
till it had already been removed. Compare 
Mark xvi. 4. Markland^ observes on these 
words, aeiafxbg iyivero /jiyag, " there had been 
a great trembling among the soldiers," not an 
earthquake. Hesychius aeiff/j/ig- Tgdpog. 



Note 10.— Part VIII. 

Matt, xxvii. 52, 53. — Kal nolM Gdy/uara — 
rjyiQdrj. Kal i^eldovreg ix TWf fivi^fiskov fjertk 
Ti^i' eyeQcrif cciitov, elar^ldov slg T/fjv dylav nolty. 
This seems to be the best way to read this pas- 
sage. When he yielded up the ghost, the 
graves opened: and after his resurrection the 
bodies of those who had been dead went into 
Jerusalem, and appeared to their friends. They 
were the first-fruits of the resurrection''. 

The Jews believed, that in the time of their 
Messiah, the bodies of their patriarchal ances- 
tors should arise from the dead. It is demand- 
ed. Why did the patriarchs so earnestly desire to 
be buried in the land of Israel ? Because they 
died in that land, and in that land they shall 

*■ Markland ap. Bowyer, p. 135. 
'' Grotius apud Bowyer's Critical Conjectures, p. 
132. 



Note 11.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*203 



live again in the days of tlieir Messiah'. And 
ag-ain, the promised land is called mon T1>X, 
"the land of their desire," because the patri- 
achs enjoyed there many blessings. Jacob 
desired to be removed to that land, because he 
and his ancestors should there live again, in the 
days of the Messiah — n^nn CD'^n nrjnB? 'JiDrD 

There is another tradition to be found also in 
the book Sohar, which speaJis in such an evi- 
dently scriptural manner on the subject of the 
future resurrection, that it is most probable it has 
been borrowed from the writings of St. PauV. 

There is certainly no absurdity in the suppo- 
sition of Fleming, that many of the saints of the 
Old Testament might have now risen, and been 
miraculously revealed to some of the more de- 
pressed of our Lord's disciples. Neither is it 
impossible that this might have been a part of 
the expectation of Abraham, when he rejoiced 
to see the day of Christ, and he saw it, and was 
glad*. 

Klopstock, in his Messiah, has made a most 
beautiful use of the opinion, that the bodies 
of the patriarchs, and others of the Old-Testa- 
ment saints, arose at this time. 

How great must have been the astonishment 
of the people and of their rulers, when they 
passed by the sepulchres of the dead to behold 
them open, and the bodies that had been buried 
visible, and slowly and gradually, perhaps, 
recovering from the repose of death! Here 
would have been seen the venerable figure of 
some aged patriarch, bursting the cearments of 
the tomb, the folds and wrappings of the em- 
balmer. There, might be seen the beloved 
form of some cherished child, or parent, over 
whose recent grave the flowers had not yet 
ceased to bloom, who was still lamented, and 
still wept, bearing witness to the great event. 
It is not impossible that many of those who had 
beheld the actions, and believed in the words of 
the Son of God, while on earth, were now re- 
stored to life, and werepemiitted to appear to 
their friends, as an undeniable evidence of the 
truth of Christ's resurrection, and of his con- 
quest over death and the grave. The tombs of 
the rich and the poor opened to the gaze of the 
astonished spectator: "the corruptible put on 
incorruption, and the mortal assumed immortal- 
ity." The bones were seen to come together ; 
the sinews and the flesh to unite and to revive. 
The monuments of marble, the sepulchres of 

• Brescith Rahba, sect. xcvi. fol. 93. 4. and 
Schrmoth Rahha, sect, xxxii. fol. 131. 2, ap. Schoet- 
gen, Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 237. 

J Sohar Chadasch, fol. 45. 1. " Ubi de Messia 
sermo est, quod tempore Jubila5i venturus sit, 
Quando buccina clangent : et a clangore, et sonitu 
buccinarum, evigilabunt Patres nostri in medio 
speluncte, xnn3 ppSnD'l et surgentin spiritu, et 
venient ad eos," ap. Schoetgen. 

' In the unpublished papers of Lord Barrington, 
in a letter to Dr. Lardner, I find some very curious 
and original ideas on this subject. 



rock, shook and were rent asunder. The 
mouldering dust, by a silent and mysterious 
process, assumed again its form and features, 
and acknowledged the power of an invisible 
Conqueror over the last great enemy of man. 
The combat between death and life was again 
renewed, and death was swallowed up in vic- 
tory. Scenes, such as these, but ten thousand 
times more sublime and wonderful, are reserved 
fiDr those that shall be alive in the latter days 
upon the eartli ; when the trump of the Arch- 
angel shall sound, and the Mediator, attended 
with all the company of angels, in the glory of 
his Father, shall receive the full recompence of 
his sacrifice : for his voice shall call the dead 
from their graves, and, amidst the wreck of 
humanity, announce to the astonished living, 
that the reign of immortality has begun, and 
that the triumph of their God is complete. 

The veil which hides the future world from 
the intrusion of man, seems to be partly removed 
when we read this passage. Time may engrave 
his changes upon us ; the eye may lose its bril- 
liance, the limb its activity, the frame its 
strength ; but, God be thanked for the consola- 
tion of a Christian, and the hope of a resurrec- 
tion to life ! The religion of Him who died for 
man, and laid waste the empire of death in that 
moment when he yielded to its sceptre, can 
support us through the miseries of this state of 
trial, and bear us safely through the valley of 
darkness and corruption. This religion is the 
only solid foundation of hope, or happiness, both 
here and hereafter. 



Note 11.— Part VHL 

I HAVE adopted the emendation of text in this 
passage proposed by Mr. Cranfield, after a care- 
ful consideration of the reasoning of Archbishop 
Newcome and Dr. Benson. The text requires 
only to be pointed differently ; and, without any 
alteration of the Greek Vulgate text, the whole 
passage is made consistent. The original reads 
thas: ver. 2. Xiav nqoil Trjg f.ii,ilQ aaSSujuv iq- 

XOVTUi iltl TO flVrjfJ.ElOV, (xVUTsllttl'TOg TOV 1^/Atol/ .• 

ver. 3. y.al eleyov ngog, x. t. I. If we place a 
period at /hvtj/usToi', and read the beginning of 
ver. 3. with the latter part of ver. 2, as one 
sentence, the narrative is complete, and the 
difficulty arising from the impossibility of 
uniting Xlav n^oit with d-vaielXai'iog rov i^Z/ou, 
vanishes. I have done this. The former part 
of the verse is in Section VII ; it reads tlius — 
Ver. 2. They came unto the tomb. 
3. And they said to each other, 

2. About the rising of the sun, 

3. Who shall roll away, &c. 

The same reading was in the harmony' of Am- 

' Vide Millium in loc. edit. Kusteri. 



204*, 



NOTES ON Tl 



GOSPELS. 



[Part VIII. 



monius: ef orto jam sole dicebant ; and in tha 
^thiopic version. 

1 shall salijoin Mr. Cranfield's remarks on the 
criticisms which have been proposed to remove 
the difficulty, and to which he rightly objects. 
Mark xvi. 2. — this place, as it stands in the re- 
ceived text, has created great embarrassment to 
the commentators and harmonists, owing to 
the difficulty of reconcihng the descriptive 
dii'uTeiluvTog rov ■fillov, with the descriptive 
}.lav TiQut. For this question is obvious, How 
can the dawning of the day be at the rising of 
the sun ? or, in other words, How can two hours 
before sunrise be no space of time ? Such is 
the natural question that arises from perusing 
the received text of the above place ; and there- 
fore, as this text labors under so great an in- 
consistency, there must be a fault in it ; but, as 
it. is not possible that so gross a blunder (lying 
within the small compass of thirteen words) 
could escape the notice of St. Mark, who ap- 
pears, in many instances, which it is needless to 
point out, to be a clear and circumspect writer, 
the received reading cannot be genuine. Two 
ways have been proposed for removing the diffi- 
culty. It has been said, that if we adopt the 
reading of Beza's MS. which is dn'ocTilloi'Tog, 
oriente'^, the seeming inconsistency in St. Mark 
will thus be reconciled ; for Uuv ttqwI cannot 
admit o? lifaTsO.ai'Tog. To which I must reply, 
that neither can it admit of uvuTMovrog, unless 
it can be proved that this word signifies the 
dawning of the day ; a sense which surely 
no accurate person will attempt to assert it 
possessed of. The word must signify, at least, 
that the upper limb of the sun was very near 
the sensible horizon, and therefore, as there can 
only be the difference of a few minutes between 
the times denoted by this reading and that in 
the received text, I think it very immaterial 
"vi'hich we follow. 

Another way proposed to remedy the dif- 
ficulty is, that soxovTui. should be taken with 
lluv TiQwt, in the sense of "going," or "setting 
out," and always understood with dvarEllavrog 
t5 rillov, in that of " coming," or " arriving." 
The ellipsis, however, which tills opinion intro- 
duces, is certainly very harsh and unusual ; 
and, I think, too farfetched for being adopted, 
as it does not seem to flow in an easy manner 
from the context of the Evangelist; for lluv 
■nouA and ivurellavTog rov ijllov are evidently 
made by the common reading of the place, to 
be both connected with the same verb, eo'/ovjai. ; 
and therefore the proposer of this solution 
should have offered one important amendment 
to make good his opinion. What this is may 
easily be seen by part of what follows. In 
the most ancient MSS. there is no distinction of 
words ; no space left between every two words, 

" Bishop Newcome's Harmony of the Gospels, 
notes, p. 54 ; Benson on 1 Thess. ii. 7. note N. and 
2 Thess. ii. 13. 



but all the letters in one line are close togetlier. 
This being the case, we have warranty to point 
the text so as to exclude out of it the sen- 
tence in which Uuv nooit is, which may be 
done by placing a period or fuU stop imme- 
diately after the word fuir/fieToi'. This would 
entirely remove the difficulty ; for then dva- 
TslluvTog Tov Tjllov would have no connection 
with Uuv TtQMt, and it would clearly appear, 
that the two descriptive phrases related to 
different times, for which, in all probability, the 
Evangelist intended them both, &c. 



Note 12.— Part VIII. 

Looking uptheysaw with surprise, 'S'sw^ioCcrtj', 
that the stone was rolled away, ijy ydio ^iyag 
aopSSga, " for it was very great." This was 
the cause of their surprise. — See Bowver, p. 
181. 



Note 13.— Part VIII. 

OJS the form and dimensions of JEWISH 
SEPULCHRES. 

The distance of the holy sepulchre from 
Jerusalem was not one mile. It is necessary to 
remember this fact to account for the rapid 
going and coming of the agitated and anxious 
followers of Christ. 

Mary Magdalene, as soon as she discovers 
the stone is rolled away, leaves her companions, 
without approaching to examine the sepulchre, to 
inform St. Peter and St. John of this unexpected 
occurrence ; no doubt hoping to receive some 
explanation from them, or to have the benefit of 
their exertions in this unlooked-for event. 

Other difficulties in the account of the resur- 
rection arise from our not sufficiently under- 
standing the form of the sepulchres which were 
used by the Jews. 

The form of the sepulchres among the Jews 
is thus prescribed by the rabbis" — "He that 
selleth his neighbour a place of burial, and he 
that talces of liis neighbour a place of burial, let 
him make the inner parts of the cave four 
cubits, and six cubits ; and let him open within 
it yD)D 'n eight sepulchres. They were 
accustomed, says the gloss, to bury the same 
family in the same cave ; whence if any one 
sold his neighbour a place for burial, he sells 
him room for two caves, and a floor in the 
middle. "jO is the very place where the body 
is laid." 

It cannot, however, be supposed that every 

" Bava Bathra, cap. vi. hal. ult. ap. Lightfoot 
Chorog. Century, Works, vol. ii. p. 89, 90. Dr 
Bright's edition. 



Note 13.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*205 



person •n'ho might wish to purchase a burial 
place, if he desired it for himself alone, was 
compelled to conform to this law. It will be 
observed, that nothing is said of Joseph of 
Arimathea requiring this sepulchre for his 
famUy, it seems indeed to have been peculiarly 
his own for his own use. 

The rabbins (says Dr. Townson) prescribe 
that a Hebrew sepulchre should have a court 
before it, through which you are to pass to the 
door that leads into the cave or proper place of 
sepulture. They direct the court to be made 
of sis cubits, or nine feet square". 

There is an area or portico of the prescribed 
dimensions before that which is now called the 
holy sepulchre, and which seems not HI entitled 
to the name which it has long borne. For 
though in the reign of the Emperor Adrian 
the sepulchre of Christ was buried under a vast 
mount of eartli, and on this mount was set up 
an object of pagan worship in despite to the 
Christians, yet the place was pointed out to 
them by these very signs of idolatry standing 
over it ; and when this mountain of earth, with 
all that had been erected over it, was about 
two centuries after cleared away, by order of 
Constantino the Great, then, as Eusebius 
expresses it, "the cave, the Holy of Holies, 
obtained a similitude of our Saviour's resurrec- 
tion ;" wliich words allude not only to the 
burial and resurrection of the blessed body 
that had lain in this sepulchre, but also to the 
form of the Jewish sanctuary. For the title of 
Holy of Holies given to the cave imports, that 
it had a holy place before it, and was divided 
into two, like the sanctuary. It is therefore an 
indirect testimony of Eusebius, a native of Pal- 
estine, where he lived many years, concemincr 
the platform of our Lord's sepulchre. 

Let us now examine the form of it by the 
Evangelists. St. Matthew tells us that the 
angel "rolled back the stone from the door, 
and sat upon it," (Matt, xxviii. 2.) ; St. Mark, 
that the women saw this angel, or " young man 
clothed in a long white garment (xvi. 5.) sitting 
on the right side." But they did not perceive 
Mm till they were entered into the sepulchre. 
He had therefore not rolled the stone out of it, 
but to one side of it ; yet he had rolled it from 
the door. The door therefore was in a partition 
that divided the sepulchre in two ; and the 
whole of the inward division was not visible to 
those who stood in the outer. The ano-el said 
to the women, " Come, see the place where the 
Lord lay," (Matt xxviii. 6.) They were there- 
fore standing where they did not command a 
sight of that place : yet they were within the 
sepulchre ; for as soon as he had finished his 
speech to them, they went out quickly, and fled 
from the sepulchre. Mark xvi. 8. So St Mark 

° Kicolm de Sepulchris Hebra/jruin, lib. iii. cap. 
ii. p. 178. 

VOL. II. 



says ; and so also St. Matthew, rightly under- 
stood ; for his words are, " they departed quickly 
from the sepulchre," (Matthew xxvui. 8.), 
means evidently they departed quickly out of 
the sepulchre ; as the same mode of expression 
is translated in other passages. Thus the real, 
as the reputed sepulchre, consisted of a place 
of sepulture, and an enclosed court or area, 
as did often the sepulchres of the Greeks. 
3Tf%ua, or ^uvrjiteToj', is tlie general name given 
by the Evangelists to the tomb ; but T^cpog is 
the word used by St. Matthew. The uvrtueiof, 
or whole of tlie sepulchre, consisted of the 
T-iqcoc, or place where the body was deposited, 
and the ay.im], or outer court''. 

The sepulchre is called in tlje original Mne- 
ma, or Mnemeion, by all the Evangelists ; but 
St. Matthew has besides another word on this 
occasion in Greek, Taphos ; and his use of this 
word carries such marks of discrimination, and 
he is so little apt to deal m a variety of terms 
when one will precisely answer his intent, that 
it may be justly concluded that St. Matthew em- 
ploys two words, because one of them some- 
times expresses his meaning more exactly than 
the other, and that they are distinct in his accep- 
tation of them, as much as with us a " church " 
and its " chancel." What was in the Taphos 
was within the Mnemeion ; but what was in the 
Mnemeion was not therefore within the Taphos. 
The Jewish rulers, who would take what they 
judged the most certain measures to retain the 
body of Christ in their possession, requested a 
guard for the Taphos, (Matt, xxvii, 64.) The 
Taphos they secured by sealing the stone, (ver. 
m.) The two Marys sat over against the Ta- 
phos on Friday evening, (ver. fjl.) The women 
went to visit the Taphos, as the great object of 
their care, eariy on Saturday morning, (Matt 
xxviii. 1.) In this therefore the body had beeii 
laid ; but because they had not been in it, when 
they saw the angel, and as soon as he had done 
speaking to them fled away, they are said to 
have « departed quickly out of the Mnemeion." 
(ver. 8.) Now if the two words are of difierent 
application in St Matthew, it is plain there 
was a difference in the places to which they are 
applied'. 

Mr. Cranfield objects to this opinion of Dr. 
Townson, that the angel appeared to the first 
party of women, in the outer coui-t, sitting on 
the stone, on the right side. He endeavours to 
prove at some length, that the angel was within, 
in the inner part of the tomb. As this question^ 
however, does not appear of much importance 

? Potter's Antiquities, vol. ii. book iv. chap vii 
p. 221. third edition. 

' The inner part of the fivr-uiior was also called 
,in'>;i(Erov, thus xal to uvrutiov r'o Tov Ai'yorcn arzu- 
fiarov uror;f»sr-. a phrase which evidently- restrains 
urriiuov to the si^ification of nothino- ipore than 
the mere tomb, in which the body of Auo-ustus was 
laid. " 

* Xiphilini Epitome Dionis, p. ^3. ap. CranfieJd. 



206* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VIII. 



to the liistory, I shall merely refer to the dis- 
cussion of the point — it will be found in p. 548, 
observations on section i. 



Note 14.— Part VIII. 

Their emotion and agitation were so great 
that they were confused and overpowered with 
the mingled sentiments of astonishment, incre- 
duhty, fear, and delight. What will be our own 
overpowering emotions when we shall behold 
the same Saviour in glory, on our own resur- 
rection from the dead ! 



Note 15.— Part VHI. 

I HAVE preferred the decision of Townson 
and West, to that of Dr. Lardner and Mr. Cran- 
field, with respect to the insertion of Luke xxiv. 
12. as parallel with this passage of St. John. 
West's arguments on this point induced both 
Pilkington and Doddridge to alter their harmo- 
nies according to his arrangement. There is 
reason to believe that the Evangelists have ob- 
served, in the events they severally record on 
the subject of the resurrection, an exact order 
of time. But this is an exception, if St. Luke 
and St. John both describe the same going of 
St. Peter to the sepulchre : for that in which 
St. Peter and St. Jolm went together was be- 
fore any report of the women concerning a 
vision of angels. When St. Peter went with 
St. John, it was in consequence of his interview 
with Mary Magdalene ; it is expressly asserted 
that he descended into the sepulchre, and saw 
the linen clothes lie ; he went at this time to 
be satisfied that the body was actually removed. 
In the visit mentioned by St. Luke, it appears 
that his object was to ascertain if he also could 
see the angels who had been visible to the 
women, mentioned Matt, xxviii. 8. The two 
visits of St. Peter are represented as proceed- 
ing from different motives, and the circum- 
stances attending them are related as having 
taken place at separate parts of the tomb. See 
Townson, Cranfield, West, and thek references. 



Note 16.— Part VIIL 

The disciple whom Jesus loved came first to 
the sepulchre, and when he had stooped (stand- 
ing on the floor of the outer apartment, that he 
might look into the burying-place), saw the 
linen clothes lie ; yet went he not in. But 
Peter went in, &c. that is, from the floor he 
went down into the cave itself, where the rows 



of graves were, VD)D, in which, however, the 
body of Jesus only had been deposited. 

St. Peter entered and examined the tomb, 
St. John went in also ; and he says of himself, 
" And he saw and believed''." What he saw 
was the same that St. Peter did : but what did 
he believe ? An answer to this, I trust, we 
shall be able to collect from some circum- 
stances in the history. When Peter went into 
the tomb he saw the linen clothes, y.Elij,eva, lying 
at full length, as when the body was in them ; 
and the napkin, iviETvXiyj.dvov, folded up in 
wreathes in the form of a cap^, as it had been 
when it was upon our Lord's head. The Apostle, 
■d-EwgeX, accurately viewed, with some degree 
of contemplation, the burial clothes lying thus 
in such remarkable order : and it is no wonder 
he was astonished at this state of the tomb, 
which he could not account for ; and though it 
might have seemed to him to border somewhat 
on the miraculous, yet it does not appear, 
from this part of the history, that he had any 
idea of the reality of our Lord's resurrection'. 
The astonishment of Peter excited the atten- 
tion of John, who then went down into the sepul- 
chre, and on seing that the body must have 
miraculously slipped out of its grave clothes, 
which lay in their right order, he saw and be- 
lieved. 

St. John's belief, then, of the resurrection 
arose from what he saw ; " He saw and be- 
lieved :" but, at the same time, he honestly and 
candidly acknowledges his " slowness of heart 
to believe the sure word of prophecy ;" and 
seems in a manner to reprehend himself for 
grounding his belief merely on what he saw, 
when he should have founded it rather on the 
unerring prophecies of Scripture, which were 
written for his learning ; but he adds, as an 
apparent apology, "that they knew not the 
Scripture, that he must rise again from the 
dead." The interpretation contended for 
seems to flow in a natural and easy manner 
from the context of the Evangelist, and shows 
the inutility of ax before inlarevasv in the 
Cambridge MS. or version ; the Latin transla- 
tion of which has no negative particle". But 
however we must be allowed to assert, that 
neither a report nor insinuation of the resurrec- 
tion was necessary to John's believing it ; he 
might have believed the resurrection, and did 
believe it, as the context of the Evangelist 
shows, without any prior report; and he in- 
ferred it, as he reasonably might, from the state 
of the tomb, which afforded to an impartial and 
thoughtful mind, a very strong presumptive 
argument of the reality of that miracle. When 
St. John therefore entered the tomb, and 
accurately examined the linen clothes, a new 

"■ John XX. 8. 

" Luke xxiv. 12. 

' Luke xxiv. 25, 26. 

" See Doddridge's Family Expositor. 



Note 17, 18.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*207 



combination of ideas must have extorted from 
him a beUef which he could not have had 
before ; a belief of something more momentous 
than tlie report that the body had been taken 
away: and what belief could this have been 
but of the resurrection ? We may observe also, 
that St John's believing the resurrection from 
what he saw is contrasted with his not knowing, 
and therefore not believing, it from Scripture. 

If it be said, that when the women told the 
eleven of the resurrection, the apostles disbe- 
lieved them, and received tlieir report as idle 
tales, and that this account therefore is incon- 
sistent with St. John's belie\-ing the resurrec- 
tion, it may be answered, it is not necessary to 
suppose that St. Jolm made a public declaration 
of his belief; he might have thought it prudent 
to keep it inwardly to himself; for, " he might 
have believed that Christ had risen again, 
though tliis faith or belief was yet weak, and 
stood in need of some further proof to confirm 
it." Therefore, while the women were report- 
ing their glad tidings, and most of the Apostles 
scoffing at them as idle tales, SL John, who had 
no positive certainty of the truth of what they 
asserted, might have held his peace, and said 
nothing either for or against them; in which 
case, it might have been then presumed, that he 
was in the same mood of thinking as the others, 
though he takes care himself to tell us, that he 
was not". 



Note 17.— Part VIII. 

"Mart," says Lightfoot, " stood at the sep- 
ulchre \nthout; that is, within the cave, on 
the floor, but without that deeper cave, where 
the I 'DID, or 'places for the bodies,' were 
deposited." She had followed tlie disciples, but 
they had left the sepulchre immediately after 
they had satisfied themselves of the absence of 
the body. She now arrived tlie second time at 
the tomb, and disappointed at finding they had 
left it without communicating the result of their 
inquiry, she weeps at the supposed profanation 
of the sepulchre by the unknown hands which 
had removed the body of her Lord, and at the 
scene of misery, anguish, and death, to which 
she bad been witness. That Mary was now 
alone is evident from the manner in which St. 
Mark, xvi. 9., describes the appearance of our 
Lord to her, as well as from the way in which 
the same narrative is told at greater length by 
John, XX. 11-14. 



Note 18.— Part VIII. 
The doctrine of the ministry of angels, so 

" See on this verse Archbishop Newcome, ap. 
Bowyer's Conjectures, p. 328. 



much esteemed by the primitive Church, as 
well as by the most eminent and pious Chris- 
tians of all ages, has now become one of those 
which, without any one well-founded argument, 
is to be reasoned away. The repeated appear- 
ances of angels, both in tlie old and new dis- 
pensations, seem designed to point out to us 
the near, though mysterious, connexion of the 
invisible state vnih. that which we now inhabit. 
And what can be more consolatory to the be- 
liever than the idea which tiiis and other pas- 
sages of Scripture appear so much to corrobo- 
rate, than the belief that the angels of heaven 
are around us, the ministering spirits of God, 
for our good, watching over us, and fulfilling 
the wisdom of Ms providence ? Why should 
this opinion be disclaimed? Angels were 
present at the creation ; they have been repeat- 
edly manifested to man. To Isaiah the sera- 
phim appeared veiling their faces with wide- 
spreading %vings. The form that was visible to 
Ezekiel had the semblance of a lambent flame, 
enveloping what seemed its body. To the 
women they appeared in shining garments, and 
to the keepers at the sepulchre as lightning, 
with raiment white as snow. They are the 
happy possessors of that blessedness to which 
the spirits of the departed hope to be admitted. 
And they shaU be again visible in their thou- 
sands of thousands, at that magnificent and 
glorious triumph, when the Ancient of Days 
shall sit on the tlirone of his glory, and the 
assembled universe be summoned before his 
high tribunal. Is it impossible, then, that they 
are the invisible, yet efiicient agents, in many 
of those innumerable events which are attended 
with moral and religious benefit to individuals 
and to the world ; which are but too generally 
ascribed to incidental circumstances, or to the 
well-laid plans of human policy ? 

The soul of man is gifted with powers and 
properties wliich are distinct from the human 
body, and which it possesses in common with 
superior beings. I cannot believe, therefore, 
that idea to be irrational, which represents the 
manner of our present union -nith the invisible 
world by the following ingenious and curious 
image. Suppose a number of lighted lamps 
were placed in a room, one of which only was 
covered with an earthen vessel, the lamp so 
encumbered, as soon as the covering was either 
broken or removed, would find itself in the 
same state and condition with the other lamps. 
So it may be v/ith the accountable spirit of 
man. The earthen vessel of the body may be 
broken by violence, or silently destroyed by 
sickness or age, but, as soon as the veil or the 
covering of the body is removed, tlie unfettered 
spirit finds itself the companion of kindred 
spirits, which, though now unseen, are continu- 
ally surrounding it The time is not far hence, 
when we shall know, even as we are known ; in 



208* 



NOTES OJN THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VIII. 



the mean time, the very attempt to speculate 
upon these things, elevates and purifies the 
mind'". 



Note 19.— Part VIII. 

ON THE RESURRECTION. 

As woman brought death into the world, a 
woman was made the first witness of the resur- 
rection of life. Of the manner of Christ's 
existence after he arose from the dead we can 
form no adequate conception. The manner of 
the resun'ection of the same body was, and is, 
one of the most incomprehensible difficulties of 
Christianity; and our Lord therefore has con- 
descended to teach the doctrine, not, like the 
generality of his other doctrines, by arguments 
and reasoning, but by repeated facts, and those 
of the most undeniable nature. And he taught 
it, lastly, by his appearing to his disciples after 
his resurrection. 

Before that time our Lord had lived among 
his disciples as a man among his companions. 
He was in all points like unto them, sin only 
excepted. After that event his body, though to 
appearance the same as it had ever been, as- 
sumed various properties and powers which it 
had not before possessed. We read, that when 
the disciples had assembled in a room, the doors 
of which were shut for fear of the Jews, Jesus 
suddenly stood in the midst. On the evening 
of the day of his resurrection, he joins himself 
to two of his disciples as they were going to 
Emmaus. He enters into conversation with 
them. He talks of the Scriptures and of him- 
self till their hearts burn within them. But their 
eyes were holden and they did not know him. 
When they came to their own home, he sat 
down with them, and then it was, in breaking 
the bread, that he made himself known; but at 
the very instant, when they were filled with 
joy, he became invisible : he vanished out of 
their sight. Before his resurrection our Lord 
had conversed familiarly with his disciples ; 
after tliat event he was seen only occasionally 
among them, in a more solemn and mysterious 
manner. His great object on these occasions 
seems to have been, to increase their faith, and 
to convince them tliat the same body they had 
beheld committed to the ground, was now raised 
to life again in a glorified form. He proves to 
them that a door, or a wall, or the sides of a 
grave, could not oppose his progress. He 
passes through solid matter as through the 
yielding air, yet he had still a body wliich they 
could touch and handle, bearing the marks 

'" On the subject of angels, see Wheatley's Str- 
mons ; Hammond On the Angelic Life, a very 
curious and valuable work ; a Sermon of Bishop 
Bull's, &c. 



of the spear and the prints of tlie nails. The 
day of his ascension arrives, Christ ascends by 
his own power. No horses of fire, no chariots 
of fire elevated him. Of himself, he raised 
himself, a Divine and Glorious Being, into the 
blue firmament of heaven ; and he ascended 
where he still remains, with his Father, and our 
Father, with his God, and our God. 

This doctrine of the resurrection of the body, 
which our Lord and Saviour thus taught by 
action, is explained in the Epistles of St. Paul, 
by the most powerful and eloquent reasoning. 
" Some man will say, how are the dead raised 
up, and with what body do tliey come ? That 
which thou sowest is not quickened except it 
die ; and that which thou sowest, thou sowest 
not that body that shall be, but bare grain." 
That is, as the laborer may commit to the 
ground, in the winter or in the spring, the seed 
of a flower, or a grain of wheat, which in the 
course of its appointed time rises from the 
ground in a diiferent and superior form, with 
the beautiful blossom, and the fragrant flower ; , 
so also the mouldering body, which is commit- 
ted to the ground, may be called the seed of 
that body which shall be raised from the grave 
in glory. We are removed from the sight of 
our nearest kindred and our dearest friends, i 
" Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." 
But the pale and corrupting corse, the cold 
clay, the fading features, and the icy limbs 
shall burst from the tomb of earth, and be 
clothed with the beauty of holiness ! " It is 
sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual 
body ; it is sown in corruption, it is raised in 
incorruption ; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised 
in glory ; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in 
power." It is sown as the bare grain, and the 
worthless seed ; but after the winter of the 
grave is over, when the dead, small and great, 
shall stand before God, the bodies of men shall 
be raised in the same form, and invested with 
the same nature and properties, as that with 
which thek Divine Master arose from the tomb. 
" Our vile bodies shall be made like unto his 
glorious body." More than this the Scripture 
does not reveal. Why it was that neither 
Mary Magdalene, nor the other disciples going 
to Emmaus, nor his own apostles at the sea of 
Tiberias, were not at first able to recognise our 
Lord, though they afterwards knew him, is 
among those mysteries which we shall under- 
stand hereafter, when we ourselves shall arise 
from the grave, and renew our former friend- 
ships in our glorified bodies. 



Note 20.— Part VIII. 

"Mary Magdalene is here said to have 
turned herself back ; and afterwards, in ver. 



Note 21.-23.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*209 



16, ag-ain to have turned herself. Schacht, in 
his Harmony of the Resurrection, proposes, as 
a solution of the difficulty, the supposition, that 
in the first instance she only turned her head, 
and in the second her whole body. Or, he 
adds, after her address to Jesus as the gardener, 
she may again naturally enough have directed 
her attention to the sepulchre. Tliis is from 
Koecher. I prefer the former solution." — Dr. 
F. Laurence's Remarks on Scripture, p. 73. 



Note 21.— Part VIII. 

ON THE WORDS, " TOUCH ME NOT." 

Jl/Vj /itov umov. Mr. Chandler would trans- 
late tliis, "Embrace me not, — hold me not." 
And he produces many examples from Homer, 
Xenophon, and Euripides, Hec. ver. 339, aipai 
fnijqbg, "embrace thy inother." 'Ava6iSi]Ha 
he would translate as a present tense, as it 
must mean, he says, John iii. 13., when Christ 
had certainly not ascended. He quotes Homer 
also in the first Iliad, ver. 37, for the similar 
use of another compound from the same primi- 
tive verb, OS Xqvarjv ijucptSiSr/yMg : he would 
then join this, not with the preceding, but with 
the following sentence ; and the whole sense 
will be, " Hold me not ; for I am not yet going 
to ascend to my Father: but go unto my 
brethren, and say unto them, I do ascend (for I 
shall shortly ascend) unto my Father and your 
Father, unto my God and your God." 

He brings many instances of the present 
tense (as ixvaSaivix) here) being used to signify 
what is shortly to be done. 

Vogelius has here a very ingenious conjec- 
ture of ^i'] ov nxoov, "be not afraid," for fii\ fxov 
dmov, " touch me not." This approaches so 
near to the traces of the letters, and, besides, 
so resembles the first address of Christ to the 
women in Matthew, and of the angel to the 
women in Matthew and Mark, "Fear ye not, 
be not affrighted ;" that, if it were supported by 
any manuscript authority, I should willingly 
adopt it. But the Sacred Text should not be 
altered on conjecture only. 

Bowyer, in his Conjectures, proposes firj, fwu 
&7TT0V. "No; (lam not the gardener, as you 
suppose ;) touch me." And for tliis he quotes 
Paulus Bauldrius, in Neoceri Bibliotheca. But 
it seems to me too farfetched a reading, and 
inconsistent with Mary's previous recognition 
of Christ, in the appellation of Rabboni. 

Koecher observes, that Michaelis proposes to 
make it an interrogation, "Do you not touch 
me ? " as inviting that test of his real appear- 
ance. Kypke, in his Observations (he says) 
explains the passage as a prohibition of adora- 
tion until after his ascension. 

On the whole, I continue to adhere to Chand- 
voL. II. *27 



ler's explanation ; to wliich I would add, that 
ix(jq>t6i6rjxag is explained by the Pseudo Didy- 
mus, as TiegiBeSijy.ag, inrsQ/ua/etg, clearly giving 
it a present signification, and showing that the 
other compounds of the same verb are used In 
the same manner. Thus too the preterpluper- 
fect tense of the simple verb is used by Homer 
to denote merely past time, as equivalent to the 
aorist of other verbs, 5' Olilvfinit'de ^e6rjxei, 
Riad (X. 22] ; which the same scholiast interprets 
by C(.nelj]}.v6ei,, inoQevdi]. Aristophanes has 
^edri^Mg tieqI cucvfifoXg, which the scholiast 
explains by ineQfiux^v axv/ivoTg. 

St. John has a similar form of another com- 
pound of ^ali'b), used for the present tense, 
chap. V. ver. 24. &lla fj,eTa6i6rjy.ev ix tov d-ui'd- 
rov elg T-qy fyjijv. Some of the Latin MSS. in 
this place translate fiexaGiSijy.Ev by "transit;" 
and some Greek MSS. of inferior note and 
modern date, feeling a supposed incongruity, 
read jusTuS^aerai, as thinking the future more 
consistent with the rest of the context. 

Homer has ^sdijxs, or ^s^-qy.si,, in the sense 
of a simple, present, or past, and that in a con - 
nexion, which so marks it, six or seven times, 
and never otherwise. — Dr. Laurence's Remarks 
on Scripture, p. 73-75. 



Note 22.— Part VIIL 

That Mary Magdalene rejoined her two 
friends when Christ appeared to them seems to 
be most probable, from comparing Matt, xxviii. 
9. with John xx. 18. Dr. Townson translates 
St. Matthew's words, they were going to tell 
[to report] to the disciples ; and St. John, Mary 
Magdalene cometh to tell [to report] to the 
disciples. He speaks of her, not as arrived 
among them, but on her way to them. 

It may be made probable too by the behaviour 
of the women. Mary would have told them, if 
she thus rejoined them, that Christ had actually 
appeared to her ; and they would have been 
thereby prepared to meet him, with that com- 
posure which they seem to have done. Imme- 
diately on seeing him, they embraced his feet 
and worshipped him. When the others saw 
him, they did not know him, and were terrified. 
This conduct appears to be the result of some 
preparatory disclosure. 



Note 23.— Part VIIL 

The absurdity and folly of this story are 
admirably displayed in Mr. West's treatise. 
No complaint was made against the soldiers, 
no punishment inflicted on the disciples, no 
alarm had been given when the poor, dispirited 
disciples came to roll away the stone, and break 



210* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VIII. 



the seal, and profane tlie sepulclire ; all the 
Bixty soldiers and their commander were with 
one accord asleep, although at the same time 
the penalty of sleep was death ; and the noise 
of rolling away the stone could not awake even 
one of the party. And this overpowering sleep 
had seized them, when they had been placed 
here for one night only, for the special purpose 
of securing the very tomb which was thus pro- 
faned ! But it was in this instance, as it is in 
the general conduct of men : reasoning, which 
would disgrace an idiot in the common occur- 
rences of life, is amply sufficient to excuse us 
to ourselves, for denying or disbelieving the 
solemn truths of Christianity. 



Note 24.— Part VIII. 

The reasons which have induced West, 
Townson, Cranfield, Doddridge, Horsley, New- 
come, Gleig, Pilkington, and I believe every 
writer since the time of West, to conclude that 
♦wo parties of women came to the sepulchre at 
different times have been already noticed. At 
present let us inquire, according to this hypo- 
thesis. When the second company arrived at the 
tomb ; whether between the two visits of Mary 
Magdalene to it, or after the second ? For the 
following reasons, their arrival seems rightly 
placed after she left the sepulchre the second 
time : it is certain that no one was there earlier 
than she was, and therefore they who did ac- 
company her, but made a distinct visit thither, 
and as the case requires, neither saw her nor 
her friends, nor was seen by them, must have 
come during her absence. Her first absence 
was when she ran to tell Peter and John : but 
then she left the other Mary and Salom6 be- 
hind, who went into the sepulchre and saw 
and heard the angel. When they were fled 
away, came the two apostles ; and these were 
followed by Mary Magdalene returning. The 
tirne, therefore, between the departure of the 
other Mary and Salom6 from the sepulchre, and 
the coming of John and Peter to it, seems too 
short an interval for the arrival and departure 
of the other women in such manner, that both 
parties might keep clear of all sight of each 
other. And the more we prolong this interval, 
the less probable we make it that Mary Magda- 
lene, after she had seen the Lord, should have 
rejoined her two friends, when he showed him- 
self to them also. And yet it appears so much 
the sense of St. Matthew, and I think of St. 
John, that she was with them, that it is a point 
by which we ought to abide, unless there are 
cogent reasons to the contrary. As I am not 
aware of any such, I espouse the opinion which 
seems the most likely, that Mary was gone the 
second time from the sepulchre before Joanna 
and her company got to it. 



Note 25.— Part VIII. 

A great difficulty has been found in this 
passage of St. Luke xxiv. 9, 10. by those com- 
mentators who consider the tenth verse to be 
explanatory of the preceding verse. The five 
verses preceding the ninth give an account of 
the appearance and speech of the angels to the 
women of whom St. Luke has been speaking. 
The ninth informs us, that these women came 
and reported all " these things " to the apostles, 
and all the disciples. The tenth is supposed to 
be explanatory of the ninth ; and therefore that 
the women named in it had been at the sepul- 
chre together, had there seen the vision of the 
angels, and then had come as one company to 
the apostles and all the disciples. 

On a larger view however of this history, 
another construction may be judged necessary. 

Gerhard"^, Benson^, Macknight^, Lardner", 
Pilkington'', and Doddridge'^, have all concluded 
that " these things are to be taken distribu- 
tively ; that Mary Magdalene reported some 
things, and the other women reported the rest. 
They believe that, though St. Luke has, in the 
tenth verse, put the whole account of what 
the women related together, the Evangelist 
refers to that which was related by Mary 
Magdalene, as well as by the second party of 
women." 

The evidences of the resurrection, then, 
which the women could produce were these : — 

1. The appearance of the angel to Mary the 
mother of Joses — of two to Mary Magdalene — 
of Christ to Mary Magdalene — his second ap- 
pearance to the women — the two angels who 
stood by the women, when they had been in 
the tomb and found not the body of the Lord 
Jesus. 

It will be observed, from this statement, that 
each of the women had something different to 
relate. The expression of St. Luke, " these 
things," must be referred to the various col- 
lected reports they had all brought. Tlie 
expression therefore in the ninth verse, d.nrjY- 
yedav ravia ndvra, must refer to the report of 
Joanna, whose account he had been immediate- 
ly relating, and al eleyov — ravju, to the whole 
company. See this point discussed at length 
by Townson, Cranfield, and others. 



Note 26.— Part VIII. 

I HAVE not discussed the question whether 
the 16th of Mark, after ver. 9, is genuine. It 

^ Harmon. Histor. Evangel, de Rcsurrectione 
Christi, cap. i. p. 240. col. 1, &c. 

y Summary View of the 'Evidences of Christ's 
Resurrection, Lond. 1745, 8vo. p. 25. 

' Hannony of the Four Go^^jek, sect. 150. p. 663, 
second edition. 

■^ Observations on Mac/might, 4to. p. 44. 

i Notes, p. 61. " In loc. 



Note 27.-30.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*211 



is certainly omitted in many manuscripts of 
great authority, or it is marked witii an asterisk, 
or separated from the preceding- part of the 
Gospel. It relates nothing inconsistent with 
the accounts of the other Evangelists, and 
appears to have been drawn up as an epitome 
of the various appearances of our Lord. 

Mr. Cranfield has labored much to prove that 
this verse refers to the first visit of St. Peter 
mentioned by St. John. Dr. Townson, on the 
contrary, has defended the present order of St. 
Luke, and concludes that the Evangelist here 
relates the second visit of St. Peter to the 
sepulchre, when our Lord manifested himself 
to him. It is certain that Christ appeared to 
Peter about this time; for when the two dis- 
ciples came from Emmaus to the other disciples, 
this very circumstance was the subject of their 
conversation. This fact is further confirmed 
by St. Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 5. He was afterwards 
seen by the other apostles. 



into another state, and that our bodies shall be 
made like his at the day of the resurrection. 
Philip, iv. ad fin''. 



Note 27.— Part VIIL 

I HAVE placed this clause by itself, as it was 
most probably on his return from the sepulchre, 
after he had received the accounts of the women 
that our Lord appeared to St. Peter. His 
desire to see our Lord, and perhaps to implore 
his forgiveness, as well as that characteristic 
eagerness and ardor, by which he was on all 
occasions distinguished, excited in him the 
desire to make his second visit to the sepulchre 
to examine it, to be again convinced that the 
body was removed ; and in the hopes of meet- 
ing OUT Lord, if Christ would condescend to 
meet him. Cranfield very beautifully observes, 
" St. Peter had denied his Master, and had his 
Master showed himself to any other of the men 
before he showed himself to him, might he not 
have thought his repentance ineffectual, his 
reconciliation impossible, and consequently be 
plunged into despair.' Though his fall was 
attended with inconceivable aggravation, yet 
the magnanimity and mercy of his Saviour was 
still greater, and knew no bounds." 



Note 28.— Part VIIl. 

These sections are arranged in their present 
order upon the concurrent testimony of all the 
harmonizers, as well as the internal evidence. 
Every thing recorded in them affords a new 
source of wonder. Christ, in his glorified form, 
passes through the folded or barred-up doors, 
as if his body were like the light, or the air, 
and yet he appeals to his disciples to satisfy 
themselves that he was not a spirit, but pos- 
sessed of material and solid flesh. We are 
assured that with this same body he ascended 



Note 29.— Part VIIL 

This desponding sentiment, " We trusted 
that it had been he that should have redeemed 
Israel," &c. must have been the general opinion 
of our Lord's disciples. All their hopes were 
buried with him in the sepu-lchre. They 
thought it impossible that he whom they had 
lately seen bleeding, and expiring on the cross, 
" the very scorn of men, and the outcast of the 
people," should by his own power break the 
bands of death, and rise again in greater beauty 
and perfection, " For as yet they knew not the 
Scriptures." 

The Scriptures represent, in many passages, 
that " it behoved Christ to suffer." This was 
typified in the patriarchal age, by the offering 
up of Isaac — in the Law, by the brazen serpent 
— by the sacrifice of the animals, particularly 
by that of the paschal lamb. In the prophets : 
— 1. Isa. liii. 5, 7, 8. — 2. Daniel's prophecy, 
Dan. ix. 25, 26. "the Messiah shall be cut off"." 
— -3. Zech. xii. 10. " they shall look on me 
whom they have pierced." — In the Psalms ; Ps. 
ii. 1-3. XX. 1-18. xvi. 10. 

" Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell ; 
Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One 
to see corruption." 

It was intimated that he should rise again 
the third day — Isaac the third day was released 
— sacrifices eaten the third day. The resurrec- 
tion does not seem to be alluded to in the 
Prophets, except in the type of Jonah, and in 
Isa. liii. and Zech. xii. 10. But on the prophe- 
cies and types fulfilled in the sufferings of 
Christ, see the sermon of Joseph Mede on Luke 
xxiv. 32. Hales's Analysis, vol. ii. part 2 ; and 
West On the Resurrection. 



Note 30.— Part VIII. 

It has been supposed that this verse ought 
to be read interrogatively, for, in Mark xvi. 13., 
we learn that the apostles did not believe the 
testimony of the two disciples from Emmaiis, 
while it is here asserted that they were saying, 

"^ See Kuinoel, where the different opinions con- 
cerning the body of Christ are briefly summed up. 
See also Bishop Horsley's Sermons on the Resur- 
rection, Sermon Fourth. I am contented with the 
facts of Scripture, and dare not indulge in the 
various conjectures which present themselves on 
these subjects. The reader who is fond of such 
speculations on these points, may peruse the works 
of King (Morsels of Criticism), More, Fleming, 
Flavel (On the Soul), Thomas Aquinas, Prima Pars, 
Question 50, to the end of Question 65. 



212* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VIII 



at the very time when the disciples from Em- 
maus came into the room, " The Lord has risen," 
&c. This difficulty is removed, if we suppose 
that our Lord had appeared to St. Peter, and 
they were expressing their incredulity at the 
moment the disciples arrived from Emmaus, in 
the language of this passage, "Has the Lord 
risen, and has he indeed appeared unto Simon ? " 



Note .31.— Part VIII. 

This verse of St. Mark has generally been 
supposed to refer to our Lord's appearance to 
his disciples on the evening of his resurrection. 
But St. Luke and St. John both describe the 
first appearance of Christ to his disciples, and 
neither of them gives the least intimation of any 
thing like reproof, which they then heard from 
the mouth of their affectionate Lord. The 
whole of his discourse and behaviour to them 
was directed at that time to the composing of 
their troubles, and the satisfying of their doubts. 
Reprehension was reserved for the following 
Sunday, when a whole week having been al- 
lowed them to examine and compare the proofs 
of his resurrection, and to call to mind his own 
predictions and promises concerning it, they 
who continued incredulous were become more 
worthy of blame. Then if he said no more by 
way of reproof than what he said to St. Thomas, 
it was a reprehension of the rest of the com- 
pany who were in the same state of mind : and it 
is sufficient to justify St. Mark's expression, 
" He upbraided them with their unbelief and 
hardness of heart." St. Mark says, "He ap- 
peared unto the eleven," and it was of conse- 
quence to inform us that he was seen by the 
apostles ; but when he adds, " And he upbraided 
them with their unbelief," he extends his view 
to all those whom he had spoken of as incred- 
ulous in the preceding verse 



Note 32.— Part VIII. 

The first appearances of our Lord to his 
apostles appear to have taken place uniformly 
on the first day of the week ; and from their 
consequent observance of that day, originated 
the Christian Sabbath. 



Note 33.— Part VIII. 

ON the exclamation of ST. THOMAS, AND 

ON THE WORD nPOSKYNESl. 

The disbelief of the apostles is the means of 
furnishing us with full and satisfactory demon- 



stration of the resurrection of Christ. Through- 
out the divine dispensations, it is to be observed, 
that every doctrine, and every important truth, 
is gradually revealed ; and here we have a 
conspicuous instance of this progressive sys- 
tem. An angel first declares the glorious 
event! The empty sepulchre confirms the 
women's report. Christ's appearance to Mary 
Magdalene showed that he was alive — that to 
the disciples at Emmaus proved that it was at 
least the spirit of Christ, by his expounding the 
prophecies, and breaking of bread — that to the 
eleven showed the reality of his body, and the 
conviction given to St. Thomas, proved it the 
self-same body that had been crucified. The 
resurrection was testified by the conviction of 
the senses. The ear heard it, and blessed — 
the eye saw it, and gave witness — the hand 
was satisfied with feeling — the intellect was 
fed upon the heavenly teaching — and the Holy 
Ghost descended in confirmation of the holy 
truth. The miracle of the draught of fishes 
gave evidence of the continued existence of 
the same divine and almighty nature, which 
had been displayed before the crucifixion, and 
the Spirit of God was manifested in opening the 
Scriptures, till their hearts burned within them. 
Every possible demonstration was vouchsafed 
that man could receive, or God bestow. The 
wounds which had been inflicted upon the body 
of Christ were still visible, bearing testimony 
to his identity, unclosed, yet free from corrup- 
tion. Incredulity itself was satisfied, and the 
convinced Apostle exclaims, in the joy of his 
heart, " My Lord and my God." 

The question whether St. Thomas, at the 
moment of his conviction, intended his address 
to our Lord as an act of religious worship, must 
be decided by a consideration of the conclusions 
from which it must have originated. St. 
Thomas had denied the possibility of the resur- 
rection. Our Lord convinced him of his error ; 
then he expressed himself in these remarkable 
words, "My Lord and my God." "So far," 
says Bishop Horsley, "as the disciples be- 
lieved in Jesus as the Messiah, in the same 
degree they understood and acknowledged his 
Divinity. In the first interview of Nathanael 
with our Lord, when he proved to him his 
omniscience, he exclaimed, ' Thou art the Son 
of God,' thou art the Divine and expected 
King of Israel. When the miraculous draught 
of fishes convinced St. Peter of the power of 
Christ, he addressed him as his ' Lord.' When 
the Angel Jehovah appeared to the patriarchs 
of old, they all worshipped and paid their 
homage in the same manner, and with similar 
expressions to those used by the Evangelists. 
It was some sudden proof of divinity in the 
mysterious Personage who addressed them, 
which elicited the language of homage and 
adoration." 

The exclamation of the Apostle ^^as, '0 



Note 34.-37.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*213 



Kvgiog fwv, xal 6 Qs6; ftov, in the nominative, 
which is frequently put for the vocative, in pure 
as well as in Hellenistic Greek. It seems, 
however, preferable to read the passage, ai) et 
understood, "Thou art my Lord, even my 
God ; " or, as the word Kioio: corresponds to 
the principal names given in the Old Testa- 
ment to the manifested Godof Israel, it would be 
better to interpret the exclamation accordingly, 
as if he had said O'nSx nin", or, as the Jews 
were accustomed to omit the ineffable name, and 
substitute 'JHX in its place, he might have 
used only tlie latter nil'n'?^ ■'jnx. It seems, 
however, more probable, that on the present 
occasion he would omit the substituted term, 
and express himself in the very language of the 
Scriptures, :!Z3"nSN niD". This was the name 
given to the manifested God of the Old Testa- 
ment, and the exclamation of the Apostle, there- 
fore, may be more fully rendered, " Thou art 
the Lord Jehovah, the manifested God of my 
fathers." 

It is true that the word TTooay.wm, in the 
original, which is rendered by our translators 
by the term "worship," is used by the Evange- 
list to denote civil respect, or the homage due 
to persons of rank and dignity. But the word 
is one of general import; and the cases in 
which it must be understood of religious adora- 
tion on the one hand, or of civil homage on the 
other, can be discriminated only by attending 
to the circumstances in each instance. To 
assist in determining the true sense in the ex- 
amples under consideration, let the following 
remarlcs be considered : — 

1. Out of sixty places in which this word 
occurs in the New Testament, there are only 
two or three in which it indisputably bears the 
inferior sense ; there are forty-three in which 
it is manifestly to be understood of religious 
worship; and the remaining instances are those 
of application to Christ, the genuine import of 
wliich we are desirous of ascertaining. 

2. Our Lord, during the whole of his public 
ministry, evidently made it a principle of his 
conduct, to disavow and refuse all earthly 
eminence. The repeated attempts which were 
made to invest him with the regal dignity he 
inflexibly discountenanced. Even when he 
was accosted with an epithet which he might 
have accepted very inoffensively, he rebuked 
the person who gave it, because he perceived 
it was the language of adulation rather than of 
sincere conviction — "Why callest thou me 
good ? " On the contrary, he never refused 
acknowledgments of spiritual supremacy. He 
openly claimed to be called Lord and Master, 
the Son of God, and the King of his Church. 

A translation of the New Testament into 
Hebrew has been lately published by the 
London Society for Promoting the Conversion 
of the Jews ; in this translation the words of 
St. Thomas are rendered literally 'nbxi "'jnj-s. 



This Hebrew translation, so far as I am able to 
judge, appears to be executed with ability and 
faitlifulness' 



Note 34.— Part VIII. 

Beza reads this passage, ovSi iSlcrraaav, 
" they did not doubt any longer." The Prus- 
sian version reads, ngoasy.vi'ijcrav avra, ol ds 
iSlaTuaav, "they worshipped him, even those 
who had doubted." In which sense it should 
be ol TS. Grotius interprets it, " but some had 
heretofore doubted." Bishop Pearce conjec- 
tures, that those who doubted did so because 
they might be at a greater distance from him 
than others, and therefore could not so well 
distinffuish. 



Note 35.— Part VIII. 

St. Matthew's words are, y.al ■nqoasldCiiv 
6 ^ Irjaovg DM-rjCrev uiTot; ; implying, that when 
our Lord first appeared to them it was at a 
distance: nooasldwi' is rendered by Grotius, 
" accedens." — See Townson, p. 167, and Bow- 
yer, p. 1-36. 



Note 36.— Part VIII. 

The contents of tliis section are very curious 
and important. So little did the apostles an- 
ticipate their future elevation, as the reformers 
of the religion of the world, that they had abso- 
lutely returned to their former occupation as 
fishermen of Galilee. Humble and unambitious, 
they appear to have as much forgotten all the 
splendid hopes and expectations of the past, as 
they were ignorant of their future high destinies. 



Note 37.— Part MIL 

These words may either refer to the third 
appearance which St. John relates, or the third 
appearance Christ made to the apostles, when 
all, or most of them, were together. He mani- 
fested himself to ten of them (John xx. 19.) ; 
again to eleven of them (ver. 26.); and at 
this time to seven (see ch. xxi. 2.) But when 
the accounts of all the Evangelists are collated, 
we shall find that our Saviour distinctly re- 



' Horsley's Letters in reply to Dr. Priestley, p. 
239. Sermon on the Adoration of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, vindicated from the charge of Idolatry. By 
Dr. Pye Smith, 8vo. 1811. 



214* 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



[Part VIII. 



vealed himself eleven times after his resur- 
rection. 



Note 38.— Part VIII. 

Peter was now in the act of girding on his 
dry clothes, and our Lord, according to his 
custom, spoke from the object before him. 



Note 39.— Part VIII. 

This command was given for the fulfilment 
of the prophecy of Isaiah (ch. ii. 3.) — 

" For out of Sion shall go forth the Law, 
And the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem." 

On the feast of Pentecost the publication of 
the Law on Mount Sinai took place ; and on its 
approaching anniversary a New Dispensation 
was to be delivered to the world, the substance 
and substitute of the former figurative economy. 
The injunction of our Lord evidently shows an 
appointed analogy between the Old and New 
Dispensations. The time when this address 
was spoken by our Lord cannot be exactly as- 
certained. There is reason, however, to believe 
that what is related in this and the following 
section took place when the apostles were re- 
turned to Jerusalem, after they had seen Christ 
in Galilee, with this order, " to tarry in Jerusa- 
lem:" the instructions contained in the last 
chapter of St. Luke, from the end of the 43d 
verse, are considered as more nearly connected, 
in point of time, than with the transactions 
which immediately precede them, as given by 
that Evangelist. The harmonists likewise 
refer to this period (the latter part of the forty 
days), and all that is related by St. Matthew, 
in his last chapter, from the 18th verse ; and 
also what is mentioned by St. Mark in his 
concluding chapter, from the end of the 14th 
verse. 



Note 40.— Part VIIL 

The arrangement of the contents of this 
section has been prmcipally made on the plan 
proposed by Mr. Cranfield, which appears to 
me to be preferable to that of Dr. Townson. 



Note 41.— Part VIII. 

Cranfield is of opinion, that from ver. 18. 
of Matt, xxviii. — from ver. 15 to 19 of Mark 
xvi. — and from ver. 50 to 52 of Luke xxii. 
must be referred to the address of our Lord to 
his disciples, on the occasion of his ascen- 



sion into heaven. The speech of our Lord in 
St. Matthew, he observes, begins thus : " All 
power is given to me in heaven and on earth." 
Some harmonists have made this clause to have 
been spoken on the mountain in Galilee, separat- 
ing it from the remaining part of the speech ; but, 
whenever it was uttered, the rest of the speech 
must have been spoken on the same occasion, 
by reason of the connective particle oiiv. Our 
Lord here declares all power in heaven and on 
earth to be given to him at his resurrection ; in 
consequence of which power, he proceeds to 
tell his disciples, that he had the authority and 
right to commission them to convert, baptize, 
and instruct the world : " Go ye therefore," that 
is, in consequence of this power, or absolute 
authority. On the above clause our Lord 
founds his authority to commission his disciples : 
it was, therefore, rather unskilful to destroy the 
force of the argument by dismembering the 
speech. Now, as we learn from St. Mark, that 
our Lord did not commission his disciples till 
he led them out to his ascension, so, as we are 
not aware of any reasons to the contrary, we 
think it best to assign this passage in St. Mat- 
thew to the time of the ascension. Indeed, the 
passage itself furnishes internal evidence that 
it was spoken on this occasion : it implies that 
the disciples were fully instructed, and that our 
Lord was now going to take his final leave of 
them. We say, final leave ; for the words, 
" Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end 
of the world," can have no other meaning than 
this, " Though I am going now to ascend with 
my body into heaven, and therefore shall be no 
longer visibly upon earth ; yet will I always be 
spiritually with you, and your successors, and 
direct the Church, even unto the end of the 
world." This seems to me a strong indication 
tliat the passage in question can have been 
spoken on no other occasion than that of the 
ascension. 

It is observable, that the Evangelists were 
more careful in giving us the words of our 
Lord, than in noting on what particular occa- 
sions they were spoken. The speech in St. 
Matthew, for instance, one might think, at first 
view, was given on the mountain in Galilee. 
He indeed says, that our Lord spoke then unto 
his disciples ; but I cannot apprehend that he 
would commission them so soon, and give them 
to understand that he was then about to take 
his final leave of them, and ascend into heaven. 
For the ascension did not take place till what 
we may call long after the appearance on the 
Galilean mountain. St. Matthew, then, not 
thinking it material to notice what particular 
words our Lord spoke on the mountain in Gali- 
lee, only says, " That Jesus came up and spa!:e 
unto his disciples." This was enough to show 
us, that he of consequence removed the doubts 
of those of his disciples who had not beheld 
him till then after his resurrection. We may 



Note 42.-44.] 



NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. 



*215 



render and point the 18th verse in the following- 
manner: "Then Jesus came up, and spake 
unto tliem." 

We may understand this clause as the ending- 
of the transaction on the mountain in Galilee, 
so far as we have it recorded. And as our 
translators have rendered, in innumerable in- 
stances, the participle as if it were a verb, so 
we may be allowed the same liberty here, es- 
pecially when the true meaning of the Evange- 
list and the just method of harmonizing seem 
to require it : and render Hymv, not literally, 
" saying-," but, " he saith." This therefore 
may begin a new paragraph continued on till 
the end of his Gospel ; which paragraph we are 
under the necessity of supposing was meant by 
St. Matthew to relate to the ascension. Had 
the Evangelist written xal liysi, the matter 
would not be capable of dispute. But, on the 
other hand, when we discover sufficient reasons 
to assure us that this paragraph refers to our 
Lord's last appearance to his disciples, and, 
consequently, that its place should not be regu- 
lated by the word ^t'j'w*' ; and when we also 
take into account the manner of the Evangelists 
in several instances, how they, by reason of 
their close adherence to brevity, seem to bring 
into one view, as belonging to one and the 
same transaction, things which, on a minuter 
inspection, we find to relate to different trans- 
actions ; the liberty may be allowed to the 
harmonist of departing from the usual transla- 
tion of the original reading, so far as he may 
judge it necessary. The passage in St. Luke 
contains internal evidence that it must be under- 
stood of no other than our Lord's last appear- 
ance to Ms disciples on Mount Olivet-'^. 



Note 42.— Part VHL 

We must not understand divaftic, which 
we translate " power," in this verse, as we 
do h^ouala, which is translated by the same 
word in the preceding verse. In the former, 
the infinite authority of God over all times and 
seasons is particularly pointed out: in the other, 
the energy communicated by him to his dis- 
ciples, through which they were enabled to 
work miracles, is particularly intended. 



Note 43.— Part VIII. 

The difficulty of this verse, when collated 
with the accounts given by the other Evange- 
lists, is thus removed by Dr. Lightfoot. 

1. In Luke xxiv. 50. we read, " He led them out 
as far as Bethany," and in this passage (Acts i. 
12.) that when the disciples came back from 
the place where our Lord had ascended, "they 

■'' Cranfield's Observations on Townson, &.C. sect. 
xii. p. 75, 76. 



returned from Mount Olivet, distant from Jeru- 
salem a Sabbath-day's journey." But now the 
town of Bethany was about fifteen furlongs 
from Jerusalem (John xi. 18.), and that is 
double a Sabbath-day's journey. 

2. Josephus tells us, that Mount Ohvet was 
but five furlongs from the city, and a Sabbath- 
day's journey was seven furlongs and a half. — 
Antiq. lib. xx. cap. vi. "O x«i rr\g noXewg 
(h'Tixqvg Ksifievov, dinixsi ai&dia tt^j'ts .-"which 
being situated in front of the city is distant 
five furlongs." 

These things are all true : — 1. That the ) 
Mount of Olives lay but five furlongs distant \ 
from Jerusalem. 2. That the town of Bethany \ 
was fifteen furlongs. 3. That the disciples ; 
were brought by Christ as far as Bethany. 4. 
That when they returned from the Mount of 
Olives, they travelled more than five furlongs. 
And, 5. Returning from Bethany, they travelled 
but a Sabbath-day's journey. All which may 
be easily reconciled, if we would observe, that 
the first space from the city was called Beth- 
phage, which part of the amount was known by 
the name "to the length of about a Sabbath- 
day's journey," till it came to that part which is 
called Bethany. There was a Bethany, a tract 
of the mount, and also the town of Bethany. 
The town was distant from the city about fifteen 
furlongs, i. e. about two miles, or double a Sab- 
bath-day's journey : but the first border of this 
tract (which also bore the name of Bethany) 
was distant but one mile, or a single Sabbath- 
day's journey. 

Our Saviour led out his disciples, when he 
was about to ascend, to the very first region or 
tract of Mount Olivet, which was called Beth- 
any, and was distant from the city a Sabbath- 
day's journey. And so far also from the city 
itself did that tract extend itself which was 
called Bethphage: and when he was come to 
that place where the bounds of Bethphage and 
Bethany met, and touched one another, he then 
ascended ; in that very place where he got upon ! 
the ass when he rode into Jerusalem, Mark xi. \ 
1. Whereas, therefore, Josephus saith, " that f 
Mount Olivet was but five furlongs from the ' 
city," he means the first brink and border of it. 
But our Evangelist must be understood of the 
place where Christ ascended, where the name 
of Olivet began, as it was distinguished fi-om 
Bethphage. 



Note 44.— Part VIII. 

OS the visible ascension in each of the 
three dispensations. 

It has been supposed by Grotius, that the 
Gospel of St. John was originally terminated at 
the end of the 23 verse of chapter xx., and the 
remainder of the Gospel was added by the 



216* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part VIII. 



Church at Ephesus. This opinion, however, is 
rejected by Wetstein, Michaelis, and Whitby. 

It is remarkable, that in each of the three 
Dispensations a \'isible ascension of the body 
has taken place, — some holy personage has 
been visibly taken up into heaven. In the first 
of these periods, between the Creation and 
the Deluge, Enoch was translated : " He was 
not," say the Scriptures, " he did not die ;" for 
"he walked with God, and God took him." 
During the second period, fi-om the Deluge to 
the Advent of our Saviour, Elijah was visibly 
taken up into heaven : — " It came to pass as he 
and Elisha still went on and talked, that, behold ! 
there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of 
fire, and parted them both asunder ; and Elijah 
went up by a wliirlwind into heaven." During 
the third period, which has continued nearly 
two thousand years, in which we and the whole 
Christian Church now live, and which will be 
concluded only by the day of judgment, Christ, 
our Lord, while in the act of blessing his dis- 
ciples — " and while they beheld, was taken up, 
and a cloud received him out of their sight." 
He ascended into heaven, and he now sitteth, 
till he shall again come to judge the living and 
the dead, at the right hand of God. Whatever 
were the sundry ways and divers manners in 
which God, by his Prophets, appealed to the 
Jewish world ; whatever reception we ourselves 
may give to the precepts and the sanctions of 
his Evangelists and Apostles, who have more 
especially written for the Christian Dispensa- 
tion, this is undeniable, that God, in every age, 
has made most abundant provision to demon- 
strate to all the certainty of another life and 
another state of being. In the great mercy of 
our Almighty Creator, this solemn truth has 
been enforced by three visible ascensions into 
heaven, an earnest to the world of the certainty 
of that great day, when all the Church of God, 
from the days of Adam, till the sounding of the 
trumpet of the Archangel, shall assemble before 
the judgment-seat of Christ. As surely as 
Enoch, and Elijah, and our Lord Jesus Christ 
ascended into heaven, so also shall we ascend 
from our graves, to give an account of the deeds 
done in the body, whether they be good or bad. 

Where is now the body of Christ, which 
ascended in a visible and tangible shape ? 
Wherever body exists, it must exist in refer- 



ence to place, and heaven cannot therefore be 
merely a state or condition. There must be, 
then, in some part of the universe of God, a 
place in which the glory of the Deity is more 
immediately and peculiarly manifest, where 
the body of Christ now is, the real " Holy of 
Holies." There is the seat of that happiness 
which is peculiarly prepared and destined for 
the faithful followers of Christ. There is the 
abode of angels ; there are the spirits of the 
just made perfect; there is God, the Judge of 
all. To that place, and to the state and con- 
dition of happiness which is enjoyed there, 
every son of man may arrive, to whom the in- 
vitation of divine mercy has been extended. 
There is our home — here is our pilgrimage. 
There is our Father — here we are pilgrims and 
strangers. There is the Son of God, our 
Brother, and our Friend — here we live among 
fallen creatures, a cold and selfish world. 
There is peace, and repose, and rest — here is 
vexation, turbulence, and sorrow. Frail indeed 
is the veil of mortality which separates us from 
that holy mansion of God our Father ; and poor 
and contemptible are the toys and follies that 
bind us to earth, and prevent us from anticipat- 
ing, with serene and rational confidence, the 
summons to the invisible world that most 
assuredly awaits us. He that numbers the 
very hairs of our head, in whose book all our 
members are written, will not leave us nor 
forsake us in the grave. He shall separate our 
corrupted and mouldering bodies from the con- 
fused mass of atoms, by which they may be 
surrounded, with as much faithfulness and truth 
as the loadstone will draw to itself the smallest 
filing of steel from the innumerable grains of 
sand by which it may be encompassed. Why 
then should it seem a thing impossible to you 
that Christ should raise the dead ? The voice 
of inspiration has declared, — 

" Thy dead men shall live, 
Together with my dead body shall they arise, — 
And the earth shall cast out the dead." 

(Isa. xxvi. 19.) And that same glorified body, 
which the disciples saw ascend, shall at the last 
day descend, and conduct us from the grave and 
gate of death to the glorious home of holiness 
and purity, to the new Jerusalem, the city of 
the living God. 



Note 1,2.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*2n 



PART IX 



Note 1. — Part IX. 

This JVote is the "Preliminary Observa- 
tions " to Part IX. See page 199. 



Note 9.— Part IX. 

ON THE APPOINTMENT OF MATTHIAS. 

From this event many have inferred the 
right of popular interference in the election of 
ministers. He indeed must be a superficial 
reader who draws this conclusion, which an 
accurate consideration of the history directly 
invalidates. The election was made under 
peculiar circumstances which can never recur ; 
before the platform of the Church was decisive- 
ly established ; before the apostles had received 
power from on high ; and when their number 
was confessedly incomplete. If the number of 
names, which were together about an hundred 
and twenty, had been designed to comprehend 
the whole Church of that period, and the women, 
who followed Christ from Galilee (and for wliose 
exclusion on this occasion there is no satisfac- 
tory reason), are included in the number, the 
eleven apostles and the seventy disciples, who 
would not separate before Pentecost, will form 
a very considerable part of the congregation. 
But in the interval between the resurrection 
and the ascension of our Lord, the Church was 
so numerous, that above five hundred brethren 
(1 Cor. XV. 6.) could be collected at one time 
and place to see him ; and the circumstances 
of his appearance to his disciples were not such 
as to afford an opportunity of assembling them 
for a particular purpose, nor would they at this 
crisis be forward in declaring themselves ; nor 
is it probable that any of them would return to 
his home before the feast, which he came to 
celebrate at Jerusalem. St. Peter, however, 
standing up in the midst of the hundred and 
twenty disciples, that is, to less than a fourth 
part of the brethren, addressed himself only to 
the men and brethren, an exclusive salutation 
of the apostolic college, as some have supposed, 
but which appears to be an indiscriminate man- 
ner of addressing an audience, whether of 
ministerial persons specifically, of disciples 
generally, or even of Jews and heathens. Its 
precise application must be determined from 
other relative expressions in the apostle's dis- 
course. Now the repeated use of the pronoun 
VOL. II. *28 



us (Acts i. 17, 21, 22.), in speaking of Judas, 
who was numbered with us ; of the men, who 
have companied with us; of the Lord Jesus 
going in and out among us, and of his being 
taken from us, and of the new candidate's being 
a witness with us of his resurrection, seems to 
imply in the speaker a peculiar connexion and 
identity of ofiice with the persons whom he was 
addressing; and indeed the allusion to the 
ascension exclusively confines his meaning to 
the apostles. It is also worthy of remark, that 
in the address of the apostles to the multitude 
of the disciples on the day of Pentecost, this 
particulanty of persons is actually observed: 
" Look YE out seven men, whom we may 
appoint over this business," (Acts vi. 3.) 
Again, the apostle speaks of Judas as having 
obtained part of this ministry, of this ministry 
with which you and I are entrusted, and which 
in the subjoined prayer is described as the 
ministry and apostleship, or ministry of the 
apostleship, (Acts i. 17, 21.) He speaks like- 
wise in a demonstrative manner of certain 
persons, who were present (ver. 21.), and out 
of whom the election was to be made, as dis- 
tinguished from those whom he was addressing, 
and who were to make the election ; and whom 
he supposes to be acquainted with the circum- 
stances which rendered it necessary to supply 
the place of Judas from among those who had 
been their constant companions from the begin- 
ning, (Acts i. 22.) To be a witness of the 
resurrection is an expression frequently appro- 
priated in the Scriptures to the apostles, and 
to them alone ; and to be made a witness of 
the resurrection with us is to be raised to the 
apostolate with us. It may also be supposed, 
that the electors were possessed of equal 
authority with St. Peter, and placed the same 
reliance on their own judgment as on his recom- 
mendation ; he maintained the necessity of 
substituting one for Judas ; they nominated two 
candidates, and left the ultimate choice to the 
Searcher of hearts ; while in the election of 
the deacons seven men were required by the 
apostles, and seven men were accordingly 
elected. Hence it may be concluded, that the 
persons whom St. Peter addressed, and who 
were to elect the candidates, were the apostles 
themselves. The choice of the electors was 
however limited; they were not to elect any 
new and inexperienced convert, but one of 
those who had companied with them all the time 
that the Lord Jesus had gone in and out among 
them, a description higlily appropriate to the 
seventy ; and if the application to them be ad- 



218* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX 



mitted, and if it be maintained, in opposition to 
tlie preceding arg-ament, that St. Peter's dis- 
course was addressed to them in connexion 
with the apostles, the natural conclusion will 
be, that the seventy nominated, and the apos- 
tles approved ; and Barsabas and Matthias 
must both be included in the number of the 
seventy. But whatever was the capacity of 
the electors, whether apostles or the seventy, 
or both acting in concert, they appointed two ; 
they did not presume to supply the vacancy by 
the nomination of an mdividual successor ; they 
did not before the effusion of the Spirit esteem 
themselves competent to judge of the respec- 
tive merits of the candidates, whom they pro- 
posed ; they commended their case in earnest 
prayer to God, and left the matter to his arbi- 
tration and decision ; and with this diffidence 
in their own judgment, and this reference of 
tlie whole aifair to the divine pleasure, it is 
most inconsistent to suppose that they would 
appeal to the opinion of an indiscriminate mul- 
titude. The election was concluded by lots, 
and the lot fell upon Matthias, and in devout 
acquiescence in the divine preference, without 
any imposition of hands, which on other occa- 
sions was the form of ministerial ordination, he 
was numbered with the eleven apostles. The 
inferences from this history must be drawn 
with care and deliberation ; the circumstances 
of the Church were peculiar: St. Peter's dis- 
course was not addressed indiscriminately to 
the people ; the powers of the electors were 
limited, and they were exercised in dependence 
on the divine will ; the persons elected were 
persons of experience in the service of the 
Lord ; the choice was decided by God, who 
may have ruled the votes of the electors not 
less than the fall of the lots. Matthias there- 
fore became an apostle by the will not of man, 
but of God; he was translated from an inferior 
condition, which was therefore distinct from the 
superior one to which he was admitted ; he 
was numbered with the eleven by virtue of the 
divine preference ; and every trace of popular 
election and of ministerial ordination is ex- 
cluded". 

Mosheim'' concludes, from the mode of ex- 
pression here adopted by St. Luke, that the 
successor of Judas was not chosen by lot, as is 
generally supposed, but by the suffrages of the 
people. St. Luke says, y.al sdujxay y.lrioovg 
aiTUtv ; but Mosheim thinks, that if the Evange- 
list wished to say they cast lots, he would have 
written y.ul eSalop ^Xrioop, or xlijoag. But as 
it is impossible to reason from what the Evan- 
gelist ought to have written, rather than from 
what he has written, we cannot place much 
confidence in his remarks, particularly when 

" Morgan's Platform of the Christian Church, p. 
29, &c. 

' Vidal's Translation of Mosheim, note, p. 136, 

vol. i, 



we consider the manner in which the Jews 
usually express this idea ; their phrase being 
(see Levit. xvi. 8.) "^lU jrij) which corresponds 
to the Greek word y.lrioog, used by the Evange- 
list ; they gave, or cast forth the lot. As the foun- 
dation of Mosheim's argument is thus removed, 
it cannot be necessary to examine his infer- 
ences. The correct interpretation of a passage 
of Scripture destroys a whole legion of errors'^. 



Note 3.— Part IX. 

This passage, Acts i. 19., ought to be in a 
parenthesis, as being spoken by St. Luke. 
" Esse hunc versum pro additamento Lucae 
habendum, satis dilucide verba ipsa decent. 
Quorsum enim Petrus Apostolis dixisset, Judse 
triste fatum omnibus Hierosolymitanis inno- 
tuisse ? quam absona fuisset etiam vocis Akel- 
dama, omnibus preesentibus satis notas, inter- 
pretatio ! Accedit etiam quod ager iUe hand 
dubie hoc nomen successu demum temporis 
accepit. Est igitur hie versus parentheseos 
nota a reliquis sejungendus. (j.y.e).du,uit, Syr. 
Chald. xm Spn ager csedis, scil. cruentus, 
dygog aiixurog, Matt, xxvii. S"*. 



Note 4. — Part IX. 

The word Ijiavlig, hahitation, in this pas- 
sage corresponds with the Hebrew m'ti, which 
signifies the house appointed for the shepherd 
who is commissioned to take charge of the fold. 
Hence it is rendered in the authorized transla- 
tion by a secondary meaning : the original 
sense of the word, however, would have better 
expressed the idea of the office and authority 
which Judas had abdicated. The first part of 
the verse is quoted by St. Peter from Ps. Ixii. 
26. and in the Alexandrine version we find the 
same word, ysrrjdy'iTM t] ijravhg uiiwv r^oriUM- 
ftiyt] y.al kv Tolg (jy.rjvuiiiaaiv avrwv firj etrrw 6 
y.atory.ibv. Hesychius, enavlig — fi&vdQu ^oav, 
•r] ol'yTjfia, ri du^rj, ?) UTqaTonedia, y.al fj noifievi-- 

The word iniaxonfiv , therefore, ought to be 
so interpreted, as to correspond with the 
former part of the verse : it implies an office in 
which the possessor exercises authority and 
control over those subject to his charge. 



' See Kuinoel, Com, in Lib. Hist. JV. T., sect. 2. 
in loo. and Schleusner in voc. y.Xi;QOQ. 

"* Kuinoel, Comment, in Lib. Hist. JV. T. vol. iv. 
p. 18. See also PfeifFer, Dubia Vexata, Cent. 4. on 
the word Aceldama. Doddridge, also, with other 
critics, places this verse in a parenthesis. 



Note 5.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*219 



Note 5.— Part IX. 

ON THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST. 

That our blessed Redeemer was here ad- 
dressed in the words " Thou, Lord ! who 
searchest the heart," may be inferred from the 
fact, tliat St Peter had used the term " Lord " 
(ver. 21, 22.) immediately before this invoca- 
tion, when he assuredly spoke of the Messiah. 
In the election of presbyters afterwards, in the 
several churches, the apostles commended 
them " unto the Lord, in whom they had be- 
lieved," (Acts xiv. 23.) That Lord was unques- 
tionably Christ, In the Apocalypse, (ii. 23.), 
our Saviour expressly and formally assumed the 
title — " All the Churches shall know, that I am 
He which searcheth the reins and hearts." 
Upon this passage of Scripture alone we should 
be justified in oifering up our prayers to Christ, 
as " our God, and our Lord," as our only Medi- 
ator, and our only Saviour. 

The Divinity of Christ appears to me to rest 
upon this solid and unchangeable foundation — 
that the inspired writers seem throughout the 
whole of their pages to take it for granted. 
They are only anxious to prove Jesus of Naza- 
reth to be the expected Messiah, which title 
implies his Divinity ; and this point being 
gained, they consider it as a truth which re- 
quired no additional argument. Whenever the 
course of their reasoning led them to touch 
upon the subject of the real nature of the Mes- 
siah, their very inspiration seems to be insuffi- 
cient to clothe in adequate language their 
exalted ideas of his glory. When they attempt 
to describe Him, it is in the same words as they 
use when they speak of the Supreme Being. 
When they address Jesus the Christ, the Mes- 
siah of the prophets, the same humble adoration 
is observed as when they worship God the 
Father Almighty. The truth of this mode of 
representing the argument will appear from 
the following very brief statement of the as- 
criptions of glory which are alike applied to 
the Father Almighty, and his only Son, our 
Lord. 

The comparison may be illustrated by the 
following table, given us in a late learned and 
elaborate work: — 

To God. To Christ. 

1. Evloyla, Evloyia, Blessing; the utter- 
ance of gratitude 
from the universe 
of holy and happy 
beings, for all the 
divine bestowments. 

Q. J6^a, idola, Gloi-y; the manifesta- 

tion to intelligent 
beings of supreme 
excellence. 



3. Soq>la, 2o(pla, Wisdom ; the most 

perfect knowledge 
combined with holi- 
ness and efficient 
power in ordaining, 
disposing, and ac- 
tuating all beings 
and events to the 
best end ; and this 
especially with re- 
spect to the salva- 
tion of mankind. 

4. Tifi-fj, Tififi, Honor, worth, value, 

dignity, intrinsic ex- 
cellence, supreme per- 
fection. 

5. Jivafiig, Jvyafiig, Power; ability to ef- 

fect completely and 
infallibly all the 
pui-poses of rectitude 
and wisdom. 

6. 'la/vs, 'laxv?, Jlfig-Zif; power brought 

into action. 

7. HwTTjgCa, Sc^Trjqla, Salvation; deliver- 

ance from sin, and 
all evil, and bestow- 
ment of all possible 
good. 

8. EixctQiaTla, Thanksgiving ; the tri- 

bute from those who 
have received the 
highest blessings, 
to the Author of all 
their enjoyments. 
9- nXovTog, Riches ; the fulness of 

all good ; the posses- 
sion of all the means 
of making happy. 
10. Kg&Tog, Dominion; supreme 

power and goodness 
triumphing over all 
enmity and opposi- 
tion. 

The seven principal perfections are attributed 
to each. The eiglith thanksgiving is given to 
God, and not to Christ ; yet there is evidently 
nothing in this ascription more peculiarly divine 
than in the preceding, and the same is applied to 
Christ in other words, the most full and expres- 
sive that can be conceived. The remaining 
two are attributed to Christ and not to God ; a 
plain proof that the inspired writer was under 
no apprehension that he might be dishonoring 
the Father, while ascribing infinite possessions 
and supreme empire to the Son. 

On comparison with another passage , we find 
the very same notation of worthiness or digni- 
ty, attached to the Father and to the Saviour ; 
in the one case it is, " Worthy art Thou, O 
Lord ! to receive the glory and the honor and 
the power;" and in the other, "Worthy is the 
Lamb that was slain, to receive the power and 



220* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



riches and wisdom and strength and honor and 
glory and blessings." — See Smith's Messiah, 
vol. ii. part ii. p. 565. 



Note 6.— Part IX. 

Eig t6v rdnof rdv I'diov. If we are right in in- 
terpreting the language of the New Testament 
in the same sense as it was understood by those 
to whom it was addressed, and no canon of 
criticism seems more certain, we must adopt the 
common rendering of this passage — " That he 
might go to his own place." It was a common 
sentiment among the Jews, that " He that be- 
trayeth an Israelite shall have no part in the 
world to come." And Lightfoot quotes another 
^milar expression from Baal Turim, in Num. 
xxiv. 25. " Balaam went to his own place, that 
is, into hell; "-and from Midrash Coheleth, fol. 
100. 4. It is not said of the friends of Job, 
that they, each of them, came from his own 
house, or his own city, or his own country, but 
from his own place, arnjn iS ni'JnJiy CDlpOD, 
that is, " from the place provided for them in 
hell." The gloss is, " from his own place," 
that is, " from hell, appointed for idolators." 

The Alex. MS. reads dixalov, instead of 
'iSwf, which would strengthen this interpreta- 
tion. 

Many passages from the apostolic fathers are 
quoted by Whitby, Benson, and Kuinoel, to 
prove that this expression was used by them 
also in this sense. 'Enel oiv rilog tcx ngd- 
jl^aza sxei, inlxenat rd dvo, dfiov o te M- 
varog, xal i^ ^wi^, xcxl exacnog slg zbv i'diof zdnov 
fjilXeu xwiiElv, quia igitur res Jinem hahent, in- 
cumbent duo simul, mors, et vita, et unusquisque 
in proprium locum iturus est. — Ignatius in Ep, 
ad Magnes. c. 5. and Clemens Rom. Ep. 1. ad 
Corinth, p. 24. ed. Wottoni. — Polycarp in Ep. 
ad Philip, c. 9. — Epist. Barnah. sect. 19. After 
such evidence we may agree with Dr. Dod- 
dridge, that the interpretation of Hammond, 
Le Clerc, and CEcumenius, is very unnatural, 
when they explain it of a successor going into 
the place of Judas. 



Note 7.— Part IX. 
ON the descent or the holy ghost on the 

DAY OF PENTECOST. 

The sins of man and their evil designs occa- 
sioned the confusion of tongues ; the redemp- 
tion of man brought with it the revocation of 
that judgment in the wonderful gifts of the 
Holy Ghost, which are recorded in this section. 
In the former instance men were leagued to- 
gether for the purpose of propagating a false 



religion, but were miraculously frustrated in 
their plans by the interposition of Almighty 
God, who rendered them suddenly unintelligi- 
ble to each other : in the latter case, when the 
true religion was to be delivered to the woi-ld, 
and its appointed ministers were assembled in 
obedience to a divine command, at Jerusalem, 
tlie sentence of condemnation was revoked: the 
Holy Spirit descended in testimony of the 
divine truth ; and, by a miraculous diffusion of 
tongues, empowered the meek and lowly of 
the earth to communicate the glad tidings of 
salvation " to every nation under heaven." 
The same miracle that first separated mankind, 
was now made the means of their reunion. All 
were invited to acknowledge the same God, 
and again to become members of the One True 
Religion. A sensible demonstration was given 
of the presence of the Holy Spirit. It took 
place before a mixed multitude assembled from 
every part of the civilized globe, who by this 
providential arrangement became witnesses of 
the fact, and spectators of the divine commis- 
sion given to the apostles. Fire had always 
been considered by the Jews as an emblem of 
the visible presence of the Deity ; the people 
of Israel now saw it descend in the form of 
cloven tongues upon the despised followers of 
the crucified Jesus. They saw it descend upon 
them on the anniversary of the same day, when 
the Law which was to bring them to Christ 
was first delivered to them : nor could any out- 
ward form be more appropriate or figurative to 
represent the gift and powers it was intended to 
convey. 

It likewise intimated to the Jews that God 
had now appointed the day of Pentecost to be 
commemorated for the introduction of a New 
Law, and a New Dispensation, which was 
solemnly ratified by the effusion of the Spirit 
of God. The glorious covenant of redeeming 
grace was fully and finally disclosed, the Holy 
Ghost testifying the exaltation and Divinity of 
Christ, by the accomplishment of the promise 
which our Lord had given. " This is He that 
shall testify of me." In his Godliead, Christ 
could only be known by the evidence of the 
Holy Spirit— in his manhood, the knowledge of 
Him was imparted by the testimony of the 
apostles. "When we consider (to use the 
language of an eminent modern divine) the 
magnitude of the commission intrusted to 
the apostles to teach all nations, and their 
acknowledged incompetency to carry it into 
effect, we can thus only be struck with the 
immense disparity between the end to be at- 
tained, and the means by which it was to be 
accomplished." 

The previous conduct of the apostles, during 
the last trying scenes of our Saviour's life, 
shows that they were by nature eminently unfit 
to fulfil the important duties to which they 
were now called ; the selection therefore of 



Note 7.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*221 



these ignorant and timid men was the best evi- 
dence that all human aid was laid aside, and 
that the Gospel was to be established, not by 
the " wisdom of men, but of God." Natural 
means were rejected, that spiritual things might 
be made manifest by the Spirit. He, the most 
energetic of our Saviour's apostles, who on 
tlie first appearance of danger shrank from the 
scrutinizing glance of a maid-servant, and three 
times, even with oaths and curses, denied the 
Holy One of Israel, now, armed with the Spirit 
of truth and of power, speaks before the aston- 
ished multitude as the ambassador of God, and 
was the instrument of adding in one day to the 
newly-formed Church three thousand souls. 
"Is this," says Dr. Heylin, "the illiterate fisher- 
man? Is this the carnal disciple, who pre- 
sumed to rebuke his Lord, when he first men- 
tioned the cross to him? Is this the fugitive, 
apostate, abjuring Peter?" 

Nor were the other disciples in any way 
more distinguished for their courage and firm- 
ness. By one, Christ was betrayed, and by all 
he was deserted and abandoned ; yet such were 
the men ordained of God to " go into all the 
world, and to preach the Gospel to every crea- 
ture." But God's strength was to be made 
perfect in weakness, and the ordinary and 
extraordinary influences of the Holy Ghost 
descended to supply all the natural deficiencies 
of the chosen followers of Christ. As men, 
they were commissioned to bear their human 
testimony to the truth of those facts, of which 
they themselves had been the eyewitnesses ; 
but of spiritual things, the Holy Ghost was to 
testify, cooperating with them in their labors, 
and supplying them with those graces which 
were then only necessary in, and therefore 
limited to, the apostolic age. 

Under the different titles ascribed to the 
Holy Ghost, they were qualified and prepared 
to undertake the great work to which they 
were devoted. "The Comforter" administered 
to their fearful and pusillanimous nature super- 
natural strength, fortitude, perseverance, and 
consolation — " As the Spirit of Truth," he illu- 
minated their dark and uncultivated minds, and 
gave repaired energy to their slow comprehen- 
sions, " teaching them all things, and bringing 
all thino's to their remembrance." As "the 
Witness" he was continually with them, re- 
newing their corrupt hearts and affections, and 
disposing them to holiness and purity of life. 
He endowed them with spiritual gifts, with the 
word of wisdom, of knowledge, and of faith, 
and " worked with them, to confirm their word 
with signs following" (Mark xvi. 20.) These 
signs may be considered as the more visible 
and extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit, and 
were, if we may be allowed to say so, necessary 
to distinguish the divine v/isdom and knowl- 
edge of the apostles from human acquirements, 
VOL, !I. 



and from human superiority. In Judsea only, 
their low origin and neglected education would 
either be known or believed; in other countries 
some further testimony was requisite to confirm 
their important declarations, than that which 
had wrought such a miraculous change on them 
at the day of Pentecost. For this purpose, 
therefore, the "gifts of healing and working of 
miracles" were added to the word of wisdom 
and knowledge. They possessed the power of 
restormg the dead to life, and by a word con- 
signed the living to the grave (Acts v. 9, 10, 
&c.), their very shadows had virtue in them, 
the sick were recovered from handkerchiefs 
that had only touched their persons. Thus 
was the Gospel established as far as related to 
the human nature and actions of Christ, by 
the testimony of man ; but to his Godhead by 
the "testimony of God" (1 Cor. ii. 1.), and by 
" the demonstration of the Spirit and power." 
The former was demonstrated by holiness of 
life, by unrepining martyrdom and patient 
suffering ; the other by miracle and inspiration. 

These were the great credentials of our faith, 
and the hallowed evidences on which our holy 
religion rests. When, however, the Church 
througli these means was established, and the 
canon of Scripture, through divine knowledge 
and prophecy, was completed, the necessity 
for inspiration and miracle gradually ceased. 
"But," observes Mr. Nolan, "from these lively 
oracles, the Spirit still speaks the same lan- 
guage which it dictated to the Prophets and the 
Evangelists, while the Sacred Text still perpet- 
uates the remembrance of those miracles which 
were openly wrought by the apostle and saint, 
to evince the divinity of our religion. To those 
who still require inspiration and miracles as 
evidences of its truth, the word of revelation 
lies open ; and the religion which it details 
affords the most convincing proofs of super- 
natural intervention ; prophecy, of itself, suffi- 
ciently proclaims the source from whence it 
sprang ; and Christianity exhibits in its estab- 
lishment a standing miracle." In the present 
day the gifts of tongues would be disregarded, 
and considered as useless when languages may 
be so easily acquired. 

Those infidels who now scorn the evidence 
of prophecy which has declared the glorious 
triumph of Christianity over all the persecuting 
opposition of its powerful opponents, and who 
see it progressively extending over the uncon- 
verted world, would in all probability doubt 
even if a miracle were wrought in their favor. 
What indeed can be a greater evidence of the 
truth of Revelation than the living miracle of 
the perpetual preservation of the Jews, as a i 
distinct body, separated from their fellow-men, ' 
holding in their hands the Hebrew Scriptures, i 
and bearing testimony of their divine origin, | 
and of their own perverse blindness and con- '. 



222* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



demnation ! Of such men I would say, "Though 
one rose from the dead, yet will they not be 
persuaded." 

The extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit, 
being vouchsafed for one especial purpose only 
— the benefit of the Christian Church, as soon 
as that Church was established, and the canon 
of Scripture completed, were gradually with- 
drawn ; though the ordinary operations, with- 
out which no child of Adam can " be renewed 
unto holiness," are to be continued for ever, 
" even unto the end of the world." This was 
the consoling and gracious promise our Lord 
gave to his disciples before he was visibly 
parted from them. He informs them of his de- 
parture, and at the same time declares, " I will 
not leave you comfortless, I will come to you : " 
and again in another Evangelist, " Lo ! I am 
with you always, even unto the end of the 
world." This most merciful promise was at 
first given to the apostles, and through their 
ministry to the universal Church ; Christ him- 
self having appointed outward means of grace, 
by which he has engaged to maintain a con- 
stant communion with his Church, through the 
operations of the Holy Ghost. 

The spirit of Christ through the Holy Ghost 
still acts in tlie administration of holy orders, 
in the study of the revealed word, in public and 
private worship, and in the sacraments (1 Cor. 
vi. 11. John vi. 55, 6.3. 2 Thess. ii. 13. Ephes. 
v. 25, 26, &.C.) These are the means of grace 
by which the ordinary operations of the Holy 
Ghost are imparted ; and these are the sources 
from which alone we have reason to expect 
those continued and spiritual gifts which are 
essentially necessary to the renovation of 
fallen man, and his reconciliation with God. 
Every amiable feeling and affection, every 
virtue, and every grace, are the fruits of the 
Holy Spirit. He alone, by a secret and inter- 
nal operation, changes and transforms the 
" spirit of our mind," and enlarges and improves 
every faculty of our soul, healing all its sick- 1 
nesses. He checks the solicitations of sense, \ 
counteracts our natural propensities, arms us 
against the flatteries and allurements of the 
world, and against those spiritual enemies 
which are ever on the watch to assail our weak- 
nesses, and to tempt our virtue. " He," to use 
the words of the eloquent Barrow, "sweetly 
warmeth our cold affections, inflaming our 
hearts with devotion towards God ; he qualifieth 
us, and encourageth us to approach the throne 
of grace, breeding in us faith and humble con- 
fidence, prompting in us fit matter of request, 
becoming our Advocate and Intercessor for the 
good success of our prayers." He is our only 
Comforter and Intercessor on earth — through 
Him alone we can attain to " that most excel- 
lent gift of charity which never faileth, which 
believeth all things, and hopeth all things," sur- 



viving the wreck of time, the perfection of man 
here, and his happiness hereafter". 

A variety of opinions have been advanced 
respecting this miracle of Pentecost. The most 
rational and the most general is, that the gift of 
tongues lasted during the ministry of the apos- 
tles ; and that as soon as the purpose for which 
it was given was accomplished, it was gradually 
withdrawn. 

Others contend that it was but temporary, and 
intended to answer only an immediate purpose ; 
that the miracle was not wrought upon the 
apostles themselves, but upon the people only, 
who were suddenly enabled to understand in 
their own various dialects, the words which 
were spoken by the apostles in the Galilean 
language. 

Otliers attempt to do away the miracle alto- 
gether. Eichhorn suggests, that to speak with 
tongues, means only, that some of the apostles 
uttered indistinct and inarticulate sounds; and 
those who uttered foreign, or new, or other 
words, were Jews who had come to Jerusalem, 
from the remote provinces of the empire, and 
being excited by the general fervor of the 
people, united with them in praising God in 
their own languages. Herder is of opinion that 
the word ylwaau is used to express only obso- 
lete, foreign, or unusual words. Paulus conjec- 
tures, that those who spoke with different 
tongues were foreign Jews, the hearers Gali- 
leans. Meyer, that they either spoke in terms 
or language not before used ; in an enthusiastic 
manner, or united Hebrew modes of expression, 
with Greek or Latin words. Heinrichsius, or 
Heim-ich, that the apostles suddenly spoke the 
pure Hebrew language, in a sublime and ele- 
vated style. Kleinius, that the apostles, excited 
by an extraordinary enthusiasm, expressed their 
feelings with more than usual warmth and elo- 
quence. Such are the ways in which the 
modern German theologians endeavour to remove 
the primitive and ancient belief in the literal 
interpretation of Scripture. " Thinking them- 
selves wise, they become fools." Learning, so 
perverted by the inventions of paradoxes, which 
can tend only to darken the light of Scripture 
under the pretence of illustrating its sacred 
contents, becomes more injurious to the conse- 
crated cause of truth than the most despicable 
ignorance, or the most wilful blindness. The 
errors of ignorance, the fancies of a disordered 
imagination, the misinterpretations of well- 
intending theories, are comparatively harmless, 
when contrasted with the baleful light vv-hich 
renders the Scripture useless, by producing 
doubt in the attempt to overthrow facts. 

Byrom of Manchester, also, and others, liave 

'' See Nolan's Sermons on the Operations of the 
Holy Ghost ; also Faber On the ordinary Operations 
of the Holy Spirit, being Evidences to the .Authen- 
ticity of their own Prophecies. 



JSOTE 8.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*223 



endeavoured to lessen the force of tliis miracle, 
by representing that tlie influence of the Spirit 
was not so imparted to the apostles as to enable 
them to speak in various languages, but that 
when the apostles addressed tlie multitude in 
their native Galilean dialect, the Parthians, 
Medians, &c, who were present, understood 
them each severally in their own language. It 
is well remarked by Thilo, that if this had been 
the case, tlie words of St. Luke would have 
been lalsaiv avrol, uy.ovoyTUi' f^fiwv, lalg ■>)fiE- 
rioaig ylwcraaig, whereas his expression is, 
lulovvTwi' uinoi' TuTg Vj^ufr^^afj ylwaaaig, wide 
etiam patet, miraculum hoc nonfaisse in audien- 
tibus, sed in apostolis loquentibus. He then goes 
on to prove that they spoke successively the 
various languages of the hearers and spectators 
of the miracle — they began to speak with other 
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance, 
xaduig TO TTVsvfia idldov uvtolg (djiocTToAoic) 
dinocfdiyyEadai,, non iSlSov aiioig (axQoar(xi;) 
eiauxeaai. B. Schmidius — Syrus, loquehantur 
lingua, et lingua, i. e. pluribus Unguis^. 



Note 8.— Part IX. 

The words here used by St. Luke, xal Iv 
1(5 aviXTilrjoHodca t^v ri/niQav Tijg nEVjExoajr^g, 
are thus happily translated by B. Dn. Erasmus 
Schmidt (in not. ad loc.) d cum completum esset 
tempus usque ad diem festimi Pentecostes : — 
" And when the time was fulfilled, even up to 
the day of Pentecost." The Jews reckoned the 
day of Pentecost to begin fifty days after the 
first of Unleavened Bread, which was observed 
the day after the paschal lamb was offered. 
The law relative to this feast is found in Levit. 
xxiii. 15, 16. Perhaps the Evangelist is thus 
particular in pointing out the time, on account 
of the striking analogy that exists between the 
Old and New Dispensations in this and other 
great events. In the former, the paschal lamb 
of the Passover was broken and fed upon, in 
remembrance of the great deliverance of the 
children of God from the hands of their tempo- 
ral enemies, by whom they were detained in 
bondage and subjection. In the latter, at the 
celebration of this figurative feast, Christ our 
Passover was slain to deliver all that would be- 
lieve on Him from the great enemies of their 
salvation, Satan, sin, and death, and to rescue 
their spirits from the unhappy thraldom of these 
cruel taskmasters. He died for us that we 
might be spiritually fed by his body and blood. 

/ Salmasius was of opinion that the miraoulous 
gifts lasted but for one day. — See the Dissertations 
on this event in the Critici Sacri — Kuinoel, Comm. 
in Lib. Hist. JV. T. vol. iv.— Nolan On the Holy 
Ghost and Faber On the ordinary Operations, 

&G. 



In the former Dispensation, at the day of Pente- 
cost, God gave his Law on Mount Sinai, with 
thunder and lightning, fire, storm, and tempest, 
with all the awful demonstrations of an offended 
Deity. In the fulness of time, at the feast of 
Pentecost, God again manifested himself, and 
revealed a more perfect Law — on both occa- 
sions circumstances characteristic of the pecu- 
liar nature of the Law were observed — the same 
divine power was demonstrated, but in the latter 
instance divested of its ten-ors. On both occa- 
sions the presence of God was manifested by the 
sound of rushing winds supernaturally excited, 
by fire descending from heaven, and, as some 
suppose, by the sudden thunder which accompa- 
nied the Bath Col. The account of St. Luke is 
so very brief, that we cannot be certain whether 
the latter proof of the presence of God was 
given ; but it is the most probable opinion, and 
is very strenuously defended by Harenburgh, in 
the 13th volume of the Critici Sacri". At the 
Passover, Christ proved his human nature by 
submitting to the most ignominious death to 
which that nature could be exposed : at the day 
of Pentecost he gave evidence of his divine 
nature and exaltation, by miracle, and by power, 
and by fulfilling to the utmost the promise he 
made to his disciples while with them upon 
earth (John xiv. 16-18.), " He humbled himself 
that he might be exalted." 

In the Jewish tabernacle God testified his 
acceptance of the first sacrifice that was of- 
fered on the holy altar by the descent of fire 
from heaven. When Christ made a sacrifice of 
his body on the altar of the cross, thereby abol- 
ishing all burnt offerings of bulls and of goats, 
the apostles, as priests and ministers of his new 
covenant, as the living sacrifices acceptable to 
God, received a similar token of divine appro- 
bation, by fire from heaven resting upon them 
in the form of fiery tongues. Thus are all 
the mysteries of Omnipotence shadowed out as 
" through a glass darkly," and thus, may we not 
suppose, that the last revelation given to man 
by St. John typifies, in like manner, those eter- 
nal realities of the New Jerusalem, of which we 
can form no higher idea than the Jews of old 
entertained of the glorious privileges and bless- 
ings, of which we are now the happy partaker.'^ 
in the Christian dispensation ? 

' The opinion is principally founded on the 
words in Actsii. 6. rfvoiinijc Sf n'c ifutn^c tbi'tj/c, 
which both Harenburgh and Schoetgen would 
render in this manner, ipwri'; verte tonitru. ^S'C 
stepe vox l^ip inHel)rao,etrox Graca, Apoc. i. 15. — 
X. 3. Schoetgen refers also to Heinsius. in Aristarcho 



Sacro, c. 14, and 25. Doddridge defends the com- 
mon translation by observing, that it was not the 
sound of thunder or rushing wind which collected 
the people together, but the miraculous effusion 
of tongues. This, however, must still rernain a 
matter of doubt, as we are only informed in the 
sacred narrative, that when the multitude came 
together, they were confounded to hear every man 
speak in his own language. 



-224* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



Note 9.— Part IX. 

Various opinions have prevailed respecting 
the place where this miracle occurred. The 
temple, the house of Mary the mother of John, 
of Simon tlie Leper, of Joseph of Arimathea, of 
Nicodemus, have each been alternately fixed 
upon. This point must ever remain in a great 
degree a matter of doubt ; I am, however, in- 
duced, by the arguments of the celebrated 
Joseph Mede, to think that this miracle took 
place in an upper room of some private house, 
set apart for religious services, rather than in the 
temple which was so soon to be destroyed, and 
its figurative service superseded by a spiritual 
worship and purer discipline. 

It is not probable that the despised followers 
of the crucified Jesus should be allowed, as an 
associated body, to assemble together in the 
temple, for the purpose of joining in a new act 
of devotion, by those priests who had so short 
a time before been the persecuting instruments 
of their blessed Master's condemnation and 
crucifixion''. 



Note ]0.— Part IX. 

Markxand supposes that instead of " these 
men are full of new wine," the passage should 
be read, "these men are, without doubt, under 
the strong inspiration of the goddess rlevxdi." 
He would vea.(iylevi<ovg as derived fromj'AfCxo?, 
" must." For the sake of ridicule, the person 
or goddess rXevxa (Gen. dog, ovg.), formed as 
Biillw, .4iiib (Poll. viii. 9. Segm. 10.) is used. 
So likewise ' Asdarui, and Eveaju), Deaz Politico. 
Tliose who opposed the apostles intended by 
this expression to sneer at the mean appearance 
and obvious poverty of the fishermen of Galilee, 
as no one opened their vessels of last year's 
jlevxoQ, so early as June, unless impelled by 
necessity'. 

This, however, seems to be a strange re- 
mark : the witnesses of the miracle at Pentecost 
were Jews ; and, though some of them who 
were Hellenists had resided in Greece or Rome, 
it does not appear probable that they would 
make an allusion to the mythology of the hea- 
thens in preference to their own traditions ; in 
which they read that there was a demon called 
Dlp'llp which possessed those who were drunk 
with new wine, which gave the drinker not only 
wit and gayety, but the power of speaking other 
languages-'; and to this agent we may justly 
suppose the Jews would have ascribed the elo- 
quence and fluency of the apostles, if they had 



attempted to account for the efiects of the Holy 
Spirit by any supernatural influence. But as 
we find that this was not the case, and as the 
conjecture, that a reference was made to the 
heathen mythology, can only be derived from 
the word ylevxog, the present translation of the 
passage may be considered as giving its genu- 
ine signification*'. 



Note II.— Part IX. 

St. Peter here particularly addresses himself 
to these hEQot (ver. 13.) who represented the 
apostles as drunkards to the Jews of Judaja and 
Jerusalem, because those who were assembled 
from distant parts might not have been so well 
acquainted with the prophecy of Joel (ii. 28.), 
which he now declares to have been fully ac- 
complished on this occasion. And he urges 
upon those who hear him this predicted promise 
of the Holy Spirit, as a glorious evidence of 
the exaltation and resurrection of the crucified 
Jesus, who was " both Lord and Christ." Let 
those who doubt the inspiration of Peter, com- 
pare what he now is with what he formerly 
was, the weak and timid disciple, who deserted 
and denied his best Friend and gracious Master. 

The prophecy of Joel was not applied to the 
great effusion of the Holy Spirit by St. Peter 
only; the traditions of the Jews record its 
reference to the same event, in the days of the 
Messiah. Schoetgen quotes on this subject 
the following paragraphs from Tanchuma, fol. 
65. 3. and Bammidbar Rahba, sect. 15. When 
Moses placed his hand upon Joshua, the holy 
and blessed God said nrn aSi;?T, that is, in 
the days of the Old Testament — one prophet 
prophesies at one time, but xnn CDh^ph, in the 
days of the Messiah, all the house of Israel 
shall prophesy, as is said in Joel ii. 48. 

Likewise from Midrasch Schochartof in Jalkut 
Simeoni, part i. fol. 221. 2. and fol. 2G5. 4. on 
Numb. xi. 29. 

The people assembled therefore at the fes- 
tival of Pentecost, who were acquainted with 
this prediction and its traditional interpretation, 
were now the spectators of its actual fulfilment, 
and were appealed to by tradition, by prophecy, 
and miracle, to acknowledge the Divinity of 
Christ, and the real nature of his mission. The 
words "last days," in ver. 17, is shown by 
Schoetgen to refer to the days of the Messiah, 
by two references to the Book Zohar, nnnxz 
■'Xn^nii' r:3V3 Q^OTI Diebus postreviis, die sex- 
to, qui est millenarius Septimus, an^Vi'O Tl'''' TD 
quando Messias veniet ; nam dies Dei S. B. sunt 



'' See Schoetgen ; and Mede's Dissertation on 
the Churches of the Apostolic Age. 

' Bowyer in loc. 

i See Lightfoot, Pitman's edition, vol. viii. p. 
377 ; fol. ed. ii. 644. 



* Hesychius ap. Schoetgpn, ri.ivxoi; to lino- 
fTTiiyiiaTi/c (trai.fvh'jg,nqiv xari]S\i,iUud,qvod ah uva 
distUlat, untequam calcetur. See Schoetgen, HorcB 
Hcbraicce., vol. i. p. 411, and the Dissertation on the 
word rUsvuoc, in the Critici Sacri. 



Note l^.-lo.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*225 



mille annV. Genes, xlix. 1. where Jacob said, 
"I will tell you what shall take place in the 
latter days" — ZDVTn nnn.sS vocavitipsos, quia 
voluit ipsis revelare xrt'ii'D ypjinem Messia'^. 



frequent exhortations to the wealthy to be rich 
in good works ; but not the least intimation 
that they were required to sell their possessions. 
It must have been a voluntary sacrifice to have 
made the offering acceptable. 



Note 12. — Part IX. 

ScHOETOE^ remarks on this passage, that in 
all the rabbinical writers he has never met with 
the application of this passage to the Messiah. 
We have reason, therefore, to suppose it was 
applied now for the first time. The Apostle at 
the moment of inspiration, when the remem- 
brance of Christ's wonderful resurrection was 
still fresh in the memory of the people, asserts, 
by that strongest and most irrefragable argu- 
ment, that this prophecy also related to Christ, 
and was by him alone fulfilled, for " Ms soul was 
not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corrup- 
tion." The veil", that had been for so long a 
period spread over the face of Moses, was now 
to be gTadually withdrawn, and through the 
Spirit of God spiritual things were to be com- 
pared with spiritual. 

The expression i^/ Ylaaaa /.ta, in ver. 26, in 
the original is rendered by m^D, my glory — 
this word is often used for ^WH}, my soul. 



Note 13.— Part IX. 

Bishop Horslet was of opinion that the 
cloven tongues remained upon the apostles 
after they went down among the people. This 
he thinks is alluded to in the expression, " that 
which ye now see and hear," ver. 33. If so, 
another beautiful analogy exists between the 
giving of the Law to Moses, when " the skin of 
his face shone, while he talked with him," 
(Exod. xxxiv. 29, 30.), and the communication 
of the Law to the apostles, when the fire of 
heaven again rested upon man. 



Note 14.— Part IX. 

That this unbounded liberality was not com- 
manded by St. Peter is evident from his address 
to Ananias, Acts v. 4. And that it was not in- 
tended as a precedent is equally clear from all 
the Epistles, in which frequent mention is made 
of a distinction between the rich and poor, and 

' Sohnr Genes, fol. 13. col. 52. 

'" Ibidem, fol. 126. col. 499. ap. Schoetgen, vol. i. 
p. 413. 

" " Auditores apostoli docuerant, accedente jam 
tesUmonio Spiritus Sancti, quod hue usque, vela- 
men Mosis habentes obtectum, nondum perspexe- 
rant." — Schoetgen, vol. i. p. 414. 

VOL. II. *29 



Note 15.— Part IX. 

In the opinion of the learned Joseph Mede, 
the words here translated "from house to 
house," would have been better rendered " on 
the house." In his curious Dissertation on the 
Churches for Christian JVorship in the Jlpostlcs' 
2'zmes, he observes, that the early Christians, not 
having stately structures as the Church had 
after the empire became Christian, were accus- 
tomed to assemble in some convenient upper 
room, set apart for the purpose, dedicated per- 
haps by the religious bounty of the owner to 
the use of the Church. They were distinguished 
by the name 'Ai'uysor, or'yTceQWOv, (an upper 
rmm,) and by the Latins Ccetiaculum, and were 
generally the most capacious and highest part 
of the dwelling, retired, and next to heaven, as 
having no other room above it. Such upper- 
most places were chosen even for private devo- 
tions (Acts X. 9.) There is a tradition in the 
Church that the room in which the apostles 
were in the habit of assembling was the same 
apartment as that in which their blessed Lord 
celebrated with them the last Passover, and in- 
stituted the mystical supper of his body and 
blood for the sacred rite of the Gospel. The 
same room in which on the day of his resur- 
rection he came and stood in the midst of his 
disciples, the doors being shut, and having 
shown them his hands and his feet, said, 
"Peace be unto you," &c. (John xx. 21.) The 
same in which eight days (or the Sunday after), 
he appeared in a similar manner to tliem being 
together, to satisfy the incredulity of Thomas, 
and to show him his hands and his feet. The 
same hallowed spot where the Holy Ghost de- 
scended, imparting to them wisdom, faith, and 
power. The place where Jafnes, the brother 
of our Lord, was created by the apostles Bishop 
of Jerusalem : the place where the seven dea- 
cons, whereof St. Stephen was one, were elect- 
ed and ordained : the place where the apostles 
and elders of the Church at Jerusalem held that 
council, the pattern of all councils, where the 
first controverted point was decided : and after- 
wards the place of this CeEnaculum was en- 
closed with a goodly Church, known by the name 
of the Church of Sion, upon whose top it stood, 
to which St. Jerome, in his Epitaphium Paula 
(Epist. 27.) applies those words of the Psalmist, — 

" Her foundations are, in the holy mountains ; 
The Lord loveth the gates of Sion 
More than all the dwellings of Jacob." 
Ps. Ixxxvii. 1, 2. 



226* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



St. Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, calls it the 
Upper Church of the Apostles, and he states, 
" the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles 
in the likeness of fiery tongues, here in Jerusa- 
lem, in the Upper Church of the Apostles." — 
Cyril, Hierosol. Cat. 16. Should the tradition 
be true, it is evident that this Ccenaculum, from 
the time that our blessed Saviour first hallowed 
it, by the institution and celebration of his mys- 
tical supper, was devoted to a place of prayer 
and holy assemblies. And thus, perhaps, should 
that tradition, which the venerable Bede men- 
tions, be understood ; that this Church of Sion 
was founded by the apostles ; not that they 
erected the structure, but that the building-, 
from the time it was made a Canaculum by our 
Saviour, was by his apostles dedicated to a 
house of prayer. 

• The Greek words xar' o?xo»', used in this pas- 
sage (ver. 46.), and rendered in our translation 
"house to house," may be interpreted like iv 
oi'y.a, " in the house ;" and we find it is so ren- 
dered both by the Syriac and Arabic, and like- 
wise by the New Testament in other places, 
Rom. xvi. 3-5. 1 Cor. xvi. ]9. Coloss. iv. 15. 
Philemon i. 2. And we, moreover, find this 
Canaculum called Ohoc, in the second verse 
of this chapter. And the same phrase, breaking 
of bread, is used a little before in the 42d verse, 
which is wont to be understood of the commu- 
nion of the Eucharist ; and by the Syriac inter- 
preter is expressly rendered by the Greek word 
fractio eucharistice ; and again at chap. xx. ver. 
7, according to that of St. Paul, the bread which 
we break, &c. Why should it not then be so 
used here ? And if this interpretation is admit- 
ted, it follows that the passage in question 
must be intended to signify, that when the 
apostles had performed their daily devotions in 
the temple, at the accustomed times of prayer, 
they immediately retired to this Canandum, or 
upper room, where, after having celebrated the 
mystical banquet of the holy Eucharist, they 
afterwards took their ordinary and necessary 
repast with gladness and singleness of heart. 
It further proves, that the custom of the Church 
to participate the Eucharist fasting, and before 
dinner, had its beginning from the first consti- 
tution of the Christian Church. 

When we consider even to our own day how 
many spots tradition has transmitted to us as 
the scene of some eventful history, I cannot 
but receive the hypothesis of the excellent 
Mede as probable, and consistent with reason 
and Scripture. We know that the oak of 
Mamre was venerated till the days of Constan- 
tino, and can we say it is not probable that the 
sepulchre of the Son of God — the last room 
that he visited — which he consecrated by his 
presence after the resurrection, aad by the 
descent of the Holy Spirit, in testimony of his 
exaltation, should not be commemorated by his 
devout and faithful followers? Who doubts 



that Edgar was killed at Corfe Castle, or Wil- 
liam Rufus in the New Forest.'' The particular 
spots where the martyrs v/ere burnt in Canter- 
bur}', in Smithfield, and at Oxford, are still pointed 
out by tradition : and many instances of a simi- 
lar nature might be collected from the histories 
of every country. Whence then arises the 
supposed improbability, that the early Chris- 
tians would cherish the memory of the wonder- 
ful events in which they were so deeply inter- 
ested".' 



Note 16.— Part IX. 

It seems diSicult to interpret these words 
in their literal sense, when we remember the 
numerous miracles of our Lord, and the abund- 
ant proofs the Jews received that he was their 
promised Messiah. The ajfota, here referred 
to, would be better rendered by the word e?Tor, 
or prejudice, as Whitby proposes. Lightfoot 
again endeavours to show that the ignorance 
here spoken of, consisted in their mistake of 
the place of our Lord's birth, and in their ex- 
pectations of a temporal, instead of a spiritual, 
kingdom. Wolfius would point the passage 
differently ; he thinks the expression wansQ nal 
ol aQxovzeg iftuiv, refers not to ayvoiav, but to 
ingii^are, and the meaning is, therefore, scio vos 
ignorardid adductos, ut facer etis, sicid duces 
vestri, scil. : enqa^uv. It is my opinion that St. 
Peter, in this passage, intended to intimate to 
the Jews tliat their conduct and condemnation 
of the Holy Jesus proceeded from their igno- 
rance of their own prophets, with whom they 
ought to have been better acquainted. The 
sense of the passage appears to be this : " Ye 
did it without knowing what ye were about." 
The following verse corroborates this interpre- 
tation''. 



Note 17.— Part IX. 

The words, " when the times of refreshing 
shall come" commentators suppose should be 
rendered, "that the times of refreshing may 
come.'''' This opinion is defended by the follow- 
ing parallel passages, where the same word 
oTnag &v is used: Ps. ix. 14. w-tdi; &v i^ayyelho 
— the Hebrew is, n"i3DX \poh. " That I may 
show forth," &c. Psa. xcii. 7. oncog &v i^olo- 
dgsvdwai. Heb. anDtynS, "That they may 
be destroyed for ever." Ps. cxix. lOI.WTrwg &y 



" See the wliole Dissertation in Mede's IVorks, 
p. 321, &c. 

P Wolfius, ap. Kuinoel. Comment in Lib. Hist. 
vol. iv. p. 121. Other explanations are given by 
Kuinoel ; but as they appear very forced, they are 
omitted, 



Note 18.-20.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*227 



(pvldSb). Heb. "noK'X t;?DS, " That I might 
keep." Acts xv. 17. oniog &v ixi^rjvt'uraiai, 
"That they might seelt," &c. So in the same 
verse, "Repent and be converted, that your 
sins may be blotted out, onaig (Iv eldaicn, that the 
times of refreshing ;rta)/ come''" &c. Markland 
has made the same remark, but proposes to 
connect otiwc av with inh\gMoe>', ver. 18. 
putting [fisTai'oi'iaacs ductgilug) in a parenthe- 
sis : — "Those times which God before had 
showed, he hath so fulfilled — that times of 
refreshment may come : onbig fxv for iVa''." The 
times of refreshing appear here primarily to 
refer to the blessings which should accompany 
the extension of the dominion of the Messiah, 
if he were at length acknov/ledged by his people. 
The words have been severally applied to the 
preachers of the Gospel — the influences of the 
Spirit — and the intervening period between this 
time and the destruction of Jerusalem, which 
was allotted to the Jews for repentance and 
conversion. 

From the arguments of the Apostle, compare 
ver. 16 with 19, 20, and 26, the cure of the 
lame man may, I think, be considered as a sig- 
nificant action, or miracle ; whereby St. Peter 
wishes to demonstrate to the Jews, while their 
first impression . of surprise and astonishment 
lasted, that the same faith in tlie Holy One and 
the Just, which " hath made this man strong," 
and recovered him to " perfect soundness " of 
body in the presence of them all, was only a 
shadow or figure of its efficacious power in 
healingthe diseases of that nation, and restoring 
it to its former spiritual elevation and dignity, 
if they would be persuaded, even now, to ac- 
knowledge as their Messiah the Prince of Life, 
whom God raised from the dead. 



Note 18.— Part IX. 

The Greek word Trgoy.ey.ijQvy/jivov, here 
translated, " which before was preached," is 
rendered in nearly forty MSS. as if it signified 
Tjfjov.e x^^Qi-^l^ivov i/iuf, "who was before or- 
dained for you, or foredesigned " — iftXf being 
read with an emphasis. The meaning there- 
fore of the expression is, "That God may 
send Jesus Christ, who was before designed for 
you, in the predictions of the Law and the 
Prophets'." 



Note 19.— Part IX. 

In the unpublished papers of the first Lord 
Harrington, the noble author endeavours to 

' Lightfoot's Exerc. on the Acts. Pitman's edit, 
vol. viil p. 388 ; fol. ed. ii. 651. 
' Markland ap. Bowyer in loc. 
' Markland ap. Bowyer, and Whitby in loc. 



prove, at great length, that the earliest notion 
which men had of immortality, was their resur- 
rection and restoration to the paradisiacal 
state. The notion of immortality entertained 
by the patriarchs was their resurrection m 
the land of Canaan, and eternal possession 
of that land in a glorified condition. He sup- 
poses tliat the expression of St. Peter in this 
passage is an allusion to the anticipated re- 
storation of mankind to their former condition 
of innocence and happiness : and his opinion 
is confirmed by the peculiar metaphors under 
which St. John, in the Apocalypse, describes 
the future state. Lightfoot would render the 
word d.nOKazuaj6i(jig, by " accomplishment," 
instead of "restitution." By whatever word 
we express the idea, it is still the same. St. 
Peter refers to the eventual completion of 
the happiness of mankind, by the universal es- 
tablishment of Christianity, and the blessings 
of its influence ; a period which all the prophets 
have anticipated in their sublimest visions, 
which the best men, in all ages, have delighted 
to contemplate, and which, in our own day, we 
have reason to hope, is progressively advancing. 



Note 20.— Part IX. 

ON THE PARALLEL BETWEEN MOSES AND 
CHRIST. 

As St. Peter has applied this passage to our 
Lord, it will be unnecessary to examine the 
arguments by which some writers would apply 
the prediction of Moses to the long line of 
prophets that came after him'. It is sufficient 
for us to know, that even when taken collec- 
tively, they were not like unto him in so many 
points as Jesus of Nazareth". 

Jortin gives the following parallel : — 

The resemblance between Moses and Christ 
is so great and striking, it is impossible to con- 
sider it fairly and carefully, without seeing and 
acknowledging that He must be foretold where 
he is so well described. 

First, and which is the principal of all, Moses 
was a lawgiver and the mediator of a covenant 
between God and man. So was Christ Here 
the resemblance is the more considerable, be- 
cause no other prophet beside them executed 
this high office. 

The other prophets were only interpretei-s 

' '■ Hunc locum quidam de Josna, alii de pro- 
phetis in genere enarrant. Sed prophets non 
erant Mosi per omnia similes. Nam Moses vide- 
bat Deum in specular! lucido ; prophetas. in non 
lucido. Prasterea Moses videbat Deum facie ad 
faciem, loquebatur cum eo ore ad os : non sic reii- 
qui prophetEe. Debet igitur peculiariter accipi de 
Christo, qui fuit scopus omnium prophetarum," 
&c. — Drusius in Deut. xviii. 15. Crit. Sacri, vol 
ii. p. 131. 

" Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, 
vol. i. p. 282, et seq. 



228* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



and enforcers of the Law, and in this respect 
were greatly inferior to Moses. The Messias 
conld not be like to Moses in a strict sense, 
unless he were a legislator. He must give a 
Law to men, consequently a more excellent 
Law, and a better covenant than the first. For 
if the first had been perfect (as the Author of 
the Epistle to the Hebrews argues) there could 
have been no room for a second. 

2. Other prophets had revelations in dreams 
and visions, but Moses talked with God, with 
the A6yoc, face to face. So Christ spake that 
which he had seen with the Fatlier, Num. xii. 
6-8. 

All the prophets of the Old Testament saw 
visions and dreamed dreams — all the prophets 
of the New were in the same state. St. Peter 
had a vision ; St. John saw visions ; St. Paul 
had visions and dreams. But Christ neither 
saw visions, nor dreamed a dream, but had an 
intimate and immediate communication with 
the Father — he was in the Father's bosom — and 
He, and no man else, had seen the Father. 
Moses and Christ are the only two in all the 
sacred history who had this communication 
with God. — Bishop Shei-lock, Disc. 6. 

3. Moses in his infancy was wonderfully 
preserved from the cruelty of a tyrant — so was 
Christ. 

4. Moses fled from his country to escape the 
hands of the king — so did Christ, when his 
parents carried him into Egypt. Afterwards, 
" The Lord said to Moses in Midian, ' Go, re- 
turn into Egypt; for all the men are dead 
which sought thy life,' " Exod. iv. 19. So the 
angel of the Lord said to Joseph in almost the 
same words, " Arise, and take the young child, 
and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead 
which sought the young child's life," Matt. ii. 
20. pointing him out, as it were, for that prophet 
which should arise like unto Moses. 

5. Moses refused to be called the son of 
Pharaoh's daughtei', choosing rather to suffer 
affliction — Christ had all the kingdoms of the 
world offered him by Satan, and rejected them ; 
and when the people would have made him a 
king, he hid himself, choosing rather to suffer 
affliction. 

6. " Moses," says St. Stephen, " was learned, 
Innidevdi], in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, 
and was mighty in words and in deeds;" and 
Josephus, Ant. Jud. 2. 9. says, that he was a 
very forward and accomplished youth, and had 
wisdom and knowledge beyond his years; 
which is taken from Jewish tradition, and 
which of itself is highly probable. St. Luke 
observes of Christ, that "he increased (betimes) 
in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God 
and man;" and his discourses in the temple 
with the doctors, when he was twelve years 
old, were a proof of it. The difference was, 
that Moses acquired his knowledge by human 
instruction, and Christ by a divine affiaius. To 



both of them might be applied what Callima- 
chus elegantly feigns of Jupiter, — 

'0^6 S' «r/,'/?)/tTa;, Tu/ivoi Si roi IX^ov i'ovHoi, 
'All' 'hi nai&ihg imv Icfiquaaao navxa riXsia. 

7 Moses delivered his people from cruel 
oppression and heavy bondage — so did Christ 
from the worst tyranny of sin and Satan. 

8. Moses contended with the magicians, and 
had the advantage over them so manifestly, that 
they could no longer withstand him, but were 
forced to acknowledge the divine power by 
which he was assisted — Christ ejected evil 
spirits, and received the same acknowledo-- 
ments from them. 

9. Moses assured the people whom he con- 
ducted, that if they would be obedient, they 
should enter into the happy land of promise ; — 
which land was usually understood, by the 
wiser Jews, to be an emblem and a figure of 
that eternal and celestial kingdom to which 
Christ first opened an entrance. 

10. Moses refoi-med the nation, corrupted 
with Egyptian superstition and idolatry — Christ 
restored true religion. 

11. Moses wrought a variety of miracles — 
so did Christ ; and in this the parallel is remark- 
able, since beside Christ "there arose not a 
prophet in Israel like unto Moses, whom the 
Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and 
wonders which the Lord sent him to do." 

12. Moses was not only a lawgiver, a prophet, 
and a worker of miracles, but a king and a 
priest. He is called a king, Deut. xxxiii. 5., 
and he had indeed, though not the pomp, and 
the crown, and the sceptre, yet the authority of 
a king, and was the supreme magistrate ; and 
the office of priest he often exercised — In all 
these offices the resemblance between Moses 
and Christ was singular. In the interpretation 
of Deut. xxxiii. 5. I prefer the sense of Grotius 
and Selden to Le Clerc's. The parallel be- 
tween Moses and Christ requires it, and no 
objection can be made to it. The apostolical 
constitutions also, if their judgment be of any 
weight, call Moses " High Priest and King ; " 
jdi' lio/iPQ^a y.al Snailsa, vi. 3. 

13. Moses, says Theodoret, married an Ethi- 
opian woman, at which his relations were much 
offended ; and in this he was a type of Christ, 
who espoused the Church of the Gentiles, 
whom the Jews were very unwilling to admit 
to the same favors and privileges with them- 
selves. But I should not choose to lay a great 
stress upon this typical similitude, though it be 
ingenious. 

14. Moses fasted in the desert forty days and 
forty nights, before he gave the Law: so did 
Elias, the restorer of the Law: and so did 
Christ before he entered into his ministry. 

15. Moses fed the people miraculously in the 
wilderness — so did Christ with bread and with 
doctrine ; and the manna which descended 



Note 20.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*229 



from heaven, and the loaves which Christ mul- 
tiplied, were proper images of the spiritual food 
which the Saviour of tlie world bestowed upon 
his disciples. John vi. 31, &c. 

16. Moses led the people through the sea — 
Christ walked upon it, and enabled Peter to 
do so. 

17. Moses commanded the sea to retire and 
give away — Christ commanded the winds and 
waves to be still. 

18. Moses brought darkness over the land — 
The sun withdrew his light at Christ's crucifix- 
ion. And as the darkness which was spread 
over Egypt was followed by the destruction of 
the firstborn, and of Pharaoh and his host — so the 
darkness at Christ's death was the forerunner 
of the destruction of the Jews, when, in the 
metaphorical and prophetic style, and accord- 
ing to Christ's express prediction, " the sun 
was darkened, and the moon refused to give 
her light, and the stars fell from heaven," the 
ecclesiastical and the civil state of the Jews 
was overturned, and the rulers of both were 
destroyed. 

19. The face of Moses shone when he de- 
scended from the mountain — the same happened 
to Christ at his transfiguration on the mountain. 
Moses and Elias appeared then with him ; 
to show that the Law and Prophets bare wit- 
ness of him; and the Divine Voice said, "This 
is my beloved Son, hear ye him !" alluding most 
evidently to the prediction of Moses, "Unto him 
shall ye hearken." 

20. Moses cleansed one leper — Christ many. 

21. Moses foretold the calamities which 
would befil the nation for their disobedience — 
so did Christ. 

22. Moses chose and appointed seventy 
elders to be over the people — Clirist chose such 
a number of disciples. 

2-3. The Spirit which was in Moses was con- 
ferred in some degree on the seventy elders, 
they prophesied — and Christ conferred miracu- 
lous powers on his seventy disciples. 

24. Moses sent twelve men to spy out the 
land which was to be conquered — Christ sent 
his apostles into the world, to subdue it by a 
more glorious and miraculous conquest. 

25. Moses was victorious over powerful kings 
and great nations — so was Christ, by tlie efiects 
of his religion, and by the fall of those who 
persecuted the Church. 

26. Moses conquered Amalek by lifting and 
holding up both his hands all the day — Christ 
overcame his and our enemies when his hands 
were fastened to the cross. This resemblance 
has been observed by some of the ancient 
Christians, and ridiculed by some of the mod- 
erns, but Avithout sufBcient reason I tliink. 

27. Moses interceded for transgressions, and 
caused an atonement to be made for them, and 
stopped the wrath of God — so did Christ. 

28. Moses ratified a covenant between God 

VOL. II. 



and the people, by sprinkling them with blood 
— Christ with his own blood. 

29. Moses desired to die for the people, and 
prayed that God would forgive them, or blot 
him out of his book — Christ did more, he died 
for sinners. 

30. Moses instituted the Passover, when a 
lamb was sacrificed, none of whose bones were 
to be broken, and whose blood protected the 
people from destruction — Christ was that Pas- 
chal Lamb. 

31. Moses lifted up the serpent, that they 
who looked upon him might be healed of their 
mortal wounds — Christ was that serpent. '• As 
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that 
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
but have eternal life." The serpent, being an 
emblem of Satan, may not be thought a fit em- 
blem to represent Christ; but the serpents 
which bit the children of Israel are called fiery 
serpents, seraphim. Now, '■'■sunt boni angeli 
seraphim, sunt mali angeli seraphim, quos nulla 

figura melius quam prestare exprimas. Et tali 
iisum primum humani generis seductorem putat 
Bachai." — Grotius. Therefore Christ, as he 
was the great and good Angel, the Angel of 
God's presence, the Angel, y.ax' iSo/i)!', might 
be represented as a kind of seraphim, a bene- 
ficent healing serpent, who should abolish the 
evil introduced by the seducing lying serpent ; 
and who, like the serpent of Moses, should 
destroy the serpents of the magicians : as one 
of those gentle serpents who are friends to 
mankind. 

" Nunc quoque nee fugiunt hominem nee vulnere 
CcEdunt, 
Quidque prius fuerint, placidi memhicre dra- 
cones." 

Ei'n'i 5e TiiQi @t'i(iag tool oipitg, av-Soihirvov oi'Sauoig 
dijXi'jiovsg. 

Herodotus, ii. 74. 

32. All the affection which Moses showed 
towards the people, all the cares and toils 
which he underwent on their account, were 
repaid by them with ingratitude, murmuring, 
and rebellion, and sometimes they threatened 
to stone him — the same returns the Jews made 
to Christ for all his benefits. 

33. Moses was ill used by his own family ; 
his brother and sister rebelled against him — 
there was a time when Christ's own brethren 
believed not in him. 

34. Moses had a very wicked and pei-verse 
generation committed to his care and conduct ; 
and, to enable him to rule them, miraculous 
powers were given to him, and he used his 
utmost endeavour to make the people obedient 
to God, and to save them from ruin ; but in 
vain: in the space of forty years they all fell in 
the wilderness except two^Christ was given 
to a generation not less wicked and perverse ; 



230* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



his instructions and his miracles were lost upon 
them ; and in about the same space of time, 
after they had rejected him, they were de- 
stroyed. 

35. Moses was very meek, above all the men 
that were on the face of the earth — so was 
Christ. 

36. The people could not enter into the land 
of promise until Moses was dead — by the death 
of Christ the kingdom of heaven was opened to 
all believers. 

37. In the death of Moses and Christ there is 
also a resemblance of some circumstances. 
Moses died, in one sense, for the iniquities of 
the people ; it was their rebellion which was 
the occasion of it, which drew down the dis- 
pleasure of God upon them, and upon him 
(Deut. i. 37). Moses therefore went up in the 

.sight of the people, to the top of Mount Nebo, 
and there he died when he was in perfect vigor, 
vvhen his eye was not dim, nor was lais natural 
force abated — Christ suffered for the sins of 
men, and was led up, in the presence of the 
people, to Mount Calvary, where he died in the 
flower of his age, and when he was in his full 
natural strength. Neither Moses, nor Christ, 
as far as we can collect from sacred history, 
was ever sick, or felt any bodily decay or infir- 
mities, which would have rendered them unfit 
for the toils they underwent; their sufferings 
were of another kind. 

38. Moses was buried, and no man knew 
where his body lay— nor could the Jews find 
the body of Christ. 

39. Lastly, as Moses, a little before liis death, 
promised the people "that God would raise 
them up a prophet like unto him " — so Christ, 
taking leave of his afflicted disciples, told them, 
" I will not leave you comfortless ; I will pray 
the Father, and he shall give you another 
Comforter." 

It is only necessary to add, in the words of 
an eminent divine, (see Clarke's Evidences of 
JVatural and Revealed Religion), that the cor- 
respondencies of types and antitypes, though 
they be not of themselves proper proofs of the 
truth of a doctrine, yet they may be very reas- 
onable confirmations of the foreknowledge of 
God ; of the uniform view of Providence under 
different Dispensations ; of the analogy, har- 
mony, and agreement between the Old Testa- 
ment and the New. The analogies cannot, 
without the force of strong prejudice, be con- 
ceived to have happened by mere chance, with- 
out any foresiglit or design. There are no 
such analogies, much less such series of analo- 
gies, found in the books of mere enthusiastic 
writers living in such remote ages from each 
other. It is much more credible and reason- 
able to suppose what St. Paul affirms, that, 
in the uniform course of God's government 
of the world, " all these things happened unto 
them of old for examples, lina, or types, 



1 Cor. X. 11., and they are written for our admo- 
nition, upon whom the ends of the world are 
come." And hence arises that aptness of 
similitude in the application of several legal 
performances to the morality of the Gospel, 
that it can very hardly be supposed not to have 
been originally intended. 

Bishop Horsley" has proposed a criticism, 
which may add another circumstance to the 
parallel between Christ and Moses. 

We read in Numb. xu. 3. "that the man 
Moses was very meek." With what truth this 
character might be ascribed to Moses, see Exod. 
xii. 11-14. V. 22. xi. 8. xxxii. 19-22. Numb. xi. 
11-15. xvi. 15. and xx. 10-12. Schultens 
renders the passage ; " Now the man Moses 
gave forth more answers than," &c. i. e. more 
oracular answers : " erat responsor eximius prcB 
omni homine." 

If this remark is just, our Lord would be like 
unto Moses in this point also : Christ being 
himself the divine oracle by whom Moses had 
spoken to the people". 



Note 21.— Part IX. 

The names of the pastors here mentioned 
show us the powerful opposition against which 
the infant Church had to contend. The San- 
hedrin — the aged Ananus, or Annas, who by his 
influence secretly directed every public meas- 
ure, and as many as were of his kindred — were 
gathered together against them. The John 
and Alexander here spoken of appear to have 
been, next to Annas and Caiaphas, the princi- 
pal and most eminent persons in Jerusalem. 

Jolm, according to Liglitfoot, is probably no 
other than Rabban Johanan, the son of Zaccai, 
frequently mentioned in the talmuds. It is said 
of him, that he had been the scholar of Hillel, 
and was president of the council after Simeon, 
the son of Gamaliel, who perished in the de- 
struction of the city, and that he lived to be a 
hundred and twenty-three years old. A re- 
markable saying of his, spoken by him not long 
before his assembling with the rulers and elders, 
mentioned Acts iv., is related in the Jerusalem 
Talmud thus : Forty years before the destruc- 
tion of the city, when the gates of the temple 
flew open of their own accord, Rabban Joha- 
nan, the son of Zaccai, said, " O temple, tem- 
ple, why dost thou disturb thyself? I know 
thy end, that thou shalt be destroyed ; for so 



° Horsley's Biblical, Criticisms, vol. i. p. 16G. 
He refers to Kennicott's Remarks, p. 57. 

" See the treatise on liie passage in the 13th vol. 
of the Critici Sarri, p. 439, &c., to Fagius's Re- 
marks, vol. ii. p. 123, and to the frequent notices 
of the same text in Limborch's .^jreica Collatio cum 
erud. Judaeo. 



Note 22.-25.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*23l 



the prophet Zechariah has spoken concerning 
thee, — 

' Open thy doors, O Lebanon, 
That the fire may devour thy cedars.' " 

He lived to see tlie truth of what he had 
foretoW. 

The Alexander here mentioned is supposed 
by some learned men^ to be Alexander the ala- 
barch, or governor of the Jews who dwelt in 
Egypt ; and were he at Jerusalem at the time, 
nothing would be more probable. For the 
assembly here spoken of does not seem to be 
the ordinary council of the seventy-one, but an 
extraordinary council, composed of all the chief 
men of the Jewish nation, from every part of 
the world, who happened then to be at Jerusa- 
lem ; and several such, it is likely, there might 
be upon the account of some feast. Josephus 
says of this Alexander, that he was the noblest 
and richest of all the Jews in Alexandria of his 
time, and that he adorned the nine gates of the 
temple at Jerusalem with plates of gold and 
sDver"^. 



Note 24.— Part IX. 

This section presents us with a picture of what 
every Christian Church ought to be, and what 
every Christian Church will probably be, when 
the fulness of the Spirit snail be poured out in 
the last days, and the consummation of all 
things arrive. Here we meet with no factions 
or divisions on the part of the people — no jeal- 
ousy — no party spirit — no desire of distinction 
disturbed the pure harmony of the primitive 
Church. The apostles, as the spiritual fathers 
of God's household, without opposition, superin- 
tended all things, and directed the disposal of the 
extensive and benevolent contributions of the 
faithful. The first law of their divine Master 
was fulfilled — mutual and holy love was the 
sacred bond of their union, the ruling principle 
of their life and actions. But in these days ot 
luxury and refinement, self engages all our 
thoughts, and all our cares — no other interest 
can be admitted, and the exploded doctrine ot 
Christian love is alike ridiculed and despised. 



Note 22.— Part IX. 



Note 25.— Part IX. 



See the Dissertation on this text among the 
tracts bound up in tiie 13th vol. of the Critici 
Sacri. De lAmitibus Ohsequii Humani. By 
Samuel Andreas, or Andre, or Andrews, p. 
595-604. 



Note 23.— Part IX. 

^vv^-/dr}(rav — TTQodiQicre yeviudai, this ought 
to be in a parenthesis, the construction being 
suspended through several verses, and not 
being resumed till ver. 29. The construction 
lies tlius : ^dianoTu, av 6 Qtug, v. 24. av 6 
(rrort) elnav, ver. 25. xal lu vvv, KiqiB, eniSs 
ijil T(i? dcTTEild.;, ver. 29. 

" Lord, thou art God, who hast made, &c. — 
who [formerly] by the mouth of thy servant 
David hast said, &c. and now. Lord, behold 
their threatenings"." 

The beauty and truth of this affecting appli- 
cation of the prophecy must strike every reader. 



=" Vid. Liffhtfoot, vol. i. p. 209, and p. 277, 2S'2, 
vol. ii. p. 652. 

" Baron. Jlnnal. xxxiv. p. 224. Lio-htfoot, vol. 
i. p. 277, and 760. 

- Aiittq. 1. xviii. c. 7. § 3. fin. 1. xix. c. 5. § 1. 
fin. 1. XX. c. 4. § 2., and De Bell. 1. v. c. 5. § 3. 
See Biscoe On the Acts, and Schoeto-en. vol. i. 
p. 420. 

" Markland ap. Bowyer. 



From these words it is evident that tlie crime 
of Ananias was something more than an ordi- 
nary act of deception. It was a direct sin 
against the Holy Ghost. It was a distrust ot 
his power. It was an attempt to impose upon 
the Holy Spirit himself, an endeavour to dis- 
cover if the secret things of the heart were 
manifest to Him. It was therefore necessary 
that a severe and exemplary punishment should 
be inflicted on the first offending person, to 
convince others of tlie continued presence, and 
of the divine power of that Holy Spirit under 
whose influence the apostles acted, and v,'ho 
worked with them for the dissemination of the 
Gospel. Ananias is here said to lie to God, 
because he lied to the Holy Spirit, which had 
descended upon the apostles ; hence it is clear, 
that if he that lieth to the Spirit lieth to God — 
the Holy Spirit must be God. Ananias ap- 
pears to have been further tempted to this sin 
in the expectation that as he insisted it was the 
whole of the purchase money, both he and his 
wife for the future would be provided for from 
the common funds of the Church; while at the 
same time they retained a portion for their 
private purposes. Doddridge calls it an affront 
directly levelled at the Holy Ghost himself in 
the midst of his astonishing train of extraordi- 
nary operations. This display of divine power 
had its intended effect (Acts v. 11, 14, 15.), it 
preserved tlie Church pure, and protected it 
from those hypocritical professors, who, had it 
not been for fear of a similar punishment, might 



232* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



have been induced to join the apostles, in the 
hope of those temporal advantages which the 
contributions of the primitive converts afforded. 



Note 26.— Part IX. 

These verses, from 12 to 17, as they stand 
in our Bibles, are considered as intermingled 
and confused, and as such have been variously 
arranged by commentators. In their present dis- 
position I have adopted the plan of Dr. Adam 
Clarke, as the most natural and the most con- 
sistent with the intention of the previous mira- 
cle, and the effects which it produced. 

Bishop Sherlock, however, is of a different 
opinion, and, in a communication which he 
made to Bowyer, states that they ought to he 
divided thus — 

After verse 11, go on to ver. 

14 " And believers were the more added to 

the Lord, multitudes both of men and 
women. 

12 And they were all with one accord in 

Solomon's porch. 

13 And of the rest durst no man join him- 

self to them ; but the people magni- 
fied them. 
12 And by the hands of the apostles were 
many signs and wonders wrought 
among the people. 

15 Insomuch that they brought forth," &c. 
By the ol unctvTSc, ver. 12, Bishop Sherlock 

would understand " the new converts ; " by the 
ol lomol, ver. 13, " the unconverted." — See 
Bowyer. 



the name of Rabban, a title of the highest emi- 
nency and note of any among their doctors ; 
and concerning him is this saying, " From the 
time that Rabban Gamaliel the Old died, the 
honor of the Law failed, and purity and Phari- 
saism died." He is called Rabban Gamaliel 
the Old, to distinguish him from his grandson, 
who was also called Rabban Gamaliel, and the 
great-grandson of this grandson, who was also 
called by the same name, and had the same 
title, and were both of them, as the talmudists 
say, presidents also of the Council. 

They tell us that Rabban Gamaliel the Old 
died eighteen years before the destruction of 
Jerusalem', that is, in the year of our Lord 52, 
about eighteen years after the convention of 
the council, before whom the apostles were 
brought, as related in the Acts. We read also 
in Josephus, of Simeon, the son of this Gama- 
liel, as being one of the principal persons of 
the Jewish nation about three years before the 
destruction of Jerusalem. 



Note 29.— Part IX. 
It was a common saying among the Jews, 

□'^pnnS nmo □^db' □b'S xtik? ni,'i> S^ 

omne consilium, quod ad gloriam Dei suscipitur, 
prospero cventu gaudebit. — Schoetgen, Hor. Heb. 
vol. i. p. 424. 



Note .30.— Part IX 



ON THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF THE OFFICE 
OF DEACON. 



Note 27.— Part IX. 

Tov divQqwnov tovtov — ty'xn iniX. Few cir- 
cumstances more fully display to us the utter 
contempt in which the Jews held our Lord and 
his followers than this expression. They would 
not even pronounce his name. 



Note 28.— Part IX. 

We read. Acts v. 34., that a Pharisee named 
Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in great 
reputation among all the people, was one of 
the Jewish Council, or Sanhedrin. This agrees 
exactly with what is delivered in the Jewish 
talmuds. We are informed by them, that 
Gamaliel, the son of Simeon, and grandson of 
Hillel, was president of the Council ; that he 
was a Pharisee ; that he was so well skilled in 
the Law, that he was the second who obtained 



We now read the first account of the elec- 
tion of any order of men in the Christian 
Church from among its own members. The 
apostles and the seventy had been ordained to 
their sacred work by their Divine Master him- 
self. The increased number of converts now 
made additional assistance necessary, and the 
manner in which the Seven were set apart de- 
serves both the attention and imitation of every 
society united together in the name of Christ. 

It is the misfortune of the Christian Church, 
that every, even the most minute point, has 
been made the subject of controversy ; we must 
therefore begin our inquiry into the nature of 
the office to which the Seven were appointed, 
by endeavouring to ascertain from what body 
of men they were selected, before they were 
set apart by the apostles. It has been ques- 
tioned whether they were of the seventy — of 

>> The talmudists say, he succeeded his father, 
and was president of the Council. See Biscoe On 
the Acts, vol. ii. p. 220. 



Note 30.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*233 



the hundred and eig-ht, who, together with the 
apostles, composed the number of the hundred 
and twenty upon whom tlie Spuit fell at the 
day of Pentecost — or, of tlie general mass of 
converts, now added to the Church. Ligiitfoot^ 
supposes them to have been of the hundred 
and twenty. These, he observes, were they 
that were of Christ's constant retinue, and 
"companied with him all the time that he went 
in and out among them ; " and who, being con- 
stant witnesses of his actions, and auditors of 
his doctrine, were appointed by him for the 
iranistry. These are they that the story mean- 
eth all along- in these passages, " They were 
all together " — " They went to their company " — 
"Look ye out among yourselves" — "They 
were all scattered abroad, except the apostles " 
— "They which were scattered abroad preach- 
ed," &c. The Jews say, " Ezra's great syna- 
gogue was of a hundred and twenty men." 
And their canons allow not the setting up of a 
Sanhedrin of tliree and twenty judges in any 
city, but where there were a hundred and 
twenty men fit, seme for one office and employ- 
ment, some for another"*. 

If we may give credit to Epiphanius, the seven 
deacons were of the number of the seyenty. If 
this was the case, and if they had been made 
partakers of the miraculous gifts, they were 
already invested with the power both of preach- 
ing and administering the sacraments. No im- 
position of hands, therefore, was necessary to 
set them apart for this office. The fact seems 
to be, that the difficulties and embarrassments 
arising from the incipient disputes between the 
widows of the Hellenists and of the Hebrews, 
might have increased so much, and excited so 
much dissension and unkindness, that it became 
necessary to select some of the next rank to the 
apostles, and appoint them for this express 
purpose. The general opinion however is, that 
the deacons were chosen from among the gen- 
eral mass of believers. 

The second and the following verses are thus 
paraphrased by Hammond — " And the twelve 
apostles, calling the Church together, said unto 
them, We have resolved, or decreed, that it is 
no way fit or reasonable, that we should neglect 
the preaching of the Gospel, and undertake the 
care of looking to the poor. 

"Therefore do you nominate to us seven men, 
faithful and trusty persons, the most eminent 
of the believers among you ; that we may con- 
secrate or ordain them to this office of deacons 
in the Church, and intrust them with the task 
of distributing to them that want out of the 
stock of the Church ; and in the choice of them 
let it be also observed, that they be persons of 
eminent gifts and knowledge in divine matters 
(seever. 10.), who consequently may be fit to be 

'' Liffhtfoot's Works, vol. iii. p. 182. Pitman's 
edition. 

"* HcBi-es, p. 50. sect. 4. ap. Whitby. 

yoL. II. *30 



employed by us in preaching the word, and 
receiving proselytes to the faith by baptism. 
(Chap. viii. 5. 12.) 

" And by that means we shall be less dis- 
turbed, or interrupted, in our daily employment 
of praying and preaching the Gospel." 

The general opinion, as it is here expressed 
by Hammond, certainly is, that the deacons 
were selected from among the mass of believ- 
ers ; and that the Greek words t6 nlrido; tSj- 
juadijiGn', here rendered "the multitude of the 
disciples," refers to the community or society 
of Christians, called sometimes ndn'Teg, the all 
(1 Tim. V. 20.), Tclnoveg, the many (2 Cor. ii. 6.) 
and sometimes XQiandfoi, Christians, or Fol- 
lowers of Christ ; and also Matt, xviii. 17. 
' Exy.hjaia, the Church. 

From whatever body of men the deacons 
were selected, the narrative before us informs 
us of two important facts. The utmost caution 
v/as used on the part of the apostles to prevent 
the admission of inferior or unworthy men into 
the offices of the Christian Church. The apos- 
tles, the heads of the Church, prescribed the 
qualifications for the office, the people chose 
the persons who were thus worthy, and the 
apostles ordained them to the appointed office. 
Eveiy Church we infer, therefore, is entitled, 
and is bound to follow this plan of conduct. Its 
ecclesiastical heads are the sole judges and 
directors of the qualifications required for the 
fulfilment of any sacred office ; the persons 
who are to fill those offices must be taken from 
the general mass of the people, and they are then, , 
when thus known and approved, to be set apart ; 
by prayer, and laying on of the hands of those 
to whom that power is rightly committed. Till ; 
they are thus set apart, their own qualifications \ 
and the general approbation of the people do ; 
not constitute their right of admission to the ; 
offices of the Christian Church. If Scripture is ; 
to be our guide in matters which concern 
Christian societies, as well as in those which 
interest us as individuals, these are the direc- 
tions it has for ever given to the Churches of 
Christ, in every nation, wherever its sacred 
pages have been imparted. The apostles 
alone called the Church together, and gave 
them directions to look out from among them 
seven men of good report, specifying at the 
same time their necessary endowments and 
numbers ; and reserving to themselves the 
pov/er of appointing them to the sacred office. 
And when we consider that the gifts of the 
Holy Ghost were one indispensable qualifica- 
tion, and may be regarded as the preelection 
to some sacred function ; no possible authority 
can be derived from this portion of Scripture to 
sanction the laity in taking upon themselves 
the choice and appointment of their respective 
ministers. ' The same rules which were on the 
present occasion prescribed, we have reason to 
suppose, were observed likewise in the nomina- 



234* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS 



[Part IX. 



tion of bishops and deacons in other Churches. 
For in St. Paul's Epistles to Timothy and Titus, 
we read that he desires the bishop who ordains, 
to inquire most particularly into the character of 
those who were admitted into the high sacred 
functions. In Titus (i. 6.), for a bishop, seventeen 
necessary qualifications are enumerated ; and in 
Timothy (iii. 2.), fifteen. The same inquiries 
und the same discipline (compare ver. 6. and 10.), 
although the former are not so particularly spe- 
cified are also required before the election of 
deacons, ( 1 Tim. iii. 8.) " They," says the Apostle, 
"that have used the office of -a deacon well, 
purchase to themselves a good degree," that is, 
a degree towards the order of presbyter. 

We are now to inquire into the nature and 
extent of the diaconal office. If we refer to 
the Scripture on this subject, we shall find that 
Philip, one of the deacons, preached and bap- 
tized, (Acts xxi. 8. and viii. 12. 29. 40.) ; and 
that St. Stephen also, who was another, 
preached, and did great wonders and miracles 
among the people, (Acts vi. 8. 10.) ; " and they 
were not able to resist the wisdom and tlie 
Bpirit by which he spake." Whether Philip 
and others of these deacons preached and bap- 
tized, not in their character of deacons, but as 
Evangelists, or as belonging to the Seventy, 
has been a subject of dispute. It is clear that 
before their ordination, the apostles themselves 
were engaged in the ministry of the tables ; for 
the treasure of the Church being laid at the 
apostles' feet, distribution of it was made to 
every man according as he had need, (Acts iv. 
35.) That work, therefore, which the apostles 
themselves performed, till an increase of duties 
compelled them to appoint others to officiate 
for them, cannot in any way be regarded as 
inconsistent with the high commission which 
they received to teach and to baptize all nations. 
The office of the deacon is mentioned by St. 
Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians, as a 
spiritual and perpetual office, then settled in 
the Church, they being the appointed attend- 
ants on the bishop, as we read in Epiphanius". 
A bishop cannot be without a deacon. Through- 
out the whole history of the Acts of the Apostles 
they are never once called Ministers of the Ta- 
bles, although they are said to be appointed for 
that work — no other name is given to them but 
that of deacons; and St. Jerome (To. 5. F. 251. 
K.) speaks of them as the ministers not only of 
the priests, but also of the widows and tables. 
And when it is remembered that the gifts of 
the Holy Spirit were particularly conferred 
upon them, the order of deacons, like that of 
the apostles, may be considered of divine insti- 
tution, and decidedly ecclesiastical, established 
for ever in the Christian Church. 

The evidence of the fathers is no less clear ; 
their writings are to be valued not only for 

' Hceres, p. 50. sect. 4. ap. Whitby, 



their testimony to the opinions of the primitive 
Church, but for their statements of facts. The 
customs of the contemporaries of the apostles, 
or their successors in the next age, when those 
customs were universal in every country where 
Christianity was established, are related by the 
fathers ; and they have ever been esteemed, 
therefore, as useful chroniclers, and as our best 
guides in all questions concerning the faith 
or discipline of the early Church. When the 
fathers are unanimous in asserting the preva- 
lence of a custom in the day in which they 
lived ; when they describe it as universal ; 
when they declare it to have prevailed in the 
age of the apostles ; and when their testimony 
is confirmed either by the positive affirmation 
of Scripture, or is alluded to in Scripture, or is 
supported by rational inference from the lan- 
guage of Scripture, we are justified in pronoun- 
cing such opinion, custom, or practice to have 
been either instituted, or at least sanctioned by 
the apostles. If there be any thing of a doubtful 
nature in the passages of Scripture, which relate 
the opinion or practice in question, the corrobo- 
rating evidence of the fathers must be considered 
as decisive of any discussion arising from the 
subject. This authority of the primitive fathers 
will enable us to ascertain the real nature of the 
diaconate which was now instituted, and becarne 
an ordinance for ever in the Christian Church. 

In answer to those who consider that the 
order of deacons is only a temporary or civil 
office, instituted for the serving of tables, it 
must be urged, as Bishop Pearson-^ rightly 
observes, that the tables of the apostles were 
common and sacred. Justin Martyr^ mentions 
them as attendants on the bishops at the Agapi£ 
or Love Feasts, when the Eucharist was also 
celebrated ; and that they distributed the bread 
and wine (after its consecration by the bishop) 
to the communicants. St. Polycarp'', in his 
Epistle to the Philippians, (p. 17. edit. Oxon. 

/ " ha or do qv.idam in Ecdesia singularis jam 
turn impositione manuum institutus est. Actus qui- 
dem, ad quern instituti sunt, nihil aliud est, quam 
Siaxovui' tiJarrlLaig, et constituti sunt sTiiTavTijg ri;g 
/QBlac,qua: consistebat iv Tij Siaxovia rij xaSrifiiQiiT). 
Officium tamen non fuit mere civile, aut a-conomi- 
cuin, sed sacrum etiam, sive Ecclesiasticum. Mensce 
cnirn Discipulorum tur\.c temporis communes, et 
sacrm etiam facre ; hoc est in communi convictu 
Sacramentum, EucharistiiB celehraha.nt ," &c. — Pear- 
soni in Acta Apostol. Lection.e, p. 53. Schoetgen 
has decided in favor of the opinion which is appar- 
ently best supported by Scripture, that the deacons 
were of two kinds, of tables, and of the word. 
The deaconship or ministry of tables ceased after 
the first dispersion, and Philip then resumed the 
deaconship of the word. " Post SiaanooUv viro 
ccssahat Sluxov'm ri]g XQaniLrig, et Philippus postea 
resiimchat Siuxoiiav toij Hy'"'-" — Schoetgen, Hora 
Hchraica, vol. i. p. 428. 

^ Ev xai)inTi\ciarTog rod nqointunog o'l xaXovuiroi 
Jiuxorut SiSoaniv (XunTa>ri~>v naQovTutr ficTaXa^stv. — 
Justin Martyr, Apol. 2. p. 97. ed. Paris. 

'' Polycarp exliorts the deacons, that they con- 
duct themselves blameless, 'S2( @sov iv Xgioriu 
/JLuxovoi xal qvx avSQwmMv. 



Note 30.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*235 



1644.) exhorts the deaCons to behave themselves 
unblameably as the deacons or ministers of 
God in Christ, and not of men. St. Ignatius' 
also, in his Epistle to the Trallians, has these 
words — " And deacons, being the ministers of 
the mystery, or rather of tlie mysteries, of Jesus 
Christ, ought by all means to please all men, 
for they are not dispensers of moat and drink, 
but ministers of the Church of God." St. 
Cyprian^ writes [Epist. 65. Ord. Pamel.) "But 
deacons ought to remember, that the Lord 
chose apostles, that is, bishops and governors ; 
but after the Lord's ascension into heaven, the 
apostles constituted dsacons for themselves, to 
be attendants upon them as bishops, and upon 
the Church." 

Many similar references might be given ; 
but it is only necessary here to add, that they 
were ordained by the imposition of hands by 
the apostles, in the very same manner as priests 
were ordained ; and that this solemn ceremony 
could not have been used, had the deacons been 
designed only for civil and temporary purposes. 

Mosheim has endeavoured to show that the 
seven deacons were not the only persons ap- 
pointed by the apostles to take charge of the 
poor, as there must liave been curators for that 
office long before this period, in consequence 
of the increasing numbers of the Church ; and 
there must, therefore, in fact, have been dea- 
cons before there were any such by name. He 
argues, that these ministers having been select- 
ed from amongst the indigenous Jews, who in 
number far exceeded the foreign ones, it was 
found that they were not strictly impartial, but 
were apt to lean a little more than was right 
in favor of their fellow-citizens, and those of 
their own country, and discovered a greater 
readiness in relieving the widows of native 
Jews than the others. The foreign Jews, 
whom St. Luke terms Greeks, being much dis- 
satisfied at this, and murmuring greatly against 

' Jh Se y.al Tot); Siaxovovg ovrag fivOTijoiojv 
X/jlotov ' I>]acrv, xaTa navrix tqokov aqiaxsiv. ov yui} 
fiQwTfov y.txi TioTr^iv iLOi SiLiXovot^ aXX iH/cXtjOiag Gsuv 
iVfijgETai. Siov ovr ai'Twv tIx lyxXi'iuaTa (fv/.urifo&ui 
a>g icvQ <fi).iyoy. Ap. Critici Sacri, vol, viii. annot. 
Scipionis Gentilis, In Philcin. p. 846. Hughes, in 
his learned preface to Chrysostom On the Priest- 
hood, reads here ^iron/jiov, but he prefers the present 
reading, which is defended on the authority of the 
old interpreters of the passage, p. 61. Bishop 
Pearson reads iii)oi-i,ui'wv, Lectiones in Act. p. .54. 

J Cyprian thus speaks concerning deacons — 
'' Meviinisse autein diaconi debent, quoniavi Jlpos- 
tolos, id est, Episcopos et Prtepositos Dominus 
elegit : Diaconos autem post ascensum Domini in 
cceios Apostnli sihi constituerunt, Episcopatiis sui, 
et Ecdesim Ministros." In the Constitutions of 
Clemens are prayers for the deacon, in which these 
words occur — y.uTa^iwaov aih'ov evaniaTog Xtrtovo- 
•/ijoavTa T),v iyj^tijiffiSEfffav avTmv Jiaxov'iav arqiic- 
rmg aiiifinrmg, aviyy.X)\Tmg, fisitovog uiioi^fjvai 
l?a,9i(oti. The deacons being accustomed to be 
advanced from the diaconate to the presbyteral 
office, which was thus called a degree, from the 
passage 1 Tim. iii. 18. — ol yaXoig Jiayovilnamg 
^aSfi'ov savrorg y.ai-or n^QtjroioVTrat. 



the Hebrews on account thereof, the apostles 
convoked the members of the Church, and com- 
manded them to nominate seven men of approved 
faith and integrity, to whom the management of 
the concerns of the people might without appre- 
hension be committed. The people complied 
with these directions, and chose by their suf- 
frages the appointed number of men, six of 
them being Jews by birth, and one a proselyte 
of the name of Nicolaus. These seven deacons, 
as we commonly call them, were all of them 
chosen from amongst the foreign Jews. This 
he thinks is sufficiently evident, from the cir- 
cumstance of their names being all of them 
Greek ; for the Jews of Palestine were not 
accustomed to adopt names for their children 
from tiie Greek, but from the Hebrew or Syriac 
languages. From these circumstances Mosheim 
believes that these seven men were not entrust- 
ed with the care of the whole of the poor at 
Jerusalem ; for can any one suppose, he con- 
tinues, that the Hebrews would have consented 
that the relief of their own widows and poor 
should be thus committed to the discretion of 
the Jews of the foreign class ? The native 
Jews would in this case have been liable to 
experience the same injustice from the foreign 
brethren, as the latter had to complain of, 
whilst the alms were at the disposal of the 
Hebrews ; and instead, therefore, of at once 
striking at the root of the evil which they pro- 
posed to cure, the Apostle would, by such an 
arrangement, have merely applied to it a very 
uncertain kind of remedy. Besides, the indi- 
genous Jews made no complaint against those 
who had hitherto managed the concerns of the 
poor; and consequently there could be no neces- 
sity for their dismissal from office. It appears, 
therefore, clear beyond a doubt, that those 
seven men were not invested with the care of 
the poor in general, but were appointed merely 
as curators of the widows and poor of the 
foreigners or Greeks ; and that the others con- 
tinued, under the guardianship of those, who, 
prior to the appointment of the seven, were 
entrusted with the superintendence and discre- 
tionary relief of the whole. Champ. Vitringa 
saw the matter evidently in this light, as is 
plain from his work, De Synagoga, lib. iii. part 
ii. cap. 5. p. 928. As to the reason which 
caused the number of these men to be fixed at 
seven, I conceive that it is to be found in the 
state of the Church at Jerusalem, at the time of 
their appointment. The Christians in that city 
were most likely divided into seven classes ; the 
members of each of these divisions having a 
separate place of assembly. It was therefore 
deemed expedient that seven curators should 
be appointed, in order that every division 
might be furnished with an officer or superin- 
tendent of its own, whose immediate duty it 
should be to take care that the widows and the 
poor of the foreigners should come in for an 



236* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



equitable share of the alms and benefactions, 
and to see that due relief was administered 
according to the necessities of the different 
individuals*. 

Lightfoot', Dr. Clarke, and many others, have 
attempted to assimilate the rDJ33 of the Jew- 
ish synagogue with the Christian deacons, now 
appointed. There does not appear to be any 
other resemblance than this, that one part of 
their duty was common to both — the charge of 
the poor. That the office of deacons among 
the Christians was more than this, has been 
shown both from Scripture, and its only right 
interpreters on these matters, the early fathers. 



Note 31.— Part IX. 

Lightfoot remarks on this verse, "It is so 
constant an opinion of the ancients, that the 
most impure sect of the Nicolaitans derived 
their name and filthy doctrines from the 
' Nicolas ' here mentioned (see Rev. ii. 15.), that 
so much as to distrust the thing would look like 
contradicting antiquity. But if it were lawful 
in this matter freely to speak one's thoughts, I 
should conjecture (for the honor of our Nicolas), 
that the sect might rather take its derivation 
from xSu'J JVecola, 'Let us eat together;' 
those brutes animating one another to eat 
thinffs offered to idols. Like those in Isa. xxii. 
13. -inn ^iiy:i'Tii?j ^O'J. 'Let us eat flesh 
and drink wine"." ' 

As the Nicolas here spoken of was a deacon 
appointed by the apostles, and therefore must 
have been filled with the Holy Ghost, it is not 
probable he should have apostatized so far from 
the true faith, as to have become the founder of 
a sect whose doctrines were so disgusting in 
their nature, and so repugnant to truth, as to 
bring down the strong condemnation of our 
Lord in the book of Revelation already re- 
ferred to. 



* Moslieim on the afiairs of the Christians be- 
fore Constantine. — Vidal's Translation, vol. i. p. 
203, &c. 

' Lightfoot, vol. iii. p. 189, Pitman's edition ; 
and Dr. Clarke in loc. Tliey appoint, says Light- 
foot, quoting from talmudical authority, not less 
than three Parnasin ; for if judgment about pecu- 
niary matters were judged by three, much more 
this matter which concerneth life is to be managed 
by three : and in each, doctrine and wisdom were 
required, that they might be able to discern, and 
give right judgment in things both sacred and 
civil. The Jfn chazan, andf/oW shamash, were 
also a sort of deacons. Tlie first was the priest's 
deputy ; and the last was in some cases the deputy 
of this depvity, or the sub-deacon. See on the 
subject of this note, Whitby, Hammond, Arch- 
bishiop Potter's Treatise on Church Government, 
and their numerous references to the fathers, in 
addition to those here selected. 

"* Lightfoot, vol. viii. p. 434. 



Note 32.— Part IX. 

ON THE DATE OF THE MARTYRDOM O?' 
ST. STEPHEN. 

The chronologers of the New Testament 
have generally assigned the martyrdom of St. 
Stephen to the year 33 or 34 of the vulgar 
eera, from the supposition that our Lord was 
crucified in the year 33. In this arrangement 
the opinion of Benson has been adopted, which 
places the death of Christ in the year of the 
vulgar sera 29, and of the Julian period 4742. 
This hypothesis will, I trust, be found consis- 
tent with the general opinion respecting the 
date of the martyrdom of Stephen. St. Luke 
not having given us in the Acts of the Apostles 
express data for the chronology of either of 
these great events, several arguments seem to 
warrant and justify the dates here affixed to 
the different portions of the Sacred History, 
from the ascension, 29, to the martyrdom of St. 
Stephen, 33. 

It will be observed that these dates are as 
follow: — 

The establishment of the Christian Church, 
by the miracle at Pentecost, and first ac- 
cession of converts -. 29 

The increasing prosperity of the Church, 

after the healing of the cripple 30 

The increase of the Church, in consequence 

of the death of Ananias and Sapphira 31 

The increase of the Church, in consequence 
of the imprisonment and release of the 

apostles 32 

Persecution and death of Stephen 33 

It must be remembered that St. Luke, who 
was the author of the Acts of the Apostles, was 
principally anxious to relate the chief circum- 
stances of the life of St. Paul, and those actions 
of St. Peter, which were introductory to the 
preaching of the Gospel among the Gentiles. 
In many instances, therefore, he has not only 
studied brevity, but lias passed over a variety 
of important journeys and circumstances famil- 
iarly alluded to in St. Paul's Epistles. Ho 
almost wholly omits what passed among the 
Jews after St. Paul's conversion — the dispersion 
of Christianity in the East — the lives and deaths 
of the apostles — ^the foundation of the Church 
at Rome — St. Paul's journey into Arabia and 
other events. It may therefore excite surprise 
that the Evangelist, who is in general so emi- 
nently concise, should so frequently repeat 
similar expressions, unless we consider them 
as relating to distinct occurrences in the Church. 
We find for instance in Acts ii. 47. after the 
feast of Pentecost, "the Lord added to the 
Church daily such as should be saved." 

Acts iv. 32. after the healing of the cripple — 
the multitude of them that " believed were of 
one heart and of one soul." 
In Acts v. 14. after the death of Ananias — 



KOTE S2.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*23T 



" believers were the more added to the Lord, 
multitudes both of men and women." 

And, after the release of the apostles. Acts 
vi. 7. — " the word of God increased, and the 
number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem 
greatly; and a great company of the priests 
were obedient to the faith ; " all which expres- 
sions and different events seem to imply, that 
a much longer period than one year elapsed 
before the dispersion of the Church at Jerusa- 
lem and the martyrdom of St. Stephen ; and this 
supposition has induced me to place the latter 
with tlie generality of commentators in the 
year .33. 

I cannot but think that Daniel's celebrated 
prophecy of the seventy weeks describes with 
much accuracy the gradual establishment of 
Christianity at Jerusalem, in the progressive 
manner apparently related by St. Luke. Pri- 
deaux makes the seventy weeks, or four hun- 
dred and ninety years, which were to elapse 
between the going forth of the decree to build 
the city, and the confirming of the covenant, to 
commence with the year of the Julian period 
4956, which he considers as correspondent with 
the year 458 before Christ, the first seven weeks 
terminating with the complete establishment of 
the Jewish Church and state, forty-nine years 
after. Threescore and two weeks were then to 
elapse, after which Messiah was to be cut off, 
Dan. ix. 26., and this brings us to the year 4739 
of the Julian period, and 26 A.D. Thus far 
we are agreed. 

There now remains to conclude the prophecy, 
the one week, or seven years. In this week 
(see Dan. ix. 27.) the covenant is to be confirmed 
—"-and in the midst of it he shall cause tlie 
sacrifice and the oblation to cease." Prideaux 
assigns to these seven days, or years, the fol- 
lowing events : — 

J. P. 

4739 The first day of the week — ^the ministry 
of John begins to confirm the cove- 
nant. 

4742 The middle of the week — the ministry 
of Christ. 

4746 End of the seventieth week — Chi-ist is 
crucified. 

Highly as I respect the authority of Prideaux, 
I cannot coincide in this arrangement of events, 
by which he would interpret this wonderful 
prophecy. Daniel appears to me to assert, in 
the most express manner, that the sacrifice 
shall be caused to cease in the midst of the 
week, and it could not possibly cease till our 
Lord, the typified Sacrifice, was offered up. It 
is further declared, that the covenant shall be 
confirmed through the whole week. These 
considerations have induced me to give a more 
literal interpretation of the passage, which 
seems to me also corroborated by other chro- 
nological calculations. I consider, then, the 
prophecy to be PalfiUed by the following ar- 



rangement of events, which I would substitute 
for those given by Prideaux ; and by which his 
hypothesis is made to harmonize with that of 
Benson, Hales, and others : — 
J. P. A.D. 

4739 26 First day of the week — Christ's 
ministry begins, and the cove 
nant is confirmed. 

4742 29 In the half-part or middle of the 

week — the Messiah is cut off, 
and the sacrifice is caused to 
cease by the death of Christ. 
He confirms his covenant by 
sending down the Holy Spirit. 

4743 30 The covenant is further confirmed 

by the second great effusion of 
the Holy Spirit. 

4744 31 The death of Ananias and the 

rapid increase of the Church 
prove tlie truth of the covenant. 

4745 32 The covenant is more fully con- 

firmed by the complete establish- 
ment of the Church, the conver- 
sion of the priests, &c. 

4746 33 The last year of the seventy weeks 

begins, and the covenant is rati- 
fied by the blood of the first 
martyr. Then, and then only, 
the Jews began to fill up the 
measure of the iniquities of their 
fathers, by resisting tlie testimony 
of the Holy Ghost. The seven- 
ty weeks having now expired, 
they are permitted to persecute 
the Church of Christ even unto 
death, drawing down upon them 
by their abominations and cruel- 
ty, the destruction of their city 
and sanctuary, the desolation 
predicted both by our Lord and 
his prophets. 
In addition to the arguments already given in 
favor of the present arrangement, which makes 
nearly four years intervene between the death 
of Christ and the martyrdom of Stephen, I must 
add the authority of Tacitus ; who states that 
after the death of Christ his religion was for a 
time suppressed, but that it afterwards broke 
out, not only in Judaea, but through the whole 
world. This latter clause seems to me evident- 
ly to refer to the first persecution of the disci- 
ples, when they were obliged to fly from Jeru- 
salem, and carried with them the Gospel in 
every direction. Some time must have elapsed 
before the Church could have been so fully 
established, as to have become obnoxious to 
the Jewish rulers, its founders being the most 
despised and humble of men. The passage from 
Tacitus refers to the persecution of the Chris- 
tians by Nero — " Qucs, vulgus Christianos appel- 
labat. Auctor nominis ejus Christus, qui Tiberio 
imperitante, per Procuratorem PontiumPilatum, 
supplicio affectus erat. ReprcGsaque m prce- 



23&* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



sens, exitiabilis superstitio rursus erumpebat, 
non modo per Judeam, originem ejus mali, sed 
per urbem etiam, quo," &c. 



Note 33.— Part IX. 

ON THE SYNAGOGUE OF THE LIBERTINES. 

Various opinions have been entertained 
respecting the synagogue of the Libertines 
here mentioned. Mr. Home supposes, and so 
likewise do Bishop Marsh and Michaelis, that 
the word Aidigjlvoi, is evidently the same as 
the Latin Libertini. " Whatever meaning we 
affix to this word," says Bishop Marsh, " (for it 
is variously explained), whether we understand 
emancipated slaves, or the sons of emancipated 
'slaves, they must have been the slaves, or the 
sons of slaves, to Roman masters ; otherwise 
the Latin word Libertini would not apply to 
them. That among persons of this description 
there were many at Rome, who professed the 
Jewish religion, whether slaves of Jewish 
origin, or proselytes after manumission, is 
nothing very extraordinary. But that they 
should have been so numerous at Jerusalem as 
to have a synagogue in that city, built for their 
particular use, appears at least to be more than 
might be expected. Some commentators, there- 
fore, have supposed tliat the term in question, 
instead of denoting emancipated Roman slaves, 
or the sons of such persons, was an adjective 
belonging to the name of some city or district ; 
while others, on mere conjecture, have proposed 
to alter the term itself But the whole difficulty 
is removed by a passage in the second book of 
the Jlnnals of Tacitus, from which it appears 
that the persons, whom that historian describes 
a.s being libertini generis, and infected (as he 
calls it) with foreign, that is, with Jewish super- 
stition, were so numerous in the time of the 
Emperor Tiberius, that four thousand of them, 
who were of age to carry arms, were sent to 
the island of Sardinia ; and that all the rest of 
them were ordered, either to renounce their 
religion, or to depart from Italy before a day 
appointed. This statement of Tacitus is con- 
firmed by Suetonius, who relates that Tiberius 
disposed of the young men among the Jews 
then at Rome (under pretence of their serving 
in the wars), in provinces of an unhealthy 
climate ; and that he banished from the city all 
the rest of that nation, or proselytes to that 
religion, under penalty of being condemned to 
slavery for life, if they did not comply with his 
commands. We can now therefore account for 
the number of Libertini in Judaea, at the period 
of which Luke was speaking, which was about 
fifteen years after their banishment from Italy." 
Bisliop Marsh has, however, omitted to observe 
that these four thousand Libertini were sent to 



the island of Sardinia as soldiers — coercendis 
illic latrociniis ; and they were not expected to 
escape from that place — et si ob gravitatem cali 
interissent, vile damnum. 

Bishop Pearce looks for the Libertines in 
Africa. He observes that the Libertines, the 
Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, are here joined, 
as having one and the same synagogue for their 
public worship. And it being known that the 
Cyrenians (chap. ii. 10.) lived in Lybia, and the 
Alexandrians in the neighbourhood of it, it is 
most natural to look for the Libertines also in 
that part of the world. Accordingly we find 
Suidas, in his Lexicon, saying upon the word 
Ai^sqtIi'oc, that it is ovofia tov sdi'ovg, the name 
of a people. And in Gest. Collationis Cartha- 
gini habitfE inter Catholicos et Donatistas, pub- 
lished with Optatus's Works, Paris, 1679 (No. 
201, and p. 57.), we have these words : — " Victor 
episcopus Ecclesise Catholicae Libertinensis 
dixit, ' Unitas est illic ; publicam non latet con- 
scientiam.' " From these two passages Bishop 
Pearce thinks that there was in Lybia a town 
or district called Libertina, whose inhabitants 
bore the name of AiSeoTlrot, Libertines, when 
Christianity prevailed there. They had an 
episcopal see among them, and the above-men- 
tioned Victor was their bishop at the council of 
Carthage, in the reign of the Emperor Honorius. 
And from hence it seems probable that the 
town or district, and the people, existed in the 
time of which Luke is here speaking. They 
were Jews, no doubt, and came up, as the 
Cyrenian and Alexandrian Jews did, to bring 
their offerings to Jerusalem, and to worship in 
the temple there. Cunseus, in his Rep. Heb. ii. 
23., says, that the Jews who lived in Alexandria 
and Lybia, and all other Jews who lived out of 
the Holy Land, except those of Babylon and its 
neighbourhood, were held in great contempt by 
the Jews who inhabited Jerusalem and Judeea, 
partly on account of their quitting their proper 
country, and partly on account of their using the 
Greek language, and being quite ignorant of the 
other. For these reasons it seems probable that 
the Libertines, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians had 
a separate synagogue (as perhaps the Cilicians 
and those of Asia had), the Jews of Jerusalem 
not sufliering them to be present in their syna- 
gogues, or they not choosing to perform their 
public service in synagogues where a language 
was used which they did not understand. — 
Annal. lib. ii. c. 85. Marsh's Lect. part vi. p. 70. 
In Tiberio, c. 36. Home's Addenda to the 2d 
edit. p. 743, and Dr. A. Clarke in loc. 



Note 34.— Part IX. 

ON ST. Stephen's apology before the 

SANHEDRIN. 

In this address of St. Stephen to the Jews, 
he seems desirous to prove to them by a refer- 



NoTK 34.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*239 



once to the lives of their venerated ancestors, 
the error of their prevailing expectations and 
opinions. From the promise given to Abraham 
(Gen. xvii. 8.), they expected that God would 
put them in possession of the land of Canaan, 
that is, the enjoyment of this present world. 

As this prediction had never been entirely 
fulfilled (Nunib. xxxiii. 55, 56.), the .Tews were 
led to suppose it woidd receive its full completion 
ill the person of the Messiah ; and to this notion 
perhaps may be attributed their deep-rooted 
and preconceived ideas of the temporal nature of 
Christ's kingdom. When our blessed Lord, 
therefore, rejected all earthly power and dis- 
tinction, and left them still under the dominion 
of the Romans, they concluded he could not be 
the predicted Son of David. 

St. Stephen begins by endeavouring to con- 
vince them of their misapprehension on this 
point of the sacred promise, by demonstrating 
to them through a recapitulation of the history 
of the patriarchs, that such could not have been 
the meaning of the prediction : for even tlieir 
father Abraham (he argues) to whom the land 
was first promised, " had none inheritance in it, 
no, not so much as to set his foot on." The other 
patriarchs in the same manner passed a life of 
pilgrimage and affliction, and never attained to 
the blessed inheritance. Abraham, the father 
of the faithful, and the friend of God, had no 
possession till his death ; then only he began to 
take possession of his purchase, clearly intimat- 
ing the spiritual signification of the promised 
Canaan. Moses had a prospect of that land, 
but he died before he could attain to it, and all 
those who came out of Egypt with him, without 
even a glimpse of it, fell through unbelief in 
the wilderness. The righteous only hath hope 
in his death. The eminent characters here 
brought forth by Stephen, may be considered 
(as Mr. Jones of Nayland remarks) as signs so 
exactly suited to the thing signified, as if the 
truth itself had been acted beforehand. In 
Joseph we see a man, wise, innocent, and great, 
hated by his brethren, and sold for a slave to 
heathen Egyptians. In his humiliation he was 
exalted. Heathens, to whom he had been given 
over, bowed the knee before him — his own 
family were preserved from perishing — he be- 
came the saviour of all — administering to them 
bread, the emblem of life — and to him every 
knee bowed, both of his own kindred and stran- 
gers. He was tempted and triumphed ; he 
was persecuted and imprisoned under a ma- 
licious and false accusation; he was not ac- 
tually crucified, but he suffered with two 
malefactors, and promised life to one of them, 
and delivered himself by the Divine Spirit tliat 
was given to him. He was seen twice by his 
brethren ; the first time they knew him not, but 
tJie second he was made known unto them. 
And thus we trust it will be at some future day, 
when the bretlrren of Jesus Christ shall become 



like the brethren of Joseph, sensible of their 
crime, and say with them in the bitterness of 
their souls, " We are verily guilty concerning 
our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his 
soul when he besought us, and we would not 
hear ; therefore have all our evils come upon 
us." 

The parallel between Moses and Christ is so 
exact, and has been so fully proved (Note 20, p. 
*227.) even from their very birth, that it is here 
unnecessary to make any further allusion to it. 
It is evident the Jews considered the arguments 
of St. Stephen in this light, otherwise they 
would not have been so violently exasperated 
against the speaker. Having thus demonstrat- 
ed from these typical characters, that thus it 
behoved Christ to suffer, and having accused 
the Jews of following the same persecuting and 
rebellious conduct which led their ancestors to 
refuse Moses, saying, " Who made thee a ruler 
and a judge over us ? " St. Stephen, in the 
next place, notices another opinion, of which 
they were more particularly tenacious, their 
own exclusive privileges, which persuaded them 
into the belief that it was utterly impossible 
that the Gentiles should ever be admitted into 
the same covenant with themselves. From the 
history of the past the inspired Disciple now 
deduces the possibility of the event ; and illus- 
trates it by recalling to their memory the fact 
that the tabernacle of witness, the first Church 
of the Jews which was appointed in the wilder- 
ness, had been given to the Gentiles, for Joshua 
had carried it with him into Canaan, when tlie 
latter were in possession of the Holy Land. A 
significant action, testifying that both Jew and 
Gentile, through the Captain of their salvation, 
should be made partakers of the same temporal 
and spiritual blessings. Afterwards, in allusion 
to the idea they entertained, that their temple 
and Law were of perpetual duration, to continue 
even unto the end of the world, St. Stephen 
declares to them that God does not dwell in 
temples made with hands, and immediately re- 
proaches them for not understanding the spirit- 
ual signification of their appointed worship and 
ordinances. 

It is evident, then, through every part of this 
discourse, that the object St. Stephen had in 
view, was to represent to his countrymen the 
nature of Christ's religion, and to set before 
them, in the most touching manner, his suffer- 
ings and their own conduct, which was an aggra- 
vated completion of the crimes of their ancestors. 
" For which," says the Martyr, with indignant 
eloquence, " which of the prophets have not 
your fathers persecuted ? and they have slain 
them which showed before of the coming of the 
Just One ; of v/hom ye. have been now the 
betrayers and murderers." The truth and 
justice of the dying Stephen's appeal was too 
severely avenged, and too bitterly felt for the 
Jews not to have had a perfect knowledge of 



240* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



its intention and individual application ; and 
unless it is considered in this light, it will be 
difficult to account for the powerful sensation it 
occasioned". 

The destruction of the Jewish temple imparts 
this impressive lesson to every Christian nation 
and individual, that the trueness of a Church 
does not constitute its safety, but that the con- 
tinuance of the divine blessing is only secured 
by the maintenance of a pure faith and con- 
sistent conduct. The temple itself was to be 
esteemed and valued as the habitation of the 
Divine Presence, making the building holy — in 
the same way that our bodies are sanctified and 
purified, and are made the temples of the Holy 
Ghost, by the indwelling spirit of grace within 
us. If with the Jews, as individuals, we resist 
the holy influences of God, his presence will be 
withdrawn from us, and we shall bring down 
upon our earthly tabernacle the same fearful and 
inevitable destruction which was poured down 
upon the temple of Jerusalem. We shall be 
delivered over to the hand of the enemy. 



Note 35.— Part IX. 

In Exodus xii. 40. it is said the Israelites 
were to be sojourners four hundred and thirty 
years, reckoning from Abraham's leaving Chal- 
dea, when the sojourning began ; here four 
hundred years is mentioned, reckoning from 
the birth of Isaac, thirty years after Abraham's 
departure from Chaldea. — See Gen. xv. 13, and 
Josephus, Antiq. ii. 152, and ix. 1. 

Markland ap. Bowyer would read this verse 
in the following manner — that his seed should 
sojourn in a strange land (and that they should 
bring them into bondage, and entreat them 
evil) four hundred years. He observes, it seems 
to be St. Stephen's purpose to relate how long 
they were to be sojourners and in a foreign 
country, rather than how long they were to be 
in bondage and affliction, wliich they were not 
four hundred years : they were in Egypt only 
two hundred and fifteen. The parenthesis is 
the same as if it had been xul aijo Sovlbjdr\at~ 
rai, y.al y.axw6r\GETai, which is very common ; 
dovlfhaovaiv relates to the Egyptian treatment 
of the Israelites ; xayAoovaiv , to that they met 
with in Canaan, previous to the famine which 
compelled them to go into Egypt. The ^oi'^cij- 
aig is very plainly distinguished from the y.d- 
xoiaig in the next verse. 

This opinion incidentally corroborates the 
interpretation given to Stephen's address. See 
last note. 

" See Jones's admirable Letter to Three Con- 
verted Jews, vol. vi. p. 212. 



Note 36.— Part IX. 

Of the two burying-places of the patriarchs, 
one was in Hebron, which Abraham bought of 
Ephron, Gen. xxxiii. 16. (not as here said of the 
sons of Emmor) ; the other in Sychem, which 
Jacob (not Abraham) bought of the children ot 
Emmor, Gen. xxxiii. 19. Jacob was buried in 
the former, which Abraham bought ; the sons 
of Jacob in the latter, which Jacob bought. 
There are many ways of reconciling these dis- 
crepancies : Bishop Barrington would point the 
15th and 16th verses thus — y.al irelevTijaEv 
avrdg xal ol najiqsg -tififbi', xal /neTETidijaaJ' el; 
Sv%E/j- xal iijidijaai' h' tw /avri/iaTi o dirijcraTO 
'ASQa&i^i, K. T. I. Markland is also of the same 
opinion. Dr. Owen states, the Old-Testament 
history leads us to conclude that Stephen's 
account was originally this — "So Jacob went 
down into Egypt, and there died, he and our 
fathers ; and our fathers were carried over into 
Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre," o (nvriaaro 
Ti^urjg, d-Qyvqlov, which he (Jacob) had bought 
for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor, the 
father of Sychem." Markland supposes, that 
putting a comma at uQyvQiov, and naqd. being 
interpreted from, may solve the difficulty, and 
would read — "And were carried over to Sy- 
chem: and afterwards from: among the 
descendants of Emmor the father, or son of 
Sycliem, they were laid in the sepulchre which 
Abraham had bouglit for a sum of money." 
This reconciles St. Stephen's account with that 
which Josephus {Jlritiq. ii. 8.) relates of the 
patriarchs, viz. that they were buried in Hebron, 
being carried out of Egypt, where they died, 
first to Sychem, and from Sychem to Hebron, 
to the sepulchre which Abraham had bought. 
It scarce needs proof that nagci with a Gen. 
expresses motion from, as (iusSrifiijaag nag' 
r^/jij})', peregre a nohis profecius es, Lucian Her- 
mot. p. 528, and i^riXdov nuQ& tov nuTqbg, John 
xvi. 28. The language hints that the transla- 
tion of the patriarchs from Sychem to Hebron 
was made after the time of Emmor, under some 
of his descendants, naQU. twi' vlwf 'Efifioo. 
Sychem, the person here spoken of, might per- 
haps have his name from the city near which 
his father lived ; but is mentioned here only 
incidentally, having nothing at all to do with 
the narration. — See Gen. xlix. 29, &c. For the 
other illustrations of this passage, see Bowyer's 
Crit. Conjectures, p. 345, &c. and Elsley, vol. 
iii. p. 332. 



Note 37.— Part IX. 

ON THE STAR OF THE GOD REINfPlIAN. 

St. Stephen here alludes to a passage in 
the book of Amos, chap. v. 25, 26, which is 
rendered with some variation in the Sepluagint. 



Note 37.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*241 



The words of the original in our Hebrew 
Bibles are— iaTn3 'h LDDti^JH nnjm CD'nTTn 

They are tlins ti-anslated — 
"Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and 
oft'erings 

In tlie wilderness forty years, O house of 
Israel ? 

But ye have borne the tabernacle of your 
Moloch, 

And Chiun your imag-es, 

The star of your God which ye made to 
yourselves." 

By the Septuagint — Mq acpdjia xul d^valag 
nooarjvsyy.ttjs /not, olxoc 'laQuijl, TsaaagdiKovTU 
eTJj if TTf iorjfia ; teal &Psl6i6eTe Tfjf aY.rjvriv tov 
Mold/, xal ro aargov tov d^eov i/iibv 'Pcticp&i', 
TOvc TVTiovg avrS)!', oiig irTOiijaaTE iuvroXg. 

The quotation in the Acts is evidently from 
the Septuagint, from the original in which it 
does not materially differ. The words dhtog 
'Icrqar^l in the Acts, are placed after iv ttj 
i^rji«<d, and in the Septuagint afler rrgoaipiy- 
xari fioi. In the Septuagint we read 'Palcpav, 

'Pefjq)ai', Tovg TvTiovg, 

ctidS CDr\'v/p Man 

Oi'S inoirjcraze nqoay-vvcTv aijrotc, 

The Hebrew word jVO (Chiun) in Amos, is 
rendered by the Septuagint 'Paicpaf (Raiphan), 
and in the Acts'Pf//qDdf (orRemphan). Various 
hypotheses have been proposed, to account for 
this difference. Some have supposed that the 
Hebrew letter D, from the transcriber having 
omitted to insert the lower part of it, has been 
changed into r\, consequently the word with the 
points was read Rephan. 

Pfeiffer" has discussed the subject, and col- 
lected from various authorities much informa- 
tion. I learn from him that Drusius, with Justin 
and Theodoret, agree with the opinion already 
given, and tliink that the word 'PE(pd.v is a cor- 
ruption of xEqur, which was so written by the 
en'or of the transcribers, who mistook 2 for i, 
and read (Amos v. 26.) pn for IVD. 

Grotius would read Remphan, and Petit, Re- 
phan ; both consider it as a name of Saturn. 

Pfeiffer quotes also Kircher, T. 1. JEdip. 
JEgypl. Synt. 4. c. 22. p. 387. who considers 
that 'Pi]cpai' was the Coptic name of Saturn. 

Dr. Hales proposes the following translation: 

"Did yo offer unto me (alone) sacrifices and 
oblations, pure and undivided in the wilderness. 

For forty years, O house of Israel? (Nay 
verily) 

• But ye (then) carried in procession the shrine 
of (the sun), 

Your king, and of the dog-star, your god ; 

' Vitringa, Ohservationes Sacra, vol. ii. p. 6. 
' Dubia Vexata, p. 948. 

VOL. II. *3l 



and in Acts 'Pe/icp&v. In the Septuagint the 
remainder of the clause is read — 'Pulcpav, rovg 
TvTcovg uiij5>i' ovc inoiriaaxe htvjoXg- y.ul /nejoixiw 
v/mg inixsivu ^a/uaaxov. In the Acts — 'Pe/n- 
qnctJ' TOvg TVJTOvg, ovg inonqauTS nqoaxwuf 
ttvToTg' xal /leroLxtS) {ifiag inixsira BuSvlwvog. 
Vitringa'' would account for the difference 
between the Hebrew and the Septuagint by 
supposing that the copyists of the Inspired 
Writings frequently placed the poetical parts 
of the Old Testament in the proper order of 
their clauses ; which he considers to have been 
not only metrical, but frequently rhythmical. 
Many instances might be found to support this 
opinion, and to prove its probability. Vitringa 
arranges the second Psalm on this plan. The 
145th I remember having seen elsewhere dis- 
posed in a similar manner. He concludes that 
the verses in the Hebrew of Amos were arranged 
in their poetic order, and that the Septuagint 
translators read these clauses not in their right, 
order from right to left, but from the higher 
line to the lower, and thus caused the variation 
in question. He would thus arrange both the 
original and the translation : — 

Kal &vel&6sTS ttjj' axrjvrjv tov MoXd/ 

Kul TO &(JTQOV TOV d'EOV VfiUV. 

Your images, which ye made for yourselves 
to worship, and ye do so still. 

Wherefore I will caiTy you away beyond 
Damascus, (nay even) beyond Babylon." Amos 
V. 21-27. Acts vii. 42, 43. 

Dr. Hales** endeavours to prove that Chiun 
was the dog-star ; and that the Hebrew words 
331J3, ]VD, ought to be read as one compound 
word, corresponding with the Greek ' AoTqaog 
y.vMv, or AaTQOxvvog, the dog-star: whence 
he supposes that the Greek xvoiv is derived 
from " Chiun." He then wishes to show that 
Chiun and Remphan, or Raiphan, or Rephan, 
were the same. 

Archbishop Newcome" thinks, that the order 
of the words in the Septuagint is preferable to 
tliat in the Hebrew. Their collocation in the 
Hebrew, he observes, is unnatural, and points 
out a mistake in the copies. He would render 
the passage — " Nay, but ye bare the tabernacle 
of your Moloch and Chiun, your images, the 
star of your god, which ye made to yourselves." 
Newcome mentions a MS. 612, which places 
the words thus : — " Chiun, your god, the star 
[of] your images." He interprets the wora 
Chiun, after Spencer-'', as a name of Saturn, 
and remarks the reading of'Peficpar in 6 and of 
' Pe^iffiE v,' Palcpav ,' Paq>av,' Pecpcfiai',' Picpa, Acts 
vii. 43. where the MSS. vary, may be accounted 

^ Hales's Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. p. 450. 
' On the Minor Prophets ; on Amos, v. 26. 
/ Dt Legibus Hehrceorvm, p. 666. 

*-i-r 



242* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



for two ways; |r3 maj' have been read jr"i, 
there being- a similarity in the two initial 
letters : or Rephan, the Egyptian name for 
Saturn, may have been used by translators who 
lived in Egypt, as an equivalent term to Chiun. 

Selden supposes this god Chiun might have 
been represented as a star with certain symbols 
of distinction^. Lightfoot'' has also a long 
criticism upon this word. Before his time the 
word 'Paiffdcv had been generally interpreted 
as if derived from the Hebrew j<3i, a giant. 
Lightfoot would rather derive it from ;v £31 or 
ni5 1, iveak, and iveakness ; after giving his 
reasons for so doing (see Lightfoot, vol. viii. p. 
434.), he proceeds by saying, " Be it therefore 
that Moloch is the sun, or Remphan or Chiun 
should be Saturn, we read of tire introduction 
of Moloch into the land of Israel, but of Chiyun 
not at all, only in tlie prophet Amos, and here 
in the mention of Remphan. When I read tliat 
,in 1 Kings xii. 30. 'That all the people went to 
worship the calf in Dan ;' and observe farther, 
that Dan was called Panias, I begin to tliink 
that 'I^av, Phan, 'mPaicpai', Rephan, and 'Psjucpav, 
Remphan, may have some relation with tliat 
name ; and that Dan is mentioned rather than 
Bethel, because the idolatry, or calf of that 
place, continued longer than that of Betliel." 
Mr. Faber', the last author who has treated on 
these subjects, states, we are told by Aben 
Ezra, that Saturn or Chronos was styled by the 
Arabs and Persians Chivan ; which is palpably 
the same as the Chiun of Amos. Bat Chiun, 
or Chivan, seems to be only the Buddhic title 
Saca, or Sacya, in a more simple shape: for 
since the Chinese distinguish their god Fo, or 
Buddha, by the name of Che-Kya, or the Great 
Kya, writing the Indian appellation Sacya in 
two words instead of one, it is probable that 
Sacya is a compound term, denoting the illus- 
trious Cya or Chiim. 

Such are the various hypotheses of these 
learned men to reconcile tlie apparent discrep- 
ancy between the Hebrew, the Sej)tuagint, and 
St Luke. The conclusion to which we may 
most safely come seems to be, tlaat Rephan, 
Remphan, and Chiyun, were all well-known 
names given to the same idol-deity ; it was 
consequently a matter of indiiference which 
St. Stephen mentioned in his address. There 
is no greater variation between his account, 
that of the Septuagint, and the Hebrew, than 
there would be between three writers who 
severally asserted that the Duke of Wellington, 
the Prince of Waterloo, and the Duke of Ciu- 
dad Rodrigo, gained the battle of Waterloo. 

It is almost impossible to believe that tlie 
people of Israel, while their God was among 
them, leading them through the wilderness. 



Selden, ii. 34. 

Lightfoot's Works, vol. viii. p. 434. 

Origin of Pagan Idolatry, vol. viii. p. 49.1. 



could have fallen down to images or idols, 
unless tliey had believed in some common prin- 
ciples, wliich alike prevailed both among them- 
selves and the idolators. It is well known to 
every reader of Scripture and primitive history, 
that there ivere many doctrines, rites, observ- 
ances, and ceremonies, regarded with equal 
veneration by tl:e Jews and pagans. It appears 
from the testimony of antiquity and the re- 
searches of Bochart, Gale, Stillingfleet, Bryant, 
and Faber, that the leading doctrines of all the 
ancient religions were the same ; and the 
several rites tlius common to all, are to be 
traced to that period when mankind were few 
in number, and the primitive religion conse- 
quently but little corrupted. Among the ob- 
servances which appear to have been thus 
common to the earliest inhabitants of the earth, 
were tlie general adoption of moveable arks, 
and of tlie cherubic emblems. These were 
preseiTed by the idolators, who added to them 
in proportion as their innovations multiplied 
upon the patriarchal religion, till at last they 
resorted to rites, which are described at large 
by various authors. The worship of the golden 
calf was the first act of idolatry on the part of 
the Israelites ; this they would perhaps have 
justified to themselves, on the plea that the calf 
to which they bowed down was only the repre- 
sentation of their own cherubim. Probably the 
next act of idolatry was this here mentioned by 
St. Stephen. Moloch, or Remphan, or Chiun, 
(for they are all the same personage,) was the 
compound idol, originally designed to represent 
tlie great father, or Noah, which was after- 
wards made the emblem of the sun, the god of 
Tsabaism. Without professedly forsaking the 
worship of Jehovah, the Israelites hoped to unite 
another god with him, and by so doing gave 
his glory to another. This was the beginning 
of their idolatry, and turning to worship the host 
of heaven ; and was the cause of their not offer- 
ing those sacrifices which their Law required. 

Mr. Faber has endeavoured to prove that the 
star of Remphan, or Moloch, was the diluvian 
star of the Persic Mithras, or Tashhter, Astarte, 
Typhon, and Dardanus. He attempts, in his 
learned and most interesting work on the origin 
of that idolatry, to show that " in the theology 
of the Gentiles all those deities whose history 
traces them, in their human capacity, to the 
great father, or Noah, were venerated in their 
celestial character as the sun. The compound 
word Remphan, or Ram-phan, may either (he 
observes) signify the lofty Phanes, or may pos- 
sibly be the name of the Indo-Scythic Rama, 
united with that of Phanes, or Pan." This 
deity is rightly judged, by Scldon and Beger, 
either to be the same as Saturn, or to be imme- 
diately connected witli him, under the appellation 
of Chiun>. He believes the origin of the notion 

i Faber ut sup. vol. ii. p. 86. 



Note 3S.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*243 



of this star, which was nearly the same as tliat 
of the Dioscuri, or Cabiri, had its beginning 
from tlie traditional opinion that a star shone 
during the deluge, thirty days and nights, while 
the waters were increasing: for which he gives 
many authorities. If Mr. Faber's hypothesis 
be well founded, the Israelites, in venerating the 
god Moloch, or Remphan, imagined they were 
commemorating their ancestors, and the event 
of tlie deluge. The fact perhaps may be as he 
supposes ; but the motive of their conduct can 
be attributed only to their carnal nature. They 
thrust Moses from them, and in their hearts 
turned back again into Egypt. Idolatry not 
only permitted but countenanced vice ; and the 
Israelites were pleased with the first apology 
they could discover for the gratification of their 
passions. 

I have already, in another place* remarked 
the apparent diSiculty respecting the conduct 
of the Israelites in worshipping the golden calf 
immediately after they had left Egypt, when 
the wonderful miracles which their tutelar God 
had wrought must have been still impressed on 
their minds. We learn, from this quotation of 
St Stephen, that they worshipped also the host 
of heaven, and adopted many of the idolatrous 
rites and emblems of the Sabianism of the 
Egyptians. 



Note 38.— Part IX. 

ON THE MEANI^"G OF THE WORDS " EI2 ^lA- 

TAFAS ArrEAflNr 

ScHOETGEJv', Whitby", Grotius", and others 
■would consider this passage as referring to the 
attendance of the angels at the promulgation of 
the Law on Mount Sinai. The Jews founded 
this opinion on the use of the word Lir'n'?^ in 
the Pentateuch, instead of nilT' ; which word, 
though it is a common name for God, is applied 
to the angels. Compare Ps. xcvii. 7. with 
Heb. i. 6., and Ps. viii. 6. with Heb. ii. 8. The 
Jews were also accustomed to say of Moses, 
nDOxSon 4i'N rhy — "He ascended to the 
angels, who neither eat nor drink, and with 
whom therefore he neither ate nor drank"." 

Parldiurst would interpret the passage with 
reference to the fire and lightning and thunder, 
which attended the giving of the Law. The 
learned Lightfoot, however, would interpret the 
phrase with reference to the succession of 
angels, i. e. messengers, or prophets, who suc- 
cessively appealed to the Jewish Church. I 

* .irrungcmcnt of tJi.r. Old Testament . Note 1, On 
the Idolatry of Jeroboam, Period VI. Parti. Sect. i. 

' HoriE Hehrnicce, vol. i. p. 733. 

'" Whitby in loc. 

" Ap. Critici Sacri, vol. viii. in loc. 

° Midrasch in Jalkut Simeoni, Part II. fol. 118. 
— 2 ap. Schoetgen. 



would not, he observes'', render this ^A-(^iluiv 
by the Hebrew word CTIOnSd, "angels," as 
the Syriac and Arabic interpreters have done ; 
but by a^mSiy, "messengers;" so T3V rcStV 
is "A^^slo(; 'Exy-lijalag, "the angel," or "mes- 
senger of the Church." The Jews have a 
trifling fiction, that those Israelites that were 
present at Mount Sinai, and heard the Law 
pronounced there by God himself, should have 
been like angels ; that they should never have 
begot children nor died ; but, for the time to 
come, should have been like to angels, had it 
not been for that fatal and unfortunate crime of 
theirs in the matter of the golden calf. If slg 
SiaTceY&g 'Ayyilo)v might admit of this passive 
construction, " that men might be disposed in 
the same predicament or state with the angels ;" 
then I should think our blessed martyr might, 
in this passage, remind them of their own opin- 
ion, and the more smartly convince tliem of 
their d;i'o,(/to, "transgression of the Law," even 
from what they themselves granted. As though 
he had said, " Ye have received a Law, which 
you yourselves confess would have put men 
into an angelical state ; and yet you have not 
observed it." 

But if this clause will not bear that interpre- 
tation, it is doubtful in what sense the word 
'Ayyilwi' must be taken ; and whether elg dia- 
Tuy&g, " unto the dispositions," be the same 
with diu diarayav, or Si^ diarajrig, "by the dis- 
positions, or disposition." That expression in 
Gal. iii. 19. agrees with this; diuTuyElg dV 
dyyiXbti', " ordained by angels ;" and in both 
these places it would be something harsh to 
understand by angels those heavenly spirits 
strictly and properly so taken ; for what had 
they to do in tlie disposition of the Law? 
They were present indeed at Mount Sinai, 
when the Law was given, as many places of the 
Holy Scriptures do witness ; but then they were 
but present there; for we do not find that any 
thing farther was done or performed by them. 
So that the thing itself makes it necessary, that 
in both places we should understand by angels 
the " messengers " of God's word ; his prophets 
and ministers. And tlie particle elg may retain 
its own proper force and virtue, that the sense 
may come to thus much; viz. "ye have received 
the Law unto the dispositions of messengers," 
i. e. that it should be propounded and published 
by ministers, prophets, and othera : and that 
according to your own desire and wish, Exod. 
XX. 19. Deut. V. 25. and xviii. 15, 16., and yet 
ye have not kept the Law. Ye desired propli- 
ets, and ye had them, yet which of those proph- 
ets have not you persecuted ? 

If the severe language of the martyred Ste- 
phen was justly applicable to the Jews, because 
they rejected the testimony of their prophets 
or the Law, which had been preached to them 

? Works, vol. viii. p. 436. 



244* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



by the angels of heaven ; how much more 
deserving of condemnation must the Christian 
be, who rejects not only all these evidences, 
but the teaching of the promised Redeemer, 
and his holy apostles ! Resisting the Holy 
Ghost was the crime of the Jews ; they refused 
to believe upon sufficient evidence, and perse- 
vered in evil against reason and conscience. If 
we look upon the Christian world, on every side 
is presented to us the same fatal conduct. All 
are blessed with the knowledge of the Gospel, 
and the divine evidences by which it has been 
established. The grace of God is given to us. 
The Spirit of God has come down to us and 
upon us. It is within and around us appealing, 
warning, reminding, entreating us, as a kind 
and affectionate friend, to obey its power, to 
submit to its influence. 



Note 39.— Part IX. 

The Great High Priest, who had passed into 
the holy of holies to intercede for man, looked 
down from heaven, and opened the veil of the 
firmament, that his first martyr might gaze on 
his exaltation and glory. The bystanders were 
too much engaged with the work of destruction 
upon earth to look up to heaven ; and even if 
they had so done, it is by no means certain 
that the appearance of the Shechinah would 
have been manifested to them also. It is re- 
lated by St. Luke as a fact, and not as a vision ; 
neither is it unphilosophical to believe that He 
who had visibly ascended into heaven, and had 
promised to prepare a place there for those who 
love him, sliould impart to liis holy and suffering 
servant, in his hour of martyrdom, a prospect of 
those celestial scenes to which his spirit would 
soon be admitted — the exceeding great reward 
of the righteous. 

We do not yet understand the nature of the 
universe of God. The blue expanse that encir- 
cles our planet on all sides prevents us from see- 
ing much of space in the day time. Our view 
is then limited to the sun, whose distance is 
comparatively small. In the night our view is 
bounded by the magnificent fretwork, with 
which the God of Christianity and of creation 
has spangled the beautiful arch above us. The 
distance of the visible stars is so great, that the 
intellect of man is bewildered in the attempt to 
comprehend it. If we call in the assistance of 
the telescope, we add to our wonder and em- 
barrassment, and when we seem to have arrived 
at the very verge of the visible creation, our 
reason still convinces us, that the telescope of 
the greatest power has taught us but little. 
The wildest flight of imagination, which delights 
itself with the theories of stars whose light has 
not yet arrived at the solar system ; and of in- 
numerable clusters of constellations, invisible 



to man, which extend to infinity, appears but 
the calm and sober effort of reason, when the 
subject of its thoughts is " so great a God, as 
our God'." 

The Christian, however, must propose these 
questions to himself: " Amidst all this waste oi 
worlds'', where is the heaven of his religion ? 
Where is the abode of the body of Christ, which 
visibly ascended into another place through the 
firmament above us ? " The Christian cannot be 
defrauded of his consolations by the powers oi 
the telescope, nor the loftiest flights of imagin- 
ation. The God who made the noble universe, 
gave also Christianity to man, to direct him to 
an existence in a state of immortality. But if 
there is a state, or condition, there must also 
be a place in which we shall dwell ; and that 
place, we are repeatedly assured, is the same 
which the body of Christ now possesses. It 
St. Stephen was permitted to see the Shechi- 
nah in that place, his visual faculties must have 
been so strengthened that the inconceivable 
distance between earth and heaven was, as 
it were, annihilated. St Stephen, filled with 
the Holy Ghost, saw, in the flesh, his blessed 
Redeemer. The heaven of heavens was 
brought near to man, and the first Christian 
martyr was enabled to behold it, as a pledge 
and earnest of his own immortal happiness ; and 
through him a pledge to all those who by the 
same faith shall offer themselves living and 
acceptable sacrifices to God. When we con- 
sider the sublime and glorious realities to which 
we are destined, and the manner in which life 
and immortality have been secured to us by the 
crucified Saviour, the manifested God of man- 
kind, surely we lose sight of our great and in- 
valuable privileges when we permit ourselves 
to be enthralled by the pleasures and attractions 
of this evil world. The faith of a Christian has 
done very little for man, if it does not enable 
him to break the chains which kept the heathen 
in bondage, and deliver him from the galling 
tyranny of unrestrained passions. 

Witsius, who has permitted few points of 
theology entirely to escape him, has remarked 
on the circumstance of St. Stephen seeing the 
heavens opened". 



Note 40.— Part IX. 

Many commentators have attempted, from a 
comparison of this expression with that in St. 



« Psalm Ixxvii. 13. 

'■ " Look down — tliro' this wide waste of worlds. 
On a poor breathing particle of dust — 
Or lower — an immortal in his crimes," &c. 
Young's JVIi,'lit Thoughts. 
" " Neque incredibile videri debet, quod is qui 
dedit homini solertiam et artemlonginquatanquam 
propiora, et parva tanqnam longe majora, telesco- 



Note 41, 42.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*245 



Paul's Epistle to Philemon, in which he styles 
himself /*«!(/ ihe Aged, to discover the probable 
age of that Apostle at this time. Others again 
think, that the latter passage ought to be 
rendered Paul the Ambassador. No argument 
for the former supposition can be safely de- 
duced from the expression here referred to, as 
veuftog, or rs&vtay.o:, is used ■with great lati- 
tude. In the Septuagint, which is the best 
lexicon for the signification of words in the 
New Testament, the Greek word vsdntjy.o: is 
used for soldiers, 2 Mace. xii. 27., or men of 
mature age. It corresponds also with ITD'iJ/JX, 
men, Josh. ii. 1. and 23 ; and, among the clas- 
sical writers, it is used in the same manner. 
Kuinoel quotes Phavorinus to prove that it 
described any age between twenty-three and 
forty ; and his authority is confirmed by Dio- 
genes Laertius, 8-10. and Xenophon, Cyr. viii. 
3, &c. where the word veuviay.og occurs, and 
ufr^Q, § 11. is immediately after used as an 
equivalent expression. 



Note 41.— Part IX. 

That the exclamation of Stephen is sufficient 
to prove his belief, and the belief therefore of 
the early Church in the Divinity of Christ, 
appears further from the manner in which the 
Jews were accustomed to speak of death. 
Their common saying was, "That was the 
most easy death, when the Shechinah received 
the spirit of the just man." Schoetgen quotes 
Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 86. 2. " Justi perfect! non 
moriuntur ab angelo mortis, sed tantum per 
np":?: osculum; nam cjU'aj h^p'2 r\yyjr] 

ipsa Shechinah animas eorum suscipit'." 

" I shall always insist," says Bishop Horsley, 
in his answer to Priestley, "that the blessed 
Stephen died a martyr to the Deity of Christ. 
The accusation against him was ' his speaking 
blasphemous things against the temple and the 
Law.' You have forgotten to add the charge 
of blasphemy against Moses and against God.' 
The blasphemy against the temple and the 
Law, probably, consisted in a prediction, that 
the temple was to be destroyed, and the ritual 
Law of course abolished. The blasphemy 
against Moses was, probably, his assertion that 
the authority of Moses was inferior to that of 
Christ. But what could be the blasphemy 
against God ? what was there in the doctrine 

piorum et microscopiorum ope, oculis sistendi, 
Stephano earn oculorum aciem dederit, ut e terra 
prospicere potuerit ea quiB gererentur in ccslis. 
Vidit autem Jesum ad dexteram Dei constitutum ; 
id est ornatum Regia, Deoque proxima. imo et 
Divina, Majestate ac Gloria ; et fortassis etiam 
localiter ad dextram splendidi illius fulfforis, qui 
oculis ipsius objectus erat." — Witsius, De Prophitis 
in Ecang. Laudatis. — Miscel. Sac. p. 322. 
' Hor(E HthrairfE, vol. I. p. 442. 

VOL. II. 



of the apostles which could be interpreted as 
blasphemy against God, except it was this, that 
they ascribed divinity to one who had suffered 
publicly as a malefactor ? That this was the 
blessed Stephen's crime none can doubt, who 
attends to the conclusion of the story : ' He 
looked up steadfastly into heaven,' says the 
inspired historian, ' and saw the glory of God,' 
(that is, he saw the splendor of the Shechinah ; for 
that is what is meant when the glory of God is 
mentioned, as something to be seen), 'and 
Jesus standing on the right hand of God.' He 
saw the man Jesus in the midst of his divine 
light. His declaring what he saw, the Jewish 
rabble understood as an assertion of the Divinity 
of Jesus. They stopped their ears ; they over- 
powered his voice with their own clamors ; 
and they hurried him out of the city, to inflict 
upon him the death which the Law appointed 
for blasphemers. He died as he had lived, 
attesting the Deity of our crucified Master. 
His last breath was uttered in a prayer to 
Jesus ; first for himself, and then for his mur- 
derers. ' They stoned Stephen, calling upon 
God, and saying, " Lord Jesus receive my 
spirit ; " and he cried witli a loud voice, " Lord, 
lay not this sin to their charge." ' It is to be 
noted, that the word, God, is not in the original 
text, which might be better rendered thus : — 
' They stoned Stephen, invocating, and saying,' 
&c. Jesus therefore was the God whom the 
dying martyr invocated in his last agonies, 
when men are apt to pray, witii the utmost 
seriousness, to him whom they conceive the 
mightiest to save"." 

It is well observed by Kuinoel, that if St. 
Stephen had invoked God the Father, the 
Evangelist would have written -/.vois tov 'Ljaov. 
A similar expression to that of the dying martyr 
is found Apoc. xxii. 20. where we read to/ov 
y.i'ois ' Irj<jov. We ought not therefore to read 
Qeov after l^mxalovfiBvov, but to understand the 
former words tov xvqiov 'Iijcrovv^. 



Note 42.— Part IX. 

These chapters are most carelessly divided 
in our Bibles. The first clause of ver. 1. evi- 
dently belongs to the preceding verse. The 
account of the burial of Stephen seems to be 
more appropriately inti'oduced immediately after 
the narrative of his martyrdom, rather than 
parenthetically, in the history of the subsequent 
persecution". 

" Horsley's Letters in. replij to Dr. Priestley — ■ 
Lett. xii. p. 232, 8vo. edit. 

" Kuinoel, In Lib. Hist. vol. iv.p.200. .See also 
Dr. Pye Smith's excellent criticism on this passao-e. 

" See Bishop Bo.rrington, Beza. and Markland's 
observations, ap. Bowyer. 



246* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



Note 43.— Part IX. 

The apostles were protected by the especial 
providence of God, to continue to build up the 
Church at Jerusalem till the time arrived for the 
general dispersion of Christianity throughout 
the world. The secondary causes of their 
safety during the heat of the present persecu- 
tion are unknown. They were not, as some 
have imagined, too obscure to be noticed, for 
they had already repeatedly incurred the public 
censure of their rulers : nor can we suppose 
that the high priest, or his coadjutors, were afraid 
of inflicting the same punishment on them as 
on others. They seem to have been preserved 
by an Almighty Providence, to promote the 
unity of the Church, by directing and governing 
tJie remnant of those who were left at Jerusa- 
^lem. For unto the Jews first the Gospel was 
to be preached. Lightfoot endeavours to prove, 
that those who were obliged to fly from that 
city, and weiit every where preaching the Gos- 
pel, were the hundred and eight who together 
with the apostles made up the hundred and 
twenty mentioned at the beginning of the Acts. 
His reasons are : — 

That the Evangelist commences with the 
history of the hundred and twenty and pursues 
it throughout. 

By instancing Philip, he shows what class of 
men is understood, when he says " they were 
scattered." 

The term evaYyeli'Qofiei'oi, is never applied 
to any other than to preachers by function. 

Persecution would first look to the preachers. 
Many of tlie common Christians were left at 
Jerusalem''. 



Note 44.— Part IX. 

The word ilviiulvem, in this passage, which 
our translators have rendered " he made havoc 
of the cliurch," properly signifies, to ravage as 
a wild beast, to destroy as a beast of prey. It 
is used in this sense in the Septuagint, Dan. vi. 
22. liovTBg ov-A D.vfif^vavT6 fts, "the lions have 
not devoured, hurt, or torn me," and Psalm 
Ixxix. 13. ilvfifivato airfii' mjg ix Sqviwv, 
'• The wild boar from the wood hath spoiled, or 
laid waste this vine." For quotations to the 
same effect, from classical authors, see a pro- 
fusion in Wetstein in loc. 

In the first edition of this Arrangement I 
gave, fi'om Vitringa, a concise view of an in- 
genious theory, by which he attempts to prove 
'.hat tliere are, in the history of Samson, several 
remarkable typical allusions to some of the 
leading incidents in the life of St. Paul. He 
arranges his imagined resemblances under 
three heads. The events of Samson's life 
which preceded the encounter with the lion — 
the combat itself— and the consequences which 

^ Lightfoot's Works, vol. viii. p. 122. 



followed. The numerous coincidences which 
the ingenuity of this writer has led him to 
remark, are extremely fanciful ; and as I find 
no allusion in the New Testament to this sup- 
posed type, I do not think the mere ingenuity 
of the parallel a sufficient reason for giving a 
more particular account of it in these pages. 

Vitringa is not the only writer who has dis- 
covered some allusion to St. Paul in the Old 
Testament. Witsius^ has quoted Cocceius, who 
has followed with some variations the authority 
of Tertullian, Ambrose, Jerome, and St. Augus- 
tin, in applying to St. Paul (Gen. xlix. 27.) — 

" Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: 
In the morning he shall devour the prey, 
And at night he shall divide the spoil." 

The fathers would thus explain this proph- 
ecy — Paul, in the morning of his life, like a 
wolf devoured the Church ; and in the evening, 
or the decline or latter division of his life, 
divided the spoils of the Gentiles, delivered 
from the dominion of Satan, with Christ and 
his Church. The interpretation of Cocceius is 
more elegant — He observes that the Israelites, 
as a nation, had their rising and their setting ; 
and on each occasion Benjamin was conspicu- 
ous. Saul was the first king of the nation, and 
defeated their enemies; another Saul, in the 
decline of the state, divided the spoils taken 
firom Satan, the Jews, and the Gentiles. Wit- 
sius, however, rejects both these interpreta- 
tions, and shows that the predictions were 
more probably fulfilled in the history of the 
ti-ibe of Benjamin. The wolf also is used as 
an emblem of corrupt and erroneous teachers 
rather than of tJie faithful and zealous. 

Though Witsius rejects these supposed mean- 
ings of the passage, he inclines to the opinion 
of Jerome, Theodoret, Nicolaus a Lyra, Pelli- 
canus, and others, that Psalm Ixviii. 28. is 
rightly applied to the Apostle of the Gentiles. 
He prefers the Junian version — "Illic sic Ben- 
jamin, parvus, et dominator eorum; principes 
Jehudse, et ccetus eorum ; principes Zebullonis 
principes Naphtali." The first part of tliis 
passage may refer to St. Paul, the latter to the 
other apostles, who belonged to the districts of 
Zabulon and Naphtali. Altinguus, in his Trea- 
tise De Schiloh Dominatore, lib. v. cap. 20, and 
in his Comment, on the Psalm, Oper. tom. ii. 
part iii. p. Ill, ap. Witsi., has revived and de- 
fended this opinion. It is not impossible that the 
verse ought to have been thus interpreted : 
Bishop Home, however, has not noticed it. 



Note 45. — Part IX. 

The apostles (Acts viii. 1.) had not yet left 
Jerusalem. This Philip, therefore, must not be 

V See VitringiE Ohserv. Sacra, vol. ii. p. 479- 
49,2. Witsius, De Vitd Puuli Meietem. Leiden, cap. 
i. sect. viii. p. 5. 



Note 46, 47.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*247 



confounded with the apostle. It was the dea- 
con, who, after his mission to Samaria, went to 
his own house at Csesarea, where St. Paul was 
afterwards received. (Acts xxi. 8.) 

The first effect of the Gospel of Christ was 
the removal of hatred and jealousy, and all the 
hateful and debasing passions. For centuries 
the Jews had refused to hold any intercourse 
with the Samaritans — for centuries they had 
been objects of detestation to each other. The 
Gospel is given to the world — the Jew becomes 
the friend of the despised Samaritan, and preach- 
es to him the ti-uth of God. Odious as the 
Samaritans were to the Jews, they were the 
offspring of common ancestors ; and perhaps on 
this account they were the first invited to be- 
come members of the Messiah's kingdom. The 
Gospel is preached as men were able to bear it, 
first to the Jew, then to the Samaritan — next to 
the Proselytes of Righteousness — then to the 
Proselytes of the Gate — and lastly, to the idola- 
trous heathen. 



Note 46.— Part IX. 

Simon Magus appears to have been one of the 
first who arrogated to himself the loftier names 
which were appropriated to the anticipated mys- 
terious Being who was at this time universally 
expected upon earth. In several MSS. of the 
greatest authority, as well as in the principal of 
the ancient versions, is this remarkable reading 
— oiiTog ioTiv T] dvvu/utg rov Qeov ■>] •/.aXov/.iivTj 
fXEyiclrj, " this man is the power of God, which 
is called, or which is, the Great^." And the 
inspired writer here informs us, that he con- 
founded and astonished the people, and took 
advantage of their ignorant wonder to assume 
these extraordinary honors. He deceived the 
people by his great skill in various tricks and 
juggUng", assisted probably by his superior 
knowledge of the powers of nature. Ecclesias- 
tical history has handed down to us a large 
collection of improbable stories respecting this 
man'. Arnobius, a writer of the third century, 
relates that he flew into the air by the assistance 
of the evil spirit, and was thrown to the ground 
by the prayers of St. Peter. Others tell us 
that he pretended to be the Father, who gave the 

^ " Ceterum in codd. ABCDE, al verss. Copt. 
^th.Armen. Sjt. post. Vulg Ital. legitur ; i, y.a- 
Xoviiiri] uiyu/.T] quae vocatur, i. quffi est (xaXeinSai 
saspius id. qd. flrai) et banc vocem yalovuiri] in 
ordinemrecepit Griesbachius. Recte. Facile enim 
ea a librariis, quibus superflua videretur, omitti 
potuit. Sensus, sive ea addatur, sive omittatur, 
eodem redit." — Kuinoel, Com. in lib. Hist. JV. T. 
vol. iv. p. 300. 

■^ Vide Kuinoel, ut sup. p. 299. — Schleusner in 
VOC. iiayEvv^. Rosenmilller, &c. 

' See Vidal's notes to Mosheim, on the Affairs 
of the Christians before Constantine, vol. i. p. 328, 
and Dr. A. Clarke in loc. 



Law to Moses ; and that he was the Messiah, 
the Paraclete, and Jupiter, and that the woman 
who accompanied him, who was named Helena, 
was Minerva, or the First Intelligence ; with many 
other things equally absurd, which are collected 
by Calmet, to whom the reader is referred''. 

Justin, and after him Irenasus, TertuUian, 
Eusebius, Cyril, and others of the fathers, have 
asserted that Simon Magus was honored as a 
deity by the Romans, and by tlie senate itself, 
who decreed a statue to him in the isle of Ty- 
ber, where a statue has since been found with 
this inscription — "Semoni Sanco Deo Fideo, 
Sacrum Sext. Pompeius Sp. F. Mutianus do- 
num dedit." Some suppose this to have been 
the statue to which Justin alluded ; but as it 
does appear to have been erected by the 
senate, the most able critics have rejected tlie 
idea of Magus' deification by the Romans. 
Dr. Middleton, not perhaps the best authority, 
for he endeavoured to reject all he could find 
reason to discredit, treats the story with con- 
tempt; while a modern author'', who is no less 
venturous, espouses the opposite opinion, and 
defends it at great length. This ingenious 
speculatist indeed attempts to prove that Jose- 
phus and Philo were Christians, and that primi- 
tive Christianity was a system of Unitarianism. 
They were certainly as much entitled to the 
name of Christians as the modern Unitarians ; 
both disguising their Christianity with equal skill. 

It does not however appear necessary to 
enter further into the subject, nor to discuss 
the conclusion of Vitringa, that there were two 
Simon Magus'. I shall only add, which is more 
to the purpose, that Wolfius, Krebs, Rosen- 
milller, and others, are of opinion that the 
Simon here mentioned is the same as the 
person spoken of by Josephus as persuading 
DrusUla to leave her husband, and to live with 
Fehx, the procurator of Jud8ea% 



Note 47.— Part IX. 



ON CONriRMATION. 



It is the custom at present among many who 
profess Christianity, to despise every ordinance 
of which they do not perceive the evident util- 
ity. They must comprehend the causes and 
the reasons of an institution, or it is treated with 
contempt. In all enactments of merely human 
origin this conduct is defensible, because expe- 
rience proves to us that human laws are made 
to accomplish some known and definite benefit ; 
and if they fail in that object, they are consid- 
ered useless. Yet no human legislature will 



' Calmet's Dictionary, Art. Simon Magas. 

'^ Dr. Jerem. Jones's Ercle.-iiastical Researches, 
chap. xii. p. 310, &c. 

' Wolfius, Cum PhUologiccR. vol. ii. p. 112.5. 
Josephus, Ant'iq. xx. 5. 2. 



248* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



permit its laws to be disobeyed with impunity, 
even in those cases where they have evidently 
failed in their purpose ; for the will of an indi- 
vidual is required to submit to the authority of 
the state : and there are few cases in which the 
resistance of an individual can be justified upon 
the plea of his inability to discover the reason- 
ableness or propriety of a law. 

If we are thus required to act in matters of 
common life, the same principles of conduct are 
more binding when applied to the Divine Law. 
We are in general able to discover the causes 
for which it pleased God to appoint to the Jew 
the observances of the Mosaic Law, and to the 
Gentile the lighter yoke of the Christian code. 
The divinity of both covenants was ratified and 
confirmed by miracle and prophecy, and man in 
both instances, without any appeal being made 
to his reason, was required to yield unreserved 
o'bedience, because it was the will of God ; for, 
as the Apostle says, " we walk by faith, not by 
sight." 

One very remarkable characteristic alike dis- 
tinguishes the Mosaic and Christian institu- 
tions : in both it is to be observed, that although 
on any peculiar and extraordinary occasion the 
supernatural influences of the Holy Spirit might 
be imparted to some favored individuals ; they 
were never bestowed in ordinary cases, unless 
the appointed means of grace were observed on 
the part of the worshipper: thereby affording 
the highest sanction in favor of the outward 
ordinances, both of the Jewish and Christian 
religion. If in the former dispensation the pen- 
itent would entreat for pardon, he brought his 
sacrifice. If a child desired admittance into the 
Church of God, it must be either by circumcision 
or by baptism ; if he would renew in his youth 
the promises which had been made for him in 
his childhood, he feasted on the sacrifice of the 
paschal lamb, or on the body and blood of Christ, 
in the feast of the Christian sacrament. The 
means of grace are attended with the influences 
of the Spirit of God, and he who obeys the will 
of God always partakes of the blessing. 

The passage of Scripture which is contained 
in this section is the first account in the Chris- 
tian covenant of a new means of grace, which 
was sanctioned by an evident impartation of the 
divine influences. Peter and John went down to 
Samaria to impart to the new proselytes the 
gift;s of the Holy Spirit; the evangelists who 
converted them, not having authority to perform 
the higher functions of the apostolic order. The 
same Almighty Being who instituted the out- 
ward means of grace, withheld the gifts of his 
Holy Spirit till they could be communicated by 
his chosen servants in his own appointed way. 

If we are required to deduce moral inferences 
from other passages of Scripture ; if the con- 
duct of God to his ancient Church be still justly 
made a source of encouragement, and a motive 
to perseverance to Christians at present, on 



what grounds are we to reject the inferences 
that naturally arise from such facts as those 
now before us? Are we not right in conclud 
ing tliat this action was intended not only for 
the peculiar benefit of the Samaritan converts, 
but for an example to all the Christian Churches, 
from that age to the present ? The enactments 
of Christianity are to be found in the conduct of 
Christ and his apostles ; their practice is the 
best model for the right government of the 
Churches. 

From this conduct of the apostles the ancient ! 
primitive Church has uniformly required, that 
those who are admitted as infants into the 
Christian Church by baptism, should in maturer 
years be confirmed in their Christian profession 
by prayer and imposition of hands. Though the 
extraordinary gifts of the Spirit were conferred 
only by extraordinary men, appointed for that ■ 
especial purpose, it was believed that his ordi- 
nary gifts might be imparted by the authorized 
ministers who were set apart for the service of 
the sanctuary. As the miraculous gifts were 
requisite at the first formation of the Christian 
Church, so now, when the Christian religion is 
fully established, its ordinary influences are 
equally necessary to enable man to recover the 
lost image of God, of which he had been de- 
prived by the fall. It is but too usual with a 
certain class of religionists to undervalue the 
external rites of Christianity : but it is our duty 
to examine whether any, and what rites were 
observed by the apostles, and to follow their 
authority ; rather than to inquire into the rea- 
sonableness or propriety of the apostolic insti- 
tutions. The Roman Church has erred by 
adding to the enactments of Scripture ; the op- 
posite extreme is to be no less avoided, of de- 
preciating or neglecting its commands. That 
Church is most pure whose discipline approaches 
the nearest to that which was practised by its 
divinely-appointed founders, and is recorded for 
our example in the New Testament. 

I conclude this subject by availing myself of 
the high authority of the pious and eloquent 
Bishop Home, who observes, speaking of Mr. 
Law, (vol. i. p. 214,) that although " the govern- 
ment and discipline of the Church will not save 
a man, yet it is absolutely necessary to preserve 
those doctrines that will. A hedge round a 
vineyard is a poor paltry thing, but break it 
down, and all they that go by will pluck ofi" her 
grapes. And no sin has been punished with 
heavier punishments for that reason, than throw- 
ing down fences, and making it indifferent 
whether a Christian be of any Church or none, 
so he be but a Christian, and have the birth of \ 
the inspoken word. But if Christ left a Church ; 
upon earth, and ordered submission to the ap- 
pointed governors of it, so far as a man resists, 
or undervalues this ordinance of Clirist, so far J 
he acts not like a Christian, let his inward light ? 
be what it will." .,,,jcw'-"' 



Note 48.-50.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*249 



Note 48.— Part IX. 

The expression " v/hich is desert," in the 
opinion of Glassius-'' and Schoetgen^, refers to 
tJie way and not to the Gaza itself. Kuinoel'' 
approves of the opinion of Heinrich and Was- 
senburg'h, that the clause was not found in the 
original text, but was subsequently introduced. 



Note 49. — Part IX. 

The name of the eunuch is supposed to have 
been Indich'. It is probable he had but lately 
embraced the Jewish faith. Candaceis a name 
common to the female sovereigns of that part 
of the country. A passage from Pliny is quot- 
ed by Benson and others to prove tliis — " Reg- 
nare foeminam Candacen, quod nomen multis 
jam annis ad reginas transiV." 

If this remark of Pliny be just, and it is con- 
firmed by a passage of Dio Cassius, quoted by 
Kuinoel, the authority of Strabo may be admit- 
ted to strengthen the Scripture account. He 
tells us — TovTwv 8s fjdtti' xul ol ttjc ^aacllaarjg 
ajqarrjyol tt^c KurSuxrjg, ij y.ud' rifias riQ^e ray 
AldionMv io'Sgiy.-q Tig yvv-fj, lib. 17. Pearson, 
however, is of opinion that this authority is of 
little weight*. 



Note 50.— Part IX. 

ON THE DIFFERENT READINGS OF ISAIAH liii. 7, 8. 

This quotation has been usually classed 
among those which are taken from the Septua- 
gint, and not from the original Hebrew. The 
difference between the Hebrew and the Sep- 
tuagint appears at first sight to be considerable ; 
that between the Septuagint and the Acts is 
very slight. It is indeed most probable that 
the Ethiopian would be reading that version 
which was in the most frequent or general use 
among the Hellenistic Jews in Egypt, a coun- 



/ Glassius, Grammat. Sac. Tract. 2, de Prono- 
mine, p. 712, of his collected works, and 190 of the 
separate work — " iTzi ti^v oSov rl^v xarapalyovoav 
ccrrh ' Ifrioi}ff(X?.iji stg I^uLav, avTt] iOTiv toyjuog — ad 
viam, quae a Jerusalem descendit Gazam ; avTt] 
hfEc, seu quoe est deserta. Que soil, via, vocatur 
deserta,qma non fuit adinodum tvita, ob intercur- 
rentes Casii mentis solitudines, secundum Stra- 
boaem, lib. xvi. Hujus autem admoneri Philip- 
puni necesse fuit, alioqui communem et magis 
tritam viam alteram ingressurum." 

^ Schoetgen, Hor(B Hchr. vol. i. p. 442. 

'• Lii. Hist. JV. T. vol. iv. p. 311. 

' See Kuinoel, In Lib Hist. JV. T. vol. iv. p. 
? 313, and Pfeiffer, Dubia Vexata, p. 939. 
' i Plin. lib. vi. c. 29. ap. Benson, Pfeiffer, &c. 

* Pearson, section in Act. Apost. p. 72. 

yoL. 11. *3^ 



try which bordered so nearly upon his own ; 
and where the Septuagint version had been 
sanctioned by the Alexandrian Jews, and 
originally made under royal authority. 

Pezronius' thinks the present reading is 
con-upt in the Hebrew, and the Greek version 
right. Alex. Morus"* is of opinion that the 
original reading of the Hebrew was mh n:;;?3 
iL^BiyD— " in his affliction he was taken from his 
judgment:" to which reading Wolfius would 
assent, altering only the position of the two 
last words. The latter critic supposes that D was 
read for D, and the i should be joined to the 
preceding word. " Sic enim reddi," he observes, 
" Ebrsa possunt: propter angustiam et a judicio 
sublatus est, sive sublatum est judicium, quod 
idem plane est: nam cujus tollitur judicium, 
ille judicio seu condemnationi eximitur." 

Doddridge conjectures that there must have 
been another reading in the copy used by the 
Septuagint translators. He considers this read- 
ing to have been not npS DSWOOl ii";"0 as the 
original now stands, but npS DStyD ni'.t'- — 
this supposition, however, is unsupported by 
manuscripts. 

After a careful examination of these authori- 
ties, I cannot but think that the only alteration 
requisite is in the pointing of the first clause ; 
and that the Septuagint have properly expressed 
the meaning of the Hebrew. If a pause is 
placed after the words ^v t^ Taneivchaei, and 
after "ii*;?D, the Greek would read thus, "He 
opened not his mouth in his humiliation." With 
respect to the Hebrew, it may be observed that 
the prefix n is sometimes used in the sense of 
"because of," "by reason of," Exod. vi. 9., and 
the proper interpretation of l^f;', from the same 
root is " to restrain," " confine," &c. The word 
therefore implies affliction or humiliation, and 
may be rendered " because of restraint," or 
" because of affliction or humiliation." With 
respect to the second clause, " and from judg- 
ment," it is evident that the sense is the same 
even as the passages now stand. " And he 
was taken from judgment," is the Hebrew 
phrase, signifying, " he was removed from, or 
deprived of, a just judgment." " His judgment 
was taken away " is the translation of the New 
Testament and Septuagint, that is, " His just 
judgment was not allowed him." The same 
circumstance is expressed whether we say that 
a criminal was deprived of a fair trial, or a fair 
trial was not allowed him: nor would the varia- 
tion in the language justify the charge of inac- 
curacy, if the two phrases were indiscriminately 
used. If these remarks shall be thought cor- 
rect, we may avoid all recourse to the unwar- 
rantable mode of inventing a various reading to 
reconcile a supposed discrepancy. 

' Antiq. Tempor. restit. p. 167. ap. Wolfii. Cur. 
Philolog. vol. ii. p. 1134. 
" Ap. Wolfium ut supra. 



250* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



npV 



Hebrew. 

Di32?DD1 l^i^D VD nn3'' xS 

English Translation of the Hebrew. 
He was taken and from judgment from prison his mouth he opened not. 

Septuagint. 
i}§5jy ■^l xglaig airov Iv r>j rciTieivdaet' rb gtS/j-u dLPolyei oix. 

Greek Testament. 
^qOtj -^ XQlaig avrov iv x'Jj Tuneivaaei, avrov to ardfia avrov dvolyei oix. 

English Translation of the JV. T. Sf LXX. 
was taken away his judgment in his humiliation his mouth he opened not. 



Proposed mode of reading the above, so as 
not to alter either the Hebrew or the Sep- 
tuagint : — place the pause after llify^, and tu- 
neipwasi, rendering tlie former phrase by the 
words "because of restraint or affliction;" or 
" humiliation ; " giving the full signification in 
•the second clause of the word D£)tyD, in which 
case it will appear evident, that the meaning of 
both expressions will be the same. 

Hebrew — He opened not his mouth, because 

of j affliction \ ' ^""^ ^^°™ ^ just judgment he 
was taken away. 

Sept. and JV. T. — He opened not his mouth 
in his humiliation ; and his just judgment was 
taken away. 



Note .51.— Part IX. 

Bishop Lowth remarks on the parallel pas- 
sage of Isaiah liii. 8. — " My learned friend Dr. 
Kennicott has communicated to me the follow- 
ing passages from the Mishna, and the Gemara 
of Babylon, as leading to a satisfactory explica- 
tion of this difficult place. It is said in the 
former, before any one was punished for a 
capital crime, proclamation was made before 
the prisoner by the public crier in these words 

— vS;? naS'i xd^ no? ib j;nrw ■'d Sd — ' qui- 

cunque noverit aliquid de ejus innocentia, 
veniat et doceat de eo.' — Tract. Sanhcdrin. 
Surenhus. par. iv. p. 233. On which passage 
the Gemara of Babylon adds, that ' before the 
death of Jesus, this proclamation was made for 
forty days ; but no defence could be found.' 
On which words Lardner observes, ' It is truly 
surprising to see such falsities, contrary to well- 
kno-o'n facts.' — Testimonies, vol. i. p. 198. The 
report is certainly false : but this false report is 
founded on the supposition that there was such 
a custom, and so far confirms the account above 
given from the Mishna. The Mishna was 
composed in the middle of the second century, 
according to Prideaux ; Lardner ascribes it to 
the year of Christ 180." 

Casaubon has a quotation from Maimonides, 
which further confirms this account ; Exercit. in 
Baronii Jlnnales, Art. 86. Ann. 34, Num. 119. 



" Auctor est Maimonides in Pirck 13. ejus 
Libri ex opere Jad, solitum fieri, ut cum Reus, 
sententiam mortis passus, a loco judicii exibat 
ducendus ad supplicium, praecederet ipsum |n3n 
KTjouf , praeco ; et hajc verba diceret. llle exit 
occidendus morte ilia, quid transgressus est 
transgressione ilia, in loco illo, tempore illo, et 
sunt ejus rei testes ille et ille. Qui noverit 
aliquid ad ejus innocentiam probandam, veniat, 
et loquatur pro eo." 

Now it is plain from the history of the four 
Evangelists, that in the trial and condemnation 
of Jesus no such rule was observed, (though, 
according to the account of the Mishna, it must 
have been in practice at that time :) no procla- 
mation was made for any person to bear witness 
to the innocence and character of Jesus ; nor 
did any one voluntarily step forth to give his 
attestation to it. And our Saviour seems to refer 
to such a custom, and to claim the benefit of it, 
by his answer to the high priest, when he asked 
him of his disciples, and of his doctrine — " I 
spake openly to the world ; I ever taught in the 
synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews 
always resort ; and in secret have I said notliing. 
Why askest thou me ? ask them which heard 
me, what I have said unto them : behold ! they 
know what I said." John xviii. 20, 21. This, 
therefore, was one remarkable instance of 
hardsliip and injustice, among others, predicted 
by the prophet, which our Saviour underwent 
in his trial and sufferings. 

St. Paul, likemse, in similar circumstances, 
standing before the judgment-seat of Festus, 
seems to complain of the same unjust treat- 
ment ; that no one was called, or would appear 
to vindicate his character. " My manner of 
life [ir\u (iidaiv (lov, ''"in) from my youth, 
which was at first among my own nation at 
Jerusalem, know all the Jews : which knew 
me from the beginning, if they would testify ; 
that after the straitest sect of our religion 1 
lived a Pharisee." Acts xxvi. 4, 5. nn signifies 
age, duration, the time, which one man, or 
many together, pass in this world ; in this 
place, the course, tenor, or manner of life. The 
verb "in signifies, according to Castell, " Ordi- 
natam vitam sive setatem egit, ordinavit, ordine 
constituit." In Arabic, " Curavit, administra- 
vit." — Lowth's Isaiah, notes, p. 240. 



Note 52.-55.] 



NOTES OX THE GOSPELS. 



^2.51 



Note 52. — Part IX. 

We have been so accustomed, and that 
rightly, both on the mtemal evidence, and on 
the testimony of the Jewish and Christian 
Churches, as -svell as on that of the contents of 
this section, to apply the -svords of Isaiah to our 
Lord, that many readers will be much surprised 
to hear that various other interpretations have 
been given, even by Christian theologians. 
There is a long list of names of authors men- 
tioned by Kuinoel, with the opinions they have 
espoused. Doederlein, by the "servant" of 
Jehovah (Isai. liL 13.), of whom the prophet 
continues to speak in the ensuing chapter, 
understands the Jewish people. Others, the 
pious Jews : others, the converted Gentiles : 
and others, the prophets after the captivity. 
Some suppose it to mean Cyrus ; Grotius 
imagines Jeremiah to have been designed. 
Many approve the decision the treasurer of 
Candace was about to arrive at, and conclude 
the prophet liimself to have been meant. Some 
refer the words to Hezekiah, others to Uzziah. 
See Kuinoel, In Lib. Hist. .V. T. p. 317., and 
Doddridge's note in loc. Dr. Hammond too 
has intimated, that this prophecy might have 
been fulfilled in some one who lived shortiy 
after Isaiah. The Jews interpret it "of the 
afflictions of Israel ;" but see Schoetgen, vol. ii. 



Note S3. — Part IX. 

This verse is -wanting in a great number of 
manuscripts. Griesbach, Matthsi, Michaelis, 
and others, would expunge it from the canon. 
In the manuscripts where it is found it is read 
variously. Whitby would retain it ; observing, 
that the verse was probably omitted, in later 
times, because it opposed the delay of baptism, 
which the catechumens experienced before they 
were admitted into the early Church. 



Note 54. — Part IX. 

The reading in the Alexandrian and some 
other manuscripts is, " the Holy Spirit fell upon 
the eunuch, but an angel of the Lord took 
away Philip," which is probably the true 
readinar. 



Note 55. — Part IX. 

Oy THE DATE, I)ESIG>-, A>T) ORIGINAL LA>"GCAGE 
OF ST. JIATTHEw's GOSPEL. 

This section gives an account of the state of 
the infant Church at this time, and may be con- 



sidered as an introduction to tiie histoiy of St. 
Paul. By him the new converts had been com- 
pelled to fly from Jerusalem, and he was now- 
persecuting them even to strange cities ; not 
only to Damascus, but to other adjacent towns. 

I -would refer to this period the publication 
of St. Matthew's Gospel. Both the fathers and 
heretics of tiie early Church have unitedly 
acknowledged that the first Gospel was -written 
by tliis Evangehst, and at an early date. It 
was very improbable that a long space of time 
should be allowed to elapse, without any attempt 
on the part of the apostles to supply the converts 
with a published account of the hfe and sufier- 
ings of the blessed Jesus ; particularly as those 
converts who had not seen the miracles of our 
Lord, or of his apostles, were prevented by the 
furious persecution which was now going on, 
from regularly attending the Christian assem- 
blies. Indeed, there seems to be strong groimd 
for believing that not only the Gospel of St. 
Matthew, but also those of St. Mark and St, 
Luke were -written soon after the commence- 
ment of some persecution or other of the Chris- 
tian Church. The Church consisted, at this 
time, solely of Je-wish believers, and the first 
Gospel was primarily intended for the instruc- 
tion of the Jews in Jerusalem and in Judsea. 
This purport was as uniformly asserted and 
believed, as its early composition. " His Gospel, 
doubtless," says Dr. Townson, " was designed 
for the benefit of the universal Church, as well 
immediately by the history and doctrine of 
Christ as mediately by a right institution of 
the Je-wish believers, who were to be the first 
teachers of the Gentiles. But the Holy Spirit 
imder whose influence it was -written, seems to 
have guided, or left St. ilatthew to recite many 
particulars more directly relative and interest- 
ing to the Jews. This is meant by saying, 
that he wrote for their instruction. And this 
was the sense of antiquity." 

We read in Justin Martyr's Apology, that 
the Jews circulated among their brethren, their 
owTi invented account of the resurrection (Matt, 
xxviii. 13.) imputing the removal of the body 
to the spoliation of the tomb by the aposties. 
This circumstance aSbrds an additional proof of 
the great probability that St. Matthew would 
publish his Gospel at an early period, and 
address it to the Jews, to counteract the errone- 
ous statement of the authorities at Jerusalem. 
As St Matthew had held a public office under 
the government, it was most probable that he 
was selected to -write the history of his blessed 
Lord's life, as being more known than the other 
disciples, and therefore the most likely to excite 
attention. 

Bishop Tomhne remarks, that the apostles, 
immediately after the descent of the Holy Ghost, 
which took place only ten days after the ascen- 
sion of our Saviour into heaven, preached the 
Gospel to the Jews with great success ; and 



252* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



surely it is reasonable to suppose that an au- 
thentic account of our Saviour's doctrines and 
miracles would very soon be committed to 
writing for the confirmation of those who be- 
lieved in his divine mission, and for the conver- 
sion of others ; and more particularly to enable 
the Jews to compare the circumstances of the 
birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, with 
their ancient prophecies relative to the Messiah : 
and we may conceive that the apostles would 
be desirous of losing no time in writing an ac- 
count of the miracles which Jesus performed, 
and of the discourses which he delivered, be- 
cause, the sooner such an account was published, 
the easier it would be to inquire into its truth 
and accuracy ; and consequently when these 
points were satisfactorily ascertained, the great- 
er would be its weight and authority". On 
these accounts the learned prelate assigns the 
date of St. Matthew's Gospel to the year 38. 

" The sacred writers," says Mr. Home, from 
whom I extract the principal part of the remain- 
der of this note, " had a regard to the circum- 
stances of the persons for whose use they wrote, 
and we have therefore an additional evidence 
for the early date of this Gospel, in the state of 
persecution in which the Church was at the 
time when it was written ; for it contains many 
obvious references to such a state, and many 
very apposite addresses both to the injuring and 
to the injured party". During this calamity, 
the members of the Christian Church stood in 
need of all the support, consolation, and assist- 
ance, that could be administered to them. But 
what comfort could they possibly receive, in 
their distressed situation, comparable to that 
which resulted from the example of their suffer- 
ing Master, and the promise he had made to his 
faithful followers ? This example and those 
promises St. Matthew seasonably laid before 
them, towards the close of this season of trial, 
for their imitation and encouragement, and de- 
livered it to them, as the anchor of their hope, 
to keep them steadfast in this violent tempest. 
From this consideration Dr. Owen was led to fix 
the date of St. Matthew's Gospel to the year 38. 

" Dr. Lardner'', however, and Bishop Percy', 
think that they discover marks of a lower date 
in St. Matthew's writings. They argue from 
the knowledge which he shows of the spirit- 
uality of the Gospel, and of the excellence 
of the moral above the ceremonial Law ; and 
from the great clearness with which the com- 
prehensive design of the Christian dispensation, 
as extending to the whole Gentile word, togeth- 
er with the rejection of the Jews, is unfolded in 
this Gospel. Of these topics they suppose the 

" Ehm. of Christ. Theol. vol. i. p. 391. 

° See this proved at length in Dr. Owen's Obser- 
vations on the Four Gospels, pp. 1. 21. 8vo. 1764. 

P Works, 8vo. vol. vi. pp.57, 58; 4to. vol, iii. 
pp. 163, 164. 

' Key to the M'ew Test. p. 55. 3d edit. 



Evangelist not to have treated, until a course of 
years had developed their meaning, removed his 
Jewish prejudices, and given him a clearer dis- 
cernment of their nature. 

" This objection, however, carries but little 
force with it. For, in the first place, as Dr. 
Townson has justly observed, with regard to the 
doctrinal part of his Gospel, if St. Matthew ex- 
hibits a noble idea of pure religion and morality, 
he teaches no more than he had heard frequently 
taught, and often opposed to the maxims of the 
Jews, by his Divine Instructor. And when the 
Holy Spirit, the guide into all truth, had de- 
scended upon him, it seems strange to imagine 
that he still wanted twenty or thirty years to 
enlighten his mind. If he was not then fur- 
nished with knowledge to relate these things as 
an Evangelist, how was he qualified to preach 
them to the Jews as an apostle ? 

" In the next place, it is true that the pro- 
phetic parts of his Gospel declare the extent of 
Christ's kingdom, and the calling and acceptance 
of the Gentiles. But these events had been 
plainly foretold by the ancient prophets, and 
were expected by devout Israelites to happen 
in the days of the Messiah' ; and in those pas- 
sages which relate to the universality of the 
Gospel dispensation, the Evangelist merely 
states that the Gospel would be successfully 
preached among the Gentiles in all parts of the 
earth. He only recites the words of our Saviour 
without any explanation or remark ; and we 
know it was promised to the apostles, that after 
Christ's ascension, the Holy Spirit should bring 
all things to their remembrance, and guide them 
into all truth. Whether St. Matthew was 
aware of the call of the Gentiles, before the 
Gospel was actually embraced by them, cannot 
be ascertained ; nor is it material, since it is 
generally agreed, that the inspired penmen often 
did not comprehend the full meaning of their 
own writings when they referred to future 
events ; and it is obvious that it might answer 
a good purpose to have the future call of the 
Gentiles intimated in an authentic history of 
our Saviour's ministry, to which the believing 
Jews might refer, when that extraordinary and 
unexpected event should take place. Their 
minds would thus be more easily satisfied ; and 
they would more readily admit the comprehen- 
sive design of the Gospel, when they found it 
declared in a book, which they acknowledged 
as the rule of their faith and practice^ 

" Once more, with respect to the argument 
deduced from this Evangelist's mentioning 



*■ Tims Zacharias, the father of tlie Baptist, 
speaks of Christ as coming " to give light to them 
that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death," 
(Luke i. 79.) which description includes the Gen- 
tiles ; and Simeon expressly calls him " a light to 
lighten the Gentiles," (Luke ii. 32.) 

" Bishop Tomline's Elements of Christ. Theol 
vol. i. p. 302. 



Note 55.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*253 



prophecies and prophetic parables, which speak 
of the rejection and overthrow of the Jews, it 
may be observed, that if this argument means, 
that, being at first prejudiced in favor of a 
kingdom to be restored to Israel, he could not 
understand these prophecies, and therefore 
would not think of relating them if he wrote 
early ; — tliough the premises should be admit- 
ted, we may justly deny the conclusion. St. 
Matthew might not clearly discern in what 
manner the predictions were to be accomplished, 
yet he must see, what they all denounced, that 
God would reject those who rejected the Gospel : 
hence, he always had an inducement to notify 
them to his countrymen ; and the sooner he ap- 
prised them of their danger, the greater charity 
he showed them'. 

" Since, therefore, the objections to the early 
date by no means balance the weight of evi- 
dence in its favor, we are justified in assigning 
the date of this Gospel to the year of our Lord 
37, or at the latest to the year 38. 

"The next subject of inquiry respects the 
language in which St. Matthew wrote his Gos- 
pel, and which has been contested among critics 
with no small degree of acrimony ; Bellarmin, 
Grotius, Casaubon, Bishops Walton and Tom- 
line, Drs. Cave, Hammond, Mill, Harwood, 
Owen, Campbell, and A. Clarke, Simon, Tille- 
mont, Pritius, Du Pin, Calmet, Michaelis, and 
others, having supported the opinion of Papias 
as cited by Irenajus, Origen, Cyril, Epiphanius, 
Chrysostom, Jerome, and other early writers, 
that this Gospel was written in Hebrew, that 
is, in the Syro-Chaldaic dialect then spoken by 
the Jews. On the other hand, Erasmus, Pa- 
raeus, Calvin, Le Clerc, Fabricius, Pfeifl^er, Dr. 
Lightfoot, Beausobre, Basnage, Wetstein, 
Rumpasus, Whitby, Edelman, Hoffman, Mol- 
denhawer, Viser, Harles, Jones, Drs. Jortin, 
Lardner, Hey, and Hales, Mr. Hewlett, and 
otiiers, have strenuously vindicated the Greek 
original of St. Matthew's Gospel. A third 
opinion has been offered by Dr. Townson, and 
some few modern divines, that there were two 
originals, one in Hebrew and the other in 
Greek. He thinks that there seems to be more 
reason for allowing two originals than for con- 
testing either; the consent of antiquity pleading 
strongly for the Hebrew, and evident marks of 
originality for the Greek. 

"The pre.sumption, however, is unquestion- 
ably in favor of the opinion that St. Matthew 
wrote in Greek ; for Greek was the prevailing 
language in the time of our Saviour and his 
apostles. Matthew, too, while he was a collec- 
tor of customs, and before he was called to he 
an apostle, would have frequent occasions both 
to write and to speak Greek, and could not dis- 
charge his office without understanding that 



language. We may therefore consider it as 
highly probable, or even certain, that he under 
stood Greek. Besides, as all the other Evange 
lists and Apostles wrote their Gospels and 
Epistles in that language for the use of Chris- 
tians (whether Jews or Gentiles) thoughout the 
known world ; and as St Matthew's Gospel, 
though in the first instance written for the use 
of Jewish and Samaritan converts, was ulti- 
mately designed for universal dissemination, it 
is not likely that it was written in any otlier 
language than that which was employed by all 
the other writers of the New Testament. This 
presumption is corroborated by the numerous 
and remarkable instances of verbal agreement 
between Matthew and the other Evangelists; 
which, on the supposition that he wrote in 
Hebrew, or the vernacular Syro-Chaldaic dia- 
lect, would not be credible. Even those who 
maintain that opinion are obliged to confess 
that an early Greek translation of this Gospel 
was in existence before Mark and Luke com- 
posed theirs, which they saw and consulted. 
The main point in dispute is, whether the 
present Greek copy is entitled to the authority 
of an original or not: and as this is a question 
of real and serious importance, we shall pro- 
ceed to state the principal arguments on both 
sides. 

" The modern advocates of the Hebrew 
Gospel, above enumerated, lay most stress upon 
the testimonies of Papias (bishop of Hierapolis, 
A. D. 116), of IreuEeus (a. d. 178), and of Origen 
(a. d. 230) ; which testimonies have been fol- 
lowed by Chrysostom, Jerome, and others of 
the early fathers of the Christian Church. But 
these good men, as Wetstein has well observed, 
do not so properly bear testimony as deliver 
their own conjectures, which we are not bound 
to admit unless they are supported by good 
reasons. Supposing, and taking it for granted, 
that Matthew wrote for the Jews in Judaea, 
they concluded that he wrote in Hebrew" : and 
because the fathers formed this conclusion, 
modern writers, relying on their authority, have 
also inferred tliat Matthew composed his Gos- 
pel in that language. 

" It only remains that we briefly notice the 
third opinion above mentioned, viz. that there 
were two originals — one in Hebrew, the other 
in Greek, but both written by St. Matthew. 
This opinion, we believe, was first intimated by 
Dr. Whitby", and is adopted by Dr. Hey, Dr. 
Townson, Bishop Gleig,and some other modern 
divines. The consent of antiquity pleads 
strongly for the Hebrew, and evident marks of 
originality for the Greek. Bishop Gleig thinks, 
that St. Matthew, on his departure to preach the 
Gospel to the Gentiles, lefl with the Church at 
Jerusalem, or at least with some of its members, 



' Dr. Townson's Discourses, Disc. iv. sect. 4. 
Works, vol. i. pp. 116, 117. 

vol.. II. 



Wetstenii JVov. Test. tom. i. p. 224, note. 
Preface to St. Matthew's Gospel, vol. i. p. 



254* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



the Hebrew or Syriac memorandums of our 
Lord's doctrines and miracles, which he had 
made for his own use at the time when the doc- 
trines were taught, and the miracles performed ; 
and that the Greek Gospel was written long 
after the apostles had quitted Jerusalem, and 
dispersed themselves in the discharge of the 
duties of their office. This conjecture receives 
some countenance from the terms in which 
Eusebius'", when giving his own opinion, men- 
tions St. Matthew's Gospel. ' Matthew,' says 
that historian, ' having first preached to the 
Hebrews, delivered to them, when he was pre- 
paring to depart to other countries, his Gospel 
composed in their native language ; that to 
those, from whom he was sent away, he might 
by his writings supply the loss of his presence"^.' 
This opinion is further corroborated by the fact, 
that there are instances on record of authors 
who have themselves published the same work 
in two languages. Thus Josephus wrote the 
History of the Jewish War in Hebrew and 
Greek^. In like manner, we have two origi- 
nals, one in Latin, the other in English, of the 
Thirty-nine Articles of the Anglican Church, 
and also of Sir Isaac Newton's Optics. As 
St. Matthew wanted neither ability nor dispo- 
sition, we cannot think he wanted inducement 
to "do the work of an Evangelist" for his 
brethren of the common faith, Hellenists as 
well as Hebrews ; to both of whom charity 
made him a debtor. The popular language of 
the first believers was Hebrew, or what is called 
so by the sacred and ancient ecclesiastical writ- 
ers : but those who spoke Greek quickly became 
a considerable part of the Church of Christ. 

" From a review of all the arguments adduced 
on this much-litigated question, I cannot but 
prefer the opinion which, indeed, best harmo- 
nizes with the consent of antiquity, — ^that St. 
Matthew wrote first a Hebrew Gospel for the 
use of the first Hebrew converts. Its subse- 
quent disappearance is easily accounted for, by 
its being so corrupted by the Ebionites that it 
lost all its authority in the Church, and was 
deemed spurious, and also by the prevalence of 
the Greek language, especially after the de- 
struction of Jerusalem, when the Jewish lan- 
guage, and every thing belonging to the Jews 
fell into the utmost contempt. It also is clear 
that our present Greek Gospel is an authentic 
original, and consequently an inspired produc- 
tion of the Evangelist Matthew, written (not as 
Bishop Gleig and other writers suppose, long 
after our Lord's resurrection and ascension, 
but) within a few years after those memorable 
and important events^." 

"" Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. lib. iii. c. 4. 

" Lib. i. pref. sect. 1, 2. 

" Dr. Hey's J^orrisian Lectures, vol. i. pp. 28, 
29. Bishop Gleig's edit, of Stackhouse, vol. iii. 
p. 112, Dr. Townson's Works, vol. i. pp. 30-32. 

■" Home, Crit. Jntrod. vol. ii. pp. 238-243. 



This view of the probability that the Gospel 
of St. Matthew was written in both languages 
appears to me to be most correct. It is possible 
that the real state of the case might be this. 
When the persecution began, or was beginning, 
St Matthew, who perhaps might have already 
committed to writing the memorable events of 
Christ's history, might have distributed among 
his own countrymen, the converts of Jerusalem, 
an account of the transactions and teaching ot 
our Lord; but as the persecution was not con- 
fined to Judasa, but extended to Gentile cities, 
the converts who had taken refuge in them 
would be naturally anxious to have the Gospel 
in that language which was most generally 
understood, that the glorious works of redemp- 
tion and salvation miglit be made known unto 
them as well as unto us. It is probable, there- 
fore, that the Hebrew Gospel was first used, 
while the converts remained in Judtea, or at 
least during the continuance of the Pauline 
persecution ; and that it might have been given 
about six years after the ascension, when the 
persecution was beginning ; in the year 34 or 
35, the date which is here assigned to it. The 
Greek Gospel might have been given about 
two or three years later, when the converts 
returned to Jerusalem, and required inspired 
histories of our Lord to be sent to their breth- 
ren at those cities in which their safety had 
been secured. 

This hypothesis will reconcile some few of 
the discrepancies which have embarrassed 
many inquirers in their research into the early 
history of tlie Church. It accounts for the 
early disuse, and non-appearance of the He- 
brew Gospel — it agrees with the early date 
assigned by Dr. Townson, Bishop Tomline, 
and Dr. Owen, who refer the writing of St. 
Matthew's Gospel to the year 37, or 38, — it 
corresponds with the internal testimony in favor 
of a very early date, and is supported by the 
reasoning of Bishop Tomline and Dr. Owen. 



Note 56.— Part IX. 

St. Luke not having specified the time of 
Paul's conversion, and the apostle himself not 
having done it in his Epistles, the opinions upon 
it vary much. Some place his conversion in 
the year of the crucifixion, or at the beginning 
of the following year ; others seven or eight 
years after, in the second year of Claudius. I 
have preferred the opinion which steers between 
these two extremes, and place the conversion 
of St. Paul at the year 35, about the time that 
war was declared between Herod, the tetrarch 
of Galilee, and Aretas, king of the Arabs". 



"^ Spanheim, T)e Conv. Paul. p. 107. Pearson, 
Lardner, Hales, Home, and others. 



Note 57.-60.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*255 



This epoch does not seem attended with any 
ditBculty. It agrees very well ■nith " the four- 
teen years " that tlie Apostle reckons between 
his conversion and the tliird voyage that he 
afterwards made to Jerusalem. It furnishes, 
moreover, some very natural reasons, why 
being at Damascus he was immediately in safe- 
ty there, and why he afterwards retired into 
Arabia, rather than into any other place, and 
wh}' upon his return from Arabia he no longer 
found protection at Damascus ; and it is the 
date which is generally adopted. 

Herod and Aretas quarrelled, for tlie reasons 
mentioned by Josephus, Antiq. lib. 18. cap. 7, 
and they came to an open war in the year 36. 
Herod's army was defeated. The Romans took 
his part ; but the death of Tiberius, which hap- 
pened in the month of March, in the year 37, 
stopped the Romans, who were marching against 
the Arabs. Vitellius, who was commander of 
the Roman army, heard the news of his death at 
Jerusalem during the feast of the Passover. 



Note 57.— Part IX. 

Eunvkov drretArjj y.ai cfdfov — Wetstein, 
Kuinoel, Clarke, and others have quoted among 
other passages from the classical writers, to illus- 
trate this sentence — Theocrit. Id. 22. 82. Eurip. 
Bacch. 620. Aristoph. Equitt. 435. Oppian 
Vtnat. 4. 190. Homer, niad, v 8. Aristsenet 1. 
Ep. 5. Achill. Tatius, 2. p. 65, &c. &c. The 
use of the expression in these authors may be 
adduced as one among many other proofs, that 
St. Luke, the writer of the Acts, was a learned 
man, and one therefore who was more likely to 
examine into the truth, origin, and nature of 
the religion he had embraced than many of the 
more ignorant converts. 



Note 58.— Part IX. 

The authority of the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem 
was very great, so that not only the Jews who 
inhabited the land of Israel, but the Babylonian 
and Alexandi'ian Jews received its decrees, 
and obeyed them with reverence. They ac- 
loiowledged the Sanhedrin as the bulwark of 
the oral law. They more especially submitted 
to its authority in accusations of heresy, and 
trial of false prophets, wliich the Sanhedrin 
alone was supposed competent to consider. 
The Romans, to whose power the whole of 
Arabia at this time submitted, granted to the 
Jewish council the power of imprisonment and 
scourging, not only over the Jews of Palestine, 
but over other synagogues, which willingly, in 
religious matters, yielded to the control of the 
Sanhedrin. — See on this subject the note at the 
end of chap. ix. sect. xxxv. 



Note 59.— Part IX. 

This expression was common among the 
ancient Jews. We read in Is. xl. 3. the phrase 
nirr Tn — and among the later Jews, I'n'? 
CD''1i'Un secundum morem Christianorum. — 
SchoetgeiL vol. i. p. 444. 



Note 60.— Part IX. 

ON the C0XVERSI0-\ of ST. PAUL. 

If St. Paul had been asked before he left 
Jerusalem for Damascus, by one of those de- 
spised Christians whom he was now on his way 
to persecute, "What proof do you require to 
convince you that Jesus is the Messiah .'" it is 
not improbable that he would have replied, " I 
demand that evidence which was given to my 
fathers, the evidence of the manifested Shechi- 
nah, the presence of the Angel Jehovah, and the 
audible voice from heaven." From education, 
reason, or prejudice, we all generally adopt some 
criterion of truth, to which every proposition is 
brought. Tliis was his criterion: and what 
must have been the feelings of tliis relentless 
persecutor, when the very evidence he required 
was vouchsafed to him — when He, the despised, 
the insulted, the crucified Jesus, in the glory of 
the Shechmah — from heaven itself — reproved 
the blindness of his zeal, and convinced him 
that the same Holy Being who had suffered on 
the cross, was the Angel Jehovah, the long- 
expected Messiah of the Jews I The simple 
words, "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest," 
how severely must they have penetrated and 
wounded the heart of this zealous offender ! In 
a moment, he was overwhelmed and convicted 
of the excessive guilt of his conduct, and the 
majesty of the God of his fathers. The blind- 
ness that was inflicted upon him was typical of 
that spiritual darkness which was the cause 
and origin of his crime ; it was a trial of his 
faith and repentance ; and his recovery from it 
was intended to prove to him and to the world, 
that a man is in darkness and the shadow of 
death till he has received that true light which 
lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 
The scales which had concealed from his view 
the glorious light of the Gospel of Christ fell 
from his eyes — he saw and believed, and the 
Holy Ghost gave him power to discern spiritual 
things. 

How fearfully will the sons of Israel mourn 
and lament, when this Holy Being shall again 
reveal himself from heaven in the glory of the 
Shechinah, and reprove them for their want of 
faith and hardness of heart ! The history of St. 
Paul offers them the highest hopes and conso- 
lations ; it shadows out to them the darkness of 



256* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



their spiritual state, the necessity of a baptism 
of repentance, and the forsaking of their former 
sins and errors, and the restoration of their sight. 
At his second coming the glory of Israel shall be 
made known unto them— their hearts shaU be 
changed, and they shall look on him whom they 
have pierced. 

Lord Barrington and Whitby are of opinion 
that St. Paul did not now see our Lord. The 
former derives his argument from the expression 
(ver. 5,) " Who art thou. Lord ? " Whitby ob- 
serves, that in the Old Testament men are often 
said to have seen the Lord, when they only saw 
the glory, the symbol of his presence (Exod. 
xxiv. 10-12. Deut. iv. 12, 15.), and that in 
the parallel accounts of his conversion in other 
parts of the Acts, St. Paul mentions only having 
seen the glory that shone round him, and not 
the person of our Lord. He adds, that if the 
words imply that the person of our Lord was 
seen, it must have rather been in the way than in 
the heavens. It would however be easy to show 
that the ancient Jews used the word nyDW, which 
is here rendered qrcoc, to express not only the glory 
which surrounded the Divine Personage, which 
appeared to the patriarchs, but also the Great 
Being himself; and it seems most probable that 
his countrymen would understand the expres- 
sion in that sense. The general opinion, how- 
ever, appears to be most correct, which affirms, 
that at this time the visible manifestation of the 
person of Christ was made to the Apostle. Wit- 
sius' defends the general opinion with much 
skill and energy: Doddridge does the same. 
Macknight espouses the same side of the ques- 



' " Sed quo mode visus est Jesus ? An per 
angelum, vices ejus sustinentem ? Nequaquam. 
Neque enim angeU est ea sibi verba sumere quae 
propria sunt Jesu. An in symbolo, quo modo 
IsraelitcB Deum viderunt ad montem Sinai ? Non 
sufEcit. An in visione ut Jesaias ? Nee hoc satis 
facit. An oculis corporis ? Sic abitror. Debuit 
enim Paulus hoc quoque apostolatus sui argumen- 
tum habere, quod Cliristum, in persona, quod 
aiunt, oculis suis conspexerit. Ceterum ubi nunc 
Christus ? An in coelo ? an in aere viciniore ? 
Eqnidem nescio. Nam quod Act. iii. 21. dicitur, 
quem oportet coeli capiant usque ad tempora resti- 
tutionis omnium, intelhgi potest de ordinaria Jesu 
in coelis mansione : qua non impeditur tamen quo 
minus per extraordinariam aliquam ceconomiam, in 
acrem terrce viciniorem ad exiguum tempus 
descenderit. Sed et in ccelis manens videri Paulo 
potuit, per miraculosam facultatis elevationem, 
remotisque Dei virtute omnibus impedimentis, quo 
modo Stephanus nuper in terra positus, ccelis 
apertis, vidit .Tesum stantem ad dexteram Patris, 
Act. vii. .55. Qua luce significabatur gloria appa- 
rentis Christi, qui est stella ilia matutina, oriens ex 
alto, sol justiticB, lux ad illuminationem gentium, 
et gloriam populi Israelitici ; et qui se luce veluti 
aiuictu operit. In eii luce, ipse se conspiciendum 
prtebebat Jesus. Sic enim Paulo Ananias, Act. ix. 
17. rursus xxii. 14. et Jesus ipse Act. xxvi. 13. 
t'c TovTo wif^rfV coi. — Witsii Mehtem. Leidcns. dc 
Vit. Pauli, p. 17. — Mackniaht on the Epistles, vol. 
vi. p. 416.— Kuinoel, hi Lib. Hist. jX. T. vol. iv. p. 
323. — Doddridge's Family Exposilor — Dr. A. 
Clarke, and Whitby in loc. 



tion : Saul, he observes, arose from tlie earth, 
and with his bodily eyes beheld Jesus standing 
in the way. We are absolutely certain, that on 
this or some other occasion, Saul saw Jesus 
with the eyes of his body ; for he hath twice 
affirmed that he saw Jesus in that manner 
(1 Cor. ix. 1.), " Am I not an apostle ? have I 
not seen Jesus Christ our Lord ?" (chap. xv. 8.) 
" Last of all [wq^di] yAf^iol) he was seen of me 
also, as of an abortive apostle." 

Now it is to be observed, that this appearance 
of Jesus, Paul places among his other appear- 
ances to the rest of the apostles, wliich, without 
all doubt, were personal appearances. Besides, 
if Saul had not seen Jesus in the body, after his 
resurrection, he could not have been an apostle, 
whose chief business was, as an eyewitness, to 
bear testimony to the resurrection of Jesus from 
tlie dead. I acknowledge, that if we were to 
form our opinion of this matter solely upon the 
account which Luke hath given of it (Acts ix. 
3-6.), we could not be sure that Saul now saw 
Jesus. Yet if we attend to the words of Ana- 
nias, both as recorded in this chap. ver. 17, 
" The Lord Jesus who appeared to thee (6 ^qci- 
dsii; aoi, ivho ivas seen of thee) in the way ;" and 
as recorded Acts xxii. 14. "The God of our 
fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest see 
that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of 
his mouth :" also, if we consider the words of 
Christ, "I have appeared unto thee for this 
very purpose, to make thee a minister, and a 
witness of those things which thou hast seen ; " 
and that Barnabas declared to the apostles, how 
he had seen the Lord in the way (Acts ix. 27.), 
I say when all these expressions are duly at- 
tended to, we shall have little doubt that Saul 
saw Jesus standing before him in the way (ver. 
17.), when in obedience to his command he 
arose from the ground. 

But not being able to endure the splendor of 
his appearance, or perhaps the better to express 
his reverence, he fell to the earth anew, and 
remained before lum in that posture, till Christ 
ordered him to arise a second time, and go into 
the city, where it should be told him what he 
was to do, (Acts ix. 6.) Then it was that on 
opening his eyes he found himself absolutely 
blind. TJiis I suppose is a better account of 
Saul's seeing Jesus, after his resurrection, than 
with some to affirm, that he saw him in his 
trance in the temple, or in his rapture in the 
third heaven, for on neither of these occasions 
did Saul see Jesus witli Ws bodily eyes ; the 
impression at these times having been made 
upon his mind by the power of Christ, and not 
by means of his external senses, so that he 
would not have been qualified by such a vision 
to attest Christ's resurrection from the dead. I 
know that Paul had another corporeal sight of 
Jesus, namely, after he had made his defence 
before the council, (Acts xxiii. 11.) But as the 
First Epistle to the Corinthians, in which Paul 



Note 61.-63.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*257 



affirmed that he had seen the Lord, was written 
before he was favored with that second corpo- 
real sight of Jesus, he cannot be thought in 
that Epistle to have spoken of an event which 
had not then taken place. 

It cannot be necessary to discuss here the 
absurd hypothesis of Kuinoel, who endeavours to 
show that there was nothing miraculous in the 
conversion of St. Paul, whom he would represent 
as journeying to Damascus, thinking of the 
lesson of moderation taught him by Gamaliel, 
and of the arguments he might accidentally have 
heard in favor of the Messiahsliip of Christ, 
when sudden thunder in a clear day alarmed 
him, and he imagined that he heard a voice : the 
wliole of the three several narratives in the New 
Testament of St. Paul's conversion overthrow 
this absurd theory. His sudden loss and recov- 
ery of sight, and the consequent communication 
of the Holy Spirit, by a person divinely appoint- 
ed, were indisputable evidences as to the reality 
of the appearance that had befallen him on his 
way. 

That St. Paul was neither a hypocrite, an 
enthusiast, nor a dupe, has been too admirably 
proved by Lord Lyttleton to require further 
illustration. 



Note 61.— Part IX. 

The expression here used is supposed by 
some to be proverbial, signifying the injury and 
hurt they are likely to receive who resist supe- 
rior power, more especially as relating to God. 
To confirm this opinion, many classical authors 
are referred to. Euripides in Bacch. 5. 794. Col- 
umella, De Re Rustica,2. 2. 26, &c. and Pindar, 
Pyth. 2. 173, who asserts we must not contend 
against God, but bear the yoke he puts on our 
neck mildly, and not kick against the goads ; 
that is, remarks the scholiast, not to fight against 
God, being only men. The great Bochart re- 
jects the idea that the expression is derived 
from any other authority than that of Scripture 
itself. Moses uses it when he says Jeshurun 
waxed fat (et recalcitravit) and kicked against 
the Law (Deut. xxxii. 15.), and also God himself 
(1 Sam. ii. 29.), " why kick ye against my sacri- 
fices ?" The clause is retained in the Vulgate, 
the Arabic, Ji^thiopic, and Armenian versions, 
although it is not inserted in others, or in the 
Greek manuscripts. Griesbach likewise re- 
jects it. 



it is said that the men that were with me heard 
7iot the voice. Dr. Hammond remarks, that the 
word ()D(iicr| signifies thunder, and he would rec- 
oncile the two texts by reading, " They that 
were with me heard the voice of the thunder, 
but heard 7iot the voice of him that spake unto 
me." The word (pcoprj is often used in this 
sense in the Old Testament, Exod. ix. 23, 27, 
33, 34. XX. 18. Ps. xviii. 13, &c. 

In this verse the word seems to be used in 
the same sense as chap. ii. 2. (see the note in 
loc.) with reference to the thunder which usually 
accompanied the Bath Col, or Voice from 
heaven ; in chap. xxii. 9. it more particularly 
relates to the Voice itself, which the attendants 
of St. Paul, in consequence of their alarm and 
confusion, did not hear, or if they did, without 
rightly understanding it. 

Beza, Vatablus, and Clarius, think that the 
attendants heard Saul's voice, but not that of 
Christ. Dr. Benson, as dxaieiv often signifies to 
undersland, supposes these attendants were Hel- 
lenist Jews, who did not understand the Hebrew, 
which was the language in which Christ ad- 
dressed Paul. Dr. Whitby and Dr. Doddridge 
that the Voice from heaven was taken for thun- 
der. — Doddridge, vol. ii. p. 36. 

For further solutions of the difficulty, see 
Wolfius, Curce Phil. vol. ii. p. 1138. Lord Bar- 
rington. Dr. Weston, and others, ap. Bowyer, 
and the commentators. 

The Jews say that God three times spoke to 
Moses, Aaron being by and not hearing the 
voice ; in Egypt, Exod. vi. 28. ; in Mount Sinai, 
Num. iii. 1. ; and in Levit. i. 1. 

The same mode of expression is used in 
Schemoth Rahha, sect. ii. fol. 104. 3. in Exod. ii. 
2., " The angel of the Lord appeared to him." 
Why is it thus said so expressly rSx to him be- 
cause other men were with him, but none of 
these saw any thing but Moses only. So also 
in Dan. x. 7. 



Note 62.— Part IX. 

This verse bears the appearance of differing 
from the parallel passage, chap. xxii. 9., where 
VOL. II. *33 



Note 63.— Part IX. 

He lost his sight from the glory of that light 

Michaelis, in Richteri Chirurgischer Bihliothek, 
b. vi. p. 732, ap. Kuinoel, relates, that an African 
struck with lightning lost liis sight, but recov- 
ered it suddenly. 

In the Ciitici Sacri is a treatise on the blind- 
ness of St. Paul, considered in its origin, con- 
tinuance, and cure. 

Jortin remarks, that the miracle by which St. 
Paul was instructed and converted has been 
thought by some to be of the emblematic 
and prophetic kind, and to indicate the future 
calling of the Jews ; so that Paul the persecutor, 
and Paul the apostle, was a type of his owa 
nation. 

St. Paul, though the apostle of the Gentiles, 



258* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



never cast off his care for his own brethren, and 
always expressed himself on that subject with 
the warmest affection ; and he alone, of all the 
writers in the New Testament, hath spoken 
clearly of the restoration of the Jews; he ear- 
nestly wished for that happy day, and saw it 
afar off, and was glad. St. Paul was extremely 
zealous for the Law, and a persecutor of the 
Christians — so were the Jews. 

St. Paul, for opposing Jesus Christ, was 
struck blind ; but upon his repentance he re- 
ceived his sight — so were the Jews, for their re- 
bellion, smitten with spiritual blindness, which 
shall be removed when they are received again 
into favor. 

St. Paul was called miraculously, and by the 
glorious manifestation of Christ himself, and 
was instructed by the same Divine Master : 
.such will perhaps be tlie conversion and the 
illumination of the Jews. 

St. Paul was called the last of the apostles — 
the Jews will certainly enter late into the 
Church. 

St. Paul was the most active, laborious, and 
successful of all the disciples : such perhaps 
the Jews also shall be after their conversion. 
But these are rather conjectures of what may 
be, than discoveries of what must come to pass". 



Note 64.— Part IX. 

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON CONVERSION. 

From the manner in which the conversion 
of St. Paul is related by St. Luke, many have 
been led to suppose that all those who are really 
Christians must receive and retain some sensi- 
ble impression of their conversion ; and conse- 
quently remember the exact time or moment in 
which it took place. Others again argue, that 
St. Paul was selected from the rest of mankind, 
as Abraham, Moses, the Prophets, and the 
Apostles were, for the especial purpose of pro- 
moting the designs of Providence in effecting 
the redemption of mankind ; and therefore that 
it affords no sanction for the expectation of any 
sudden or miraculous conversion for others. 
Both parties insist with equal earnestness and 
sincerity in enforcing the doctrine of Scripture, 
that " without holiness no man shall see the 
Lord:" but one would look for conversion in 
some momentary operation of the Spirit of God, 
without any previous preparation in the heart 
or conduct of the individual ; the other, on the 
contrary, would rather seek it in the study of 
the Scriptures, and in the due observance of 

'^ See Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, 
Works, vol. ii. p. 14 ; and Mede's Works, book v. p. 
891, 892, as well as book iv. epist. xvii. p. 768. 
Jortin does not mention Mede, who has considered 
the :parallel at greater length. 



the progressive and appointed means of grace 
which are given to all, as necessary to salva- 
tion, and which are always attended with the 
influences of the Holy Spirit. 

The former, who believe that God more fre- 
quently impresses the mind by some sudden 
impulse, do not deny that it may sometimes 
happen, that individuals may be so educated 
and brought up, that they shall be sanctified 
from the womb. Thus the celebrated Annes- 
ley, the nonconformist divine, declared that 
he never remembered to have been converted. 
On the other side it is equally acknowledged, 
that it may please the same God who miracu- 
lously converted St. Paul, to impress in the 
most unexpected and peculiar manner the 
mind of any individual, at any time it may seem 
good to his Providence to do so. He would . 
not, for instance, assert that it was impossible 
that Constantine beheld a cross, or that Colonel 
Gardiner heard a voice in the air, or any other 
circumstance of this nature'' ; but his general 
belief is, that since the canon of Scripture has 
been completed, the sacraments are the effect- 
ual and divinely ordained means of grace by 
which the Holy Spirit is conveyed to man for 
his renovation ; and that sufficient evidence is 
given to all men for their establishment in the 
faith, without any extraordinary or preternatural 
interference in their favor. 

Christianity, it must ever be remembered, is 
not a system of theoretical opinions, but a sys- 
tem of positive institutions. If so, we may 
expect miracles at the establishment, but not in 
the continuance, of the dispensation. In one 
sense of the word every thing is a miracle, 
both in the natural and moral world. The 
growth of a plant is to us an unaccountable 
event ; but we see that it is gradually brought 
to perfection, by the sun and rain from heaven 
— these are the appointed laws of nature. In 
the same way the divine influences of the Holy 
Spirit, by the appointed means of grace, grad- 
ually operate on the heart, till it brings forth 
the fruits of perfection, and the perfect man is 
formed. It is certain that the great Creator of 
the flower or the herb might by a word com- 
mand them to grow either on the waves of the 
sea, or on the floor of a room, but as this would 
be deviating from esiabhshed laws, we do not 
anticipate such an occurrence. In the same 
manner it is not generally to be expected that 
the Almighty Creator will depart from his own 
appointed means of salvation to effect the 
recovery of sinful man, who refuses to be nour- 
ished by the common blessings from on high. 
It is not now to be expected that the heavens 
will again open, the Shechinah appear, the Bath 
Col be heard, or the holy flame kindle on holy 
heads ; these indisputable evidences of divine 

<i Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, 
Works, yo\. ii. p. 159. 



Note 64.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*259 



majesty, are reserved for the consummation of 
all things. In the mean time, God the Creator 
and Saviour, who provides for the lilies and the 
flowers of tlie field, has in his mercy ordained 
provision for the soul as well as the body of man 
— " My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is 
drink indeed." Without the care and the labor 
of man the food for the body would be lost in the 
ground ; without the use of the revealed means 
of grace, the fruits of the Holy Spirit would be 
looked for in vain. Break up therefore the 
fallow ground of your hearts (Hosea x. 12.) for 
it is time to seek the Lord, tiiat the showers and 
the latter rain may not be withholden (Jer. iv. 3.) 

The real question to be decided then is. 
Whether he is most right who expects the 
influences of the Spirit to be conveyed to him 
through the means of those solemn ordinances 
which God himself has ordained, gradually 
accomplishing that change of heart, without 
which spiritual happiness cannot be attained ; 
or w'hether that opinion is to be preferred, 
which leads to the anticipation of some sudden 
impression producing the same effect independ- 
ent of an humble attendance on the means of 
grace, in obedience to the divine will. 

I am convinced, that if Christians who be- 
lieve in the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incar- 
nation, the Atonement, and the absolute neces- 
sity of inward holiness, from the influences of 
the Divine Spirit, as well as outward morality, 
were to examine impartially some controverted 
logomachies, they would not so much difier. 
If certain systematic words were not so fre- 
quently resorted to, there would be much less 
misapprehension and bitterness. Let us place 
this subject in more general propositions, and we 
shall then perceive how slight is the difference 
which divides these contending parties. 

It will be acloiowledged by all, that a due re- 
gard at least is necessary to external religion for 
the sake of its Author; but that this very regard 
to the divine ordinances, if it does not proceed 
from obedience and love to Him who ordained 
them, and faith in their spiritual efl^ects and sig- 
nification, becomes presumption and hypocrisy. 

Man at his creation was made perfect ; the 
spiritual triumphing over the inferior nature. 
'When he fell, the earthly or animal nature pre- 
dominated. As his descendants we are made 
partakers of the same earthly and animal na- 
ture — we are born with it — its existence consti- 
tutes our original sin, and we are subject to its 
everlasting penalties. 

The system of revelation is the plan for 
restoring man to God, by renewing within him 
that spiritual nature which he lost by the fall 
of his first parent. 

The manner in which this important object 
is to be accomplished has ever been the same. 
It is faith in the atonement of one Redeemer, 
the manifested God of the patriarchs, Jews, and 
Christians, producing holiness of life. 



The manner in which this faith is made 
effectual has ever been the same. Outward 
means of grace were instituted from the mo- 
ment of the expulsion from paradise. Where 
these external ordinances have been observed 
through faith, and in compliance with the 
revealed ivill of God, his influences have uni- 
formly been imparted, and a spiritual change ot 
heart imperceptibly and gradually accomplished. 

The Spirit of God however is not confined to 
means. The Omnipotence of God is not limit- 
ed to the measures he has himself revealed or 
ordained. It is impossible therefore not to 
believe that the death of a friend or relative, a 
lingering illness, or any other affliction or cir- 
cumstance, may not, through divine grace, be 
made the instrument of salvation, and turn our 
hearts from this world to serve the living God. 
But few will hesitate to join with me in the 
conclusion, that the divine blessing is to be 
more generally found in those significant and 
solemn institutions, which The Way — The 
Truth — and The Life Himself appointed. 

This is not tlie place to enter further into 
this controversy. The ancient fathers, the 
reformers in general, and the Church of Eng- 
land make the commencement of our accep- 
tance with God (by whatever name, conversion 
or regeneration, we may call it) to begin with 
baptism ; and affirm that the influences of the 
Holy Spirit continue with the Christian through 
life, to renovate him when he falls, to preserve 
him in temptation, and to support him in death, 
unless those influences are quenched by wilful, 
repeated, deliberate, and persevering sin. This 
system, which makes our Christian fife begin 
with certain feelings in maturer years, makes 
the question concerning baptism so very im- 
portant. The reestablishment of the ancient 
union among believers, depends on our estimate 
of the benefits attendant on that first and most 
solemnly commanded ordinance — whether it is 
merely an useful rite, or an appointed means of 
grace ; — or, as it is defined in the Church Cate- 
chism, an outward sign of an inward grace. 
The system wliich refuses to confine the begin- 
ning of our Christian life to baptism, is thus 
described by a once distinguished writer — 
" Regeneration has its degrees. Its first step 
is contrition, and that softening of the heart by 
which a man is brought to a sense of sin and 
misery ; and under the influence of which he 
earnestly desires deliverance. The second is 
a knowledge of Christ, by wliich whoever 'is 
convinced of the sufficiency of Clirist to 
deliver him, denies himself, and flies to Christ, 
and by a living faith is united to him, and with 
a filial confidence of deliverance depends upon 
him ; and a filial love towards God is kindled in 
his heart, by the power of which he serves God 
with unfeigned obedience, and a holy life. 
The first step is called the spirit of bondage, 
and it is praperly the effect of the Law ; the 



260* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



second is the spirit of adoption, and it is the 
proper effect of the Gospel"." The learned 
writer then proceeds to illustrate this hypothe- 
sis by the instance of Cornelius. I think it is 
evident, that the Scriptures of truth no where 
command us to have this train of feelings to 
become acceptable to God. Faith and obe- 
dience, — or faith, obedience, and repentance 
are required: and it is impossible, in general, 
for the Christian who has been baptized, and 
has received a religious education, and knows 
God from his infancy, to say when he begins to 
have faith, and to have become acceptable to 
his Maker. Few men can pass through life 
without many feelings of sorrow for sin, of ' 
humility before God, of desii-e to become more 
holy. No human being can declare himself 
spotless before his Creator. But all these 
Amotions are the result of our knowledge of 
God, and his Son, which are given us by the 
means of grace ; and they proceed from the 
Holy Spirit which attends them. They are 
common to all men at all ages ; they are expe- 
rienced by children at the first dawn of reason, 
and by the aged at the close of life. 

Since the Scripture and the means of grace 
have been given, I believe that all pretensions 
of this nature are very dubious ; though I dare 
not say that the Father of the spirits of men 
may not visibly communicate his will to some 
favored individuals, when he pleases. I believe 
only, that he has not done so ; because the 
Law of Christ is sufficient to guide any of his 
creatures to future happiness. Dr. Doddridge 
relates the anecdote of Colonel Gardiner, as if 

' " Habet regeneratio suos gradus. Primus 
gradus est contritio et emoUitio cordis, qua quis 
adio-itur ad sensum peccati et miseriEe ; quo sensu 
gravatus sitit et esurit liberationem. Secundus 
gradus est, agnitio Christi, qui quis de sufficientii 
Christi ad liberandum convictus, seipsum abnegat 
et ad Christum confugit, eique viv4 fiducia cordis 
inseritur, et cum filiali fiducia liberationis in ipsum 
recumbit, et tilialis in Deum amor in corde ejus 
accenditur, cujus ductu et impulsu servit Deo 
ingenua obedientia et nov& vita. Primus gradus 
vocari solet spiritus servitutis, et est propric effec- 
tus leo-is : posterior spiritus adoptionis, et est pro- 
prie etfectus Evangelii. Fieri potest ut Cornelius 
habuerit primum gradum regenerationis, scil. ut 
fuerit contritus corde et onustus sensu miserite, 
sitiensque gratiam, eamque quacrens ; sed non 
novit veram viam inveniendi et verum medium 
quffirendi, sed sine dubio earn quaesivit per propria 
opera et honestara vitam ; quae tamen opera Deus 
propter veram contritionem cordis non asperna- 
tus, sed se iis moveri passus est, ad dandos majores 
regenerationis gradus ad salutem necessaries. 
Non enim est contra sanam theologiam, quod 
primitis gratis regenerantis bene usurpats sint 
causiE impetrantes gratiam majorem. Habenti 
enim dabitur ut abundantius habeat, Matt. xiii. 12. 
Moralibus virtutibus. quibus homo seipsum ab aliis 
per liberum arbitrium naturale nonnihil discernit, 
nullis promissionibus alligata est gratia regenera- 
tionis salvifica : sed initiis gratiae regenerantis 
bene usurpatis est alligata, Job. vii. 17. Et 
prcBcipue contritum cor habet magnas promissiones, 
Psal. li. 19. Isa. Ivii. 15." Stres. spud Cradock's 
Apostolical Hafmonij, p. 59. 



the circumstance might possibly have been the 
vivid suggestion of his own mind. The hour 
was midnight — he was confused with intem- 
perance — the cause of his watchfulness was 
criminal — he had received a religious education ; 
and the silence and solitude, and the possible 
reproaches of his conscience led him to some 
associations of ideas respecting the crucified 
Saviour, whom he had forgotten. At such a 
moment he saw, or thouglrt he saw, the cross in 
the air, and heard the appeal of the imagined 
figure before him. This appears to me to be 
the natural result of those laws of mind which 
God has given to every man. These natural 
reflections were made the means of grace ; for 
the impression was never erased from his mind. 
The Spirit of God "prevented him, and put 
into his mind good desires ; " and the consist- 
ency of his subsequent life proved that He, who 
giveth grace to man, was present at the hour of 
temptation. But it would be the most intolera- 
ble presumption, that any man should delay 
repentance till his mind was affected in a similar 
manner. 

With respect to the cross of Constantine, I 
subjoin the criticism of Jortin; and I am in 
clined to agree with this eminent divine, that 
there was possibly no miracle in this case also ; 
though the result of the victoiy was most im- 
portant, as it decided whether Christianity 
should become the religion of the Roman em- 
pire. "A. D. 311, Constantine being disposed 
to protect and embrace Christianity, which his 
father had greatly favored, and about to fight 
Maxentius, prayed to God for his assistance. 
As he was marching, he saw in the afternoon, 
in tlie sky over the sun, a shining cross, with 
this inscription (touto) vlxa) joined to it. The 
sight astonished him, and the army which ac- 
companied him. This he related to Eusebius 
with his own month, and sware to the truth of 
it at a time when many of the soldiers were 
living." "'^/<qri ^iBaijufiqivdg 'fjMov &Qag, ij^^ 
T^; -flftigag d.noy.UvovaTjg, avroXg dcpdul/Aolg 
IdeTy 'tcprj iv avm ovgai'a {ineQy.el/iiei'OV tov 
r^Uov (jTavQS TQOTxalov ix qnoiTOC avviaT&iAevnv, 
j'OwgriTJr T£ kv'Tm" uvvr^rpOai, liyovaav. toi'tco v'.y.u. 
Horis diei meridianis, sole in occasum vergente, 
crucis tropEBum in coelo ex luce conflatum, soli 
superpositum, ipsis oculis se vidisse affirmavit, 
cum hujusmodi inscriptione : Hac vince." — Eu- 
seb. Vit. Const. 1. 28. Concerning this story 
there have been these opposite opinions — That 
it was a miracle wrought in favor of Constantine 
and of Christianity: that it was a pious fraud, a 
mere stratagem of Constantine's, to animate his 
soldiers, and to engage the Christians firmly on 
his side. Fabricius, as an honorarws arbiter, 
comes between both, and allows the fact, but 
rejects the miracle. Bihl. Gr. 6. 8. " There 
is," says he, " a natural appearance, a ' solar 
halo,' which sometimes represents a lucid cross, 
and this is go rarely Been, that it ie no wonder if 



Note 65, 66.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*261 



Constantiiie and they who beheld it with him 
accounted it miraculous, especially at that junc- 
ture. If this were no miracle, yet it tended to the 
service of Christianity, and to bring about the 
great revolution that then happened. There 
are in historians, ancient and modern, and in the 
Philosophical Transactions, descriptions of such 
phenomena, and also of lucid circles or crowns, 
accompanying them. Fabricius gives an ac- 
count and a representation of some. Thus far 
all goes well enough ; but the great difficulty is 
the inscription [To6m vb/.a), for which Fabricius 
offers this solution, that youcpl] means a ' picture,' 
as well as a ' writing,' and tliat liyeiv, when 
applied to a picture or image, means, ' to denote,' ^ 
or ' imply,' and that the words of Constantino 
and Eusebius may be thus interpreted, that by 
this he should conquer ; which image was a 
lucid crown, a representation or symbol of vic- 
tory. To this I add, that Eusebius, by not using 
the v/ords (ttoix^Xu, or ygd/ii/iiuTu, nor mentioning 
in what language it was written, seems to speak 
rather of an emblem or picture, than of a writing. 
Add to this, that in the standard which Con- 
stantine ordered to be made in the form of a 
cross, in memory of this omen, he placed a 
crown of gold and jewels on the top of it, and 
a cypher denoting the name of Christ, but not 
tiie words rovra I'ly.a. Euseb. Vit. Const. 1. 31. 
Amongst the Panegyrici Veteres, the eighth is 
in praise of Constantine, and celebrates his 
victory over Maxentius, but says not a word of 
the cross. The author of this panegyric was a 
pagan. The ninth also, composed by Mazarius, 
is silent concerning this prodigy. One of the 
panegyrists speaks of a last omen, by which he 
might mean the cross. See Tillemont, H. dcs 
'Empires, 4. 632. Not. But, after all, it seems 
rather more natural to interpret ygaqirii' liyov- 
aav of a writing, than of a picture." 



Note 65. — Part IX. 

The v/ord "'7^ was commonly used by the 
Jews to denote either man or woman. St. 
Peter calls the woman the weaker vessel. St. 
Paul, alluding to the preachers of the Gospel, 
observes, " We have this treasure in earthen 
vessels." Schoetgen quotes the book Zohar on 
Exod. on Ruth ii. 9. 

nin^ 'S3 |rp;n x-'p^n:^ ju'x j-Sx — "the 

iust are here understood, who are called the in- 
struments or vessels of the Lord." — Schoetgen. 
Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 446. 



Note 66.— Part IX. 
St. Paul, in Gal. 1. 16, 17., speaking of his 



conversion, writes, " Immediately I conferred 
not with flesh and blood, but I went into Arabia, 
and returned again unto Damascus." Pearson 
argues from this, that he did not preach in the 
synagogues at Damascus till after the three 
years which he passed in Arabia. Michaelis, 
on the contrary, would connect ver. 20 with 19, 
on account of the word FvOiuJc, which word by 
Dr. Wells is referred to the return of St. Paul 
to Damascus. He thinks the passages are to 
be paraphrased thus :—" After he had received 
meat he was strengthened." Presently after 
which (according to Gal. i. 16.) he went into 
Arabia, and having been there instructed in the 
Gospel, by the revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. 
i. 12.), he returned again to Damascus. " Then," 
or " now," was St. Paul certain days with the 
disciples at Damascus, and straightway (namely, 
after his return out of Arabia) he preached 
Christ in the synagogues^ 

Schleusner is of opinion that the word av/j,- 
6i6<xCaiv is to be understood before this clause. 
See, on the full meaning of this word, Kuinoel, 
Schleusner, and others. 

Biscoe sufficiently shows that St. Paul, as a 
rabbi, or authorized teacher of the people, was 
privileged to preach in all synagogues wherever 
he went. 

St. Luke has not noticed this journey ; and 
as St Paul has merely mentioned it in his 
Epistle to the Galatians, without relating any 
thing that he then did, we cannot speak of it 
with any degree of certainty. St. Jerome has 
determined that the Apostle did not exercise 
any ministerial function, and he supposes that 
by a dispensation, unknown to us, or by an 
express command of God, he i-emained silent 
(Gal. i. 12.)'. It is very likely that it was in 
this retreat that he acquired by the reading of 
the Sacred Writings, and by the inspiration of 
tlie Holy Ghost, the knowledge that he after- 
wards displayed. It is further to be observed, 
that there had been in Arabia Petr^a, where 
St. Paul had retired, a sect of " Jewish Chris- 
tians," which Epiphanius calls Sampseans''. 
They adhered in all things to the Jews. There 
were some of them who abstained from eating 
the " forbidden animals." This was a sect of 
Esseans", who had embraced Christianity, but 
who appeared to have only the name of Chris- 
tians ; they studied the Law of Moses, and 
were remarkable for their hospitality, and sim- 
plicity of life and manners. 

•'" Geography of the KeiD Testament, part ii. p. 
20, 21, ap. Lardner. 

' " Lucam idcirco de Arabia prteterisse quia for- 
sitan nihil dignum Apostulatu in Arabia perpe- 
trarat. Nee hoc segnitias Apostoli deputandum, 
si frustra in Arabia fuerit, sed quod aliqua Dispen- 
satio et Dei proeceptum fuerit ut taceret."— Ht'er. 
Com. in Ep. ad Gal. i. 17. 

'' Epip. H'xres. Liv. 53. 

' Petav. In .Yaiis ad Hceres. 19. Ossenorum 



262* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS, 



[P. 



IX. 



Note 67.— Part IX. 

In 2 Cor. xi. 32. St. Paul mentions as the 
cause of this stratagem, that the governor of 
Aretas liept the city of the Damascenes with a 
garrison for the purpose of apprehending him. 

Damascus in Syria had been reduced to a 
Roman province by Pompey the Great, after 
the war with Mithridates. A difficulty there- 
fore arises, how could Aretas, king of Arabia, 
be in possession of Damascus and appoint an 
ethnarch ? In the last year of Tiberius, Are- 
tas had waged war with, and defeated Herod 
Antipas, for the injury he had done to his wife, 
the daughter of Aretas. Herod, enraged at his 
defeat, appealed to Tiberius, who commanded 
Vitellius, the governor of Syria, to attack Aretas, 
and send him dead or alive to Tiberius. Vitellius 
.prepared to obey, but marched his troops back to 
their winter quarters, on receiving intelligence, 
while he was at Jerusalem, of the death of the 
emperor. At this interval Aretas made an 
irruption into Syria, and took Damascus, and 
kept possession of it for some time. 



Note 68.— Part IX. 

The war between Herod and Aretas, the 
little communication between distant cities, the 
seclusion of St. Paul in Arabia, the agitation of 
the Jews on account of the death of Tiberius, 
the deposition of Caiaphas by Vitellius, as well 
perhaps as the desire the priests would natural- 
ly feel to suppress the account of the failure of 
their decree against the Christians of Damascus 
— sufficiently explain why the apostles at Jeru- 
salem were ignorant of St. Paul's miraculous 
conversion, till it was announced to them by 
Barnabas. 

The commentators suppose that St. Paul, 
during his present sojourn at Jerusalem while 
praying in the temple, fell into that ecstasy or 
trance mentioned Acts xxii. 17-21. Hales^' 
translates the word i^anoaTsXa, « I will send 
thee forth as an extra apostle to the remote 
Gentiles, selecting thee, ^^aiQovfievog ae, from 
the people of the Jews, and from tiae Gentiles, 
to whom (the latter) I am now going to send 
thee forth, vvp d.no(jrillM, to turn them from 
darkness unto light, and from the jurisdiction of 
Satan unto God, in order that they might re- 
ceive remission of sins, and an allotment among 
those that are sanctified by faith toward me." 



Note 69.— Part IX. 

I SHALL here take the opportunity of observ- 
ing to the Jew who may disbelieve tliat Jesus 

1 Hales' Jlnal. Chron. vol, ii. part ii. p. 1190. 



of Nazareth was the true and expected Mes- 
siah, that the declarations of the New Testa- 
ment are not only supported by miracles of the 
same, or of greater, extent and wonder than 
those of Moses (which I have attempted to show 
in a former note) but that every testimony 
which demonstrated the truth of the Mosaic 
dispensation was vouciisafed in support of the 
Christian revelation also. — If miraculous gifts 
were imparted to the Sanhedrin, on its first 
establishment (Num. xi. 25.), they were likewise 
granted at the early meeting of the infant 
Church of Christ, as a pledge of the presence 
of his Holy Spirit. — Were ecstasies and visions 
permitted to the prophets of the olden Church, 
so likewise were they in the apostolic age. 
St. Paul had his vision in the temple ; and 
again the Lord appeared to him and comforted 
him, (Acts xxiii. 11.) To St. Peter a sheet 
descended from heaven for the purpose of un- 
folding to him the great truth that the Gentiles 
also were to be made partakers of the Gospel 
blessings. — If a superhuman knowledge of God 
and of the invisible world be an internal proof 
of the inspiration of the writers of the Old Tes- 
tament, which of these can bear any comparison 
with the discoveries of the unseen state revealed 
in the transfiguration, when the bodies of men 
were seen as they will appear in glory at the 
last great day — or in the resurrection of our 
Lord, when the same body assumed new and 
mysterious properties — when angels were its 
guardians, and the bodies of the dead arose ? 
Have any of the inspired anticipations of the 
old prophets exceeded those of St. Paul, who 
was exalted to a state where he heard tilings 
which it was not lawful for man to utter ? or have 
they equalled the more glowing and sublime 
representations of the Apocalypse, when the 
beloved disciple, wrapt in the highest visions, 
describes the perfection of the spiritual temple, 
and the removal of the curse from mankind ?— 
Did the Urim and Thummim mysteriously com- 
municate the will of God to the suppliant priest ? 
Christ himself hath spoken to us in the fulness 
of the Godhead bodily, and has committed to us 
the lively oracles. — Was the voice from the 
mercy-seat heard by the privileged lawgiver of 
Israel ? Did it whisper in Eden, or speak in 
thunder at Sinai ? Was it heard by Elijah in 
the wilderness, or by Daniel in Babylon ? So 
also did it thrill into tlie ears of the priests 
and the people in the temple, carrying convic- 
tion to the inquiring Greeks. It proclaimed, at 
the baptism of Christ, from the mercy-seat of 
heaven, " This is my beloved Son." It arrested 
the persecuting Saul, breathing out vengeance 
and slaughter.— Were the angels of heaven 
the visitors of Abraham at his tent, or of Jacob 
at Mahanaim ? So were they also the glorious 
ambassadors from heaven, announcing the ad- 
vent of the Prince of Peace, the promised Mes- 



Note. 70.-72.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*263 



siah. — Was tlie prophet the discerner of spirits, 
when he inquired of his servant, " Went not mine 
heart with thee, when the man turned again 
from his chariot to meet thee?" So likewise 
did Peter penetrate into the deepest recesses of 
that covetous heart, which he declared to be in 
the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. 
— Was Gehazi struck witli leprosy ? So also 
was Elymas witli blindness, and Ananias with 
instant death. — Did Moses foretell the eventual 
dispersion of Israel nearly two thousand years 
before it took place .-' So also do the apostles of 
the New Testament unanimously predict their 
future union and reestablishment in the Holy 
Land. — Did the Prophet Elisha raise to life the 
son of the widowed friend of his poverty and 
persecution ? So also did the Apostle St. Peter 
bid Tabitha arise ; and restored from the dead 
the benefactress of the poor and destitute. — 
These facts rest on the same species of evidence, 
and were given for the confirmation of one 
common system of divine truth, to demonstrate 
the beautiful harmony that pervades the two 
covenants, and to convince both Jew and Gen- 
tile that the God of both their dispensations is 
the same God, neither ought his children to be 
any longer divided. 

If the mission of Christ was not confirmed by 
such stupendous judgments as those which 
Moses inflicted, when the earth opened and 
swallowed up Dathan and his coadjutors and 
all their company, and they went down alive, 
and the people fled at the cry of them ; or by 
such judgments as caused that equally fearful 
exclamation, " If I be a man of God, let fire 
come down from heaven to consume thee," 
and the fire descended — it must be remembered, 
that the new dispensation was one of mercy — 
that our Saviour came to seek and to save 
those that were lost — and that his whole object 
was to remove the curse of sin, and all its 
attendant afflictions, diseases, and miseries. 
His apostles inflicted death on two individuals 
only for the unpardonable crime of sin against 
the Holy Ghost; they demonstrated their 
power in a manner more consistent with the 
dispensation they were commissioned to estab- 
lish, by relieving the infirmities and sicknesses 
^of men, and redeeming them from him who had 
the power of death, that is, the devil. 



Note 70.— Part IX. 

The trade of a tanner was esteemed by the 
Jews so contemptible that all those who fol- 
lowed it were required to mention the same 
before their marriage, under the penalty of the 
nuptials becoming void. It is recorded in the 
Mishna, that after the death of a man whose 
brother exercised the trade of a tanner, the 
the wdse men of Sidon decided, that the widow 



of the deceased was permitted to Jecline inter- 
marrying with that brother. 

This custom explains to us the probable 
reason why tlie Evangelist might have been so 
particular in relating so apparently a trivial cir- 
cumstance, as the lodgings of the apostle. St. 
Peter took up his abode with the most mean 
and despised of his own countrymen, although 
at this time, without divine interposition, he 
would have refused to preach to Cornelius, an 
honorable Gentile.— See Schoetgen, vol. i. p. 447. 

See various ordinances among the Jews, ap. 
Wetstein in loc, expressive of contempt for 
the occupation of a taimer. 



Note 71.— Part IX. 

Dr. Lardner, contrary to tlie decision of 
the generality of commentators, has endeavoured 
to show that the rest, or peace, or prosperity, 
which the Church now enjoyed was not to be 
attributed to the conversion of St. Paul, but to 
the effects produced among the Jews by the 
command of Caligula, which directed the 
statue to be placed in the temple of Jerusalem. 
— See Lardner's Credibility, vol. i. p. 97-100, 
and Hales' Chronology, vol. ii. part ii. p. 1191. 



Note 72.— Part IX. 

ON THE state of THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH, 
AND ON THE APOSTOLIC OFFICE. 

We have now proceeded through the history 
of the Church of Christ during the time that it 
consisted only of Jewish converts. We have 
witnessed the appeal of the merciful Saviour of 
the world to his chosen people, in the wonder- 
ful operations of the Holy Spirit. But the veil 
was still upon their eyes, and although the 
Jewish converts may be considered as the first 
fruits of the Christian Church, yet the Sanhe- 
drin, the leaders of the people, and by far the 
greater part of the nation still persisted in their 
blind rejection of Him " to whom gave all the 
prophets witness." 

At this period the infant Church presented to 
the world wherever they were scattered, wheth- 
er in Jerusalem or in the provinces, the inter- 
esting spectacle of unbroken " unity and godly 
love." There were no controversies, no heart- 
burnings, no mutual jealousies, to disturb that 
holy calm, the fruit of righteousness ; they 
obeyed to the utmost that new commandment 
given to them, "Love one another." When 
any occasion of dissatisfaction occurred, such 
for instance as the complaints of the Grecians 
on account of their widows, the wound was 
immediately healed, and the commands of their 



264=* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX. 



appointed heads were respected and obeyed. 
They were one fold under one shepherd. They 
continued steadfast in the apostles' doctrine 
and fellowship, in frequent celebration of the 
communion, and in thanksgiving and prayers. 
They were united in doctrine, practice, and 
discipline, the three great and only preservatives 
of real unity and true piety among men. 

I. The articles of their doctrine may be 
easily summed up — ^They believed that Jesus 
was Lord and Christ, that is, that he was the 
Divine Personage, the manifested God of the 
patriarchs, the true Messiah, Acts ii. 36. — 
They believed in the necessity of repentance 
for the crucifixion of the Prince of Life, and 
of conversion from Judaism to Christianity, as 
well as from sin to holiness. Acts iii. 38. — the 
resurrection of Christ, Acts ii. 31. — the eleva- 
tion of Christ till the time of tlie restitution of 
kll things, Acts iii. 2L — that Christ was the 
prophet like unto Moses, Acts iii. 22. — the 
(eventual) overthrow of the Jewish dispensation. 
Acts vi. 14. and as we find also from the speech 
of St. Stephen — the doctrine of the atonement 
of Christ, Acts viii. 32-35. — and salvation to 
man by Clu-ist alone ; for " there is no other 
name given under heaven, whereby we can be 
saved." That they believed in the necessity of 
personal holiness, and of the influences of the 
Holy Spirit, is evident from the manifestations 
of the Spirit, under which they so immediately 
lived, and which, on every fit occasion, they 
imparted, (see Acts iii. 26.) These were the 
articles of their faith, established on the facts 
related in the Gospels, of whose truth they must 
have been convinced from the testimony of eye- 
witnesses. The great majority of Christians in 
all countries, however they may have added to 
the simplicity of the Christian Creed, believe in 
these, the fundamental and essential doctrines 
of their faith. But this agreement, which ought 
to have been a sacred bond of union among 
Christians, has not protected them from those 
various divisions and controversies which make 
the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. 

The twelve articles of the Apostles' Creed 
may be collected from the teaching of St. Peter 
in the first chapters of the book of the Acts. 
(See Bishop Pearson's divisions.) 

I. I believe in God the Father Almighty, 
Maker of heaven and earth. Acts iv. 24. 

n. And in Jesus Christ, his only Son our 
Lord, Acts ii. 38. 

III. Which was conceived by the Holy 
Ghost, born of the Virgin Maiy, Acts i. 14. 

IV. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was cruci- 
fied, dead, and buried. Acts iii. 13. and iv. 27. 

V. He descended into hell : the third day he 
arose again from the dead, Acts ii. 27, 31. and 
iii. 1.5. and iv. 33. 

VI. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on 
the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, 
Acts iii. 13, 21. and v. 31. 



VII. From thence he shall come to judge 
the quick and the dead. Acts iii. 21. 

VIII. I believe in the Holy Ghost, Acts ii. 
38. and v. 32. 

IX. The holy Catholic Church, the com- 
munion of saints. Acts i. 8. and ii. 39. and iii. 
26. 

X. The forgiveness of sins. Acts ii. 38. and 
V. .31. 

XL The resurrection of the body — (this is 
implied in the resurrection of Christ, see Art. 

V.) 

XII. And the life everlasting. This is im- 
plied in the belief in the ascension — see Art. 
VI. 

II. The practice or religious conduct of the 
Church of Jerusalem was consonant with their 
knowledge. Personal religion was the criterion 
of their faith. They were in frequent com- 
munion. Their prayers were many — their ad- 
herence to the doctrines of the apostles was 
steadfast — their boundless liberality was found- 
ed upon its most acceptable source, self-denial 
and the sacrifice of the things of the flesh — 
their motive was the will of God.i Peace and 
joy in God, love to each other, personal holi- 
ness, and consequent happiness, characterized 
this holy communion, and Paradise seemed 
again restored to this favored portion of man- 
kind. Since this golden age has no Christian 
Church been so perfect or so prosperous. 
Never, it is to be feared, will the same felicity 
be revived till that millennial period, which the 
wise and good have always anticipated in that 
petition, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done 
on earth, as it is in heaven ; " when the curse of 
sin shall be removed from the earth, and the 
nations shall become the inheritance of the 
anointed of God ; and the uttermost parts of 
the earth shall be his possession*. 

*•■ Vitringa jrives a beautiful description of the 
union of the Church at Jerusalem : " Primas Ec- 
clesiae Christianaj, Deo per prfeconium Christi 
atque Apostolorum et copiosam distributionem do- 
norum Spiritus Sancti lucem e tenebris producente, 
formosa erat et splendidisshna facies. Omnia, i;t 
vera solent, ridebant. Doctrinse su83 constabant 
castimonia. Nihil in cultu, nihil in sacratissiniis 
relio-ionis symbolis adultorinum ; reajiminis forma 
optima et ecclesiaB iiidoli convenientissima. Dis- 
cipline vigebat exercitium incorruptse. Diaboli 
adversus ecolesiam ferocientis impetus eetenns a 
Deo cohibebantur, ut per satellites suos, principes 
mundanos, cursum Evancfelii non sufflamen atterit. 
Hrprpticis nullus adhuc dum in ecclesia locus. Et, 
quod optimum et maximum et post doctrinns sin- 
ceritatem pra;cipuam in ecclesia considerationem 
meretur, excellebat divina ilia credeiitium a-vi 
apostolic! societas, quibuslibet virtutibus Chris- 
tianis, et perfusa erat largo imbre dnnnrnm Spiritus 
Sancti. Hie conspicua erant fides illibata, vegeta, 
corroborata, omnia tentans, omnia potens. zelus pro 
divina gloria et caussa Christi Regis ardentissimus, 
nulla metuens pericula, nullis languescens malis ; 
charitas rara. inaudita. et quasi supergressa limites 
lege prai-scriptos ; gratissima animorum concordia, 
juncta simplicitate, omnes de malo suspiciones ex- 
cludenti ; mansuetudo, benignitas, humilitas, et quse 



Note T"?.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*265 



III. The union and happiness which were so 
eminently enjoyed by the Church of Jerusalem, 
under the government of the apostles, must 
have been materially promoted by tlie obser- 
vance of one system of discipline. The Church 
of the Jews established by Moses was one 
religious society, comprising the whole nation. 
When tlie same God, who had given the Mo- 
saic Law. imparted the new dispensation to his 
chosen people, the first object of Christianity 
seems to have been, to continue to preserve the 
whole nation as one religious society. For this 
purpose they were for many years publicly ap- 
pealed to, by the teaching, miracles, and fulfil- 
ment of tlie prophecies by our Lord. They 
were next appealed to by the apostles, and their 
attempts were also fruitless. Then only it was, 
that the nation of the Jews, considered as a 
people in their corporate capacity, represented 
by tlieir senate and legislature, rejected the 
God of their fathers. The exertions of the 
apostles were next directed to save as many of 
their nation as would believe from the errors of 
their blinded countrymen, to become the found- 
ers of that new religious society which was to 
be extended among all nations. The especial 
providence of God preserved from dissensions 
the infant Church thus composed, till the period 
of its more ample enlargement arrived. The 
converts at Jerusalem, therefore, were so con- 
firmed in the truth of theur creed, and were so 
perfectly governed by their apostolical rulers, 
that when the period of their dispersion came, 
they carried an uncorrupted and an uncontro- 
verted faith over the world. And as every 
society must be governed by some authority, 
they would have taken with them that plan of 
polity, which the apostles would have established. 
The question, therefore, of the mode of Church 
government observed by the apostles becomes 
interesting and important, as it will point out to 
us tliat plan by which the Christian Church 
was intended to continue as one religious 
society: for as the Jews were thus united 
as one Church into one religious society, 
so it was designed that the whole world should 
become one holy and catholic Church, of 
which each nation should become a separate 
branch. 

In all inquiries of this nature, it is our first 

plurain Christiano homine prEedicanda sunt. His 
virtutibus elegante harmonia intexta erant dotes 
scientiaj, sapientice, prudentise, sanctitatis. pro- 
phetise. linguarum, charismatum EVfj/fiac, miracu- 
lorum, quae hunc ecclesis primaevas statum di vinum 
prorsus efficiebant ac coelestem, eique magnam apud 
exteros conciliabant reverentiam. Rectores, om- 
nibus necessariis virtutibus donisque instructi, sua 
erga plebem officia diligenter observabant, absque 
affectato in earn imperio ; plebs Christiana rectoribus 
cum honore praestabat obsequium ; vel potius, om- 
nes ut fratres se uni regi et domino, Christo Jesu, 
arctissimo amoris vinculo compacti subjiciebant, 
ab ejus hserentes ore, ejusque ducti spiritu." — Vi- 
tringa, Observ. Sacrce, lib. iv. cap. vii. p. 901. 

VOL. II. *34 



duty to refer to facts before we proceed to in- 
ferences. These are recorded in the nine first 
cliapters of the Acts, and from them certain in- 
ferences have been deduced. 

An apostle was elected from among the 
brethren to fill the place of Judas — we infer 
therefore that the apostolic office was superior 
to that of the disciples. 

The persons who sold their lands for the 
benefit of the poor placed the proceeds at the 
disposal of the apostles. — It has been inferred, 
therefore, that the apostles not only directed the 
general concerns of the Church, but ordered 
even the management of the contributions. 
The primitive Church believed, from this in- 
stance, that the benefactions of the members of 
a Church, for religious purposes, should be con- 
signed to the charge of the governors and rulers 
of those Churches, and not be distributed at the 
caprice or pleasure of private individuals. 

The election of deacons has been already 
considered. They were chosen from among the 
people, presented to the apostles, and appointed 
to the service for which they were required, 
after they had been approved by the twelve. — 
The primitive Church has uniformly considered 
the election of the seven deacons and their 
appointment by the apostles, to be the right 
mode of ordination among Christians for ever. 
The conduct of Christ and his holy apostles, the 
men who were moved by the Spirit of God, was 
believed to be as binding among Christians as 
the institutions of tlie Law of Moses were obli- 
gatory among the Jews. 

After the death of Stephen, the great body 
of the Church, as has been before observed, 
was dispersed all around Jerusalem. The 
apostles alone continued in that city ; and we 
read, in consequence of the great success of 
Philip the deacon and evangelist in Samaria, the 
twelve sent down two of their number to impart 
to the new converts the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
Whether this was done merely to strengthen 
the new converts — or to confirm them in the 
usual sense of that word — or to ordain elders foi 
the purpose of supplying the incipient congre- 
gations — or to bestow the miraculous gifts of the 
Holy Spirit, (for all these have been inferred,) 
it is not necessary to decide. The important 
fact is certain ; the ministerial function was con 
trolled and subject to a superior ecclesiastical 
authority, which was demonstrated by the ful- 
filling of more solemn duties than subordinate 
preachers were empowered to perform. Chris- 
tian teachers exercised government over other 
Christian teachers, and likewise over their 
converts, without either the permission or the 
interference of the people. And from the re- 
corded fact, we are justified in concluding that 
this system of ecclesiastical discipline was uni- 
formly observed by the apostles, and, as such, 
must be the best model for their successors. 

Before the Gentiles, or the Proselytes of th^ 



266* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part IX 



Gate, were invited to become members of the 
Christian Church, St. Paul was miraculously 
converted. Three years after which he preached 
Christ in the synagogues, apparently without 
either the sanction of an apostle, or the request 
of the people. This illustrious convert, although 
he cannot be admitted as a general example, 
had also authority for what he did. He was 
(as Biscoe, On the Acts, p. 271, has proved) an 
ordained elder, doctor, or teacher, among the 
Jews, and possessed the privilege of preaching 
in the synagogues. In addition to this human 
ordination, he was miraculously filled with the 
Holy Ghost as a qualification for his high office. 
He was set apart by the Divine Head of the 
Church himself, who appeared to him from 
heaven, and commissioned liim to go to the 
Gentiles. 

We are now brought to the most important 
part of the subject — the nature of the authority 
which was thus exercised by one class of Chris- 
tian teachers over both the other teachers, and 
the first converts ; or, in other words, of what 
nature was the apostolic office, and what Idnd 
of government therefore is to be exercised in the 
Christian Church .? It will appear, from the 
united testimony of the Scripture itself, and the 
authority of some of the most learned theo- 
logians who have adorned the Christian world, 
yet who have been adverse to the episcopal 
regimen, that the word apostle was well known 
among the Jews, and that it denoted an officer 
of high influence and authority, who exercised 
a delegated power over the ministers and people 
of separate and distant congregations. 

Though the Jews were dispersed throughout 
the world at the time of our Lord, their numerous 
congregations were under the control of the 
high priest and Sanhedrin ; and the persons who 
were sent by them were called their apostles. 
While every separate congregation was gov- 
erned by its own rulers of the synagogue, or 
councils of ten, or three, or twenty-three, the 
whole Jewish Church, through all its depart- 
ments, was subject to the authority of the heads 
of the Church at Jerusalem, and tlje Romans 
protected the Jews in exercising the right of 
governing their own countrymen'. The Jews, 

' Lightfoot's Works, Pitman's edition, vol. iii. 
p. 196. 

*" " Principem veto post patriarchas dignitatis 
locum obtinebant illi quos Apostolos vocabant, 
nisi nos fallit Epiphanius, lib. 1. torn. 2. Hares. 
XXX. §. 4. IlQ<iait)Qivovoi yu^ ru) naxQiuQ^^, y.al nvv 
txvrio TToXXuy.tg, y.at iv vvy.XL, y.ui. iv i^ueQu, ovve/r^>c, 
Stuyovot, Sta To Gv^i^ovXtviiv, y.at avatpfOsiv avTco Ta 
xaTu vuuur. Assident enim hi patriarchse, etcum eo 
saepius diu noctuque continuo versantur : quod ei- 
dem a consiliis sint, acde iis refcrant quce ad leg-em 
pertinere videbantur. — Est enim aurum coronariuin, 
quae diversarum ordines curiarum vel amore propi'io, 
vel indulgentiarum Isetitia, vel rebus prospere gestis, 
admoniti, in coronis aureis signisque diversis obtu- 
lerint. Lege iv. Cod. Theod. de Aur. Coron. Witsii. 
Exerc. Sac. xii. De Historia Hieros. p. 3J3. Sue- 



therefore, were accustomed to submit to the con- 
trol of the Sanhedrin, and would not, when con- 
verted to Christianity, object to a continuance 
of that fonn of government to which they had 
thus submitted. We will, however, consider 
the word in all its significations. 

I. The word apostle, (xnoarcXog, says the 
learned Witsius, literally signifies one who is 
sent forth. It was used among the Greeks for 
the word — 

II. UqeaBevg (jcrroaTellofievog, fteaiTijg £lg-)\- 
VTjg evExa, i. e. an ambassador, one sent forth, a 
mediator to make or establish peace. 

III. More especially, 6 arQaTijybg y.ccT& nlovv 
nsi.i7i6fiEvoQ, the leader sent on a naval expedi- 
tion. — Hesychius. 

IV. Nv/ncpaybiydg, one sent to bring the bride 
to the house of her husband. — Phavorinus. 

In all which senses it is singularly descriptive 
of the office of the apostles — they were minis- 
ters of peace, and commanders of that great 
expedition which was directed to the isles of the 
sea, and to the Gentile world ; which in Scrip- 
ture is frequently represented under the emblem 
of the sea. It was their high office also to pre- 
sent the Christian Church as a chaste virgin to 
Christ. 

In Hebrew, the word dndarolog, or apostle, 
corresponds to the titles "I^So, niVii', or u^hw- 
■jxSa is frequently used, not only of angels, but 
of prophets and priests, Hag. i. 13. Mai. ii. 7. 
In this sense St. Paul calls Chi-ist the apostle 
of our profession (adding the word d^/tf^sv'if ), 
T^S o/iolojlag I'lfiS)!' — of our, that is, the Chris- 
tian profession, in opposition to the high priest 
of the Jews. 

It corresponds also to the word niStJ'. The 
Jews had their ~I13 V n'Sti' or Snp, &n6(rToXovg ttjc 
Ixxkrjcjlag, who brought the decrees of the high 
priest to the synagogues at Jerusalem, and the 
tithes and victims to the priests, and principally 
collected for the temple service the tribute of 
the half-shekel, which was required by the Law 
of Moses from the whole population. The 
word, in tliis sense, was adopted in the Christian 
Church. It was more especially used to denote 
the ambassadors and assistants of the patriarchs 
of the Jews". 

cedit vox, niSt'' quam sibi attribuit Ahias, 1 Reg. 
xiv. 6. I'Sn niSty OUX ubi LXX. 'yinoaroUv 
vertunt. Habebant etiam inv TT'Sti', vel ,'^rp, 
anoaruXovQ rijg fxyX-qaiits, nuncios, ccEtus, qui man- 
data deferrent ad synagogas Hierosolyrnam, vel 
victimas et decimas ad sacerdotes ; niaxime qui 
(llSca/iiov, seinisiclum, tributum quotannis ex lege 
in sacravium differendum, exigerent. Dein collap- 
sis Judseorum rebus retenta tamen in synagoga vox, 
^ JnonToXuiv, est ; talesque signate dicebantur, qui 
patriarchse assessores et legatl erant, cjusque iy- 
yi'xXia, youiiiKxTa, circulares litera.s ad synagoffas 
deferebant pecuniis per capita colhgendis, speci- 
atim anro coronario, coronas scilicet patriarcbali 
ornanda;, quod loco didragmi exigebant patriarchee 
in partibus tarn orientis, quam occidentis." — Wits. 
Meict. Lcid. p. 22. 



Note 7"2.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*267 



In the Jerusalem Talmud (Sanhed. fol. 18. 
col. 4.) we are presented with the form of the 
letters which were issued by the Sanhedrin ; 
from which we learn that the expression " to the 
bretliren," was in common use, and referred to 
the Jews, whether priests or not, who had 
authority in the provinces ; and to whom the 
Sanhedrin gave the power to put its decrees 
in force. It must however be observed, says 
Lightfoot", that it was not the awe of the 
power of the Sanhedrin, so mucli as the innate 
ambition of the Jews to continue as one people, 
which made them obedient. And the letters 
therefore which St. Paul received from the 
Sanhedrin to the brethren at Damascus, we 
must suppose not to be imperative, but declar- 
ative and persuasive. This remark of Light- 
foot is no doubt correct ; and it proves the point 
under discussion : that authority was exercised 
over the synagogues of the Jews, and that the 
persons who were deputed to exercise it were 
called apostles : and, we may add too, that the 
same desire of union among themselves, which 
induced the foreign Jews to submit to the juris- 
diction of their high priest and Sanhedrin, ought 
to be a prevaihng motive to union among 
Christians. 

" The word apostle," says Mosheim", " it is 
well known, signifies a legate, an ambassador, a 
person entrusted with a particular mission. The 
propriety, therefore, with which this appellation 
was bestowed by Christ on those friends whom 
he thought proper to select for the propagation 
of his religion throughout the world is manifest 



" Schoetgen. Hotcb Hebraicts, vol. i. 937, who 
has added this also to his quotations. " Sic ex 
JVedarim apud R. Samuel Ben David, SxiDty TDn 

^whu; IX tnn pn 'hiSb' ■'jhd ^jn in fol. 28. 2. 

XJomT, num sacerdotes apostoli propria an vero 
apostoli Dei ? Quid inde vero ^ resp. Si dicimus, 
eos esse apostolos proprifi auctoritate venientes. non 
necesse est, ut sacevdos sit Justus. Si vero dicimus, 
eos esse apostolos Dei, necesse est, ut justi sint." 
° " Convenit prtetei-ea quoad vim significationis 
cum titulo 113V n'Sii'jnomeii '^zrocoAoc rijg i>!xX>i- 
nlixs, Legatus ecclesise, quod Paulus bis, nisi fallor, 
adhibuit in epistolis suis, an quoad usum, dubium. — 
Imo in ecclesiis Chnstianis nulli fuerunt Jegati ccetus 
ad Deum pra?ter Episcopos et Presbyteros, vel 
prseter presbyteriorum preesides. Clerus antiquis- 
siraffi ecclesioB Chrisliance constitit tantum presby- 
teris et diaconis. Legati ecclesiarum, quales in 
synagogis medii erant inter prasfectos ct diaconos, 
in ecclesia Christiana nulli fuerunt, turn quia offi- 
cium legati ecclesisE (113 Vn''?!^) ut plurimum in 
antiquis synagogis non fuit statum et solenne, 
sed quibusvis viris in synagoga honoratioribus et 
rernm sacrarum peritis libere commissum, turn quia 
ille precandi actus, qui a legatis ecclesiae in syna- 
goga praestabatur proprie ab ipsis synagogaj prEefec- 
tis prsstandus erat, et baud dubie in multis syna- 
gogis, ubi doctorum copia non aderat, exereitiis 
est. Cum igitur in prirais ecclesiis Christianis 
omnia quam simplicissimo mode composlta fuerint, 
opus non erat extraordinariis ejusmodi precandi 
ad Deum legatis, sed prsestabat omnino ut hie actus 
a praeside presbyterii ceu a legato tam presbyterii 
quam ecclesia? totius,perageretur." — Vitringa, De 
Synag. Vcter. lib. iii. pars 2. p. 912. 



from this its common acceptation. But the 
reader will perhaps discover a peculiar force in 
tills term ; and more readily perceive the motives 
which probably induced our Saviour to apply it 
to those whom he sent forth, when he is inform- 
ed, that, in the age of which we are now treating, 
this appellation was appropriated to certain 
public officers of great credit and authority 
amongst the Jews, who were the confidential 
ministers of the high priest, and consulted with 
by him on occasions of the highest moment. 
They were also occasionally invested with par- 
ticular powers, and despatched on missions of 
importance, principally to such of their country- 
men as lived in foreign parts. The collection 
of the yearly tribute to the temple, which all the 
Jews were bound to pay, was likewise entrusted 
to their management ; as were also several 
other affairs of no small consequence. For 
since all Jews, however widely they might be 
dispersed throughout the various regions of the 
world, considered themselves as belonging to 
one and the same family or commonwealth, of 
which the high priest residing at Jerusalem was 
the prefect and head ; and as the members of 
every inferior synagogue, however distant or 
remote, looked up to Jerusalem as the mother 
and chief seat of their religion, and referred all 
abstruse or difficult matters, and any contro- 
versies and questions of moment respecting 
divine subjects, to the decision of the high 
priest, it was absolutely necessary that this 
supreme pontiff should always have near him a 
number of persons of fidelity, learning, and 
authority, of whose services he might avail 
himself in communicating his mandates and 
decrees to those Jews who were settled in dis- 
tant parts, and in arranging and determining 
the various points referred to him for decision." 
The learned writer then goes on to show the 
great probability that the officers who were thus 
entrusted with this delegated authority were 
called apostles. In the first place, St. Paul 
himself evidently intimates such to have been 
the case in the opening of his Epistle to the 
Galatians, when he terms himself an apostle, 
not d/i' (jii'do(jjTTO)i', "of men," noriJt' (ii'dgdnoiv, 
" by men," but of God himself, and his Son 
Jesus Christ, Gal. i. 1. What necessity could 
there be that this inspired writer should thus 
accurately define the nature of his commission, 
and so particularly mark the distinction be- 
tween himself and an apostle invested with mere 
human authority, if the Jews, to whom that 
Epistle is principally addressed, had been 
strangers to that other kind of apostles com- 
missioned by men, namely, apostles sent by the 
Jewish high priest and magistrates to the dif- 
ferent cities of the Roman empire ? This 
interpretation was long since given to the 
words of the apostle by St. Jerome, Comm. ad 
Galatas, tom. ix. opp. p. 124. edit. Francof. 
" Usque hodie," says he, " a patriarchis Judce- 



268* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part. IX. 



oruin apostolis mitti (constat) : ad distinctionem 
itaque eorum qui mittuntur ab hominibus, et sui 
qui sit missus a Christo, tale sumpsit e.xordium : 
' Paulus apostolus, non ab hominibus, neque per 
hominem.'" These words of St. Jerome, who 
resided in Palestine, and was every way skilled 
in Jewish affairs, must necessarily be allowed 
to weigh strongly in favor of the above state- 
ment respecting the apostles of the high priest. 
The meaning they convey indisputably is, that, 
in the time of St. Paul, it was the practice of 
the Jewish high priest to send forth apostles, 
after the same manner as the Jewish patriarchs 
were accustomed to do at the time he (St. Je- 
rome) wrote : and there appears to be no reason 
whatever which should induce us to question 
the credibility of what is thus said. But let us 
return to the words of St. Paul, in which there 
is something worthy of remark, which, if my 
' memory does not fail me, says Mosheim, has 
never hitherto attracted the attention of any 
commentator. St. Paul says, that he is an 
apostle, not of men, neither by man. He there- 
fore clearly divides human apostles into two 
classes ; viz. those who were commissioned 
merely by one man, and those who were invest- 
ed with their powers by several. Now what 
does this mean? Who are these men, and 
who that single man, who, in St. Paul's time, 
were accustomed to send amongst the Jews 
certain persons, whom it was usual to distin- 
guish by the appellation of apostles? The 
single man of whom Paul alludes, could, I con- 
ceive, have been none other than the great 
high priest of the Jews ; and the several men, 
who had also their apostles, were unquestion- 
ably the archonies, or Jewish magistrates. The 
learned well know that justice was administered 
to the Jews who dwelt in the different prov- 
inces of the Roman empire by certain magis- 
trates, or vicegerents of the high priest, who 
were termed, after the Greek, archonies, con- 
cerning whom a curious and elegant little work 
Avas published by Wesseling, Jld Inscript. 
Beren. Traject. ad Rhen. 1738, in 8vo. I take 
the meaning, therefore, of St. Paul to be, that 
he neither derived his commission from those 
inferior magistrates, to whom the Jews who 
dwelt without the limits of Palestine were sub- 
jects, nor was he delegated by the chief of their 
religion, the high priest himself. That these 
archontes had under them certain ministers, 
who were termed apostles, much in the same 
way as the high priest had, is clear from Euse- 
bius, who says — " ' Anoaid'kovg 81 elain xal 
vvp sdog iailf lovdalotg bvofi&C^eiV rovg r& iy- 
xvxliu ygafi/xaTtt nagdi iwv 'APXONTSIN 
aiiwv inixofn'C^ofiEfovg. Apostolos etiam nunc 
Judcsi COS appellare solent qui archontum suorum 
Hit eras circumquaque deportare soleni." — Com- 
ment, in Esaiam, cap. 18. in Montfauconii Col- 
Icctione nova Pair. Gracor. tom. ii. p. 424. 
Mosheim goes on to prove, that the aversion 



of the Jews to Christianity must have prevented 
them from borrowing this title from the Chris- 
tian Church. As the high priest had probably 
twelve apostles, to correspond with the number 
of the tribes, he supposes our Lord appointed 
twelve also, in allusion to the same. This 
however is uncertain''. 

The learned Vitringa', who had endeavoured 
to identify the officers of the Christian Church 
entirely with those of the synagogue, writes, 
that he is doubtful of the meaning of the words 
113V n'Sii'. I cannot suspect this eminent 
theologian of disingenuousness, or I should be 
inclined to suppose that his ignorance in the 
present instance could be accounted for in no 
other way; for he expresses himself on other 
occasions with sufficient decision. St. Paul, in 
two passages of his Epistles (2 Cor. viii. 23. and 
Phil. ii. 25.), decidedly applies the expression 
" Apostles of the Churches," to Epaphroditus 
and Titus, both of whom, ecclesiastical history 
informs us, were bishops. Vitringa (p. 913) 
would apply the term exclusively to the collec- 
tors of the money provided by the Churches for 
the necessities of their members ; and to this 
sense it is also limited by Witsius, Benson, 
Doddridge, and the divines in general who 
object to that form of Church government 
which existed in the early ages of Christianity. 
It is certain the office of the apostle embraced 
with this other duties of a much higher and 
important nature : and these several duties, with 
the high authority attached to them, must be 
included in our definition of the office of an 
apostle. 

Bishop Taylor has placed this part of the 
subject in its proper light. Now these men 
were not called 'An6oToloi, messengers, in 
respect of these Churches sending them with 
their contributions: — 1. Because they are not 
called the Apostles of these Churches, to wit, 
whose alms they carried ; but simply 'Exy.hjcrlbii', 
of the Churches, viz. of their own of which 
they were bishops. For if the title of apostle 



'' Bishop Jeremy Taylor On Episcopacy, p. 19, 
small 4to. edit. Oxford, 1642. See the dissertation 
of Petit, Critici Sacri, vol. ix. and principally pp. 
1183-1186, on this subject. 

' Hi assident patriarch®, et cum eo assidue diu 
noctuque degunt, consulendi gratia, et ea, qu8B 
secundum legem fieri debent, suppeditandi. Hot- 
tingerus verba Epiphanii sic interpretatus videtur, 
ac si cuique patriarchae unus solummodo fuerit 
apostolus, sed mihi quidem longe commodius sic 
exponenda videntur post alios, quod cuique patri- 
archoB plures fuerint senatores, apostoli dioti, qui 
ab ipso subinde plenft cum auctoritate legati sunt 
ad synagogas sufe ditionis visitandas aut reforman- 
das. Et certe, stante adhuc republic^, saspe a Sy- 
nedrio in gravioribus negotiis missi sunt legati in 
has aut illas oras terrce Canaan, aut ad synagogas 
extra Canaanem, qui pro arbitrio et amplitudme 
potestatis, sibi concessa, de republic^ statuebant ; 
quippe cujus memoranda reliquitexempla Josephus 
in Historia Vitse suas." — Vitringa, De ST/Ttaff. Vet. 
lib. ii. cap. x. p. .577. 



Note 72.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*269 



luid related to their mission from these Church- 
es, it is unimaginable that there should be no 
term of relation expressed. 2. It is very clear 
tJiat although they did indeed caiTy the benevo- 
lence of the several Churches, yet St. Paul, not 
those Churches, sent them : " And we have 
sent them with our brother," &c. 3. They are 
called Apostles of the Churches, not going 
from Corinth with the money, but before they 
came thither, from whence they were to be de- 
spatched in legation to Jerusalem : " If any 
inquire of Titus, or the brethren, they are the 
apostles of tlie Church, and the glory of Christ." 
So they were apostles before they went to 
Corinth, not for their being employed in the 
transportation of their charity''. 

Vitringa proceeds further to assert, in the 
most positive manner, that there were not in 
the Christian Churches any ambassadors of this 
nature ; and that the only ministers were bishops 
and presbyters, which were the same, and dea- 
cons. It is most true that there were no 
officers in the synagogue itself bearing the 
title of apostle, and confined exclusively to the 
performing of the religious service of one par- 
ticular synagogue ; and it is the very point 
which I have been endeavouring to establish, 
and on which the whole question depends. 
There were, however, among the Jews, officers 
of this name, whose duty it was to superintend 
the synagogues at the command of the high 
priest ; in allusion to which, it is highly proba- 
ble that Christ, our Great High Priest, distin- 
guished his chosen disciples by the same appel- 
lation when he invested them with a similar 
power of superintendence over their converts ; 
implying that those whom he had appointed 
should have the same influence and authority 
over his Churches, as the apostles of the high 
priest and Sanhedrin possessed over the syna- 
gogues. The apostles of Christ were not min- 
isters of single congregations ; the apostles of 
the high priest did not confine themselves to 
the superintendence of one synagogue. The 
jurisdiction of both extended over countries and 
districts. As the necessity of government for 
the new societies made the apostolic office 
essential in the period when the Church was 
most pure, so is a similar power of government 
and superintendence essential at present. It 
has always been required ; and we find accord- 

"■ " Synedrii Hierosolymitani tanta erat apud ex- 
teros quoque Judaicos auctoritas, ut placitis ejus 
et praeceptis obtemperarent, pra;sertira quando age- 
batur de falsis prophetis et doctrind avita; rcliopioni 
contraria; et in regionibus illis exteris in quibus 
synagogas erant, quae sponte synedrii auctoritatem 
agnoscerent, Romani, eorumque exeinplo tetrarchce 
et dynastae, concesserant synedrio potestatem, de 
Judaeis in criminibus ad religionem spectantibus, 
quaestionem habendi, eosque puniendi : "• — Joseph. 
Ant. 14. 10. 16. 6. Vitringa, Dc Synagoga Vet. p. 
866. Witsius, Melctem. Lcidcns. p. 23. et Wolfius 
ad p. l.add. not. ad Matth. 26. 66. Kuinoel. /« Lih. 
Hut. J\r. T. vol. iv. p. 330. 

VOL. II. 



ingly, though the name of apostle was discon- 
tinued with the twelve and St. Paul, that the 
power of ordaining, confirming, and governing, 
was preserved in the purer ages of our faith, 
before the papacy usurped upon the primitive 
episcopacy; or the foreign reformers rejected 
the latter, in their eager and justifiable abhor- 
rence of the former. 

Viti'inga, however, acknowledges, in another 
place", that the Sanhedrin sent out persons 
with ample powers to superintend the syna- 
gogues out of the precincts of the Holy Land. 

St. Paul calls Christ the Apostle and High 
Priest of our (i. e. the Christian) profession, 
(Heb. iii. 1.) He was an apostle, as having 
received a delegated authority from God over 
his worshippers ; for we read, God anointed 
him to preach the Gospel to the poor. He was 
the High Priest, as he himself sent out apostles, 
with the same delegated authority as he had 
received over his Christian Churches. His 
own words are, " As the Father hath sent me, 
even so send I you." 

That the Sanhedrin, about the time of our 
Lord's incarnation, possessed and exerted the 

* Philo in Leg. ad Caium, p. 1014. D. E. p. 
1033. A. Augustus, hearing that the first-fruits 
were neglected, wrote to tiie governors of the 
provinces in Asia to permit the Jews to assemble 
for banqueting ; for that these were not assemblies 
of drunkenness and debauchery (alluding plainly to 
the S^tuaoi, forbidden in the decree of Caius Casar), 
to cause riots and disturbance, but were schools of 
sobriety and righteousness ; of men studyingvirtue, 
and bringing in their yearly first-fruits, of which 
they offer sacrifices, sending holy messengers to tiie 
temple at Jerusalem. Then he commanded that 
none should hinder the Jews from assembling, con- 
tributing their money, or sending to Jerusalem after 
their country manner. Then follows a letter of 
Norbanus, containing an epistle of Augustus to 
him, " That the Jews, wherever they are, should, 
according to their ancient custom, meet together, 
brino- in their money, and send it to Jerusalem." — 
Ibid. p. 1035, D. E. 1036, A. B. We have the 
letter of Augustus Caesar to Norbanus in Jos. An- 
tiq. 1. xvi. c. 6. § 3. " The Jews, wherever they 
are, by an ancient custom, are wont to bring their 
money together, and to send it to Jerusalem : let 
them do this without hindrance." In consequence 
hereof, Norbanus wrote to the Sardians (Jos. ibid. 
§ 6.) and Ephesians, that whoever should steal the 
sacred money of the Jews and fly to an asylum, 
should be taken from thence and delivered to the 
Jews, (in order to be prosecuted and punished.) in 
the same manner as sacrilegious persons were to 
be dragged from all asylums. Jos. Antiq. 1. xvi. c. 
6. § 4. °He sent also to the magistrates of Cyrene, 
putting them in mind that Augustus had \wote to 
Flavins, the preetor of Lybia, and to others, who 
had the care of that province, that the Jews might 
send their sacred money to Jerusalem without let 
or hindrance ; commanding the Cyrenians to re- 
store what had been stopped, or taken away from 
the Jews under pretence of tribute, and to prevent 
the like hindrance for the future. Ibid. sect. 5. 
Augustus decreed, that the stealing of their sacred 
books, or their sacred money, out of the places in 
which tliey were wont to be deposited in their sy- 
nagogues, should be sacrilege, and the punishment, 
confiscation of goods. Ibid. sect. 2. Vid. et De 
Bell. Jud.]. yi, c. 16. sect. 2. p. 1284, fin. 

#YV* 



270* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



FPart X. 



privilege of sending out apostles is amply de- 
monstrated by several Roman laws. The Jews 
were allowed, says Mr. Biscoe, to meet to pay 
their first-fruits, and to send them, together 
with whatever money they pleased, to Jerusa- 
lem for offerings, and to appoint proper officers 
to carry it. They were suffered also to deter- 
mine all disputes and controversies among 
themselves in a judicial way. They were not 
only thus indulged in the use of their own cus- 
toms and laws, but, what is much more, if any 
laws of the country, where they inhabited, in- 
terfered with their customs, they were dispensed 
with, and not obliged to comply with those laws. 
Thus, for instance, they were dispensed with 
in not attending courts of judicature, or giving 
bail on their Sabbaths or feast-days. 

Thus may it be sufficient to show, that when 
the Gospel was preached to the Church, while 
it consisted of Jewish converts only, the author- 
ity which was exercised by the apostles was 
not a new thing, nor inconsistent with the man- 
ners and customs of the people under their 
former Mosaic discipline. The same principle 



of government was adhered to, that order, 
unity, and faith might still prevail. But instead 
of the persecuting letters and the armed bands, 
which were the credentials of the apostles of 
the former economy, the chosen apostles of 
the Legislator of a better dispensation were 
known by the influences of the Spirit, by holi- 
ness, purity, patience, and love. They were 
armed only with the power of truth and mira- 
cles, and they proclaimed the Messiahship of 
Jesus of Nazareth, and the glad tidings of sal- 
vation to all mankind. The Spirit of God 
attended, with its visible influences, the out- 
ward means of grace ; the Christian priesthood 
and the Christian people were united in one 
faith and one discipline ; the religion of the 
heart, which alone is spiritual and efficacious, 
was preserved by a steadfast adherence to the 
prescribed rites and forms of tne apostolic 
Church ; for the primitive Christians believed 
that He who gave the wine of the kingdom to 
man provided also the earthen vessels by which 
its spirit was preserved. 



PART X. 



Note 1.— Part X. 

ON THE PROSELYTES. 

IiN the arrangement of this part of the pres- 
ent work, it will be perceived that I have adopt- 
ed, in opposition to the authority of Drs. Lard- 
ner, Doddridge, and Hales, the opinion of 
Lord Barrington and Dr. Benson, that the Gos- 
pel was preached to the Proselytes of the Gate 
before it was addressed to the idolatrous Gen- 
tiles. That the whole controversy may be 
fully and explicitly placed before the theological 
student, I shall submit to him the generally- 
received opinion respecting the Proselytes, on 
which Lord Barrington's hypothesis is grounded, 
and Dr. Lardner's objections, with the manner 
in which those objections may be removed. It 
will then be necessary to enter into the various 
reasons and authorities by wliich the opinion of 
Lord Barrington is supported and corroborated. 
Prideaux" gives the following account of the 
supposed diffei'ent classes of Proselytes. He 
states, there were two sorts of Proselytes among 
the Jews. 1st. The Proselytes of the Gate. 
2d. The Proselytes of Justice (righteousness). 
The former they obliged only to renounce 

" Prideaux, Connection, vol. iii. p. 436. 



idolatry, and worship God according to the law 
of nature, which they reduced to seven articles, 
called by them the Seven Precepts of the Sons 
of JVoah. To these they held all men were 
obliged to conform, but not so as to the Law of 
Moses. For this they reckoned as a law made 
only for their nation, and not for the whole world. 
As to the rest of mankind, if they kept the law 
of nature, and observed the precepts above men- 
tioned, they held that they performed all that 
God required of them, and would by this service 
render themselves as acceptable to him, as the 
Jews by theirs ; and therefore they allowed all 
such to live with them in their land, and from 
hence they were called iJiVin CD'-iJ, i. e. So- 
journing Proselytes, and for the same reason 
they were called also Ti'iy TJ, i. e. Proselytes 
of the Gate, as being permitted to dwell with 
those of Israel within the same gates. 

The occasion of this name seems to be taken 
from these words in the fourth commandment, 
— " Nor thy stranger that is within thy gates ; " 
which may as well be rendered, " Thy proselyte 
that is within thy gates ; " that is, the Proselytes 
of the Gate, that dwell with thee. For the 
Hebrew word ger, which signifies a stranger, 
signifieth also a proseh/te, and both in this 
place and in the fourth commandment denote 
the same thing. For no strangers were per- 



Note 1.] 



NOTES OX THE ACTS. 



*271 



mitted to dwell -n-ithin their gates, unless they 
renounced idolatry, and were proselyted so far 
as to the observance of the seven precepts of 
the sons of Noah. Though they -were slaves 
taken in war, they were not permitted to live 
with them within any of the gates of Jerusalem 
on any other terms ; but, on their refusal thus 
far to comply, were either given up to the 
sword, or sold to some foreign people. And as 
those who were thus far made proselytes were 
admitted to dwell with them, so also were they 
admitted into the temple, there to worship God ; 
but were not allowed to enter any farther than 
into the outer court, called the court of the 
GentHes. For into the inner courts, which 
were within the enclosure, called the chel, none 
were admitted but only such as were thorough 
. professors of the whole Jewish religion. And 
therefore, when any of these sojourning prose- 
lytes came into the temple, they always wor- 
shipped in the court. And of tliis sort of prose- 
lytes, Naaman the Syrian, and Cornelius the 
centurion are held to have been. 

The other sort of proselytes, called the Prose- 
lytes of Justice, were such as took on them the 
observance of the whole Jewish law. For 
although the Jews did not hold this necessary 
for such as were not of this nation, yet they 
refused none, but gladly received all who 
would embrace their religion ; and they are 
remarked in our Saviour's time to have been 
very sedulous in their endeavours to make 
converts, and when any were thus proselyted 
to tlie Jewish religion, they were initiated to it 
by baptism, sacrifice, and circumcision, and 
thenceforth were admitted to all the rites, 
ceremonies, and privileges that were used by 
the natural Jews. 

It was on this generally-received opinion that 
Lord Barrington" framed his hypothesis, which 
demonstrates, beyond a doubt, the separate 
manner in which the Jews, the devout GentUes, 
or Proselytes of the Gate, were severally con- 
verted to the Christian faith. The holy Gospel, 
like the grain of mustard seed, was of gradual 
development, and progressively revealed to the 
world. We have already seen that the Gos- 
pel was first preached to the Jews, and that the 
first Christian Church was established at Jeru- 
salem. The period in which the Gospel was 
confined to the Jews, and Proselytes of Righ- 
teousness, who enjoyed all the privileges of the 
former, is supposed to commence, according to 
Lord Barrington, at the year 29, and end in the 
year 41. The second period, when the Gospel 
was preached to tlie Proselytes of the Gate, 
begins at the year 41 to 45. The third, when it 
was preached to the idolatrous Gentiles, is from 
the year 45 to the year 70, which brin^ us to 
the end of the Jewish age, and the destruction 
of the Jewish state and nation, which implied 

' Preface to the Miscdl. Sac. p. xiv. &c. 



the abolition of the Law of ZVIoscs, relieved the 
Jews and the Proselytes of the Gate from their 
adherence to those Laws, and consequently 
destroyed the distinction of the three periods ; 
all men being then bound only to the faith and 
obedience of the Gospel, and a subjection to 
the laws of those countries in which they 
respectively resided. The more minute divis- 
ions of the noble author it wUl not be necessary 
to notice, as they appear to me less corrobo- 
rated than the others, and are not referred to in 
the present arrangement. 

Dr. Lardner's proposition, in reply to this 
hypothesis of three divisions, is — There was but 
one sort of proselytes^. 

He then proceeds to describe them by the 
usual characteristics universally acknowledged 
to belong to Proselytes of Righteousness — they 
were called " Strangers, or Proselytes within 
the gate," and " Sojourners,"' as they were 
allowed to dwell or sojourn among the people 
of Israel. They were so called because they 
could not possess land ; the whole of Canaan 
being, by the Law of Moses, appropriated to 
the twelve tribes only. 

1. In defence of this hypothesis. Dr. Lardner 
quotes Exod. xii. 48. Lev. xvii. 8. Num. ix. 14. 
and XV. 15, 16., all of which ordain a perfect 
similarity between the Israelite and the sojourn- 
ing stranger. — Answer: These passages appear 
to prove that there were certain proselytes, or 
sojourners, who were not, however, permitted 
to partake of the Passover, or offer sacrifice, 
unless they were circumcised. 

2. He is of opinion, that no strangers, but 
those who thus conformed implicitly to the Law 
of Moses, were permitted to dwell in Canaan ; 
with the exception of travellers or mercantile 
aliens, whose abode, however, was not to be con- 
sidered permanent — Answer : Tliis is assuming 
the point to be proved. 

3. Dr. Lardner supposes that Eph. ii. 1-3. 
contains an allusion to the custom of receiving 
strangers as perfect proselytes in the Jewish 
conmionwealth. — Answer: This may be, but 
the general opinion that there were two kinds 
of proselytes is not thereby overthrown. 

4. The word prosehjfe. Dr. Lardner observes, 
is of Greek origin, equivalent to stranger, long 
since become a technical word, denoting a con- 
vert to the Jewish religion, or a Jew by religion. 
■ — Answer : It exactly corresponds to the Hebrew 
word ~o, which means stranger and convert. 

5. They are called, in the fourth command- 
ment, "thy stranger witiiin thy gates." — An- 
swer: This passage is quoted by Prideaux (Conn. 
vol. iii. p. 436) to prove the opposite opinion. 

6. The Jews, agreeably to the Law of Mos;s, 
reckoned there were only three sorts of men in 
the world : Israelites, called also home-bom, or 
natives ; strangers within their gates ; and 

■^ Lardner'i 
p. 303. 



Works. Hamilton's 4to. edition. 



272* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part X. 



aliens — or otherwise there were but two sorts 
of men, circumcised and uncircumcised, Jews 
and Gentiles, or Heathens. — Answer : The 
Proselytes of Righteousness were always con- 
sidered as naturalized Jews, and enjoyed all 
the privileges as such — or it may be otherwise 
answered, that the strangers within the gate 
might refer to the two kinds of proselytes. 

7. Dr. Lardner next asserts, that the word 
proselyte was always understood in the sense 
which he gives to it by ancient Christian writ- 
ers. In support of his argument he adduces 
the authority of Bede, Theodoret, Euthymius, 
and Christian Druthmar, who all define a prose- 
lyte as one who, being of Gentile original, had 
embraced circumcision and Judaism : and that 
the notion of two sorts of proselytes cannot be 
found in any Christian writer before the four- 
teenth century, or later. — Answer: We have 

•the internal evidence of Scripture in our favor. 
The best Jewish writer, Maimonides, mentions 
them, as well as other Jewish records. 

8. Cornelius is not called a proselyte in the 
New Testament. — Ansiver: But he is described 
by those characteristics attributed to Proselytes 
of the Gate. 

9. The apostle refused to preach the Gospel 
to Cornelius, because he was uncircumcised, 
(Acts xi. 3.)— Answer: The Proselyte of the 
Gate, like every other uncircumcised Gentile, 
was regarded as polluted and unclean. Light- 
foot, who calls the Proselytes of the Gate, 
Sojourning Strangers, observes, from the Jerus. 
Jebamoth, fol. 8, col. 4, that a sojourning stran- 
ger was as a Gentile to all purposes. 

10. The apostles were commissioned to 
preach the Gospel in " Jerusalem, in all Judaea, 
in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the 
earth." In these, and all other places, one and 
the same character comprehends all Gentiles. 
— Answer : There seems to be a striking differ- 
ence between the commission of St. Peter, who 
was more particularly the apostle of the circum- 
cision, and the commission of St. Paul, who was 
the chosen vessel of Christ, to bear the testi- 
mony ot the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts ix. 
15.) The words " I will send thee far hence to 
the Gentiles" (Acts xxii. 21.), demonstrates the 
nature of his appointment, and the character 
of those nations he was commanded to visit, 
which were beyond dispute idolatrous. St. 
Peter, to whom the keys of the. kingdom of 
heaven had been committed (Matt. xvi. 19.), is 
peculiarly employed for the admission of the 
devout Gentiles ; and the conversion of Corne- 
lius has ever been considered as the first fruits of 
the Gentiles, in whom they were all typically 
cleansed and sanctified. If, however, St. Peter 
had been generally sent to the Gentiles, why 
was St. Paul so miraculously set apart for that 
purpose ? 

11. Dr. Lardner gives this remark of Sueur, 
speaking of St. Paul's vision of the sheet, " God 



thereby showed unto his servant, that hence- 
forward he would have all the people of the 
world, without exception, called to partake in 
his gracious covenant in his Son Jesus Christ, 
and to the knowledge of salvation by him." It 
was so understood by the primitive Christians, 
the apostles, and evangelists. — Answer: 
Granted : but this by no means opposes a grad- 
ual conversion, but seems rather to corroborate 
it. Providence, in all his dealings with man, 
has ever observed a progressive system ; the 
divine dispensations have been always gradual- 
ly unfolded. Although the apostles were com- 
manded to evangelize all nations, it appears 
they did not comprehend the full extent of their 
mission : a vision was necessary to convince St. 
Peter that it was lawful for him to converse 
with, or to preach the Gospel to, an uncircum- 
cised Gentile. This vision established the 
divine intention, that the Gentiles should all be 
admitted into the Christian Church ; and after 
the prejudices and scruples of this zealous 
Apostle had, by the intervention of Almighty 
power, been overcome, and a devout Gentile 
liad been received into the Christian Church, 
St. Paul, by a similar intervention, by a trance 
in the temple, obtained his commission to teach 
and to preach to the distant and idolatrous 
Gentiles. The vision of the sheet demonstrated 
the conversion of the heathen world, and it 
must have acted as an encouragement to St. 
Paul, who was made the chief instrument of its 
accomplishment. 

Dr. Lardner, in another volume, adduces 
similar arguments against this hypothesis, 
which do not, however, appear more satisfactory. 

Dr. Lardner then proceeds to argue against 
the opinion of Lord Barrington and Dr. Benson, 
that the conversion of the idolatrous Gentiles 
was unknown to the Church at Jerusalem. As 
I have not espoused this part of the theory of 
these two eminent theologians, it is not neces- 
sary to enter further into the question. Dr. 
Lardner, however, has omitted to mention (what 
appears to me the principal objection), that it 
would have been impossible to have concealed 
the circumstance of the conversion of tlie Gen- 
tiles, as the Jews went up yearly from the 
provinces to Jerusalem, and some of them must 
have known, and would, without doubt, have 
communicated the exertions of St. Paul. 

Josephus" tells us that all the worshippers of 
God, from every part of the world, sent presents 
to the temple at Jerusalem. His expression is 
the same as that which is used in Scripture'^, 



" £nt. 1. 14. vii. ap. Lardner, vol. v. p. 501. 

'^ <Jio(iovLifvoi,sc[l.ni^iiiieyoi t'ov Plt'or vocabantur 
Proschjti, PorlcE, v. 13. J6. 26. 43, &c. Kuinoel, 
Comimnt. in Lib. JV. T. Hist, vol iv. p. 3.59. He 
quotes also the passage from Miohaclis. mentioned 
below, vol. iii. Art. clxxxiv. of Smith's Eng-lish 
translation. It may be proper here to set before 
the reader, at one view, the various names given 



Note 1.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*273 



which Dr. Lardncr arbitrarily interprets as 
referring- to the Proselytes of Righteousness : 
and he would render the word 2e()6,usi'oi by 
"Worshippers," or "Proselytes of Righteous- 
ness" only — Tiaincot' TUc xaia t^i' oixovfiii'iji' 
'Iovd(tlw>', y.ul ae6o/iisi'wi' rov ©for. 

But when we consider the very extensive 
manner in which the word as66(uei'oi- is used in 
the New Testament, it is not reasonable to 
confine it to this very limited sense : in addition 
to which there is an evident distinction made 
in different parts of the Acts between the Jews 
(the Proselytes of Righteousness being always 
considered as such), and the devout persons by 
whatever name they were distinguished. — See 
Acts xvii. 4. 17. and xiii. 43, 50. 

Doddridge principally objects to the theory 
of two sorts of proselytes on the same grounds 
as Dr. Lardner, whose arguments he strenu- 
ously supports in opposition to those of Barring- 
ton and Benson. 

In his note on Acts xi. 20. he would refer 
the word 'Ellrii'iaTag to the idolatrous as well 
as to the believing or devout Gentiles. 

Dr. Hales^ has professed himself to be con- 
vinced by the arguments of Dr. Lardner and 
Doddridge. Among the many eminent authori- 
ties who agree in the opinion which I have 
adopted, that there were two sorts of proselytes, 
may be ranked Selden^, Witsius", and Spencer, 
who defends this side of the question at great 
length, in his De Legibus Hehraorum. Mich- 
aelis'' justly observes, whoever also acknowl- 
edged the revealed religion of the Jews to be 
divine, was not according to it under the least 
obligation to be circumcised. This is a point 
which is very often misunderstood, from cir- 
cumcision being always represented as a sacra- 
ment equivalent to baptism, and from its being 

m the Scripture History to those Gentiles whom 
the Jews had turned from idols to worship the 
true God. 

"AvSiJiq ii'Xa^uc, ii. 5. 

IJjioni'i'kvTot, ii. 10. Proselytes. This name was 
given also to those Gentiles who received circum- 
cision, and who were Jews in every respect except 
in their descent. 

".^I'lJof? £vai(iifc, X. 2. 7. 

<t>o^ovuivoi Tov 0Eor, X. 2. xiii. 16. 26. 

Sipuii^roi nqo<:i\Xvroi, xiii. 43. Worshipping 
Proselytes. 

Stfiutiit'Oi 'EXX)]veg, xvii. 4. Worshipping Greeks. 

Seriufisrot Tov 0eor, xviii. 7. 

UoontnyiiiKvoi rm P)ew, ii. xi. 5. ad Dcum acce- 
dentes. This is the' name proselyte, a little changed. 
— Macknight, Ep. vol. vi. p. 311. 

^ Hales's Analysis of Chronol. vol.ii. part ii. 1198. 

^ De .lure JVat. et Gent. lib. ii. ap. Witsii JEgyp- 
tiaca, lib. iii. cap. xiv. sect. 9. " Summademum est, 
actus omnimodos, qui viciniorum gentium idolola- 
triam ejusve ritus omnino saperent;aut imitari vi- 
derentur, tametsi idoli cultus procul abesset, ex 
Jure interveniente, non vero communi seu naturali, 
Proselytis domicilii, ut ex civili Israelitis, inter- 
dictos." 

" Xgypt. lib. iii. cap. xiv. sect. ix. p. 226, &c. 

' On the La7cs of Moses, vol. iii. p. 64. 

vpL. II. *35 



inferred without any authority from the Bible, 
and merely from that arbitrary notion, that 
since the time of Abraham, circumcision became 
universally necessary to eternal happiness. 

Moses has no where given any command, nor 
even so much as an exhortation, inculcating the 
duty of circumcision upon any person not a 
descendant or slave of Abraham, or of his de- 
scendants, unless he wished to partake of the 
Passover: and in the more ancient ordinance 
relative to it, mention is made only of Abra- 
ham's posterity and servants, (Gen. xvii.) In 
none of the historical books of the Old Testa- 
ment do we any where find the smallest trace of 
circumcision being necessary to the salvation of 
foreigners, who acknowledged the true God, or 
requisite even to the confession of their faith ; 
no, not so much as in the detailed story of Naa- 
man (2 Kings v.) ; in which, indeed, every cir- 
cumstance rather indicates, that the circum- 
cision of that illustrious personage can never be 
supposed. In later times, indeed, long after the 
Babylonish captivity, there arose among the 
Jews a set of irrational zealots, with whom the 
Apostle Paul has a great deal to do in his 
Epistles, and who insisted on the circumcision 
even of heathens, as necessary to salvation. 
But they were opposed not only by the Apostle, 
but also even before his time, and without any 
view to Christianity, by other temperate but 
strictly religious Jews. 

Vitringa"" acknowledges the distinction. 

The learned Drusius'', Calmet', Lightfoot-', 
with the best English commentators^, Danzius'', 
in a very learned treatise, as well as Schoet- 
gen", who has drunk so deeply of the fountain 

■^ Ohserv. Sacra, vol. ii. p. 47. 

'^ In the Critici Sacri. 

' Calmet, Art. Proselyte — pTV 1J and :]ij;in ij. 

/ Lightfoot, ffarm. of the JV. T. vol. i. p. 286. 

^ Whitby, Hammond, and others. 

'' Danzius, in his treatise Cura Hehraorum in 
conquircndis Proselytis, apud IVIeusohen JVov. Test, 
ex Talmitde, p. 668. 

' Schoetgen Horee Helraicai, vol. i. p. 454. 
" Quamvis Judasi," says Schoetgen, " de proselytis 
non tarn bene sentirent, prout ex scriptis eorundem 
hinc inde constat, Deus tamen eosdem chares habuit 
et prosclara ssepe de iisdem testatus est. Ratio ejus 
rei est, quod Israelitas multa et maxima miracula 
Dei viderant, et tamen fidem ipsis habere nolebant : 
proselyti contra, qui ipsi miraculorum divinorum 
testes non erant, et eis tamen fidem adhibere non 
detrectarunt. Hinc ilia nomina quibus in his actis 
insigniuntur : dicuntur enim siiXujific, c. ii. 5. viii. 
2. mfluuiiioi ; c. xiii. 43. 50. xvi. l4. (pO|5oi'nf roi tuv 
0eov, ex. 2. xiii. 16. 26. Ipsi tamen Judoei non- 
nunquam claro veritatis lumine convicti veritatem 
quoque ductu sacrarum litterarum confessi sunt : 
quorsum pertinet locus in Bammidla.r Riibha, sect, 
viii. fol. 196. 4. ad verba Fsalm cxlvi. 9. Donu- 
nus custodit peregrines : Multusest Deus in custo- 
dia ipsorum, ne a se recedant. Grati Deo sunt 
proselyti, nam Scriptura eosdem scepenumero Isra- 
elitis a;quiparat, q. d. Jesa. xli. 8. Et vos Israel 
servus meus, et Jacob, &c. De IsraeUtis dicitur, 
quod Deus illos araet,Malach. i. 2. Dilexi vos, dicit 
Dominus ; idem de proselytis, Deuter. x. 18. Et 
amat proselytum, ut det ipsi panem et vestes." 



274* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part X. 



of talmudical knowledge, agree with Lord Bar- 
rington, and have collected many testimonies 
to prove the same point. 

In the Critici Sacri, vol. i. p. 155, sect. 14, 
are two dissertations by John Frischmuthius, 
On the Seven Precepts ofJVoah, who endeavours 
to prove that there were two sorts of proselytes. 
He quotes the words of Maimonides, upon 
which alone, as Dr. Lardner supposes, the whole 
question originated^'. We learn from these 
treatises, that Deut. xiv. 21. was interpreted of 
the Proselytes of the Gate, by R. Mose Bar. 
Nachman, p. 156, sect. xx. ; while others of 
the ancients considered it as referring to the 
Proselytes of Justice. Kimchi says it denoted 
both, or either; and this seems the most prob- 
able opinion. The question, indeed, seems 
never to have been doubted till Lardner pro- 
posed his objections to Lord Barrington's hy- 
pothesis, which, as we have now seen, is cor- 
roborated by the best and most learned au- 
thorities. 

It is certain that in the time of the apostles 
there were a large class of persons who were 
neither Jews nor idolatrous Gentiles, and who, 
if they were not called Proselytes of the 
Gate, and received among the Jews in that 
capacity, were at least worshippers of the one 
true God — observed the hours of prayer — gave 
alms, and built synagogues, because they de- 
sired to please God — they must have been 
known, esteemed, and beloved by the Jews for 
their actions, although they refused to associate 
with them, because they were uncircumcised 
and Gentiles. After the Gospel had been made 
known to the Jews and Samaritans, to whom 
could the blessings of the new dispensation 
■with more evident propriety have been revealed 
than to those devout Gentiles who worshipped 
the God of Israel, and devoted themselves and 
their wealth to his service ? 

God has ever imparted his spiritual knowledge 
to men, in proportion to their purity and holiness 
of life — "He that doeth my will shall know of 
the doctrine whether it be of God." The fulness 
of time for the admission of the Gentiles into 
the Church, as revealed long before by the 
prophets, had now arrived. The wall of par- 
tition was now broken down, and" the devout 
Gentiles, as a pledge or an earnest of the ap- 
proaching conversion of the whole heathen 
world, were admitted even into the holy place, 
the sanctuary of their God. 

The beautiful prayer of Solomon, on the ded- 
ication of the temple, is another strong evi- 
dence in support of the hypothesis of different 
sorts of proselytes. Dean Graves* remarks, 
" We find the principle here stated, publicly and 
solemnly recognized: 'Moreover, concerning a 
stranger that is not of thy people Israel, but 

J Vol. i. p. 155. sect. 14. 

^ Graves On the Pentateuch, vol. i. p. 237. 



Cometh out of a far country for thy name's 
sake ; (for they shall hear of thy great name, 
and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched-out 
arm ;) when he shall come and pray towards 
this house ; hear Thou in heaven thy dwelling- 
place, and do according to all that the stranger 
calleth to Thee for: that all people of the earth 
may know thy name to fear thee, as do thy 
people Israel ; and that they may know that 
this house, which I have builded, is called by thy 
name.' And again, at the conclusion of- this 
devout address, the monarch prays, ' Let these 
my words, wherewith I have made supplication 
before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our 
God day and night, that he maintain the cause 
of his servant, and the cause of his people 
Israel at all times, as the matter shall require ; 
that all the people of the earth may know that 
the Lord is God, and that there is none else.' 
In this remarkable passage, which is the more 
decisive as it contains a solemn recognition 
of the principles and objects of the Jewish 
law, proceeding from the highest human author- 
ity, and sanctioned by the immediate approba- 
tion of God, whose glory filled the house of 
the Lord, during this solemn supplication, we 
perceive it is clearly laid down not only that 
the Jewish scheme was adapted and designed 
to make ' all the people of the earth know that 
the Lord was God, and that there was none 
else ; ' but also that the stranger from the re- 
motest region, who should be led to believe in 
and to worship the true God, was not only per- 
mitted, but called and encouraged to pray to- 
wards the temple at Jerusalem, to join in the 
devotions of the chosen people of God, and 
equally with them hope for the divine favor, 
and the acceptance of his prayers, without 
becoming a citizen of the Jewish state, or 
submitting to the yoke of the Mosaic ritual or 
civil law. For the words of Solomon evidently 
suppose, that the stranger, whom he describes 
as thus supplicating God, remained as he 
had originally been, ' not of the people of 
Israel.'" 

From 2 Chron. ii. 17. it appears, Solomon 
found in Israel strangers of such a rank of life 
as were fit to be employed in assisting to build 
the temple, 15.3,600. These (as the commen- 
tators agree, vide Poll Si/nopsin, and Patrick) 
were proselytes to the worship of the true God, 
and the observance of the moral law, though 
not circumcised. Patrick observes, " These were 
the relics (as Kimchi thinks) of the Amorites, 
Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, 
mentioned afterwards chap. viii. 7. But they 
were not i delators, for then David would not 
have suffered them to dwell in the land. But 
they worshipped God alone, though they did 
not embrace the .Jewish religion wholly, by 
being circumcised. These David had num- 
bered, that he might know their strength and 
their condition, which did not proceed from such 



Note 2.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*275 



vanity as moved him to number his own people ; 
but out of a prudent care that they might be 
distinguished from Jews, and be employed in 
SLich work as he did not think fit to put upon 
tlie Israelites." 

The institution of the Mosaic Law which 
admitted the Gentile proselytes into a part of 
the temple, called from this circumstance the 
Court of tlie Gentiles, may be adduced as 
another conclusive argument to prove the truth 
of this proposition. They were admitted to 
show that they had not been forsaken by their 
Merciful Creator, but that all those who would 
forsake idolatry should be taken into covenant 
with him as well as the Jews. 

The constant predictions of their prophets of 
the eventual reception of the Gentiles ought to 
have removed the strong prejudices and objec- 
tions of the Jews on this subject. 



Note 2. — Part X. 

ly that admirable collection of tracts which 
compose the thirteenth volume of the Critici 
Sam, the reader will find a dissertation on the 
vision of St. Peter by Bernard Duysing. The 
whole of this discussion is well worthy of peru- 
sal. After examining many critical points, he 
gives the following explanation of the principal 
circumstances of the Apostle's vision. 

The word av.Evog, vessel, which corresponds 
with the Hebrew ■'Sd, denotes every kind of 
vessel, and it is interpreted therefore by the 
word odoi'Tj, sheet, or any thing woven fi-om 
flax. Camerarius would render the word ddovr^ 
by mappa, a table napkin — Daniel Heinsius, 
by a shepherd's bag, or sack, in which they 
were accustomed to put food, platters, or 
trenchers, and other things. 

The sheet was full of fourfooted and wild 
beasts, creeping things, or reptiles, and fowls 
of the air. Duysing is of opinion that every 
thing which is included in these various de- 
scriptions was unclean : and he strongly objects 
to the opinion of Hammond, that the clean and 
the unclean were here blended together. St. 
Peter was commanded, from the animals before 
him, to slay, and sacrifice, and eat. If they 
had been mingled together, as Hammond sup- 
poses, the Apostle might have selected a proper 
victim, and his answer would not have been 
correct. If it be said the clean animals were 
rendered unclean by contact, the Levitical 
Law (Lev. xi.) teaches us that it was the dead 
body, and not the living body, that rendered 
unclean what was otherwise pure. The whole 
object of the vision was to enforce on the mind 
of the Apostle a new doctrine, which related 
to the Gentiles only, and not to the Jews and 
Gentiles together. 
It was a type of the Christian Church, sepa- 



rated from the world, which included every 
kind of people. 

It was bound at the four corners, signifying 
tliat the whole world should be received into 
the universal Church of Christ ; and it corre- 
sponded with the four horns of the altar, and 
the oxen that supported the brazen sea, which 
were turned to the four quarters of the heavens. 

It was not without design that the sheet de- 
scended from heaven, in the same manner, as 
the new Jerusalem is represented in the Apoc- 
alypse. The Church, though it exists in the 
world, is not of the world ; it is of celestial 
origin. It is a kingdom which is opposed to 
the kingdoms of this world, which are uni- 
formly described as wild beasts rising out of 
the earth, or out of the sea, aspiring to attain 
to heaven. Like its remarkable type, the 
tower of Babel, which inverts the natural order ( 



of things, the false Church has its foundation 
on earth, and in vain attempts to reach to 
heaven. For every one who considers the 
subject will acknowledge that the laws to be 
observed in the Church must proceed from God, 
and ought not to be planned by man under any 
plausible reason whatever. 

The drawing back of the sheet to heaven 
was designed to teach us, that the Church 
which has its origin from heaven will return 
victorious thither. In this representation the 
condition of the believing Gentiles is described: 
they were now about to constitute one Church 
with the believing Jews, and were to be made 
with them partakers of the heavenly inheritance. 
The vision of St. Peter is considered in the 
same manner by Jones of Nayland. " This 
act of grace," he observes, "in the divine 
economy, was signified to St. Peter, by a new 
licence to feed upon unclean beasts. Peter 
could not have entered the house of Cornelius 
according to the Mosaic Law, which he had 
always observed, because it commanded the 
Jews to keep themselves separate from heathens 
in their conversation ; as in their diet they 
abstained from unclean beasts. But when God 
had mercy upon all, and the Jew and Gentile 
became one fold in Christ Jesus, then this dis- 
tinction was set aside." Mr. Jones thus ex- 
plains the vision: — "The living creatures of all 
kinds which were presented to St. Peter were 
the people of all nations ; the linen sheet which 
contained them signified their sanctification by 
the Gospel ; and it was knit at four corners to 
show that they were gathered together from 
the four quarters of the world, and brought into 
the Church." He further observes — " The 
heathens were taken into the Church on con- 
dition that they should put off their savage 
manners, as the unclean creatures had before 
put off their natures and became tame, when 
they were admitted into the ark of Noah, a 
figure of the Church. This change was again 
to happen uader the Gcspel ; and the prophet 



276* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part X. 



foretells the conversion of the heathens under 
the figure of a miraculous change in the natures 
of wild beasts. See Isaiah xi. 6. The moral 
or spirit of this law is as much in force as 
ever." 

Commentators generally translate the words 
■d-vaov y.ui cpaye (v. 13.), "sacrifice and eat," 
rather than " kill and eat." Adam Clarke ob- 
serves — " Though this verb is sometimes used 
to signify the slaying of animals for food, yet, 
as tlie proper notion is to slay for the purpose 
of sacrifice, it appears to be better to preserve 
that meaning here. Animals that were offered 
in sacrifice were considered as given to God : 
and when he received the life, the flesh was 
given to those who offered the sacrifice, that 
they might feed upon it : and every sacrifice 
had in it the nature of a covenant, and cove- 
ijants were usually made by eating together of 
the flesh of the sacrifice offered on the occa- 
sion ; God being supposed to be invisibly 
present with them, and partaking of the feast. 
The spirit of the heavenly direction seems to be 
this: — The middle wall of partition is now to be 
pulled down ; the Jews and Gentiles are called 
to become one flock, under one Shepherd and 
Bishop of souls. Thou, Peter, shalt open the 
door of faith to the Gentiles, and be also the 
minister of the circumcision. Rise up ; already 
a blessed sacrifice is prepared: go and offer it 
to God, and let thy soul feed on the fruits of 
his mercy and goodness, in thus showing his 
gracious design of saving both Jews and Gen- 
tiles by Christ crucified." 

Duysing thus defines the trance or ecstacy 
which St. Peter fell into. "Per sKaracrtv, se- 
cundum H. Stephanum ab i^larafiai, dictam, 
intelligamus mentis quasi dimotionem ex statu 
suo naturali, per quern animse cum corpore 
commercium, sensuumque usus ad tempus ita 
suspenditur, ut homo illorum ope nihil extra se 
positum percipere possit, sed tota mente in 
imagines intus objectas convertatur." — See 
Critici Sacri, vol. xiii. p. 610-620. Jones's 
Works, vol. iii. p. 44, 45. Clarke in loc. 



error upon this declaration of St. Peter to 
Cornelius. Rejecting the Gospel dispensation, 
they endeavour to undervalue or exclude Chris- 
tianity; maintaining, that to fear God and to 
work righteousness are the only duties essen- 
tially necessary to salvation ; and that these 
were as " old as the creation," inculcated by 
natural religion, and adopted by the Patriarchal, 
Heb. xi. 6. Job xix. 25., and by the Mosaical, 
Matt. xxii. 40. 

This may be refuted, and it should seem fully 
and satisfactorily, — 

1. By the case of Cornelius himself, who, 
though he possessed these requisites, was 
further, by a special revelation, required to 
embrace Christianity. 

2. By the general commission to the apostles 
to publish the Gospel throughout the whole 
world, upon the further terms of faith and bap- 
tism in the name of the Trinity. 

8. Upon both accounts, therefore, Peter re- 
quired Cornelius to be baptized or admitted into 
the Christian Church, and entitled thereby to 
its higher benefits and privileges. 

4. Paul has clearly stated the higher privi- 
leges of Jews above the Gentiles, and of Chris- 
tians above both, in his doctrinal Epistles to 
the Romans and to the Hebrews. 
/' 5. Natural religion, if opposed to revealed, 
lis a mere fiction of false philosophy. That 
"the world by [human] wisdom knew not God," 
is a fact asserted by St. Paul, in his First Epistle 
to the Corinthians, (i. 21.) Such knowledge 
being too wonderful and excellent for the 
attainment of mankind, by the confession of the 
patriarchs and prophets (Job xi. 7. xxxvii. 23. 
Ps. cxxxix. 6.), and of the wisest of the heathen 
philosophers. 

6. The Patriarchal and Mosaical dispensa- 
tions were only schoolmasters to the Christian, 
designed to train the world gradually for its 
reception in the fulness of time ; as subordinate 
parts of one grand scheme of redemption, em- 
bracing all mankind, instituted at the creation. 
Gen. iii. 15., and gradually unfolding to the end 
of the world, John iii. 16. Rev. i. 18. 



Note 3.— Part X. 

There is no name given under heaven, by 
which men can be saved, but the name of Jesus 
Christ. This is the truth which has been con- 
firmed by miracles, prophecy, and other most 
incontrovertible evidence. So amply has this 
truth been demonstrated, that no speculations 
or theories of our reason, which clash with it, 
can be received ; however plausible the argu- 
ments on which tliey may rest. Without this 
belief, our religion is degraded into a fine sys- 
tem of morality, and one half of the Scripture 
is useless and unmeaning. 

Some freethinkers have grafted a dangerous 



Note 4. — Part X. 

The construction of this passage is difficult, 
and it has consequently exercised the ingenuity 
of the commentators. 

Tov Uyoi' Of dniaiecle roXg vloXg ' lagarjl, 
are the words. 

Some suppose the accusative is here put for 
the nominative ; others, that there is an ellipse 
of the preposition jcmrd:. Erasmus and Schmi- 
dius would connect rof Atiyo/' with oi'dure in the 
next verse, and read, ovn'jg icm, ti&vtmv xvQiog, 
in a parenthesis, repeating (irn^tn as synonymous 
with Xoynv : in which case the p'asSag'e would 



Note 5.-8.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*277 



be read, " The word which God sent to the 
children of Israel, announcing peace through 
Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), ye yourselves 
have known, the word I say, which," &c. 

Piscator (ap. Bowyer) would read rdv Idyoi' 
for xuTU rdv Ujov, " according to the word " 
which he sent to the children of Israel. Stol- 
bergius would rather put tov l6yov ov, for ov 
Uyov, as ibv (loiov ov y.ltbaev, 1 Cor. x. 16. — 
ibv Uyov ov disdiinp' it^iXi',\{s.g.\\. 6. Stolber- 
gius, De SolcEcismis JV. T. p. 61-64. ap. Bowyer. 

Doddridge renders it, "the message" which 
God sent — Dr. Clarke, " the word." 

Boisius supposes, that (xy.ovGaTS ohv, or some 
similar phrase, is to be understood before toj' 



arrived at Antioch, preached to the Greeks. As 
St. Luke has inserted this account immediately 
after the narrative of St. Peter's visit to Corne- 
lius, and his defence of that measure before the 
Church at Jerusalem, we may consider this 
preaching to the Greeks at Antioch, as the 
result of his public declaration of the vision he 
had seen : which would be justly considered 
as a command from God to those who were 
commissioned to preach, to go to the same 
description of persons as those whom St. Peter 
visited. The Jews (ver. 19.) seem purposely 
contrasted with the Greeks (ver. 20.), and the 
Evangelist designs to show that the preachers 
of the Gospel obeyed the command of God, and 
visited the devout Gentiles of Antioch. 



Note 5.— Part X. 

To tlie question. Why was not Christ after 
his resurrection shown to all the people ? it has 
been answered, 1. Because it was impossible 
that such a thing could be done without mob or 
tumult. Let it only be announced, " Here is 
the man who was dead three days, and who is 
risen from the dead !" what confusion would 
be the consequence of such an exposure ! 
Some would say, " This is he :" others, " He is 
like him," and so on ; and the valid testimony 
must be lost hi the confusion and multitude. 
2. God chose such witnesses, whose testimony 
should be unimpeachable ; the men who knew 
him best, and who, by their depositions in proof 
of the fact, should evidently risk their lives ; 
and, 3. As multitudes are never called to witness 
any fact, but a few selected from the rest, whose 
knowledge is most accurate, and whose veracity 
is unquestionable ; therefore God sliowed not 
Christ risen from the dead to all the people, 
but to witnesses chosen by himself, and they 
were such as perfectly knew him before, and 
who ate and drank with him after his resurrec- 
tion, and consequently had the fullest proof 
and conviction of the truth of this fact". 



Note 6. — Part X. 

This section seems to prove, in the most 
decisive manner, that the Gospel was preached 
to the Proselytes of the Gate, or to such devout 
Gentiles as Cornelius, before it was preached to 
the idolatrous Gentiles. We read, in Acts xi. 
19., that the dispersed in the persecution of 
Stephen preached the Gospel to the Jews only. 
In ver. 20., that these same men, when they 

' See Bowyer's Crit. Conjectures, Wolfius's Curce 
Plvlologicm in loc, and Doddridge's Family Ex- 
positor. 

™ Clarke in loc. ; and see Paley, and the writers 
on the Resurrection 

VOL. II, 



Note 7. — Part X. 

After the interview of St. Paul and St. Peter 
at Jerusalem (Acts ix. 31, -32, dieo/oi^ievo; di(iL 
n&vxojv, says St. Luke), St. Peter went to visit 
all the Churches of Judaja, Galilee, and Sama- 
ria. He goes to Lydda, where he cured Eneas 
(ibid. ver. 33, 34.) who was a paralytic. After 
that he was called to Joppa (ibid. ver. 30.), a 
maritime city of Judaea, where he raised Dorcas. 
He stops at Joppa, and lived there a long time. 
From Joppa he goes to Csesarea (Acts x.), 
where he converts Cornelius, and stops with 
him some days, (ibid. ver. 48.) Upon the report, 
spread at Jerusalem, of St. Peter's having eaten 
with the Gentiles, he returns into that city, and 
defends himself before those of the circumcision, 
(Acts xi. 18.) This voyage of St. Peter's, his 
preaching in the provinces of Judeea, Galilee, 
and Samaria, the long sojourn he made at Joppa, 
with the other events recorded by St. Luke, 
occupy a space of about three years, during 
which time St. Paul preaches in Cilicia. 



Note 8.— Part X. 

Dr. Benson" endeavours to show that the 
Christians received their holy and honorable 
designation by a divine admonition ; and Wit- 
sius that it was solemnly proclaimed in the 
Churches that such was to be their title". 
Erasmus'' considers the word /grj/iarlaai to be 
used for ^vofxit'Ceadm, as do also the other writ- 
ers in the Critici Sacri. See, however, the 
references and remarks of Wolfius'. 

Vitringa'' endeavours to prove from this pas- 



" Benson's Planting of Christianity, 2d edit. p. 
248, note. 

" Melet. Leid. De VitA Paiili, cap. iii. sect. 5. p. 39. 

P Critici Sacri, vol. viii. p. 219. 

' Wolfius, CiircB Philologicoe, vol. ii. p. 1166 

' See his discussion, De Synag. Veteri, lib. i. pars 
1. cap. 3. p. 113, &e. 



278* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part X. 



sage, that the word " Church " here refers to 
the place where a congregation of Christians 
assembled for worship ; or, rather, to that body 
of people which could assemble in one place. 
This is but one, out of many instances, in which 
this learned writer, in his zeal against episco- 
pacy, has proved nothing, by attempting to 
prove too much. We are not acquainted with 
the numbers of the Church at Antioch ; but we 
know that at Jerusalem the thousands of con- 
verts could not be assembled in one place, yet 
they are still called the Church. 

The Codex Beza supposes that the name 
was given by Saul and Barnabas, and renders 
the 25th and 29th verses thus : — " And hearing 
that Saul was at Tarsus, he departed, seeking 
for him ; and having found him, he besought 
him to come to Antioch ; who, when they were 
.come, assembled with the Church a whole year, 
and instructed a great number ; and there they 
first called the disciples at Antioch, Christians." 

The word xgrjftaTlaai, in our common text, 
which we translate " were called," signifies, in 
the New Testament, to appoint, warn, or nomi- 
nate, by divine direction. In this sense the 
word is used. Matt. ii. 12. Luke ii. 26. and in 
Acts X. 22. If, therefore, the name was given 
by divine appointment, it is most likely that 
Saul and Barnabas were directed to give it ; 
and the name Christian, therefore, is from 
God, as well as that grace and holiness which 
are so essentially required and implied in the 
character. Before this time, the Jewish con- 
verts were simply called, among themselves, 
Disciples, i. e. scholars, believers, saints, the 
church, or assembly: and by their enemies, 
Nazarenes, Galileans, the men of this way, 
or sect ; and by other names, which are given 
by Bingham'. 



Note 9.— Part X. 

ON THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH OF JE- 
RUSALEM AFTER THE HERODIAN PERSECU- 
TION, AND ON THE EPISCOPATE OF ST. JAMES. 

The situation of the Church at Jerusalem 
was greatly altered by the Herodian persecu- 
tion. It had hitherto been directed and governed 
by the joint council of the apostles. But, after 
that event, we learn from ecclesiastical history, 
that the superintendence of the Church was 
confided to James, the Lord's brother. It 
asserts that he was the first bishop of Jerusa- 
lem. The catalogues of the bishops of Jerusa- 
lem, which are extant in the early Christian 
writers, all place James at their head. In the 
first chapters of the Acts, St. Peter is constant- 
ly spoken of as the chief apostle, and the prin- 

" Bingham's Ecrl. Antiq. vol. i. book i. Dr. A. 
Clarke in loc. 



cipal person in the Church of Jerusalem ; but 
from the twelfth chapter of that book, which is 
the first place wherein James is mentioned with 
any character of distinction, he is constantly 
described as the chief person at Jerusalem, 
even when Peter was present. For when St. 
Peter was delivered by the angel out of prison, 
he bid some of the disciples go show these 
things, that is, what had befallen himself, to St. 
James, as the head of the Church ; and to the 
brethren, that is, the rest of the Church. Again, 
when St. Paul arrived at Jerusalem from his 
travels in preaching the Gospel to foreign 
countries, being desirous to give an account of 
the success which God had given him, the day 
following he went in to St. James, as the bishop 
of that place, and all the elders, who were next 
in authority to him, were present. In the synod 
which was held at Jerusalem, about the great 
question. Whether the converts from Gentihsm 
should be circumcised, St. Peter delivers his 
judgment as one who was a member of the 
assembly : but St. James speaks with authority, 
and liis sentence is decisive. The name of 
James is placed by St. Paul before Peter and 
John: "James, Cephas, and John, who seemed 
to be pillars." And some of the Church of 
Jerusalem who came to Antioch, are said to be 
"certain who came from James ;" which implies 
that James was the head of that Church, other- 
wise they should rather have been said to come 
from Jerusalem, or from the Church of that place. 

From all this together it plainly appears, that 
the Church of Jerusalem was under the peculiar 
care and government of James. The unani- 
mous testimony of the fathers affirms that St. 
James was made bishop of Jerusalem. Hege- 
sippus, who lived near the time of the apostles, 
tells us, that James the brother of our Lord, 
received the Church of Jerusalem from the 
apostles, (Euseb. lib. ii. cap. 23.) St. Clement 
is quoted by Eusebius as asserting the same 
thing, (lib. ii. cap. 1.) Jerome, Cyril, Augus- 
tine, Chrysostom, Epiphanius, Ambrose, and 
Ignatius concur in their evidence. 

In interpreting those passages of Scripture, 
which men of equal judgment, equal piety, 
and equal knowledge have rendered diff'erently, 
there are but three ways of deciding — one is, 
to rely on our own judgment, without regard to 
any commentators or interpreters — another, to 
rely on those modern theologians who disre- 
gard the testimony of antiquity — and the third, 
I to inquire into the conclusions of the fathers, 
and the ancient defenders of Christianity. The 
'last plan will seldom lead us into error. Thje_ 
fathers of the Church are unanimous on all those 
points which peculiarly cliaracterize true Chris- 
tianity. They assert the Divinity, the Incar- 
nation, and the Atonement of Christ : and thus 
bear their decisive testimony against the modern 
reasoners on those points. They are unani- 
mous in asserting that the primitive Churches 



Note 9.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*279 



were governed by an order of men, who pos- 
sessed authority over others who had been set 
apart for preaching and administering the 
sacraments: and certain privileges and powers 
were committed to that higher order, which 
were withheld from the second and third. The 
reception of the canon of Scripture, the proofs 
of its authenticity and genuineness, rest upon 
the authority of the fathers; and there are cus- 
toms of universal observance, which are not in 
express terms commanded in Scripture, and 
which rest upon the same foundation. We are 
justified, theiufore, on these and on many other 
accounts, in maintaining the utmost veneration 
for their unanimous authority, which has never 
in any one instance clashed with Scripture — • 
which will preserve in its purity every Church 
which is directed by them, and check or ex- 
tinguish every innovation which encourages 
error in doctrine, or licentiousness in discipline. 

The labors of the early fathers, therefore, are 
in many respects invaluable. They could not 
have been mistaken in their evidence upon 
some points, which must be considered as the 
great landmarks of the Christian Church, and 
which will ever continue to preserve in their 
purity the doctrines and institutions of the reli- 
gion of our common Lord. 

The Holy Scripture only alludes to the eleva- 
tion of the Apostle in the passage before us. 
St. Peter directs his friends to go and tell James 
of his deliverance ; James, according to the best 
and most generally-received opinion, presided 
in the apostolic council ; when St. Paul went up 
to Jerusalem (Acts xxi. 17, 18.), the brethren 
received him gladly, and the next day he went 
in unto James, all the elders being present. 
" For what other reason," says the admirable 
and judicious Mr. Scott, " should Paul go in to 
James more especially, or upon what other 
account should all the elders be present with 
James, but that he was a person of the greatest 
note and figure in the Church of Jerusalem ? 
and as he is called an Apostle, that he was 
peculiarly the apostle of tliat Church. This, 
from Scripture, is probable ; the unanimous tes- 
timony of the fathers of the Church to this 
opinion makes it certain ; and it would be diffi- 
cult to learn why this large class of men, whose 
honesty, piety, and freedom from any erroneous 
bias are universally acknowledged, should have 
conspired without any possible motive to de- 
ceive the world by useless falsehood." 

The remarks of Mosheim on this point seem 
to be deficient in accuracy and judgment. He 
acknowledges that all ancient authorities, from 
the second century downwards, concur in 
representing James the younger, the brother of 
our Lord after the flesh, as the first bishop of 
the Church of Jerusalem, haying been so created 
by the apostles themselves ; and quotes Acta 
Sandor. Mens. Mali, torn. i. p. 23. Tillemont, 
Memoires pour servir a VHistoire de VEglise, 



tom. i. p. 1008, et seq. He then proceeds to 
observe, — " If this were as truly, as it is uni- 
formly repoiled, it would at once determine the 
point which we have under consideration, since 
it must close the door against all doubt as to 
the quarter in which episcopacy originated. 
But I rather suspect that these ancient writers 
might incautiously be led to form their judg- 
ment of the state of things in the first century, 
from the maxims and practice of their own 
times, and finding that, after the departure of 
the other apostles on their respective missions, 
the chief regulation and superintendence of the 
Church rested with James, they without further 
reason concluded that he must have been 
appointed bishop of that Church. It appears, 
indeed, from the writings of the New Testament, 
that, after the departure of the other apostles 
on their travels, the chief authority in the 
Church of Jerusalem was possessed by James. 
For St. Paul, when he came to that city for the 
last time, immediately repaired to that Apostle ; 
and James appears thereupon to have convened 
an assembly of the presbyters at his house, 
where Paul laid before them an account of the 
extent and success of his labors in the cause of 
his Divine Master, (Acts xxi. 19, 20.) No one 
reading this can, I should think, entertain a 
doubt of James's having been at that time in- 
vested with tlie chief superintendence and 
government of the Church of Jerusalem, and 
that not only the assemblies of the presbyters, but 
also those general ones of the whole Church, in 
which, as is clear from ver. 22., was lodged the 
supreme power as to all matters of a sacred 
nature, were convened by his appointment. 

" But it must be observed, that this authority 
was no more than must have devolved on James 
of course, in his apostolic character, in con- 
sequence of all the other apostles having 
quitted Jerusalem ; and that therefore this tes- 
timony of St. Luke is by no means to be con- 
sidered as conclusive evidence of his having 
been appointed to the office of bishop. Were 
we to admit of such kind of reasoning as this — 
the government of the Church of Jerusalem 
was vested in James, therefore he was its 
bishop ; I do not see on what grounds we 
could refuse our assent, should it be asserted 
that all the twelve apostles were bishops of 
that Church, for it was at one time equally 
under their government. But not to enlarge 
unnecessarily, the function of an apostle dif- 
fered widely from that of a bishop, and I there- 
fore do not think that James, who was an 
apostle, was ever appointed to, or discharged, 
the episcopal office at Jerusalem. The govern- 
ment of the Church in that city, it rather 
appears to me, was placed in the hands of its 
presbyters, but so as that nothing of moment 
could be done without the advice and author- 
ity of James ; the same sort of respectful 
deference being paid to his will as had formerly 



'0-. 



280* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part X, 



been manifested for that of the apostles at 
large. But although we deem those ancient 
writers to have committed an error, in pro- 
nouncing James to have been the first bishop 
of Jerusalem, it may without much difficulty 
be demonstrated that the Church of that city 
had a bishop sooner than any of the rest, and 
consequently that the episcopal dignity must 
have taken its rise there," &c. 

If the unanimous testimony of Scripture and 
of the fathers can be set aside by such reas- 
oning, which assumes as a postulate, that the 
witnesses are all in error, there remains no 
other guide to direct us in theological research 
than our own caprice or imagination. 

Whitby, Cave, Lardner, and others, have 
asserted that James, the Lord's brother, was 
truly and strictly an apostle, being the same 
as James, the son of Alphsus, one of the 
twelve. Bishop Taylor, and I believe the 
great majority of the Protestant as well as 
Romanist divines, relying on the authority of 
Eusebius, consider him to have been a differ- 
ent person, and to have been elected bishop of 
Jerusalem, with the title of apostle. 

Dr. Lardner's reasoning on the ruestion. 
Whether St. James, the Lord's brother, was the 
same as James the son of Alphseus, one of the 
twelve, has left the point doubtful. 

Jerome calls this James the thirteenth apostle. 

The judicious Hooker was of opinion that 
the apostles were dispersed from Judsea about 
this time, and that James was now elected 
bishop or permanent apostle of Jerusalem. He 
would attribute the public setting apart of St. 
Paul to the apostolic office, to make up again 
the number of the twelve, for the gathering in 
of the nations abroad. He supposes, too, that 
Barnabas was appointed apostle instead of St. 
James, who was killed by Herod ; and Dr. 
Hales has approved the supposition. 

It is curious to observe that Dr. Lardner 
calls James, the president, or superintendent, 
carefully avoiding the word bishop : and in 
another passage (vol. i. p. 293.), he observes, 
" James abode in Jerusalem, as the apostle 
residentiary of that country." If he was presi- 
dent and apostle residentiary in Jerusalem, as 
the superintendent of the Church, which now 
consisted of many thousands and myriads of 
converts, it is difficult to imagine the reason 
why this learned anti-episcopalian should not 
have adopted the appellation of the fathers, 
and have called him bishop of the Church at 
Jerusalem. This, however, is by no means the 
only instance of disingenuousness on these 
subjects, on the part of Dr. Lardner. Neither 
is his amiable coadjutor. Dr. Doddridge, en- 
tirely free from censure in his mode of treat- 
ing the questions of Church government'. 

■ See the references and quotations in Scott's 
Christian Life, folio edition, p. 475, chap. vii. part 



Note 10.— Part X. 

ON THE CONTINUED AGENCY OF ANGELS. 

The German commentators of the self- 
named liberal class endeavour to explain away 
every miracle recorded in the New Testament, 
by representing them as natural events, which 
have only been considered as miraculous by 
the misapprehending of the Hebraisms of the 
inspired writers. I have not thought it worth 
while to stop in my way through the New Tes- 
tament paradise, to pick up these poisonous 
weeds. They are unknown to the English 
reader in general, and I trust will long re- 
main so. The explanation, however, of 
Hezelius, which I find in Kuinoel, is so sin- 
gular, that it may appear doubtful whether, in 
his eagerness to remove the opinion of a mi- 
raculous interference by an angel, he does not 
establish a still greater miracle. He thinks 
that a flash of lightning penetrated the prison 
in the night, and melted the chains of St. Peter, 
without injuring him. Tlie apostle rose up, 
and saw the soldiers who guarded him struck 
prostrate to the ground, by the force of the 
lightning. He passed them, as if led by the 
flash of lightning, and escaped from the prison 
before he perceived that he had been liberated 
by the providence of God. 

So completely, however, has the skeptical 
philosophy of the day pervaded society, that 
even among professed Christians, he would 
now be esteemed a visionary, who should ven- 
ture to declare his belief in the most favorite 
doctrine of the ancient Church. The early 
fathers regarded the ministry of angels as a 
consoling and beautiful doctrine, and so much 
at that time was it held in veneration, that the 
founders of Christianity cautioned their early 
converts against permitting their reverence to 
degenerate into adoration. We now go to the 
opposite extreme, and seldom think of their 
existence ; yet what is to be found in this be- 
lief, even if the Scriptures had not revealed it, 
which. is contrary to our reason? We believe 
in our own existence, and in the existence of 
a God : is it utterly improbable, then, that be- 
tween us, who are so inferior, and the Creator, 
who is so wonderful and incomprehensible, 
infinite gradations of beings should exist, some 
of wliom are employed in executing the will 
of the Deity towards finite creatures ? Does 
not God act even by human means in the visi- 
ble government of the affairs of the earth ? 

ii. a work once highly popular, for the singular 
union of fervent piety, sober judgment, extensive 
reading, and good principles. — Archbishop Potter's 

Church Goi'>ernmcnt,Y>.9\. — Mosheim OntheJiffairs 
of the Christians brfure Coiislantine. vol. i. p. 229, 
2I!0. — Lardner's Supplement to the Credihility, 

Works, 4to. vol. iii. p. 382, 393.— Hooker's Eccle- 
siastical Polity, book vii. sect. iv. p. 346, folio edition 
of 1723. — Hales's Anal. vol. ii. part ii. 



Note 10.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



<=281 



what absurdity, tlien, can be discovered in the 
opinion that the spiritual nature of man should 
be under the guardianship of spiritual beings ? 
This, in feet, was a doctrine universally re- 
ceived till it became perverted and degraded 
by vain and idle speculations, — till it became 
so encumbered with absurdities, that the be- 
lief itself was rejected. Some writers on this 
subject went so far as to imagine they could 
ascertain the orders of a hierarchy, and could 
even assert the numbers in each rank. Others 
changed the office and ministry of angels, in- 
vesting them with independent control over the 
works of God, an opinion strongly and justly 
reprobated by the most eminent authorities". 
And because in the original Hebrew that which 
executes the will of the Deity is sometimes 
called an " Angel," whether it be winds or 
storms, fire or air ; many again have transformed 
the angels in the Old Testament into obedient 
elements, accomplishing- the designs of Provi- 
dence. According to which hypothesis, the 
aged patriarch must have prayed that the bless- 
ing of an element might descend on his grand- 
children. The Messiah must have been created 
a little lower than the winds and the floods, 
who in like manner were commanded to worship 
him ; and again, when the superiority of Christ 
is declared, the passage must be rendered, — 
" To which of the elements said he at any 
time. Sit thou on my right hand, until I make 
thy foes thy footstool." Leaving all such fan- 
tastic and unreasonable interpretations out of 
the question, let us turn to that interpretation 
of Scripture on this point, which has been 
acknowledged by all classes and divisions of 
Christians, from the time of the apostles to the 
present day. From the evidence of revelation, 
we have grounds for believing that angels are 
spirits, superior to mankind, some of whom 
have lost, while others have preserved, the 
state of happiness in which they were primarily 
created, and that these are now opposed to 
each other. With the precise cause of the fall 
of the evil angels we are not made acquainted. 
We know only that they retain the remem- 
brance of their original condition ; that they 
are powerful, though under restraint ; that 
gradations of superiority and influence exist 
among them; that they acknowledge a superior 
head, and that they are destined to eternal 
punishment. 

Of the good angels we learn, that they con- 
tinue in their primeval dignity. They are 
endued with great power, and because they 
are employed in the constant execution of the 
decrees of Providence, they have received the 
name of messengers or angels. They are 
called the armies and the hosts of heaven ; 
in innumerable companies they surround the 

" See Horsley's Sermon on the Watchers, vol. ii. 
last Sermon, and generally on tliis subject — Ham- 
mond — Wheatly — Aquinas. 

VOL. II. *36 



throne of Deity ; they are made partakers of 
his glory, and rejoice to fulfil his will. 

Their office, as ministering angels to the 
sincere and accepted worshippers of our com- 
mon God, is more fully and accurately related. 
Through the whole volume of revelation we 
read of the agency of superior beings in the 
affairs of mankind. They were stationed at 
the tree of life in Paradise. In Jacob's vision 
of the ladder, they are represented as ascend- 
ing and descending upon earth. They ap- 
peared to the patriarchs, to Abraham, to Lot, to 
Jacob, and they were made alike the ministers 
both of the vengeance and mercy of God. 
They were intrusted with the destruction of 
the cities of the plain. "And the angel of the 
Lord went out, and smote in the camp of Sen- 
nacherib a hundred and fourscore and five 
thousand," (2 Kings xix. 35.) God sent an angel 
unto Jerusalem to destroy it — who was seen 
between the earth and the heaven having a 
di-awn sword in his hand, stretched out over 
Jerusalem. In the New Testament they an- 
nounced the birth of Christ, and of his fore- 
runner ; they became visible to the shepherds, 
and proclaimed the glad tidings of salvation to 
the senseless world. They are interested for, 
and sympathize with man; for "there is joy in 
heaven over one sinner that repenleth." They 
were the watchful and anxious attendants of 
Christ in his human nature. They ministered 
to him after his triumph in the wilderness, and 
his agony in the garden. As they announced 
his birth, so, also, they proclaimed his resurrec- 
tion, his ascension, and his future return to 
judgment. They were made the spiritual 
means of communication between God and 
man. They were the divine witnesses of the 
whole system of redemption. By an angel 
Joseph was warned to flee into Egypt, (Matt, 
ii. 13.) By an angel Cornelius was directed to 
the house of Peter, (Acts x. 3-22.) By an 
angel that Apostle was released from prison. 
And by the ministry of an angel, were sig- 
nified to St. John those things that should be 
hereafter. In this last and mysterious revela- 
tion, the agency of superior beings is uniformly 
asserted, and they are represented as fulfilling 
the most solemn and important decrees of Om- 
nipotence. They are represented as standing 
on the four corners of the earth, as having the 
seal of the living God, as offering on the golden 
altar the incense and prayers of the saints, as 
holding the key of the bottomless pit, and as 
executing the vengeance of God upon the 
visible creation, and upon all those who have 
not the seal of God upon their foreheads ; all 
which, though metaphorical expressions, imply 
the probable agency of these invisible beings 
in the affairs of the world. And when time 
shall be no more, these holy beings who have 
sympathized with man here, and been the wit- 
nesses of his actions, and the infinite mercjeg 



282* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part X. 



of his Almighty Creator and Redeemer, will 
be the accusing or approving spectators of the 
sentence passed upon him in eternity ; for our 
Saviour has expressly declared, that " who- 
soever shall confess me before men, him shall 
the Son of Man also confess before the angels 
of God. But he that denieth me before men 
shall be denied before the aagels of God." 



Note 11.— Part X. 

ScHOETGEN has shown that the ancient Jews 
believed the angels sometimes assumed the form 
of a man, and has collected some curious in- 
stances to this effect 

The Gentiles, as well as the Jews, thought 
'that the gods sometimes assumed the appearance 
of some particular individual, and spake, when 
thus disguised, with the same tone by which 
that individual would be recognized. Tliis 
superstition is well described by Homer — 

'^XXa IIoosi5uo}v 

EiOuuirog KaXj(ayri Slfiag xal oTfiQia (fmvi'-y.j 
Iliad, N. 43, 45. I 

See also Schoetgen in loc. 



Note 12.— Part X. ', 

\ 

ON THE QUESTION CONCERNING ST. PETER's 

visit to rome, and the writing of st. 
mare's gospel. 

We may be permitted to express our regret, 
that the evangelical narrative has not here 
given us the slightest allusion to the place 
where St. Peter secreted himself from his per- 
secutors. The word in the original is of the 
most indefinite kind. Dr. Lardner is of opinion 
that it refers only to some one of the houses in 
Jerusalem, or an adjacent village or town, and 
that the Apostle soon returned to the city upon 
the death of Herod Agrippa, which took place 
at the end of the year. Some commentators 
have been of opinion that he went to Antioch, 
others, to Rome. Dr. Lardner observes, that 
there is no good foundation for either of these 
opinions. That there is any foundation for the 
former, I am not prepared to say. The inter- 
view between St. Peter and St. Paul at Antioch, 
which is mentioned Gal. ii. 11-] 6., occurred 
some time after this, and after the council at 
Jerusalem. That St. Peter took refuge at 
Rome appears to me the most probable. 

The silence of Scripture leaves us to the evi- 
dence of the fathers. With respect to this con- 
clusion, that St. Peter went to Rome ; and the 
jealousy of Protestants on this point, because 



the Romanists would establish upon this fact, 
the alleged supremacy of St. Peter, Dr. Lard- 
ner justly remarks, it is not for our honor, or 
our interest, either as Christians or Protestants 
to deny the truth of events, ascertained by early 
and well-attested tradition. If others make an 
ill use of facts, we are not accountable for it. 
While it appears to me not improbable that he 
took refuge from the Herodian persecution 
with some of the friends of Cornelius, there is 
no evidence that he founded the Church at 
Rome, nor even addressed himself to the Gen- 
tiles in that city. He would have considered 
himself guilty of a violation of the law of God 
if he had now done so. It was with the utmost 
difficulty St. Peter could be convinced, even 
by a vision from above, that the kingdom of 
heaven was to be open to the proselyted Gen- 
tiles ; much less can it be believed that he 
would preach at this period to the idolatrous 
citizens of Rome. 

" The Church of Rome," says a learned pre- 
late of our own day, " was established as a 
Christian society during St. Paul's first visit, 
by the communication of the spiritual gift, 
which he intimates. It is evident that no other 
of the apostles had any share in this first estab- 
lishment but St. Paul ; whatever may be 
said of St. Peter's episcopacy of twenty-five 
years. For the Epistle to the Romans appears 
to have been written not long before the apos- 
tle's first visit. And at that time his language 
to them certainly implies that no other apostle 
had been there before him : ' Yea, so have I , 
strived to preach the Gospel, not where Christ 
was named, lest I should build upon another { 
man's foundation".'" (Rom. xv. 20.) -^ 

St. Peter had fulfilled the prediction of our 
Lord, that he should open the kingdom of 
heaven to the Gentiles, when he preached to 
Cornelius and his family. The Roman centu- 
rion had been now admitted into the Christian 
Church; he was probably one of those by 
whom prayer was made without ceasing for St. 
Peter's liberation, and we may justly conclude 
that he held this Apostle in the highest venera- 
tion. Though Cornelius had not the power to 
release St. Peter from prison (the Jews being 
very jealous of the interference of the Romans 
in all matters connected with religion), it is not 
unlikely that more effectual protection could be 
afforded by a Roman in a case of persecution, 
than by any of the suffering Church. It is 
certain that the Romans had great influence at 
this time ; for we read that when Herod was 
enraged with the people of Tyre, their embassy 
made Blastus, the king's chamberlain, their 
friend. Blastus was a Roman. The Romans 
did not hesitate to engage in the service of the 

^ Bishop Bnrgess's Inquirtj into the Orlg^in of t/ie 
Christian Church ; reprinted in The Churchman | 
armed ao-ainst the Errors of the Times, vol. i. p. 319. / 



Note 12.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*283 



tributary kings and sovereigns dependent on 
tlie empire". It is not improbable, therefore, 
that tlie Apostle, when he went to another 
place from the house of the mother of Mark, 
would take refuge among some of the Gentile 
converts ; and, as the indignation of Herod 
was so great, that he condemned the soldiers 
to death from whom Peter had escaped, it was 
but natural to apprehend that the Apostle 
would soon be condemned to a similar fate. 
None of the Jews would shelter him, as they 
took part with Herod against the infant Church. 
Under these circumstances, it appears not 
unUkely that the Gentile converts would provide 
for his effectual safety, by sending him among 
some of their own friends at Rome, who were 
cognizant in the real history of the extraordi- 
nary events that had taken place in Judsea. 
The same evidence which induces me to come 
to this conclusion, compels me to believe also, 
that St, Peter took with him to Rome the 
writer of the second Gospel, which bears so 
much internal as well as external evidence, 
that it was addressed to Roman converts. We 
read (Acts xii. 12.) that when St. Peter went 
from prison he proceeded to the house of Mary 
the mother of Mark. He staid there but a 
short time, and it is not, I think, improbable 
that St. Mark accompanied him, to aid him in 
case of danger. 

It will, however, be necessary to examine 
tlie hypotliesis of Dr. Lardner, on the other 
side of the question, that the apostles did not 
leave Judasa till after the apostolic council. 

His first argument is derived from the fact 
that all the apostles were present at the council of 
Jerusalem : and he concludes that they couM 
not have been to other countries before that 
time, from the total want of evidence on the 
subject. 

It may, however, be answered, that no argu- 
ment can be derived from the silence of the 
inspired or heathen writers. We acknowledge 
the apostles to have been present, in all proba- 
bility, at the council of Jerusalem ; the question 
is, whether they did not leave Jerusalem be- 
tween the years 44, when the Herodian perse- 
cution was raging, and the year 49 or 50, when 
the council was held. Peter was well acquaint- 
ed with the persecuting and cruel spirit of 
Herod — he had seen James tlie brother of John 
killed with the sword — he was himself appre- 
hended and imprisoned, and while he remained 
in the city he continued exposed to the most 
imminent danger. Was it not, under these 
circumstances, more probable that he should 
absent himself from Jerusalem during the reign 
of this monarch, and that he did not return to 
his own countrj- till his death, when Judsea was 
governed by the Roman procurators ? Biscoe 



" Wetstein in loc, and Kuinoel, In Lib. Ji'. T. 
Hist, Comment, vol, iv. p. 419. 



has well shown that the heathens protected the 
Christians in the exercise of their religion, 
against the fury of the Jews; and we read 
many tilings in the Acts of the Apostles which 
prove the same point. 

Dr. Lardner then proceeds to observe, 1. 
" That it was fit and proper, and even expedi- 
ent, that the apostles should stay a good while 
in Judaea, to assert and confirm the truth of 
Christ's resurrection, by teaching, and by 
miraculous works, and do their utmost to bring' 
the Jewish people to faith in Jesus as the 
Christ. 

2. " As this was fit, it is likely that they had 
received some command from Christ himself, 
or some direction from the Holy Ghost, to stay 
thus long in Judsea. 

;}. "There were considerations that would 
incline them to it, and induce them to do what 
was fit to be done, and was agreeable to the 
mind of Christ. One was the difSculty of 
preaching the Gospel in foreign countries. 
This would induce them to stay in Judeea, till 
the circumstances of things facilitated their 
fartJier progress, or called them to it. Another 
thing was their affection for the Jewish people, 
their countrymen, especially those of Judsea, 
with whom they had been brought up, and 
among whom they dwelt, together with a per- 
suasion of the great value of the blessing of the 
Gospel. 

" This last consideration, I apprehend, would 
induce them to labor in Judsea, with earnest 
desires and some hopes of bringing all, or, how- 
ever, many, to faith in Jesus. This influenced 
Paul also to a great degree, and for a good 
while. Nor was he without hopes of persuad- 
ing his brethren and countrymen to what 
appeared to himself very certain and very evi- 
dent. So he says in his speech to the people 
at Jerusalem, Acts xxii. 17-20. He assures 
them, tliat whilst he was worshipping at Jerusa- 
lem, in the temple, he had a trance, or ecstacy: 
that he there saw Christ, who said to him, 
' Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jeru- 
salem ; for they wUl not receive thy testimony 
concerning me.' Paul pleaded, thut they must 
needs pay a regard to his testimon}-, who was 
well known to have been for some whUe very 
zealous in opposing his followers, and was now 
convinced and persuaded. But the Lord said 
unto him, ' Depart : for I will send thee far hence 
unto the Gentiles.' This trance, or vision, 
seems to have happened in the year 44, after 
that Paul had preached at Antioch with great 
success among the Gentiles. Nevertheless, 
he had an earnest desire to make one attempt 
more among the Jews of Judaea, where was 
the body of that people ; and if they could 
have been persuaded, many abroad would fol- 
low their example. And it required an express 
and repeated order from Jesus Christ, in vision, 
to induce him to lay aside that design, and to 



284* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part X. 



proceed to preach to the Gentiles in remote 
parts." 

To all which it may be replied, 1st, That the 
apostles had now continued in Jerusalem till a 
Christian Church was established — the Gospel 
had been preached to the Jews, and confirmed 
by miracles and the most undeniable evidence ; 
but the Jews persisted in the rejection of their 
Messiah. 

2. To the second, The command of Christ 
to his apostles to continue at Jerusalem is not 
recorded : and even had it been given, it 
would prove only that the appointed time had 
expired. 

3. The Herodian persecution prevented the 
apostles from following their own plans ; and 
the Jews themselves, by their unrelenting bitter- 
ness, took away from them the power of accom- 

•plishing their first great object, that of offering 
salvation to and converting their own country- 
men, and their very lives depended upon flight. 
They could find no difficulty in preaching the 
Gospel in other countries, because they were 
endued with the gift of tongues for this express 
purpose ; in addition to which, they would have 
been admitted into the Jewish synagogues in 
every country. 

The conversion of Cornelius proves that the 
predicted time for the admission of the Gentiles 
had arrived ; the Church was established, and 
the Jews had beheld the apostolic miracles; 
they had been appealed to in vain, and there was 
now no necessity for the longer continuance 
of the apostles at Jerusalem, who were conse- 
quently instructed by a vision, that the time 
had come when they were to preach to the 
Gentiles. 

Dr. Lardner's last argument is quite extraor- 
dinary. He believes that the apostles were 
under no necessity of leaving Jerusalem during 
the Herodian persecution, because they were 
under miraculous protection. He forgets that 
James, one of the twelve, had been killed 
already ; and it seems to me, that St. Peter was 
miraculously released from prison, that he 
might escape the same fate, by following the 
example of the rest of his brethren, and seeking 
safety in flight. 

This opinion is confirmed by the little evi- 
dence remaining to us in ecclesiastical history. 
The general conclusion to which we are led by 
the fathers is, that the apostles left Jerusalem 
twelve years after the ascension of our Lord. 
He ascended A. D. 29. The twelfth year 
therefore brings us to the beginning of the 
reign of Claudius ; the very period when Herod 
Agrippa took possession of the kingdom of 
Judsea. He lost no time in giving proofs of his 
zealous Judaism, and we may believe that he 
would lose no time in demonstrating his sin- 
cerity, by renewing the persecution ; in the 
course of which the apostles were obliged to 
leave Jerusalem. 



Clement of Alexandria^, about 194, quotes a 
work, entitled, The Preaching of St. Peter. 
" The Lord said to his apostles. If any Israelite 
will repent, and believe in God through my 
name, his sins shall be forgiven. After twelve 
years go ye out into all the world, that none 
may say, ' We have not heard.' " 

Eusebius mentions that Apollonius (undoubt- 
edly in part contemporary with Clement, and 
placed by Cave at the year 192 — by Lardner at 
211, as near the time of his writing against the 
Montanists) relates, as from tradition, that our 
Saviour commanded his apostles not to depart 
from Jerusalem for the space of twelve years. 
The same historian, in his Ecclesiastical His- 
tory, writes, " Peter, by the direction of Provi- 
dence, came to Rome in the reign of Claudius 
to contend with and overcome Simon Magus;" 
and, in his Chronicon, that after he had been at 
Antioch he went to Rome in the second year 
of Claudius, i. e. the year of Christ 44. Those 
who espouse this opinion, suppose the Gospel 
of St. Mark to be written about tliis time. The 
same opinion also is maintained at the end of the 
Arabic version, and of many ancient manuscripts 
of this Gospel, particularly one mentioned 
by Dr. Hammond, two referred to by Father 
Simon, and thirteen cited by Dr. Mill, by The- 
ophylact also, and others of the Greek scholiasts. 

Considering this supposition as correct, it by 
no means implies that St. Peter continued long 
at Rome, as the Romish Churcli assert. There 
is internal evidence to the contrary ; for we find 
St. Paul does not salute him in his Epistle to the 
Romans — neither did he meet him on his first 
coming to Rome, in the beginning of the reign 
of Nero. St. Paul does not mention St. Peter 
in any of the Epistles he wrote from Rome ; 
and in his Epistle to the Colossians, St. Peter's 
name is not mentioned among his coadjutors. 
In the work of Lactantius (or of L. Csecilius^ 
according to Le Clerc), it is said Peter came to 
Rome in the time of Nero, and made many con- 
verts, and formed a Church — an account which at 
once confutes the fable that he had been there 
twenty-five years as bishop of Rome, on which 
assertion the supremacy of the pope is founded. 

The probable conclusion therefore is, that 
St. Peter took refuge at Rome, during the 
Herodian persecution, to which place he was 
accompanied by St. Mark, and after staying 
there some short time, Peter, like the rest of the 
apostles, superintended the Hebrew-Christian, 
and not the Gentile, Cliurches ; travelling from 
place to place, till he returned to Jerusalem, to 
be present at the apostolic council. 

That St. Peter was martyred at Rome (a cir- 
cumstance which many Protestant writers have 
discredited, from the fear of giving countenance 
to the unfounded, and therefore absurd, doctrine 

'^ Clem. Strom, lib. vi. p 636. Cave's Historia 
Literaria, tom. i. p. 5. Grabe's Spio. tomi i. p. 67 
Ap. Lardner, vol. iii, p. 1C7-8. 



Note 12.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*285 



of the pope's supremacy), has been asserted by- 
Ignatius, Dionysius, Irenaeus, Clement, Tertul- 
lian, Caius, Origen, Cyprian, Lactantius, Euse- 
bius, Athanasius, Ephraim, Epiphanius, Jerome, 
Chrysostom, and many others^. The quota- 
tions from tlie works of each of whom may be 
seen in Lardner. It is impossible to resist evi- 
dence to this extent. Nor does the fact of St. 
Peter's martyrdom at Rome enforce upon us 
the doctrine attached to it by one division of 
the Christian Church. 

We are now to inquire into the probability of 
St. Mark's accompanying the Apostle to Rome, 
and what evidence there is for his having writ- 
ten his Gospel about this time, at the request 
and for the use of the converts in that city. It 
will appear, I think, that the internal evidence 
arising from the Gospel itself, and from the 
concurrent testimony of the fathers of the 
Church, unite in affirming this to be the origin 
and object of liis Gospel ; although, as it will 
appear, it was not officially committed to the 
Churches in general, till he was settled at Alex- 
andria, as the bishop of the Church in that city. 

Michaelis has collected, in a very perspic- 
uous manner, the different circumstances relat- 
ed of St. Mark in the New Testament. He 
observes, "It appears, from Acts xii. 11., that 
St. Mark's original name was John; the sur- 
name of Mark having probably been adopted 
by him when he left Judsa to go into foreign 
countries ; a practice not unusual among the 
Jews of that age, who frequently assumed a 
name more familiar to the nations which they 
visited, than that by which they had been dis- 
tinguished in their own country. That St. 
Mark wrote his Gospel in Rome, with the 
assistance and under the direction of St. Peter, 
agrees extremely well with the contents of the 
Gospel itself, and may serve likewise to explain 
several particulars, which at first sight appear 
extraordinary. For instance, where St. Peter 
is concerned in the narration, mention is some- 
times made of circumstances which are not 
related by the other Evangelists, as at chap. i. 
29-33., ix. 34, xi. 21., and xiv. 30. And on 
the contrary, the high commendations which 
Christ bestowed on St. Peter, as appears from 

y That St. Peter was certainly at Rome is fully 
proved by the learned Pearson, in his Dissertation, 
De Serie et Successione Primorum Evince Episcopo- 
um. Diss. i. cap. vii. " Ronife fuisse S. Petrum pro- 
batur veterum Testimoniis," p. 33. Cave, however, 
remarks upon the theory ofhis going to that metrop- 
olis upon the present occasion — -'Quod vero de hoc 
Romam adventu somniant, gratis omnino dictum 
est. Altum de eo apud veteres silentium. Silet 
imprimis liistoria apostolica. quae de hoc aliove ad- 
ventu ne verbulum habet," &c. — See Cave, Histo- 
ria Liieraria. vol. i. p. 8. Bishop Burgess quotes 
with approbation the opinion of Bishop Stilllngfieet, 
which is founded on a passage in Lactantius, tliat 
St. Peter was never at Rome till the period of liis 
martvrdom. Stillingfleet's Origines Britai.nicteSol. 
edit. p. 48. — Barrow On the Pope's Suj.remucy. folio 
edit. p. 83. 



Matt. xvi. 17-19., but which the Apostle, 
through modesty, would hardly have repeated, 
are wanting in St. Mark's Gospel. At chap, 
xiv. 47. St. Mark mentions neither the name of 
the Apostle, who cut off the ear of the high 
priest's servant, nor the circumstance of Christ's 
healing it. We know that this apostle was St. 
Peter, for his name is expressly mentioned 
by St. John ; but an Evangelist, who wrote his 
Gospel at Rome during the life of St. Peter, 
would have exposed him to the danger of being 
accused by his adversaries, if he had openly 
related the fact. Had St. Mark written after 
tlie death of St. Peter, there would have been 
no necessity for this caution. 

"Further, as St. Mark wrote for the imme- 
diate use of the Romans, he sometimes gives 
explanations which were necessary for foreign- 
ers, though not for the inhabitants of Palestine. 
For instance, chap. vii. 2., he explains the 
meaning of y.oivaXg /egal : and ver. 11. of xoo- 
65.V. In the same chapter, ver. 3, 4., he gives a 
description of some Jewish customs ; and chap. 
XV. 42. he explains the meaning of Traqaoy.evr^. 
At chap. XV. 21. he mentions that Simon was the 
father of Alexander and Rufus, a circumstance 
not mentioned by the other Evangelists ; but 
to St. Mark's readers the circumstance was 
interesting, because Rufus was at that time in 
Rome, as appears from Romans xvi. 13. See 
also Wetstein's notes to chap. vii. 26. xi. 22." 

St. Mark has more Latin words than the 
other Evangelists ; and these numerous Latin- 
isms not only show that his Gospel was com- 
posed by a person who had lived among the 
Latins, but also that it was written beyond the 
confines of Judaea. That this Gospel was 
designed principally for Gentile believers 
(though we know that there were some Jewish 
converts in the Church at Rome) is further evi- 
dent fi-om the explanations introduced by the 
Evangelist, which would have been unneces- 
sary, if he had written for Hebrew Christians 
exclusively. Thus, the first time the Jordan is 
mentioned, the appellation " river," is added to 
the name, Mark i. 5., and instead of the word 
"mammon," he uses the common term -/or.uaTu:, 
" riches." Again, the word " Gehenna" which 
in our version is translated "hell," (ix. 43.) 
originally signified the valley of Hinnom, where 
infants had been sacrificed by fire to Moloch, 
and wliere a continual fire was afterwards 
maintained to consume the filth of Jerusalem ; 
as this word could not have been understood by 
a foreigner, the Evangelist adds the words 
" fire that never shall be quenched," by way of 
explanation. These particularities corroborate 
the historical evidence above cited, that St 
Mark designed his Gospel for the use of Gen- 
tile Christians. 

Lastly, the manner in which St. Mark relates 
the life of our Saviour is an additional evidence 
that he wi-ote for Gentile Christians. His nar- 



286* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part X. 



rative is clear, exact, and concise, and liis exor- 
dium is singular ; for while the other Evange- 
lists style our Saviour "the Son of Man," St. 
Mark announces him at once as " the Son of 
God," (i. 1.) an august title, the more likely to 
engage the attention of the Romans; omitting 
the genealogy of Christ, his miraculous concep- 
tion, the massacre of the infants at Bethlehem, 
and other particulars, which could not be essen- 
tially important in the eyes of foreigners. 

Many things seem to prove that St. Mark's 
Gospel was written, or dictated, by a spectator 
of the actions recorded. 

Chap. i. 20. They left their father in the ship 
with the hired servants, 
i. 29. The names of James and John, 
omitted by Matt. viii. 14., are 
mentioned, 
i. 33. The crowd at the door. Com- 
pare Matt viii. 16. and Luke 
iv. 40, 41. 
i. 35. His disciples seeking Christ when 
he had risen to pray. See 
Luke iv. 42. 
i. 45. The conduct of the leper after 
his cure. See Matt. viii. 4. 
and Luke v. 14, 15. 
ii. 2. The cure of the paralytic. See 
Matt. ix. 1. Luke v. 18. 19. 
Mr. Jones, in his work on the Canon, notices 
many circumstances omitted by St Mark, 
which reflected honor on St Peter. Compare 
Matt. xvi. 16-20. with Mark viii. 29, 30. Matt 
xvii. 24-26. and Mark ix. 30-33. Luke xxii. 3J, 
32. John xiii. 6. and xviLi. 10. compared with 
Mark xiv. 47. See, also, John xxi. 7, 15, 18, 
and 19. 

Dr. Townson, too, has fully proved, from a 
variety of minute incidents not noticed by the 
other Evangelists, that St. Mark's Gospel must 
have been either written or dictated by an eye- 
witness. 

Chap. iii. 5. Cluist's looking round on the 
people. See Matt xii. 10-13. 
Luke vi. 6-10. 
iii. 17. The names omitted by the other 

Evangelists are mentioned, 
iii. 21. This is peculiar to St Mark, 
iv. 26. Parable of the growing corn, 
so applicable to the call of the 
Gentiles, peculiar to St. Mark. 
iv. 34. Compared with Matt xiii. 31-34. 
iv. 36. " Other little ships " with them, 
iv. 38. " He was in the hinder part of 
the ship, asleep on a pillow," 
are omitted by the others. 
The particularities mentioned by St. Mark in 
his account of the Gadarene demoniacs, see 
Matt. viii. 28-34. Mark v. 1-19. Luke viii. 26- 
39. — The number of the swine — the mentioning 
of the very words which our Lord spake to the 
daughter of Jairus, " Talitha cumi," (chap. v. 41.) 
— the blind man casting away his garment. 



(chap. X. 50.) — the mentioning of the names 
of those who came to him privately : (chap, 
xiii. 3.) all which minutiae could have been 
known only to a spectator and hearer of our 
Lord's words and actions. 

The Gospel of St. Mark contains much in- 
ternal evidence that it was written at the time 
when the devout Gentiles were first admitted 
into the Church. In chap. vii. 14-23., the 
spirituality of the Law is compared with St. 
Peter's address to Cornelius. 

Chap, vii, 24-30. The Syro-Phojnician 
woman received ; a Greek liaving faith in 
Christ — so Cornelius was not a Jew, but ac- 
cepted. 

Chap. xii. 1-12. The parable of the vine- 
yard, descriptive of the calling of the Gentiles ; 
the event wliich had now taken place. 

Chap. xiii. Prediction of the fate of the 
temple — the result of the rejection of the Jews. 

In chap. xiv. 24. is the expression, " My 
blood of the new testament, which is shed for 
many;" which Dr. Lardner refers to the call- 
ing of the Gentiles. 

Chap. iv. 30-32. The grain of mustard- 
seed, descriptive of the rapid progress of the 
Gospel which St. Mark had witnessed. 

Chap. xvi. 15. " St. Mark," says Dr. Lardner, 
" evidently understood the extent of the apos- 
tolic mission." 

Dr. Townson observes further, in confirma- 
tion of the opinion that St. Mark wrote for the 
Christians at Rome, "St. Mark having fol- . 
lowed St. Matthew in saying cpou^'ellthaucc, 
(Mark xv. 15.) then speaks of the prsetorium : 
" And the soldiers led him away into the hall, 
called prsetorium. — Kilri, and pratoriuvi, as 
here used, were synonymous terms in Greek and 
Latin, and denote the palace of a governor or 
great man." — " This is certainly a better proof 
that he composed his Gospel at Rome, than 
that he composed it in Latin. ' For what trans- 
lator,' as Dr. Mill justly asks, ' would have ren- 
dered the Latin word ' spiculator' (or specula- 
tor), by ujicxovluTuq, which would so easily 
have been expressed in proper Greek?' St. 
Mark attends to the Roman division of the day 
in relating our Lord's prophecy to St Peter, 
(xiv. 30.) ' Verily, I say unto thee, that this day, 
even in this night, before the cock crow twice, 
thou shalt deny me thrice.' 

" St Mark, to explainthe meaning of this day,' 
adds, ' even in this night ; ' as the prediction 
was delivered before midnight, but fulfilled, 
probably, between two and three in the morning, 
these being parts of one and the same day in 
Judsea, but not at Rome''." 

The testimony of the fathers confirms the 

' See Bishop Marsh's Michaclis, vol. iii. part i. 
p. 212; and vol. i. chap. iv. sect. x. p. 163. — Dr. 
Campbell's preface to Mark, vol. ii. p. 82. 83.— 
Home's Critical Introduction, on Mark.— Dr. Town- 
son'z Works, vol. i. p. 151-178. 



Note 12.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*287 



internal evidence, tliat St. Mark wrote his 
Gospel at Rome, under the inspection of St. 
Peter ; and that it was even dictated by that 
apostle, and might with great justice have been 
called, as it has actually been, the Gospel of 
St. Peter. 

Eusebius, Hisloi: Eccles. lib. ii. c. 15, asserts 
tliat the Gospel of St. Mark was composed at 
Rome, in the reign of Claudius, at tJie request 
of the people in that city. He refers to Clem- 
ens, Sixth Book of Institutions, as his authority. 

Clement of Alexandria (194), says, that 
Peter's hearers at Rome entreated Mark, the 
follower of Peter, to leave a memorial with 
them of the doctrine wliich had been delivered 
to them by word of mouth, nor did they desist 
till they had prevailed with him". 

Clement states that Mark's Gospel was writ- 
ten at Rome, at the request of the Christians 
there, wlio were liearers of Peter. 

Tertullian observes (200), the Gospel of St. 
Mark may be considered as that of St. Peter, 
whose interpreter he was. 

Origen, Peter dictated his Gospel to him. 

Eusebius (315), Mark is said to have recorded 
Peter's relation of the acts of Jesus. And all 
things in Mark are said to be memoirs of 
Peter's discourses. 

The synopsis attributed to Athanasius, fifth 
century, says, the Gospel of St. Mark was dic- 
tated by St. Peter at Rome. 

Gregory Nazianzen — Mark wrote his Gospel 
for the Italians, or in Italy. 

Ebedjesu — the second Evangelist is Mark, 
who preached (or wrote) in Latin, in the city 
of Rome. 

Theophylact (1070), and Euthymius(llOO),— 
the Gospel of St. Mark was written at Rome, 
ten years aller Christ's ascension. 

These testimonies seem to be sufficient to 
prove the early date of St. Mark's Gospel, and 
that it was probably written at Rome for the 
use of the proselyted Gentile converts, under 
the inspection of St. Peter. 

There are two considerable objections to this 
early date of St. Mark's Gospel. One that he 
is said (Acts xii. 25.) to have gone to Antioch 
with Saul and Barnabas ; the other, the allu- 
sion to the progress of the apostles, in the last 
verse of his Gospel. In reply to the first, it 
may be said, that it is probable he would leave 
Rome immediately on hearing of the death of 
Herod, and arrive there at the time when Saul 
and Barnabas were about to return to Antioch ; 
which event is placed by Dr. Lardner at this 
period. It appears from the manner in which 
ver. 8. of chap. xvi. so abruptly terminates, and 
the evident commencement of a new summing 
up of the evidence, that some extraordinary 
interruption took place while St. Mark was 



composing his Gospel. The verse terminates 
with the words icpo&ovvio y&Q ; and many 
critics (as I have already shown in the notes to 
the eighth part of this Arrangement) have, 
from the rapid transition to the subject of the 
following verse, impugned the authenticity of 
the remaining verses of St. Mark's Gospel. 
I am inclined to impute this abrupt ending of 
the eighth verse of the sixteenth chapter, and 
the subsequent introduction of the contents of 
ver. 9. to the circumstances I have just related. 

In all probability St. Mark returned to Jeru- 
salem after the death of Herod with his 
unfinished Gospel; that he afterwards accom- 
panied Saul and Barnabas, on their return to 
Antioch, (Acts xv. 35-37.) ; and after having 
attended the latter on his journey, he was 
finally settled at Alexandria, where he founded 
a church of great note. 

We are told by Jerome — Mark, at the desire 
of the brethren at Rome, wrote a short Gospel, 
according to wliat he had heard related by St. 
Peter. Taking with him the Gospel he had 
composed, Mark went to Egypt, and founded a 
Church at Alexandria. He died in the eighth 
year of Nero, and was succeeded at Alexan- ^ 
dria by Anianus. ' 

Chrysostom — Mark wrote his Gospel in 
Egypt, at the request of the believers there. 

Eusebius also relates of St. Mark, that he 
went into Egypt, and first preached there the 
Gospel he had written, and planted there many 
Churches. And in another chapter he says, 
tiiat in the eighth year of Nero, Anianus, the 
first bisliop of Alexandria after Mark tlie 
apostle and evangelist, took upon him the 
care of that Church'. 

The accounts are so brief, that the exact 
period of his leaving Barnabas and residing at 
Alexandria caimot be ascertained. The last 
verse of St. Mark's Gospel, which contains an 
allusion to the progress of the Gospel, is sup- 
posed to be of a later date than the rest of the 
history, which has given rise to a doubt as to 
the authenticity of the last twelve verses ; but ) 
if we suppose the Gospel was first publislied at \ 
Rome, and completed at Alexandria, and the | 
last twelve verses added there, we can have no J 
difficulty in accounting for this difl^erence of ,' 
date. 

The conclusion to which Dr. Townson has 
arrived, after considering the evidence in favor 
of the early date of St. Mark's Gospel, do-js 
not materially diff"er from that which I have 
been now advocating. He supposes that St. 
Mark's Gospel was published in Italy ; but that 
St. Mark came to Rome by himself, studied 
the state of the Church there, returned to Asia, 
and, in conjunction with St. Peter, drew up 
his Gospel for the benefit of the converts in 



* Ap. Lardner's Worhs, vol. iii. p. 177, vol. ii. 
p. 552, and vol. iii. p. 179. 



i Euseb. Ecchs. Hist. lib. ii. cap. IG, and 24.- 
Ap. Lardner's Supplement to ike Credihility. 



288* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part X. 



that city. Dr. Townson has adopted this per- 
plexed theory, to avoid the opinion that St. 
Peter came to Rome in the reign of Claudius. 
Lord Barrington assigns to St. Mark's Gospel 
the date I have now adopted. 

After considering the whole evidence respect- 
ing the Gospel of St. Mark, I cannot but con- 
clude that it was written at a much earlier date 
than has been generally assigned to it by Prot- 
estant writers. The Gospel of St. Matthew 
was written in the first persecution, when the 
tidings of salvation were preached to the Jews 
only. The Gospel of St. Mark was published 
during the second persecution of the Christian 
Cliurch, when the devout Gentiles, such as 
Cornelius, were appealed to. Both were mer- 
cifully adapted to these two stages of the 
Church's progress. The Gospel of St. Luke 
was addressed to the Gentiles of Asia, after 
the iirst Neronian persecution ; and that of St. 
John was the supplement to the rest, and com- 
pleted and perfected the canon of the New 
Testament. Each was fitted to the condition 
of the Church at the time of their respective 
publication ; and they now form unitedly one 
sublime and perfect system of truth, the im- 
movable foundation of the temple of God. 



Note 1.3.— Part X. 

The transpositions in the order of the sacred 
narrative which I have thought it advisable to 
make in this, the preceding, and the following 
sections, have been adopted from a considera- 
tion of the circumstances of the Christian 
Church at this period. The first persecution 
of the Church by the Sanhedrin was terminated 
by the conversion of St. Paul ; the second per- 
secution, which had now begun, was the work 
of Herod Agrippa, the great favorite of the 
Emperor Claudius. Dr. Lardner is of opinion 
that the previous repose of the Church con- 
tinued only a year, or a little longer, and that 
the disturbances of the Church began in the 
year 41, when Herod was invested by Claudius 
with full power. He observes — " From the 
very beginning of his reign, especially from 
his arrival in Judaea, and during tlie remainder 
of it, the disciples must have been under many 
difficulties and discouragements." The Jews 
and their new sovereign, who was very rigid 
and punctual in his observances of the Mosaic 
Law, were alike disposed to harass the Chris- 
tians, as an increasing heresy. The persecution, 
therefore, which had ceased for a time, would 
soon be openly renewed ; and as James had 
been put to death, and Peter thrown into prison, 
I consider this (see note 11, Part X.) to have 
been the moment when the apostles for tlie 
first time left Judsea, and not, as Dr. Lardner 
supposes, about the year 49 or 50, after the 



apostolic council. Two circumstances related 
in the sacred narrative confirm me yet further 
in this opinion, and seem to justify the trans- 
position I have here made. One is, that we 
read for the first time that prophets, who 
appear to have been next in order to the 
apostles, went down from Jerusalem to An- 
tioch ; the other is, that when Paul and Bar- 
nabas arrived at Jerusalem, in consequence of 
their mission from the Church at Antioch, after 
the prophets had foretold the famine, the 
Church sent their contributions to the elders, 
and not to the apostles, (chap. xi. 30.) ; and that 
St. Paul, in his account of his coming up to 
Jerusalem on this occasion, tells us that he 
found none of the apostles at Jerusalem but 
James, the Lord's brother, (Gal. i. 19.) — See 
Lardner's Supplement to the Credibility, chap, 
vi. on the time when the apostles left Judsea. 



Note 14.— Part X. 

One manuscript only, the Cambridge mann- 
script, reads here, " as we were together," from 
which it has been inferred, that St. Luke was 
now with St. Paul. This, however, is not suffi- 
cient authority to enable us to conclude against 
the general opinion of the Church, and the 
concurrent testimony of manuscripts, that this 
Evangelist certainly joined St. Paul till his 
arrival at Mysia, (Acts xvi. 7.) 

This prophecy of Agabus resembled those 
of the ancient prophets, not merely in the cer- 
tainty but in the manner of its fulfilment. It 
was accomplished in the first"* and second year 
of Claudius. A second famine^ was in the 
fourth year of Claudius, when Helena, queen 
of the Adiabeni, sent assistance to the Jews. 
A third famine-'' was in the ninth year of Clau- 
dius. A fourth^ in the eleventh year. 

The most severe of these happened between 
the fourth and the eighth years of Claudius, 
under the government of Cuspius Fadus, or 
under that of Tiberius Alexander, perhaps 
under both. There is some reason to imagine, 
that a famine was beginning to be feared in 
Syria, about the time of the death of Agrippa, 
the father, or the elder. St. Luke says that 
this prince, forming the design of making war 
upon the Tyrians and Sidonians, they sought 
a peace ; which they wanted, " because they 
obtained their provisions from the king's 
country." These nations, who had the sea 
open, would have had no fear of a famine, if 
there had been plenty of provisions elsewhere. 

<>■ This is mentioned, with its causes, by Dio Cas- 
sius, 9. p. 949. Ed. Reimar, ap. Kuinoel, In Lib 
Hist. J^.T. Comment., vol. iv. p. 399. 

' Scaliger, Jinimadv. ad Euseb. p. 192, and 
Whitby in loc. 

/ Scaliger, ut sup. &c. p. 79. 

^ Sueton. Vit. Claud, c. IS. See Walchius, 
Dissert, de Jlcrabo vate. 



Note ] 5.-17.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*289 



Note 15.— Part X. 

It is non' that we first meet with the dis- 
puted word presbijter. It occurs in the last 
verse of Acts xi. The corn collected by the 
Omrch at Antioch, for the relief of the breth- 
ren in Jerusalem, was sent to the presbyters, 
or elders. The word to Trqeadviiqwi' occurs 
in the New Testament three times — in Luke 
xxii. 66. Acts xxii. 5. and 1 Tim. iv. 14. The 
signification of the word must be ascertained 
from the interpretation given to it in the time 
of the inspired writers. The term presbytery 
was applied to an united body of men, and the 
word presbyter was given to the members of 
which it was individually composed. In the 
first of these passages it refers to the Sanhe- 
drin, and it is well translated by Dr. Campbell, 
" the national senate." In the second it has 
the same meaning. In the -third it is used by 
St. Paul to denote the collected body of the 
elders, or ministers, who assisted at the ordina- 
tion of Timothy. 

As the Jewish Sanhedrin, with their head, 
consulted for the benefit of the Jewish nation, 
so might the Christian presbyters, with their 
head, consult for the public welfare of the 
Christian Churches. The members of the 
Sanhedrin were not equal in authority to the 
nasi, neither were the presbyters of the New 
Testament, reasoning on the same analogy, 
equal in authority to him who was their nasi, 
or prince ; that is, the apostle, or his successor. 
But the presbytery who governed the Chris- 
tian Church at Jerusalem, and to whom St. 
Paul went, had no civil power; their authority 
was exclusively spiritual ; and their head, or 
nasi, or prince, must, therefore, have possessed 
powers of a spiritual nature, superior to those 
which were possessed by the general body. 
And this appears to have been the case from 
the unanimous testimony of antiquity. The 
privilege of preaching, teaching, and many 
other things was common to all ; the power of 
ordaining and deciding was reserved for one. 
Thus Timothy was ordained ivith the concur- 
rence and sanction of the presbytery, or general 
body of ministers ; but he was not ordained by 
them, but by St. Paul. This, then, explains 
the meaning of the word in the third passage, 
in which the word presbytery occurs, and 
enables us to ascertain with greater precision 
the import of the word presbyter in this pas- 
sage, where it is used with reference to the 
officers of a Christian Church. 

But we are enabled to learn the precise 
meaning of the word presbyter not only from 
the phrase " the presbytery," but from its usual 
acceptation both among the Jews and Gentiles. 
It sometimes occurs in the usual sense of 
" older in years," as contrasted with the word 
" younger," 1 Tim. v. 1. Sometimes it denotes 
the elders or predecessors of the existing gen- 

voL. II. *37 



eration, who had exercised authority as teach- 
ers, or were remembered for their exertions, 
talents, or wisdom, (Matt. xv. 2. Mark vii. 3, 5. 
Heb. xi. 2.) It is a name of dignity, denoting 
the members of the Sanhedrin, the rulers of 
tlie synagogues, and leaders of Israel in gen- 
eral. It chiefly signifies those among the 
Jews, who in their several cities were the 
heads and chiefs of congregations assembled 
for religious worship ; and from this use of the 
word it was adopted by the writers of the Acts 
and the Epistles, to describe those who were 
ordained to officiate in sacred things ; to admin- 
ister the sacraments, to instruct and rule and 
control their respective congregations, under 
the direction of a superior head, to whom they 
were responsible, and to execute every eccle- 
siastical duty except those few of a higher 
nature, which were reserved for the acknowl- 
edged superiors, by whom they had themselves 
been appointed to the exercise of their spiritual 
functions : their power was so great in these 
departments, and their office was so important, 
that they are honored with the epithet of 
bishop, or episcopus, which in subsequent ages 
was exclusively confined to those who imparted 
the presbyteral power. 

Whitby, however, is of opinion that the 
elders here mentioned might not even be Chris- 
tians, but the elders of the Jewish synagogues, 
or the nqibToi twv ' lEQoaolvjittTwv, the chief men 
of Jerusalem, to whom King Izates sent relief 
at the same time ; or if they were Christians, 
they might still be tlie elders of the syna- 
gogues, the Christians then retaining the 
Jewish rites. To the first of these opinions it 
may be answered, that in ver. 29, we read that 
the relief which the Church at Antioch sent 
to Jerusalem, was intended for their own 
brethren. The second opinion is conjectural, 
but not probable. The elders of the syna- 
gogues who were converted, might have been 
admitted among the elders of the infant Church. 

Whether the Christian Church was entirely 
constructed on the model of the Jewish syna- 
gogue, as Grotius asserts, will be considered 
in the notes to the next part of this Arrange- 
ment. 



Note 16.— Part X. 
See the account in Josephus, Antiq. 19. 7. 2. 



Note 17.— Part X. 

ON THE TIME WHEN ST. FADE WAS APPOINTED 
TO THE APOSTOLATE. 

I REFER the vision seen by St. Paul in the 
temple, mentioned in Acts xxii. 17-21., and 



290* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part X 



the commission lie then received to preach to 
tlie Gentiles, to this period of his history, princi- 
pally on the authority of Lord Barrington and Dr. 
Benson, who maintain also that this vision was 
the same as the ecstacy alluded to in 2 Cor. xii. 
2., though Dr. Doddridge would rather refer this 
vision to St. Paul's first return to Jerusalem. 

Dr. Lardner discusses at some length the 
question when St. Paul was made an apostle, 
and concludes that he was appointed to the 
apostolic office on his conversion : one of his 
principal arguments is, that he began to preach 
so soon after that event. That the ultimate 
object which our Saviour proposed to St. Paul 
was mentioned to him at his conversion is evi- 
dent from his own narration. Acts xxvi. 17, 18. 
But it is equally certain that he did not exer- 
cise the apostolic functions till the Holy Ghost 
separated him for the work to which he had 
been called, and till he had been ordained by 
the laying on of hands. 

With respect to Dr. Lardner's remark, that 
Paul was made an apostle, it is only necessary to 
observe, what, perhaps, the learned writer would 
not acknowledge that there were various duties 
attached to the various orders of ministers in 
the service of God. The deacons, evangelists, 
and elders, might preach as well as the apos- 
tles ; but to the apostles only belonged the 
power of governing, and controlling, and su- 
perintending the Churches, the ordaining of 
elders, &c., which things St. Paul did not 
attempt to do, till he returned from Jerusa- 
lem to Antioch. 

As the essay of Lord Barrington on this sub- 
ject is not in the hands of many students of 
Scripture, I have added an abridgment of it. 
The learned writer defines an apostle to be 
one who was a chief and primary minister of 
the kingdom of Christ, who was commissioned 
by God to testify the great facts of Christianity, 
as far as he was personally acquainted with 
them ; particularly that of the resurrection ; 
and who was endued with superior courage in 
times of danger, and with extraordinary powers 
of working miracles, and imparting the Holy 
Ghost. 

It is the object of this essay to fix the precise 
time when Paul received his commission, which 
Lord Barrington supposes to have been at his 
second visit to Jerusalem, when he saw Christ 
in a trance, A. D. 43. In support of the opinion 
that at his conversion Paul was not made an 
apostle, the noble author argues, after discuss- 
ing the question whether St. Paul saw Christ 
personally at his conversion, and deciding it in 
the negative, that St. Paul only preached to 
Jews, or Proselytes of the Gate, before his 
second journey to Jerusalem, and was not till 
that time properly an apostle : he seems to have 
acted only as a prophet or teacher, having only 
received a prediction that " God had chosen 
him that he should know his will." 



His preaching to the Jews does not prove his 
apostolic commission, for he was to be the apos- 
tle of the Gentiles ; nor can this term (Gentiles) 
be applied to the Proselytes of the Gate. 
These were obliged to submit to all the Laws 
of Moses ; and by Gentiles, in Scripture, are 
meant those who served false gods. They are 
described as those who are " carried away or 
led after dumb idols ; without God, without 
hope, under the power of the wicked one." St. 
Paul is said to have "opened their eyes, and 
turned them from darkness to light, from the 
power of Satan unto God." This could not be 
applied to the Proselytes of the Gate, who had 
the knowledge of God's Law, and are said to 
be of clean hands, and a pure heart, &c. ; and, 
indeed, the word used in Acts is always applied 
to idolatrous Gentiles, unless particularly re- 
stricted in sense by some other word. It seems 
that it was not known to the Church, nor indeed 
to the other apostles, that St. Paul had received 
a commission to preach to the Gentiles till his 
third journey to Jerusalem, of which they would 
probably have been informed, had that com- 
mission been given very long before ; and he 
appeals to the being acknowledged as a fellow- 
apostle by his enemies. None of his Epistles 
were written till some time after the year 43, 
and till that period he neither preached or 
acted with any boldness. His journey to Ara- 
bia, hnmediately after his conversion. Lord 
Barrington explains thus — He merely preached 
to Christian Hebrews in an adjoining country 
to Judaea, who were protected by Aretas, kin^j 
of the country, in opposition to Herod, with 
whom he was at war ; and here it is not proba- 
ble he ever preached to proselytes, for Cornelius 
and his family are said to be the first-fruits of 
the heathens (or proselytes), who were converted 
about the year 41, and St. Paul's journey to 
Arabia took place in A. D. 35. 

The account St. Paul gives before Agrippa 
(Acts xxvi.) has been adduced as an argument 
that he was appointed an apostle at his conver- 
sion ; but is it not more likely that he would 
give a brief and perhaps obscure relation of this 
event before the king, than that the two ac- 
counts of the circumstance (Acts ix. and xxii.) 
should be incorrect ? and in both these places 
it seems to specify that no commission was 
received. If, indeed, the Gentiles were con- 
verted so early as has been generally supposed, 
they would have formed part of the Christian 
Church before Peter preached to tlie Prose- 
lytes of the Gate, which would destroy the 
wise order in which Christianity was spread — 
the order our Saviour had before preached— 
and agrees also to his prediction, as related in 
Acts i. 8, &c. first to the Jews of the Holy Cit}', 
then in Judaea, then in Samaria, to the Prose- 
lytes, and lastly to the Gentiles. Agam Paul 
says, that at first (after his conversion) he 
preached "the faith he once destroyed," and 



Note IS.-l.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*291 



tJiat ajlencards he committed the Gospel he 
preached to the Gentiles. He did not change 
liis name to Paul till ten years after his conver- 
sion, and he altered it then from a Jewish to a 
Roman name. He is always placed after Bar- 
nabas, till a short time after his second journey 
to Jerusalem, and the contrary fi'om this period. 
Lastly, it is not probable that Christ gave him 
his commission at the time of his first journey 
to Jerusalem, for he says, himself, " When I 
was come again to Jerusalem," Acts xxii. 17. ; 
and tliis may be better seen by comparing Acts 
is. 2G. and Gal. i. 18. with Acts xi. 29, 30. and 
xii. 25. 

At Paul's second journey to Jerusalem, he 
received from Christ an apostolic commission. 
Lord Barrington says, we may be sure this was 
the first time Paul saw the Saviour, from the 
particular emphasis he lays on the vision, Acts 
xxii. 18. He speaks of this revelation to the 
Corinthians in his Second Epistle to them, 
■which was written about the year 58, as having 
taken place fourteen years preceding, and 
seems to point out that he tlien received his 
commission as apostle of the Gentiles (2 Cor. 
xii.), which account agrees well witli the pre- 
diction of Ananias. He speaks of it as a 
"high vision and revelation," something where- 
of he might boast and glory — a mystery now to 
be made manifest — a revelation of importance 
— Colos. i. 27. Eph. iii.) where it appears St. 
Paul thinks it the greatest of all his revelations. 

Lord Barrington supposes that he had some 
view of the glory of heaven, for his encourage- 
ment in the difficulties he had to encounter, 
and makes a singular conjecture concerning 
the " thorn in the flesh," of which St. Paul 
speaks in his relation of his vision to the Corin- 



thians, which he supposes to have been some 
bodily infirmity caused by the heavenly glory, 
which was too great for liim to bear ; as stam- 
mering, or a convulsive motion in the muscles 
of his face, which made him fear that the Gen- 
tiles, who paid great regard to eloquence and 
outward appearances, would despise him, as 
Moses was afraid of appearing before Pharaoh 
for the same reason. He therefore besought 
the Lord thrice that it might depart from him ; 
but after he was assured that Christ's strength 
should be made perfect in his infirmities, he 
gloried in his weakness. 

There were none of the apostles at Jeru- 
salem at Paul's second journey there, probably 
that it might be manifest that he received his 
mission from no man ; and of this circumstance 
he often particularly informs us, that he re- 
ceived his messasre from Christ alone''. 



Note 18.— Part X. 

Mr. FiEMiNG would place this passage after 
the account of the death of James, and in the 
interval between the committal and the deliver- 
ance of Peter from prison. Dr. Lardner, whose 
authority I follow, adheres to the present order 
of the sacred text, and argues that the commis- 
sion of Barnabas and Saul was not given till 
after the death of Herod'. 



'' See Hales's Analysis, vol. ii. part ii. p. 1211. — 
Miscellanea Sacra, Essay iii. — Doddridge's Family 
Expositor, notes on Acts sxii. and Dr. Lardner. 

' Flem. Christology, vol. ii. p. 230, and Lard- 
ner's Credibility, booki. chap. ii. sect. ii. vol. i. — Ap. 
Doddridge's Family Expositor, vol. iii. p. 88. 



PART XI 



Note L— Part XL 

OiV the occasion of ST. PA0L AND BARNABAS 
RECEIVING THEIR APPOINTMENT TO THE 
APOSTOLATE. 

The learned and judicious Hooker'^ has con- 
jectured that Barnabas and Saul were now set 
apart for their apostleship, to supply the vacan- 
cies in the original number, one having been 
killed by Herod, the other appointed bishop of 
Jerusalem. Dr. Hales' approves this opinion. It 

" Hooker's Eccles. Polity, lib. vii. sec. 4. p. 337. 
>> Hales's Anal, of Chronol. vol. ii. pt. 2. p. 1083. 



is much to be regretted that the seventh book 
of the Ecclesiastical Polity is one of those 
which we cannot be certain received the last 
corrections of their author, or indeed were cer- 
tainly written by him. The conjecture, how- 
ever, is that of one who had carefully studied 
the Scripture narrative, and is by no means 
improbable. 

As St. Paul and Barnabas had been already 
peculiarly set apart to their high office, we 
cannot attribute their authority to the prophets 
and teachers in the Church at Antioch, who 
here officiated by an especial command of God, 
through the Holy Spirit. St. Paul expressly 
declares that he was not an apostle by man. 



292* 



.NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part XI 



We are assured, too, in another passage of 
Scripture, that " without all doubt the less is 
blessed of the greater:" if St. Paul, therefore, 
had derived his commission as the apostle of 
the Gentiles from the Church at Antioch, the 
prophets who set him apart must have been 
either superior or equal to him. They were 
not superior, for the apostles were always 
ranked above any other class of ministers in the 
Christian Church — if they were equal, they 
must have been elevated themselves to the 
rank of apostles, as a learned divine has at- 
tempted to prove". 

The apostles were, in one sense of the word, 
each of them apostles to the whole world : but 
inasmuch as each took his peculiar department, 
he might be called the apostle of that district 
or division of their Lord's vineyard. Thus we 
are assured that the twelve took each of them 
his province, and ecclesiastical history gives us 
the name of their several districts. It is not 
improbable that when the Holy Spirit had sep- 
arated them for the apostolic office in general, 
that St. Paul and Barnabas consented to be- 
come the apostles of the Church at Antioch in 
particular. That Church had lately bestowed 
an honorable title upon the followers of Christ. 
It was the principal society which did not con- 
sist of merely Jewish converts, and as St. Paul 
was set apart as the apostle of the Gentiles, it 
does not appear unreasonable to suppose that 
he would be willing to add to his influence 
the sanction of this venerable Church. The 
Church of Christ was at this time truly catho- 
lic. It formed, as it ought ever to have done, 
and as it will again at the coming period of its 
promised prosperity, one great society. It was 
united through all its congregations under the 
authority of its superior pastors, who assembled 
in council to decide upon any matter in which 
all were interested. There was no supremacy 
either of St. Peter, or any other of the apostles, 
and no schism or heresy among its people. 
The condescending of St. Paul to become the 
apostle of the Church at Antioch, so far as it 
might be useful to the catholic Church to act 
with their sanction, does not imply that their 
authority was superior to his. His object may 
have been to obtain in those places which were 
under the influence of Antioch, a better or an 
easier introduction than he would have other- 
wise experienced. This consideration appears 
to solve that great difficulty which many have 
experienced, in reconciling the apostolic com- 
mission of St. Paul by the Holy Spirit, with 
his being set apart by ecclesiastical officers of 
an inferior description. 

Among the prophets who were now in the 
Church at Antioch, we read of one Manaen. 

" Scott's Christian Life, part ii. ch. vii. p. 491, 
folio edit. Joseph. Jlntiq. lib, xv. c. 10. sec. 5. 
Lightfoot, vol, ii. p. 685, and vol. i. 288-2008. ap. 
Biscoe On the Acts. 



"There is an account in Josephus of one 
Manaen," says Dr. Biscoe, " an Essene, who 
foretold concerning Herod the Great, that he 
should be a king, whilst he was yet a boy at 
school : and when it actually came to pass that 
he was king, being sent for by Herod, and 
asked how long he should reign, whether ten 
years ? he answered. Yes. — Twenty years ? 
Yes ; thirty years. Upon which Herod gave 
him his right hand, and from that time held in 
great esteem such as were of the sect of 
Essenes." Mr. Zachutus, a Jewish writer, says, 
that this Manaen was vice-president of the 
Sanhedrin under Hillel, and that Shammai suc- 
ceeded him ; that he went off' into Herod's 
family and service with fourscore eminent men ; 
that he uttered many prophecies, foretold to 
Herod when he was yet very young, that he 
should come to reign ; and when he did reign, 
being sent for, foretold that he should reign 
above thirty years. The talmudists also say, 
" That Manaen went out, and Shammai suc- 
ceeded him. But whither went Manaen ? Abai 
says, he went into the service of the king, and 
with him went fourscore pair of disciples, 
clothed all in silk." It is very probable that a 
son of this Manaen, or some nephew, or other 
kinsman to whom he gave his name, was 
educated in the family of Herod the Great. 
The young Manaen might be of the same age, 
and have the same preceptors and tutors as 
had Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod 
the Great, and for that reason be said to be 
brought up with him in particular. This Herod 
Antipas was, after his father's death, tetrarch 
of Galilee, and is the person who put John the 
Baptist to death. Josephus says, of the first 
named Manaen, that he was reputed a man of 
an excellent life. The talmudists tell us, that 
when he left the vice-presidentship of the San- 
hedrin to go into Herod's service, he went into 
all manner of wickedness. May they not have 
fixed this infamy upon him from his having 
shown some mark of esteem for Christ and 
his followers ? or from the younger Manaen's 
becoming a Christian ? 



Note 2.— Part XI. 

Sergius Paulus was the first convert of 
the idolatrous Gentiles. He was a magistrate ; 
and, by his conversion and influence, the 
preaching of St. Paul would probably excite 
still greater attention. The conversion of a 
magistrate, as the first-fruits of the idolati-ous 
world, may be intended to show unto us that 
the Divine Author of Christianity appeals in a 
more especial manner to those who are vested 
with authority and power, to embrace his re- 
ligion, and to sanction and protect it to the 
utmost. 



Note 3.-5.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*293 



" It is observable here," says Bishop Marsh, 
" that the Evangelist Luke, relating these trans- 
actions of Paul in Cyprus, gives to Sergius 
Paulus, the Roman governor of tliat island, 
the Greek title of ' AvOvnarog, which was 
applied only to those governors of provinces 
who were invested with proconsular dignity. 
And on the supposition that Cyprus was not a 
province of this description, it has been in- 
ferred, that the title given to Sergius Paulus 
in the Acts of the Apostles, was a title that 
did not properly belong to him. 

" A passage, indeed, has been quoted from 
Dion Cassius, who, speaking of the governors 
of Cyprus, and some other Roman provinces, 
applies to them the same title which is applied 
to Sergius Paulus. But as Dion Cassius is 
speaking of several Roman provinces at the 
same time, one of which was certainly governed 
by a proconsul, it has been supposed that, for 
the sake of brevity, he used one term for all 
of them, whether it applied to all of them or 
not. That Cyprus, however, ought not to be 
excepted, and that the title which he employed, 
as well as St. Luke, really did belong to the 
Roman governors of Cyprus, appears from the 
inscription on a coin belonging to Cyprus itself, 
and struck in the very age in which Sergius 
Paulus was governor of that island. It was 
struck in the reign of Claudius Csesar, whose 
head and name are on the face of it : and in 
the reign of Claudius Csesar St. Paul visited 
Cyprus. It was a coin belonging to the people 
of that island, as appears from the word 
KYnPISlN on the reverse; and, though not 
struck while Sergius Paulus himself was gov- 
ernor, it was struck, as appears from the in- 
scription on the reverse, in the time of Proclus, 
who was next to Sergius Paulus in the govern- 
ment of that island. And on this coin the 
same title, ANQ YIJA T02, is given to Proclus, 
which is given by St. Luke to Sergius Paulus''." 
That Cyprus was a proconsulate, is also evident 
from an ancient inscription of Caligula's reign, 
(the predecessor of Claudius), in which Aquius 
Scaura is called the proconsul of Cyprus^ 



Note .3.— Part XI. 

The word Elymas is derived, by Pfeiffer, 
from the Arabic cn'^Vi sciens, sapiens. See his 
Duhia Vexata, p. 943. Loesneri Observ. ad 
jVov. Testam. e Pkilone Alexand. p. 204, and 
Kuinoel. 

^ Bishop Marsh's Lectures, part v. p. 85, 86. 
An engraving of the above noticed coin may be 
seen in Havercamp's edition of the Thesnurys Mo- 
rellianus, in the plate belonging to p. 106. 

' Gruteri Corpus Inscripiionum, tom. i. pars ii. 
p 360, no. 3. edit. Graevii. Amst. 1707. 

VOL. II. 



Note 4.— Part XI. 

It is uncertain on what account the name of 
Paul is used by St. Luke through the remainder 
of his narrative instead of SaulA Some have 
supposed that Paul was the Roman name, given 
him from his birth, with his Jewish patronymic, 
Saul. Others, thatit was a token of his humility ; 
the word " Saul" meaning " beloved," or " desir- 
able ; " and " Paul" denoting " weak," or " little." 
Others, and it is the most general opinion, that 
the name Paul was assumed by the Apostle in 
memory of the conversion of the proconsul 
Sergius Paulus: — "A primo ecclesiee spolio 
proconsule Sergio Paulo victorise sus trophsa 
retulit, erexitquc vexillum ut Paulo, ex Saulo 
vocaretur°." Others, that it was assumed as 
a name more pleasing to the ears of his 
audiences among the Gentiles. 



Note 5.— Part XI. 

ON the officers and modes of worship in 
the synagogues. 

The learned Mr. Biscoe'' observes, that St. 
Paul, as a Jewish doctor, or teacher, was priv- 
ileged to teach in the synagogues. We cannot 
sufiiciently admire the manner in which the 
providence of God ordained that every thing 
should contribute to the success of the new 
religion. The whole world was under one gov- 
ernment, the protection of which ensured tlie 
common safety of the Jews and Christians 
under their own laws. When the Jews per- 
secuted the Christians the Romans did not in- 
terfere, because they considered, at first, the 
Christians as a Jewish sect, and probably as 
very little better than criminals. The divisions 
between them must have been soon observed 
by the idolatrous GentUes, and would naturally 
excite their curiosity and attention. The 
Jews had hitherto been united among them- 
selves, and had met with no opposition 
from their own nation in the public profession 
of their religion, till the Christians proclaimed 
to them, and to the world, the advent of the 
long-promised Messiah — the abolition of the 
Mosaic Law, and the establishment of a more 
perfect dispensation, in which all mankind 
were alike interested. These novel and impor- 
tant truths, together with the miracle which the 
Apostle had so lately wrought, were sufficient 
to secure to him the regard and consideration 
of the heathen, and convince them at least of 
his superiority and power. For God " ordere'ch 

/ See, on this point, Witsii Melet. Le'dens. p. 47. 
= Jerome, lib. i. ap. Kuinoel, In Lib. Hist. X. T. 
Comment, vol. iv. p. 457, 9. v. 
I' Biscoe On the .^cts.vol. i. 271. 



294* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part XI. 



all things according to the counsel of his own 
wUl." 

Lightfoot, Vitringa, Grotius, Selden, and 
many others, have endeavoured to prove from 
this, and other passages, that the ministers, and 
the modes of worship, in the primitive Christian 
Churches, were derived from, and were entirely- 
assimilated to, the officers and services in the 
Jewish synagogues. As the first places of wor- 
ship among the Christians were either the tem- 
ple, the synagogues, or the I'lTtsQaa, or upper 
rooms, so frequently mentioned in the Acts, it is 
by no means improbable that many of their 
customs would be derived from their former faith 
and worship ; but it cannot be proved that the 
Christian Church was the mere transcript of that 
which preceded it. We have abundant reason 
to believe, that the modes of worship among the 
early Christians were, in many respects, totally 
dissimilar to those of the synagogue. 

The learned Joseph Mede% as I have shown 
above, has defended the opinion at great length, 
that there were churches, ixxlrjalut,, properly 
so called, even in the apostolic age. He con- 
siders this word to mean churches, or places for 
worship, from its opposition to olxtai, their own 
houses. See 1 Cor. xi. 22. 

The TunsQaoi', or canaculum, on Mount Sion, 
■where the apostles are said to have assembled 
when the cloven tongues descended upon them, 
was afterwards enclosed. When it is con- 
sidered to what a great variety of purposes the 
" upper rooms," mentioned so often in the Acts 
of the Apostles, were applied, it appears that the 
opinion of Mede is most probably correct, that 
these were the places at first set apart for holy 
meetings ; and, in process of time, as the multi- 
tude of believers increased, some wealthy or 
devout Christian gave his whole house or man- 
sion, while he lived, if he could do so, or be- 
queathed it at his death, to the saints, to be set 
apart for religious uses. After this, as the 
Church increased, structures were built for 
regular worship. 

Mede quotes a passage from Pliilo, to prove 

i Mede's Works, hook ii. p. 310. Treatises con- 
cerning Churches ; that is, appropriate places for 
Christian worship, both in and ever since the 
Apostles' times. See also p. 323, fol. edit. " Erant 
autem ilia privata fntQcoa, loca a Judaeis semper 
sacris usibus destinata, saltern ex quo Daniel pro- 
pheta ascendisse in ccEnaculum ad orandum dice- 
retur : xal a! dvQrStg avicoyfiiyai cwrio iv rule vm- 
(lojoi.g xaTiram ' I(Qnvaa}.i'ifi. ut et Sara filia Raguelis 
dicitur descendisse iy. tov -I'm^uiov, ubi oraverat. 
Unde Judaei sapientes suos appellabant rr'Si' Ul 
filios cmnacuii. In eo celebrabant Pascha, Marc. 
xiv, 15. Et ipsp vohis demonstrabit, avoSyaiov, ccna- 
culum gnmdc stratinn. In eo corpora mortuorum 
lavata prius reponebant, ut de Dorcade legimus, 
Act. ix. 37. Quam. cum. lavissent, posuerunt earn, in 
rmnacuh. Unde et Petrum venientem dicuntur 
adduxisse in cmnaculum,. Quare Apostoli ab as- 
censione Domini reversi Hierosolynia, mifiijnar etc 
TO vntniSur, ubi erant perseveranfes unanimitiir in 
oratione' et supplicatione, Act. i. 13." — Pearson. 
Lectioncs in Acta Apnstol. p. 31. 



that the Essenes at Alexandria, who were 
probably the first Christians at that place, as- 
sembled for worship in sacred places, called 
SEfiiEia. He reasons also from St. Paul's sal- 
utations to the Churches in the houses of various 
believers. 

These remarks on the places where the early 
Christians met, will at least prove that there 
was nothing so peculiarly sacred in the syna- 
gogue, that they should confine themselves to 
its walls, or be fettered by its institutions. 

The Jews were required to erect syna- 
gogues wherever ten men, free and of full age, 
fSlTJl ;mn 'J.:, could assemble for worship, 
whether it was in the towns or villages : but in 
the city they were always required to be men 
of leisure, that is, of competence and respecta- 
bility, CD^SiJn PTwi/J.?. Vitringa and Lightfoof 
diff'er on the qualifications of these ten men ; but 
their opinions on this point do not aSect the 
conclusion, that there is no custom similar to 
this in the Christian Church ; for in the Gospel 
it is expressly declared, " Where two or three 
are met together in His name. He is there in the 
midst of them." 

The consecration of the synagogues, it is true, 
was made by prayer — prayer also is used in the 
consecration of the Christian churches. But 
this resemblance is too general to entitle us to 
assert that the Christians, in consecrating their 
places of worsliip, paid exclusive regard to the 
service of the synagogue. 

The accounts of the ancient churches given 
by Eusebius, further prove to us that the early 
Christians had regard to the model, or ground 
plan of the temple at Jerusalem, rather than to 
the synagogue. With the exception of the 
pulpit, which was common to both, the difference 
was remarkable. The synagogue was sur- 
rounded and filled with benches, all looking to 
the veil, which enclosed the ark, or chest, where 
the sacred books were deposited. The upper- 
most seats of the synagogues fronted the people, 
and on them were seated the rulers of the sy- 
nagogue, the rabbis, and the principal men. The 
Christian churches, on the contrary, were di- 
vided into three parts. 1. The JVarthex, or anti- 
temple, where the penitents and catechumens 
stood ; 2. The JVaos, or temple, where the 



■'■ Liffhtfoot supposes that these ten men were 
thus divided: Three were the agxtnvvuyoiyoi, who 
had the principal management of the synagogue ; 
one was the jm, the cpiscopus, or bishop of the 
synagogue; three were deacons, who managed the 
poor. The eighth he will not so confidently affirm, 
but he believes was the JDJ-im, the interpreter. 
The ninth and tenth were united with another of 
the congregation, and were the triumvirate which 
governed the rest. But see on these points Vi- 
tringa. Jirchisynagiigus, p. 22, &c. and Pettit's 
Observations, p. 25" " Moderatoribus Synagogorum, 
minus recte annuraerantur. r^ViSt-OD ri'iB'l' decern 
otiosi, &c. tales autem non erant, nisi in urbi- 
bus majovibus." Iken. Jntiq. Hehraicm, part i. 
cap. ix. De Syniigdgis, sec. 9. 



Note 5.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



295 



communicants had their respective places ; and, 
3. The Bcina, or sanctuary, where the clergy 
stood to officiate*-". Should this description be 
con-ect, it demonstrates tliat the Christians re- 
jected the innovation of the synagogues, and 
restored the purer temple model. 

In the synagogues were laid up not only the 
sacred books, and the box for alms, but lights 
for burning, trimipets and horns for proclaiming 
fasts. Sabbaths, &.C. None of which things 
were admitted into the Christian churches. 

But while we assert that these customs were 
excluded, we cannot but acknowledge that there 
is a similarity in some instances, which perhaps 
could not be avoided, as the early worshippers 
of Christ had been so long under the jurisdiction 
of the Jewish discipline. But these customs 
must not be, as tliey too often are, mistaken for 
institutions ; for ui many instances we find them 
condemned by the inspired writers. Thus St. 
James, chap. it. 3. declaims against the prece- 
dency which was allowed to the rich, who 
probably took the upper seats which were 
granted to the Jewish rulers in the synagogue, 
iz,c. St. James was the apostle of the circum- 
cision ; the places of worship, therefore, in his 
district, would be more likely than others to be 
conducted on the model of the synagogue. 

The persons in the synagogue, who were in- 
vested with office and dignity, were first the 
nDJDH K?«"i, the ruler of the synagogue, the 
dg/iavt'uyMjog of the Gospels. There were 
several of these in one synagogue. They di- 
rected its internal economy', gave permission 
to strangers to preach, and were respectable for 
age or influence, and decided inferior causes. 

These offices we find were all divided in the 
Christian Church. Its civil concerns were 
managed by the deacons, as is implied in the 
purposes for which they were originally set 
apart. So, likewise, no Christian minister could 
ever give another person permission to preach, 
unless he had been previously ordained to that 
office. 

It is singular to observe how often Vitringa 
is compelled to acknowledge that Ms parallel 
between the ministers of the synagogue, and 
the first Christian ministers, entirely fails'". 
The ruler of the synagogue wore a sudarium ; 

'' Bingham's Eccles. JIntiq. vol. iii. book viii. 
chap. 3. 

' noJDn ^DT j'jnnj vd Sj? nojon tvxi-y" The 

ruler of the synagogue is he by whose voice the 
business of the synagogue is settled." R- Solomon, 
hi Annnt. ad SotcB, cap. vii. sec. 7. ap. Vitringa, 
Archisynagogus, p. 728. 

'" " Ecclesia tamen Christiana prinneva, hunc ti- 
tulum sjnagogffi reliquit. Praepositos suos non vo- 
cavit uoyorTuc Tr,c ixx/.tjalug : sed potius preshy- 
teros, episcopos, ptistores, ductores; idque ob hanc 
manifestam rationem. quia ecclesia novi foederis nul- 
1am fert }t<y/\r. nullum imperium." — De Synug. Vcte- 
re, lib. iii. pars i. cap. 9. p. 728. ■' Praster hunc titu- 
lum, alius quidem quantum mihi constat, in scrip- 
tis N. T. non reperitur, qui directe ad praefecturam 
synagogce respicit." — Vitringa, £>« .irchisyn.a.p- De 



Vitringa confesses that he is ignorant whether 
the Christian minister was ever known to wear 
it also". His attempts to prove its use in the 
Christian churches, seem to me to be quite un- 
successful. Again, the ruler of the synagogue 
was sometimes called the pastor of the congre- 
gation ; but he who in tliis capacity had the 
power of inflicting stripes, and other corporal 
punishments, was not exactly such a shepherd 
as Christ would desire to instruct his flock. 
The rulers of the synagogues were called by 
various names, expressive of various degrees 
of power and honor. They first answered Amen 
to the prayers— they appointed the reader of the 
Scriptures — the reciter of the prayers — per- 
mitted any stranger to preach, a privilege ex- 
ceedingly useful to the apostles, and who were 
thus legally permitted to address the Jews 
before they spoke to the Gentiles. There were 
many in each congregation according to its 
magnitude ; they were equal, in the opinion 
of Vitringa, though not in the opinion of Gro- 
tius. In short, they seemed to have filled the 
various and opposite offices of churchwar- 
den, parish clerk, and justice of the peace ; 
they were partly civil, partly ecclesiastical ; an 
union of characters unknown in the Christian 
church in any period of its history. Yet this 
is the officer whom Vitringa would assimilate 
to the principal minister in the Christian 
church, and Christian congregation. Instead of 
the divine and simple appointment of bishop, 
priest, and deacon, he would encumber the 
primitive Church with all the customs of degen- 
erated Judaism, and surname them the institu- 
tions of Christianity: and all this is written in 
pure zeal for the presbyteral government, in 
opposition to that of episcopacy. 

Another officer of the synagogue was the 
113''i*n''7iJ', or angel, or messenger of the con- 
gregation. It was his duty to ofier up prayers 
for the whole congregation. This name has 
been applied in the Revelations to the heads of 
the Churches in Asia. It has therefore been 
inferred by Lightfoot, who wished to assimilate 
tlie rites of the Christian Church to those of the 
synagogue, that the name and office of the 
bishop, or episcopus, were the same as those of 
the sheliach tzihbor, which he identifies with 
the chazan. His remarks are fully confuted by 
Vitringa". 

Synag. Veteri. lib. iii. part i. cap. i. p. 611 . — '• Syriis 
interpres rove ' jJoyimivaymyoTc, apud Lucam vertit 
per xnafj J1 Xiy'K'p ; presbyteros Synagogae." I 
have, however, shown that there is no analogy 
whatever between these and the Christian minister. 
Vitrincra, De Synag. Vet. lib. iii. part viii. cap. 1. p 
614. 

" " Episcopi vero an in primis ecclesiis pro iw//- 
avraycbyutr, more sudaria agitarint, ego equidem fa- 
teor me ignorare," &c. For the meaning of the 
phrase yudaria agitarint, I must refer the reader to 
the treatise itself. 

" De Si/nacr. Veteri. lib. iii. pars ii. cap. 3. p. 
909. 



296* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part XI. 



The 113":!^ rr'Sa", says a learned Hebraist, 
•was, — 

1. To be an example and an instructor. 

2. To begin the prayers. 

3. To recite the prayers before the ark, in 
which the Law was placed in the synagogue. 

4. He recited some peculiar prayers. 

5. Read the Law. 

6. Ordered what was to be done in public 
worship. 

7. After service, directed the priest when to 
bless the people. 

8. And, if the priest was absent, he blessed 
them himself. 

9. Blew the trumpet at the beginning of the 
new year. 

10. Scattered ashes on the fast days. 

A loud and clear voice — integrity of life — 
devotion and earnestness — a large family — suit- 
able age — were required''. 

The t;n, chazan, is generally supposed to 
have been of inferior rank ; the same as the 
imjQBTi^g, who took the book from the reader ; 
as we are told was done in the case of our Lord, 
when he preached for the first time in the 
synagogue of Nazareth. He was an attendant 
only, and does not appear to have been at all 
analogous to the Christian minister. 

The O'DJIiJjwho took charge of the poor, &c. 
have been already noticed. 

The next description of officers in the service 
of the synagogue, were the C3MpI, or elders. 
We will yet further inquire what is meant by 
this word among the Jews, and then what was 
denoted by its synonym 7TQsa6vTSQOi, among the 
Christians. It will, I think, appear that there 
is not sufficient analogy between them to war- 
rant a conclusion that one was a counterpart to 
the other. Both were distinguished by the same 
name, as both were considered entitled to 
deference from their age, authority, rank, and 
piety. They were so named, because they were 
supposed to possess the influence of age'. 
Their offices, however, were in all respects 
dissimilar. 

The word □"' JpT, or presbyter, or elders, among 
the Jews, was alike used to describe their learned 
men, the members of the Sanhedrin and their 
literary men. And as education was universal, 
and a certain proficiency in their sacred litera- 
ture was deemed essential to all men of respec- 
tability, it may be considered as a word appli- 
cable to eminent men in general, who were 
not distinguished by some more particular title. 
The title was likewise extended to those, who 
for their aknowledged superiority and piety, 
were known by the name of □''onnn, or "the 
wise men." It also denoted the powerful men, 

P Schoetgen. Hora; HebraiccB, vol. i. p. 1089. 

' Sallust says, the deliberative part of the Roman 
legislature were called fathers — vel celate, vel curm 
similitudine. — See Note 15, Part X. of this Ar- 
rangement. 



Matt. xxvi. 3., or the men of influence and 
authority'. 

Erom this general meaning of the word the 
Sanhedrin was called the Presbytery, Acts 
xxii. 5. Age was peculiarly honored among 
the ancient Jews' : and the word which ex- 
pressed seniors, or elders, was consequently 
used as an appellation of dignity. 

Such were the significations of the word 
" elder" among the ancient Jews : we shall see 
that the word was never used in this very ex- 
tensive sense to denote those persons who were 
set apart for the service of the primitive Church. 
The Christian elders were persons appointed to 
fulfil certain specific duties, of a very diff'erent 
kind and nature. They were prophets, evange- 
lists, teachers, interpreters of tongues ; they had 
been endued, for the most part, with that great 
diversity of spiritual gifts, which must have 
fitted them for the infinitely higher duties than 
the Jewish elders ever fulfilled, even if they 
had not been further dedicated to the service of 
Christ by the laying on of the hands of the apos- 
tles. As the word presbyter designated the 
most honorable class among the Jews, it was 
transferred to the Christians, as the most sig- 
nificant and appropriate appellation for pious, 
holy, and gifted men. Their offices were dif- 
ferent ; their names the same. 

One custom among Christians is more evi- 
dently derived from the synagogue. The Jews 
ordained elders by a triumvirate, or by three 
elders ; with imposition of hands, prayer, and 
fasting. In the same manner, three bishops are 
necessary to consecrate a bishop ; a circum- 
stance which seems to confirm the opinion, that 
the episcopal polity was established in large 
towns. Every synagogue was required to have 
its consistory of twenty-three or twenty-four 
elders. But a synagogue was to be built 
wherever only ten men of leisure could be 
found to form a congregation. Some syna- 
gogues therefore would not be able to supply 
the consistory. It appears not improbable, 
therefore, that the consistory would be estab- 
lished in the principal synagogue of a city, and 
the smaller synagogues refer their civil and 
ecclesiastical causes to this tribunal. The 
apostles followed this plan, and ordained in 
every city those who might ordain others. 

As the Christian presbyters were endued 
with miraculous powers, with the gift of 
tongues and of healing, with the spirit of 
prophecy, &c., it would be absurd to imagine 
that they were to form a council in every 
Church, as assistant lay counsellors to the 
officiating minister or presbyter. Dr. Ham- 



'' See, on this point, Vitringa, De JVominibus 
PrmfectoruTTi Syna.gogcR et EccJesim — De Sijniig, 
Veteri, lib. iii. pars i. cap. 1, p. 614. 

' Fleury's Manners of the ancient Israelites, by 
Clarke, p. 162, and Schleusner on the word hqso^ 



Note 6.-S.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*297 



mond's h3'pothesis is more probable than this. 
He thinks " that the apostles ordained only the 
two orders of bishop and deacon ; of whom the 
bishop was placed in every city, with power to 
ordain presbyters under him, as occasion re- 
quired." When we remember tlie wonderful 
gifts with which the early converts were 
honored — the exxeeding dignity attached to the 
word preshr/ler — and the rapid increase of con- 
verts in the first three centuries, which the 
Holy Spirit would have foreseen and provided 
for, it cannot appear impossible, but rather 
probable, that the apostles ordained both bishops 
and presbyters, although the distinct and strict 
meaning of these words was not originally 
attached to them. 

The apostles, for instance, set apart Timothy 
and Titus, with power to ordain elders ; that is, 
with powere which were granted exclusively to 
bishops; but it does not appear that this appel- 
lation was assigned to either of these eminent 
disciples. The persons to whom the power of 
ordaining was committed, did not themselves 
assume any title, but were indiscriminately 
called presbyters, bishops, evangelists, or disci- 
ples. Their office, however, was eminently 
superior to those to whom the power of ordain- 
ing had not been committed ; and in the fol- 
lowing aje, after the death of the apostles, they 
were distinguished by the peculiar appellation 
of bishop, as the power and authority of the 
apostles seemed to devolve upon them. At 
this time an evident distinction was made 
between bishop and presbyter; and here we 
clearly trace the three orders of the Christian 
ministry ; first in the apostles — bishops, or pres- 
byters, and deacons — and, after the death of 
the apostles, in bishops, presbyters, and deacons. 
And as these three orders were so evidently set 
apart by the Holy Spirit of God for the service 
of the Christian Church, it is advisable to look 
for the origin of the Christian priesthood from 
God, and not from man. It was appointed by 
the delegated ambassadors of Christ, and not 
from the customs of the synagogue. 

The subject is too extensive to be further 
discussed in a note. The reader who has 
leisure is referred to the laborious and learned 
volumes of Vitringa, Lightfoot, and Grotius. 
It is, however, well worthy the attention of the 
theological student. 



trymen : and their doctrines seem to be all 
comprised in this address of St. Paul. He 
reminds them of the former mercies of God to 
the family of Abraham, and the prediction that 
their Messiah should be descended from David ; 
and asserts that this Messiah was Jesus of 
Nazareth. He appeals to the well-known fact 
of the resurrection of Christ from the dead, as 
the principal evidence of the truth of his decla- 
ration, and concludes with enforcing that one 
important truth, in which the whole human race 
are so immediately interested, that forgiveness 
of sins is to be proclaimed through Him alone ; 
and that Christ alone can justify the Christian, 
not only from those offences, from which they 
were typically purified by the ceremonial Law, 
but from those sins also for which that Law had 
made no provision. For we have now the 
comfortable hope that all manner of sin and 
blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, through 
the mercy and intercession of Christ, on the 
condition of sincere repentance, amendment of 
life, and faith in the great atonement. 



Note 7. — Part XI. 

The word in the original ought rather to 
have been rendered, for forty years " he carried 
them in his arms, in the wilderness, as a nurse." 
It is used in a similar sense in the Alexandrian 
septuagint version, Deut. i. 31., ETQoq)oq)6QTjaai, 
ore KvQiog, (hg eYiig TQoq)0(f:OQi'i(jai avdgainog rbv 
vlbv aiwv. " The Lord thy God bare thee, as 
a man doth bear his son," is the translation in 
the authorized version. For iTgonocpooTjaev, 
the common reading which our translators have 
rendered " He bare their manners," Griesbach 
would insert iiQacpocpiQijcrev, as the undoubted 
reading. He is supported by the authority of 
Pfafflus, Casaubon, Hammond, Mill, Matthai, 
Ernesti, Rosenmliller, and Valckenaer. Ap. 
Kuinoel, In Lib. Hist. J^/. T. Comment, vol. iv. 
p. 445. See, however, Whitby in loc, who 
does not consider the alteration necessary ; and 
interprets the words in the present Greek Vul- 
gate, in the same manner as if Griesbach's 
reading had been adopted. He quotes Origen 
as explaining hQonoq)6Qi]crev, by dg/ud'Ceadui. ak 
nqbg to d(T(9f j'ec, " to accommodate himself to 
the infirmities of children." 



Note 6.— Part IX. 

This oration of St. Paul, the last he addressed 
peculiarly to the former objects of his patriotic 
affection, is most worthy the attention of the 
sons of Israel at present. Nothing can be 
added to the arguments which the apostles 
have addressed in their reported sermons and 
their invaluable epistles, to their beloved coun- 
voL. II. *38 



Note 8. — Part XL 

The Apostle seems here to contradict the 
account in 1 Kings vi. 1. " And it came to pass 
in the four hundred and eightieth year after 
the children of Israel were come out of the 
land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's 
reign over Israel, in the month Zif. which is 



298* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part XI 



the second month, that he began to build the 
house of the Lord." 

Sir Norton Knatchbull, in his Annotations 
upon difficult Texts, has considered the various 
solutions proposed by learned men of tlie diffi- 
culty before us ; and concludes, that the words 
of the Apostle should not be understood as 
meaning- how long God gave them judges, but 
when he gave them ; and therefore proposes 
that the first words of this verse, Kul /usrd. 
lavTtt (iig STSOfi TSTQaaoalotg y.ai TrecTijxoJ'Ta, 
should be referred to the words going before, 
ver. 17., that is, to the time when the God of 
the children of Israel chose their fathers. 

Now this time, wherein God may properly 
be said to have chosen their fathers, about four 
hundred and fifty years before he gave them 
judges, is to be computed from the birth of 
Isaac, in whom God may properly be said to 
have chosen their fathers ; for God, who had 
chosen Abraham out of all^the people of the 
earth, chose Isaac at this time out of the 
children of Abraham, in whose family the cov- 
enant was to rest. To make this computation 
evident, let us observe, that from the birth of 
Isaac to the birth of Jacob are sixty years ; 
from thence to their going into Egypt, one 
hundred and thirty ; from thence to the 
Exodus, two hundred and ten ; from thence to 
their entrance into Canaan, forty ; from that 
to the division of the land (about which time it 
is probable they began to settle their govern- 
ment by judges), seven years ; which sums 
make four hundred and forty-seven, viz. 60-(- 
1.30-1-21 0-f40+7=:447. And should this be 
reckoned from the year before the birth of 
Isaac, when God established his covenant be- 
tween himself and Abraham, and all his seed 
after him. Gen. xvii. 19., at which time God 
l^roperly chose their fathers, then there will be 
four hundred and forty-eight years, which 
brings it to within two years of the four 
hundred and fifty ; which is sufficiently exact 
to bring it within the Apostle's cug, " about," or 
" nearly." 

Some have made the period four hundred 
and fifty-two years ; which, though two years 
more than the Apostle's round number, is still 
sufficiently reconcilable with his qualifying 
particle ug, " about." And, it may be added, 
that the most correct writers often express a 
sum totally, but not exactly. 

Calmet has paraphrased these passages nearly 
to the same sense ; the text may be thus con- 
nected, ver. 19. And having destroyed seven 
nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their 
land to them by lot, about one hundred and 
fifty years after. And afterwards he gave 
them judges, to the time of Samuel the prophet. 
The paraphrase of Calmet is the following : — ■ 
" The God of this people of Israel chose our 
fathers in the person of Abraham ; he promised 
him the land of Canaan, and four hundred and 



fifty years after this promise, and the birth of 
Isaac, who was the son and heir of the promise, 
he put them in possession of that land, which 
he had promised so long before'." 

Lightfoot remarks on this passage : — 
" Amongst the many things that are offered 
upon this difficulty, I would choose this ; that 
in this number are reckoned the years of the 
judges, and the years of those tyrants that 
oppressed Israel, computing them disjunctly and 
singly : which, at first sight, any one would 
think ought to be so reckoned, but that 1 Kings 
vi. 1. gives a check to a too large computation. 
" The years of the judges and tyrants, thus 
distinguished, answer the sum exactly : — 



The Judges. 


The Tyrants. 


Othniel 40 


Chushan 8 


Ehud 80 


Eglon 18 


Deborah... 40 


Sisera 20 


Gideon 40 


Midian 7 


Abimelech.. 3 


Ammon 18 


Tola 23 


The Philistines 40 


Jair 22 




Jephthah... 6 


In all.. Ill 


Ibsan 7 




Elon 10 




Abdon 8 




Samson ... 20 




Eli 40 




In all.. 339 





So that reckoning three hundred and thirty- 
nine, and one hundred and eleven together, 
the sum amounts exactly to four hundred 
and fifty." vol. ii. p. 689. fol. ed. 



Note 9.— Part XI. 

The construction of this verse is difficult. 
The word xqivavTeg should be taken with 
Toviov, and dyyo^aa/'ree, with rai; cfoiv&g. In 
which case it would run thus — They that dwell 
at Jerusalem, in condemning Him, not having 
known the voices of the prophets, which are 
read every Sabbath day, have fulfilled (the 
prophecies). But see more on the passage in 
Knatchbull, Hammond, and the references and 
discussion in Kuinoel, In Lib. Hist. JV. T. Com- 
ment, vol. iv. p. 455. 



Note 10.— Part XI. 

The sure mercies of David are everlasting 
life, of which the resurrection was a pledge, 

' Hebrew and Talmudical Exerc. on the Acts, 
Lightfoot, vol. viii. p. 466. See Dr. A. Clarke in 
loc. — Whitby — Doddridge — Bowyer's Crit. Conj. 
and particularly the Critici Sacri on 1 Kings vi. 18. 



Note 11.-12.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*299 



and the blessings of the redemption of Christ 
an earnest, even in this world. The expression 
Td offtu, "holy," or "just things," is the word 
used by the LXX in Isa. Iv. 3. and in other 
places, for the word a'lDn. " mercies." The 
covenant which God estabhshed with David, 
2 Sam. vii. 11, 12., which is explained by Ps. 
IxxxLx. 3, 4, 28, 29, 3(j., implies that the house 
of David should never be extinct. It should 
endure as the days of heaven, and as the sun, 
to all generations. As far as relates to this 
earth, his family has long been extinct; the 
prophecy must therefore receive another inter- 
pretation. 



Note 11.— Part XI. 

!>• this verse there is a great number of 
various readings; instead of "when the Jews 
■were going out of the synagogue," several 
manuscripts of great repute, with all the Syriac, 
the Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, and 
Italian, read, " As they were going out, they 
entreated that these words should be preached 
unto them in the course of the week," or the 
next Sabbath, so that, according to this well- 
accredited reading, the words ix Tfjj avvaYoiyfig 
TWf 'lovdalwi', are left out in the first clause, 
aviav being put in their place, and xd Wpi], " the 
Gentiles," is wholly omitted in the second 
clause. The most eminent critics approve of 
this reading ; indeed, it stands on such authority, 
as to render it almost indubitable. Of the 
avTKiv, "them," which is substituted for the 
first clause, Professor White says, lectio indubie 
genuina ; this reading is undoubtedly genuine — 
and of the rd edi-rj si:, he says, certissime de- 
lenda ; they should certainly be expunged. We 
are therefore to understand the words thus : 
that " as they were going out," on the breaking 
up of the assembly, some of them desired that 
they might have these doctrines preached to 
them on the ensuing week, or Sabbath. 



Note 12.— Part XI. 

ON THE SYSTEMS OF CALVIN AND ARMIMUS. 

"As many as were ordained to eternal life 
believed." The word rerayuhoi, here rendered 
by our translators " ordained," has been more 
accurately interpreted by Dr. Hammond " dis- 
posed." The word properly signifies to mar- 
shal (as for a fight), to constitute, order, appoint, 
&c. See the very learned note of Dr. Ham- 
mond in loc. Mr. Scott defends the common 
translation. Dr. Doddridge selects the word 
" determined," or " resolved, " to obtain eternal 
life. Mede translates the word as denoting the 
Proselytes of the Gate. Limborcb and Maius 



(apud Eisner, Ciitici Sacri, vol. xiii. p. 621), 
would render it " predestined " or " preordained." 
Eisner would interpret it by " destined," or, 
" appointed before." 

Sir Norton Knatchbull would connect the 
words ilg ^oj/^v with the verb, not the participle, 
and read the passage inlazevauv, oaoi ^aav 
TSTuyfxivoi, el: ^oirj;' alwttov, " and as many as 
were collected together believed in everlasting 
life." n;", which is translated by the LXX, 
avviiYb), is rendered by others iixTroixat. as Exod. 
xxix. 33. This interpretation, Kuinoel justly 
obser\-es, is unwarranted and unsupported by 
authority ; neither is Joji^r ulihvwv ever used to 
denote the Christian doctrine; nor Tnuievecv el; 
i^ojTjv alwLov, to become a Christian. 

It is certainly time that the great question 
which once absorbed all other points of theolog}', 
the Aaron's rod of divinity, should be consid- 
ered in its true light Prone to extremes, we 
seem determined to avoid one error by flying to 
another. The horror with which the Calvinist 
and Arminian regarded each other, about the 
time of the Synod of Dort, however ludicrous, 
in some measure stiU continues to prevail in 
existing Christian societies. Botli parties are 
agreed in the same principles, or premises, both 
err in their conclusions. Both acknowledge 
that the future must be known to the Deity, and 
that man must have sufficient possession of the 
powers of his will to make him an accountable 
being. If God foresees all things, he must 
foreknow the eventual destinies of men — further 
than this we cannot penetrate ; the difficulties 
that crowd upon us are utterly inexplicable if 
we permit ourselves to speculate on the sub- 
ject We can only arrive at some few very 
general conclusions, and there we must rest. 
We may be assured that every man who is ad- 
mitted into the \isible Church on earth will be 
hereafter received into a future state of happi- 
ness, unless he wilfully renders himself unfit for it. 
No man will be condemned to misery because 
God has decreed it The truth is, that we call 
upon our reason to comprehend God, and we 
are soon bewildered. Our guide is revelation. 
Our plan of studying that revelation must be to 
believe in the facts recorded, and make those 
facts the interpreters of the doctrines. We 
have had Calvinistic systems, and Arminian 
systems, deduced by forcing passages from their 
context, and by the most violent perversions of 
the simplest texts, of which the peculiar primary 
meaning has never once been regarded. The 
Scripture is appealed to with confidence by 
both the Pelagian and the Calvinist, and both 
are confuted fVom the same book. The formu- 
laries of the Church of England are appealed 
to with equal confidence by both classes of re- 
ligionists ; and nothing, perhaps, can more fully 
prove the Scriptural nature of its services, than 
the same result to both of these contending 
parties. 



300* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part XI 



All who are received into heaven are elected 
and predestinated, as it were, by the foreknowl- 
edge of God, to that end ; and all are received 
into heaven who accept the Gospel of Christ ; 
all are enabled to accept it by the same plan 
of mercy which proposed the system of redemp- 
tion to mankind. The Gospel is offered to all ; 
the same grace is promised to all. Those who 
resist its influences gradually quench the Divine 
Spirit, while those who are led by it, to them is 
imparted grace upon grace. Thus the salvation 
of ma.n proceeds from God, who is the Author 
of it, and who in his infinite mercy vouchsafes 
the assistance of his Holy Spirit, and appeals to 
him by every motive which can affect the will 
or influence the heart. The atonement of Christ 
is the condition of our acceptance, and the 
Spirit of God is the means of our acceptance ; 
working in us a complete change of nature, sub- 
duing the flesh with its affections and lusts, till 
the old man or the inferior nature dies in us, and 
all things become new, Christ living in us, 
(Gal. ii. 20.) Thus neither the Calvinist nor 
the Pelagian can claim Scriptural authority in 
favor of their tenets, without admitting the de- 
ductions of his opponent. Both are right in their 
premises, both are wrong in their conclusions ; 
because both exclude a great part of truth to 
favor a preconceived hypothesis. 



people, &c., are discussed at length in two trea- 
tises of the Critici Sacri, vol. xiii. by Christoph. 
Frederic. Boerner and Jo. Jacob. Pfizer, to which 
the reader is referred. 



Note 13.— Part XL 

It is difScult to ascertain what this language 
or dialect might have been. Jablonski, who has 
written a very learned treatise on the subject, 
reprinted in the thirteenth volume of the Critici 
Sacri, and more lately in the first number of the 
new edition of Stephens's Thesaurus, endeavours 
to prove that it was a Greek dialect, in great 
measure derived from the Assyrian, and mingled 
with Syriac. Guhlingius (ap. Kuinoel) wishes 
to show that it was originally derived from the 
Greek : but by intermingling with the surround- 
ing nations, the language, in the course of time, 
and by negligence, became corrupted. Grotius 
thinks it was the same as that of the Cappado- 
cians. — See the treatise of Jablonski, and Kui- 
noel, In Lib. JV. 2\ Historicos Comment, vol. iv. 
p. 482. 



Note 14.— Part XL 

The various particulars of this remarkable 
narrative ; the opinions of the ancients on the 
incarnations of their gods ; the reason why Bar- 
nabas was considered as Jupiter, and Paul as 
Mercury ; the opinion of Chrysostom on the 
vehement and effectual manner in which the 
apostles repressed the intended homage of these 



Note 15.— Part XL 

It is probable that the Jews persuaded the 
people that the apostles were magicians. 

The account which Mr. Faber has given in 
his valuable treatise On the Origin of Idolatry, 
of the rise of the superstition here alluded to, is 
confirmed by all the researches I have been 
able to make. 



Note 16.— Part XL 

The original is xEtgoTOvriaavTes dh airoTg 
TCQsaSvTiqovg xar' iKxlrjolav. The word xst,QO- 
■toviw, literally interpreted, signifies " to stretch 
forth the hand;" and it was used to denote 
the action by which the ancient Greeks, in 
their military councils, expressed their approba- 
tion or disapprobation. Thus we read in Xeno- 
phon, Jlnab. lib. iii. 3, 22, xul om doxsT tuvia. 
draTeivdru) li^v ^^eXgn. '^4viTeivov arttti'ieg — 
From this signification of the word it was after- 
wards used, as in this passage, in the derived 
sense, " to appoint, constitute, or ordain." — See 
Dr. Hammond's learned and conclusive note 
on this subject. Hesychius, ap. Schleusner, 
renders the word in this sense x^'Q'^^^"^^''' 
y.adicTTq.i'. ifjTjcplaeiv : and Suidas interprets 
/siQOTOv/iaavTeg, by the synonym iKle^dt/nevot: 
See also Wetstein, JV. T. tom. ii. p. 198. 



Note 17.— Part XL 

This verse is not to be read parenthetically, 
but as a continuation of the declaration of St. 
Paul and Barnabas — "They declared what 
great things God had done to them ; but (said 
they) there have risen up some of the sect of the 
Pharisees who have professed their faith in 
Jesus," &c. Beza was probably the first who 
observed this ; and his ancient manuscript gives 
a hint of it. Nothing, says Markland (ap. Bow- 
yer) is more certain. At the end of verse 4, 
after fier'' aiiav, put only a comma. 



Note 18.— Part XL 

ON THE TIME OF THE COUNCIL OF JERBSALEiM. 

In Gal. ii. 11, 12, &c. we read that Peter 
was reproved by Paul for consenting, at the 



Note 19.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*301 



instigation of the Judaizing converts, to press 
upon the Gentiles the observance of the cere- 
monial Law. 

Doddridge would place this occurrence after 
the present council of Jerusalem ; Dr. Hales, 
relying on the ingenious remark of Basnage, 
before that event. Peter (says Basnage) would 
in all probability have opposed every attempt 
to establish the works of the Law among the 
idolatrous Gentiles, if the present apostolic 
decree had been then enacted. In this point of 
view the speech of Peter on this occasion may 
be considered as a noble retraction of his 
former conduct. It is probable that St. Peter 
came to Antioch from Rome, Antioch being 
peculiarly under Roman protection. The 
general tradition is, that St. Peter was bishop 
of Antioch seven years. 

The efforts of the false brethren (Gal. ii. 4.) 
■who endeavoured to persuade the faithful of 
the Gentiles, that unless they were circumcised 
they could not be saved, occasioned the council 
of Jerusalem, to which St. Paul and Barnabas 
were sent. (Gal. ii. 1.) Titus accompanied 
them. (Gal. ii. 1.) We have reason for think- 
ing that they took him with them in the room 
of John, surnamed Mark (Acts xiii. 13.), whom 
they had left in Pamphylia. 

This third voyage of St. Paul to Jerusalem 
(Acts XV. 4.) is placed about the forty-ninth year of 
Christ, and ninth of Claudius ; it being evidently 
the voyage of which the Apostle speaks (Gal. 
ii. 1.), " fourteen years after I went up again to 
Jerusalem." The epocha of fourteen years 
being dated from his conversion. 

This " fundamental date," as Dr. Hales very 
justly calls it, has been adopted by Petavius, 
Pearson, Barrington, Lardner, Paley, Michaelis, 
Hales, and the great majority of commentators. 
All of whom unite in referring the apostolic 
council to the year 49. 

It has, however, been much disputed, upon 
the grounds of the ambiguity of the original 
expression, — snena did dexuTeaa&QMV irav 
nuliv &fi6ijv sig 'legocrolvfta, Gal. ii. 1. 

It has been contended that these " fourteen 
years" are rather to be counted from Paul's 
visit to Jerusalem, three years after his conver- 
sion, A.D. 35-|-3=A.D. 38 (Gal. i. 18.), which 
would give the date of the council, A.D. .38-j- 
14=A. D, 52, three years later. And this has 
been adopted by Jerome, Usher, and others, and 
A. D. 51, by the Bible Chronology. 

But it is more natural to refer them to the 
fundamental date of his conversion ; especially 
as another Insna intervenes (Gal. i. 2L), to 
break the connexion with the first visit to Jeru- 
salem, (Gal. i. 18.) 

Lardner observes, that the expression did, 
signifies " about," or " during," and that the 
fourteen years are current, not complete. If 
so, the date of the council should be A.D. 35-|-13 
= A.D. 48, which, perhaps, is rather more correct. 
VOL. II. 



But Paley doubts whether the visit to Jerusa 
lem might not have been different from that at 
the time of the council, from the following dif 
ferences in the circumstances of both. [HorrB 
Paulina, p. 195-207.) 

1. Titus is mentioned as accompanying Paul 
and Barnabas, in the Epistle, but not in the 
Acts. 

But Titus is plainly included in the definite 
expression of their attendants, and " certain other 
of them," (Acts xv. 2.) The name of Titus is 
nowhere found in the Acts. 

2. Paul is said to have gone up to Jerusalem 
by revelation (Gal. ii. 2.), whereas he is repre- 
sented as deputed by the Church of Antioch in 
the Acts. 

Both these accounts are consistent ; thus 
Peter was sent for by Cornelius, but the Holy 
Spirit directed him to go with the messengers, 
(Acts x. 20.) 

3. Paul communicated his Gospel to the 
Gentiles, " privately to them which were of 
reputation," or the pillars of the Church, Peter, 
James, and John (Gal. ii. 2-9.), for which there 
seemed to be no occasion, since this formed 
the subject of his public mission, (Acts xv. 4.) 

But Paul's particular mission, as an extraor- 
dinary apostle to the remote Gentiles, Acts 
xxii. 21. [fiay.Qdv i^anoaielfh), would have 
been offensive to the mother Church in general . 
The public avowal of it afterwards, at Jeru- 
salem, occasioned great offence to the Jew- 
ish zealots, and much persecution to the Apostle, 
(Acts xxii. 22., &c. and xxvi. 21.) 

4. The last and chief difficulty is, that in the 
Epistle no notice is taken of the deliberation 
and decree of the council of Jerusalem, which 
formed the business for the sake of which they 
were sent thither from Antioch. 

But Paley himself has furnished satisfactory 
answers to this : — 

1. It was not agreeable to St. Paul's manner 
to defer much to the authority of the apostles, 
with the chief of whom he reckoned himself 
equal ; as receiving his commission not from 
man, but immediately from Christ himself, 
(Gal. i. 1.) 

2. The authority of the council of Jerusalem 
would have little weight vifith the Gentile Gala- 
tians. He, therefore, argues the point with 
them upon principle. 

3. The decree did not go the length of the 
Epistle, for the latter abrogated the Mosaic 
institution, even to the Jews themselves, in the 
case of justification by faith. — See Hales's ^/)nal. 
of Chron. vol. ii. part ii. p. 1110. 



Note 19.— Part XI. 

This quotation seems to be taken from the 
LXX's v'ersion of Amos ix. 11, 12,, which reads, 



302* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part XL 



" the residue of anx," or " Edom," which 
latter word is used to this day by the Jews, as 
a convertible term with Oix, to express the 
pagan, heathen, or Gentile world. Many refer- 
ences to prove this point might be selected 
from the Jewish prayers which are now used in 
their synagogues. 



Note 20.— Part XI. 

ON THE APOSTOLIC DECREE RESPECTING 
ELOOD, &C. 

To eat things offered to idols was a Gentile 
rite". To eat the flesh of animals, without 
pouring off the blood, and to partake of the 
blood, were also common observances". The 
' expression, nfixiov xgsag, alludes to the manner 
in which the Gentiles prepared their food. 
They were accustomed either to enclose the 
carcase of the lamb, or animal, in an oven, or 
vessel, and dress it in its own vapor or steam ; 
or otherwise so to lull it, that the blood should 
not be shed, but remain in it. They were 
sometimes (Cic. pro Mursena) accustomed to 
kill fowls by suffocation. 

With respect to the last command, it is evi- 
dent that offences of this kind were regarded 
as of no consequence among the heathen. I 
interpret the word noqvela, with our translators 
of the Bible, not thinking it worth while to 
consider here Michaelis's criticism on the 
passage. 

The writer who has paid more attention to 
this subject during the last century than any 
other, is Lord Barrington, who supposes that 
the decree was made for the Proselytes of the 
Gate alone : that is, as we have already ob- 
served, for those Gentiles by birth, who quitted 
the heathen idolatry, but did not fully embrace 
the Jewish religion ; and who, on account of 
their forsaking paganism, and abstaining from 
the four things here mentioned, were permitted 
to dwell in Palestine, and had several civil 
privileges allowed them, with liberty to join in 
all acts of worship in use before the Law, on 
condition only that they conformed to the laws 
of society, and those laws here enjoined. 

In the fourth essay of the Miscellanea Sacra, 
Lord Barrington endeavours to prove that the 
decree was not binding upon any but Christians, 
who had been Proselytes of the Gate, and to 
them only, while the Jewish polity lasted ; and 
therefore it abridges no other Gentile Christians 



" See Homer, Odyss. r 473, and N 26. Virg. Ed. 
3. 77, &.C. 

" Horn. Odyss. 18. v. 25. — Schoetgen. HorcB Hcbr. 
vol. i. p. 4fil, quotes — Apicius, Dc Arte Coyuin. 
1. viii. c. 8. — See, too, Tacit. Jinnal. xii. 47. The 
instance of Catiline's practical allusion to customs 
of this nature is well known. 



of the liberty which the Gospel intended to 
give. 

By things offered to idols, which are pro- 
hibited in the first article, he understands any 
meat or drink offered to an image or idol, but 
especially such as had been offered in the 
idol's temple. 

By blood is meant the blood separated from 
the flesh, which was generally done with the 
greater beasts, and either drunk by itself, or 
mixed with other liquors, or flour, or spice, &c. 

By the third proposition is understood crea- 
tures strangled or suffocated, with design to 
keep the blood in them, in order to be eaten ; 
which was generally done in fowls, birds, and 
game : and I imagine every animal was under- 
stood to be strangled, which was not slain in 
such a manner as to have its blood " poured 
out," (Levit. xvii. 1.3.) 

And by the last article Lord Barrington 
understands uncleanness of every kind, tlie 
abominations practised by the heathen in their 
worship to their idols. 

That these things are forbidden to the Prose- 
lytes of the Gate will appear from the 17th 
and 18th chapters of Leviticus. 

The address of the letter is not to all Gen- 
tiles indiscriminately, but to the Gentiles which 
are turned unto God in Antioch, Syria, and 
Cilicia. 

The direction would probably have included 
the Gentiles also in Pamphylia, Pisidia, &c. 
had they not been brethren of another sort, and 
that the decree did not concern them. St. Paul 
delivered the decree to the Churches in Lystra 
and Derbe, to be kept by them : but though it 
was intended as a general rule for Proselytes 
of the Gate, wherever they might happen to be 
scattered abroad, yet it was only addressed to 
the brethren in Syria and Cilicia. But Lord 
Barrington supposes that there is a transposi- 
tion, and that the 5th and 6th verses of the 16th 
chapter should be added to the end of the 15th ; 
being thus read, the order of narration will 
appear more proper. However, even if this 
is not the case, and the decree were addressed 
to all the Gentiles, it is extraordinary that it was 
not carried farther on to Rome, Greece, &c. 

Why are these things forbidden, he observes, 
more than eating swine's flesh, or other unclean 
things, but because they were forbidden to the 
Proselytes of the Gate ? even the order of the 
decree is the same as the prohibition in Leviti- 
cus, and it is not the order in which they are 
mentioned by St. James. Why forbid to the 
Gentile converts at Antioch what was allowed to 
the Corinthians? (1 Cor. x. 25, 27, 31. vii. 10, 
28.) Thus it is evident that all Gentile Chris- 
tians are not bound to observe the decree, and 
therefore it is not probable that it should be 
more necessary for the Gentiles of Antioch 
than those of Corinth. 

As Christ's kingdom is not of this world, his 



Note 20.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*303 



doctrine and laws make no difference in civil 
regulations. He that is subject to heathen 
powers must be so still. He that is married 
must not seek to be loosed. Christian parents 
must love heathen children. Christian children 
must obey heathen parents, &c. Also (1 Cor. 
vii. 18, 20.) tlie principal character of the Chris- 
tian religion is an entire freedom to comply 
with all customs in which there is no moral 
turpitude. In this the decree agrees, for it is 
only a list of abstinences that were enjoined on 
Proselytes of tlie Gate, in virtue of the obe- 
dience they owed to the civil law of Palestine. 

St. Paul, so far from enjoining these absti- 
nences to the idolatrous Gentiles, expressly 
declares that nothing is unclean of itself (Rom. 
xiv. 14, 20. Tit. i. 15. 1 Cor. x. 25, 27.) ; and no 
where, in any Epistle to the idolatrous Gentiles, 
does he insist upon or even mention the decree : 
indeed, his argument (Gal. v. 2.) expressly 
forbids a compliance with the Jewish customs. 
His reasoning is, that if a Gentile considered 
circumcision to be necessary to salvation, he 
laid a weight upon an obedience to the Law of 
Moses, which was in effect renouncing the 
mediation of Christ, and seeking to be justified 
by an observance of that Law by which " no 
flesh living could be justified." A Jew might 
be circumcised, and obey all the Laws of 
Moses, and yet not renounce Christianity ; 
indeed, St. Paul bids the Jews continue Jews ; 
that is, obey the laws of their country as the 
laws of their country, but not seek justification 
from an observance of them. If this hypothesis 
be true, the authority of this decree only lasted 
as a civil regulation, while the Jewish polity 
lasted, and therefore the advice founded upon 
it must cease with the existence of the Jewish 
nation, and, indeed, never could have been 
addressed to the idolatrous Gentiles. 

Origen (continues Lord Barrington) was of 
opinion that the four prohibitions contained in 
the decree were particularly addressed to Prose- 
lytes of the Gate, though he imagined the 
decree itself to be addressed to all Christians. 

The reason why these things were forbidden 
to the Proselytes of the Gate was, that they 
were at that time the chief enticements to and 
concomitants of idolatry. And as renouncing 
idolatry was the only reason why any one 
should desire to become a proselyte, and the 
only reason the Jews should grant it (as an 
idolater being guilty of high treason under a 
theocracy ivas not to be suffered to live), Moses 
expressly forbad those things .which accom- 
panied idolatry, and were likely to tempt them 
to a commission of the crime. 

That the decree only related to the Prose- 
lytes of the Gate is attempted to be proved by 
many other considerations, to which the reader 
is referred. 

Lord Barrington further considers the Church 
at Antioch to have been at first designed by 



God, in his Providence, and continued all along 
as a Church made up of Proselytes of the Gate, 
to prepare Paul and Barnabas for preaching to 
the idolatrous Gentiles ; and the Jewish Chris- 
tians for receiving the news of whole churches 
being composed of those who had been idol- 
atrous Gentiles ; and to be in some sort, if I 
may so express it, the mother Church of the 
idolatrous Gentiles, as Jerusalem was of the 
Jews. For as the apostles and apostolic men 
were sent from the Church at Jerusalem to 
convert Jews, Samaritans, and Proselytes of 
the Gate, to which, afterwards, they returned to 
give an account of their success ; so were the 
Apostles Barnabas and Saul sent on their first 
peregTination by the Church at Antioch, to 
convert the idolatrous Gentiles to the faith 
(Acts xiii. 2, 3, 5.), and return thither at the end 
of it, and "rehearse all that God had done 
with them." (Acts xiv. 26, 27.) Moreover it Ls 
to be observed, that Paul set out from Antioch 
on his second and third peregrination (Acts xv. 
22.), and perhaps Barnabas and Mark did so 
likewise, (Acts xv. 39.) It is also highly prob- 
able, that after his first imprisonment at Rome, 
when he went up to Jerusalem, he might from 
thence go again to Antioch, as liis custom was 
every other time he went up to Jerusalem after 
his becoming an apostle ; in which case we 
have grounds for inferring that he set out again 
from that place on his fifth journey which he 
undertook as we learn from other passages ot 
Scripture ; though St. Luke does not carry the 
history of St Paul so far. 

Before having written this note, from the un- 
assisted study of Scripture, I had come to the 
same conclusion, in opposition to those who would 
refer the Apostle's journeyings from Jerusalem. 
Antioch was a city extremely well suited to 
these designs of Providence. It was situated in 
Syria, a country that was thought by the Jews 
to be of a sort of middle nature, between the 
holiness they ascribed to Palestine, and the 
pollution of other countries ; and like the Pros- 
elytes of the Gate, being neither holy nor pro- 
fane", it became consequently a region fit for 
a great Church of the Proselytes of the Gate 
converted to the faith. If this should be al- 
lowed, it accounts for the rise of the question — 
For it does not seem probable that Jews should 
require heathen Gentiles, who had never 
dwelt or sojourned in Palestine, to be bound by 
Moses' Law — which they considered as obliga- 
tory only on themselves, or on those who would 
become Jews. And, indeed, I have some doubt 
whether at any time the zealots insisted on the 
necessity of the idolatrous Gentiles observing 
the Laws of Moses, as they did in relation to 
the Proselytes of the Gate. This hypothesis 
agrees with Peter's argument, which is entirely 
taken from the case of Cornelius, from which 

" See Reland's Sacred Antiquities of the Hebrews. 



304* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part XL 



he deduces that as the Holy Ghost was given 
to this devout proselyte, on the observance only 
of these four precepts, and not of any of the 
other Laws of Moses ; in like manner the same 
conditions, and no others, should be required of 
the Proselytes of the Gate, who had been con- 
verted to Christianity at Antioch. There was 
a famous Jewish university at Antioch, and we 
learn both from Josephus"^, and the Roman 
laws^, that it was full of Jews, and of Pros- 
elytes of the Gate, who were always numer- 
ous where there were many Jews, and com- 
prehended generally most of the well-disposed 
Gentiles, who did not go entirely over to the 
Jewish religion. The Proselytes of the Gate 
at Antioch had been first converted to Chris- 
tianity by the men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who 
were among those dispersed at the first perse- 
cution that ensued upon Stephen's martyrdom, 
•and are called Grecians, which should be rather 
rendered Gentiles, reading ^Elhjvag, and not 
'Elh]vi(ji&c. And that they were devout Gen- 
tiles is further evident from the phrase, that, on 
the preaching of the men of Cyprus and 
Cyrene, they are said " to turn unto the Lord," 
they having been turned unto God already. 

However correct and ingenious this system 
of Lord Barrington may be, and the opinion of 
the majority of commentators, who justly sup- 
pose that the abstaining from the four things 
was made to conciliate the Jews to their newly- 
adopted brethren of the Gentiles ; it appears to 
me highly probable that a more spiritual mean- 
ing also may have been intended in the pro- 
hibition. It may be that the Apostle had a 
higher object in view, by instituting these four 
laws for their Gentile converts, and that these 
enactments contain a complete summary of 
Christian doctrine and practice. 

The prohibition against idolatry does not 
seem to me to have been designed merely to for- 
bid the offering of idolatrous worship to images 
of wood and stone ; but to condemn also the 
indulgence of those vices which were sanc- 
tioned by the heathens, who had appointed a 
god or a goddess as the presiding patron of 
every vice. 

The prohibition to eat the blood of the 
animal that was permitted to be used for food, 
might have been designed not only against 
luxury, as Delaney imagines ; nor to prevent 
certain idolatrous practices, as Spencer and 
Young have represented. It is well known, 
that the blood of the animal that was to be 
offered in sacrifice, and afterwards eaten by the 
worshipper, was poured out at the altar ; so was 
it necessary that he who would approach to 
God with acceptance, must sacrifice the in- 
ferior and animal nature, and offer unto God a 
spiritual homage. The blood aptly typified 



" De Bell. Judaic, lib. vii. cap. iii. sect. 3. 
* Grotius in proleg. ad Luc. 



also that Divine Sacrifice, whose blood was 
poured out, and who gave his life as a sacrifice 
for many ; and thus the meaning of the prohibi- 
tion to abstain from blood would be, " Remem- 
ber Him who shed his blood for you ; and die 
unto the world, with its affections and lusts, 
drawing near to God with a pure and contrite 
heart." 

The abstaining from things strangled might 
have had a similar meaning. In these the 
blood was not poured out, and the sacrifice 
could not be accepted. This still declared, 
that without the shedding of blood there is no 
remission of sin — that the sacrifice of flesh is 
required of all of us that we may become new- 
creatures. 

The last command to abstain from impurity 
requires no observation. 

I am confirmed in this view of the meaning 
of the apostolic decree, by the consideration 
that all the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic 
Law had a spiritual as well as a typical signi- 
fication. They were designed to keep the 
Jews as a distinct people, and to serve as a 
wall or partition between the Gentiles and 
themselves ; but they all afforded, likewise, a 
moral instruction, and thus became the school- 
master to bring them to the Christ, who was to 
come : in the same way these enactments 
might have been formed to enforce the remem- 
brance of that Messiah who had now appeared, 
and was exalted to the right hand of God. 

It cannot be necessary to stop here to refute 
the conjecture of Bentley, that instead of noQ- 
relag in this passage, we should read /oiQelag, 
as this emendation is unsupported by the author- 
ity of any manuscript. Neither does the inter- 
pretation of the word nogveia, by Michaelis, 
who refers it to flesh offered to idols, and sold 
in the shambles, appear worthy of farther 
notice. 

Dr. Delaney has endeavoured to prove that 
the prohibition to eat blood is still binding upon 
the Churches of Christ ; and Dr. A. Clarke has 
embraced his opinion. I cannot say their rea- 
soning appears to be conclusive. The argu- 
ments of Dr. Hammond, Dean Graves, and others, 
appear much more supported — tliat the prohibi- 
tion has ceased upon this principle, that laws 
are no longer binding, when the reasons for 
their enactment cease to exist. If at some 
future day, when it shall please God to bring 
about the accomplishment of his prophecies, 
and receive the Jews into his Church again, 
tlie eating of blood and of things strangled 
shall prove a stumblingblock to the converts, it 
will then, perhaps, and not before that time, 
become the duty of Christians to obey the 
decree of the apostolic council. 

Grotius"" asserts that the converts were 

' In the treatise, De Sanguine ct Suffocu.to, of J. 
Geo. Dorschaeus, ap. Critici Sacri, vol. xiii. p. 451 
-460. Spencer, De Legibus Hebraorum. — Delaney's 



Note 21.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*305 



bound to abstain from blood, because it was so 
ordained to all the sons of Noah. He quotes 
from Tertullian, that the Emperor Leo con- 
sidered it unwholesome, and prohibited it by an 
edict. He further argues, that the observance 
of a command so easy was not liable to the 
charge of superstition, and that the eating 
blood made men fierce and savage. 

He then endeavours to prove that the Christians 
were not commanded to abstain from blood, 
merely lest the Jews should be offended, which 
he would prove from the fact, that the converts 
abstained from blood, where no Jews were 
present, a circumstance which rests upon the 
authority of Eusebius and Tertullian. Grotius 
proceeds to demonstrate this point from the 
apostolical constitutions. 

Dorschasus replies to these assertions, that 
the precepts of Noah obliged only the Proselytes 
of the Gate— that it is even doubtful if these 
precepts are other than a rabbinical tradition — 
it is doubtful if all the precepts of Adam and 
Noah were binding on mankind in general. 
He asserts, it is not true that Christ took 
nothing from the precepts of Adam and Noah, 
and only added to them new precepts. He 
then invalidates the authority of Tertullian, and 
the Emperor Leo ; and m reply to the two last 
observes, that the facility of obedience is no 
criterion of the reasonableness of a command, 
and ridicules the opinion that eating blood in a 
state prepared by cookery can be injurious. 

Dorschffius then attempts to show that it was 
by no means an universal opinion among Chris- 
tians, that they were to abstain from blood, and 
refuses to depend on arguments drawn exclu- 
sively from the apostolical constitutions. 

Witsius has shown, in his discussion on the 
council at Jerusalem,, that the more reflecting 
Jews believed that the pious among the heathen 
might be saved without circumcision. And he 
observes, that the discussion at the council of 
Jerusalem does not weaken the claim of the 
apostles to inspiration. They were unanimous, 
but it was necessary to satisfy the consciences 
of their converts. 



Note 21.— Part XL 

ON THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS, TITLES, AND OF- 
FICES, IN THE CHURCH OF ANTIOCH. 

The Part of this Arrangement of the New 
Testament, which we have now concluded, con- 
tains an account of the first preaching of the 
Gospel to the Gentiles by St. Paul, who was 

Treatise in Revelation examined witli Candor. — 
Young's Religion designed to prevent Superstition, 
2 vols. 8vo. — Barrington's Miscellanea Sacra. — 
Witsius, De Vitd Pauli Meletem. Leidens. cap. iv. 
sect. iv. and vi. 

VOL. n. *39 



miraculously elected from his brethren for that 
particular purpose. In the former stages of the 
infant Church, we have hitherto found that an 
authority was exercised by one instructor over 
another, and that the higher order possessed 
powers which were not enjoyed by the lower. 
The Gentile Churches were principally founded 
by the Apostle St. Paul ; and the question 
therefore respecting the constitution of these 
Churches divides itself into several branches, 
first, whether any or what control was exercised 
by the Apostle himself over the Churches in 
general under his jurisdiction ; and, secondly, 
whether there are any proofs that he delegat;d 
to others the powers he had himself exerted. 
These points appear to be at once decided by 
two passages of Scripture, the one in Acts xiv. 
23., where we read that the upostles Barnabas and 
Saul ordained them elders in every Church ; and 
the other in Titus i. 5., where St. Paul tells 
Titus—" I left thee in Crete, that thou shouldest 
ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed 
thee ;" and he then proceeds to descant on the 
necessary qualifications of him, on whom the 
honor of ordination should be conferred. 

The Church at this time was one society, and 
it was subject throughout to the superintendence 
of the apostles. 

The apostles at Jerusalem till this time took 
care to superintend all the converts : they com- 
missioned Barnabas to go as far as Antioch, 
where the greatest number of proselytes was 
assembled. He obeyed, and visited the several 
Churches as far as Antioch, and confirmed the 
converts in their faith. The account of his 
mission is so briefly related, that we are in- 
formed only in the most general terms of the 
manner in which he exerted his authority. But 
this instance proves that the apostles possessed 
the right of superintendence over the Churches 
out of Judasa, as well as those in their own 
country, or they could have had no authority 
to send one of their number to the Church of 
Antioch. 

The title "Prophets," which is given in this 
passage to Judas and Silas, and is applied to a 
class of teachers inferior to the apostles, nat- 
urally leads us to inquire concerning the nature 
of the gifts that were imparted to the Church at 
this time, as well as the consequent gradations 
in the ministry which those gifts were intended 
to produce. 

Even m the bestowment of these holy gifts an 
order and distinction was observed, which clearly 
points out a distinct gradation of rank in eccle- 
siastical government. We will begin with the 
apostles, who were distinguished above all the 
others by the most excellent gifts and powers : 
next to whom were placed the prophets, who 
were inspired men, foretold future events, and 
were also preachers of the Gospel : while others, 
from the portion of grace they had received, 
necessarily were considered of subordinate rank. 



306* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part XI 



There is ever an harmonious uniformity in 
the plans of Providence enforcing the same 
divine truths. 

" As at the first settling of the Church of 
Israel in the wilderness," says the deeply-learned 
Lightfoot, " so it was in the first settling of the 
Gospel. The first fathers of the Sanhedrin in 
the wilderness were endued with divine gifts, 
such as we are speaking of; but when that gen- 
eration was expired, those that were to succeed 
in that function and employment were such as 
were qualified for it by education, study, and 
parts acquired. So was it with this first age of 
the Gospel and the ages succeeding. At the 
first dispersing of the Gospel, it was absolutely 
needful that the first planters should be fur- 
nished with such extraordinary gifts, or else it 
was not possible it should be planted, as may 
. appear by a plain instance — Paul comes to a 
place where tlie Gospel had never come : he 
stays a month or two and begets a Church; 
and then he is to go his way and to leave them. 
Who now in tliis Church is fit to be their min- 
ister ? they being all alike but very children in 
the Gospel : but Paul is directed by the Holy 
Ghost to lay his hands upon such and such of 
them ; and that bestows upon them the gift of 
tongues and prophesying ; and now they are 
able to be ministers, and to teach the congre- 
gation. But after that generation, when the 
Gospel was settled in all the world, and com- 
mitted to writing, and written to be read and 
studied, then was study of the Scriptures the 
way to enable men to unfold the Scriptures, and 
fit them to be ministers to instruct others ; and 
revelations and inspirations neither needful nor 
safe to be looked after, nor hopeful to be attained 
unto. And this was the reason why Paul, 
coming but newly out of Ephesus and Crete, 
when he could have ordained and qualified 
ministers with abilities by the imposition of his 
hands, would not do it, but left Timothy and 
Titus to ordain, though they could not bestow 
these gifts ; because he knew the way that the 
Lord had appointed ministers thenceforward to 
be enabled for the ministry, not by extraordinary 
infusions of the Spirit, but by serious study of 
the Scriptures ; not by a miraculous but by an 
ordinary ordination." 

1. The apostles, then, were expressly chosen 
and appointed by our Lord himself, Johnxvii. 18. 
XX. 21, Acts i. 24, 25. 

2. They had all seen Christ in the flesh. 



avidmnv (Acts i. 8.), and so became -witnesses 
of his resurrection, 1 Cor. xv. 5, 7. 

3. They were personally instructed by our 
Lord, Luke xxiv. 45. John xx. 22. Actsix.4, &c. 

4. They were mfallible in their teaching, 
John xiv. 26. and xvi. 13. Luke xii. 11, 12. 
Matt. X. 19, 20. 

5. They were the common instructors of the 
world. Matt, xxviii. 19. Mark xvi. 15. 

6. They had the power of imparting to others 
the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Acts vi. 6. and 
viii. 15, 17. 

7. They were endowed with miraculous 
powers. Matt. x. 1. Acts iii. 6. 

8. They had miraculous power to punish of- 
fenders, Acts v. 8, 9. 

9. Their wonderful success m their ministry 
was miraculous, Acts xi. 14, <fec. 

In all these respects St. Paul was equal to 
either of the apostles. 

1. He was called by Christ himself, Gal. i. 1. 

2. He saw Christ, 1 Cor. ix. 1. 

3. Was taught by Christ, Gal. i. 12. 

4. Was infalhble, 2 Cor. xiii. 3. 1 Thess. ii 
13. and iv. 8. 

5. Teacher of the world. Acts xiv. 27. 
1 Tim. ii. 7. 

6. Imparted the Spirit, Acts xix. 6. 1 Tim. 
iv. 14. 

7. Miraculous powers. Acts xix. 11, 12. and 
xxii. 9. 

8. Power to inflict punishment, 2 Cor, x. 8. 
Acts xiii. 11. 

9. And no apostle was more successful in his 
ministry, Acts xxvi. 20, 22. 1 Thess. i. 5, 
&c. Rom. XV. 17-19. 

It is exceedingly difficult to define with ac- 
curacy the precise powers of the miraculous 
gifts, and the exact titles of the ministers who 
were severally endowed with them, and the 
functions which they individually performed in 
the Church. Grotius, Vitringa, Lightfoot, and 
many others of the most learned, have discussed 
the subject, and have come to different conclu- 
sions. The principal theologian of later days, 
who has written on this part of the sacred nar- 
rative, is Lord Barrington, with whom Dr. Hales, 
with the exception of some trifling differences 
of opinion, is generally agreed. 

The former has arranged the gifts of the Spirit, 
the offices of those persons on whom they were 
confirmed, and their different titles, in the fol- 
lowing manner : — 



Note 21.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*307 



TABLE. 



Ver. 28. 
The possessors of which he re- 
spectively appointed 
1. Adyoq ao(flai"', the word of 1. Il^oirov anoOTuXovg, apostles, 
wisdom. 



1 Cor. xii. ver. 8, 9, 10. 
To one is ofiven 



Ver. 29, 30. 
They are repeated with some 

variation, are all 
1. 'AnijaxoXoi, apostles. 



2. 


Juyog yvcuatojg'', the word of 
knowledge. 


2. 


JtvTiQov 7iiio(f>]raq, prophets. 


2. 


JIoocpijTat, prophets; that is, 
such prophets as were at the 
same time apostles. 


3. 


IHari;", faith. 


3. 


TyiTov SidticixaXuvg, teachers. 


3. 


JiSuay.aXoi, teachers. 


4. 


XaQiatiaTa ('o/iuTcuv, the gifts 
of healing"*. 


4. 


"EntiTa Swafitic:, miracles. 


4. 


JvvMuig, workers of miracles. 


5. 


^jE^i«5y?j'»o:ra,(^L'iu,u£u)7', work- 
ing of miracles^. 


5. 


Eira ^raniafiara I'tzitaTwi, heal- 
ing." 


5. 


X(x(i'LOj.iara tafiuTwr, healing. 



6. nQo(f)}]Tsia-f^, prophecy. 



6. 'Avrili'i^Jtii^, helps. 



7. Jiay.olastg TTvevuuTiuv^ , dis- 7. KvficQriian;', govern- 
cerning of spirits. ments. 



8. /'Jii/yAtoaffwv, divers kinds 

of tongues. 

9. ' EQii>jriLU ■/icooooji', the in- 

terpretation of tongues. 



!8. rh' 
to 



j; Y^"""''^^^'''! diversities of 
tongues. 



6. rXoDoauK; ).a).o\imQ^, speak- 
ers of tongues. 



7. jK^fitjvevovTeg, interpreters. 



" That Xiyog ao(f'iag signifies the knowledge that 
uas the peculiar gift of an apostle, see the second 
Essay in the Miscellanea Sacra. 

'' That Xuyog yvdiaiuig signifies the knowledge 
peculiar to the lughest rank of prophets, see the 
second Essay. 

■^ By jiiaTig, Mr. Locke here understands such 
a full persuasion of the truths which the teacher 
taught, as enabled him to speak with the assurance 
and authority that became a teacher or a doctor, 
(Locke in loc.) ; and that faith stands for a firm 
persuasion or assurance may be seen in many other 
places; see 1 Cor. xiii. 2. Matt. xvii. 20. Mark iv. 
40. Luke xvii. 6. Rom. xiv. 22, 23. James v. 15. 

<* Gifts of healing, ver. 30., may signify the gifts 
that were beneficial to men's bodies, as teaching 
was to their minds ; and might, perhaps, be exer- 
cised on the illuminating prayer of faith. The 
reason of the gift of healing being given may have 
been — 1. Tliat it had been sometimes given to 
prophets under the Old Testament. 2. That it was 
beneficial. 3. That it was necessary to cure the 
distemper inflicted by the power of the apostles in 
the exercise of discipline in the Church. 

' Working of miracles being distinguished here 
from the gifts of healing, may signify something 
that implies a greater power ; as raising the dead ; 
laying storms ; turning water into wine ; feeding 
multitudes with a small quantity of provisions, &c. 
These two gifts are evidently transposed in the 
three lists. 

■f By ,Too(/ii;Tf(a here may be understood, that 
lower sort of prophecy, of which St. Paul chiefly 
treats (1 Cor. xiv.), and which Lord Barrington 
considers as branched out into lower revelations, 
exhorting, praying, and singing in the Spirit. 
Though I apprehend the same word, namely, 
Tzqoifureia, Rom. xii. 6. and Eph. iv. 11., means the 
higher sort of prophecy, as it stands there before 
the gift of teaching ; whereas here it is placed 
after it. 

*■ As prophecy takes in lower revelations, ex- 
hortation, praying, and singing in the Spirit ; 
so, perhaps, diaxQiaiig Tcvev^iuTiuv may signify the 



particular gift which those had who were most 
able to judge, whether those several performances 
proceeded from the Spirit or no ; see 1 Cor. xiv. 
29. where the Apostle says, " Let the prophets 
speak, two or three at a time, and let the others 
judge," (or discern), diaxoirtTvinav. Where judg- 
ing, or discerning, follows prophesying, as diaxylnug 
nreuuuTutv follows n{>oipiTtia here ; see also 1 Cor. 
ii. 15. where the spiritual man is said to judge, or 
discern, even the things revealed by the higher 
prophets. 

'' 'AvTiXi'iKptic in the second list (helps) may 
answer to prophecy ; inasmuch as those who had 
the gift of lower prophecy were the persons that 
chiefly assisted, or helped the Christians in the 
public devotions. 

' Kvii(()Tilneig stands here, as I suppose, for dis- 
cerners, or triers of spirits. 

* Perhaps the apostle makes yf'ii; y^.ofTfrwr, in 
the second list, answer both to tongues and to the 
interpretation of tongues in the first. 

' And perhaps y/.waaaig XaXovmc, in the third 
list, may comprehend prophecy, discernment of 
spirits, and the gift of tongues in the first list ; in- 
asmuch as these were generally the subjects those 
spoke of who had the gift of tongues. For we 
may always observe, throughout the history of the 
Acts, that those who had the gift of tongues 
prophesied, or spoke, the wonderful things of God, 
or magnified God : and St. Paul, in the fourteenth 
chapter, seems to intimate, that at least many of 
those who had the gift of tongues, could prophesy, 
in the sense I have explained it ; because he bids 
them prophesy rather than use the jjift of tongues. 
St. Mark uses the gift of tongues even in something 
a larger sense than this ; and puts it for all the 
illumination which was ever uttered by the gift 
of tongues (Mark xvi. 17.), as is plain from njs 
not mentioning any other gift of illuinination there. 
St. Paul places this gift last, except the interpreta- 
tion of tongues, because it was of the least use and 
benefit in the Church, 1 Cor. xiv. 19-23, and in 
order to beat down the folly of the Corinthians 
who prided themselves so extravagantly in it. 



308* NOTES ON THE ACTS. [Part XI. 

Dr. Hales objects, in this arrangement of Spirit nearly in the same manner as Lord Bar- 
Lord Barrington, to the supposition that " helps " rington. He thus contrasts the nine gifts de- 
answer to "prophecy," and "governments" scribed in ver. 8-10. with the ecclesiastical 
to " discerning of spirits." offices enumerated here : — 

Bishop Horsley has classed the gifts of the 

GIFTS. OFFICES. 

1. The word of wisdom Apostles 

=• ^" '»' """"■=^^« r„pl,e,. I ;- :?Z oS Vltnt"'- 

3. Faith Teachers of Christianity 

4. Miracles Workers of miracles 

5. Healing Healers 

£. D 1 „ • J I- TT , S dcftdriWEic, such as Mark, Tych- 

6. Prophecies or predictions Helns <. ■ iZ ■ 

^ ( icQS, Onesimus 

7. Discerning of spirits Governments, y.vSeQvqaeig 

8. Tongues ) ^-^ , • , 

o T I i 4.- c ( Gifted with tongues m various ways. 

y. interpretation of tongues ^ = •' 

' The fourth and fifth gifts — miracles and heal- sessed many of them, and sustained several of 

ing — seem, he observes, to have changed places these characters, which were not stated, distinct 

in the 9th and 10th verses. Miracles, it seems, offices, and might be called " helpers," in ref- 

must take place as the genus, and healing must erence to their great dexterity and readiness to 

rank below it as the species. Accordingly in help those in distress ; and " governments," in 

ver. 28. miracles or powers are mentioned before regard to that genius for business, sagacity in 

healings, with this slight alteration, the list of judging the circumstances of affairs, and natural 

gifts in ver. 8-JO. seem to answer exactly to the authority in the councils and resolutions of 

list of offices in ver. 28. societies, which rendered them fit to preside 

Dr. Doddridge and others, in consequence of on such occasions, 

the difficulty which has been experienced in the This opinion is in some measure defended 

attempt to classify these gifts, have been of by Mr. Morgan, who has made the subjoined 

opinion that the same persons might have pos- arrangement of the holy gifts, titles, and offices. 

OFFICE. TITLES. GIFTS. 

Epli. iv. 11, 12. Rom. xii. 6-8. 1 Cor. xii. 28-30. 1 Cor. xii. 8-10. 

^Kniuing N r Apostles f Word of wisdom 

Apostles.? ,??'' V Apostles He that ruleth -J Miracles -^Mliacles 

> oi ine t r Governments Ct>iscernin? of Spirits 

T) u CEditVin£: ") T> 1 , r -D u C Prophets f Word of knowledge 

P^^l^y- ^ofthibSdy (?^°f'^^'MM','^t, . ,1, > Gifts of healing ) Healing 

'"^ dot Christ ^ S^a^^°^s \ He that exhortelh ^ Speakers wUh^tongues d Kinds Sf tongues 

C Work of ) fi^f °5<^- C "^ 'hat teacheth Teachers C Faith 

Deacons \ the Minis- V !j?'' , X Deaconsh.p N ^^, > Prophecies 

)try Oeach- ^ He iha giveth ^Interpreters ^ Interpretation of tongues. 

K ■' ^ ers >- He that showeth mercy ^ ^^ ^ "^ 

The writers in the Cn'h'ci S'acri are very un- (paviqwcn; is derived; xal qiuvsgwaa) auToTg, 

satisfactory on this subject. Though Lord Bar- which is the literal rendering of ilDrn 'n''7Jl 

rington appears to have given the best explan- " I will reveal unto them." Our translators 

ation, much light will be thrown on the meaning have rendered the word " The manifestation of 

of the various gifts, if we endeavour to ascertain the Spirit." I cannot but believe that the full 

from the Septuagint, the received signification meaning of the whole passage is, "That to him 

of the words which are used to express them, who has been favored with the miraculous gifts 

This version was generally adopted during the of the Holy Spirit, in whatever degree they 

apostolic age, and must have been well known may have been imparted, the power is also 

by the persons to whom St. Paul addressed the granted of manifesting to others the nature and 

Epistle in which these gifts are enumerated. extent of those gifts." 

The miraculous gifts enumerated by St. Paul The whole clause of this passage in Jeremiah 

are all described (1 Cor. xii. 7.) by one term, ^ is : jiDNl cm'7ky mnj' CZinS 'r\'hy which our 

(fttviqixtai? rovnveiif^uTOQ. The word qoui't'^oicrt; translators have literally and justly rendered — 

13 not found in the LXX, but in Jer. xl. 6. of "I will reveal unto them the abundance of 

the division in the Oxford edition of the Sep- peace and trutli." In which they are supported 

tuagint, which corresponds to chap, xxxiii. ver. by the authority of t!ie Septuagint ; which, how- 

6. of the authorized English translation, and the ever, does not in all instances give the accurate 

Hebrew, we meet with the word from which meaning of the Hebrew. Dr. Blayney rejects 



Note 21.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*309 



the literal interpretation, and translates the 
passage " I will also grant their prayer for peace 
and truth." He defends this rendering by 
observing, "ini* signifies to pray in a devout, 
fervent manner. Hence mn;' may well be 
construed a devout and fervent prayer ; and to 
manifest to any one his petition seems to be 
the granting of it." The learned author should 
have been fully warranted in thus interpreting 
the phrase rnn;? 'n^'?.!, "to grant a prayer." 
It is not sufficient, in endeavouring to ascertain 
the meaning of a passage in Scripture, to 
inquii-e what viay be the possible sense ; but 
what is first the literal, and then the secondary 
meaning. If we render the word nTHj^ by 
"fervent prayer," instead of "abundance," we 
are still unwarranted in rendering the word 'jtSj 
"I will grant," which is unsupported by any 
authority. Even if we adopt its usual primary 
meaning "I will reveal," and translate the rest 
of the passage as Dr. Blayney proposes, we shall 
obtain only a probable signification. The 
prophet is predicting the future prosperity of 
Jerusalem, and its temporal recovery of wealth 



{•/Hqi(Tfi6iZb)v \ differences \ 
diaxovcav \ or /" ^^ 

iveQYTj/ii&iiov } diversities j 

^iaiQi<jEi.g is only used in the New Tes- 
tament in this passage. It firequently occurs 
in the Septuagint in the same sense in which 
our translators have rendered it. It corresponds 
with the Hebrew word npSn:^ 1 Par. xxiv. 
1. and xxvi. 1, 12, 19. "The divisions," or 
" classes," which would be possibly a better 
word to express the meaning of the apostle than 
either " differences" or " diversities." 

The word/uo((T,ua does not occur in the Sep- 
tuagint. It is, however, derived from /aoirdofxai, 
which is frequently used. Its evident meaning is 
a spiritual gift, or endowment of the mind, which 
could not be mistaken for the natural or culti- 
vated talent of the teacher, upon whom it was 
conferred. — See Rom. i. 11. 2 Cor. i. 11. 

'diuy.ot'lu does not occur in the Septuagint, 
but it is found in 1 Maccabees, xi. 58., where it 
is used to describe the service or furniture 
which Antiochus sent to Jonathan the high 
priest, for the service of the temple, in addition 
to the golden vessels — tjcniaieilei' auru );ovail)- 
fiuTu y.ul dtuy.ovluv. Schleusner quotes from 
Athenseus, lib. v. t. ii. p. 342, a passage in 
which diuxoi'Lai, is used to denote the instru- 
ments which are in daily use. 

In the New Testamentthe word is repeatedly 
used to describe the general office or ministry 
consigned by our Lord to the apostles and 
teachers of the Church, (Acts i. 17. xx. 24. xxi. 
18. Rom. xi. 13.) The services they were com- 
manded to perform were the appointed means 
of grace, for the perpetual and common service 
of the Church. 

'EveQ^ri/xu is not to be found in the Old Tes- 



and prosperity. From this prediction he passes, 
as is usual, to a more spiritual promise, and 
prophesies the full manifestation of their devout 
prayer for peace and truth in the latter days. 
Peace and truth were spiritual blessings, of 
which the restoration of the Jews from their 
captivity was highly typical and illustrative. 
Neither is it improbable that the apostle alluded 
to this prediction when he used the word cpafi- 
QMaig, which is only found twice in the New 
Testament, in the Epistles to the Corinthians, 
1 Cor. xii. 7. 2 Cor. iv. 2. I cannot, however, 
remember any authority for thus rendering the 
word nijij,*. Buxtorf supports the sense given 
by our translators, who, it should ever be remem- 
bered by the proposers of new meanings, were 
among the most eminent Hebrew scholars of a 
very learned age. 

The gifts which are thus represented as 
bestowed for the common benefit are first 
arranged under three general heads, (1 Cor. xii. 
4-6.) and are then divided into nine particulars. 
The three general heads are — 

gifts \ r same Spirit, 

administrations V but the < same Lord, 
operations J ( same God. 

tament, but in the Apocryplia only, Ecclus. 
xvi. 16. see Compl. It is derived from ifegyeoj, 
and is well translated by Macknight, " In-work- 
ings." It is used but twice in the New Testa- 
ment. Is it not possible, as these in-workings 
are ascribed to God the Father, that they may 
mean both those ordinary influences which 
proceed from the Holy Spirit of God, by which 
we alone can become the children of God, and 
say, " Abba, Father," and the right efforts of 
reasoning and the natural powers of the mind, 
which God, as the Creacor, has implanted in all 
human beings ? They appear to be different 
from the /aolcrfcaTa of the Spirit, and to be dis- 
tinguished from them. 

It will be observed that the various gifls 
which build up the Christian Church, though 
they are all called the gifts of the Spirit, are 
ascribed in their arrangement by St. Paul, to 
the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. This is 
done, however, in such a manner, that the 
character under which each has been revealed to 
mankind is carefully preserved. The Father is 
the Creator of man ; to him is assigned the 
internal, natural energy or operations which he 
originally implanted in the human creation, or 
creature, and upon which, and ivith which the 
Spirit of God acts. The Son of God is the 
Redeemer; to him are ascribed the ministra- 
tions or offices which himself established as the 
appointed means of grace. The Spirit of God 
is the Sanctifier ; to him are assigned the gifts 
which produce holiness within, and convince 
the world of the truth of the Gospel, of right- 
eousness, and judgment. And all tliese are 



310* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part XI. 



rightly said to be the gifts of the Spirit, as it is 
the Spirit of God alone, which, by its sacred 
office, overrules and changes the natural ener- 
gies of will, understanding, and all the powers 
of mind which God has given us, and which 
makes all the means of grace appointed by 
Christ effectual ; and by pouring into the soul 
of man its own purifying, consoling, peaceful 
influences, makes us spiritually fit to become 
for ever the companions of superior beings. 

From this general classification of the gifts 
of the Holy Spirit, or of the Holy Trinity, we 
proceed to the particulars. 

The first is Uyog aocplag, which seems to 
have been peculiar to the apostles. The word 
oocpta is repeatedly used in the LXX. It cor- 
responds tonj':], Prov. ii. 3. and iii. 5. under- 
standing — to n;7l, knowledge, Prov. i. 7. and to 
noDn, wisdom, Isa. xi. 2. where aocpla is de- 
scribed as one of those gifts of tlie Spirit which 
should rest upon Christ. In the enumeration in 
the passage in Isaiah, are three words, which 
in various other passages of the LXX are ren- 
dered by aocpla, noDn, HJ't, Hi'T, and which are 
in this place respectively rendered by the LXX, 
uo(flu, ai'i'eaig, and yvwavg. This circumstance 
might appear, at first sight, to destroy the validity 
of any argument as to the meaning of the word 
aoqlug from the LXX, if we did not take into 
consideration the difficulty which the Septuagint 
translators unavoidably found in discovering a 
variety of phrases to express the synonymous 
terms in the Hebrew. 

Some further light may be thrown upon the 
meaning of the word aocpla, in this passage, if 
we consider the use of the word n:ODn, to which 
it corresponds in Isa. xi. 2., in the description 
of the Sephiroth of the Jewish Cabbala'. The 
learned Vitringa is of opinion, that tlie Sephi- 
roth was an emblematical description of the 
Messiah. Whether this hypothesis be tenable, 
we cannot now stop to inquire. The first of the 



' Lib. i. cap. cxi. p. 151. 3. " '^^\D coronam se- 
quuntur ordine nODn et T\y2 sapientia et intelli- 
geritia, quas ad caput referendas esse, res ipsa 
loquitur. Quis ignorat, binas hasce virtutes Do- 
mino nostro Jesu Christo frequenter admodum 
attribui in Codice sacro .' En verba Jesaise, nnjl 

r\y2) naDH nn nin' nn rS;', et quiescet sniper 

ipso spiritus Jehuvce : spiritus sapienticE et intel- 
ligenticB. T^03^^ solet jungi T^y2, vel njl^n aut 
Hi'T, ut et Paulus ao(plav y.ai ifQvrtjnir aut yvrTtOiv 
sffipe conjungit. Sapientias comes est prudentia et 
circumspectio, qua secundum sapientiEe regulas 
per amorem et timorem Dei, reprobatur malum, et 
eligitur, quod optimum est, in bon4 conscientiu. 
Et alibi : jri'D est prudentia, ((ipovijoic. Dexteritas 
judicandi et ehgendi secundum veri et boni con- 
Ecientiam. Nam prudentia utitur sapientia, h 
nuaxToig. Hinc junguntur nj'JI HrDDn, ootpi'a y.al 
ipouv)]nig. Prudentia mater est sapienticE. Sapien- 
tia est virtus intellectus, qua res intelligimus in 
causis et finibus ; prudentia judicii, qua res et actus 
ad fines illis convenientes disponimus, et dirigimus." 
— VitringsB Dissert, seninda de Sephiroth Cahbalis- 
tarum. Obscrv. Sacr. lib. i. cap. x. vol. i. p. 128, 
&c. See also B\irnet's ^rckasologitE Philos, p. i8. 



ten Sephiroth was the inD, or crown, which was 
placed on the head of the personage, whom Vi- 
tringa has represented as the emblem of the 
Messiah. The two next were riDDn and nj'3, 
wisdom and prudence or knowledge. 

The word aocpla is likewise used in the 
Apocryphal book of The Jfisdom of Solomon, to 
express, as Schleusner conjectures, the art of 
governing: in which sense it is peculiarly ap- 
plicable to the apostles. IJQdg vf.ia.g oZv, d) 
ivqavvoi, ol Uyoi iiov, Iva /j.udi]Te aocplav — " Unto 
you, O rulers ! my words are addressed, that ye 
may learn wisdom." As the word is used in 
these various significations, each of them so pe- 
culiarly applicable to the powers and gifts with 
which the apostles were endued, we may con- 
clude that each sense was intended to be com- 
bined by the apostle in the passage before us. 
" The word of wisdom," therefore, would imply 
all supernatural intelligence, and the highest 
endowments of mind, by whatever name they 
may be distinguished ; together with the skill, 
talent, and power of governing, as wise men, 
the Churches they had already planted. 

The next gift of the Spirit is yvfiiaig. This is 
a gift inferior to wisdom". It corresponds to 
nj^l. As it was the gift possessed by the 
prophets of the New Testament, it must denote 
the knowledge of future events ; and, as they 
were teachers also, it probably included the 
learning that was usually acquired by industry, 
the experience given by time, age, and long 
intercourse with the world, and other talents, 
demanded by the circumstances of difficulty or 
danger in which they were placed. Lord Bar- 
rington supposes that these prophets were like- 
wise apostles. It does not appear that his 
proofs are decisive. 

The third gift of the Spirit is nlaitg, faith, 
and it was that which was imparted to the 
SiS&ay.alov, or teachers. The word nlarig is too 
well known to require explanation. In the New 
Testament it is variously used to denote con- 
viction, firm belief, or unfeigned assent to the 
truth of Revelation. It denotes also the pro- 
fession of religion, 1 Cor. ii. 5. and xv. 14. 
2 Pet. i. 5, &-C. and the mass or collected body 
of truths and doctrines taught by the apostles, 
Acts vi. 7, &c. 2 Tim. ii. 18. and iii. 8. Titus 
i. 4. 2 Pet. i. 1. Jude 3. 

All these we may justly assign to the first 
teachers of Christianity, who were neither hon- 
ored with the apostolic nor prophetic gifts. 
They would all firmly believe, profess, and 
practise the doctrines and the duties of their 
new religion. The diddaxaloi were not en- 
dowed with the same degree of inspiration as 
the prophets. 

niajig, in the LXX, corresponds to the word 

" Etymol. ined. ap. Schleusner, Lexicon in JV. T. 
— yroiotc noip'iag StaifiiiJiTai, yrtoOig ^tiv iazi Tb stSi- 
rat Tu ovTa. oo(p'ta di y.al to r'a oria. ytrwrixtiv, xat 
rb-rlv tiir aifirctnriyriuv Xvaiv iniarao&ai. 



Note 2L] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*31i 



fox ; see Deut. xxxii. 20. -ivhere it is rendered 
" faith" by our translators. The primary mean- 
ing of the word ;:3X, is steadiness, or firmness, 
consiancy and stability. God is called in Isa. 
Ixv. 16. px 'nbx, "The God of truth," or 
" faithfulness." 

Another meaning is given to the word pN, in 
Nehem. Lx. 38", where it seems to signify " a 
sure or firm treaty." The Septuagint translate 
tlie phrase diuridiueOa nioTiv. Our translators 
render the word njox, adjectively. Their ver- 
sion of the passage is, " we make a sure cove- 
nant." In the book of Ecclesiasticus (chap. i. 
33. and xl. 12, &sc.) we meet with rriaTig, in the 
same sense in which it is used in the New 
Testament. In these senses the word may 
be considered applicable to the passage before 
us. It was necessary that the teachers of the 
new religion should have " stability and con- 
stancy," as well as belief and purity; neither 
was it less necessary that they should enter 
into covenant with God, in consideration of 
the fulfilment of his promises in Christ ; as the 
legislator of Israel had done, when he had re- 
capitulated the mercies of God to himself, his 
people, and their common ancestors. 

The fourth of these sacred gifts requires no 
discussion : the gift of healing was the power 
of curing diseases ; the most common, though 
at the same time not the least wonderful of 
these mighty powers. Some confusion has been 
occasioned by the word dwduetg, which is used 
in two different senses, in verses 28 and 29. 
But on referring to the Septuagint, it will be 
seen that the word is there used in the same 
manner. It corresponds to riD, strength, power, 
&c. 1 Paral. xxix. 2. 2 Par. xxii. 9. and 
Esther ii. 18. to t::;', a servant. The persons 
invited by the king of Persia to his banquet, 
mentioned in this passage, were the great 
officers of his court, his higher and confidential 
servants. The officers of the Christian Church 
were peculiarly honored, and received the same 
appellation which designated the companions 
of a sovereign. 

The fifth is evidently transposed in the three 
lists. The word h'io-pua does not occur in the 
LXX, though it is found in Ecclus. xvi. 16. as 
we have observed. It seems to refer to the 
highest possible enlargement of the natural 
faculties, by which the teachers of Cliristianity 
were enabled to perform wonderful cures. 
They were supematurally instructed, perhaps, 
to anticipate tlie knowledge and discoveries of 
a future age ; and to effect, likewise, wonderful 
healings of disease, by an agency superior to 
any efforts of medical science, past, present, or 
future. 

In the next division of the miraculous gifts, 

" In Arias Montanus' Bible, in the Septuagint, 
and in our own Bibles, this passage is chap. ix. ver. 
38. But in Bagster's small Hebrew Bibles it is 
Nehem. x. ver. 1. 



" prophec)'," TtoocftjTela, and " the discerning of 
spirits," are classed together with 'Avidr^ipetc, 
" helps," and Xu6f orrjcrsic, " governments ;" 
which titles are equivalent, according to the 
arrangement in the third hst, with rldaaatg 
).a).8VTeg, " speakers of tongues." This division, 
as we may judge from the order which has 
hitherto proceeded regularly from the apostles 
to the lower gradations of the ministry, and the 
inferior gifts imparted to them, ought to signify 
something inferior to the gifts and titles which 
have been already enumerated. If we may, 
as we propose, fix the meaning of these much- 
controverted words from the LXX, we shall find 
this opinion most singularly confirmed. The 
word nQocpr/T^la is used in the LXX for the 
Hebrew jiin, "vision," or " ecstacy," 2 Paral. 
xxxii. 32. Dan. xi. 14., which was a lower de- 
gree of inspiration than that which was given to 
Moses, who talked with the Divine Leader of 
Israel " face to face ;" and consequently lower 
than was imparted to the apostles, who were 
honored in the same manner by the Sacred 
Oracle himself. Lord Barrington's opinion, 
therefore, though derived from other consider- 
ations, that a lower degree of prophecy is here 
understood, appears to be correct ; as is, like- 
wise, his additional remark, that in the word 
prophecy must be included the gift of teaching. 
As a necessary consequence, or as the insepar- 
able attendant of this gift, was the power of 
discerning of spirits ; which was the talent or 
faculty of discerning both the truth and cer- 
tainty of what was spoken by other prophets, 
and likewise of ascertaining the thoughts and 
secrets of the hearts of those who might enter 
the Christian assemblies, and consequently of 
knowing the precise mode of teaching which his 
circumstances might demand. 

The persons who possessed these lesser gifts 
of prophecy, and knowledge of the thoughts of 
men, are called drrdr^Wiig, and y.v6eovi\aeig. 
The first of which answers to mTj.', " help," 
Ps. xxi. 19. (ap. LXX) and xxii. 19. of the 
English version. 

"The word y.vSeorr^aeig," says Lightfoot, "is 
used by the LXX to translate riiS::nn (Prov. i. 5. 
xi. 14. XX. 18. and xxiv. 6.), which word imports 
not the act, but the ability to govern ; and the 
words urTihji^ifig and y.v6eor7\aetg, inl Cor. xii. 
28, 29, 30., imply helps to interpret the languages 
and sense of those v.ho spake with tongues''. 

" '•'■ Alter Revelationis interna? modus est. — quo 
vigilantes rapiuntur in ecslasin. cessante ad tempu.'! 
usu sensoriorum exterorum. dum a spiritu divino, 
aut Ano-elo Dei jussu imagination! exhibentur ei 
alte infiguntur imag-ines quredam. sive figurs 
rerum mysticee et propheticas ; aut Deus ipse, ve' 
anorelus, verba veluti cum iis faciens. eos de pras 
sentibus aut futuris edocet. Hue specie Deus se 
prscipue prophetis, certe illustrioribus. manifestura 
fecit, diciturque ea stylo Scripturas V. T. nrn visio 
itrroy.uXvWiz." — Vitringa. Obserr. Sacra, lib. vii. 
cap. ii. p. 7. 

f Life of Lightfoot, by Slrype. The Assembly 



312* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part XL 



The speaking with tongues was the gift more 
commonly imparted than any other, as we read 
in the narrative of the conversion of Cornelius 
and his household. It was, therefore, of inferior 
estimation to those which were more rare. 
This consideration harmonizes with the rest of 
this perplexing division both of the miraculous 
gifts, and of those on whom they were conferred. 
The speakers with tongues were the assistants 
to the higher ministers, and were often of in- 
ferior degree ; they possessed the ability to 
govern, and were thus prepared for the higher 
offices in the Church ; they received the lower 
gift of prophecy, and the discerning of spirits. 

The last of these miraculous gifts requires no 
discussion. It appears to refer to a further di- 
vision of a still lower and inferior miraculous 
endowment. The converts who were baptized 
with Cornelius spake with tongues. I should 
conclude, from this division of the miraculous 
gifts, not that every convert was able to speak 
every known language, but only a certain num- 
ber : and, with respect to the interpreters here 
mentioned, we may conclude that they were 
persons who repeated to some of the people, in 
their own language, those addresses of the 
apostles which were spoken to another portion 
of the congregation, in their native tongue. As 
the Jews were every where dispersed, the con- 
gregations of the primitive Christians must have 
generally consisted of the Israelites who spake 
the Aramaic or Syriac dialects, and of the na- 
tives of the countries where they sojourned. 
In commercial towns there would be frequently 
assemblies, composed of strangers from the 
most opposite quarters of the world, to whom 
these divisions of the miraculous gifts would be 
the most convincing of all arguments. 

Whatever might have been the nature of the 
miraculous gifts which were imparted by the 
Spirit of God to the first teachers of the Gospel, 
it is certain they were all subject to the apostles, 
and the apostles to each other, in council. 
Their powers were not derived from the people, 
though they were imparted for the instruction 
of the poorest, and meanest, and most despised 
among them. They were accountable to God 
and to his apostles. The caprice of the multi- 
tude was not their rule of action : and while 
they sedulously labored for the common benefit, 
they never derived their doctrines from tliose 
whom they were ordained to superintend and 
teach ; nor did they allow their separate con- 
gregations to dictate to them as to the doctrines 
they were to inculcate. 

The flocks did not then choose their shep- 
herds ; the children did not ordain their spiritual 
fathers. Free from all inferior motives, unam- 

of Divines wishod to justify the lay eldership of the 
Presbyterians from the word xviifovi'mtc, in this 
passage, which Lio-htfoot answered by the above 
criticism. 



bitious of honor and popularity, careless of 
wealth, undaunted by persecution, unsubdued 
by danger and difficulty, the first teachers of 
the Gospel regarded with equal affection the 
favor or the hatred of the rich and poor. Bold, 
zealous, firm, and holy, their lips preserved 
knowledge, and the people learned the Lav/ 
from their mouth. Happy is that Church whose 
clergy are thus devoted to the service of the 
people committed to their charge — who are 
faithful in the discharge of their sacred duties, 
" not with eyeservice, as men pleasers, but with 
singleness of heart, as unto God." 

Such were the gifts, titles, and offices, by 
which the Christian Church was now united. 
It formed, at this time, wherever it was dis- 
persed, one large society. 'The peirsons who 
presided over it (and no society can exist with- 
out some order or form of government), derived 
their authority not from the people, but from 
God. These divinely-appointed heads, in the 
process of time, ordained fit persons, who were 
generally known to and approved by the people, 
among whom they lived, to the office of teacher. 
If these teachers deviated from the form of 
sound words and the apostolic doctrine, they 
were responsible to the authority which had 
empowered and commissioned them to teach : 
and the apostles themselves, as in the instance 
of St. Peter, were controlled by their equals in 
power. Christ was the invisible Head of the 
Church, and the supremacy of Peter, or of Rome, 
was unknown ; all was riglitly and efficiently 
organized for the building up, in this evil world, 
the outward and visible Church of Christ, by 
which the invisible and the spiritual Church, as 
in the days of Noah, might be conducted safely 
to the kingdom of Christ and God. Wicked 
and inconsistent Christians, as we learn from 
the Epistles, were members of the visible 
Church even m the apostohc age — it is so at 
present. God alone can separate the good from 
the bad at the last. It is our duty, while we 
are in the body, to continue to build up the 
visible Church ; to establish and to insist upon 
external religion, the means of grace, the right 
administration of the sacraments, the purity, 
honor, and independence of the Christian priest- 
hood ; and to maintain, " in spite of scorn," its 
scriptural government in the world. Thus, by 
obedience to the example of the apostles of 
God, we may bring many millions of our for- 
saken brethren of mankind from among every 
nation under heaven, within the visible Church 
on eartli, and lead them, by the power of the 
Spirit of God, to the spiritual Church above'. 



' Lord Barriiigton's Miscellanea Sacra, vol. i. p. 
166, ](>7. This treatise is one of the tracts in the 
collection of Bishop Watson. — Hales's ./iriiilysis of 
Chronolocry. vol. ii. part ii. p. 'J68. — Doddridge's 
FamHy Expositor, vol. iv. p. 67.— Morgan's P'Uit- 
form of the Christian Church. 



Note 1.-6.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*313 



PART XII. 



Note L— Part XII. 

The principal reason which prompted St. Paul 
to commence his second apostolical journey at 
this time, was probably his learning that the 
Churches in the provinces were divided in 
opinion ; and that the harmony of the infant 
Church was disturbed on account of the contro- 
versies on the subject of conformity to the 
Mosaic Law. They were anxious to ascertain, 
7iw; E/ovat, quomodo se habeant, ac constantes 
sint in prqfilenda dodrina. 



Note 2.— Part XII. 

Their dispute about John Mark, is a proof 
of human infirmity, which cannot be justified, 
though it admits of extenuation. There was 
some breach of charity between them ; on one 
side it may be said that Paul's zeal carried him 
too far, and on the other that Barnabas was too 
indulgent to his kinsman — 6 IluvXog ic^iei to 
dly.itioi', 6 Buofufiicc to cptlixfdganoi'. This rup- 
ture, however, did not end in hatred, as appears 
from the manner in which Barnabas is mentioned 
by Paul in his Epistles. Barnabas went to 
Cyprus, and Paul into Syria and Cilicia. — Wit- 
sius, Meletem. Leidens. de Vita Pauli, cap. iv. 
sect. 15. 



Note 3.— Part XII. 

It is probable that St. Paul went from Cilicia 
to Crete, and having preached there, left Titus 
to complete his work, and to ordain elders. — 
See Witsius, Meletem. Leidens. de Vita Pauli, 
cap. V. 



Note 4. — Part XII. 

The fourth and fifth verses of chap. xvi. are 
added to the end of chap. xv. on the authority 
of Lord Barrington, whose opinion is advocated 
by Dr. Paley and Dr. Clarke. — See Miscellanea 
Sacra, Paley's Horce Paulina, and Dr. Clarke's 
Commentary. 



Note 5. — Part XII. 

In order to judge rightly of Paul's conduct 
in this affair, which some have censured (as they 
VOL. II. *40 



do other things in Christianity), because they 
did not understand it, we must recollect that he 
always openly avowed, "That the Gentiles 
were free from the yoke of the Mosaic ceremo- 
nies, and that the Jews were not to expect sal- 
vation by them:" and he also taught, timt they 
v.'ere not in conscience obhged to observe 
them at all, except in cases where an omission 
of them would give offence. But because his 
enemies represented him as teaching people to 
despise the Law of Moses, and even as blas- 
pheming it, he therefore took some opportuni- 
ties of conforming to it publicly himself, to 
show how far he was from condemning it as 
evil ; an extravagance into which some Chris- 
tian heretics early ran. And though, when the 
Jewish zealots would have imposed upon him, 
to compel Titus, who was a Greek, to be 
circumcised, even while he was at Jerusalem, 
he resolutely refused it (Gal. ii. 3-5.), yet here 
he voluntarily persuaded Timothy to submit to 
that rite, knowing the omission of it in him, 
who was a Jew by the mother's side, would 
have given ofience; and being the more desir- 
ous to obviate any prejudices against this 
excellent youth, whose early acquaintance 
with the Scriptures of the Old Testament (2 
Tim. iii. 15.) might render him peculiarly 
capable of preaching in the synagogues with 
advantage ; which, had he been uncircumcised, 
would not have been permitted. Grotius 
observes, "This was probably the beginning of 
Luke's acquaintance with Timothy, though 
Paul knew him long before." — See Doddridge's 
Family Expositor, in loc. 



Note 6.— Part XII. 

Much service would be rendered to the 
world by any student who would write a history of 
Samothrace. This island was the earliest Euro- 
pean seat of the ancient idolatry which over- 
spread Europe from India, Canaan, and Egypt. 
Mr. Faberlias prepared the way for the successful 
prosecution of all researches of tliis nature. I 
have not the means of ascertaining what progress 
has been made of late years in those branches 
of knowledge, which were so successfully culti- 
vated by Sir William Jones, and various mem- 
bers of the society over which he presided. It 
is, however, to be hoped, that great additions 
will eventually be made to our present informa- 
tion on the early history of the world, from the 
Sanscrit records. 

* * * 



314* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



[Part XII. 



Note 7.— Part XII. 

" This passage," says Mr. Home, " has greatly 
exercised the ingenuity of critics and commen- 
tators. It may, more correctly, be thus ren- 
dered : — Philippi, a city of the first part of 
Macedonia, or of Macedonia Prima ; and this is 
an instance of minute accuracy which shows 
that the author of the Acts of the Apostles 
actually lived and wrote at that time. The 
province of Macedonia, it is well known, had 
undergone various changes, and had been 
divided into various portions, and particularly 
four, while under the Roman government. 
There are extant many medals of the first 
province, or Macedonia Prima, mostly of silver, 
with the inscription, MAKEJONSIN nPJl- 
THS, or, the first part of Macedonia, which 
confirms the accuracy of Luke, and at the same 
time shows his attention to the minutest par- 
ticulars. It is further worthy of remark, that 
the historian terms Philippi a colony. By 
using the word xoAwi'ta (which was originally 
a Latin word, colonia), instead of the corre- 
sponding Greek word anoixia, he plainly inti- 
mates that it was a Roman colony, which the 
twenty-first verse plainly proves it to have 
been. And though the critics were for a long 
time puzzled to find any express mention of it 
as such, yet some coins have been discovered, 
in which it is recorded under this character, 
particularly one, which exphcitly states that 
Julius Cffisar himself bestowed the dignity and 
privilege of a colony on the city of Philippi, 
which were afterwards confirmed and augmented 
by Augustus." — Introduction to the Critical 
Study of the Scriptures, vol. i. p. 227. 



Note 8.— Part XII. 

ON THE NATURE OF THE SPIRIT OF DIVINATION 
IN THE PYTHONESS. 

I HAVE already observed upon the folly of 
making our present experience the criterion of 
truth. The age in which we live is undoubt- 
edly, for the most part, by God's mercy, delivered 
from the terrible spectacle of human beings 
evidently possessed by evil spirits. But evil 
still exists amongst us, although in a less 
avowed and terrible form, and it still but too 
frequently and too effectually withdraws our 
hearts from the service of our Maker. 

If it appeared to me to be warranted by the 
sacred text, I would willingly interpret this 
passage with Michaelis, Heinrich, Kuinoel, 
Benson, and many others, and believe that the 
damsel at Philippi was either an impostor, a 
ventriloquist, insane, diseased with melancholy, 
or overpowered with her own fancies ; but I 
cannot render the plain language of St. Luke 
in any but the literal manner. My reason shall 



always submit to Scripture ; and I cannot wrest 
the words of this Scripture to any other mean- 
ing than the usual one, that an evil spirit had 
influence over the mind and body of this person, 
enabling her to utter oracular responses. 

The priestess of Apollo at Delphos, when 
placed on the tripod, uttered confused words 
and phrases, among strange contortions and 
gesticulations. Her words were interpreted by 
the priests, and were considered prophetic. 
The damsel at Philippi, when agitated by the 
evil spirit, by which she was possessed, was 
probably much convulsed, uttered her oracular 
responses with various contortions and gesticu- 
lations. It was either on account of this parallel 
between her actions, appearance, and language, 
and those of the Pythian priestess, that she is here 
said to have the spirit of Python ; or because the 
evil spirit by which she was actuated was of the 
same nature and power as that which prompted 
the priestess of the pagan deity. The damsel at 
Philippi is generally supposed to have been one 
of the kYyuoTol^vdoi — that is, she spoke from the 
inside, as a ventriloquist, in the same manner 
as the priestess of Apollo spoke from the tripod. 

Biscoe has reasoned with much justice on 
the question, Whether this narrative proves that 
an evil spirit possessed this damsel or not ? He 
sufficiently shows that it cannot be considered 
as a trick on the part of the girl, or that the 
apostles discovered the imposture, and reproved 
the deceiver. 

" Supposing this woman's speaking inwardly," 
he observes, " as from her belly or breast, were 
a trick of her own acquiring, and no ways ow- 
ing to any demon or spirit that spake from within 
her, how could St. Paul's saying those words, 
'1 command thee to come out of her,' discover 
the trick, reveal the secret, and convince the 
by-standers that she was a mere impostor, and 
had no spirit of divination within her : would it 
not rather convince them, that, in his opinion, 
she had such a spirit within her ? But let us 
suppose, what is not so much as hinted in the 
text, that St. Paul spent much time in preaching 
to the people, and showing them that this 
woman, by a particular formation of the organ 
of speech, and by long practice, had gained 
a habit of speaking so as no one should see her 
lips move, and the voice should seem to come 
from her breast ; I am yet at a loss to kno'v 
how this could deprive her masters of their 
gain: for surely this would go but a little way 
towards convincing the people, that she could 
not really predict things future. Her reputa- 
tion was established; there was a general 
belief that she did foretell things, and a great 
concourse of people after her to make inquiry 
into their future fortunes. It is expressly said, 
that 'she brought her masters much gain by 
soothsaying.' The showing that it was possible 
for her, by long practice, to attain the art of 
speaking inwardly, would no ways dissuade 



Note S.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*315 



persons from following her, so long as they 
retained a notion that she really prophesied. 
We will advance, therefore, one step further, and 
suppose that St. Paul not only discovered her 
' trick ' of speaking inwardly, but that he also 
argued against her being a diviner or prophetess, 
andplainlylaidbefore them, that she usually made 
her answers in ambiguous and general terms ; 
that they much oftener proved false than true ; 
and that it was owing to mere accident, if at 
any time there seemed to be truth in what she 
had said. If we judge of the experience we 
have of mankind, we cannot reasonably suppose 
that these arguments should immediately prevail 
with all the by-standers, or indeed any consid- 
erable part of them, to lay aside the opinion 
they had entertained of this woman's gift. 
However, we will suppose that all the by-stand- 
ers were at once convinced of the truth and 
weight of the Apostle's argument. Would they 
immediately be able to spread the same persua- 
sion among all the inhabitants of Philippi .? 
And if all Philippi had believed her an impostor, 
might not her masters have sent her to another 
city, where, by the practice of the same arts, 
she might still have brought them much gain. 
The plain truth therefore is, St. Paul prevented 
Ijer future prophesying ; or, if the word ' trick ' 
pleo.ses better, he wholly disabled her from 
doing the ' trick ' any more. He cast out the 
spirit which spake within her, so that she was 
heard no more to speak as from her belly or 
breast. Her masters soon perceived that she 
was no longer inspired or possessed, that she 
could now utter no more divinations or prophe- 
cies ; and tlierefore, all hopes of their ffains 
from her, whether in Philippi, or any other 
city, were wholly gone." 

After all, it is a dispute among learned men, 
whether she did speak inwardly, as from her 
belly or breast". They say the words do not 
necessarily imply this meaning, but only in 
general, that she was possessed of a spirit of 
divination or foretelling things to come. And 
they urge, that when she followed St. Paul, 
and said, "These men are the servants of the 
Most High God, which show unto us the way 
of salvation," she spake out with a loud and 
distinct voice. If this were the case, what 
" trick " had the woman, that St. Paul could dis- 
cover to the people ? Vid. Wolfii Cur. in loc. 

Another thing, which demonstrates the absur- 
dity of this interpretation, is the rage of the 

" Probabilis tamen est sententia Delingii Obs. 
Sac. part ii. p. 201. Wolfii curis ad h. I. Wal- 
■chius observes — " Feminam illam f'yyaoroiiuKVaiv 
numero non esse adscribendam, cum Lucas v. 17. 
verba distincte prolataei tribuat, cum earn secutam 
esse dicat Paulum ejusque comites, atque adeo per 
id significet earn per plateas et cursitando vaticina- 
tam esse : iyyanToiiiv9oi vero vel insidentes cuidam 
loco, vel prostrati in terra oracula sua ediderint." 
— V. Walchii Diss. 1. De Servis, etc. sect. 7. 
Kuinoel, vol. iv. p. 540. 



multitude against St. Paul. For no sooner had 
the masters of the girl accused him and Silas 
to the magistrates, but, it is said, "that the 
multitude rose up together against them," v. 22. 
Had he, as this interpretation supposes him to 
have done, convinced the whole city of Philippi 
that this maid-servant was an impostor, and 
could foretell things future no more than any 
other person, no doubt they would have taken 
part with St. Paul, and not with the masters of 
the girl. They would have thought themselves 
obliged to him for having discovered the cheat, 
and preventing their future expense in needless 
and fruitless applications to one who could only 
amuse and deceive them, but not foretell any 
thing future. If they were incensed against 
any person, it is natural to suppose it should 
have been against the girl and her masters, for 
having imposed upon them, and tricked them 
out of their money. But that they should take 
part with the masters of this impostor against 
the person who had discovered the fraud, is so 
contrary to all the experience we have cf man- 
kind, that it is a demonstration of the absurdity 
of this comment. On the other hand, if wo 
take the story in the plain and literal sense, 
how natural is it, that the multitude of the city 
should side with the masters, as being fully 
persuaded that it was not only a great piece of 
injustice done to them by the Apostle, but a 
public injury of a very heinous nature ; as they 
had hereby lost what they esteemed an oracle, 
to which they might apply upon all urgent 
and doubtful occasions ! Nor is there any the 
least hint in the text of a change in the multi- 
tude, as though they had been first for St. Paul, 
and afterwards, by some secret management, 
brought over to side with the masters. 

We may justly, therefore, conclude with the 
majority of commentators, and the concurrent 
testimony of the Church, that this also was a 
demoniacal possession, and being so, that it 
afforded another instance of the influence the 
evil spirit maintained over mankind, till the 
power and mercy of the Saviour delivered us 
from the bondage and tyranny of the destroyer. 

The object of the evil spirit, in bearing testi- 
mony to the truth of the Apostle's preaching, 
is well explained by a modern commentator. 
"Tiie evil spirit," he observes, "well knew that 
the Jewish Law abhorred all magic, incanta- 
tions, magical rites, and dealings with familiar 
spirits ; he therefore bore what was in itself a 
true testimony to the apostles, that by it he 
might destroy their credit, and ruin their use- 
fulness. The Jews, by this testimony, would 
be led at once to believe that the apostles were 
in compact with these demons ; and that the 
miracles they wrought were done by the agency 
of these wicked spirits ; and that the whole was 
the effect of magic ; and this of course would 
harden their hearts against the preaching of 
tlie Gospel. The Gentiles agaiu, when they 



316* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII. 



saw that their OAvn demon bore testimony to 
the apostles, would naturally consider that the 
whole was one system ; that they had nothing 
to learn, nothing to correct; and thus the 
preaching of the apostles must be useless to 
them. In this situation, nothing could have 
saved the credit of the apostles, but their dis- 
possessing this woman of her familiar spirit; 
and that in the most incontestable manner : for, 
what could have saved the credit of Moses and 
Aaron, when the magicians of Egypt turned 
their rods into serpents, had not Aaron's de- 
voured theirs ? And what could have saved 
the credit of these apostles, but the casting out 
of this spirit of divination, with which, other- 
wise, both Jews and Gentiles would have 
believed them incompetent''?" 



Note 9.— Part XII. 

This passage is generally quoted as one of 
those which prove the identity of the service of 
the primitive Church with that of the synagogue. 
In the instance of reading the Scriptures in 
both, the parallel certainly exists. This sub- 
ject, however, having been already in some 
measure considered, I shall merely observe, in 
this place, that we never read that any one of 
the primitive cJmrches had such an officer as the 
Archisynagogus, or were governed by the ten, 
the twenty-three, &c., neither were the primi- 
tive churches built by th3 side of rivers ; and 
many other points of dissim'.larity might be shown. 

Some writers, indeed, have gone to the oppo- 
site extreme, and derived the principal customs 
which prevailed among the early Christians 
from the heathen institutions established among 
them. The fact seems to be, that as the Jew- 
ish synagogues were necessarily the first places 
of worship, very many useful customs were 
derived from the Jewish synagogue-service : 
and, as the number of the Gentile converts 
increased from the heathen worship, some cus- 
toms might be derived from them also. The 
Churches, in things indifferent, were left to 
their own discretion : there was, however, a 
general similarity of worship, as well as an 
unity of faith, among all the primitive Churches. 
As at the Reformation, our church-service was 
not formed upon the model of the service of the 
Romish Church, yet our Reformers wisely 
retained whatever was useful ; so were many 
customs of the synagogues preserved. The 
worship of God was placed upon a right founda- 

' See on the subject of this note, Dickinson's 
Delphi Ph(Emcizanlcs — the beginning of Faber's 
Oriuin nf Pugan Idolatry — the references in Kui- 
noel — Biscoe On the Jir.ts, vol. i. p. IDS, &c — 
Whitby — Hammond — Dr. A. Clarke, and on the 
manner in which the Pythian priestesses received 
their inspiration, and the treatise on Saul and the 
Witch of Endor, in the Critici Sacri. 



tion: there was neither a servile deference 
paid to antiquity, neither was there any capri- 
cious, or useless, or jealous removal of ancient 
customs, merely because they were established. 



Note 10.— Part XII. 

GENERAI, INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLES, 
AND ON THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 

Revelation is the language of heaven 
spoken by the lips of men ; and no where 
through the volume of Scripture do we more 
legibly read its characters of light, than in the 
portion to which we have now arrived — the 
Epistles of St. Paul. It is here that the dis- 
coveries are made which complete the perfec- 
tion of the Christian dispensation. The preach- 
ing of Christ was past — the generation of wit- 
nesses who heard him speak " as man never 
spake," was rapidly dying away ; the reign of 
the Holy Spirit had begun, and the divine 
teaching was recalled to the minds of the 
Evangelists, and the deepest mysteries of God 
were imparted to the apostles. In the Gospels 
we read what Christ in his humiliation declared 
on earth — in the Epistles are recorded what 
Christ on his throne of glory spake through the 
Spirit from heaven. Why should it excite our 
surprise, therefore, that all those who passion- 
ately long, or serenely hope, for their eventual 
attainment of the promises of God, should be 
so much attached to this portion of their holy 
Revelation; when others again, of a different 
character, who seem unable to appreciate their 
sublime excellencies, would altogether exclude 
them, as abounding with observations and 
directions which were primarily of a temporary 
nature only, and consequently, as they assert, 
irrelevant to the Christians of the present age ? 
On this principle nearly the whole of our 
Scriptures may be rejected as useless ; for all 
the sacred books, either wholly, or in part, were 
first written to answer some temporary object, 
however profitable they may have been for 
instruction, reproof, and doctrine to the cath- 
olic Church for ever. Man is the same in all 
countries. However his customs and habits 
may differ, the same principle of evil within 
him every where prevails — as tJie body is the 
same in one nation as in another, though thi; 
manner of his clothing and the ornaments of 
his dress may vary. It is to the principle with- 
in, " to the inner man," that the Scripture is 
addressed ; and if, therefore, we meet, either in 
the Old or New Testament, with any passages 
which refer to customs that are now obsolete, 
we may consider the appeal of inspiration as 
directed to the motives of action ; and we shall 
then find that all Scripture is of universal appli- 
cation, and is written for our insti'uction in 



Note 10.] 



INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLES. 



*317 



righteousness. It proceeds from tlie Father of 
spirits, and is by him revealed to the spirit of 
man within him. 

Here it is that vre are presented ivith a pic- 
ture of the heart of man, and of the human 
nature with which we are bom into the world, 
so faithful, that when we look within us, we 
acknowledge its justice with indignation, with 
sorrow, or remorse ; yet so vivid, so animated 
in its coloring — its impression so powerful, 
that we never cease to remember the terrible 
portrait of ourselves which is drawn by the 
inspired pencil. Here it is that the supernatu- 
ral energy of inspiration triumphs. We may 
call in to our aid the flatteries of our self-love, 
and arm ourselves with speculations on the 
dignit}^ of human nature, and the infinite, un- 
covenanted mercy of God — We may palliate 
(•ice, and endeavour to satisfy ourselves that the 
natural or animal man may become a participa- 
tor of a spiritual existence without change or 
repentance, or divine influence : if, however, 
we contemplate the likeness of ourselves as 
the character of the heart is drav.-n in these 
divine compositions, we shall deeply feel the 
absolute necessity of the same Spirit of God, 
which inspired these holy writers, to cleanse 
che thoughts of our hearts within us, that we 
may perfectly love and worthily magnify Him. 
Here it is that v.'e read in a clearer and fuller 
manner, than in any other part of the Sacred 
Volume, the mysteries of the world to come — 
the nature of our future existence — the recesses 
of the human heart — the majesty of the Son 
of God — the intimate union which may be 
formed, while we are still on earth, between the 
human soul and God its Creator — and the 
unspeakable consolations which Christianity 
alone ran aSbrd us in the prospect of death, 
and the hour of our most pairifiil sufierings. It 
would be easy to detail these at great length : 
each of them appeals to the heart, as the Angel 
Jehovah, when he followed our first parents in 
the recesses of the garden, and exclaimed, 
" Where art thou ?" In the devotional parts 
of St. Paul's Epistles, a voice from heaven, as 
the trumpet of the archangel, seems to appeal 
to the reader, " Where art thou ? what are thy 
employments ? to what world art thou going ?" 
The errors which distracted the Church in 
the apostolic age, are the same in principle as 
those which have always flourished, and which 
are abundantly prevalent in our own day. Even 
now the advocates of natural religion, and the 
assertors of human reason, like the Gnostics 
cf the apostolic age, embarrass themselves and 
their readers with vain philosophy, and crude 
speculations on the existence of God, the 
nature of the soul, the origin of the world, or 
the eternity of matter. Antichristian metaphy- 
sicians still deserve the censure of " profane 
and vain babblings." The Greek, the Oriental, 
and Jewish philosophy, united all their jargon 

VOL. II. 



to oppose a system of spiritual religion, which 
did not, and could not, amalgamate with theL 
metaphysical theories ; and every deistica. 
dream which has been since invented is uni 
formly opposed to the same object. Revelation 
is the only guide to the reason of man ; when 
its bright light is obscured or disregarded, man 
must always stumble on the dark mountains of 
error. 

Did the Gnostics " forbid to marry, and com- 
mand to abstain from meats ?" The Apostle, 
in condemning them, passes his censure upon 
those corrupters of Christianity, who still in the 
Church of Rome inculcate the same doc- 
trines. Did any profess to consider Christ as 
inferior to the Father ? The Apostle is more 
especially urgent upon this fundamental point 
to enforce on the Church : That the Christ who 
took upon him our nature, is over all God 
blessed for ever. Did others maintain that 
Christ came into the world not to expiate the 
sins of man, or to appease the wrath of an 
offended Deity, but only to communicate to the 
human race the long-lost knowledge of the Su- 
preme Being ? The Epistle to the Hebrews 
satisfied the ancient Church of the folly, ab- 
surdity, and wickedness of this wilfiil blind- 
ness, and condemns, in language which modern 
courtesy would shrink from as illiberal and 
bigotted, the presumption of the Gennan spec- 
ulatist, and the blasphemy of the half-reason- 
ing Unitarian. All metaphysical inventions 
which clash with the common-sense opinions 
which have originated in Scripture respecting 
God, the soul, and the compound nature of 
man, the origin, continuance, and eventual con- 
quest of evil, are alike condemned by the in- 
spired Epistles. 

Among the various errors of the apostolic 
age, which are censured in their diSerent com- 
positions, we meet with no traces of that fatal 
error which has been reserved only for mod- 
ern presumption : we find no denial of the mi- 
raculous e\ddences upon which Christianity is 
founded, or of the facts which it records, as the 
basis of the doctrines it enforces. This effort 
of the enemy of the Church was reserved 
for the present critical and enlightened age, 
in which that reasoner is considered the most 
wise, who departs fartliest from the only 
true wisdom ; and who, bewildered in the 
clouds and mists of error, " puts darkness for 
light, and light for darkness." 

If we turn to those subjects in which man 
may imagine himself to be more personally 
interested, as an immortal being, to the dis- 
coveries which it has pleased the Spirit of God 
to make to us by his apostles concerning the 
Saviour of the world, we might transcribe at 
great lensrth the lofty titles and magnificent de- 
scriptions with which the inspired language of 
the apostles describes Him, " who is the bright- 
ness of his Father's srlorv, and the express 

*AA* 



318* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII. 



image o:^ his person'' — " the exact impression 
of his manner of existence" — " the image of 
the invisible God, in whom dvvelleth tJie fulness 
of the Deity" — " who is highly exalted" — " at 
M'hose name all created things shall bow, 
whether in heaven or in earth ; visible or 
invisible" — "the object of the worship of 
angels" — "the Judge of tJie world." He is 
here described as " The One who was before all 
things :" as " the manifested Saviour, from the 
creation to the judgment." 

In these Epistles we are confirmed in the 
belief of our own resurrection — in the assur- 
ance that " this corruptible must put on incor- 
ruption." They corroborate the events related 
in the Gospels, and are the most decisive evi- 
dences we can possess of the rapid increase 
of Christianity. In them we hear, as it were, 
the angel of God declare, that " time shall be 
no more." We see the Saviour of the world 
resign his mediatorial kingdom to his Father, 
that God may be all in all — the harvest of the 
Church gathered in — the eternity that is past 
united to the eternity that is to come, and man 
made partaker of a heavenly and glorious im- 
mortality. 

With respect to the crime of dividing or dis- 
turbing the Churches, the apostolic Epistles 
every where abound with the most explicit 
injunctions on this point — "I beseech you, 
brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and 
that there be no divisions among you ; but that 
ye be perfectly joined together in the same 
mind, and in the same judgment: for it hath 
been declared unto me, of you, my brethren, 
that there are contentions among you. Submit 
to those that have the rule over you, for they 
watch for your souls, as those that must give 
an account ;" with many other passages to the 
same purpose. 

Still farther: there are various portions of 
the Epistles, which incontrovertibly relate to 
our own times, and to times yet to arrive : those 
portions, namely, which are predictive. Of 
this description are the Epistle of St. Jude ; a 
part of the Second Epistle of St. Peter ; of St. 
Paul's Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, 
and of both his Epistles to Timothy ; and of 
the Epistles of St. John. It is needless to 
name other passages, or to enlarge on those 
prophecies which have been specified ; for who 
will deny them to pertain to tlie faith and the 
practice of the present age ? 

We must not, however, regard the Epistles 
as communications of religious doctrines not 
disclosed before : as displaying the perfection 
of a system, of which merely the rude elements 
had been indicated in the writings of the four 
Evangelists. The object of the Gospels seems 
supposed to be almost exclusively this : — to 
prove, by a genuine narrative of miraculous 
facte, tha,t, Jesue Christ was the promised Re- 



deemer : and thus to lay ground for the belief 
of the doctrinal truths, which he should after- 
wards reveal by the Holy Ghost in the Epistles. 

" Is this opinion," says a learned modern", 
" consistent with antecedent probability ? Does 
it appear a natural expectation, that our blessed 
Redeemer ' in whom dwelt all the fulness of 
the Godhead bodily,' to whom the 'Holy 
Ghost was given without measure,' should 
restrict within such scanty limits his personal 
communications of divine truths to his disciples ; 
that he should thus restrict such communica- 
tions to his apostles during the whole period of 
his public ministry, before his crucifixion and 
after his resurrection ? Is this opinion easily 
reconcilable with the declarations of the in- 
spired writers, that, while our Lord ' dwelt 
among them, they beheld his glory, as the glory 
of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of 
grace and truth' {John i. 14.), and that 'after 
his passion he was seen of them forty days, 
speaking of the things pertaining to the king- 
dom of God?'" (Acts i. .3.) 

To bring the point in debate to the speediest 
issue, we will inquire, what are the new articles, 
what is the new article, of faith revealed for the 
first time in any one of the Epistles ? What 
are the articles of faitli, what is the solitary 
article, on which any one of the Epistles throws 
such additional light, as in any degree to war- 
rant an assertion, even with any ordinary ben- 
efit of hyperbole, that the Epistle imparts a 
religious doctrine not previously and clearly 
revealed in the Gospels, nor in the antecedent 
Scriptures of the Old Testament, which are 
continually receiving in the Gospels the plain- 
est and the strongest sanction of our Lord ? 

Is it the doctrine of the unity of God ? A 
claim will not be advanced as to that article. 

Is it the doctrine of the union of three 
Divine Persons in one Godhead ? Has the Old 
Testament, then, maintained silence on that 
article of faith ? Have the Gospels maintained 
silence ? I mean not to multiply testimonies. 
But is there no passage in the writings of Isaiah, 
which styles the predicted Saviour " the Mighty 
God," " God with us ? " is there no passage in 
the Gospels which avers, that " In the beginning 
was the Word," that " the Word was with God," 
that " the Word was God ? " Is there no pas- 
sage in which our Lord affirms concerning him- 
self, " Before Abraham was, I am ;" " I and my 
Father are one ?" Does no Gospel pronounce 
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost unpardon- 
able ; or unite that Divine Spirit with the Fatli- 
er and the Son as the God to whom we are 
dedicated in baptism ? 

Is it the agency of our Lord in creating the 
universe ? The first chapter of St. John's Gos- 
pel answers the question. 

"^ See Gisborne's First Sermon on the Epistle to 
the Caiossians, p. 13, &c. 



Note 10.] 



INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLES. 



*319 



Is it the propitiatory sacrifice of our Saviour? 
Have our copies, then, of the Old Testament lost 
the tifty-third chapter of Isaiah ? Do our copies 
of the Gospels no long-er speak of" the Lamb of 
God that taketh away the sins of the world ? " of 
"the good Shepherd who came to lay down his 
life for the sheep," "to give his life a ransom for 
many?" of one who "came down from heaven 
to give his flesh for the life of the world ? " 

Is it the universality of the offer of redemp- 
tion ? If the references in the preceding para- 
graph have not rendered an answer superfluous ; 
does no Gospel instruct us that Christ " was 
lifted up" on the cross, "that whosoever be- 
lieveth in Him should not perish, but have ever- 
lasting life ? " Is there no Gospel still record- 
ing his final command to his apostles to " go 
into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every 
creature ? Is there no Gospel still recording his 
accompanying assurance — " He that believeth, 
and is baptized, shall be saved ? " 

Is it our Lord's exaltation in his human na- 
ture to glory ? He replies, by his Evangelists, 
" I ascend to my Father ;"— " All power is given 
unto me in heaven and in earth." 

Is the deficient article, the corruption of 
human nature ? Not while the Old Testament 
emphatically records, that after the fall, the 
soas of Adam were born in his image — no longer 
that of God. Not while it records the declara- 
tions of the Most High, before the deluge and 
after it, that "the imagination of man's heart is 
evil from his youth ;" or his averment by the 
lips of Jeremiah, that " the heart is deceitful 
above all things, and desperately wicked." Not 
while the fifteenth chapter of St. Matthew's 
Gospel, or the seventh chapter of that of St. 
Mark, retains the catalogue of sins pronounced 
by our Saviour to be the offspring of the heart. 
Not while St John's Gospel produces his words : 
" As tlie branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except 
it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except ye 
abide in me :" — " without me ye can do notliing." 

Is it the necessity of the entire renewal of 
the heart by the Holy Spirit ? Not if the tliird 
chapter of St. John's Gospel be part of the 
canon of Scripture. 

Is it justification by faith in the blood of 
Christ? Not while the corruption of human 
nature, and the necessity of a complete renewal 
of the heart by the Holy Spirit, are doctrines 
of the Old Testament and of the Gospels. Not 
while the Old Testament continues to exhibit 
the example of the father of the faithful, who 
" believed God, and it was counted to him for 
righteousness ; " who " saw by faith the day of 
Christ, and rejoiced to see it" Not while the 
Almighty proclaims by the Prophet Habakkuk, 
that "the just shall live by his faith." Not 
while the passages already noticed respecting 
the atoning sacrifice of the Son cf God, and 
the consequences of believing in Him, shall be 
found in the Old Testament and the Gospels. 



Is it the resurrection of the dead, tlie final 
judgment, the glory of heaven, the damnation 
of hell ? On each of these points the Gospels are 
acknowledged to speak with decisive clearness. 

Can it be necessary to pursue the inquiry 
further ? There is yet a topic, the omission of 
which would expose me to the charge of keeping 
out of sight the example, held, in the estimation 
of many pious men, to be the most adverse to my 
present argument. By certain of our brethren, 
the Calvinistic tenets are deemed to be signally 
developed in parts of the Epistles. And it is 
natural that persons regarding those tenets, not 
merely as religious verities, but as the basis of 
Christian comfort and of Christian usefulness, 
should be led to think and to speak of the 
Epistles as containing the previously undis- 
played perfection of Christianity. A deliberate, 
and, as I would humbly hope, an honest com- 
parison of " spiritual things with spiritual" 
(1 Cor. ii. 13.), has not discovered to me Calvin- 
istic tenets in any part of the Sacred Volume. 
But our brethren, who have formed an opposite 
conclusion concerning the divine plan of re- 
demption, may be the more easily induced to an 
exact appreciation of the Epistles, when they 
recollect that there are various passages in the 
Old Testament and in the Gospels which the 
Calvinistic divines consider as satisfactory 
proofs of their own system. 

" I have yet many things to say unto you, but 
ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when He, 
the Spirit of truth, is come. He will guide you 
into all truth," (John xvi. 12, 13.) This address 
of our Lord to his apostles is commonly alledged 
in support, of the assertion, that additional doc- 
trines were to be propounded in the Epistles. 
That such cannot be the meaning of the pas- 
sage, the preceding inquiry as to the several 
articles of Christian belief has proved. If the 
Epistles do not contain any new article of faith, 
to new articles our Saviour did not allude. 
Nor in the articles of faith stated in the Epistles 
does there appear to be any point, which would be 
offensive to the known prepossessions and incli- 
nations of the disciples. To what particulars, 
then, did our Saviour allude ? To truths not 
indeed new, for the Scriptures of the Old Tes- 
tament had announced them, for repeatedly had 
he inculcated them himself; truths which, like 
his predictions of his own sufferings, and death, 
and resurrection, the apostles had frequently 
heard fi-om him, and still disbelieved ; truths in 
the highest degree offensive to their prejudices 
and their desires : that Christ was to be a light 
to lisfhten the Gentiles, no less tlmn the glory 
of the people of Israel : that the peculiar privi- 
leges of the Jews were at an end : that the 
Samaritan, the Greek, and the Ba/barian, were to 
stand on a level with the Israelite in the Cliris- 
tian Church, in the grace of the Gospel, in the 
kingdom of God. Allusion appears also to be 
intended to other very unexpected and un'svel- 



320* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIL 



come facts ; that Christ did not purpose to en- 
throne himself in worldly sovereignty, and to 
constitute his apostles the great men of the 
earth : that it was not His will to restore at that 
time the kingdom to Israel. 

On the subject of the former class of par- 
ticulars the narrative of the Acts of the Apos- 
tles proves how great was the need of the 
instructive interposition of the Holy Ghost ; and 
with what energy the instruction was imparted. 
When tlie persecution, commencing with the 
death of Stephen, scattered the Christians from 
Judasa as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and An- 
tioch, they " went every where preaching the 
word to none (however, as it is emphatically 
added) but unto the Jews only," (Acts viii. 1, 
4. and xi. 19.) When the Ethiopian was to 
be converted, it was the Spirit that said unto 
Philip, " Go near, and join thyself to this 
chariot," (Acts viii. 29.) When the messen- 
gers of Cornelius came for Peter, " the Spirit 
said unto him, ' Go with them, doubting noth- 
ing: for I have sent them,'" (Acts x. 20.) 
The language of Peter to Cornelius was that of 
a man recently overruled and enlightened. 
" God hath showed me that I should not call any 
man common or unclean." — "Of a truth I per- 
ceive that God is no respecter of persons : but in 
every nation, he that feareth Him and worketh 
righteousness is accepted with Him," ( Acts x. 
28, 34, 35.) On his return to Jerusalem, when 
the Jewish converts reproved him for having as- 
sociated with the household of a Gentile, how 
did he vindicate himself? "The Spirit bade 
me go with them." — " What was I, that I could 
withstand God ?" (Acts xi. 12, 17.) When the 
hearers confessed the decisiveness of the au- 
thority, their expressions of submission were 
equally those of surprise : " Then hath God also 
to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life," 
(Acts xi. 18.) With respect to the speedy 
restoration of the kingdom to Israel, an event 
connected in the minds of the apostles with an 
earthly sovereignty on the part of Christ, and 
with earthly aggrandizement on their own ; 
though they pressed our Lord on the point to 
the very time of liis ascension, and then received 
from Him a reply, which, while it denied precise 
information, left them in suspense, (Acts i. 
6, 7.): yet after the descent of the Holy Ghost 
on the day of Pentecost, we hear no more of 
the expectation. On the contrary, we hear the 
Holy Ghost negativing it by the inspired writ- 
ings of the apostles. St. James, in his conclud- 
ing chapter, apparently alludes to the impending 
desti'uction of Jerusalem. St. Paul anticipates 
the downfall, when he describes the Jews as 
"filling up their sins ;" and the wrath of God 
as " coming upon them to the uttermost." 
(1 Thess. ii. 16.) And the same Apostle, when 
led by his argument to dilate on their approach- 
ing dispersion and their subsequent restoration, 
treats of the two events in a manner which 



implies, that it wa.s by a long interval that they 
were to be separated, (Rom. xi.) 

The post, then, which the Epistles occupy in 
the sacred depository of Revelation is not that 
of communications of new doctrines. They fill 
their station as additional records, as inspired 
corroborations, as argumentative concentrations, 
as instructive expositions, of truths already 
revealed — of commandments already promul- 
gated. In some few instances a new circum- 
stance, collateral to an established doctrine, is 
added : as when St. Paul, in applying to the 
consolation of the Thessalonians the future 
resurrection of their departed friends, subjoins 
the intelligence, that the dead in Christ shall 
rise first to meet the Lord in the air, before the 
generation alive at the coming of our Saviour 
shall exchange mortal life for immortality. In 
the explication of moral precepts, the Epistles 
frequently enter into large and highly bene- 
ficial details. And as one of their principal 
objects at the time of their publication was to 
settle controversial dissensions, to refute here- 
sies, and to expose perversions of scriptural 
truth, they in consequence abound in discus- 
sions illustrating the nature and the scope of 
sound doctrine ; and guarding it against the 
false and mischievous interpretations of the 
ignorant, of the subtle, of the unholy. So he 
who rejects one portion of Scripture rejects 
all, for " all Scripture is given by inspiration 
of God." 

The New . Testament contains twenty-one 
Epistles, which are generally divided into two 
classes, those of St. Paul, and the Catholic 
Epistles. The latter are seven in number, and 
consist of the letters of St. James, Peter, John, 
and Jude ; these, as their title implies, were 
addressed to Christians in general. The re- 
maining fourteen were written by the Great 
Apostle of the Gentiles ; and they have been 
religiously preserved and enrolled from the 
earliest periods among the number of the Sacred 
Writings. It has been a matter of doubt, 
whether St. Paul be the author of the Epistle to 
the Hebrews ; but there are so many forcible 
reasons for attributing it to this Apostle, at least 
the matter of it, that its authenticity seems to 
be fully substantiated. With respect to the 
other thirteen, they are incontestably acknowl- 
edged as St. Paul's. 

It is true they have been rejected by various 
ancient heretics, by the Corinthians'', and par- 
ticularly by the Ebionites, who looked upon this 
Apostle as an apostate and forsaker of the Law ; 
but this is not surprising, as they were the dis- 
ciples of some false teachers, who maintained 
the necessity of the ceremonial Law. Marcion' 

"* Iren. lib. i, c. '26. Origen. Advur. CeJs. 1. 8. in 
fine. Euseb. Hist. Ercl. 1. 3. c. 27. Epiphan. 
Fibres. 30. sect. xvi. and xxv. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 
1. 4. c. 2[). 

' Tertul. Cantr. Marc. 1. 5. Epiph. Hares. 42. 



Note 10.] 



INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLES. 



'321 



received onl}' ten epistles of St. Paul, and de- 
stroyed many passages of them that overturned 
ills impiety. The Gnostics rejected the two 
Epistles to Timotliy-'', because the Apostle evi- 
dently alluded to these teachers in these words — 
"That they had erred concerning the faith," 
(1 Tim vi. 20, 21.) But although each of these 
heretics have rejected the Epistles of St. Paul, 
either wholly or in part, they have not ventured 
to deny that they were his ; so that their testimony 
is united to that of the whole Church, in attrib- 
uting them to this Apostle. Moreover the same 
style, the same doctrine, the same spirit, though 
they have been written after the space of fifteen 
or sixteen years, are throughout perceivable. 

Antiquity has made mention of some other 
works attributed to St. Paul. Eusebius speaks 
of a book entitled, The Jlds of St. Paul, which 
in one place he ranks among the doubtful' 
Scriptures, and in anotiier among the supposed'' 
Scriptures. There was likewise an Epistle to 
the Lnodiceans, which was in existence in St. 
Jerome's time, and which he affirms to be re- 
jected by every one'. Marcion had one of 
them of the same title ; but there is no doubt 
but that was the Epistle to the Ephesians, 
which was inscribed to the Laodiceans, in his 
Apostolic, that is to say, in his Collection of 
St. Paul's Epistles. There has also been 
brought from Asia, in these-'' latter ages, a 
Letter from the Church of Corinth to St. Paul, 
and an Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. 
But the Armenians, through whom these two 
compositions have come down to us*^, acknowl- 
edge themselves that they are apocryphal. 
There are also the Epistles of St. Paul to Sen- 
eca, and of Seneca to St. Paul, which St. Jer- 
ome', contrary to his usual discrimination, 
seems willing to receive, although they are 
generally deemed spurious, and are without any 
marks of veracity. Eusebius was either not 
acquainted with them, or it is imagined did not 
consider them as worthy of mention. But with 
respect to the Epistles of St. Paul'", the same 

/ Clem. Alexand. Strom. 1. 2. p. 383. 

«• Euseb. H^si. Ecc. 1. 3. c. 3. 

'■ Ibid, c. 2.5 — M' Tore n-doic. We have nothing 
remaining of this book but a fragment of a line or 
two, in the Latin version of a work of Origen, en- 
titled Principles, lib. i. c. 2. 

' Hieron. De Scrip. Ecc. in Paulo. We have 
even at this present day an Epistle of St. Paul to 
the Laodiceans, which is nearly of the size of the 
Epistle to Philemon ; but it is doubtful whether it 
be that which St. Jerome had seen. 

J Usser in Notis ad Epis. Ign. ad Tral. pag. 70. 

'= Cotel in Notis ad Const. Apost. lib. vi. c. 26. p. 
0.54. These two Epistles were printed in Armenia, 
and translated into Latin by Mr. Wilkins, a learn- 
ed Englishman. They are very short, and bear 
manifest marks of being supposititious. 

' Hieron. De Scrip. Eccl. in Seneca. 

'" Hist. Ecc. lib. iii. c. 2-5. — xai Tuvra tih- iv ono- 
Inyoruiroic. Eusebius in this place speaks of four 
Gospels, of the Acts of the Apostles, of thirteen 
Epistles of St. Paul (for we must not here include 
the Epistle to the Hebrews), of one of St. John, 
a.nd of one of St. Peter. 

VOL. 11. *41 



liistorian testifies, that they were universally 
acknowledged to be the work of that Aprstle. 

The Epistles of St. Paul are addressed to 
some Churclies or to some individuals with the 
view of instruction and edification, as Provi- 
dence furnished the occasion or the subjects. 
They record the doctrine the apostles preached ; 
the first heresies that arose in the Church ; the 
decision of various questions proposed to St. 
Paul ; some prophecies relative to future events ; 
excellent precepts of morality ; a sublime sys- 
tem of divinity ; the government of the apos- 
tolic Church ; the progress of the Gospel 
throughout the world ; the gifts that the Holy 
Gho.=t infused on its ministers, or rather on the 
faithful ; lastly, fine examples of zeal, courage, 
patience, disinterestedness, humility, charity, 
hope, and faith. It must also be remarked, that 
the Epistles of St. Paul, as Dr. Paley has proved 
at largo, serve to authenticate the history of 
the Acts, as the history of the Acts in their 
turn corroborate the Epistles ; which is of no 
trifling consequence in establishing the veracity 
and authority of these sicred writings. 

The excellent Epistles of St. Paul have been 
preserved for us with great integrity, as may 
be seen by comparing the ancient versions, and 
the quotations of the old fathers, with the ori- 
ginal text. The several readings or variations 
that have been collected from difl'erent manu- 
scripts, are not by any means so numerous as 
those that are found in the manuscripts of the 
Gospels; which perhaps may be attributed to 
the copyists, who having in mind the expres- 
sions of a different Evangelist, might easily 
refer them to that which they were transcribing. 
They seem indeed to have done it sometimes 
designedly, in order to clear one passage by 
another. This has less frequently happened in 
St. Paul's Epistles ; and among these various 
readings that remain, we dare assert, that there 
are none of them that can do any injury, 
either to the authenticity of those divine writ- 
ings, or to the apostolic doctrine which they 
inculcate. 

These Epistles have been long ranked in the 
order in which they at present stand. Epi- 
phanius", who censures Marcion for having over- 
turned this order, informs us that in his time the 
Epistle to the Romans was the first in all the 
authentic copies. He remarks only, that the 
Epistle to Philemon, which was the last in most 
of the manuscripts, was placed the thirteenth 
in some others ; and that in some the Epistle 
to the Hebrews was the tenth, and preceded 
the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. 
It is certain that the Epistles are not chrono- 

" Epiph. Hteres. 42. The Epistle to the Gala- 
tians was the first in the Apostolic of Marcion : 
the Epistle to the Romans was the fourth only. It 
is not known what order this heretic, pursued, for 
he placed the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians 
after the Epistle to the Romans, though they are 
certainly more ancient. 



322* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII. 



logically arranged". The Epistle to the Gala- 
tians appears to have been the first written of 
them all : the Epistle to the Romans the eighth 
or ninth. The latter has probably been placed 
first, either on account of the preeminence of 
the city of Rome, or on account of the excel- 
lency of the Epistle itself, which has always 
been looked upon as St. Paul's masterpiece, 
and the most polished of the apostolic monu- 
ments. 

The Epistles were spread by slow degrees 
from one Church to another. St. Paul com- 
mands the Colossians (Coloss. iv. 16.) to send 
to the Laodiceans what he wrote to them, in 
order to be there read in the Church, and to 
cause to be read in theirs those they should 
receive from Laodicea. There is no doubt but 
that the Churches of the metropolitan cities 
sent authentic copies of the letters addressed 
to them from the apostles, to others of their 
province. Hence these letters passed to 
Churches more remote. The Christians, who 
diligently sought after those of the martyrs, did 
not assuredly neglect those of the apostles. 
It is evident, from the letter that Polycarp wrote 
to the Philippians, that they asked him for 
those of St. Ignatius. " I send you," says 
Polycarp, " the letters that Ignatius has written 
to me, and in general all those that I have, as 
you have commanded me''."' He means the 
letters that Polycarp, who was at Smyrna in 
Asia, might have collected, either from the 
apostles, or from the disciples of the apostles ; 
for he adds, " that they might be of use in 
strengthening them in patience and faith." 

With respect to the time in which the 
Epistles of St. Paul began to be dispersed, it 
is very difficult to mark it precisely, since there 
are very few complete records of that time 
remaining. Clement of Rome, who was con- 
temporary with the Apostle, has written a letter 
to the Church of Corinth, which is preserved, in 
which he speaks of the first Epistle of St. Paul 
to the same Church. " Receive," says he, " the 
Epistle of the happy Apostle St. Paul, what he 
has written to you at the time that you were 
only beginning to receive the Gospel'." He 
afterwards mentions the divisions with which 
the Apostle reproaches the Corinthians on ac- 
count of Cephas, ApoUos, and himself. There 



" St. Chrysostom has also remarked the same, 
in his Preface to the Epistle to the Romans ; and 
he adds, that, in the arrangement of the prophets, 
the chronological order has not been pursued. 

^ Polycarp. Epis. ad Philip. This passage of 
Polycarp's letter is mentioned by Euseb. Ecc. Hist. 
lib. iii. c. 3C. 

' Clem. Ep. ad Corinth, sect, xlvii. The Greek 
expression is iv ao/ij tdv ivuyye/'.iov, which I un- 
derstand to mean, " From the beginning of the 
preaching of the Gospel at Corinth." St. Paul 
makes use of the same expression in the like sense, 
(Phil. iv. 1.5.) See also the 37th and 49th sections 
bf St. Clemtafs lipiil. and compare 1 Cor. xii. und 
xiii, 



are, moreover, in this letter of St. Clement, 
some quotations, or manifest imitations of the 
Epistle to the Hebrews'', which prove, doubt- 
less, that he had seen that Epistle. 

St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, and a dis- 
ciple of the apostles, has written more letters, 
which Eusebius^ mentions, and of which, in 
these later ages, we have found the MSS., 
which do not appear to have been at all altered'. 
Writing to the Ephesians, he tells them, " You 
are the companions" of the faith of Paul, who 
has been sanctified, who has suffered martyr- 
dom, who has obtained the highest happiness, 
and who, throughout his Epistle, makes honor- 
able mention" of you in Jesus Christ." There 
is also another letter of St. Polycarp, the dis- 
ciple of St. John, where he quotes this remark- 
able passage of 1 Cor. vi. 2. " Do ye not know 
that the saints shall judge the world" ?" There 
are moreover in it some instructions for the 
deacons and deaconesses, evidently copied from 
those which St. Paul gave to Timothy and 
Titus respecting those persons. In general, 
Polycarp speaks of St. Paul's Epistles to the 
Churches that knew God, at a time'' when there 
was not as yet any Christian Church at Smyrna. 
This is what he sends to the Philippians re- 
specting the Apostle, " Neither I, nor any of 
my equals, were able to obtain the knowledge 
of the happy and glorious Apostle Paul who 
has been aforetime among you, those who 
lived then have seen him in person ; who has 
taught you the clear and true doctrine most 
exactly ; and who being absent wrote some 
letters to you, all which can now edify you in 
the faith, if you attentively consider them." 
These testimonies evince the Epistles of St. 
Paul to have been propagated at the period 
here spoken of. There is also a very decisive 
proof that they were dispersed before this 
period, as St. Peter, writing to the faithful 
Jews who were scattered through Asia Minor, 
speaks to them not only of the Epistles that 
the Apostle had addressed to the Churches of 
Asia, but even of those that he had written to 
others^, as of worlcs that were known-, and 

•" Sect. xii. xvii. xxxvi. and compare them with 
Heb. ix. 31, 37. and i. 3-7. 

' Euseb. Ecd. Hist. lib. iii. c. 36. 

' Ignatius ad Ephes. sect. xii. 

" S'lifiinrai. 

" What is here translated by making an honora- 
ble mention, is in the original f,rr,tiovivit i;,,or. 
Moreover there is to be found in the same Epistle 
some quotations from 1 Cor. and among others 
these words (chap, i.) irov aoipo? ; ttov oyLi;T)jTi,'c ; 
" Where is the Scribe ? where is the profound and 
subtle reasoner.' " 

"° Epist. Polycarp. ad Philip, sect. iii. See also 
sect. i. iv. vi. in the same Epistle ; and compare 
Eph. ii. 8. and 1 Tim. vi. 7, 10. Gal. iv. 7. Rom. 
xii. 17. and xiv. 10, 12. 

^ The Latin version has (the Greek text of a 
part of this letter being lost,) A''ns autcm nan no- 
vernmus, which is understood of the Church of 
Smyrna, of others of Polycarp himself. 

y 2 Pet. iii. 15, 16. St. Peter appears in pitic- 



Note lO.j 



INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLES. 



*323 



■which they might then peruse. It is likewise 
evident, in reading tliese compositions of tJie 
first ages of Cliristianity, tliat the Epistles of 
the apostles were communicated immediately 
to the neighbouring Churches by those who 
had received them, and passed slowly to the 
Churches more remote. Eusebius has ob- 
served', that Papias, bishop of Jerusalem, has 
quoted the earliest Epistles of St. Peter and 
St. John. Polycarp refers often to the first 
Epistle of St. Peter. Each of them was in 
Asia. There are, however, no evident quota- 
tions from the Epistle to the Romans, which 
having been sent into tlie west, passed very late 
into the east, and therefore could not have been 
so early recognised. 

The eloquence of St. Paul does not consist in 
the style only. It consists in the sublimity of 
thoughts, in the force of reasoning, in the ad- 
mirable use he makes of the Scriptures, in the 
boldness and brilliancy of expression, in the 
justness of images, and in the multiplicity and 
beauty of figures. He is animated, cogent, 
rapid, compact ; frequently abrupt ; often led 
away from liis subject by an accidental word 
or expression, and returning to it again without 
the usual forms of connection : in other places 
he is pathetic, affecting, moving, and ever 
displaying that tender love and unction of 
the Holy Spirit, with which he was affected. 
He knew how to unite authority with com- 
placency, and all the meekness of the Apostle 
St. John, with the severity of tlie Baptist ; but, 
as has been remarked, his style is in many 
places extremely negligent". St. Jerome speaks 
on this point with great freedom'' ; he gives him, 
nevertheless, in other respects, the greatest 
praise ; as well as Eusebius^ who does not 
hesitate to declare that St. Paul has surpassed 
all the other apostles, both in thought and ex- 
pression. His excessive zeal leads him into 
many particularities. He abounds in broken 
sentences, and the most constrained metaphors, 
which occasion many and repeated difficulties. 
To account for his own declaration of himself, 
that when he should be rude and as an idiot 
with respect to speech, he was not with respect 
to knowledge*, it must be remembered that he 

ular to mean the Epistle to the Hebrews in the 15th 
verse ; for though it were addressed to the Hebrews 
of Judasa, it related, in general, to all the faithful of 
that nation. He speaks in the 16th verse of some 
other Epistles of St. Paul — " In all his Epistles," 
&c. 

" Euseb. Hist. Ecc. lib. iii. c. 39. in fine. 

" See some examples of it — Rom. ii. 26. xi. 16. 
Eph. ii. 1-5, &c. 

' Hieron. Comment, in Ep. ad Ephes. cap. 3. 
initio Epist. 151. ad Algas. Quaest. 10. 

' Euseb. Hist. Ecc. lib. iii. c. 24. nurTwr h ica- 
(ia/T;iEu»i Auyaiv ^(.'i arojraroc, rot\uao[ ts iy.arwraroc. 
Clemeiit of Alexandria often gives the title of 
" this Illustrious Apostle," " this Divine Apostle," 
to St. Paul — yei'iaroc '^rronToXoc, ^(nniftog '.A/io- 
atvXoc. Strom, lib. i. p. 316. ii. p. 420, &c. 

"* 8 Cori xi. G.^ ladeed, Sti Jerome obflervea oh 



was born in the city of Tarsus', where the 
Greek language was not very pure, and that the 
Hebrew, or Syriac language, being as familiar 
to him as the Greek, his style was consequently 
less polished ; and is frequently mixed with 
Hebraisms, which render it a little harsh. He 
makes use also of some Greek particles in a 
sense we may term Hebraic, on which account 
they have not always determinate significations. 

Many of the illustrations of St. Paul are 
traceable to his private life and circumstances. 
Tarsus, where he was born, was one of the 
most celebrated places of exercise then in 
Asia ; and, as Dr. Powell observes, apud Bow- 
yer, p. 432, there is no matter from which the 
Apostle borrows his words and images more 
than from the public exercises. He frequently 
considers the life of a Christian as a race, a 
wrestling, or a boxing ; the reward which good 
men expect hereafter, he calls the prize, the 
victor's crown ; and when he exhorts his disci- 
ples to the practice of virtue, he does it usually 
in the very same terms in which he would have 
encouraged the combatants. From the Apostle's 
countiy we descend to his family, and here we 
find another source of his figurative expressions. 
His parents being Roman citizens, words or 
sentiments, derived from the laws of Rome, 
would easily creep into their conversation. No 
wonder then that their son sometimes uses 
forms of speech peculiar to the Roman lawyers, 
and applies many of the rules of adoption, man- 
umission, and testaments, to illustrate the 
counsels of God in our redemption. Nor are 
there wanting in St. Paul's style some marks 
of his occupation. To a man employed in 
making tents, the ideas of making camps, arms, 
armor, warfare, military pay, would be familiar ; 
and he introduces these and their concomitants 
so frequently, that his language seems to be 
such as might rather have been expected from 
a soldier, than from one who lived in quiet 
times, and was a preacher of the Gospel of 
peace. When we consider these things, with 
the others that have been already mentioned, 
there will remain nothing that is peculiar in 
St. Paul's manner of writing, of which the 
origin may not easily be discovered. 

Pie pursues an idea that presents itself, and 
leaves for a moment the main one to return to 
it again afterwards. With this, there are 
frequent ellipses, or words understood, which 
must be supplied either by what has preceded, 
or by what follows. In the parallel which he 

this passage — " Illud, quod crebro diximiis, etsi 
imperitus sermone, non tamen scientia, nequaquam 
Paulum de humilitate, sed de conscientice veritate 
dixisse, etiam nunc approbamus." Hieron. ubi 
supra. He allows, nevertheless, St. Paul to pos- 
sess Syrian or Hebrew eloquence. 

' " Quern sermonem cum in vernaeula lingua 
habeat disertissimum, quippe Hebrffius ex Hebra^is, 
et eruditus ad pedes Gamalielis, viri in lege doc- 
tissinai, se ipsum interpretaji cupiens iavolviturj" 
&c.' ^ —'■^-~'-''-- 



324* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII. 



draws, in the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the 
Romans, between Adam, the author of sin and 
condemnation, and Jesus Christ, the Author of 
justification and life, his style is so concise and 
so elliptic, that a mere literal translation, with- 
out any supplement, would be not only barbarous 
but unintelligible. It is the same in the four- 
teenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Cor- 
inthians, where the turn and the construction 
of the original is obliged to be changed, and 
som3 words added in italics (that the reader 
may be able to distinguish what does not belong 
to the text), before the Apostle's meaning can 
be properly understood. 

The subjects of which he treats add also to 
the obscurity of the Epistles of St. Paul. He 
discusses things which were only known at his 
time, and he answers some objections, which he 
sometimes only mentions. All this, however, 
is no reason why the meaning of St. Paul may 
not be sufficiently clear in every essential point. 
The only thing necessary, is to find out whether 
every interpretation that can be given to the 
words is true in tlie end, and agrees with the 
doctrine of Christianity. The obscurity again 
that is met with in these Epistles arises, very 
often, from commentators, who press some 
words too far, which they lay as foundations on 
which they build ill-founded systems, because 
they do not pay sufficient attention to the 
design of the author, and to the general system 
of religion, which ought to serve as a light to 
clear up dark passages. 

St. Paul had been brought t:p in the school 
of Gamaliel, and had been instructed in all the 
learning of the Jewish theology. This was the 
knowledge in highest esteem among the nation. 
" We reckon as wise among us," says Josephus-'', 
" those only who have acquired so thorough a 
knowledge of our Laws, and the Holy Writings, 
as to be capable of explaining them; which is 
a circumstance so rare, that scarcely two or 
three have succeeded in it, and deserved that 
honor." This knowledge, however, is what St. 
Paul has termed Judaism, in which he testifies 
himself, that he had made very great progress, 
Gal. i. 14. Hence it is that so many more 
vejtiges of this theology are visible in his 
writings, than in those of the other apostles ; 
and that many of his arguments against the 
Jews are drawn from their own books^, and 
from their own expositions of Scripture. 

His quotations from tbe Old Testament are, 
for the most part, taken from the Septuagint 
version. This version was received by the 
Jews, who were called Hellenists, and who were 
dispersed among the Greeks, speaking their 
language. It is to these Jews, and tlie Gentiles 



/ Joseph. Jintiq. lib. xxii. last chapter. 

* " Haud inusitata res est passim in Novo In- 
Btrumento, quin Christus et Apostoli Judceos e suis 
ipsorum Soriptis et concessionibus redarguant." 
Lightfoot, torn. ii. p. 117. 



who had embraced the Gospel, that St. Paul 
has written all his Epistles, except the Epistle 
to the Hebrews. But besides the quotations 
from Scripture, there are some others that, 
according to the testimony of the ancients, are 
taken from some apocryphal book of the Jew s. 
The apostles having a " spirit of discrimination," 
had the power of separating the true from the 
i'alse, that was to be met with in those books, 
and they quoted them without mentioning the 
books themselves. However, we may here 
make use of a very wise observation of St. 
Jerome'', that it is by no means necessary to 
refer always to those apocryphal books, in order 
to find out St. Paul's allegations ; that it cannot 
be found in the same terms in the canonical 
books, because in quoting Scripture he sometimes 
unites many passages together, without distin- 
guishing what is taken from one prophet from 
that whicli is taken from another, and because 
he rather relates the sense than the words. 
His interpretation of the Old Testament is 
most commonly mystical, and what St. Jerome 
calls sensus reconditi, hidden meanings. The 
Jews, who studied the Holy Scriptures, were 
persuaded that beside the sense tliat naturally 
presented itself to the understanding, there was 
a concealed sense, a spiritual sense, which was 
the principal object of their study. They were 
consequently very much infatuated with alle- 
gories, in which they were imitated in a danger- 
ous degree by some of the Christian teachers 
and fathers. This method of explaining the 
Scriptures being authorized, the Apostle has 
made use of it under the divine direction. The 
Jews could apply only to their Sacred Books 
their own particular and ordinary knowledge, 
whereas the apostles had received the spirit of 
prophecy, that is to say, the gift of explaining 
the ancient oracles, and they trusted their 
interpretations less to reason, than to a demon- 
stration of spirit and power. They had the 
key of those sacred sayings, those " hidden 
mysteries," whose mystical senses, however 
vague and uncertain before, were made valid in 
the mouths of the apostles, on account of the 
gifts of prophecy and miracles. 

We must discriminate in the passages which 
St. Paul quotes from the Old Testament, be- 
tween those that are only allusions and appli- 
cations, and those which are mentioned as 
oracles, which serve as proofs. Thus, when 
the Apostle applies to Gospel justification, what 
iMoses has said respecting the Law, " Say not 



'' " Hoc autem totum nunc ideoobservavimus, ut 
etiam in ceteris locis sicubi testirnonia quasi de 
prophetis et de veteri testamento ab apostolis usur- 
pata sint, et in nostris codicibus non habentur, 
nequaquam statim ad Apocryphorum ineptiaS et 
deliramenta recurramus ; sed sciamus ea quidem 
scripta ease in veteri testamento, sed non ita ab 
apostolis edita, et sensum magis usurpatum, nee 
facile nisi a studiosis posse ubi scripta sunt inve- 
niri."— Hieron. Comm. in Ep. ad Epki chi v. b. i. 



Note 10.] 



INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLES. 



*325 



in your liearts, or in yourselves, Wlio shall 
ascend to heaven ?" it cannot be imagined that 
this is a prophecy, of which he discovers the 
profound and concealed sense. It is a mere 
application of what has been said of the Law, 
to the Gospel: but a very beautiful and just 
application. The same may be observed of 
these words of the nineteentli Psalm, "Their 
words are gone out to the ends of the earth," 
which were said of the stars, and which St. 
Paul applies to the ministers of the Gospel. 

From the internal evidence afforded by the 
Epistle itself— from the general testimony of 
antiquit}' — and the arguments both of Michaelis 
and Macknight, I am induced to place this 
Epistle to the Galatians before the others ; and 
assign the year 49 or 50 as its date. Semler 
quotes and approves the opinion of another 
German writer, that the Epistle was written 
before the council of Jerusalem. I have not 
been able to procure the work to which he 
alludes, neither can I discover sufficient argu- 
ments to confirm his opinion. 

Various opinions have been entertained by 
the learned, as to the date of this Epistle. 
Theodoret thought it one of those epistles 
which the Apostle wrote during his first confine- 
ment at Rome, in which he is followed by 
Lightfoot and others. But seeing in the other 
epistles which tlie Apostle wrote during his 
first confinement, he hath often mentioned his 
bonds, but hath not said a word concerning 
thern in this, the opinion of Theodoret cannot 
be admitted ; because there is nothing said in 
t!.e Epiitle to the Galatians of St. Paul's having 
been in Galatia more than once. L'Enfant and 
Bsausobre think it was written during his long 
abode at Corinth, mentioned Acts xviii. 11., 
and between his first and second journey into 
Galatia. 

This opinion Lardner espouses, and assigns 
the year 52 as the date of tiiis Epistle. The 
author of the .l/isce^Zanea Sacra, who is followed 
by Benson, supposes it to have been written 
from Corinth. Capel, Witsius, and Wall, say 
it was written at Ephesus, after Paul had been 
a second time in Galatia. See Acts xviii. '23. 
and xix. 1. Fabricius thought it was written 
from Corinth during the Apostle's second abode 
there, and not long after he wrote his Epistle to 
the Romans. This likewise was the opinion of 
Grotius. 

MUl places it after the Epistle to the Romans, 
but supposes ittn have been written from Troas, 
while the Apostle was on his way to Jerusalem 
with the collections ; to which he fancies the 
Apostle refers. Gal. ii. 10., and that the brethren 
wlio joined him in writing to the Galatians (i. 
2.) were those mentioned Acts xiii. 1. Beza, 
in Lis note on Gal. i. 2., gives it as his opinion, 
that the brethren who joined St. Paul in his 
letter to the Galatians, were the- eldership of 
tlie Church at Anticch, and that it was written 

VOL. II. 



in that city, in the inten-al between Paul and 
Barnabas's return from Paul's first apostolical 
journey, and their going up to Jerusalem to 
consult the apostles and elders concerning the 
circumcision of the Gentiles. TertuUian, as 
Grotius informs us in his Preface to the Gala- 
tians, reckoned this one of Paul's first epistles. 
jNIacknight's opinion is, that St. Paul's Epistle 
to the Galatians was written from Antioch, 
after the council of Jerusalem, and before Paul 
and Silas undertook the journey in which they 
delivered to the Gentile Churches the decrees 
of the council, as related Acts xvi. 4. To this 
date of the Epistle he is led by the following 
circumstances : — the earnestness with which 
St. Paul established his apostleship in the first 
and second chapters of this Epistle, and the 
things which he advanced for that purpose 
show that the Judaizers, who urged the Gala- 
tians to receive circumcision, denied his apos- 
tleship ; and, in support of their denial, alleged 
that he was made an apostle only by the Church 
at Antioch, and that he had received all his knowl- 
edge of the Gospel from the apostles. This 
the Judaizers might allege with some plausi- 
bility, before Paul's apostleship was recognised 
at Jerusalem. But after Peter, James, and 
John, in the time of the council, gave him the 
right hand of fellowship, as an apostle of equal 
authority with themselves, and agreed that he 
should go among the Gentiles, and they among 
the Jews, his apostleship would be called in 
question no longer in any Church, than while 
the brethren of that Church were ignorant of 
what had happened at Jerusalem. 

We may therefore believe, that immediately 
after the council, the Apostle would write his 
Epistle to the Galatians, in winch he not only 
gave them an account cf his having been ac- 
knowledged by the three chief apostles, but 
related many other particulars, by which his 
apostleship was raised beyond all doubt. 

This argument, however, does not prove that 
the Epistle was necessarily written, as the 
learned author supposes, at Antioch, though it 
might be written not long after the council. 

Macknight's second reason is taken from the 
inscription of the Epistle, in which it is said, that 
all the brethren who were with St. Paul joined 
him in writing it. For as the only view which 
any of the brethren could join the Apostle in 
writing to the Galatians, was to attest the facts 
which he advanced in the first and second chap- 
ters, for proving his apostleship, the brethren who 
joined him in writing it must have been such as 
knew the truth of these facts. Vv'herefore they 
could be neither the brethren of Corinth, nor of 
Ephesus, nor of Rome, nor of Troas, nor of any 
other Gentile city, where this Epistle has been 
dated, except Anticch. As little could they be 
the brethren who accompanied the A..postle in 
his travels among the Gentiles, as Hammond 
coni^cfures. F.^r none of thsm, except Silas, 



326* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII. 



had any notice of the facts advanced in this 
Epistle, but what they received from the Apostle 
himself; so that their testimony was, in reality, 
the Apostle's own testimony. The only breth- 
ren who could bear effectual testimony to these 
things were those who lived in Judsea and its 
neighbourhood, particularly the brethren of An- 
tioch, who, by their intercourse with those of 
Jerusalem, must have known what happened to 
St. Paul there, as fully as they knew what hap- 
pened to him in their own city, where he had 
resided often and long. I therefore have no 
doubt that the Epistle to the Galatians was 
written from Antioch, and that the brethren who 
joined St. Paul in writing it, were the brethren 
there, whose testimony merited the highest 
credit. For, among them were various prophets 
and teachers, whose names are mentioned, 
Acts xiii. 1., with others of respectable charac- 
ters, whose place of residence, early conversion, 
eminent station in the Church, and intercourse 
with the brethren in Jerusalem, gave them an 
opportunity of knowing St. Paul's manner of life 
before his conversion. His being made an apostle 
by Christ himself — his being acknowledged as 
an apostle by his brethren in Jerusalem — his 
teaching uniformly that men are saved by faith, 
without obedience to the Law of Moses — his 
having strenuously maintained that doctrine in 
the hearing of the Church at Antioch — his hav- 
ing publicly reproved St. Peter for seeming to 
depart from it, by refusing to eat with the con- 
verted Gentiles ; and that on being reproved by 
St. Paul, St. Peter acknowledged his miscon- 
duct, by making no reply. All these things 
the brethren of Antioch could attest, as matters 
which they knew and believed ; so that, with 
the greatest propriety, they joined the Apostle 
in writing the letter wherein they are asserted. 

Dr. Macknight, however, has omitted to ob- 
serve that the circumstances of St. Paul's con- 
version, preaching, and call to the apostleship, 
were known to all the brethren, whether of 
Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, or any other place ; 
and therefore the testimony of any who were 
well acquainted with these facts would be 
sufficiently satisfactory to the Galatian converts. 
It is not necessary therefore to suppose that the 
brethren who are mentioned in the inscription 
of the Epistle, must have been of Antioch. 

Dr. Macknight's third argument for the early 
date is derived from the omission by St. Paul 
of his usual command, that the persons to whom 
he wrote should " remember the poor." This 
is evidently an unsafe mode of reasoning. 

When the Apostle wrote his Epistle to the 
Galatians, he had heard of the defection of some 
of them from the true doctrine of the Gospel. 
This defection he represents as having hap- 
pened soon after they were converted, Gal. i. 6. 
" I marvel that ye are so soon removed from 
Him who called you into the graoe of Christ." 
But if the Epirtle to the Galatians wtki written 



either from Rome, during the Apostle's first 
confinement there ; or from Corinth, during his 
eighteen months' abode in that city ; or from 
Ephesus, where he abode three years ; or from 
Troas, in his way to Jerusalem with the collec- 
tions, the defection of the Galatians must have 
happened a considerable time after their con- 
version, on the supposition that they were first 
called when Paul and Barnabas went into their 
country from Lycaonia. Wherefore if the 
Apostle's expression, " I marvel that ye are so 
soon removed," is proper, the Epistle to the 
Galatians could not be written later than the in- 
terval between the council of Jerusalem and the 
Apostle's second journey into the Gentile coun- 
tries with Silas, when they delivered to the 
Churches the decrees of the council. 

These arguments seem to prove, that the 
Epistle to the Galatians was written soon after 
the council of Jerusalem : the exact time seems, 
however, to be more satisfactorily ascertained 
by Michaelis, who has assigned it to some part 
of this second apostolical journey, before St. 
Paul eame to Berea, where the brethren appear 
to have left him. St. Paul's first visit to the Ga- 
latians was not long after the council which liad 
been held in Jerusalem, as appears from Acts 
xvi. 4, 5, 6. " And as they (namely, Paul and 
Silas) went through the cities, they delivered 
them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained 
of the apostles and elders which were at Je- 
rusalem. And so were the Churches established 
in the faith, and increased in number daily. 
Now, when they had gone throughout Phrygia, 
and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden 
of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia," 
&c. From this passage we see that St. Paul 
preached the Gospel in Galatia ; for the pro- 
hibition was confined to the Roman proconsular 
province of Asia, to which Galatia is here op- 
posed. This is further confirmed by Acts xviii. 
23., where St. Luke relates, that St. Paul again 
visited Galatia, strengthening his disciples, so 
that converts must have been made on his first 
visit'. Now let us follow St. Paul on his first 
journey from Galatia to Berea, in Macedonia, 
where he seems to have arrived in the same 
year, and we shall be convinced that he wrote 
his Epistle to the Galatians upon this journey. 

When he left the Galatians he was accom- 
panied by several brethren, namely, by Silas 
(or Silvanus), Acts xv. 40. by Timothy, chap, 
xvi. 3., and perhaps by others. This circum- 
stance is particularly to be noted. They trav- 
elled through Mysia to Troas, ver. 8., where 
St. Paui had a remarkable dream, which induced 
him to go into Macedonia. Before he left 
Troas, St. Luke was added to St. Paul's other 
companions, and in their company he travelled 

• Macknight's Preface to the Galatians, vol. iii. 
p. 84, (to. — Marsh's Michaelis, vol. iv. p. 9. chap, 
xi. — Hales's Jlndysis of Chrom)Utgy,voh ii. part ii. 
p. 1117. 



Note 10.] 



IXTRODUCTIOX TO THE EPISTLES. 



*.327 



to Philippi, ver. 11, 12., -where he preached the 
Gospel, ver. 13-40., and thence to Thessalonica, 
chap. xvii. 1-9. ; here some of the brethren 
appear to have left St Paul, and he travelled 
■\rith Silas alone to Berea, ver. 19. 

When he was no longer in safety here, he 
left Galatia, Silas remaining, and went to 
Athens, so that when he arrived in that city, 
none of the bretliren were with hira, in whose 
company he had travelled from Galatia. 

Now St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians is 
written not only in his own name, but in the 
name of all the brethren who were with him. 
Who, then, were these brethren ? Were they 
known or unknown to the Galatians ? St. Paul 
would hardly have written to them in the name 
of the brethren who were with hira, without 
determining who those brethren were, unless 
they had been the same who attended when he 
left Galatia, and who therefore were known to 
the Galatians without any farther description. 

Conssquently this Epistle must have been 
written before St Paul separated from these 
brethren, that is, before he left Thessalonica. 
" Whether it was written in this city, or before 
he arrived there, I will not," says Michaelis, 
" attempt to determine ; but it certainly was 
written daring the interval which elapsed be- 
tween St. Paul's departure from Galatia, and his 
departure from Thessalonica," 

Again, St. Paul, in the two first chapters, 
gives the Galatians a general review of his life 
and conduct from his conversion, to the apos- 
tolic council in Jerusalem, and at the farthest 
to his return to Antioch. Here he breaks off 
his narrative. It is probable, therefore, that 
from that time to the time of his writing to the 
Galatians, nothing remarkable had happened 
except their conversion. Lastly the suppo- 
sition that St. Paul wrote to the Galatians at 
the period wliich I have assigned, accounts 
more easily than any other for St Paul's men- 
tioning to the Galatians, that he had not obliged 
Titus to undergo the rite of circumcision, 
namely, because he had obliged Timothy to 
submit to it immediately before his first visit to 
the Galatians ; and St. Paul's adversaries had 
appealed, perhaps, to this, in support of their doc- 
trin?, that the Levitical Law should be retained. 

"The particular year of the Christian sera," 
continues Michaelis, " in which the Epistle to 
the Galatians was written, it is difficult to 
determine with precision ; though we are 
especially interested in the date of this Epistle, 
because it appears from chap. iv. 10., that the 
Galatians were on tlie point of celebrating the 
Jewish sabbatical year, and in that of their 
seduction by the Jewish zealots, of leB.ving 
their lands uncultivated for a whole year, though 
the Law of Moses on this article could not 
possibly extend to Galatia." 

'•What Michaelis conjectured," saj-s Dr. 
Hales, "but was not able to establish, from tis 



discordant systems of chronology in his time, 
may be now proved. The first year of our 
Lord's public ministry, A. D. 28, was a sab- 
batical year, and also a jubilee." Therefore 
A. D. 49, which was 3X7 = 21 years after, 
was also a sabbatical year. It is more probable, 
however, that the Epistle was not written 
during the sabbatical year itself, in which Paul 
attended the council of Jerusalem, (Acts xv. 2.) 
but rather the year after, A. D. 50, during the 
Apostle's circuit through the Churches of Syria 
and Cilicia, to confirm them in the faith, and to 
communicate to them the apostolical decree, 
(Act? XV. 33-41. and xvi. 4.) and to this year 1 
have assigned it. 

To understand the design of this Epistle, we 
must take into consideration certain opinions 
which were prevalent in the apostolic age. 

The Jews believed that God demanded im- 
plicit obedience to the Law of Moses— that this 
obedience would justify them, or place them, 
with respect to God, in the same situation in 
which they would have been, if they had not 
transgressed ; and it had the power of obtaining 
for them also eternal life. They thought that 
man was not so fallen, but that he was of him- 
self able to obey the Law, and thus fulfil the 
conditions on which eternal life was promised. 
These opinions were so blended in the minds 
of the Jews with undoubted trutlis, that it would 
have been difficult to have answered them satis- 
factorily, unless by divine inspiration. The 
Apostle, however, proves by irrefragable argu- 
ments, both here, in his Epistle to the Galatians, 
and in his Epistle to the Romans — that the 
justification of man could not be accomplished 
by his own obedience. It was utterly impos- 
sible that man could fully and satisfactorily 
obey the demands of a law, which was designed 
rather to convince men of sin, and enforce upou 
them the conviction that something more was 
necessary to obtain the favor of God, and that 
the ceremonies of their Levitical Law were 
only typical of some better and more perfect 
salvation : the Law was as a servant, leading 
them as children from the painfulness and 
bondage of school, to the glorious liberty of the 
sons of God and heirs of heaven. 

In opposition to this Judaizing heresy, St. 
Paul addresses the GJialatiaiis, and endeavours 
to convince them, by a masterly train of argu- 
ment, that the doctrine of salvation by faith 
alone is the doctrine of Scripture. After having 
established his apostolical commission against 
the attacks of the false teachers, he asserts, 
that as the Law has no power to give life, it is 
useless to compel the Gentiles, or tlie Christian 
converts, to conform to the fuU observance of 
the ceremonial Law. He assures them no flesh 
can be justified by the Law, but by the faith of 
Christ Jesus, for if righteousness come by the 
Law, then Christ shall be dead in vain ; and he 
proves the superiority of ths new coven^at, b.y 



328* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII. 



referring to those gifts they had received from 
the Holy Spirit since their admission into the 
Christian dispensation. 

He further assures them, that the Christian 
covenant was founded on the promise given to 
Ahraham and to his seed, which was made and 
confirmed by God in Christ, four hundred and 
thirty years before the Law ; therefore it was 
not possible that the Law should disannul or 
make the promise of a redeeming Saviour of 
Isaac's line of none effect. If, then, the Gospel 
was preached before unto Abraham, and we 
through him (and not through the Law are to 
be blessed), we must inquire into that faith 
which rendered this eminent father acceptable 
in the sight of his Almighty Creator. " He 
believed God, and it was accounted to him for 
righteousness." Christ himself declares, that 
Abraham saw his day afar off, and was glad — 
. like the holy martyrs of the Christian dispen- 
sation, the faithful Abraham was called to give 
an evidence of his integrity, by the most painful 
of all human sacrifices — he was required not 
indeed to offer up himself, but his son, his only 
son, the beloved companion of his age, in whom 
all the blessings and promises of God were to be 
fulfilled, and from whom the Saviour of the world 
was to be born — without any revelation as to 
the manner in which this apparently contradic- 
tory command could be made to agree with the 
former important predictions. His faith was 
"the substance of things hoped for — the evi- 
dence of things not seen." He understood the 
promise conveyed in those gracious words — 
"In thee shall all nations be blessed." He 
knew that the same Almighty Being who gave 
life could restore it ; and in this faith he acted ; 
he took the knife, and in the full assurance of 
faith, the father prepared to become the slayer 
of his only son, " accounting," as the Apostle 
tells us, " that God was able to raise him up 
even from the dead," (Heb. xi. 19.) Abraham 
was justified by his faith, and by works was his 
faith made perfect ; and if we would become his 
children, we must give the same evidence of our 
sincerity and faith. We must declare our faith 
by our works. 

Macknight remarks on this subject, referring 
to the Epistle of St. James, that faith and works 
are inseparably connected as cause and effect; 
that faith, as the cause, necessarily produces good 
works as its effect, and that good works must 
flow from faith, as their principle ; that neither 
of them, separately, is the means of our justifi- 
cation, but that, when joined, they become 
effectual for that end. Wherefore, when in 
Scripture we are said to be "justified by faith," 
it is a faith accompanied by good works. On 
the other hand, when we are said to be justified 
by works, it is works " proceeding from faith." 
Therefore, in this Epistle, St. Paul must be 
considered as arguing against the possibility of 
salvation or justification by works of the Law, 



while he enforces, by the example of Abraham, 
the necessity of good works on the principle of 
a well-grounded or justifying faith on the Son 
of God. This doctrine of justification, however, 
has been infinitely discussed and controverted 
— many depreciating good works in favor of faith 
alone ; but this error frequently arises through 
want of a proper consideration of the Apostle's 
arguments. It is dangerous, so far as it checks 
exertions, and insidiously draws men from 
those outward forms which are the landmarks 
of religion. Under the pretence of encourag- 
ing, it destroys internal religion ; by represent- 
ing it as a system of pious feelings, which are 
independent of those outward ordinances which 
were ordained by Christ himself. The whole 
system of revelation corroborates the view here 
taken of "justification by faith." It is illus- 
trated by all the eminent characters of the Old 
Testament, and is confirmed in the New, by 
the parables and actions of our Lord himself. 

It will excite surprise among those who are 
interested in theological studies, that I have 
made little or no use of the labors of two 
writers, who of late years have paid great 
attention to these Epistles — Mr. Belsham, and 
Dr. Semler of Halle. My reasons shall be 
briefly given : — 

I am unwilling to occupy the time of the 
reader with difficulties and objections, which 
are not generally known, merely to refute 
them. Both these theologians have deviated 
so widely from the beaten track, that the Chris- 
tianity which they have deduced from the 
Inspired Writings bears no similarity to that 
which is received, and has ever been received, 
by the Christian Church. The Protestant 
Churches have been long divided upon the 
question of Church government ; the Church of 
Rome, and the Protestants in general, have 
been divided concerning several articles of faith 
and discipline ; but all these have hitherto 
maintained, and I trust will long maintain, the 
doctrines of the Atonement and Divinity of 
Christ ; the Inspiration of Scripture, and its 
freedom from error. Both of these writers 
deny the whole of these fundamental truths. 
Ssmler considers the New Testament as any 
other uninspiredbook, and expresses his surprise 
that we should pay regard to the Jewish mytho- 
logy, which abounds in it ; and Mr. Belsham 
reproves St. Paul for false and incorrect rea.- 
soning. It is not my wish to direct attention 
to these works ; one quotation from each, which 
I now subjoin, will sufficiently justify me in 
saying, that as the principles upon which we 
proceed are so diametrically opposite, it will be 
better to reserve for another opportunity the 
discussion of the good or evil to be found in 
their labors'. 

■' '■■ Nemo porro retinet aut tuetur istam explica- 
tionem beneficii, quo Christus nos affecit, suscepto 
isto supplicio crucis : quo diabolum fefellisse et 



Note 11.] 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



*329 



Note 11.— Part XU. 

ox ST. Paul's silence respf.cti>'g the apos- 
tolic DECREE. 

That is, as St. Chrysostom observes, "by 
setting up that Law which I allow God has 
abolished;" for if, as the Apostle argues, the 
Jewish Law can give salvation, then Christ is 
the minister of sin, as encouraging us to seek 
justification through him ; or, as the preceding 
verje (17,) may be read without an interroga- 
tion — "If we be sinners in seeking to be justi- 
fied by Christ, then Christ is the minister of 
sin." God forbid. But as a Christian 1 am 
dead to the Jewish or ceremonial Law, and I 
live by the fiith of the Son of God, who gave 
himself for ms. — See also Pyle's Paraphrase, 
vol. ii. p. 14. 

" As the professed design of the Epistle was 
to estiblish the exemption of the Gentile 
converts from the Law of Moses, and as the 
apostolic decree pronounced and confirmed 
thit exemption, it may seem extraordinary,'' 
says Dr. Paley, " that no notice whatever is 
taken of thit determination by St. Paul on the 
prssent occasion, nor any appeal made to its 
authority. Much, however, of the weight of 
this obj action, which applies also to some other 
of the Apostle's Epistles, is removed by the 
following reflections : — 1. It was not St. Paul's 
manner, nor agreeable to it, to resort or defer 
mucli to the authority of the other apostles, 
especially whilst he was insisting, as he does 
generally throughout this Epistle insist, upon 
his own original inspiration. He who could 
speak of the very chiefest of the apostles in 
such terms as the following — ' Of those who 
seemed to be somewhat (whatsoever they were 
it maketh no matter to me), God accepteth no 
man's person, for they who seemed to be some- 
what in conference added nothing to me ' — he, 
I say, was not likely to support himself by their 
decision. 2. The Epistle argues the point upon 
principle ; and it is not perhaps more to be 
wondered at, that in such an argument St. Paul 
should not cite the apostolic decree, than it 
would be that, in a discourse designed to prove 
the moral and religious duty of observing the 
Sabbath, the writer should not quote the thir- 
teenth canon. 3. The decree did not go the 
,ength of the position maintained in the Epistle ; 
the decree only declares that the apostles and 

vicisse, mortisque istud tam antiquum imperium 
disjecisse, et primi peccati funestam poenam sus- 
tulisse dicebatur ; licet antiqua sit, et multa per se- 
cula continuata fuerit ilia explicatio, multisque de- 
elamandi artificiis exornata, a Gra»cis Latinisque 
rhetoribus." — Sem\er. Prolegom. ad Galatas, p. 202. 
— Belsham, Ore the Epistles — " Such is the train of 
the Apostle's reasoning, the defect of which need 
not be pointed out." — Vol. i. p. 112. "This ar- 
gument of St Paul appefars tome irrelevant and in- 
conclusive." Vol. i. p. 105, with many others. 

VOL. II. *42 



elders at Jerusalem did not impose the obser- 
vance of the Mosaic Law upon the Gentile 
converts, as a condition of their being admitted 
into the Christian Church. One Epistle argues 
that the Mosaic institution itself was at an end, as 
to all effects upon a future state, even with re- 
spect to the Jews themselves. 4. They whose 
error St. Paul combated, were not persons wlio 
submitted to the Jewish law because it was im- 
posed by the authority, or because it was made 
part of the law of the Christian Church ; but 
they were persons who, having already become 
Christians, afterwards voluntarily took upon 
themselves the observance of the Mosaic code 
under a notion of attaining thereby to a greater 
perfection. This, I think, is precisely the 
opinion which St. Paul opposes in this Epistle- 
Many of his expressions apply exactly to it — 
' Are ye so foolish.' having begun in the Spirit, 
are ye now made perfect in the flesh ? ' (chip, 
iii. 3.) 'Tell me, ye that desire to be under 
the Law, ye do not hear the Law ? ' (chap. iv. 
21.) 'How turn ye again to the weak and 
beggarly elements whereunto ye desire again 
to be in bondage?' (chap. iv. 9.) It cannot 
be thought extraordinary that St. Paul should 
resist this opinion with earnestness ; for it both 
changed the character of the Christian dispen- 
sation, and derogated expressly from the com- 
pleteness of that redemption, which Jesus 
Christ had wrought for those that believed in 
him. But it was to no purpose to alledge to such 
persons the decision at Jerusalem, for that only 
showed they were not bound to these obser- 
vances by any law of the Christian Church. 
Nevertheless they imagined there was an 
efficacy in these observances, a merit, a recom- 
mendation to favor, a ground for acceptance 
with God, for those who complied with them. 
This was a situation of thought to which the 
tenor of the decree did not apply. Accordingly 
St. Paul's address to the Galatians, winch 
throughout is adapted to this situation, runs in 
a strain widely different from the language of 
the decree — ' Christ is become of no effect unto 
you, whosoever of you are justified by the Law,' 
(chap. V. 4.), whosoever places his dependence 
upon any merit he may apprehend to be in legal 
observances. The decree had said nothing 
like this ; therefore it would have been useless 
to liave produced the decree, in an argument 
of wliich this was the burden. In like manner 
as contending with an anchorite, who should 
insist upon the severe holiness of a recluse, 
ascetic life, and the value of such mortifications 
in the sight of God, it would be to no purpose 
to prove that the laws of the Church did not 
require these vows, or even to prove that they 
expressly left every Christian to his liberty. 
This would avail little towards abating his esti- 
mation of their merit, or towards settling the 
point in controversy.'' 

*BB* 



330* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII. 



Note 12.— Part XII. 

We are all justified by a religious faith in 
the promises of God, like that of faithful Abra- 
ham, producing good works ; and not by the 
rigid observances of all the rites of a typical 
law, which exacted an undeviating conformity, 
under the penalty of death, which it had not the 
power to redeem. Had the Jewish dispensa- 
tion continued, the Gentiles could not have 
been united with the Jews, as the children of 
promise, but must have remained with them the 
children of law, and of bondage. 



Note 13.— Part XII. 

' Lord Barrington, in an ingenious disser- 
tation on this much-discussed passage, sup- 
poses the word Christ here signifies "anointed," 
as it does in Ps. cv. 15. " Touch not mine 
anointed," (rendered Xqkjtovc, according to the 
LXX), and Heb. xi. 26. That the seed, or the 
one seed, Gal. vi. 16., signifies all those of the 
works of the law, and of faith, who are made 
one by being anointed with one Spirit, or by 
being baptized into one Spirit, as the one Spirit 
of the one Lord (Mediator), and of one God, 
even the Father. But the covenant, or the 
promises that God made to Abraham, he made 
to his seed, (Gen. xiii. 16., xvii. 7, 8., and 
xxii. IS.), then it cannot be two seeds ; for, 
says he, that one seed is Christ, or the two 
different sorts of people, Jews and Gentiles, 
considered as one, being anointed with the 
same spirit, and therefore the promises and 
blessings belong to the Gentiles, who are of the 
one seed of faith, and have by it received the 
Spirit, as well as the Jews. If then it should 
be asked, why was the law added ? St. Paul 
answers, it was added to show the Israelites the 
punishment due to transgression, that they, see- 
ing themselves so manifestly concluded under 
sin, by the frequent breaches of the numerous 
laws they were under, which were often fol- 
lowed by death, might be led by the Law to the 
Gospel, which promised them righteousness 
and life. But this law was only added till that 
one seed should come, to whom the promise of 
life and blessedness is made; whicli one seed 
is composed of a body of Jews and Gentiles, by 
one faith in one God, through one Lord, and by 
one Spirit. The believing Jews receiving the 
Spirit first after Christ's ascension, and after- 
%vards the Gentiles, both idolatrous and devout. 
"Now," argues the Apostle, "the law was 
ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator," 
(v. 19.), Moses. But still, says he, the law 
could not vacate the promise made to Abraham, 
and his seed : because Moses (as Mr. Locke 
first showed us) was only the mediator at the 
giving of the Law at Sinai, therefore only one 



of the parties concurred to that of Abraham's 
covenant, which was between God and Abra- 
ham, and his one seed of faith in God's promises ; 
therefore the covenant of works entered into 
with Moses, and the carnal seed of Abraham, 
could in no way disannul the covenant of promise 
made unto Abraham, and his spiritual seed of 
all nations. If then we are one (seed) in Christ 
Jesus ; that is, by faith in God, through Christ 
Jesus, then are we Abraham's (one) seed, to 
whom the promise was made, (Gen. xii. 3.) as 
explained Gen. xvii. 7, 8. and confirmed xxii. 18., 
and (consequently) heirs according to that 
promise. If it should be objected against the 
sense I have given to the word Christ, (ver. 
16, 17.) viz. anointed, the seed anointed by the 
Spirit ; I answer, that it is not an uncommon 
thing to find St. Paul keep his term and vary 
his sense. But I must observe, that it is not 
likely that he has done so in this chapter. He 
here varies his term, and his sense together ; for 
there are very good copies that give us other 
readings in these verses; ver. 13. some copies 
read xvQtog, ver. 24. XQiaTuy 'Ljaoui', ver. 27. 
some copies read as ver. 24., and ver. 29. is read 
with the same addition. " I prefer," says Lord 
Barrington, " these readings to Stephens's, which 
our translators followed ; because I find, that 
whenever St. Paul designed to denote Christ's 
person by the name Christ, in every other verse 
of this chapter, he adds Jesus to it ; an addition 
that he does not always make elsewhere ; as if 
he designed to reserve the word A'^ioroc, to 
denote this one seed anointed by the Spirit, 
whether Jews or Gentiles ; and so added Jesus 
to Christ every where else in the chapter to 
prevent mistakes." 

" Mediator non est unius partis sed duarum, 
earumque dissidentium. Cum igitur Moses 
Mediatorem ageret inter Deum et populum, hoc 
ipso testatur — esse dissidium inter duas istas 
partes. Deus autem unus est. Isque semper 
idem, semper sibi constans. Dissidium igitur 
illud non Dei, sed hominis, mutationi deputan- 
dum est." — Jac. Capellus, ap. Cradock, Apost. 
Harmony, p. 148. 



Note 14.— Part XII. 

In the extracts from Photius, at the end of 
the fifth volume of Wolfius, Cura Philologies, 
p. 7.37, is a curious illustration of this passage — 
'efdvfia de to td'Ev/ju to aytov liye.rui t&v 
ni(jjwv, ovx &Q ijuiTiof, dlV (he ii'dverai aldi/Qog 
TO nvo. oix e^iodev neQi^ulXdfievog, iilV olog 
8i' olov ovTU) yuQ, &c., and it is very certain 
that if we, by the assistance of the grace of 
God, can ever be said to put on the Spirit — ;to 
put on Christ — to be clothed with the Spirit, &c. 
it can only be then, when the whole man is so 
embued with a desire to fear God, and to love 



Note 15.-1S.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



*331 



and serve him, that the inferior or animal nature 
shall be conformed into that more spiritual na- 
ture, to which we are commanded to aspire. 



Note 15.— Part XII. 

By a very ingenious conjecture, which has 
been already alluded to, Michaelis reckons, 
that these years (Gal. iv. 10.) meant Jewish 
sabbatical years ; and that the Galatians were 
then on the point of keeping such a year, by 
leaving their lands uncultivated ; though the 
Mosaical Law, designed for the Holy Land, 
certainly did not extend to Galatia. But the 
year A. D. 49, the year of the first apostolic 
council held at Jerusalem, on the question, 
Whether the Gentile Church was bound to ob- 
serve the Law of Moses ? he suspected was a 
sabbatical year, and the same in which the Epis- 
tle itself was written. — Marsh's Michaelis, Intro- 
duct vol. iv. p. 11. Hales's Anal. vol. ii. p. 1117. 



Note 16.— Part XII. 

That is, from the Christian covenant, unless 
you are circumcised, and follow the opinions of 
the Judaizing teachers. 



Note 17.— Part XII. 

" Many," says Bishop Marsh, " have endeav- 
oured to prove, that the Mosaic history is mere 
allegory, by appealing to this passage. Since 
an allegory is a picture of the imagination, or a 
fictitious narrative, they conclude that St. Paul 
himself has warranted, by his own declaration, 
that mode of allegorical interpretation, which 
they tliemselves apply to the subversion of 
Scripture history." 

If the pretext, which infidelity tlius derives 
from the words of our authorized version, had 
been afforded also by the words of the original, 
we might have found it difficult to reply. But 
as soon as we have recourse to the words of the 
original, the fallacy of the appeal is visible at 
once. If St. Paul himself had been quoted, 
instead of the translators of St. Paul, it would 
have instantly appeared, that the Apostle did 
not apply, as is supposed by English readers, 
the title of allegory to any portion of the Mosaic 
history. The word 'Alhjyogla has never been 
used by St. Paul, in any one instance, through- 
out all his Epistles, nor indeed does it occur any 
where in the Greek Testament, nor even in the 
Greek version of the Old Testament. At the 
place in question, St. Paul did not pronounce 
the history itself aa allegory, he declared only 



that it was allegorized. His own words are 
".4 Tivix iuriv u).XriyoQoi\UEfa, which have a very 
different meaning from the interpretation of 
them in our authorized version. — On the subject 
of this passage see Schoetgen. Hot: Hebr. vol. i. 
p. 747. Vitringa, Ohser. Sacra, vol. i. lib. i. 
cap. 18. p. 215. 



Note 18.— Part XIL 
ON ST. Paul's plan of preaching. 

The wisdom of St. Paul's conduct, in varying 
his manner of address, according to the persons 
to whom lie spoke, and the circumstances in 
which he was placed, renders him the model by 
which every minister of God, and particularly 
every one who assumes the arduous office of a 
missionary, should form his own plans of action. 
When he spoke to the Jews, he reasoned with 
them from their own Scriptures, referring them 
to the Law and the Prophets ; when he pleaded 
before Agrippa, he availed himself of the king's 
inward convictions (which St. Paul, as a dis- 
cerner of spirits, discovered), as well as his 
known acquirements in the Jewish Law. 

But the wisdom of the Apostle's conduct will 
be further conspicuous by a review of the 
circumstances in which he found himself at 
Athens. 

In ver. 16. we read — " His spirit was stirred 
within him." The original may mean rather, 
"He was vehemently agitated, on beholding 
the idolatry of the Athenians." He did not, 
however, proceed rashly and unadvisedly. He 
made use only of all the opportunities which 
lawfully presented themselves. He began (ver. 
17.) by endeavouring to attract the attention of 
the Athenians in the most gradual manner, 
first, by his usual custom of appealing to the 
Jews ; then, by conversing with those devout 
persons, or Proselytes of Righteousness, who 
frequented the synagogue, and worshipped Jeho- 
vah, yet would not comply with the whole Mosaic 
ritual. And having thus in some measure 
made himself known, he proceeded to the 
public places of resort; where he was well 
assured he should meet with many pei-sons, 
who, on seeing that he was a stranger, would 
question him on various subjects, according to 
their usual custom. 

"The market-place" (ver. 17.) is an expres- 
sion which ought rather to have been rendered 
" the Forum," or " Agora." Of these there were 
many at Athens, but the two most celebrated 
were the Old Forum in the Ceramicus, which 
extended both witldn and without the town on 
one side, and the New Forum, which was out 
of the Ceramicus, in the place which was called 
Eretria. It is probable that tlie Evangelist 
refers here to the latter. There was no forum, 



332* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII 



except these, which was called "the Forum," as 
some epithet Avas always given to the others, 
to distinguish them from each other. We leajn 
from Strabo that in the time of Augustus, that 
forum which was called "The Forum," was 
removed from the Ceramicus to Eretria, and it 
was there that the greatest assemblage of persons 
was always collected. We read, too, in the 
next verss, that while St. Paul was thus con- 
versing in the forum, certain of the Stoics and 
Epicurems encountered him. The forum Ere- 
tria was opposite the porch in which the Stoics 
held their disputations. 

The conversations of St. Paul having now 
attracted attention, some of the more distin- 
guished philosophers of the Stoics and Epicu- 
reans were induced to question him. The Epi- 
cureans were Atheists. According to them 
the world was made by chance, out of materials 
which had existed from eternity. Acknowledging, 
from complaisance, the gods, who were publicly 
worshipped, they excluded them from any con- 
cern in human affairs ; and affirmed, that 
regardless of tlie prayers and actions of men, 
they contented themselves with the enjoyment 
of indolent felicity. They pronounced pleasure 
to be the chief good, and the business of a wise 
man to consist in devising the means of spend- 
ing life in eas3 and tranquillity. All genuine 
motives to the practice of virtue, and all just 
id'^Ts of virtue itself, were banished from the 
philosophy of the Epicureans ; which made 
self-love the sole spring of our actions, and gave 
loose reins to the sensual appetites. 

The syjtem of the Stoics was of a different 
character ; they believed the existence of God, 
his government of the universe, and the subsis- 
tence of the soul after the death of the body. 
But they confounded the Deity with his own 
works, and supposed him to be the soul of the 
world. If on the subject of Providence they 
expressed many just and sublime sentiments, 
thi-y connected with it the doctrine of fate, or 
of an inexplicable necessity, the immutable 
decrees of which, God, as well as min, was 
compelled to obey. Their notions respecting 
the soul were very different from the Christian 
doctrine of immortality ; for they imagined, 
thit in the future state it would lose all sepa- 
rate consciousness, and be resolved into the 
Divine E ;s?nce. Unlike the herd of Epicureans, 
th3y placed the happiness of man in the prac- 
tice of virtue, and inculcated a comparatively 
pure and exalted morality ; but the praise to 
which this part of their system entitled them 
was forfeited by a spirit of pride, strained to the 
most audacious impiety. 

Can we be surprised that among such men 
the stranger Hebrew, one of a despised people, 
whose personal appearance is supposed to 
hive been by no means in his favor, who ven- 
tured in his converaation to differ from the 
decisions of the gay and the proud, should be 



treated with contempt ? The word arrcq^oU- 
yo; (babbler), by Avhich they expressed their 
bitter ridicule, is very expressive. It is said 
that the term aTrcQuoloyog was originally 
applied to a bird that picks up seeds in the 
highway ; it was then used of mean persons, 
that were used to pick up the refuse of things 
that had been brought to market ; then it came 
figuratively to denote those who retailed the 
sayings of other men. The Apostle, we may 
suppose, was gradually led, from his conversing 
and questioning, to more lengthened discussion, 
for it is said he preached to them Jesus and the 
resurrection. 

Many indeed have been of opinion that St. 
Paul was taken by violence to the court of 
Areopagus, and compelled to plead his cause 
before the assembled members, to whom appeal 
was made in all matters of religion ; and cap- 
ital punishment was inflicted upon all who, upon 
their private authority, introduced the worship 
of new gods. There does not, however, appear 
to be sufficient proof in support of this opinion. 
It seems more probable, that the philosophers, 
who crowded round him, removed him for their 
own convenience to an eminence on the Mars' 
Hill ; as a higher part of the city, where the 
principal persons who would interest themselves 
in any novel philosophical discussion, might 
assemble, and listen without interruption. 
Through the whole of the narrative there is no 
appearance of a trial. We read neither of 
accusers nor judges ; nor does St. Paul argue 
as if he was defending himself against any 
charge*'. 

Amidst this assemblage of philosophers, dis- 
puters, senators, statesmen, and rhetoricians, 
stood the despised and insulted stranger ; sur- 
rounded by the professed lovers of pleasure on 
one side, and the proud supporters of the per- 
fectibility of human reason and wisdom on the 
other. St. Paul, without the smallest com- 
promise of his personal dignity, or the least 

'' Bishop Pearoe, and the majority of commenta- 
tors, support the general opinion, that St. Paul was 
taken violently (so they render the word ini/.K^i^'t-f- 
rul, (Acts xvii. 19) see Luke xxiii. 26. and Acts 
ix. 27.) to the court of Areopagus, as a teacher of 
strange gods, to be there tried as a criminal. Bishop 
Warburton, and Kuinoel, whose work is before 
me, and whose reasoning I have adopted, espouse 
the contrary opinion. It has been said that there 
is so little appearance of a defence in St. Paul's 
address, because he was not permitted to conclude, 
being interrupted when he had merely finished his 
introduction. It seems to me on the contrary, that 
the Apostle was permitted to conclude, as the ad- 
dress is complete, as we now receive it. Markland 
observes on the words ini?.t(ii nfioi te ot'tuv, not 
with rioltncc or fair (iirru ^luc, ver. 26.), but, in a 
friendly manntr ; probably intlajiitiiroi ti'i^ /uniic., 
as Icing desirniis to heiir loliat he. had to sny. 
This further appears from the language y^yayof, 
theij conducted him, not flAxoi-, they drugged him, 
though this is not certain; and fVom itrivi/f.Sa 
yrrTivui, may ice knoto ? — Maj;kla.nd, ap. Bowyer's 
Criticai ConjecturM, p. 164. 



Note IS.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*333 



departure from the purity of his faith, endeav- 
ours to conciliate the good will of his assembled 
hearers, by commencing at the points on which 
they are all united. 

By taking advantage of the professed igno- 
rance of the Athenians, he sluelds himself from 
the power of that law which considers the 
introduction of a new God into the state as a 
capital offence, and avails himself of that ac- 
knowledgment to declare the nature and attri- 
butes of that God, who was already sanctioned 
by the state, although confessedly unknown. 

He offends no prejudice, makes no violent 
opposition — he keeps back all that was difficult 
or mysterious in his own beloved and holy faith, 
till those who heard him might be able to bear 
it. He appealed to them from their own prin- 
ciples and practice, however deficient the for- 
mer, or corrupt the latter. He united at once 
zeal, judgment, faithfulness, and discretion. He 
dsclared the unknown God, whom the Athenians 
ignorantly worshipped, to be the great Creator 
of the world, in whom, and by whom, all things 
were made, and exist. From the visible proofs 
of his Providence in his government of the 
world, he leads tliem to the consideration of his 
spiritual nature ; and thus condemns the idol- 
atrous worship of the Athenians, while he 
gradually unfolds to his philosophical audience, 
the important tmths of tlieir accountableness 
and immortality, which were demonstrated by 
the fact of Christ's resurrection from the dead. 
The same mode of reasoning is to be observed 
in all St Paul's Epistles. With the Jews, he 
constantly alludes to some acknowledged prin- 
ciples of their belief, and endeavours to over- 
come their prejudices against Christianity, by 
explaining to them the spiritual intention of 
their own Law; and by referring them to the 
declarations of their own prophets. With the 
Gentiles, on the contrary, he begins by asserting 
those simple and evident truths which must be 
acknowledged by all ; and having once estab- 
lished the existence and attributes of a God, 
and the necessity of a moral conduct, he grad- 
ually reveals those great and important doctrines 
which are the very basis of Christianity. In all 
the pursuits of life, in all the acquirements of 
science, there must be some progressive initia- 
tion, some previous introduction. Is it, then, 
to be believed, that the highest attainments to 
which human intellect and human wisdom can 
aspire, the knowledge, both of God, and of tlie 
imniortal accountable spirit, requires no such 
elementary preparation ? Our Saviour has set 
the question at rest, by beautifully incuicatinar 
this system of instruction, and the gradual de- 
velopment of his Gospel in his parable of the 
man who should cast seed into the ground ; in 
■which we read, as in the usual course of veg-e- 
tation, the seed of the word of God must first 
produce " the blade, then the ear, after that the 
full com in the ear;" This system of revfelation 



has been adopted throughout the whole economy 
of Providence', from the fall of Adam till the 
present day ; it was acted upon by the apostles, 
and unless it be persisted in, the great work of 
evangelizing the world can never be so effect- 
ually, consistently, or advantageously carried 
on, and must consequently fall short of our 
highest and fondest hopes or expectations. 

The conduct of St Paul at Athens is a model 
for the missionary to foreign lands. He proves 
to us that whatever be the zeal, the talents, the 
piety, the disinterestedness, of a minister of 
Christ, sobriety, prudence, and discretion must 
direct all his actions if he would succeed in his 
holy warfare. The Apostle obtained the victory 
at Athens by the blessing of God upon these 
humbler means. He succeeded by reasoning 
with the Athenians on their own principles, 
and thereby directed his successors in the vine- 
yard to proceed on a similar plan of action. 

Does the self-devoted missionary hazard his 
life among the learned and intelligent idolaters 
of Hindostan ! would it not be possible to de- 
monstrate to the Brahmin that the facts which 
are recorded in the first books of Scripture, are 
probably the foundation of his religion ; and 
that the corruptions of those truths may be sev- 
erally traced to various periods of a compara- 
tively late date ? Might it not be shown tliat 
their belief in the incarnations of Chrishna, for 
instance, originated in the general expectation 
of the one incarnate God. who has now appeared 
among men, and established a pure faith.' 
Could not the imagined atonements of theli" 
self-inflicted tortures be traced to the perversion 
of the great truth, that " without shedding of 
blood there is no remission," but that a greater 
and more perfect dispensation now prevails ? 

The Buddhist believes in the doctrine of an 
incarnate spiritual being : could not this truth 
be gradually explained without offence, and the 
true Incarnate be pointed out ? 

The Mahommedan acknowledges that Christ 
is a great prophet : on this confession could not 
another be grafted, and the infatuated follower 
of Mahomet be led to acknowledge the divine 
nature of the Son of ilan ? 

The grossest idolater believes in his superi- 
ority to the brutes: could not even this convic- 
tion be made the means of imparting to him the 
great doctrines of his accountableness and im- 
mortality ? 

It is, however, an easy task to sit at home 
and form plans for the conduct of the noble- 
minded servants of God who have hazarded their 
lives unto death, and met the spiritual wicked- 
ness of the world in its own high places. Han- 
nibal smded with contempt when the theoretical 
tactitian lectured on the art of war. We who 

- See various noteson this subject in the Arrange- 
menl of the O'd Testament, and Lord Barring-ton's 
Essmj on the Dispeu^atioaa ; alsOj Law's Thccjy of 
Rdigion. 



334* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII' 



remain in our homes in Europe may be called 
the pretorian bands of Christianity. The mis- 
sionary, like the legionary soldier, goes forth to 
the defence of the frontier, to combat with the 
barbarian enemy. Peace be with the ministers 
of God, and may the days of the kingdom of 
universal righteousness come ! But the Scrip- 
ture is the common charter, and it prescribes 
system, discipline, and regulation to the best, as 
well as conquest over the worst, feelings. The 
cause of missions would no longer be the source 
of misapprehension among many, ifin the teach- 
ing of the missionary, they were all united in 
doing good in the appointed way. Happy too 
would it be for mankind, if every Christian 
society could be bound together, as one holy 
family, by one law of union — if they were sub- 
ject to the same accountableness and discipline, 
as the best security against their own infirm- 
ities, and the errors as well as the vices of the 
world". 



Note 19.— Part XII. 

on the altar at athens, and the exist- 
ence of god. 

Whether this altar at Athens was raised, as 
some have told us, to the unknown God, whom 
the philosophic Athenians invoked in the time 
of a pestilence, after they had uselessly paid 
their adorations to all the greater and lesser 
deities of their pantheon ; or whether it was 
raised to Pan, whom they had hitherto neglected, 
or to the God of the Jews, whom the Athenians 
thus described from the manner in which the 
.Tews spoke of Jehovah, as unutterable and in- 
comprehensible — is equally uncertain. 

Diogenes Laertius thus accounts for the 
erection of this and other altars, bearing the 
same inscription—" The Athenians being afflict- 
ed with pestilence, invited Epimenides to lus- 
trate their city. The method adopted by him 
was to carry several sheep to the Areopagus, 
whence they were left to wander as they 
pleased, under the observation of persons sent 
to attend them. As each sheep lay down it was 
sacrificed on the spot to the propitious God. By 
this ceremony it is said the city was relieved ; 

"* See on this note the Dissertation, Dc Gestis 
PauU, in Urhe Mieniensium, ap. Critici Sacri, vol. 
xiii. p. 661, &c. and the next to it on the same 
subject by J. Ludov Schlosser, and Kuinoel, who 
refers to Meursii Diss, de Ceramico gemino, sect, 
xvi. and Potter's JliitiquiUfs. I may remark here, 
that it is with great satisfaction that I have observ- 
ed the very high rank which the English theolo- 
gians seem to bear among the continental divines. 
Evorv where among the references of Kuinoel, 
Wolfius, Carpzovius, Walchius, Michaelis, and 
others, whose names do not immediately occur to 
me 1 have obaMrvtid the reepect paid to our thedlo- 
sical writers. 



but as it was still unknown what deity was pro- 
pitious, an altar was erected to the unknown God, 
on every spot where a sheep had been sacri- 
ficed"." Some have maintained that the in- 
scription ouglit to be translated : " To a God un- 
known.'''' Athens at this time was filled with 
idols ; and Pausanias asserts it to have con- 
tained more than all the rest of Greece. Wit- 
sius supposes that the Athenians had obtained 
some obscure notions of the God of the Jews 
through the medium of commerce. 

The doctrine of the existence of one God the 
Creator of the world, is the foundation of all 
religion : it is the immutable and solid founda- 
tion upon which the whole structure of faith 
must be raised. The disputes of the last cen- 
tury respecting matter and spirit seem to have 
restored much of the quibbling of the ancient 
schools of philosophy. 

A Creator, without a creation — a king, with- 
out subjects — a God, without an object either of 
his wisdom or his benevolence, his love or his 
power — a /li]uiovq)'bz cifev tm*' dijuiovgyTjuuTuii' , 
and a JJuvjoy.guToio uvev iGiv y.Qaiov/iiioii' — is 
certainly a mystery which overwhelms the 
faculties of man. But the opposite difficulty, 
that this beautiful frame of the visible creation 
is eternal, and therefore self-existent ; and by 
unavoidable consequence, independent of a 
Deity, is much more incomprehensible. Igno- 
rant as we undoubtedly are, and limited as are 
the powers of our reason, the weakest under- 
standing can discover the infinitely greater 
probability that this magnificent and beautiful 
world should have been created by some wise 
and powerful God ; rather than its suns and 
stars should have kindled their own lam^ps, or 
the flower have formed its own fragrance, and 
every proof of design visible throughout the 
universe, should be an effect without a first 
and adequate cause. If we deny the true origin 
of the world, that it was produced from nothing 
by the sovereign will of an omnipotent Being, 
we are reduced to the necessity of embracing 
one of the following hypotheses", each of which 
are alike repugnant to reason and revelation. 

Either the world must have existed from 
eternity as it now is, or matter is eternal, 
though not in its present form, and the Deity 
has merely reduced it to order, and fashioned 
the creation from preexistent substance. The 
great argument upon which this hypothesis 
rests, is the celebrated axiom. Ex nihilo nihil 
Jit. The difficulties involved by this hypothesis 

" See Home's Critical Introduct. vol. i. p. 241 ; 
but on the subject of the altar erected at Athens 
to the unknown God, see Wolfius, Cxirm Philolog. 
in loc. Witsius, MelcUm. Lcidrns. Dc Fit. Pauli. p. 
84. Whitby, and the references in Kuinoel, where 
the quotations from Lucian, Philostratus, Diogenes 
Laertius. and Jerome, who all mention this altar, 
are collected. 

° Stillinjfleet's Originos Sacrm, h. iii. chap. 2 
^ect. 2. p. a>6. fbl. edife> 



Note 19.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*335 



are greater than those of the other. The 
Deity thus introduced, as forming the visible 
universe from this eternal collection of matter, 
is limited in his power by something which is 
independent of liimself. Either the Deity 
must or must not be omnipotent; if he is om- 
nipotent, preexistent matter is not necessary 
to the formation of his worlds ; if he is not 
omnipotent, he must be subject to, and inferior 
to that which he cannot control ; and the intel- 
ligence which can frame a world, is indebted 
to inert masses of which it is composed. His 
power must be infinite, to enable him to gov- 
ern, and at the same tme it is not infinite, for 
he is dependent upon matter, and cannot exe- 
cute his will. 

If matter be eternal, it must be unproduced, 
and therefore of necessary existence : it must 
have caused itself, and be possessed therefore 
of infinite power : it compels God to be subject 
to its laws, instead of receiving its laws from 
God, with many other absurdities. 

Another hypothesis which presents itself to 
our choice is, that the world arose from a for- 
tuitous concourse of atoms ; an idea which 
appears to me as absurd as to suppose, that 
many thousand alphabets might be fashioned by 
chance into an Iliad ; yet this would be easier 
than that they should form one limb of an 
animal, or one blaJe of grass. 

If these hypotlieses will not please, the last 
is perhaps more plausible, that the universe 
originated from the eternal laws of motion and 
matter. Such are the inconsistencies to which 
men are compelled to have recourse, when they 
forsake the fountain of living waters, and hew 
out to themselves the broken cisterns of false 
philosophy and science. If there are laws to 
matter, who is the lawgiver ? As every house 
is builded by some man, so He who built all 
things is God: this is tlie only rational conclu- 
sion of Scripture and common sense, which 
have never yet been at variance. 

Setting aside, therefore, all ideas of the 
eternity of matter, whether in its present or in 
any other state, we receive the lesser difficulty 
— that God reigned alone supreme before the 
borders of the world stood, or the innumerable 
company of angels were gathered together. 

The Christian, then, who believes that a 
period has been when the Omnipotent alone 
existed, will not shrink from the questions of the 
boldest inquirer^. He will not shrink from the 
question — " If the world were made by a Deity, 
why was it not made by him sooner ? or, since 
it was unmade, why did He make it at all? 
Cur mundi (zdijicalor repcnte extiterit innumern- 
hilia ante scEcula doniiierW ? " " How came 
this builder and architect of the world, to start 

? Cudworth's Intellectual System,h. i. ch. 2. sec. 
19. 

' Velleius ap. Cicer. De jXatura Deorvm, lib. i. 
cap. 9. 



up on a sudden, after he had slept for infinite 
ages, and bethink himself of making a world ? 
Was something wanting to his happiness.' 
Was he completely happy without this new 
world ? Then, ' wanting nothing,' he made 
superfluous things'" ? " 

To these, and all such questions, we may 
answer — Although God was perfectly happy in 
himself, he created the world from his overflow- 
ing goodness, that other beings, from the arch- 
angel to the lowest scale of created life, might 
be happy likewise. He created all things for 
his own glory, and of that glory the happiness 
of sentient beings is permitted to form a part ; 
if they had not been created, the sum of happi- 
ness would have been diminished. To the 
question, " If God's goodness were the cause ot 
his making the world, why was it not made 
sooner ? " we might with equal propriety in- 
quire, Why was not the world an eternal ema- 
nation from an eternal cause ? why was it not 
self-existent ? As far as our faculties can com- 
prehend God, we shall find that there is as great 
an impossibility that the world should be eternal, 
as that two and two should make five. If it 
was created, it must have had a beginning. 
Time, which is well defined by Locke to be 
only a measured portion of eternity, began at 
the commencement of tlie world ; before which 
there was no sooner or later, which are indeed 
but terms to express the succession of ideas in 
the minds of finite beings. With the Deity is 
neither change, contingency, nor succession. 
To him the world was equally present, whether 
made or unmade. Space is the theatre, and 
eternity the duration of his agency in the uni- 
verse ; neither may we comprehend if any 
other causes may influence the divine will, than 
those which have been revealed to us. In this 
stage of our existence we are enabled to dis- 
cover, both from revelation and reason, that the 
visible world was conunanded to exist, and 
it existed. The curiosity of presumption which 
proposes the inquiry, for what reason the world 
was not created a millenary earlier or later, can- 
not be satisfied with any answers of speculative 
philosophy. 

When, however, we have established the 
certainty of the creation of the world, we are 
taught that the world itself is one great delusion, 
that matter does not exist. 

" The existence of bodies," says Berkeley, 
" out of the mind, perceiving them is not only 
impossible, and a contradiction in terms, but 
were it possible, and even real, it were impos- 
sible we should ever know it." Or, in other 
words, when I am not in London, London 
does not exist. Religion, affection, law, duty, 
science, and all the arts of life, are founded on 
facts ; but of the certainty that any one single 

*" laj^lv V.Xtirroiv xefrng fui?.Xiv (jrt/dQti'v jTnaitnt 
— ap. Cudworth, where see much more on this in- 
teresting subject, b. i. ch. 5. 



336* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XE. 



fact has taken place, which tlie mind has not 
perceived, we have no demonstration, and con- 
sequently our belief in their reality may be 
erroneous. 

" Thus the wisdom of philosophy is set in 
opposition to the common sense of mankind. 
Philosophy pretends to demonstrate that there 
can be no material world ; that every object is 
merely a sensation in the mind, or an image of 
those sensations in the memory, and imagina- 
tion ; having, hke pain and joy, no existence, 
unless thought of. Common sense can conceive 
no otherwise of this opinion than a kind of 
metaphysical lunacy, and concludes that too 
much learning is apt to make men mad'," &c. 
It is, indeed, with some difficulty that men of 
sober judgment, unsophisticated by the de- 
lusions of these grave absurdities, can believe 
that men of talent and learning have been thus 
misled. 

The arguments by which the system of 
Berkeley is defended are to be found in Reid's 
Inquiry into the Human Mind; Beattie On 
the Immutability of Truth ; the Philosophical 
Essays of Dugald Stewart, with the Notes and 
Illustrations, p. 548, 549, 1st edit. 4to. and the 
Appendix to part second of Doddridge's Lec- 
tures, edited by Kippis. The subject is too 
extensive to be entered upon largely in this 
place. I shall content myself with mentioning 
the quibble upon which the whole controversy 
hinges. 

"All our knowledge," says Berkeley, "is 
gained by the senses : but by the senses, we have 
knowledge of nothing, but our sensations : but our 
sensations are qualities of the mind, and have no 
resemblance therefore to any thing inanimate." 

This system confounds two things, which are 
entirely distinct from each other ; sensation and 
perception. Extension, figure, motion, are 
ideas of sensation, or they are not. If they are 
sensations only, Berkeley cannot be refuted, 
though he may be rejected ; if they are, how- 
ever, ideas, accompanying sensations, as Hutch- 
eson describes them, and Reid asserts, the ideal 
system is the dream of a visionary. 

The word properties is generally used to 
express with greater accuracy the idea we may 
form of the creation of the world from nothing. 
" Matter," says Locke, " is the adherence of 
certain qualities in some unknown substratum." 
The idea of this imagined substratum is now 
exploded. If we define matter to be the ad- 
herence of properties, we may understand in 
what manner a visible creation might be formed, 
where no material substance had hitherto ex- 
isted. God commanded this union of properties 
to take place. Extension, solidity, and motion, 

' Vide Rpid On the Human Mind, oh. v. sec. 7. 
On the Existence of the Material World, Reid has 
written ari admirable book. He does not think it 
necessary to be a skeptic, to prove his right to the 
title of philosopher. 



were combined with color, variety, and order. 
As modern chymistry can dissolve water into 
its component airs, and the hardest substances 
into gases invisible to the human eye, and by 
other processes can change that which was 
before invisible to the eye, and imperceptible 
to the touch, into hard, solid', and tangible 
bodies ; so, to compare great things with small, 
it is easily conceivable that Omnipotence might 
call every object of our senses to life, without 
previous material, as the chymist presents to 
the two senses of sight and touch an object 
hitherto imperceptible to both. As a ru.stic 
could not comprehend how the man of science 
could perform this apparent miracle, neither can 
the most studious researches of the learned 
penetrate the veil which conceals the wisdom 
of Omnipotence. There is however some slight 
analogy between the manner in which the 
limited skill of an educated man can astonish an 
ignorant mind, and that incomprehensible wis- 
dom, before which the genius of Neuton, and 
the sagacity of Aristotle, are more inferior than 
the prattlings of an infant to the sublimest 
efforts of these lofty intellects". 



Note 20.— Part XIL 

Bishop Barrington suggests that this quo- 
tation might have been made, with a slight 
variation, from the beautiful hymn of Cleanthes 
to the Supreme Being, and not, as is generally 
supposed, from Aratus. He refers to H. Steph. 
Poesis Philosoph. p. 49, and Fabricii Bibl. 
Grac. vol. ii. p. 397. See also Cudworth's 
Irdellec. System, vol. i. 4to. edit. (Birch's), p. 432. 
The passage is from the fourth line — 

ICvSioT' a9aruro)v, TroXvwvviif, TrayxQaTig aUl 
Zivc, (pvOiwq aQ/y]yh rdtiov ttsTu Tiurru av^fQrrov 
Xcci'Qs. 2^ yao nacJi Sung 3rijTQtai jjoooauSixv. 
^ Ey. oov ylxfi ytrog ^oiisv, t'j/ov fiiiitfiia /.a/6vTsg 
Movrov, fjna tcuei re xa'i fQnit -ScijT' ini yaiav. 

Duport, the once celebrated Greek professor, 
who translated the Psalms into Greek verse, 
has translated this hymn into very elegant 
Latin verse. I subjoin his version of the above 
lines. 

" Magne Pater Divum, cui nomina multa, sed una 
Omnipotens semper virtus, tu Jupiter autor 

' Hardness is the property which resists tlie 
touch with greater power. SoUdity, tliatb}' which 
one body excludes another from the place it occu- 
pies. Gold and water are equally solid : though 
gold is harder than water. Vide Locke. 

" Vide the quotations from Hutcheson— Crouzaz, 
(the man who was so unjustly ridiculed by Pope) 
— Baxter's ImmatcriaJittj of the Soul, and from 
D'Alembert's Elemens de la I'hUosophie, article 
Metaphijsique : with the subsequent observations 
of IVir. Dugald Stewart, in note F. to the Philo- 
sophical Essays, p. 552. 



Note 21.-23.] ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 



*337 



Nature, cert I qui singula lege gubernas, 
Rex salve. Te nempe licet mortalibus sgris 
Cunctis compellare ; omnes namque tua propago 
Nos sumus, aeternfe quasi imago vocis, et echo 
Tanlum. quotquot humi spirantes repimus." 



dwelt in Rome. However it may be, St. Paul 
came to Corinth about the year 51 : and the 
proconsulship of Gallic', before whom the 
Apostle appeared, agrees with this period. 



Note 21.— Part XII. 



Note 22.— Part XII. 



ScETO-MUs has made mention'' of this ban- 
ishment, without taking notice of the time of it. 
Neither Tacitus, Josephus, nor Dionysius say 
any thing of it. It is certain Claudius was not 
partial to the Jews ; he would have driven 
(Dion. lib. 60. p. 667.) them out in the beginning 
of his reign, had he not been in fear of a dis- 
turbance, for they were very numerous. The 
edicts which he at first made in their favor, 
were the effect of his esteem and gratitude to 
Agrippa. (Joseph. Antiq. lib. xv. c. 4.) We 
cannot perceive, by any means, that they excited 
any troubles in Rome during the reign of Clau- 
dius. There were some under the government 
of Cumanus, in Judaea", and, if it were on that 
account that Claudius banished them, this ex- 
pulsion will have been about the year 51. If 
they were banished at the time the astrologers 
were, (Set. Calvisi ad An. Pearson Annal. Paid. 
p. 12.) it will have been in 52. But was it not, 
perhaps, to appease^ the Roman citizens, op- 
pressed by an extreme famine in Rome^ in the 
year 51 ? Under similar circumstances, the 
emperors obliged every foreigner to leave Rome. 
If this conjecture be true, we shall see the 
reason why neither Josephus nor Tacitus have 
. mentioned this expulsion of the Jews. There 
was nothing that fixed any stigma upon them, 
since it was common to all other foreigners who 

" " JadfEos Impulsore Chresto assidue tumul- 
tuantes Roma expulit." — Sueton. in Claudio, c. 
26. If Suetonius here understood our Lord Jesus 
Christ, he has committed a very gross error ; but 
if he understood any chief of the Jews, whom he 
named Chrestus, it is a person entirely unknown 
to the historians. 

" Cumanus succeeded Tiberius Alexander at the 
time of the death of Herod, king of Calchis. This 
prince died the eighth of Claudius. Joseph. Antiq. 
lib. XX. cap. 3. or the Wars of the Jeics, lib.ii.c. 11. 
The troubles in Judsa must have happened in 50 
or -51. Joseph, .intiq. lib. xxii. c. o. But it is very 
hard to attribute this expulsion of the Jews to the 
troubles of Judiea. Josephus and Tacitus, who 
mention the disturbances, would have said what 
was the punishment of them. Tacit, .innal. lib. xii. 
c. -54. Moreover, Claudius, who punished Cumanus 
who sacrificed the tribune Celer to the Jews, would 
he have banished them from Rome for a matter 
which was of service to them .' 

^ This is the opinion of H. de Valois. Auct. in 
Euseb. Hist. Ecd. lib. ii 2. 28. Augustus, says 
this author, had done the same, and his successors 
very oflen made use of the same practice, when 
Rome was afflicted with a famine. 

^ There was an excessive famine at Rome in 
the year 51. insomuch that the people being very 
much pressed, Claudius could scarcely save him- 
self in his palace. 

VOL. II. *43 



The present reading of this passage in the 
Greek vulgate, is awsixETO tc3 nvev^uuTi. Gries- 
bach admits into the text, instead of lu Ttyev- 
juari, T(5 Ao'/O); on the authority of the Alex- 
andrian and other MSS. The passage, there- 
fore, with this reading, may mean, " He was 
affected with the report which SUas and Tim- 
othy had brought to him from Macedonia." 
The Vulgate translates it, instahat verlo, 
"pressed, or urged the word." The late Dr. 
Gosset would read Uya, with Griesbach, and 
translate the passage with Krebsius — magna 
orationis vi disputabat. Bishop Pearce would 
paraphrase the passage thus : — " And when 
Silas and Timotheus were come from JNIace- 
donia, Paul set himself together with them, 
wholly to the word ; i. e. he was fully employed 
now that he had their assistance in preaching 
the Gospel (called word, in chap. iv. 4. x\'i. 6. 32. 
and xvii. 11.)" St. Luke seems to have intended 
to express here something relating to St. Paul, 
which was the consequence of the coming of 
Silas and Timotheus. We may therefore re- 
gard both these interpretations as correct He 
pressed, or urged the word, after the arrival of 
Silas and Timothy, to the Jews in his preaching ; 
and in his great anxiety on their account, he 
enforced it in his Epistle to the Thessalonians. 



Note 23.— Part XE. 

Silas and Timothy, with St Paul, had 
preached the Gospel to the Jews at Thessaloni- 
ca, in the synagogues of that place, (Acts xvii. 
2-4.) They were interrupted in this work, and 
compelled to leave the city, by the persecution 
there raised against them; they then proceeded 
to Berea, whither they were followed by the 
same unbelieving Jews. St. Paul then went to 
Athens, but SUas and Timothy remained at 
Berea, till they received orders from Paul to 
follow him to that city, ( Acts xvii. 15.) Timothy, 
we learn (1 Thess. iii. 2.) was then immediately 
despatched to Thessalonica, and it is most 
probable Silas accompanied him, as they 
generally were commissioned two and two, 

" Art. xviii. v. 12. Claudius banished Seneca, the 
brother of Gallio. He recalled Seneca as soon as 
he married Agrippina, which was in the ninth year 
of his reign. Tacitus, .-?«?;. lib. xii. c. 8 It is very 
probable, indeed, thnt this was not till after Gallio 
was proconsul of Achaia, Pears, .^nn. p. 13. 

*CC 



338* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII. 



according to the first appointment of our Lord. 
It is not, however, expressly asserted how 
Silas was employed at this time ; they both 
rejoined Paul at Corinth, (Acts xviii. 5.), and it 
is natural to suppose they there gave him a full 
account of their labors: when, as we read 
(Acts xviii. 5.) "he was pressed in spirit;" or, 
as it may be read, "he was deeply affected 
with the account brought to him by his coadju- 
tors," which, from the nature of the First 
Epistle to the Thessalonians, and the previous 
occurrence which occasioned St. Paul's separa- 
tion from them, it appears probable, related to 
the unceasing persecutions to which the Thes- 
salonians were exposed. Under the influence 
of this impression, I believe the Apostle to have 
composed this Epistle. That it was written 
from Corinth, during his present residence, in 
.the year 51, or soon after, may be considered 
as almost the unanimous opinion of commenta- 
tors ; although the particular occasion is dis- 
puted. The general object of the Epistle is 
certainly to confirm the Thessalonians in their 
faitli, by enforcing the evidences of the Chris- 
tian religion, while he opposes some opinions 
held by the heathens. 

The immediate design of St. Paul in writing 
this Epistle, seems to have been to supply the 
converts with arguments against the reasonings 
of the philosophers and men of learning, who 
might have endeavoured, as mere theoretical 
speculatists have uniformly done, to argue 
against facts, by suggesting their improbability 
— or have called the doctrines of Christianity 
foolishness — its precepts severe — its discipline 
superstition. The exceeding utility of this 
Epistle to the preachers of Christianity is par- 
ticularly evident. In all his Epistles, or, as 
they may be called, his written sermons, he 
uniformly enforces Christian morality, upon 
Christian principles ; but in this Epistle he 
enters into the evidences on which these prin- 
ciples were founded. 

In the Greek Vulgate, the present reading of 
Acts xvii. 4. is ribv asSo/iiyuv 'EllrivMV nolv 
nlridog, which is rendered by our translators 
" Of the devout Greeks, a great multitude." 
The Codex Alex, and Codex Bezae, with some 
others, read tw*' GeSoftivoJv v.ui 'EU.iqi'ojy, which 
Dr. Paley would render — " those who wor- 
shipped the true God, and of the Greeks " — that 
is, of those who had been previously heathens, 
(1 Thess. i. 9.) He would infer, from the 
passage thus translated, that the Church at 
Thessalonica consisted of some few Jews, 
many who worshipped the one true God, and 
many of the heathens, and of the chief women. 
It was highly necessary therefore that St. Paul, 
under these circumstances, should strengthen 
the faith of these his converts, who had " turned 
to God from idols," by every possible argument 
and encouragement. 



Note 24.— Part XII. 

THE HOLT SCRIPTURES INTENDED FOR ALL. 

St. Paul addresses himself to the whole 
Church in many of his Epistles — in those to the 
Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, 
Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians ; but 
here he does it in a most solemn and peculiar 
manner — adjuring them " by the Lord, that it 
should be read to all the holy brethren." From 
this de\dation from his usual manner, it is con- 
jectured tliat the Apostle might have had some 
cause of suspicion. It is possible that at this 
time the Scriptures were prohibited from the 
people at large, and that the adjuration of the 
Apostle was directed to the " mystery of iniquity 
which then began to work." (See 2d Epist. 
chap, ii.) 

In the Romish Church, the Scriptures are, in 
general, witliheld from the people ; or suffered 
to be read under such restrictions, and with 
such notes, as totally subvert the sense of those 
passages on which this Church endeavours to 
build her unscriptural pretensions. It is gener- 
ally allowed that the Vulgate version is the 
most favorable to these pretensions ; and yet 
even that version the rulers of the Church dare 
not trust in the hands of any of their people, 
even under their general ecclesiastical restric- 
tions, without their counteracting notes and 
comments. Surely truth has nothing to fear 
from the Bible. When the Romish Church 
permits the free use of this book she may be 
stripped, indeed, of some of her appendages, 
but she will lose nothing but her dross and 
tin, and become, what the original Church 
at Rome was, " beloved of God, called to be 
saints," and have her faith once more " spoken 
of throughout the whole world," Rom. i. 7, 8. 
She has in her own hands the means of her 
own restoration ; and a genuine Protestant will 
wish, not her destruction, but her reformation : 
if she consent not to be reformed, her total 
destruction is inevitable. 

It is evident, from this passage, that the 
Epistles of St. Paul were not designed merely 
for the teachers of the Churches. The Spirit 
of God, which gave the Scriptures of the Old 
Testament for the common benefit of the Jew- 
ish Church, was now completing the New Tes- 
tament for the use of all mankind. Wherever, 
therefore, the doctrines of Christianity are to be 
inculcated, the Scriptures are to be in the pos- 
session of the people. Their perusal is one 
means of grace. In this opinion all descrip- 
tions of Protestants are united. It is curious to 
observe the manner in which opposite errors 
meet. The Romish Church prohibits the 
universal perusal of the Scriptures, and the 
learned Semler, the Unitarian theologian, has 



Note 25.-28.] ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 



*339 



argued that the Epistles were not designed for 
the people at large"'. 

There has been, it is true, of late years, 
much discussion respecting tlie manner in 
which the Scriptures ought to be distributed. 
That the common people, however, should 
receive them, and read and study them, is the 
opinion of all Protestants. One class of reli- 
gionists would distribute them in every way 
possible, whenever an opportunity presents it- 
self; and would unite for that purpose every 
description of persons, whatever be their theo- 
logical opinions, as in any other charitable 
labor. Another class, however, have decided 
that in all our attempts to do good, regard must 
be paid to the means, as well as to the end ; 
and that the indiscriminate union, for religious 
purposes, of the maintainers of every opposite 
opinion, sanctions error. The only controversy, 
therefore, between Protestants is — not whether 
the people should read the Scriptures, but by 
whom they should be given to the people. 



Note 25.— Part XH. 

The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians is 
generally supposed to have been written by St. 
Paul a few months after the former. It is dated 
from the same place, Corinth ; and Silvanus and 
Titus are both mentioned in the introduction. 
It was most probably written a little before, or 
a little after, the insurrection of the Jews at 
Corinth, when St. Paul was dragged before 
Gallic (Acts xviii. 12.), as the Apostle, in 
2 Thess. iii. 2., seems either to apprehend, or 
anticipate this violence, or else prays to be de- 
livered from these unreasonable and unbelieving 
persecutors. It has been already shown, that 
the majority of the Church of Thessalonica had 
been converted from among the idolatrous Gen- 
tiles, and that the First Epistle was addressed 
to those who had been so, and had become 
Christians. It seems no less evident, that the 
present Epistle was sent to the same persons, 
from the various allusions it contains to the 
First Epistle. 

St Paul havmg been informed that some 

" '• Communis fuit doctrina, sed non fuit in 
omnium manibus epistolarum aut lihrorum aliorum 
exemplum : doctrina tradebatur a presbyteris, qui 
doctrinae auctoritalem derivabaut ex his libris, quos 
ab apostolo alii atque alii acceperant. Itaque recte 
quidem epistote dicuntur destinari ecclesiae seu 
ecclesiis, sed Lntelligitur doctrina, quam presbyteri, 
et doctores ex libris, vel epistolis apostolorum hau- 
riunt; et Christianis, per partes commodas, imper- 
tiunt. Manserunt igitur omnes libri sacri in mani- 
bus clericorum, seu ministrorum ; quidam trade- 
bantur lectoribus ; alii presbyteris et episcopis tan- 
tum patebant. Quod vel istis narrationibus de tradi- 
toribus confirmatur; nemo ex laicis unquam tradi- 
tor fuit, quia esse non potuit : nee enimlibros sacros 
manibus suis ipse unquam usurpavit." — Semler 
Prolegoraena ad Galatas, p. 29. 



e.xpressions in his First Epistle had been either 
perverted or misunderstood by the Thessalo- 
nians, (see 1 Thess. iv. 15, 17. and v. 4, 6.), who 
supposed the end of the world and the coming 
of Christ to be at hand, immediately addresses 
them for the purpose of refuting this error ; 
which, while resting on apostolical authority, 
would be alike injurious to his Christian con- 
verts, and to the continued propagation of the 
Gospel. Grotius would rather refer this Epistle 
to the year of our Lord .38, in the second year 
of the reign of Caligula ; but his arguments are 
overthrown by the fact that Silvanus and Tim- 
othy, who joined with St. Paul in the introduc- 
tion to this Epistle, were not converts to the 
Christian faith till long after the death of 
Caligula ; and Timothy was but a youth (1 Tim. 
iv. 12.) when St. Paul wrote his First Epistle to 
him, in the year of Christ 57, or 58, and of Nero 
4; and seems to have been converted by St 
Paul and Barnabas, in the year of Christ 46, and 
of Claudius 6 ; and not to have become the 
companion of Paul till about four years after ; 
at which time Silvanus also became his fellow- 
laborer. The same learned divine has also en- 
deavoured to prove that this was not the Second 
Epistle to tlie Thessalonians, their order being 
inverted — but on this point he is sufficiently 
refuted by its own internal evidence. 



Note 26.— Part XIL 

L\ the former Epistle (1 Thess. i. 3, 6-10. 
ii. 14. and iv. 9, 10.) the Apostle thanks God for 
the beginnings of their faith, love, and patience 
— in this and the following verses he mentions 
their increase. In 1 Thess. i. 9. he speaks of 
their ready reception of the Gospel. St. Paul 
and his fellow-laborers now glory in them. 



Note 27.— Part XIL 

Dr. MACK^'IGHT has very satisfactorily 
proved, against Grotius, Locke, and others, in 
his Preface to this Epistle, that St Paul and 
the other apostles did not expect the day of 
judgment in their own age. 



Note 28.— Part XII. 

POPERY THE PREDICTED APOSTACT. 

WHEPf the religious opinions of a large body 

of the community have become the subject of 
frequent discussion in the legislature of a coun- 
try, the judgment which the theological student 
may either form or express, concerning those 



340* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII. 



opinions, will unavoidably appear to connect 
itself with the political discussions of the day. 
In considering this passage of Scripture, and 
in adopting that interpretation which Benson 
and various other Protestant commentators have 
given of St. Paul's prophecy of the apostacy from 
the purity of the Church, and of the power of 
the Man of Sin, I have no wish to obtrude my 
opinion on the political question, whether the 
state would be justified in granting legislatorial 
privileges to a certain class of subjects ; I con- 
fine myself to the religious or theological part 
of the question, as all Protestants ought in some 
measure to consider it, and cautiously avoid any 
further allusion to the political part of the subject. 

The rapid increase of the grossest supersti- 
tions of popery within the last half century has 
rendered it an imperious duty on all who are 
cpnvinced of its fatal tendency, to examine its 
pretensions, and expose their danger and fallacy. 
This system of error has extended so widely 
among mankind — it has prevailed so many cen- 
turies — its characteristics are so opposite to 
those which distinguished the Church of Jeru- 
salem, the perfect model of a Church (as 
Churches ought to be established among every 
nation), that we may justly suppose the Spirit 
of prophecy, which instructed his servants the 
apostles in the things that were to take place 
in his Church till the second advent, would 
have related to them the principal features of 
this chief corruption of Christianity. Many 
passages are to be found which, in the opinion 
of the Protestant divines, and before them of 
the early opponents of the corruptions of the 
Church of Rome, fully and satisfactorily con- 
firm this opinion. The objectors to the Prot- 
estant interpretation of the passages in question 
affirm, that they are merely descriptive of the 
various sects and heresies which disgraced the 
Church of Christ in the days of the apostles. 
But this solution would by no means set the 
controversy at rest. Even if we suppose that 
the Apostle did not prophesy the rise and pro- 
gress of the Church of Rome, but merely of 
various sects of Gnostics, &c., his condemnation 
of the practices and opinions of those sects 
would be still our warning against similar cus- 
toms and errors wherever they prevail. If, for 
instance, St. Paul, in his Epistle to Timothy, 
censures those teachers in a Church who forbid 
to marry ; the Gnostics, or other heretics, who 
taught this absurdity, are not more certainly 
condemned on this account than the Church of 
Rome, which still enforces the same unrequired 
austerity : and the same mode of reasoning is 
applicable to various false doctrines, which 
need not at present be enumerated. 

It is not, however, against particular errors 
only, that we may thus anticipate the denun- 
ciations of the Spirit of prophecy. As the 
ancient " dark idolatries of alienated Judah" 
were described and condemned as systems of 



delusion and falsehood ; so also has the same 
Spirit of prophecy described the mass of errors 
which characterize the corrupt and seducing 
superstitions of the unaltered and unalterable 
Church of Rome. One of the principal pas- 
sages which delineates this church, is this 
second chapter of the Second Epistle to the 
Thessalonians, which has been amply discussed 
by Dr. Benson. This laborious writer has 
examined, with true liberality and candor, the 
various interpretations of this chapter, and 
concludes with embracing the general opinion 
of the Protestant writers, that the Church of 
Rome is described and condemned by the 
Spirit of prophecy, in the language of St. 
Paul. As the subject in the present, and 
indeed in every age, till the second coming of 
Christ, is of so much importance to all Chris- 
tians, I shall freely subjoin a few of the prin- 
cipal topics of his admirable dissertation, with 
their corroboration from other authors. 

He begins with examining the various inter- 
pretations which have been given of this 
prophecy. Grotius would persuade us that 
Caius Caligula, the Roman emperor, was here 
predicted ; whereas this Epistle was written 
about twelve years after his time. 

Dr. Hammond would refer it to Simon Magus 
and the Gnostics ; but the former had already 
appeared, and was therefore already revealed. 
Others suppose it foretells the persecution 
of the Christians by tlie unbelieving Jews, 
before the destruction of Jerusalem. But 
as the other parts of the prophecy do not 
agree with tliis interpretation ; the unbelieving 
Jews never having been united under one head, 
or leader, or never having been able to exalt 
themselves even to imperial dignity, much 
more above " all that is called God, sitting in 
the temple of God, showing himself to be 
God ;" this explanation entirely fails. 

Dr. Whitby, and some others, would have 
the unbelieving Jews who revolted from the 
Romans, and the Jewish converts who apos- 
tatized from the Jewish to the Christian re- 
ligion, to be here signified. Whereas it is 
evident that one sort of apostacy is only here 
mentioned — an apostacy from the true re- 
ligion — as the word (xTzoarcala implies in other 
parts of Scripture. The Apostle confines 
himself to this point, and intimates that this 
apostacy would be carried on and supported by 
pretended miracles, and all the deceit of un- 
righteousness, and it would prevail among 
those persons " who believed not the truth," 
but preferred a lie, and " had pleasure in un- 
righteousness." 

The unbelieving Jews could not have apos- 
tatized from the Christian religion, because 
they had never embraced it — Mahomet never 
professed the Christian religion, he therefore 
could not be called an apostate. This predic- 
tion, however, has been considered as relating 



Note 28.] 



ON THE 11. EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 



*341 



to him, as he was tlie cause of the apostacy of 
many Christians, and his religion was partly 
built upon the ruin and corruption of Chris- 
tianity ; on which account he is said by some 
" to sit in the temple of God." It is likewise 
stated that Mahomet was also a man of sin — a 
prophet — (and in allusion to the prophecy of 
St. John, which is considered the same as that 
of St. Paul,) that Constantinople, the residence 
of the Grand Turk, his successor, stands upon 
seven hills. To this it is answered, that Rome 
also stands upon seven hills — and that Con- 
stantinople is not the city which in St. John's 
time reigned over the kings of the earth; 
whereas these two marks are both united in 
St Jolm's prophetic description of the spiritual 
Babylon. (Rev. xvii. 9. xviii. 2.) The man of 
sin was also •' to come after the working of 
Satan, with all powers, and signs, and lying 
wonders." That is, with open and great pre- 
tensions to miracles, wliereas few miracles are 
ascribed to Mahomet, which are entirely re- 
nounced by their learned men ; and Mahomet, 
in his Koran, lays no claim to the power of 
working miracles. 

The writers in the communion of the Church 
of Rome would refer tliis prophecy to the 
reformation from popery, to the falling away of 
the Protestants from the Church of Rome ; 
whereas it does not appear that there was a 
Christian Church at Rome, when St. Paul wrote 
his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, nor 
are the Protestants united under one common 
and visible head upon earth ; nor do they pre- 
tend to establish their doctrine by miracles. 

As we have rejected these interpretations, 
the next thing is to point out the Apostle's 
meaning ; and I think it may be said, that no 
prophecy could be more exactly accomplished 
than this has been in the bishop of Rome, and 
his adherents. This apostacy is plainly of a 
religious nature, and has been predicted by 
Daniel in the old dispensation, by St. Paul in 
the new, and by St. John in the Revelation, 
(chap. xvii. 1.) In the original it is distinguished 
as the apostacy ; the article being added to give 
it strength, on wiaich account it is supposed to 
allude to some previous prophecy, and that St. 
Paul referred to the prediction of Daniel (chap, 
vii. 25. and xi. .36.) is clear, as he has adopted 
the same ideas and expressions. The article is 
also placed before "the man of sin," (or, as it 
may be rendered, "the lawless one,") to give it 
a similar emphasis. This phrase may relate 
either to a single man, or a succession of men ; 
but as it was used in Daniel in relation to tlie 
latter, there are good grounds for considering 
it in the same sense here. The comparison 
between these two prophecies of Daniel and 
St Paul is well given by Macknight in the 
following passages. 

2 Thess. ii. 3, 4. " And that man of sin be 
revealed, the son of perdition. ^Vho opposeth 
VOL. II. 



and exalteth himself above all that is called 
God, or that is worshipped ; so that he, as God, 
sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself 
that he is God." 

Dan. vii. 21, 25. " And the same horn made 
war with the saints, and prevailed against 
them." — "And he shall speak great words 
against the Most High, and shall wear out the 
saints of the Most High." 

Dan. xi. 36. " And the king shall do accord- 
ing to his will ; and he shall exalt himself and 
magnify loimself above every god, and shall 
speak marvellous things against the God of 
gods." 

Dan. viii. 25. " He shall also stand up against 
the Prince of princes." 

2 Thess. ii. 7, 8. " Only he who now letteth, 
will let, until he be taken out of the way. And 
then shall that Wicked be revealed." 

Dan. vii. 8. " I considered the horns, and 
behold there came up among them another 
little horn, before whom there were three of 
the first horns plucked up by the roots." 

1 Tim. iv. 1, 3- " Giving heed to seducing 
spirits, and doctrines of devils." — " Forbidding 
to marry." 

Dan. vii. 25. " And he shall thinlc to change 
times and laws : and they shall be given into 
his hand." See Dan. viii. 24. 

Dan. xi. 38. " In his state he shall honor the 
God of forces" (Mauzzin), gods who are pro- 
tectors, that is, tutelary angels and saints. 

Dan. xi. 37. "Neither shall lie regard the 
God of his fathers, nor the desire of women." 

2 Thess. ii. 8. " Whom the Lord shall con- 
sume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall 
destroy with the brightnes.? of his coming." 

Dan. vii. 11. "I beheld then, because of the 
voice of the great words wMch tlie horn spake : 
I beheld, even till the beast was slain, and his 
body destroyed, and given to the burning 
flame." 

Ver. 26. "And they shall take away his 
dominion to consume and destroy it to the end." 

Dan. viii. 25. " He shall be broken without 
hand." 

It will be now necessary to examine the par- 
ticular clauses of this extraordinary prediction. 
The Apostle first foretells, that, before the 
coming of the Lord, there will be a falling 
away, or an apostacy. And, accordingly, we 
find the members of the Church of Rome, in- 
stead of relying on one Mediator between God 
and man, have substituted the doctrine of 
demons, that is, of the spirits of men, who 
have departed this life ; and, not considering 
the atonement and intercession of Christ all- 
sufficient, they make to themselves other media- 
tors and other advocates — invoking the Virsrin 
Mary and the saints, more frequently than God 
himself. They have succeeded Rome in the 
seat of empire, and have also apostatized to hei 
imagery and idolatry. When the grand apos- 

*CC* 



342* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII. 



tacy had arrived at its height, then was to be 
revealed one who should be deservedly called 
the man of sin, on account of his wickedness, 
and the son of perdition, because of the great 
and terrible punishment which should eventually 
be inflicted on him. 

The man of sin began accordingly to be 
revealed as soon as the Roman emperors and 
the heathen magistrates lost their power. As 
soon as Constantine became a Christian, the 
power of heathen Rome was restrained, and 
the Christians ceased to be persecuted ; then it 
was that " the man of sin" gradually exalted 
himself; then it was that the worship of saints 
and angels was introduced, robbing God of the 
honor due to his name. Celibacy was recom- 
mended by feigned visions of angels, and cer- 
tain kinds of meats prohibited ; miraculous 
cures were attributed to the bones and relics of 
the martyrs ; and departed spirits returned to 
earth, in order to prescribe particular forms and 
ceremonies, for the relief or mitigation of their 
sufferings in purgatory. By these decrees, and 
by these artifices, " the man of sin" was first 
revealed. 

The Apostle continues by describing him as 
opposing, and exalting himself above, all that is 
called God ; sitting in the temple of God. The 
word S-sdg, used here without an article (in 
opposition to 6 Qebg, the supreme Deity), sig- 
nifies a god, a name given in Scripture to 
princes and magistrates (Ps. Ixxxii. 6.), and par- 
ticularly to the Roman emperors, whose title in 
the time of the Apostle was aeSuardg, and who 
are here signified by aiSuafia, as God is by the 
word 9hoi>. If, then, we thus interpret the 
word, St. Paul here declares that " the man of 
sin" would exalt himself above all the great of 
the earth, and even above the imperial dignity. 
And in this point of view, all history bears 
record of the signal fulfilment of this prophecy. 
The bishop of Rome has been styled a god, 
who ought not to be called to an account ; the 
supreme deity upon earth, by whom princes 
reign, and upon whom the right of kings de- 
pends. The bishop of Rome has dethroned 
princes, absolved subjects from their allegiance, 
and made emperors his vassals ; treading upon 
the neck of one king, and kicking off" the im- 
perial crown of anotlier with his foot. He sits 
also in the temple of God, showing himself 
that he is god. The temple of God is here 
supposed to signify the Christian Church, as it 
is not probable it referred to the temple of 
Jerusalem, whose approaching destruction was 
known to the Apostle. By this prophetic inti- 
mation we are taught to expect that " the man 
of sin" would profess himself a Christian ; and 
we consequently find that the bishop of Rome 
exalted himself above all other bishops, and 
centred in himself all ecclesiastical authority 
and influence, claiming infallibility, and anathe- 
matizing all those who did not fall into his un- 



principled plans and intrigues ; till at last he 
succeeded in establishing a spiritual and civil 
tyranny over the whole Christian world. 

The obstacle that impeded the revealing of 
" the man of sin" is generally supposed by the 
ancient fathers to be the Roman empire. (See 
also Rev. xiii. and xvii.) The cautious manner 
in which the Apostle hints at it, avoiding even 
the mention of the restraining power in writing, 
although he had previously declared it to the 
Thessalonians, strengthens this suggestion. 
And it is a remarkable circumstance, that so 
much was this the general opinion of the primi- 
tive Christians, that they were accustomed to 
pray for the continuance of the Roman empire, 
being well convinced that the moment the 
Roman empire was dissolved, " the man of sin" 
would be revealed. That this part of the 
prophecy was not misunderstood is clear from 
the event ; for, in proportion as the power of 
the empire decreased, the power of the Church 
increased, till at last "the man of sin" was fully 
revealed. The Roman empire, the obstructing 
power, began to be " taken out of the way," 
when the barbarous nations made their first in- 
cursions ; after which the western empire was 
divided into the ten kingdoms, prefigured in 
Daniel's vision as the ten horns of the fourth 
beast, when the bishop of Rome made himself 
its sovereign, and became at the same time the 
predicted little horn which had " the eyes of a 
man, and a mouth speaking great things." In 
process of time he obtained possession of three 
of the divided kingdoms of the western empire ; 
fulfilling the prophecy of the little horn pluck- 
ing up by the roots three of the horns of Daniel's 
fourth beast ; and he assumed the title of the 
Vicar of Christ, and pretended that Christ had 
transferred to him all his divine authority. But 
unlike his holy Master, he called down fire from 
heaven on all who ventured to differ from or 
oppose him ; and by his cruel and bloody per- 
secutions, he wore out the saints of the Most 
High, and was drunk with the blood of the 
saints and martyrs of Jesus, (Rev. xvii. 6.) He 
assumed uncontrollable and supreme power, 
inventing new ceremonies and conditions of 
salvation, openiug the gates of heaven, and 
shutting them at his pleasure, according to his 
own avarice and caprice, or to the wealth and 
relative situation of the supplicant, " making 
the word of God of none effect by their tradi- 
tions." The coming of " the man of sin," or 
the lawless one, is " after the working (or en- 
ergy) of Satan, with all power and signs and 
lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of 
unrighteousness." This prediction is abund- 
antly fulfilled by the records of every age, 
which fully prove the many pretences to mira- 
cles made by the Church of Rome. This 
Church, indeed, from its earliest infancy, has 
been supported by feigned miracles and visions, 
impostures and artifices of various kinds. Even 



Note 29.-3].] 



ON THE II. EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 



*343 



in our own day the miracles of the Church of 
Rome have revived. The mystery of iniquity, 
we read 2 Thess. ii. 7., began to show itself in 
the Apostle's time ; idolatry was stealing into 
the Church, (1 Cor. x. 14.), and a voluntary 
humility and worshipping of angels, (Colos. ii. 
18.), adulterating the word of God, (2 Cor. ii. 
17. iv. 2.), a vain observation of festivals, and 
distinctions of meat, (Gal. iv. 10. 1 Cor. viii. 8.) 
with many other innovations and corruptions. 
May we not add to these beginnings, that 
system of ignorance which was essential to the 
success of the Romish superstitions and ob- 
ser\-ances, which induced the necessity of keep- 
ing the Scriptures from the common people ; 
and had not St. Paul suspected that this Epistle 
would not have been read to all the Church of 
Thessalonica, is it probable he would have com- 
manded it to have been done in so solemn a 
manner ? We, who have lived to see the won- 
derful accomplishment of this prophecy, by the 
concurrent testimony of history, must consider 
it as another evidence of the truth of Revela- 
tion, and one safeguard against the attacks and 
innovations of popery. It is the fashion, in- 
deed, of the present day, to make loud boasts 
of liberality and candor, and to suppose that 
the Church of Rome is too enlightened to retain 
any longer the former persecuting spirit, or more 
irrational dogmas. A great change is said to 
have taken place — But in what is the Church 
of Rome changed ? Has it abated any one of 
its lofty pretensions to infallibility, miracle, or 
the possession of exclusive truth? Has any 
council been called to repeal one objectionable 
dogma of their religious faith ? Has any bull 
from their spiritual father commanded them to 
prefer their allegiance to their sovereign, as 
Christian subjects, to their imaginary duty to 
the Roman pontiff.'' Are the poor allowed the 
free use of the Scripture ? Are they allowed 
to read and to meditate on the Word of Life ? 
The members of the Church of Rome are still 
kept in the same darkness, still bound by the 
same spiritual tyranny, and actuated, even at 
the present day, by the same mad, cruel, and 
ferocious fanaticism. They declare their 
Church unalterable, and are themselves un- 
altered. 

The causes which first compelled our ancestors 
to preserve their liberties and religion by vigilant 
jealousy of the members of the Church of Rome, 
exist in their original force — The Papist remains 
the same — the Protestant alone is changed, 
and has become, it is to be feared, too lukewarm 
and too indiiferent. Under the well-meant dis- 
guise of universal charity and toleration, he 
welcomes the enemy to the citadel w-ith bows 
and smiles. He feels himself enlightened, and 
supposes the Papist is equally so. He forgets 
that infallibility or unchangeableness is the 
very foundation of the creed of the Romanists, 
precluding thereby all possibility of reforma- 



tion. The errors of the Church of Rome are 
not merely to be attributed to the darkness and 
superstitions of any particular age, but are 
interwoven with the very frame-work of this 
corrupt religion. Unless the pages of history 
are written in vain, and the experience of the 
past is to direct us no longer, the statesmen of 
a Protestant country are required to preserve 
to the present generation, and to hand down 
unimpaired to our posterity, that code of laws 
which secures to the majority of the people of 
England a pure religion and well-defined liber- 
ties ; and provides also for a succession of rulers 
who shall maintain the same, so long as it shall 
please God to continue the power, the splendor, 
or even the existence of the monarchy. 



Note 29.— Part XIL 

I?* his First Epistle to the Thessalonians, 
chap. iv. 11, 12., St. Paul had exhorted some 
disorderly Christians not to be unruly and sloth- 
ful. He here enlarges on the subject, and 
reproves them more sharply, as not having 
attended to his former admonitions. Some 
understand by "the tradition which they had 
received," the example of St. Paul and his com- 
panions. Perhaps he had both these arguments 
in view ; in either case the reading remains the 
same. 



Note 30.— Part XII. 

This verse appears to corroborate the idea 
already hinted at in chap. ii. ver. 2. which 
seems to intimate that the Thessalonians had 
been led to misinterpret St. Paul's Epistle by 
some spurious writing, as he here teaches them 
how to distinguish his genuine Epistles from 
those which might be forged. Had there been 
no letters of this description, tokens of authen- 
ticity would have been unnecessary. 



Note 31.— Part XII. 

From the accounts of Roman authors, Gallio 
appears to have been a man eminent for his 
talents and literary attainments ; and his char- 
acter is represented in the most amiable light. 
His conduct on this occasion deserves a mixture 
of applause and censure : his liberal turn of 
mind was evinced in his refusal to punish a 
man for his religious opinions only, and his 
willingness to permit the Jews to think as they 
pleased, and settle their disputes among them- 
selves. We must, however, reprobate this 
contemptuous indifference with which he treated 



344* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII. 



matters of such stupendous moment. Sosthenes, 
the ruler of the synagogue, appears to have 
been favorably disposed towards Paul. On this 
account, perhaps, the Jews incited the Greeks 
to beat him. Some, however, suppose, that 
this Sosthenes was one of the most clamorous 
among the Jews for the punishment of Paul, 
and that the Greeks, standing round the tribunal 
inflicted this punishment on the ringleader, as 
the most effectual way of quelling the tumult. 
Gallio was to blame for permitting this violation of 
the laws immediately under his own eyes. — See 
Witsius, Meletem. Lddens. cap. vii. sect. iv. &c. 



Note 32.— Part XII. 
on the date of the epistie to titus. 

The Epistle to Titus is placed thus early in 
the arrangement of the apostolic letters, on the 
united authority of Dr. Hales and Michaelis. 
The arguments of these eminent theologians 
appear to be strengthened by the consideration 
tlmt there is no allusion to St. Paul's sufferings 
or approaching death — to his age or imprison- 
ment : all of which things are frequently men- 
tioned in these Epistles which we have more 
decided reason for referring to a late period of 
the Apostle's life. The verbal harmony be- 
tween this Epistle and that to Timothy may be 
accounted for from the circumstance, that they 
were both written on similar occasions, and for 
the same purposes. — Compare 1 Tim. i. 1-.3. with 
Titus i. 4, .5.; 1 Tim. i. 4. with Tit. i. 14.; 
1 Tim. iv. 12. with Tit. ii. 7-15. ; and 1 Tim. iii. 
2-4. with Tit. i. 6-8. 

Titus was a Greek, and one of Paul's early 
converts, who attended him and Barnabas to 
the first council of Jerusalem, A. D. 49, and 
afterwards on his ensuing circuit. (Gal. ii. 1-3. 
Acts XV. 2.) 

During St. Paul's stay at Corinth for a year 
and a half, the first time, about A. D. 51, and 
A. D. 52, it is most likely that he made a voyage 
to the island of Crete, in order to preach the 
Gospel there ; and took with him Titus as an 
assistant, whom he left behind him to regulate 
the concerns of that Church. (Tit. i. 5.) 
Shortly after his return, probably to Corinth, 
he wrote this letter of instructions to Titus, 
how to conduct himself in his episcopal 
office, with directions to come back to him at 
Nicopolis, where he meant to winter. (Tit. iii. 
12.) The superscription supposes that this was 
Nicopolis, a city of Macedonia, but this is cer- 
tainly a mistake, for by this is meant, Nicopolis 
on the river Nessus, in Thrace, built by the 
Emperor Trajan, after this period. Further, 
St. Paul, when he wrote, was just returned 
from a voyage, therefore the city must have 
been not far from the sea ; hence it could not 



have been Nicopolis ad Hasmum, or ad Istrum, 
though so imagined by Theophylact : still less 
the Nicopolis in Armenia, or any other in the 
middle of Asia Minor. Neither might it be 
the Nicopolis in Egypt, near Alexandria. His 
residence in that case would have been prob- 
ably in Alexandria itself. The most celebrated 
city of this name lay in Epirus, opposite the 
promontory of Actium, and wasbuUtby Augus- 
tus, on his victory over Antony. This appears 
to be the Nicopolis here intended. 

The Acts are, indeed, equally silent on St. 
Paul's visit to Nicopolis ; and many have sup- 
posed that both events took place after the 
close of that history ; but the time between his . 
first and second imprisonment at Rome scarcely 
admits of it. 

It is certain that St. Paul made many voyages 
before the close of the history of the Acts, 
when Luke was not with him, and which he 
has not recorded, as 2 Cor. xi. 26., an Epistle 
Avritten soon after his departure from Ephesus, 
(Acts XX. 1.) It is probable that this Epistle to 
Titus was written before that Second Epistle to 
the Corinthians. 

St. Paul spent a year and a half at Corinth, 
(Acts xviii. 11.) and three years at Ephesus. 
If we are hence to suppose, that four years and 
a half were devoted to those two cities alone, 
the assertion (2 Cor. xi. 25.) is irreconcilabl 
with St. Luke's narrative. But that the Apos- 
tle did make an excursion during this interval, 
and returned to Corinth, appears from 2 Cor. 
xii. 14. xiii. 1. where he terms "the third time," 
what we usually call his second visit. If, then, 
St. Paul's voyage to Crete was from Corinth, 
the Nicopolis, where he passed the winter, and 
expected Titus, was certainly that in Epirus. 
It is true, that in returning from Crete, Epirus 
lay out of his way ; but he might have been 
driven there by a storm ; and perhaps suffered 
one of the three shipwrecks he has mentioned. 
In this case he would have passed the winter in 
that city, and " preached the Gospel," as he says 
(Rom. XV. 19.) "round about unto Illyricum," 
previous to his coming to Corinth the second 
time, when he wrote the Epistle to the Romans. 

That Apollos took part in the conversion of 
the Cretans agrees with this hypothesis, for 
Apollos appears to have come from Ephesus to 
Corinth, before St. Paul left that city. (Acts 
xviii. 24. and xix. 1.) It is most probable, there- 
fore, that St. Paul's voyage to Crete, his stay in 
Nicopolis, and his Epistle to Titus, all belonged 
to this period. The two other opinions, and the 
objections to them, may be seen in Michaelis. 

" This opinion of Michaelis," says Dr. Hales, 
"is much more probable than the period as- 
signed by Lardner, namely, daring Paul's second 
visit to Greece ; or the latest, by Paley (follow- 
ing the Bible chronology), during Paul's third 
visit, between the time of his leaving Rome the 
first time, until his return and martyrdom there. 



Note '32.\ 



ON THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. 



*345 



For the second circuit is described so particu- 
larly in the Acts, tliat there does not seem to 
be time or place for this voyage, and wintering 
at Nicopolis, and still less in the last circuit, as 
we may collect from the incidental account of 
it in the Second Epistle to Timothy, written by 
Paul during his second imprisonment at Rome, 
shortly before his death." 

Hence there is no date so controverted as 
that of this Epistle, according- to the different 
hypotheses of St. Paul's voyage to Crete. 
Michaelis reckons, that " in the chronological 
arrangement of St. Paul's Epistles, it should be 
placed between the Second Epistle to the 
Thessalonians (A. D. 52.), and the First Epistle 
to the Corinthians, (A. D. 57.) Accordingly it 
h here dated about the autumn of A. D. 53, sup- 
posing that Paul adhered to his intention of 
wintering that year at Nicopolis, whence he 
might have visited the regions of Epirus, Dal- 
matia, &c. bordering on Illyricum, which he 
notices, Rom. xv. 19. They are unnoticed in 
the Acts, and may therefore best be assigned to 
this early part of Paul's ministry, when there is 
fuU room for them." 

Lardner dates this Epistle A. D. 56 ; Barring- 
ton, A. D. 57 ; Whitby, Pearson, Paley, and the 
Bible Chronology, A. D. 65. 

Lardner, as usual, states his opinion with 
diffidence— "It appears to me," he observes, 
" very probable, that at this time Paul was in 
Illyricum and Crete ; but I cannot digest the 
order of his journeys, since St. Luke has not re- 
lated them."— (Vol. vi. p. 287.) And Michaelis 
has well described the gradual change of his 
opinion from the received till the last, in which 
he rested. " In the first edition of the Infro- 
ductio7i" he observes, " I described the Epistle 
to Titus as written after St. Patil's imprison- 
ment at Rome. In the second edition I wavered 
in this opinion. When I published the third 
edition, I thought it highly probable that the 
Epistle was written long before St. Paul's 
voyage as a prisoner to Italy (when he only 
touched at Crete, and the centurion rejected 
the advice of wintering there, Acts xxvii. 7-12.) 
and at present (in the fourth edition, 1780,) I 
have no doubt that this Epistle was written 
long before St. Paul's voyage as a prisoner, to 
Italy." Vol. iv. p. 32, Marsh's Translation. 

Paley, in his HoreB PaidincE, gives the fol- 
lowing hypothetic route, as he terms it, of the 
Apostle's last journey. 

" If we may be allowed to suppose that St. Paul, 
after his liberation at Rome, sailed into Asia, 
taking Crete in his way, and that from Asia and 
from Ephesus, the capital of that country, he pro- 
ceeded into Macedonia, and crossing this penin- 
sula, in his progress, came into the neighbour- 
hood of Nicopolis, we have a route which falls 
in with every thing. It e.tecutes the intention 
expressed by the Apostle of visiting Colosse 
Philemon, ver. 22.) and Philippi (Phil. ii. 24.) 
VOL. II. *44 



as soon as he should be set at liberty at Rome. 
It allows him to leave ' Titus at Crete,' (Tit. 
i. 5.), and'Timothy at Ephesus, as he went into 
Macedonia,'(l Tim. i. 3.), and to write to botli 
not long after, from the peninsula of Greece, 
and probably the neighbourhood of Nicopolis ; 
thus bringing together the dates of these two 
letters, and thereby accounting for that affinity 
between them, both in subject and language, 
which our remarks have pointed oat." 

" It is really a pity," says Dr. Hales, " that so 
simple and consistent an hypothesis throughout, 
including a great number of independent cir- 
cumstances without contradiction, should be 
destitute of solid foundation." 

The Second Epistle to Timothy (which Paley 
acknowledges was written during Paul's second 
imprisonment), in the last chapter, completely 
overturns his hypothesis. 

1. There is no notice taken there of any 
voyage by sea to Asia: but not to rest on tliis 
negative argument, let us trace the actual route 
through Corinth, Troas, and Miletus, and proba- 
bly through Colosse and Philippi. 

2. Titus could not, then, be left in Crete, for 
he was actually in Dalmatia, near Illyricum, 
(2 Tim. iv. 10.) 

3. Timothy was not left at Ephesus, because 
the Apostle did not visit Ephesus ; he sailed by 
it on his last journey to Jerusalem (Acts xx. 16.), 
though he stopped at Miletus, in its neighbour- 
hood, and there told the presbyters of Ephesus, 
whom he sent for, that they should see his face 
no more, which afflicted them with great gTief, 
(Acts XX. 17-38.) Paley supposes that the 
Apostle said this rather despondingly, than by the 
Spirit, (p. 326.) But we can see no good reason 
for the contrary ; for what inducement could he 
have to revisit a city where he had been already 
so ill treated and persecuted, only to provoke 
fresh persecution ? When he was forced to 
quit Ephesus, in the uproar raised by the shrine- 
makers of Diana, (Acts xix. 25-40.), he seems 
to have taken a last farewell of them there 
((icrnua-'ifiEvog), Acts xx. 1. 

Paid, it is true, left Trophimus sick at Miletus, 
the last time, (2 Tim. iv. 20.) But why should 
he communicate this intelligence, if Timothy 
was now at Ephesus, in that neighbourhood, es- 
pecially as Trophimus was an Ephesian (Acts 
xxi. 29.), and must have had intercourse with 
his friends there ? But Timothy was not at 
Ephesus, he was rather in the northern part of 
Asia, in Pontus, perhaps with Aquila and 
Priscilla, (2 Tim. iv. 19.) who were of that 
country, (Acts xviii. 2.) And fi-om Pontus, 
Timothy's route to Corinth, where Paul left 
Erastus, (2 Tim. iv. 20.), lay directly through - 
Troas, whence he was commissioned to bring 
with him the letter-case or trunk, the books, 
and especially the parchments, which the Apos- 
tle had left behind him there, (2 Tim. iv. 13.) 

4. Nicopolis, near Actium, was quite out of 



346* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XII. 



the route to Rome from Corinth, therefore the 
Apostle did not visit it, and certainly had not 
time to winter there on his last journey. 

5. The resemblance between the Epistles to 
Titus and Timothy, which Paley, indeed, has 
ingeniously and skilfully traced, does not re- 
quire that they should be written about the 
same time. It may naturally be ascribed to the 
sameness of their situations and circumstances 
in the discharge of their respective episcopal 
functions*. 



Note 33.— Part XII. 

In this Epistle to Titus, a complete and per- 
fect rule for the formation and government of 
.Christian Churches is laid down. A Christian 
teacher goes into a country with which he has 
no natural alliance, and by authority delegated 
to him by an inspired a])ostle, he is appointed 
to ordain a class of men for the public service 
of the Church. "The less is blessed of the 
greater." As Titus set apart the elders of the 
Cretan Churches, we infer that elders are to be 
set apart for the service of other Churches, and 
by a similar authority. If Scripture is given to 
us for use and instruction, we are required to 
be guided by its directions. If, however, as 
we are sometimes told, the circumstances of 
mankind are such in the present day, that 
Scriptural precedents are to direct us no longer, 
we declare one part, at least, of Scripture to be 
useless ; and that part, too, which the primitive 
Church, and, after it. Christians in all ages, 
have esteemed most valuable. 



Note 34.— Part XII. 

This is the same person who is mentioned in 
the Epistle to the Ephesians, chap. vi. ver. 21., 
and in that to the Colossians, chap. iv. ver. 7. 



Note 35.— Part XII. 

It is uncertain whether St. Luke here refers 
to St. Paul or Aquila. Witsius supposes the vow 
to relate to Aquila, as being more zealous of 
the Jewish rites and ceremonies than St. Paul, 
who refused to consider the Mosaic Law as any 
longer binding. Others, however, would rather 
interpret it of St. Paul ; and impute to him the 



i> See Dr. Hales's Analysis of Chronology, vol. 
ii part ii. p. 1118.— Elsley, vol. iii. p. 297.— Mi- 
chaelis, vol. iv. p. 32. — Paley's Hora Paulina, 
chap. xiii. No. 2. 



observance of a vow from prudential motives 
that the Jews might not consider him as the 
enemy of the Law of Moses. Witsius observes, 
that it is absurd to suppose the Apostle would 
bind himself by that yoke, which he was so 
anxious to break away from the neck of others ; 
but that he made certain compliances with the 
legal ritual, to avoid giving offence to the more 
ignorant or prejudiced among his countrymen. 
See Acts xxi. 26. This also was the opinion 
of Calvin. 

Many commentators understand this vow to 
be that of the Nazarite. To the objection that 
the Nazarite was compelled to shave his hair at 
the door of the tabernacle, when the Israelites 
were in the wilderness, and in the temple when 
they had taken possession of Canaan (Numb, 
vi. 18.), Grotius replies, that these laws, as well 
as many others respecting sacrifices, were not 
binding upon the Jews out of Canaan. The 
testimony of Maimonides is quoted to prove 
this point. Yet the difficulty in question 
seemed so great to Salmasius, that he endeav- 
oured to show that the vow could not have been 
that of the Nazarite ; but that either St. Paul 
or Aquila had made a vow that they would not 
shave the head till they had arrived at Cenchrea. 
This, however, is very improbable ; it was use- 
less in itself, and not required by existing 
circumstances. 

A very curious interpretation of the passage 
is given by the learned Petit. He would refer 
the words " for he had a vow," not to the pre- 
vious cutting off of the hair, but to a previous vow 
wliich the Apostle had before made, which was 
now the cause of his proceeding to Jerusalem. 
He supposes that St Paul, while he resided 
among the Corinthians, let his hair grow : long 
hair being much valued among the Greeks. 
But when he was about to return to Jerusalem, 
he cut off his hair, and prepared himself for his 
own country. Among the Greeks he had be- 
come a Greek, and among the Jews he showed 
himself a Jew, 1 Cor. ix., that he might by all 
means win them to Christ'^. 

The vow, by others, is supposed to have been 
the same as that mentioned by Josephus. Be- 
renice, he tells us, went to Jerusalem to perform 
her vows to God. For it was the custom with 
those who had labored under any disease, or 
had met with difficulties and afflictions, to pass 
thirty days in prayer before they sacrificed their 
victims ; during which they abstained from 
wine, women, and shaving the hair. The cus- 
tom prevailed among the heathen, of offering 
the hair to the gods after any great calamity''. 



' Witsius, Meletem. Leidens. de Vit. Pauli, cap. 
vii. sect. 15, &c. 

<* See the whole subject discussed in Kuinoel and 
Witsius. 



Note 36.— 1.-4. 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*347 



Note 36.— Part XII. 

It does not seem necessary to make any 
observations on the condition of the Christian 
Church at this period. The very fact of St. 
Paul's journeying from Church to Church, and 
province to province, to superintend the con- 
verts, implies the only truth which it is at all 
necessary to prove ; that the ministers or elders 
of the Churches were ordained, and the Churches 
themselves directed and ruled, by a power 
which was superior to that of the stationary 
teachers. If the rulers of the Church of Christ 



had been as anxious and as clamorous for truth, 
during the last three centuries, as they have 
been for liberty, liberality, toleration, or any 
other popular cry, the worshippers of Christ 
would have been more united against the 
ancient superstition which preceded, and the 
unscriptural innovations which followed, the 
Reformation. Toleration and candor are the 
second class of Christian blessings. Truth 
and union are the first. That Church and 
nation alone are happy in which they flourish 
together. 



PART XIII. 



Note 1.- Part XIII. 

In one of the early numbers of the Quarterly 
Review is a very curious article, in which an 
attempt is made to prove the identity of the 
Apollos of the Acts, with Apollonius of Ty- 
anea. 



Note 2.— Part XIII. 

The publicity with which the apostles 
preached the new religion is justly considered 
a decisive proof of their conviction of its truth. 
They uniformly appealed to those audiences 
who were most capable of examining the evi- 
dences of Christianity, and were at the same 
time prejudiced against its doctrines. 

Even after the crucifixion of our Lord, the 
apostles and believers went to the temple, the 
most public place, and in the most public 
manner taught and worked miracles. Jerusa- 
lem, the seat of the doctors, the judges of 
religion, was the first place in which, by the 
command of their Lord, the disciples preached 
Christ crucified. They were therefore not 
afraid to have their cause tried by the most 
rigid test of Scripture, and in the very spot too 
where that Scripture was best understood. 

When the same apostles carried this Gospel 
to heathen countries, did they go to the villages 
among the less informed, or comparatively 
ignorant Greeks, in order to form a party, and 
protect themselves by the favor of the multi- 
tude ? They went to Csesarea, to Antioch, to 
Thessalonica, to Athens, to Corinth, to Ephe- 
sus, to the very places where learning flourished 
most, where sciences were best cultivated ; 
where imposture was most likely to be detected, 



and where the secular power existed in the 
most despotic manner, and could at once have 
crushed them, if they could have been proved 
to be impostors, or if they had not been under 
the immediate protection of Heaven ; for it is 
evident that these holy men feared no rational 
investigation of their doctrines. 

They preached Christ crucified, where it was 
the most solemn interest of the Jews to dis- 
prove their doctrine, that they might exculpate 
themselves from the murder of Jesus Christ. 
They preached the same Christ, and the vanity 
of idolatry, where idolatry existed in the pleni- 
tude of its power ; and where all its interests 
required it to make the most desperate and for- 
midable stand against those innovators. See 
Dr. Clarke's note. 



Note 3.— Part XIIL 

Thet had not heard of the miraculous descent 
of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. 



Note 4.— Part XIII. 

Lightfoot was of opinion, that the school 
in which St. Paul preached was a Beth Mid- 
rash, in which the Jews were instructed. Ros- 
enmliller, on the contrary, with whom Kuinoel 
agrees, supposes this to be improbable, as St. 
Paul had been ejected from the synagague on 
account of the Jews ; and those who attended 
him -would, consequently, have separated 
themselves from the Jewish assemblies, into a 
place set apart from them. Suidas mentions a 
sophist of the name of Tyrannus — aocfuczi-^; — 



3-18* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIIL 



TTBol ar&CTfuv Kul diaioiaewg Uyov ^iSUcx Sixa. 
Whether this was the person referred to in the 
Acts is uncertain. 



Note 5.— Part XIII. 

The study of magic was prosecuted with so 
much zeal at Ephesus, that Ephesian incanta- 
tions were proverbial ; and the " Ephesian let- 
ters " were certain words, which were believed 
to have sovereign efficacy in charms and invo- 
cations. About this time magic, although for- 
bidden by the Mosaic Law, was held in much 
esteem among the Jews, who excused them- 
selves for its practice by ascribing the books 
they retained on this subject to their King 
Solomon. " The vagabond Jews " here men- 
tioned had, in all probability, been long engaged 
in the pursuit of magical rites and incantations ; 
but finding that the name of Jesus possessed 
power infinitely superior to any they could com- 
mand, they attempted a trial of its efficacy in 
the present instance, using it as a substitute 
for their usual forms of exorcism. The result 
clearly proved the vanity of magic, and demon- 
strated beyond a doubt, that the miracles of the 
Gospel were perfectly independent of that un- 
holy science, and were performed by a power 
■which demons, while they trembled, acknowl- 
edged and obeyed. It served to convince the 
Ephesians of the truth of that Gospel which was 
attested by the manifest power of God, evidently 
working with the apostles. It brought magic 
into contempt in its strongest hold — the name 
of the Lord Jesus was magnified, and the people 
gave the best proofs of their contrition by burn- 
ing their curious volumes, see ver. 19. As the 
miracles of Moses baffled the pretensions of the 
Egyptian magicians, the same Holy Spirit, 
"from whom no secrets are hid," enabled the apos- 
tles to conquer the deceivers of their own age. 

The Ephesian characters, or letters, appear to 
have been amulets inscribed with strange or 
barbarous words. They were worn about the 
person for the purpose of curing diseases, ex- 
pelling demons, and preserving from evils of 
different kinds. The books brought together on 
this occasion were such as taught the science, 
manner of formation, use, <fcc. of these charms. 

Suidas, under ' Ecpiaia yQ&fj./iuTa, "Ephesian 
letters," gives us the following account : — 
" Certain obscure incantations. — When Milesius 
and Ephesius wrestled at the Olympic games, 
Milesius could not prevail, because his antag- 
onist had the Ephesian letters bound to his 
heels ; when this was discovered, and the letters 
taken away, it is reported that Milesius threw 
him thirty times." 

The information given by Hesychius is still 
more curious : — " The Ephesian letters, or char- 
acters, were formerly six, but certain deceivers 



added others afterwards ; and their names, ac- 
cording to report, were these : Askion, Katas- 
kion, Lix, Tetrax, Damnameneus, and Aisian 
It is evident that askiau signifies darkness ; 
kataskian, light ; lix, the earth ; tetrax, the year ; 
damnameneus, the sun ; and aisian, truth. 
These are holy and sacred things." The same 
account may be seen in Clemens Alexandrinus, 
Strom, lib. v. cap. 8. where he attempts to give 
the etymology of these different terms. These 
words served, no doubt, as the keys to different 
spells and incantations ; and were used in order 
to the attainment of a great variety of ends. 
The abraxas of the Basilidians, in the second 
century, were formed on the basis of the Ephe- 
sian letters ; for those instruments of incantation 
are inscribed with a number of words and 
characters equally as unintelligible as the 
above, and in many cases more so. — See Dr. 
Clarke's Comment, in loc. and Kuinoel. 



Note 6.— Part XIH. 

The date of this Epistle is ascertained from 
the Epistle itself. St. Paul, on leaving Corinth, 
as we have already seen, proceeded to Asia, 
and visited Ephesus, Jerusalem, and Antioch. 
Leaving this metropolis of the converted Gen- 
tiles, he passed through Galatia and Phrygia, 
and returned to Ephesus, where he remained 
three years. During the latter part of that 
time, St. Paul vnrote this Epistle to the Corin- 
thians, as we learn from the internal evidence 
of 1 Cor. xvi. 8., where we read, " I will tarry 
at Ephesus until Pentecost " — and that it was 
written at the preceding Passover, is further 
certain from the expression, {1 Cor. v. 7.) "Ye 
are unleavened," that is, " ye are now celebrat- 
ing the feast of unleavened bread." St. Paul 
left Ephesus, A. D. 57, in which year, therefore, 
tills Epistle must have been written. The sub- 
scription of the Epistle purports to have been 
written at Philippi, but as this assertion is at 
variance with the Apostle's words, it cannot be 
correct. Michaelis would explain the discrep- 
ancy by interpreting tlie word diiQ;(o/tai (xvi. 5.) 
to mean, " I am now travelling through," in- 
stead of "my route is through Macedonia," 
which it evidently means". Corinth itself was 
a place of considerable trade and opulence, 
containing a great variety of people — its inhab- 
itants were naturally quick and ingenious, and 
it abounded in philosophers and orators, who 
boasted of their human learning and accom- 
plishments. It was the residence also of many 
Jews, as we find in Acts xviii. 4., and to them 
St. Paul first addressed himself; but finding 
their opposition to the Gospel unremitting, he 
turns to the Gentiles (Acts xviii. 6.), of whom 

" See MiQbaelis, vol. iv. p. 43. 



Note 7.] 



ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 



*349 



the Church was principally composed. On St. 
Paul's departure from Corinth, lie was succeed- 
ed by Apollos, who preached the Gospel with 
great success, (Acts xviii. 24-28.), to whom also 
may be added Aquila and Sosthenes. (Acts 
xviii. 3. 1 Cor. i. 1.) False teachers, however, 
soon arising, the peace of the Church was 
disturbed, and great disorders ensued. Some 
Gentile converts set themselves up for teachers, 
confounding the Christian doctrine with their 
own philosophical speculations, and, out of 
respect to the oratory of Apollos, called them- 
selves his disciples. On the other hand, some of 
the Jewish converts contended strenuously for the 
observance of the Mosaic ceremonies, and styled 
themselves the followers of Cephas, that is, St. 
Peter, the apostle of the circumcision ; while 
many of the native Corinthian converts still 
continued addicted to that uncleanness and 
lasciviousness which had been common to them 
in their heathen state. Two factions were 
raised in the Church, aad the Apostle was called 
upon to fight against Jewish superstition, heath- 
en licentiousness, and all tlie sophistry of human 
learning, which were alike leagued against him, 
derogating from his authority. 

On hearing of the lamentable state of his 
newly-established Church, it appears that the 
Apostle sent Timothy and Erastus to the Corin- 
thians, as his messengers and fellow-laborers in 
the Gospel, intending shortly to visit tliem him- 
self (Acts xix. 22.) ; but before he could accom- 
plish this, he received messengers from Corinth, 
with a letter from the Church, requesting his 
advice and directions on various subjects, 
which had been the occasion of so many ani- 
mosities and divisions among them (1 Cor. vii. 
1, 16, 17.), and on which those who remained 
steadfast to him v.'ere anxious to obtain his 
opinion. This Epistle appears to have been 
written in answer to these applications — St. 
Paul vindicates his apostolic character from the 
aspersions of the opposing parties, for the satis- 
faction of those converts who still adhered to 
him — he endeavours to lessen the influence of 
the false teachers, by pointing out their errors 
and licentious conduct — -he applies suitable 
remedies to the various disorders and abuses 
which had so abundantly crept into the Church, 
and he gives satisfactory answers to all those 
points on which he had been consulted. 



Note 7.— Part XIII. 

ON THE ERRONEOUS TRAJ^SLATIOX OF VER. 9. 

Many have concluded, from this passage, 
that the Epistle of St. Paul, in which this pre- 
cept was contained, has perished. A little at- 
tention however to the passage will place the 
whole matter in a very different point of view. 
VOL. II. 



In the first place we must remark, that the 
words which are here translated " in an Epistle," 
ought, without any doubt, to be rendered, " in 
the," or " in this Epistle," such being the sense 
of the article in the original. Accordingly we 
find in the beginning of the chapter the very 
precept in question: " It is reported commonly 
that there is fornication among you." As, 
therefore, the company of such offenders, " like 
a little leaven, would leaven the whole lump," 
the Apostle commands them "to purge out 
therefore the old leaven," i. e. those fornicators 
whose society would corrupt and defile them. 
Lest, however, they should so far mistake the 
command, as to withdraw themselves entirely 
from the world, the Apostle explains himself, 
and informs them that his injunction does not 
extend to fornicators among the heathen, for 
with such, in the ordinary intercourse of life, 
they must associate, but that it applies only to 
their Christian brethren. 

"91 wrote to you in an Epistle not to com- 
pany with fornicators. 

" 10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators 
of this world, or with the covetous, or extortion- 
ers, or idolators, for then must ye needs go out 
of the world. 

" 11 But now have I written unto you not to 
keep company, if any man that is called a 
brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idol- 
ator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extor- 
tioner — with such an one no not to eai." 

As an additional proof of an error in the trans- 
lation, we are to observe, tliat the identical 
word which in the ninth verse is translated " I 
wrote," in the eleventh verse is translated, " I 
have written." Let the latter tense be adopted, 
as it ought to be, in both verses, and with the 
addition of the demonstrative article, the sense 
of the passage will be perfectly clear, without 
having recourse to the improbable supposition 
of any previous epistle. The following para- 
phrase of the verses in question, which very 
nearly coincides with that of Mr. Jones, may, 
perhaps, be thought satisfactory. 

"91 have written to you, a little above, 
(ver. 2.), in this letter, that you should separate 
yourselves from those who are fornicatora, and 
because you may be in danger of being polluted 
by them, that you should purge them out fi-om 
among you, as the old leaven, (ver. .5, 6.) 

" 10 Do not, however, mistake me : I do not 
mean that you should separate from such among 
the heathen as are fornicators, extortioners, or 
idolators : for if you were to do so, you might as 
well go out of the world. 

" 11 But this is the meaning of what I have 
written to you ; tliat you should not hold any 
communication, nor admit to the supper of the 
Lord, any among your Christian brethren, who 
are offenders in these points." 

There are many passages indeed in this 
Epistle which lead us to think that it was the 



350* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIII 



first communication of the Apostle to the Co- 
rinthians, since his departure from them. In 
the beginning both of the second and of the 
fifteenth chapters, he recalls their attention to his 
residence among them, and to what he then 
said and did, as if he had sent them nothing, 
which might either have refreshed their faith, 
or renewed their obligations. Now as in the 
Second Epistle, he refers perpetually to the 
first, we might fairly suppose that in this Epistle, 
which we now call the first, he would have re- 
ferred also, in a manner equally decisive, to his 
former one, if any such had ever existed. Such 
a reference, indeed, would have been especially 
necessary, as, if we suppose a former epistle, 
we must also suppose that the offence, against 
which he forewarned them, had been subse- 
quently repeated ; he would not, therefore, have 
failed to have charged them with direct diso- 
bedience to his positive command. So far, 
however, from this being the case, it appears 
from the very expressions which he uses, that 
he had but recently heard of the oflTence. This 
circumstance of itself militates against the sup- 
position of any previous epistle ; for if the crime 
had prevailed to such a degree, as to have 
already required the interference of the Apostle, 
he would not have written the second time, as 
if he had but just heard of the accusation from 
common report, "It is reported commonly that 
there is fornication among you." Besides, the 
very words in which he passes his judgment of 
excommunication against the offender (ver. 3, 
4, 5.), lead us to believe that it was now passed 
for the first time. The supposition, therefore, 
of a lost epistle is groundless ; nor do the words 
of the Apostle, when fairly examined, lead to 
any such conclusion'. 



Note 8.— Part XIII. 

ON THE PLENARY AND PERPETUAL INSPIRATION 

OF ST. PAUL. 

It has been said, by many very respectable 
divines, that St. Paul did not consider himself 
to have been always inspired, but that he has 
distinguished between those parts of his 
Epistles which were dictated by the Spirit of 
God, and those that were not. This is the 
only chapter in any of his Epistles where this 
may at first sight appear to be so ; a little 
attention, however, will show that the notion is 
founded on a total misconception of the mean- 
ing of the Apostle ; who, so far from denying 
his plenary inspiration, vindicates its existence 
to the very utmost. 

The Corinthians, it appears, had written to 

' See the late lamented Mr. Rennell's tract On 
Inspiration. Also the subject discussed in Home, 
and the references, p. 149-152. 



the Apostle to know his opinion, first, concern- 
ing marriage and the duties of the married 
state, with reference perhaps to the peculiar 
circumstances of the Church under its hnpend- 
ing troubles. To this inquiry the Apostle in 
substance replies, that a state of celibacy was 
good, but that as the power of continency was 
not universal, it was better for those who felt 
so disposed, to enter into the marriage state, 
and for those who were alreadj' married to live 
together. " But," says he, " I speak this by 
permission, and not of commandment," ver. 6. 
The sense of which words is clearly this, that 
the Gospel gave no command either with re- 
spect to marriage, or to an abstinence from 
it — but that it permitted every man to act as 
from his own self-experience he might think to 
be best. The commandment then, and the per- 
mission, have reference not to the writing of the 
Apostle, but to the conduct of the Corinthians. 

The next point, on which the Corinthians had 
consulted him, related to the preservation of 
the marriage bond among those Christians who 
were already married. " Unto the married I 
command, yet not I, but the Lord ; Let not the 
wife depart from her husband," &c. ver. 10- 
Here, then, there was no latitude of permission, 
but a positive command from Christ himself, in 
whose code of morality this preservation of the 
marriage bond formed a very new and striking 
feature. To Christ himself therefore he refers, 
who, Matt. V. 32., had most decisively forbidden 
all divorces excepting in the case of adultery. 
The Corinthians knew the command of the Lord 
too well to need that it should be either reiter- 
ated or reinforced by himself; nor was it any dis- 
paragement of his apostolical power to appeal 
to the words of his heavenly Master. 

The third point on which they had consulted 
him was this — whether the marriage of a be- 
liever and an unbeliever ought to be dissolved. 
This being a new case, he writes upon it at 
some length. " To the rest speak I, not the 
Lord, if any brother hath a wife that believeth 
not," &c. ver. 12. As therefore this was an 
extraordinary circumstance, respecting which 
Christ had not left any command, St. Paul pro- 
ceeds to supply the deficiency, and gives a very 
decisive opinion, that no separation ought to 
take place on the part of the believer. So far 
indeed is he from undervaluing his power, that 
in the fall persuasion and consciousness of his 
inspired authority, he concludes, " And so 
ordain I in all the Churches," ver. 17. 

The fourth point, upon which they had con- 
sulted him, respects those who had never yet 
been married. Upon this point he thus com- 
mences his decision : " Now concerning virgins, 
I have no commandment of the Lord ; yet I 
give my judgment, as one that hath obtained 
mercy to be faithful," ver. 25. As then Christ 
had left no command upon the point, tlie 
Apostle proceeds to decide the matter upon his 



JNoTE 9.-10.] ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 



*351 



own authority. But how does he decide it ? 
Not as an ordinary man, — but as " one who had 
obtamed mercy to be faithful." The word 
which is translated " faithful," signifies in this, 
as in various otlier places, "worthy of con- 
fidence or credit." The same term, both in 
the original and in tlie translation, is applied to 
God himself, 1 Cor. i. 9. "God is faithful." 
Again we find. Tit. i. 9. " The faithful word," 
i. e. the Gospel. In 1 Tim. i. 12. we find the 
word peculiarly applied to the inspired min- 
istry, " I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath 
enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, 
putting me into the ministry." When there- 
fore, St. Paul speaks of his having " obtained 
mercy of the Lord to be faithful," he asserts 
the grace and authority of an inspired minister 
and apostle, and as such he pronounces his 
solemn determination and judgment. 

Such a judgment was not his own private 
opinion and decree, but it was the determina- 
tion of a mind divinely assisted and inspired. 
This the Apostle again asserts, in the words 
with which the subject is concluded. " She is 
happier, if she so abide, after my judgment, 
and I think also that I have the Spirit of God." 
These latter words, which many have imagined 
to imply a doubt or hesitation in the mind of 
St. Paul respecting his inspiration, are, if 
rightly understood, the strongest affirmation of 
it. Some have considered the doubt as an iron- 
ical expression, with a view to put liis adver- 
saries to shame. But in reality he has ex- 
pressed no doubt or hesitation at all. The mis- 
conception has arisen from the double meaning 
of the English word " think ;" which ordinarily 
expresses a degree of uncertainty in the mind 
of the speaker, with respect to the fact in ques- 
tion. Whereas the word, in the original, sig- 
nifies " I am of opinion," or " I profess," imply- 
ing thereby a very high degree of confidence 
and self-persuasion. This language, therefore, 
so far from impeaching his inspiration, is even 
stronger than if it were only a simple affirma- 
tion of the fact. It is an asseveration upon the 
credit of his own personal knowledge and 
assurance. 

Before we dismiss this chapter from our con- 
sideration, we may remark two other circum- 
stances, which are both of importance with 
respect to our present inquiry. First, that when 
St. Paul says, " To the rest speak I, not the 
Lord," he refers to Christ personally, and to his 
ministry upon earth. The influence of the 
Holy Spirit is in these words neither mentioned 
nor alluded to. There is no distinction, there- 
fore, drawn between Paul when inspired, and 
Paul when uninspired ; nor is it asserted that 
in the one case he spoke with the Spirit, and 
in the other without it. The distinction is 
this — that in the one case there existed a di- 
rect command of Christ, but that in the other 
there did not. The inspiration of the Apostle, 



then, is not the point in question. We may 
remark, secondly, that in this chapter, as indeed 
in other places, the term " I speak," is applied 
by St. Paul to his writing. This is a strong 
argument, if any indeed were wanting, for con- 
sidering his preacliing and his writings as armed 
with the same authority, and as dictated by the 
same Spirit. 

From this chapter, therefore, we may con- 
clude that St. Paul unequivocally asserts his 
plenary and perpetual inspiration, that he enter- 
tains no doubt, nor admits any qualification, 
either as to its influence or its extent. He 
claims it every where, and that claim, as Chris- 
tians, we must admit". 



Note 9.— Part XIII. 

This passage has frequently been consid- 
ered as one principal support of the Socinian 
opinions. This mistake has arisen from not 
carefully attending to the Apostle's argument. 
He is speaking of the many nonentities whom 
the heatlien worship, and then adds, in contra- 
diction, " To us there is but one God, the 
Father (or producing generating cause), of 
whom are all things." Here he contrasts their 
theism with the Gentile polytheism — but many 
of the wiser heathens had attained so far towards 
the truth, and therefore he adds, (to distinguish 
betwixt the Christian and philosophic theist,) 
" and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all 
things ;" that is, (" by whom God made the 
worlds, or by whom he gave the ministry of 
reconciliation,") " and we by him ;" that is, by 
him we are that in which we differ from other 
men, purified and sanctified. The passage has 
not the least reference, one way or another, to 
the question of Unitarianism, and is only tanta- 
mount to the commencement of the creed, " I 
beheve in God the Father, &c. and in Jesus 
Christ his only Son our Lord." 



Note 10.— Part XIH. 

Mr. Locke observes on this passage — " What 
the meaning of these words is, I confess I do 
not understand." The generality of commen- 
tators, after Mede and Heinsius, suppose the 
word " power" to signify " veil" — either from 
the Hebrew nm, root "m — or to distinguish 
them from the unmarried — or as an acknowl- 
edgment of their husband's authority. — See Mr. 
Slade's excellent work on the Epistles, where 
the criticisms of Michaelis, Whitby, and others, 
are well summed up. 

' See Mr. Rennelfs tract On Inspiration, and his 
references at the end. 



352* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIIL 



Note 11.— Part XIIL 

BeNzelius (as quoted by Macknight in loc.) 
thinks that in this allegory the foot signifies the 
common people in the Church ; the hand the 
presidents ; the eyes the teachers ; and the ears 
the learners. The Apostle affirms, (continues 
Macknight,) that the eye and the head, the two 
principal members of the body, need the service 
of the inferior members (ver. 21, &c.) to teach 
such as hold the most honorable offices of the 
Church, not to despise tiiose who are placed 
in the lowest stations. For, as in the body, 
the hands need the direction of the eye, and 
the eye the assistance of the hands, so in the 
Church they who follow the active occupations 
of life, need the direction of the teachers ; and, 
on the other hand, tlie teachers need the sup- 
PQrt of the active members. 

Were we to interpret this part of the allegory 
strictly, so as by " the head" to understand 
Christ, it would be equally true of him in quality 
of head of the Church, as it is of the head of the 
natural body, that he could not say to any of 
his members, " I have no need of thee." All 
the members of the Church are necessary to 
render it complete, and fit it for supporting 
itself; not excepting such members as are un- 
sound. For by censuring them, and cutting 
them off, the sincere are powerfully instructed, 
corrected, and strengthened. — Macknight on 
the First of Corinthians in loc. 



Note 12.— Part XIIL 

0>- the shrines of Diana — the Asiarchs — the 
worshippers of Diana, yeuxo^oL — and other sub- 
jects mentioned in this section, see Biscoe, and 
his numerous references. 



Note 1-3.- Part XIIL 

BRIEF ACCOUNT OF TIMOTHY, AND OF THE 
FIRST EPISTLE TO HIM. 

Paul and Barnabas, in the course of their 
first apostolic journey among the Gentiles, 
came to Lystra, a city of Lycaonia, where they 
preached the Gospel for some time, and, though 
persecuted, with considerable success. — (See 
Acts xiv. 5, 6.) It is very likely that they here 
converted to the Christian faith a Jewess, named 
Lois, with her daughter Eunice, who had mar- 
ried a Gentile, by whom she had Timothy, and 
whose father was probably at this time dead ; 
the grandmother, daughter, and son, living to- 
gether. — (Compare Acts xvi. 1-3. with 2 Tim. 
i. 5.) It is also probable that Timothy was the 
only child ; and it appears that he had been 



brought up in the fear of God, and carefully in- 
structed in the Jewish religion, by means of the 
Holy Scriptures. — (Compare 2 Tim. i. 5. with 
2 Tim. ui. 15.) 

When the Apostle came from Antioch, in 
Syria, the second time, to Lystra, he found 
Timothy a member of the Church, and so highly 
reputed and warmly recommended by the 
Church in that place, that St Paul took him to 
be his companion in his travels. Acts xvi. 1-3. 
From which passage we learn, that although 
Timothy had been educated in the Jewsh faith, 
he had not been circimicised, because his father, 
who was a Gentile, would not permit it. When 
the Apostle had determined to take him with 
him, he found it expedient to use that precau- 
tion ; not from any supposition that circum- 
cision was necessary to salvation, but because 
of the Jews, who would neither have heard him 
nor the Apostle, had not tliis been done ; they 
would not have received the Gospel from Tim- 
othy, because he was a heathen ; and they 
would have considered the Apostle in the same 
light because he associated witli such. 

Timothy had a special call of God to the 
work of an evangelist, which the elders of the 
Church at Lystra knowing, set him solemnly 
apart to the work, by the imposition of hands, 
(1 Tim. iv. 14.) And they were particularly 
led to this, by several prophetic declarations 
relative to him, by which his divine call was 
most clearly ascertained. — (See 1 Tim. i. 18. 
and iv. 14.) After this appointment by the 
elders, the Apostle himself laid his hands on 
him ; not perhaps for the purpose of his evan- 
gelical designation, but that he might receive 
those extraordinary gifls of the Holy Spirit, so 
necessary, in those primitive times, to demon- 
strate the truth of the Gospel, (see 2 Tim. i. 
6, 7.) Yet it is not probable tliat Timothy had 
two ordinations ; one by tlie elders of Lystra, 
and another by the Apostle ; as it is most prob- 
able that St. Paul acted with that ngsaSvieQloy, 
or eldership, mentioned 1 Tim. iv. 14., among 
whom, in the imposition of hands, he would un- 
doubtedly act as chief. 

Timothy, thus prepared to be the Apostle's 
fellow-laborer in the Gospel, accompanied him 
and Silas, when they visited the Churches of 
Phrygia, and delivered to them the decrees ot 
the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, freeing 
the Gentiles from the Ijaw of Moses, as a term 
of salvation. Having gone tlirough these 
countries, they at length came to Troas, where 
St. Luke joined them, as appears from the 
phraseology of his history. Acts xvi. 10, 11, &c. 
In Troas a vision appeared to St. Paul, direct- 
ing them to go into Macedonia. Loosing there- 
fore from Troas, they all passed over to Neapo- 
lis, and from tlience went to Philippi, where 
they converted many, and planted a Christian 
Church. From Philippi they went to Thessa- 
lonica, leaving St. Luke at Philippi, as appears 



Note 13.] 



ON THE EPISTLE TO TDIOTHY. 



*353 



from his changing the phraseolog}- of his history 
at verse 40. We may tlierefore suppose that, 
at their departing, they committed the converted 
at Philippi to the care of St. Luke. In Thessa- 
lonica they were opposed by the unbelieving 
Jews, and obliged to flee to Berea, whither the 
Jews from Thessalonica followed them. To 
elude their rage, St Paul, who was most obnox- 
ious to them, departed from Berea by night, to 
go to Athens, leaving Silas and Timothy at 
Berea. At Athens Timothy came to the Apos- 
tle, and gave him such an account of the afflict- 
ed state of tlie Thessalonian converts, as induced 
him to send Timothy back to comfort them. 
After that, St Paul preached at Athens ; but 
with so little success, that he judged it proper 
to leave Athens, and go forward to Corinth, 
•jrhere Silas and Timothy came to him, and 
assisted in converting the Corinthians. And 
when he left Corinth, they accompanied him, 
first to Ephesus, then to Jerusalem, and after 
that to Antioch, in Syria, Having spent some 
time in Antioch, St Paul set out with Timothy 
on his third apostohcal journey ; in which, after 
visiting all the Churches of Galatia and Phrygia, 
in the order m which they had been planted, 
they came to Ephesus the second time, and 
there abode for a considerable period. In short, 
from the moment Timothy first joined the 
Apostle, as his assistant, he never left him, 
except when sent by him on some special 
errand. And by his afiection, fidelity, and 
zeal, he so recommended himself to all the 
disciples, and acquired such authority over 
them, that St. Paul inserted his name in the 
inscription of several of the letters which he 
wrote to the Churches, to show that tlieir doc- 
trine was one and the same. The Apostle 
expressed his esteem and affection for Timothy 
still more conspicuously, by writing to him 
those excellent letters in the canon which bear 
his name ; and which have been of the greatest 
use to the ministers of Christ ever since their 
publication, by directing them to discharge all 
the duties of their fianction in a proper manner. 
The date of this Epistle has been a subject 
of much controversy, some assigning it to the 
year .56, 57, or 53, which is the common opinion ; 
and others to 64 or 6.5. I have adopted, with 
Dr. Doddridge, the hypothesis which seems to 
have prevailed most generally, that it was 
written about the year of our Lord 57 or 58, 
when St. Paul had lately quitted Ephesus on 
account of the tumult raised there by Demetrius, 
and was gone into Macedonia, Acts xx. 1. This 
is the opinion of many learned critics, ancient 
and modern, particularly of Athanasius, Theo- 
doret, Baronius, Ludovic, Capellus, Blondel, 
Hammond, Grotius, Salmasius, Lightfoot, Ben- 
son, Lord Barrington, Michaelis, and others. 
On the other hand, Bishop Pearson, and after 
him Rosenmiiller, Macknight, Paley, Bishop 
Tomline, &c. endeavoured to prove, that it 

TOL. II. *45 



could not be written till the year 64 or 65, 
between the first and second imprisonment of 
St Paul at Rome ; and L'Enfant, without any 
hesitation, embraces this hypothesis. It is uni- 
versally allowed that St. Paul must have written 
this First Epistle to Timothy at some journey 
which he made from Ephesus to Macedonia, 
hannginthe meantime left Timothy behind him 
at Ephesus ; for he expressly says to Timothy 
(1 Tim. i. 3.), "I besought thee to abide still at 
Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia." Bishop 
Pearson, accordingly, in order to prove that the 
date of this Epistle was as late as he supposes, 
having obser\-ed that we read only of three jour- 
neys of St. Paul through Macedonia (viz. Acts 
xvi. 9, 10. and xx. 1, 3.), endeavours to show that 
it could not be written in any of these, and must 
consequently have been written in some fourth 
journey, not mentioned in the history, which he 
supposes was about the year 65, after St. Paul 
was released from his imprisonment at Rome, 
That it was not written at the first or third of 
these journeys is readily allowed, and it appears 
from the whole series of the context in both 
places ; but it is the second that is generally 
contended for. The Bishop supposes that the 
Epistle was not written at this second journey, 
because it appears firom Acts xix. 22., that St. 
Paul did not leave Timothy then at Ephesus, 
having sent him before into Macedonia, and ap- 
pointed him to meet him at Corinth. (See 1 Cor. 
iv. 17. and xvi. 10.) To this it is answered, 
that though St. Paul did not indeed send Timothy 
from Ephesus, yet, as we are told that St Paul 
made some stay tliere after that (Acts xix. 22.), 
Timothy might be returned before the tumult, 
and so the Apostle might, notwithstanding, 
leave him behind at Ephesus, when he himself 
set out for Macedonia. (For, it should observed 
that he changed his scheme ; and, before he 
went to Corinth, where he had appointed 
Timothy to meet him, he spent some time in 
Macedonia : from whence he wrote his Second 
Epistle to the Corinthians, in company with 
Timothy, who came to him in his return from 
Corinth, and continued with him while he 
remained in these parts.) Now that Timothy 
returned to Ephesus before the Apostle departed 
will indeed appear very probable, if (as Mr. 
Boyse argues from Acts xx. 1. compared with 
xix. 8, 10.) St Fa.ul spent three years at Ephesus 
and in the neighbouring parts, and sent Thnothy 
away nine months before the tumult : which 
would leave him time enough to perform his 
commission, and return to Ephesus before the 
Apostle had left it. (See Family Expos, vol. iii. 
sect 43, note, p. 189.) To which it may be added 
that it appears from 1 Cor. xvi. 10, 11., which 
Epistle was written from Ephesus, that St. Paul 
expected Timothy, after his journey to Macedo- 
nia and Corinth, would return to him attlaat city 
The Bishop further objects to the Epistle's 
being vrritten at this second journey, mentioned 



354* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part Xlfl. 



Acts XX. 1., that when the AposUe set out he 
proposed to go into Macedonia, and to visit tlie 
Churches there and in Greece ; which must 
necessarily take up a considerable time ; where- 
as, in his Epistle to Timothy, he speaiis of his 
intention to return very soon, (1 Tim. iii. 14. 
and iv. 13.) But it is natural to suppose that 
some unforeseen accident might detain him 
longer than he designed, and being disappointed 
of some assistance lie expected from Macedonia, 
he might afterwards send for Timothy to come 
to him ; who, as the passage by sea might be 
accomplished in a few days, might arrive at 
Macedonia before the Apostle wrote his Second 
Epistle to the Corinthians. 

The Bishop further argues, that it appears 
from the Epistle to Titus, as well as from some 
passages in his Epistle to the Philippians and 
Jo Philemon, that St. Paul actually made 
another journey into those parts after his 
imprisonment at Rome ; in which journey he 
left Titus behind him at Crete, which lay in his 
way from Rome, (Tit. i. 5.) Now it must be 
allowed the Bishop, that the supposition that 
Salmasius makes is not at all likely, that St. 
Paul touched at Crete when he was going from 
Achaia to Macedonia, for then he carried a 
collection with him (1 Cor. xvi. 1, 5. Acts xxiv. 
17.), and therefore it was not probable he would 
go so much out of his way ; and when he was 
about to sail into Syria, and heard that snares 
were laid for him (Acts xx. 3.), it is not to be 
supposed he would go into the mouth of them, 
or that he would take up his time in preaching 
at Crete, when he was in haste to be at Jerusa- 
lem (Acts xx. 16.), or that he would winter at 
Nicopolis (Tit. iii. 12.) when winterwas passed, 
and he desired to be at Jerusalem before the 
Passover. But then it had been observed, that 
perhaps the Epistle to Titus might be among 
the first St. Paul wrote, and his voyage to Crete 
one of the many events before his going up to 
the council at Jerusalem, which, in his history 
of the Acts, St. Luke, not being in company 
with him when they occurred, had entirely 
passed over, and of which there are notwith- 
standing some traces in St Paul's Epistle, par- 
ticularly 2 Cor. ii. and Rom. xv. 19 ; or if it be 
allowed that the Epistle to Titus was written by 
St. Paul after his first imprisonment, it will not 
follow from thence, that the First Epistle to 
Timothy must have been written at the same 
time. This is a brief account of the arguments 
for Bishop Pearson's hypothesis, that tiiis Epistle 
was written about the year 65, with their re- 
spective answers. 

In favor, however, of the later date assigned 
to this Epistle, it has been farther observed, 
that Timothy was left in Crete, to oppose the 
following errors : — 

1. " Fables" invented by the Jewish doctors, 
to recommend the observance of the Law of 
Moses, as necessary to salvation. 2. Uncertain 



" genealogies," by which individuals endeav- 
oured to trace their descent from Abraham, in 
the persuasion that they would be saved, merely 
because they had Abraham for their father. 
3. Intricate "questions," and strifes about some 
words in the Law ; perverse disputings of men 
of corrupt minds, who reckoned that which 
produced most gain to be the best kind of god- 
liness. And 4. " Oppositions of science falsely 
so called." And these errors, it is said, had not 
taken place in the Ephesian Church before the 
Apostle's departure ; for, in his charge to the 
Ephesian elders at Miletus, he foretold that the 
false teachers were to enter in among them 
after his departing, (Acts xx. 29, 30.) "I know 
that after my departing, shall grievous wolves 
enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also 
of your ownselves, shall men arise, speaking 
perverse things, to draw away disciples after 
them." The same thing, it is said, appears from 
the two Epistles which the Apostle wrote to the 
Corinthians, the one from Ephesus, before the 
riot of Demetrius, the other from Macedonia, 
after that event ; and, from the Epistle which 
he wrote to the Ephesians themselves, from 
Rome, during his confinement there. For in 
none of these letters is there any notice taken 
of the above-mentioned errors, as subsisting 
among the Ephesians at the time they were 
written, which cannot be accounted for, on the 
supposition that they were prevalent in Ephesus 
when the Apostle went into Macedonia after the 
riot. It is inferred, therefore, that the First 
Epistle to Timothy, in which the Apostle de- 
sired him to abide in Ephesus, for the purpose 
of opposing the Judaizers and their errors, could 
not have been written either from Troas or from 
Macedonia after the riot ; but it must have been 
written some time after the Apostle's release from 
confinement in Rome ; when no doubt he visited 
the Church at Ephesus and found the Judaizing 
teachers there busily employed in spreading 
their pernicious errors. But it may be answered, 
that it is not certain what errors were alluded 
to in Acts xx. 29, 30. ; and the errors alluded to 
in 1 Tim. i. every where prevailed. 

Again, in the First Epistle it is said, the same 
persons, doctrines, and practices, are repro- 
bated which are condemned in the second. 
Compare 1 Tim. iv. 1-6. with 2 Tim. iii. 1-5. ; 
and 1 Tim. vi. 20. with 2 Tim. ii. 16.; and 

1 Tim. vi. 4. with 2 Tim. ii. 14. The same 
commands, instructions, and encouragements 
are given to Timothy in the First Epistle as in 
the Second. Compare 1 Tim. vi. 13, 14. with 

2 Tim. iv. 1-5. The same remedies for the 
corruptions which had taken place among the 
Ephesians are prescribed in the First Epistle, 
as in the Second. Compare 1 Tim. iv. 14-16. 
with 2 Tim. i. 6, 7.; and, as in the Second 
Epistle, so in the First, every thing is ad- 
dressed to Timothy, as superintendent both of 
tjie tea(;h9rs and of the laity, in the Church at 



Note 13.] 



ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TLMOTHY. 



*3J 



Ephesus ; all wliich imply, that the state of 
things among the Ephesians was the same 
when the two Epistles were written: conse- 
quently, that the First Epistle was written only 
a few months before the Second, and not long 
before the Apostle's death. It is answered, 
that the Church at Ephesus might require a 
repetition of the same remonstrances, though 
many years elapsed between the sending of the 
two Epistles. 

To the late date of this First Epistle there 
are three objections, which appear to me to be 
decisive : — 

1. It is thought that, if the First Epistle to 
Timothy was written after the Apostle's release, 
he could not with any propriety have said to 
Timothy (chap. iv. 12.), " Let no man despise thy 
youth." In reply to which it is said, that Servius 
Tullius, in classing tlie Roman people, as Aulus 
GelUus relates (lib. x. c. 28.), divided tlieir age 
into three periods ; childhood, he limited to the 
age of seventeen ; youth, from that to forty-six ; 
and old age, from that to the end of life. Now, 
supposing Timothy to have been eighteen years 
old, A. D. 50, when he became Paul's assistant, 
he would be no more than 32, A. D. 64, t\vo 
yeare after the Apostle's release, when it is 
supposed this Epistle was written. Where- 
fore, being then in the period of life wliich, by 
the Greeks, as well as the Romans, was consid- 
ered as " youth," the Apostle with propriety 
might say to him, " Let no man despise thy 
youth." It is not, however, probable, that St 
Paul alluded to the artificial distinctions of the 
Roman law, instead of the actual age of 
Timothy. 

2. When the Apostle touched at Miletus, in 
his voyage to Jerusalem with the collections, 
the Church at Ephesus had a number of elders, 
that is, of bishops and deacons, who came to 
him at Miletus (Acts xx. 17.), what occasion was 
there, in an Epistle written after the Apostle's 
release, to give Timothy directions concerning 
the ordination of bishops and deacons, in a 
Church where there were so many elders al- 
ready ? It is answered, the elders who came to 
the Apostle at Miletus, in the year .58, may 
have been too few for the Church at Ephesus, 
in her increased state, in the year 65. Besides, 
false teachers had then entered, to oppose whom 
more bishops and deacons might be needed than 
were necessary in the year 58, not to mention 
that some of the first elders ha\ing died, others 
were wanted to supply their places. Of this, 
however, there is no scriptural proof, and the 
positive assertion of the Epistle is needlessly 
set aside. 

Dr. Paley defends the later date, from the 
superscription of the Second Epistle to the Co- 
rinthians, vyrhich is spurious, from the apparently 
short interval between St. Paul's leaving Ephe- 
sus, to go into Macedonia, and the writinar the 
Second Epistle to the Corinthians, in the be- 



ginning of which Timothy is joined with St. 
Paul ; to which it may be answered, that Tim- 
othy might have left Ephesus for a short time 
only, and soon returned. He endeavours to 
overcome the Insuperable difficulty in the 
opinion that the Epistle was written so late, 
that it necessarily implies that St Paul visited 
Ephesus after his hberation at Rome, which 
appears contrary to what he said to the Ephe- 
sian Church, that they should see his face 
no more. Dr. Paley finds only some presump- 
tive evidences, that the Apostle must have 
visited Ephesus ; the Epistles to the PhOippians 
and to Philemon were written while the Apostle 
was a prisoner at Rome ; to the former he says, 
" I trust in the Lord, that I also myself shall 
come shortly ;" and to the latter, who was a 
Colossian, he gives this direction, " But withal, 
prepare me also a lodging, for I trust that, 
through your prayers, I shall be given unto 
you." An inspection of the map will show us, 
that Colosse was a city of Asia Minor, lying 
eastward, and at no great distance from Ephe- 
sus : Philippi was on the other, i. e. the western 
side of the jEgean Sea, Now, if the Aposde 
executed his purpose, and came to Philemon at 
Colosse, soon after his liberation, it cannot be 
supposed, says Dr. Paley, that he would omit 
to visit Ephesus, which lay so near it, and where 
he had spent three years of his ministry. As 
he was also under a promise to %'isit the Church 
at Philippi shortly, if he passed from Colosse to 
Phihppi, he could hardly avoid taking Ephesus 
in his way. 

Arguments of this theoretical nature ought 
to weigh but little, when they defend a propo- 
sition which seems opposed to the plain and 
literal meaning of Scripture. When St. Paul 
told the elders of Ephesus, that they should 
" see his face no more," it was so solemnly an- 
nounced, that it may be considered as spoken by 
the Spirit of prophecy, with which he was gifted. 

Macknight has argued at great length that 
St Paul spoke his strong persuasion only. Dr. 
Paley, in adopting the same hypothesis, does 
not however, mention his name. Nothing can 
be asserted positively upon this subject. I have 
preferred the early date for this reason, that the 
allusion to the youth of Timothy — the fact that 
Timothy was directed to ordain elders, whom 
St Paul afterwards met — and the solemn dec- 
laration, that he should see their face no more, 
appear to be so plainly decisive, that I can 
admit no theoretical arguments to overthrow 
what seems to me the unforced deduction from 
Scripture, that the Epistle was written after St. 
Paul went from Ephesus, and left Timothy 
there, when he went into Macedonia. There is 
no mention of St. Paul's going from Ephesus to 
Macedonia but once, and that is in the passage 
after which I have inserted this Epistle, after 
the riot of Demetrius, (Acts xx. 1.) This was 
the consideration which induced Theodoret, 



356* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIII. 



among the ancients, and among the moderns, 
Estius, Baronius, Capellus, Grotius, Lightfoot, 
Salmasius, Hammond, Witsius, Lardner, Pear- 
son, and others, to support the opinion, that the 
Apostle speaks of that journey in his First 
Epistle to Timothy. — See Home, Clarke, Paley, 
Macknight, Lardner, and Doddridge. 

Michaelis has endeavoured to prove that this 
Epistle was principally written against the 
Essenes, or Therapeutse. His references do 
not appear to support his hypothesis. These 
people, even if they sometimes came into towns, 
could not have been there in sufficient numbers 
to endanger the faith of the Christian communi- 
ties. We have at least no proof of this fact. 
Josephus indeed asserts, that they were numer- 
ous in every city ; but their principal habitation 
being in the deserts, it is improbable that those 
•who entered the towns should have deviated 
still further from their customs, and have be- 
come the active partisans of Judaism, which the 
false teachers are represented to be ; they were 
no doubt included among the various false teach- 
ers whom St Paul condemned ; but they were 
not the exclusive objects of his censure. — See 
Michaelis, vol. iv. c. xv. sect. i. ii. iii. p. 75. 



Note 14.— Part XIII. 

The priests under the Law were required to 
be without bodily infirmities (Lev. xxi. 17, &c.), 
typical of that spiritual purity which was the 
essential qualification of the ministers of the 
Christian dispensation. 



Note 15.— Part XIII. 

He did not, however, go there immediately ; 
he passed through Macedonia (ver. 1.), in which 
he informs us (2 Cor. vii. 5-7.), that he suf- 
fered much, both from believers and infidels ; 
but was greatly comforted by the arrival of 
Titus, who gave him a very flattering account 
of the prosperous state of the Church at Cor- 
inth. A short time after this, being still in 
Macedonia, he sent Titus back to Corinth 
(2 Cor. viii. 16, 17.), and forwarded by him the 
Second Epistle, which he wrote to that Church, 
as Theodoret and others suppose. Some time 
after he visited Corinth himself, according to 
his promise (1 Cor. xvi. 5.); this was his third 
voyage to that city, (2 Cor. xii. 14. and xiii. 1.) 



Note 16.— Part XIII. 

ON THE DATE OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE 
CORINTHIANS. 

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians was 
occasioned by the accounts which the Apostle 



had received after the reception of the First. 
This is fully proved by the internal evidence. 
It was written soon after the arrival of Titus 
from Corinth, who communicated to the Apostle 
the submission and good disposition of that 
Church. He had the satisfaction of learning, 
that, in conformity to the directions contained 
in his First Epistle, the incestuous person had 
been excommunicated (2 Cor. ii. 5-11. and vii. 
11.), and that many were anxious for his return, 
and were zealous in the vindication of his office 
against those who had calumniated him, (chap, 
vii. 7-11.) The faction, however, headed by 
their false teacher, still continued their corrupt 
practices, and endeavoured, as much as possi- 
ble, to undermine the Apostle's authority and 
influence. To understand the force of this 
Epistle, it will be necessary to bear in mind 
the opposite characters to whom it was written. 
To those Christian converts, who had shown a 
ready obedience to his former letter, and who 
remained steadfast in his doctrine, St. Paul 
addresses himself, in this his Second Epistle, 
in terms of commendation and encouragement ; 
while, on the other hand, he attacks, in order to 
weaken, the faction which the false teacher still 
continued to form against him. He confutes 
the objections and revilings of his opponents 
with the most masterly reasonings ; exposing 
them to contempt and threatening them with 
punishment. This distinction between the 
two prevailing parties at Corinth is evidently 
referred to in 2 Cor. i. 14. and chap. ii. 5., and 
reconciles the otherwise apparent inconsisten- 
cies of this Epistle, in which he vindicates 
himself with more boldness, and reproves his 
adversaries with more severity than in the first 
which he addressed to them. 

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians is 
generally supposed to have been written about 
a year after the former ; and this seems to be 
supported by the words (chap. ix. 2.), " Achaia 
was ready a year ago ;" for the Apostle, having 
given instructions for that collection to which 
he refers in these words at the close of the 
preceding Epistle, they would not have had 
the forwardness there mentioned, till a year 
had elapsed, as the Apostle had purposed to 
stay at Ephesus till Pentecost (1 Cor. xvi. 8.) ; 
and he staid some time in Asia, after his pur- 
pose to leave Ephesus, and go to Macedonia, 
(Acts xix. 21, 22.), and yet making here his 
apology for not wintering in Corinth, as he 
thought to do (1 Cor. xvi. 6.), this Epistle must 
have been written after the winter ; and con- 
sequently, when a new year was begun. " It 
therefore," says Dr. Whitby, " seems to have 
been composed after his second coming to 
Macedonia, mentioned Acts xx. 3. For, 1. It 
was written after he had been at Troas, and 
had left that place to return to Macedonia : now 
that was at his second going thither; (see 
chap. ii. 12.) 2. It was written when Timotliy 



Note 17.] ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 



*35-' 



was with him : now, when he left Ephesus to 
go into Macedonia, Timothy went not witli him, 
but was sent before him, (Acts xix. 22.) ; but at 
his second going through Macedonia, Timothy 
was with him, (Acts xx. 4.) 3. He speaks of some 
Macedonians, who were likely to accompany him, 
chap. ix. 4.) Now, at his second going from Ma- 
cedonia, there accompanied him Aristarchus, 
Secnndus, and Gaius, of Thessalonica, the me- 
tropolis of Macedonia, (Acts xx. 4.) 4. The post- 
script says, that this Epistle was written from 
Philippi, where St. Paul was till the days of 
unleavened bread, (Acts xx. 6.) ; it therefore 
seems to have been sent from tlience to them 
by Titus and some other person, not long 
before St Paul's coming to them ; which he 
speaks of as instant (2 Cor. xiii. 1.), and that 
which he was now ready to do, (2 Cor. xii. 14. 
According to Dr. Lightfoot, he did so in his jour- 
ney from Philippi to Troas, he sailing about from 
Philippi to Corinth, to make good his promise, 
whilst the rest that were with him(Acts xx. 4.) 
went directly to Troas, and there waited for him." 
" The opening of this Epistle," Dr. Paley 
remarks, " exhibits a connexion with the history 
of the Acts, which alone may satisfy us that 
the Epistle was written by St. Paul, and by St. 
Paul in the situation in which the history places 
him. Let it be remembered, that in the nine- 
teenth chapter of the Acts, St. Paul is repre- 
sented as driven away from Ephesus, or as 
leaving Ephesus, in consequence of an uproar 
in that city, excited by some interested adver- 
saries of the new religion. ' Great is Diana 
of the Ephesians.' And after the uproar was 
ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and 
embraced them, and departed, for to go into 
Macedonia. When he was arrived in Macedonia, 
he wrote the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 
which is now before us, and he begins his 
Epistle in this wise : ' Blessed be God, even 
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the 
Father of mercies, and the God of all com- 
fort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, 
that we may be able to comfort them which are 
in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we 
ourselves are comforted of God' — ' For we 
would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our 
trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were 
pressed out of measure, above strength, inso- 
much that we despaired even of hfe ; but we 
had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we 
should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which 
raiseth the dead : who delivered us from so 
great a death, and doth deliver ; in wliom we 
trust that he will yet deliver us.'' Nothing 
could be more expressive of the circumstances 
in which the history describes St. Paul to have 
been, at the time when the Epistle purports to 
be written ; or rather, nothing could be more 
expressive of the sensations arising from these 
circumstances, than this passage. It is the 
calm recollection of a mind emerged from the 



confusion of instant danger. It is that devotion 
and solemnity of thought which follows a 
recent deliverance. There is just enough of 
particularity in the passage to show that it is to 
be referred to the tumult at Ephesus. ' We 
would not, brethren, have you ignoraiit of our 
trouble which came to us in Asia.' And there 
is nothing more ; no mention of Demetrius, of 
the seizure of St. Paul's friends, of the inter- 
ference of the town clerk, of the occasion or 
nature of the danger which St. Paul had 
escaped, or even of the city where it happened ; 
in a word, no recital from which a suspicion 
could be conceived, either that the author of 
the Epistle had made use of the narrative in the 
Acts, or, on the other hand, that he had sketched 
the outline, which the narrative in the Acts only 
filled up. Tiiat the forger of an Epistle, under 
the name of St. Paul, should boi-row circum- 
stances from a history of St. Paul then extant, 
or that the author of a history of St. Paul should 
gather materials from letters bearing St. Paul's 
name, may be credited : but I cannot believe 
that any forger whatever should fall upon an 
expedient so refined, as to exhibit sentiments 
adapted to a situation, and to leave his readers to 
seek out that situation from the history ; still less 
that the author of a liistory should go about to 
frame facts and circumstances fitted to supply 
the sentiments which he found in the letter. — 
See Paley, Home, Macknight, Dr. A. Clarke, 
Whitby, and Bishop Tomline. 



Note 17.— Part XIII. 

In this passage, the Mystics imagined that 
St. Paul was drawing the parallel between two 
different kinds of interpretation. Construing, 
therefore, " litera," in the Latin Vulgate, by 
"literal interpretation," and "spiritus," by 
" spiritual interpretation," they inferred that the 
Apostle had condemned the former, and recom- 
mended the exclusive employment of the latter. 
Now the Apostle, according to his own words, 
was drawing a parallel of a totally different 
description ; a parallel, which had no concern 
whatever with interpretation. He was drawing 
a parallel between the Law of Moses, and the 
Gospel of Christ. The former does not, the 
latter does, afford the means of salvation. This, 
and this only, is what St. Paul meant, when he 
said, " that the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth 
life." It is true, that he applied the term 
rgdifnia to the former, and the term Tli'evfiu to 
the latter. But he added explanations of these 
terms, which remove all ambiguity ; the Law 
of Moses he called rgdjufia, as ^laxoilu if 
YQ&fiiiufni', or as being ^taxoflu ii'TEivnotf^ivij 
if Udoig : the Gospel of Christ he called ITvevfiu, 
as being Jiixy.oiia toO Hfevfiumg iv Joir;. 
Now, as these explanations are not only Greek 



358* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES, 



[Part XIII. 



explanations, but Greek explanations of Greek 
terms, they are absolutely incapable of being 
transfused into any version. They can be un- 
derstood only with reference to the words of the 
original. It is therefore impossible that any one 
who expounds this passage from the words of a 
translation, should expound it in the sense of 
the author. But as the Mystics, like other 
members of the Church of Rome, expounded 
from an authorized version, they fell into an 
error, which a knowledge of the original would 
have prevented. They fell into the error, of 
supposing that literal or grammatical exposition 
not only might be, but ought to be discarded ; 
and hence they acquired such a contempt for 
every thing not spiritual or allegorical, that the 
plain and literal meaning of a passage was re- 
garded as a sort of husk or chaff, fit only for 
the carnally-minded, and not suited to the taste 
'of the godly''. 



Note 18.— Part XIII. 

The original word in this passage xaromqi- 
J(5|«ffot, in the opinion of Locke, Macknight, 
and others, should be rather translated " reflect- 
ing as a mirror," instead of " beholding as in a 
glass." Both meanings may be united. The 
mirrors of the ancients were made of polished 
steel, and reflected therefore upon the counte- 
nances of those who looked upon them a lumin- 
ous effulgence, or glory. The Apostle beheld 
as in the mirror of the Scriptures the glory of 
Christ, and this glory shone upon the face of 
the Apostle. Moses veiled the glory which had 
shone upon his face. The Apostle, on the con- 
trary, would not veil his face ; but by contem- 
plating more and more the glory of Christ, en- 
deavoured to diffuse the knowledge of that glory 
to the world. 

The superiority of the Law of Christ to that 
of Moses, is admirably shown by Whitby, in his 
notes to this chapter. 

The glory appearing on Mount Sinai made 
the people afraid of death, saying, "Let not 
God speak to us again lest we die," Exod. xx. 
19. Deut. xviii. 16. And thus they received 
"the spirit of bondage again to fear," Rom. 
viii. 15. ; whilst we have given to us " the spirit 
of power and of love, and of a sound mind-," 
2 Tim. i. 7. ; " and the spirit of adoption where- 
by we cry, Abba, Father !" and to this differ- 
ence the Epistle to the Hebrews alludes, chap, 
xii. 18-24. 

Moses, with all his glory, was only the min- 
ister of the Law, written on tables of stone : the 
apostles are ministers of the Gospel, written on 
the hearts of believers. Moses gave the Jews 



'* See Bisliop Marsh's Lectures, part iii. p. 107. 
Camb. 1813. 



only the letter that killeth ; the apostles gave 
the Gospel, which is accompanied with the 
Spirit that gives life. 

The glory which Moses received at the 
giving of the Law did more and more diminish, 
because his Law was to vanish away ; but the 
glory which is received from Christ is an in- 
creasing glory; the doctrine and the Divine 
influence remaining for ever ; and as the Law 
was veiled under types and shadows, the Gos- 
pel was delivered with great plainness and 
perspicuity. 

Again, the Jews only saw the shining of the 
face of Moses through a veil; but we behold 
the glory of the Gospel of Christ in the person 
of Christ, our Lawgiver, with open face. 

They saw through a veil, which prevented the 
reflection, or shining of it, upon them ; and so 
this glory shone only on the face of Moses, 
but not at all upon the people. Whereas the 
glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ, shines 
as in a mirror, which reflects the image upon 
Christian behevers, so that they are transformed 
into the same image, deriving the glorious gifts 
and graces of the Spirit with the Gospel from 
Christ the Lord and distributor of them, (1 Cor. 
xii. 5.) ; and so the glory which He had from 
the Father, He has given to his genuine fol- 
lowers, (John xvii. 22.) It is, therefore, rather 
with true Christians, as it was with Moses him- 
self, concerning whom God speaks thus : " With 
him will I speak mouth to mouth, even appa- 
rently, and not in dark speeches ; and the simil- 
itude [zriv 86^av KvqIov, the glory of the Lord) 
shall he behold," (Num. xii. 8.) For as he saw 
the glory of God apparently, so we with open 
face behold the glory of the Lord ; as he, by 
seeing of this glory, was changed into the same 
likeness, and his face shone, or was dedo^ua/^h'T], 
" made glorious ;" so we, beholding the glory 
of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. iv. 6.) 
are changed into the same glory. But though 
this may in some measure be enlarged to the 
Church in general, in which these gifts were 
exercised, I think it chiefly, and more eminently, 
refers to the apostles, mentioned ver. 12. 



Note 19.— Part XIII. 

The expressions used by the Apostle in this 
passage are all Jewish, and should be inter- 
preted according to their use of them. Schoet- 
gen has entered largely into the argument here 
employed by the Apostle, and brought forth 
much useful information. 

He observes, first, that the Hebrew word tynS, 
which answers to the apostle's insfduaaadat, 
" to be clothed," signifies " to be surrounded, 
covered, or invested with any thing." So, " to 
be clothed with the uncircumcision," signifies 
"to be uncircumcised." — Jalkut iZttieni, f. 163. 2. 



Note 20, 21.] ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 



*359 



We read in the book Zohar, on the word 
(Exod. xxiv. 18.) " Moses went into the midst 
of tlie cloud, and gat him up into the mount." 
He went into the midst of the cloud, as if one 
put on a garment : so he was clothed with the 

cloud, i:;3Snx 'oj "DH Nti'nSn tynSnx-i [xno 

NJJi'D ; and in Zohar Levit. fol. 29. col. 114. 
" The righteous are in the terrestrial paradise, 
where their souls are clothed with lucid crowns," 
Nmnn p-»£:!;»3 y^a^hno. 

2d. The word n'^, " house," in Hebrew, often 
denotes "a case," or "clothing." So in the 
Targum of Onkelos, '3X n'3, " the house of the 
face," is a veil; and so CD'i'Di'X n'3, "the 
house of the fingers," and T jT:2, " the house of 
the hand," signify gloves ; CD'bji n'D," the house 
of the feet," shoes, &.c. Therefore, ob/.Tjir^Qiov 
iTisfSvcruadai," to be clothed on with a house," 
may signify any particular quahties of the soul ; 
what we, following the very same form of 
speech, call a habit ; i. e. a coat or vestment. 
So we say the man has got a habit of vice, a 
habit of virtue, a habit of swearing, of hu- 
mility, &c. 

3d. The Jews attribute garments to the soul, 
both in this and the other world : and as they 
hold that all human souls preexist, they say 
that, previously to their being appointed to 
bodies, tliey have a covering which answers the 
same end to them, before they come into life, 
as their bodies do afterwards. And they state 
that the design of God, in sending souls into 
tlie world, is, that they may get themselves a 
garment by the study of the Law, and good 
works. 

By this garment of the soul they mean also 
the image of God, or being made holy; the 
image which Adam and all his posterity have 
lost, and of which being now deprived, they 
may be said to be naked. They assign also 
certain vehicles to separate spirits, and believe 
that, upon the death of the body, the angel of 
death takes off the garments of this mortal life, 
and puts on the garments of paradise. — See 
the dissertation in Schoetgen. Hor. Heh. vol. 
i. p. G92-702 ; and Clark inloc. 



distinction between meats and animals, for the 
purpose of inculcating a mental sanctification 
and purity ; separating his chosen people from 
the company of heathens and idolaters, and 
any thing that defileth, 



Note 20.— Part XIIL 

This expression, " unequally yoked together," 
evidently alludes to the ceremonial law of the 
Jews (Deut. xxii. 10. and Levit. xix. 19.), which 
prohibited their ploughing with an ox and an 
ass together, and gives its full and spiritual 
interpretation. See also ver. 16. where the 
promise given to the Israelites (Levit. xxvi. 11, 
12.) was now realized by the Spirit of God 
dwelling in them by his miraculous gifts. In 
ver. 17. the spiritual signification of the law of 
the clean and unclean animals (Levit. xi. 25.) 
is again clearly revealed. God ordained this 



Note 21.— Part XIII. 

on the meaning of the words tpiton 
TOY TO EPXOMAI. 

" Do not these words import," says Dr. 
Paley, " that the writer had been at Corinth 
twice before ? Yet, if they import this, they 
overset every congruity we have been endeav- 
ouring to establish. The Acts of the Apostles 
record only two journeys of St. Paul to Corinth. 
We have all along supposed, what every mark 
of time, except this expression, indicates, that 
the Epistle was written between the first and 
second of these journeys. If St. Paul had 
been already twice at Corinth, this supposition 
must be given up ; and every argument, or 
observation, which depends upon it, falls to the 
ground. Again, the Acts of the Apostles not 
only record no more than two journeys of St. 
Paul to Corinth, but do not allow us to suppose 
that more than two such journeys could be made 
or intended by him within the period which the 
history comprises: for, from his first journey 
into Greece to his first imprisonment at Rome, 
with which the history concludes, the Apostle's 
time is accounted for. If, therefore, the Epistle 
were written after the second journey to 
Corinth, and upon the view and expectation of 
a third, it must have been written after his first 
imprisonment at Rome, i. e. after the time to 
which the history extends. When I first read 
over this Epistle, with the particular view of 
comparing it with the history, which I chose to 
do without consulting any commentary what- 
ever, I own that I felt myself confounded by 
the text. It appeared to contradict the opinion 
which I had been led, by a great variety of 
circumstances, to form, concerning the date 
and occasion of the Epistle. At length, how- 
ever, it occurred to my thoughts to inquire, 
whether the passage did necessarily imply that 
St. Paul had been at Corinth twice ; or whether, 
when he says, 'This is the third time I am 
coming to you,' he might mean only that this 
was the third time that he was ready, that he 
was prepared, that he intended, to set out upon 
his journey to Corinth. I recollected that he 
had once before this purposed to visit Corinth, 
and had been disappointed in his purpose ; 
which disappointment forms the subject of 
much apology and protestation in the first and 
second chapters of the Epistle. Now, if the 
journey in which he had been disappointed was 
reckoned by him one of the times in which ' he 



360* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIII. 



was coming to them,' then the present would 
be the third time, i. e. of his being ready and 
prepared to come ; although he had been 
actually at Corinth only once before. This 
conjecture being taken up, a farther examina- 
tion of the passage and the Epistle produced 
proofs which placed it beyond doubt. ' This is 
the third time I am coming to you.' In the 
verse following these words he adds, 'I told 
you before, and foretell you, as if I were present 
the second time ; and being absent, now I 
write to them which heretofore have sinned, 
and to all other, that, if I come again, I will 
not spare.' In this verse the Apostle is declar- 
ing beforehand what he would do in his intended 
visit : his expression, therefore, 'as if I were 
present the second time,' relates to that visit. 
But, if his future visit would only make him 
present among them a second time, it follows 
tliat he had been already there but once. 
Again, in the fifteenth verse of the first chapter, 
he tells them, ' In this confidence I was minded 
to come unto you before, that ye might have 
a second benefit.' Why a second, and not a 
third benefit.'' why devTiQaf, and not, tqIttjv 
X'j-Qi-v, if the tqUov eQxOtUCi, in the thirteenth 
chapter, meant a third visit? for, though the 
visit in the first chapter be that visit in which 
he was disappointed, yet, as it is evident from 
the Epistle, that he had never been at Corinth 
from the time of the disappointment to the 
time of writing the Epistle, it follows, that 
if it were only a second visit in which he was 
disappointed then, it could only be a visit which 
he proposed now. But the text, which I think 
is decisive of the question, if any question 
remain upon the subject, is the fourteenth verse 
of the twelfth chapter ; ' Behold, the third time 
I am ready to come to you;' 'Idov, jqItov 
iiol/iug s/ci) i.ldeTi'. It is very clear that the 
tqItov trolfiug c/u) ilOtiv of the twelfth chapter, 
and the tqLtov tovto f'^/o,(/at of the thirteenth 
chapter, are equivalent expressions, were in- 
tended to convey the same meaning, and to 
relate to the same journey. The comparison 
of these phrases gives us St. Paul's own expla- 
nation of his own words ; and it is that very 
explanation which we are contending for, viz. 
that tqItov tovto eQ/oftai does not mean that, 
' he was coming a third time,' but that, ' this 
was the third time he was in readiness to come,' 
TolTOf tTolf/cog f'/w. Upon the whole, the matter 
is sufficiently certain ; nor do I propose it as a 
new interpretation of the text which contains 
the difficulty, for the same was given by Grotius 
long ago, but I thought it the clearest way of 
explaining the subject, to describe the manner 
in which the difficulty, the solution, and the 
proofs of that solution, successively presented 
themselves to my inquiries. Now, in historical 
researches, a reconciled inconsistency becomes 
a positive argument. First, because an impos- 
tor generally guards against the appearance of 



inconsistency ; and secondly, because when 
apparent inconsistencies are found, it is seldom 
that any thing but truth renders them capable 
of reconciliation. The existence of the diffi- 
culty proves the want or absence of that caution, 
which usually accompanies the consciousness 
of fraud ; and the solution proves, that it is not 
the collusion of fortuitous propositions which 
we have to deal with, but that a thread of truth 
winds through the whole, which preserves ev- 
ery circumstance in its place." Paley's Horce 
PaidincB, chap. iv. No. 11. 



Note 22.— Part XIII. 

ON THE DATE AND OCCASION OF THE EPISTLE 
TO THE ROMANS. 

This Epistle is supposed by some to have ob- 
tained the first place among the apostolical writ- 
ings,on account of the excellency of its doctrines; 
and by others, on account of the preeminence of 
the city to which it was addressed. Various 
years have been assigned for its date. The 
most probable is that supported by Bishop 
Tomline, Lardner, Lord Barrington, and Ben- 
son, who refer it to 58. Its internal evidence 
satisfactorily proves that it was written at 
Corinth, at the time the Apostle was preparing 
to take the contributions of the churches to 
Jerusalem, (Rom. xv. 25-27.) He also men- 
tions to the Romans the name of the man with 
whom he lodged at the time he ivrote to them 
at Corinth (Rom. xvi. 2-3.), as well as that of 
Erastus, the chamberlain of that city, (2 Tim. 
iv. 20.) We find it was dictated by St. Paul 
in the Greek language to his amanuensis Ter- 
tius (Rom. xvi. 22.), and was forwarded to the 
Church at Rome by Phebe, a deaconess of 
Cenchrea, wliich was a port at Corinth, (Rom. 
xvi. 1.) 

It is uncertain at what time the Church of 
Rome was planted. On the day of Pentecost 
there were " strangers of Rome, Jews and Prose- 
lytes," among the witnesses of the miraculous 
descent of the Holy Ghost. It is probable, 
indeed we may say certain, that these persons 
would, on their return to Rome, relate both to 
the Jews, and to those of the Gentiles with 
whom they were acquainted, the wonderful 
events which had taken place. There were 
many thousands of Jews at Rome at this time. 
Josephus informs us [Antiq. Jiid. lib. xviii- c. 
12.), that their number amounted to eight 
thousand; and Dio Cassius (lib. xxxvii. c. 17.), 
that they had obtained the privilege of living 
there according to their own laws. There was 
also a continued intercourse between the Jews 
who remained in their own country and the 
Jews of the provinces. The tribute money to 
the temple was regularly paid by the latter, and 
the messengers, or anostles of the Sanhedrin, 



Note 22.] 



ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 



*361 



were as regularly sent from the former. The 
events which occupied tlie public attention 
of the Jewish nation, the memory of the mir- 
acles of Christ, his crucifixion, and asserted resur- 
rection, with the subsequent tirmness and work- 
ing of miracles by his former followers, would 
have become familiar to a large proportion of 
tlie Jews and proselytes at Rome, and the man- 
ner in which the faitli of the Romans is repre- 
sented (Rom. i. 8.), as being celebrated over 
the whole world, as well as the mention of the 
various eminent members of the Church of 
Rome, prove to us also that the Gospel of 
Christ had been fully established among them, 
though it is uncertain by what means. 

I have endeavoured to show in a former note 
the probability that St. Peter visited Rome 
about the time of the Herodian persecution, 
after he had escaped by miracle from his 
prison ; and that he was attended by St. Mark. 
Many arguments concur also to prove that this 
Evangelist wrote his Gospel under the inspec- 
tion of St. Peter, for the use of the newly-con- 
verted proselytes of the Romans. An opinion 
prevailed very generally among the Jews, that 
the Holy Land was to be the exclusive scene 
of the great events which should attend the 
establishment of the Messiah's kingdom. Of 
all the apostles, St. Peter appears to have been 
most devotedly attached to the peculiar senti- 
ments of his own people. It was with difficulty 
he could persuade himself, even when a vision 
from heaven commanded him to go to a Gentile, 
that it was his duty to visit Cornelius. Though 
he had preached the Gospel to the Samaritans 
at Lydda, and in the provinces of Judsea, tlie 
thought does not seem to have occurred to him, 
that the Gospel was to be preached out of 
Judsea to the GentUe nations. For these rea- 
sons I think we are justified in concluding, that, 
though he might have taken refuge in Rome, 
he did not preach there to the people, nor estab- 
lish a ChurcL There certainly appears to be 
sufficient reason to believe that he went to 
Rome, but there is no proof whatever that he 
had at this time, at least, attempted to plant a 
Church. If he had done so, he would doubt- 
less have imparted the gifts of the Holy Spirit, 
as he had already done when he went down to 
confirm the Samaritans, after the preaching of 
Philip : but St. Paul tells the Romans, that he 
longed to see them, that he might impart unto 
them some spiritual gift. That St Peter had 
not planted the Church of Rome, is implied 
also in Rom. xv. 20., that St. Paul wished to 
confine his ministry to those places which had 
not been visited by other apostles. He wished, 
however, to see Rome, and we may conclude 
therefore that St. Peter had not established the 
Church in that city. 

The design of this much-controverted Epistle 
is fully laid down in the sixteenth verse of the 
first chapter, m which the Apostle affirms the 
VOL. II. *46 



perfect efficacy of the Gospel to salvation, both 
to the Jew and Gentile. At the time the 
Epistle was written, the great controversy of 
the Church originated from an erroneous inter- 
pretation of the promise of God made to 
Abraham. The Jews supposed obedience to 
the moral Law of Moses, with the atonement 
and purifications of their ceremonial law, were 
a sufficient atonement and justification ; and, 
as the chosen seed of Abraham, they con- 
sidered themselves alone entitled to be heire 
of the promises of God, and the benefits of the 
kingdom of the Messiah. These exclusive 
claims rendered them unwilling to receive the 
Gospel which maintained the inefficacy of their 
own Law, admitted the Gentiles to the same 
privileges with themselves, and declared that 
faith in the promises of God without circum- 
cision was the condition of salvation. The 
object of the Apostle throughout the Epistle is 
evidently to confute these deep-rooted preju- 
dices, and to convince the Jews that the Gospel 
of Christ, and not the Law of Moses, was the 
appointed means of salvation. These contests 
between the Jews and Christians were carried 
to such a height at Rome, that the contending 
parties were banished in the eleventh year of 
Claudius from the city, (Acts xviii. 2.) Among 
these were AquUa and Priscilla, who, coming 
to Corinth about the time that St Paul first 
visited that place, and being of the same occu- 
pation with him, received him into their house. 
There is reason to suppose, therefore, that they 
made St. Paul acquainted with the disordered 
state of the Church at Rome, and that he ad- 
dressed this Epistle to the Romans as soon as 
the Cliurch was again reestablished in that 
city, during his second visit to Corinth. 

The Christians at Rome were divided into 
three classes, — the native Jews who resided 
there, and in all probability fiirst preached the 
Gospel to their countrymen ; the proselytes to 
the Jewish religion ; and the idolatrous Gen- 
tiles, who had been converted to the faith of 
Christianity. 

The unbelieving Romans, who were great 
admirers of the philosophy of the Greeks, con- 
sidered the light of nature as a sufficient guide 
in all matters of religion. Many converted 
Jews joined the unbelieving Jews in affirming 
that the Law of Moses was more efficacious 
than the Gospel of Christ ; while the Gentile 
converts, rejoicing in their freedom from the 
bondage of the Law, regarded their Jewish 
brethren as superstitious and bigoted : and to 
these various parties the Epistle seems _to be 
addressed, as well as to the Church itself: to 
tlie Jew first, and then the Gentile. 

Dr. Paley, with his usual perspicuity, has 
shown that the principal object of the argumen- 
tative part of the Epistle, is "to place the 
Gentile convert upon a parity of situation with 
the Jewish, in respect of his religious condition, 



362* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIII 



and his rank in the Divine favor. The Epistle 
supports this point by a variety of arguments, 
such as that no man of either description was 
justified by the worlis of the Law, for this 
plain reason, that no man had performed them ; 
and it became therefore necessary to appoint 
another medi-um, or condition of justification, 
in which new medium the Jewish peculiarity 
was merged and lost ; that Abraham's own 
justification was antecedent to the Law, and 
independent of it ; that the Jewish converts 
were to consider the Law as now dead, and 
themselves as married to another ; that what 
the Law in truth could not do, in that it was 
weak through the flesh, God had done by send- 
ing his Son ; that God had rejected the un- 
believing Jews, and had substituted in their 
place a society of believers in Christ, collected 
. indifferently from Jews and Gentiles." There- 
fore, in an Epistle directed to Roman believers, 
the point to be endeavoured after by St. Paul 
was, to reconcile the Jewish converts to the 
opinion that the Gentiles were admitted by God 
to a parity of religious situation with them- 
selves, and that, without their being obliged to 
keep the Law of Moses. This Epistle, though 
directed to the Roman Church in general, is 
in truth a Jew writing to Jews : accordingly, as 
often as his argument leads him to say any thing 
derogatory from the Jewish institution, he con- 
stantly follows it by a softening clause. Hav- 
ing (chap. ii. 28, 29.) pronounced that " he is 
not a Jew which is one outwardly in the flesh ; 
neither is circumcision that which is outward 
in the flesh," he adds immediately, " What 
advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit 
is there in circumcision ? Much every way." 
Having in the third chapter, verse 28., brought 
his argument to this formal conclusion, "that 
a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of 
the Law," he presently subjoins (ver. 31.), " Do 
we then make void the Law through faith? 
God forbid! Yea, we establish the Law." 

In the seventh chapter, when, in verse 6., he 
had advanced the bold assertion, that " now we 
are delivered from the Law, that being dead 
wherein we were held," in the next verse he 
comes in with this healing question, " What 
shall we say then ? Is the Law sin ? God 
forbid ! Nay, I had not known sin but by the 
Law." Having in the following words more 
than insinuated the inefiicacy of the Jewish Law 
(chap. viii. 3.), " for what the Law could not do, 
in that it was weak through the flesh, God 
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful 
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh," 
after a digression indeed, but that sort of a 
digression which he could never resist, a rap- 
turous contemplation of his Christian hope, and 
which occupies the latter part of this chapter ; 
we find in the next, as if sensible that he had 
said something that would give offence, return- 
ing to his Jewish brethren in terms of the 



warmest affection and respect : " I say the truth 
in Christ, I lie not (my conscience also bearing 
me witness m the Holy Ghost,) that I have great 
heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart ; for 
I could wish that myself were accursed from 
Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according 
to the flesh who are Israelites, to whom per- 
taineth the adoption, and the glory, and the 
covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the 
service of God, and the promises ; whose are 
the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh 
Christ came." When in the thirty-first and 
thirty-second verses of the ninth chapter, he 
represented to the Jews the error of even the 
best of their nation, by telling them that " Israel, 
which followed after the law of righteousness, 
had not attained to the law of righteousness, 
because thty sought it not by faith, but as it 
were by the works of the Law, for they stumbled 
at that stumbling-stone ;" he takes care to 
annex to this declaration these conciliating ex- 
pressions : " Brethren, my heart's desire, and 
prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be 
saved ; for I bear them record, that they have a 
zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." 
Lastly, having (chap. x. 20, 2 L), by the appli- 
cation of a passage in Isaiah, insinuated the 
most ungrateful of all propositions to a Jewish 
ear, the rejection of the Jewish nation, as God's 
peculiar people, he hastens, as it were to qualify 
the intelligence of their fall by this interesting 
exposition : " I say, then, hath God cast awa}'^ 
his people (i. e. wholly and entirely) ? God for- 
bid ! for I also am an Israelite, of the seed of 
Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath 
not cast away his people which he foreknew ;" 
and follows this thought throughout the whole 
of the eleventh chapter, in a series of reflections 
calculated to soothe the Jewish converts, as 
well as to procure from their Gentile brethren 
respect to the Jewish institutions. 

We must be careful not to confine our views 
of St. Paul's argument in this Epistle to the 
narrow limits within which Taylor of Norwich, 
the Socinian writers in general, and the pre- 
sumptuous reasoners of this school, have en- 
deavoured to do. These men have rejected the 
very foundations of the Apostle's argument, the 
doctrines upon which Christianity rests, and 
without which the Scriptures are devoid of 
meaning, — the doctrmes of the atonement of 
Christ, and the fall of man. Semler, indeed, 
still further degrades the Apostle's argument, 
by the supposition that St. Paul wished to sub- 
stitute Christianity merely as a purer and more 
intelligible system of morals than the Law of 
Moses, but less burdensome, tedious, and unat- 
tractive. 

Dr. Taylor's system is well described by the 
present Archbishop of Dublin to be a mere 
adaptation of Scripture phrases. The general 
principle of his theory is, that God, having 
rejected the Jews, has admitted all who believe 



Note 23, 24.] 



ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 



*363 



in Christ into the same relation to himself which 
the Israelites once held ; and the peculiar terms 
wliich he used to describe the condition and 
privileges of the Jews were used in the New 
Testament to describe the state and privileges 
of the Christian converts : whereas the terms, 
which are used in the Old Testament to de- 
scribe the privileges of the Jews are to be inter- 
preted with reference to their peculiar situation 
as the subjects of the visible theocracy. The 
same terms, when used in the Gospel, refer to 
the spiritual advantages conferred on Christians 
by tlie new covenant The Law was the shadow 
or emblem ; the Gospel is the accomplishment 
of the designs of God ; and the same terms, 
when applied to the two covenants, will conse- 
quently have a different meaning. Dr. Taylor 
degrades the Christian, and elevates the Jewish 
scheme, by making, as an excellent critic has 
observed, "the Law the enduring dispensation, 
and the Gospel a mere dependency upon it." 

In an excellent work by Mr. Mendham, en- 
titled Clavis ApostoUca, the argument of Dr. 
Taylor is well analyzed and refuted. I have 
not room here to enter into a large variety of 
curious and difficult matter, arising from the 
comments of various learned writers on this 
Epistle. The opinions of Bishop Bull on the 
defect of grace to the Jew under the Mosaic 
dispensation, the precise ideas which the Jews 
formed of the effects of their Law in procuring 
or assisting their justification, and many others 
require examination ; and their more ample dis- 
cussion would well repay the labor of the theo- 
logical student. With respect to the analysis 
of this Epistle, which is now submitted to the 
reader, I may be permitted to say that it is the 
result of an anxious examination of the labors 
of my learned and respected tutor, Mr. Young, 
Doddridge, Scarlet, Dr. Taylor, and liis follow- 
ers, Mr. Belsham, Mr. Scott, and Whitby ; and 
to the works of these writers, as well as to the 
Quarterly Review of Mr. Belsham On the 
Epistles, No. 59, 1 must refer the reader. The 
commentators and the various writers on this 
Epistle have exhausted the language of eulogy 
on its structure, argument, and language. 
Nothing need be added to these well-deserved 
praises. The Epistle is indeed a masterpiece 
of beautiful reasoning, surpassing all human 
wisdom ; it evidently bears the stamp of divine 
inspiration ; it enforces, in an irresistible man- 
ner, all the fundamental doctrines of Chris- 
tianity, gradually unfolding, from the fall of our 
first parents, the great mysteries of redemption, 
and fully displaying the wisdom and goodness 
of God in his dispensations towards man. Every 
argument that the ingenuity of man could devise 
against the Gospel system, the Apostle himself 
advances in the person of the unbeheving Jew, 
and answers in the most satisfactory and con- 
vincing manner. Guided by divine inspiration, 
he has happily anticipated and removed every 



doubt and difficulty that can be raised to the 
truths of Revelation : he has communicated to 
man the hidden counsels of God ; and, by a long 
and convincing train of argument, has fully 
demonstrated that the Gospel of Christ is the 
power of God unto salvation, and that there is 
no other means under heaven by which men 
can be saved. 



Note 23.— Part XIIL 

Having demonstrated that all mankind were 
subjected to sin and death by the sin of one 
man, the Apostle interrupts the analogy he is 
about to draw between Adam and Christ, for 
the purpose of establishing the doctrine of ori- 
ginal sin. The Apostle proves this point, by 
affirming that death reigned from Adam to 
Moses, that is, before the promulgation of the 
Levitical law ; that it reigned over those, who, 
not having received any promulged law threat- 
ening temporal death, were not capable of sin- 
ning after the manner of Adam's transgression ; 
that it was passed upon all, consequently upon 
infants and idiots, to whom sin could not be 
imputed, as they were without the power of 
comprehending the knowledge of law ; there- 
fore all mankind were necessarily subjected to 
death, not only for their own actual sin, but for 
the original sin and transgression of their first 
parents. St. Paul appears particularly desirous 
to prove this point, as it affiards a strong addi- 
tional argument for the claims of the Gentiles; 
" For if (as Mr. Young observes) the effects of 
Adam's transgression extended to all univer- 
sally ; surely we shall not dare to limit the 
effects of Christ's merits to a pari of mankind 
only." Notes to the Sermon on Onginal Sin, 
p. 255. From the fall itself, sentence of death 
was passed on all mankind through the trans- 
gression of Adam; and the free gift of justifi- 
cation and life was restored through Christ. 
The plan of our redemption was coeval with, 
or rather was decreed before, the trangression 
of our first parents, and, like the evil which 
was then introduced, it extends to all, promot- 
ing the superior happiness of man, and the 
glory of God. By these irresistible arguments 
the Apostle still endeavoured to enforce on the 
minds of the Jews, that salvation was not con- 
fined to their Church and only obtained by 
the Mosaic Law, but that it was equally offered 
to all nations, through the obedience and righ- 
teousness of Jesus Christ. 



Note 24.— Part XIIL 

Here the comparison of the Apostleis natur- 
ally preserved — the Greek word dipilivia signi- 



364* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIII 



fies the daily pay of a Roman soldier. The 
Greek word ^aoia,a«, translated in this passage 
" a fr^e gift," Estius thinks (as mentioned by 
Macknight) may be rendered " a donative," 
which the Roman generals voluntarily bestowed 
on their soldiers, as a mark of favor. Eternal 
death being the natural consequence or reward 
of sin — Eternal life not the natural reward of 
righteousness, but the free gift of God through 
Christ. The word ilevdegwdivTsg, v. 18, denotes 
the act of giving liberty to a slave, called by 
the Romans emancipation. 



Note 25.— Part XIII. 

One of the objections of the opponents of 
Christianity may be removed, by considering 
the account of this miracle at Troas. It has 
been frequently said that the Evangelists pub- 
lished their Gospels some years after the events 
they relate had taken place ; and if their narra- 
tives had been written at the time, or imme- 
diately after, their histories would have been 
more credible. The proof they require is 
afforded in this passage, and in the remainder of 
the book of the Acts. St. Luke speaks of him- 
self as the companion of St. Paul. He was an 
eyewitness of the miraculous events he has re- 
corded, and he wrote and published them in 
Asia, immediately after he had left St. Paul, 
among the very persons in whose presence this 
miracle had been wrought. St. Luke was prob- 
ably present among the congregation when 
Eutychus was raised to life ; an event which 
took place at Troas in 58. He heard the proph- 
ecy of Agabus, at Csesarea, in the same year ; 
he saw the miracle at Melita, two years after, 
in the year 60 ; he was with St. Paul during his 
two years' imprisonment at Rome, and he pub- 
lished his Gospel immediately after, in the year 
63, in Asia. He could not have completed his 
narrative sooner. No avoidable delay whatever 
appears to have elapsed ; the earliest possible 
invitation to the objectors and enemies of 
Christianity was made ; and neither Jew nor 
Gentile, in spite of their prejudices or hatred 
against the Gospel, ventured to assert that the 
miracles he recorded were not true, or that the 
narrative itself was a forgery. 

See, for the time of the publication of St. 
Luke's Gospel, Dr. Lardner's Supplement to his 
Credibility, vol. iii. p. 187, 188 ; and Home. 



Note 26.— Part XIII. 

Two things are observable in this passage. 
The power or control of one Christian teacher 
over others is distinctly mentioned ; and the 
general body of Christians over whom the sev- 



eral presbyters presided in their separate con- 
gregations, is called by the collective term " the 
Church." We infer, therefore, that the power 
over the Church at Ephesus did not rest with 
St. Peter, as the universal bishop ; and, that 
several congregations unitedly form one Church, 
and this Church, as represented by its elders, 
submitted to the authority and influence of a 
teacher, who did not hold the pastoral charge 
over one congregation. Such are the prece- 
dents for church government given us in Scrip- 
ture ; and as the laws of God or man continue 
to possess their authority so long as the neces- 
sity continues which caused their first enact- 
ment ; and the necessity of a government over 
the various societies of Christians in different 
nations is still great and evident, I am unable 
to discover on what account the precedents of 
Scripture, which are the laws of Christ and his 
apostles, are to be rejected at present. Some 
parts of Scripture direct our conduct as individ- 
uals ; but God is the Lord of kingdoms, societies 
and churches, as well as of individuals ; and the 
happiness of communities, as well as of individ- 
uals, would as certainly be preserved by their 
obedience to the laws of our Saviour. 

Dr. Hammond was of opinion that the apostles 
first appointed in every church bishops and 
deacons only, and that the bishops were to 
ordain presbyters for the several congregations, 
as might be required. This opinion, however, 
does not appear to be well founded. It is con- 
troverted by Whitby, and ridiculed by Scott. 
It must be observed here, that the persons for 
whom St. Paul sent to Miletus, are called, in 
verse 17., "elders," nQsadvitQOvg ttj? kKxIrjoLag ; 
and in verse 28., " overseers," or " bishops," Oftag 
— Weto imaxdnovg : from whence it has been 
very naturally inferred, that the name bishop 
originally signified the same as presbyter. This 
cannot indeed be doubted ; but all inferences 
deduced therefrom, which clash with other pas- 
sages of Scripture, must be rejected. If we 
infer from this that there was no authority or 
superintendence in the churches, we contradict 
the evidence of Scripture, and of the primitive 
churches, as well as the testimony of our reason, 
which must convince us that every society must 
be governed by some laws, and their adminis- 
trators. Identity of names by no means proves 
identity of office. This will be evident if we 
consider the manner in which the same epithets 
are given to the same persons in Scripture, 
where their offices, ranks, &c. are evider.-tly 
distinct. Thus Christ is called (Isai. ix. 5.) 
uDlStyTt?.'. "Prince of Peace;" and Michael, 
who is by many supposed to be Christ, is called 
(Dan. xii. 1.) the bnjn ■^WT^ ; and yet the kings 
of Persia and Grecia are each of them called by 
the same name. 

The same word is attributed to the captain 
of the host (1 Sam. xii. 9.); to the governor 
of a city (2 Chron. xviii. 25.) ; to tlie princes of 



Note 27.-29.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*365 



the tribes (1 CJiron. xxvii. 22.) ; to the chief of 
the Levites (1 Chron. xv. 16, 27.) ; to the gover- 
nor of the sanctuary, (1 Chron. xxiv. 5.) So like- 
wise tlie term t^ai, a head or chief person, is 
spoken of God (2 Chron. xiii. 12.) ; of king 
Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. xx. 27.) ; of Jehoida, the 
high priest (2 Chron. xxiv. 6.) ; of other priests ; 
of a chief man of a tribe ; of a judge of Israel ; 
of the chief door-keeper of the temple ; of a 
chief captain. The same difference of mean- 
ing is to be found in the words najid, prince, and 
iiasi, ruler or prelate. " By all which it ap- 
peareth evidently that the same term may be 
used of men, much diifering in place and de- 
gree, and having an imparity in their callings." — 
See the last tract in the Bibliotheca Scriptorum 
of Dr. Hickes, p. 418. See also Bingham's 
Eccles. Antiq., and Archbishop Potter's Church 
Government ; and others on the words presbyter, 
bishop, and elder. 



Note 27.— Part XIII. 

The Alexandrine manuscript, and some 
others, read "the church of the Lord;" but 
Michaelis is clear, that Oeov is the true reading, 
on the principle that the reading which might 
occasion a correction, is more probably right, 
than that which is likely to arise from one. 
Now, " his blood," that is, " the blood of God," 
is an extraordinary expression, if not in the 
real text ; but bad that been xvqlov, it is incon- 
ceivable how any one should alter it into Qbov. 

Instead of which, there are several different 
readings : xuglov, •/Q'-otov, xvqLov &sov, d'eod xal 
xvqIov, kvqIov xnl &eov: all of which seem to 
have been alterations on account of the difficulty 
of the true reading ■O-eov, which gave occasion 
to such a wish to alter it. Michaelis, vol. i. c. vi. 
sect. xiii. p. 336, also " the Church of God," is a 
phrase very frequent in the New Testament, as 
1 Cor. i. 2. ; x. 32. ; xi. 22. ; xv. 9 ; 2 Cor. i. 1. ; 
Gal. i. 13. ; 1 Tim. iii. 5. ; but the " Church of 
the Lord" is never found in it. Whitby ap. 
Elsley, vol. iii. p. 317. See the whole subject 
discussed at length in Kuinoel, Comment, in 
Lib. JV. T. Hist. vol. iv. p. 678 ; and in Dr. Pye 
Smith's work on the Messiah. 



Note 28.— Part XIIL 

BV the Spirit they apprized St. Paul of his 
danger, if he went up to Jerusalem. 



Note 29.— Part XIII. 

WiTSiDS, in his l/ife of St. Paid, chap. x. 
has endeavoured to show the prudence, inno- 

VOL. II, 



cence, and wisdom of the Apostle's conduct on 
this occasion. 

St. Paul was accused of having exhorted the 
Jews to forsake the Law of Moses, and for- 
bidden them to circumcise their sons. In this 
charge there was a mixture of truth and false- 
hood — St. Paul did not exhort the Jews to 
forsake the substance of the Mosaic Law, nor 
did he expressly enjoin them to relinquish even 
the ceremonial part. But it must, however, be 
confessed, that in his arguments addressed to 
the Gentile converts, in which he describes the 
rites and ceremonies of the Law as mere 
shadows of better things to come, the inference 
might fairly be drawn, that he did not consider 
these rites and ceremonies as any longer bind- 
ing to the Jews themselves. 

Why, then, did the apostles at Jerusalem, 
who knew all this as well as St. Paul, entreat 
him to purify himself, shave his head, and bind 
himself by a vow ? Why did St. Paul himself 
comply with their request ? A modern scholar, 
of considerable literary attainments, but whose 
name Witsius does not mention, so strongly 
felt the difficulty attending this question, that 
he was induced to doubt, in toto, the divine 
authority of the Christian religion. 

Witsius, however, is of opinion, that the con- 
duct of the elders on this occasion, as well as 
that of St. Paul himself, was fully justified by 
existing ch-cumstances. The great mass of 
the Jews were at that time so bigoted in favor 
of the ceremonial Law, that the full light of the 
Gospel was too strong for their eyes to bear 
at once. The temple was standing, and they 
were daily spectators of the sacrilices there 
offered up. St. Paul, whose maxim it was to 
"become all things to gain all men," adopted a 
prudent but innocent artifice — this was a fit 
occasion for employing the wisdom of the 
serpent. 

Gilpin, Paley, and others, have blamed James 
and the presbytery of Jerusalem, for giving this 
advice, and St. Paul for following it ; as sacri- 
ficing the truth of the Gospel to the prejudices 
of the Jewish zealots : for why, say they, 
should St. Paul offer propitiatory sacrifices (as 
in this case, Num. vi. 14.), inasmuch as by re- 
specting the type he showed disrespect to the 
antitype, Ciirist? This surely was not an 
indifferent matter, and his submitting thereto 
savoured of unjustifiable compliance, and a 
temporizing spirit. But this censure seems to 
be unfounded, for— 1. The apostles had no 
scruple of conscience hi conforming to the 
Jewish rites. St. Paul celebrated the feast ot 
Pentecost now, and the Passover, at his fourth 
visit to Jerusalem, (Acts xviii. 21.) And yet 
this highest Jewish rite was virtually .superseded, 
when " Cin-ist our Passover" was sacrificed on 
the cross, according to St. Paul's own doctrine, 
(1 Cor. V. 7, 8.) And the apostolic decree did 
not prohibit the Jewish ritual to the zealots ; it 



366* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIII. 



only exempted the Gentile Christians from it, 
as unnecessary to salvation. 

2. The doctrine of St. Paul was perfectly 
conformable to the apostolic decree, and to the 
Gospel ; he maintained the insufficiency of all 
rites, whether of the " circumcision" or the 
" uncircumcision ;" whether of Jews or Chris- 
tians, without a " new creation," or regenera- 
tion of the inward man ; without an operative 
" faith" in Christ, " productive of love" to man 
(Gal. V. 6. and vi. 15.) without " circumcision" 
of the heart in spirit, not in the letter ; whose 
praise is not of men, "but of God," (Rom. ii. 
28, 29.) 

3. Were not the apostles and St Paul, on 
that occasion, under the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit ? 

See Witsius, De Vita Pauli, cap. x.—Melet. 
Leiden, p. 109, &-c. and Hales's Analysis of 
Chronol. vol. ii. p. 1242. 



Note 30.— Part XIII. 

It has been a question much agitated among 
the learned, how St. Paul's ancestor became 
free of the city of Rome ? St. Paul saying, in 
his answer to Lysias, " But I was free born," 
Acts xxii. 28. Vid. Gron. not. ad Joseph, p. 41- 
46. Never, certainly, was there a dispute more 
needless, since it is so very plain from many 
unquestionable authorities, that the freedom of 
the city of Rome was attainable by foreigners 
in various ways. By merit: thus two whole 
cohorts of Cameritians ; thus Heracliensium 
Legio, and many others, mentioned by Tully, 
pro Balbo, c. 22. By favor: thus the cohort 
garrisoned at Trapezus, spoken of by Tacitus, 
Hist. 1. 3. c. 47 ; thus Alaudarum Legio, so 
often mentioned by Cicero, Suet. Jul. 24. 2. 
Nothing is more certain, than that the Jews as- 
sisted Julius Caesar with their forces, Jos. Jlntiq. 
1. xiv. c. 8. § 1, 2, 3, which he also very gratefully 
acknowledges. Ibid. c. x. § 2, 7. The like 
they did by Mark Antony, ibid. c. 15. § 8. Can 
it be supposed that many of them did not at 
that time, either by merit or favor, procure the 
freedom of the city of Rome ? or was it Anti- 
pater alone who had that honor conferred on 
him ? Ibid. c. 8. § 3. By money : as in the 
instance of the centurion. Hence, probably, 
it is that we read of so many Jews free of the 
city of Rome, who dwelt in Greece and Asia. 
Ibid. c. X. § 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19. By being 
freed from servitude : very great numbers be- 
came citizens this way, through the covetous- 
ness or vainglory of their masters, as well as 
from their own merit. Vid. Dionys. Halic. 
Ant. Rom. 1. iv. c. 24. Suet. Aug. c. xlii. n. 3. 
That multitudes of the Jews, in particular, 
became free this way appears from Tiberius 
enlisting four thousand freed Jewg at one time, 



and sending them to Sardinia. Compare Suet 
Tib. c. xxxvi. n. 2. Tacitus, 1. 2. c. Ixxxv. n. 4. 
Jos. Antiq. 1. 18. c. iii. § 5. 

It has been generally believed, however, that 
the inhabitants of Tarsus, born in that city, 
had the same rights and privileges as Roman 
citizens, in consequence of a charter or grant 
from Julius Csesar. Calmet disputes this, be- 
cause Tarsus was a free, not a colonial city ; 
and he supposes that St. Paul's father might 
have been rewarded with the freedom of Rome 
for some military service : and that it was in 
consequence of this that St Paul was born 
free. But that the city of Tarsus had such 
privileges appears extremely probable. In 
chap. xxi. 39., Paul says, he was born at Tarsus 
in Cilicia ; and in this chap. ver. 28, he says, 
" he was free-born ;" and at ver. 25, he calls 
himself a Roman ; as he does also chap. xvi. 
37. From whence it has been reasonably con- 
cluded that Tarsus, though no Roman colony, 
had this privilege granted to it, that its na- 
tives should be citizens of Rome. Pliny, in 
Hist. JVat. lib. v. 27, tells us, that Tarsus was 
a free city. And Appian, De Bella Civil, lib. 
v. p. 1077, ed. Tollii, says that Antony made 
the people of Tarsus free, and discharged 
them from paying tribute. Dio Cassius, lib. 
xlvii. p. 508, edit. Reimar, further tells us, 
" Adeo Csesari priori, et ejus gratia etiam poste- 
riori, favebant Tarsenses, ut urbem suam pro 
Tarso Juliopohn vocaverint." Philo, Be Virt. 
vol. ii. p. 587, edit. Mang. makes Agrippa say 
to Caligula, " You have made whole countries, 
to which your friends belong, to be citizens of 
Rome." These testimonies are of weight 
sufficient to show that St. Paul, by being born 
at Tarsus, might have been free-born, and a 
Roman. — See Biscoe On the Acts, Bishop Pearce 
on Acts xvi. 37., Dr. A. Clarke, and others. 



Note 31.— Part XIII. 

ON ST. Paul's peclaration that he was 

IGNORANT THAT ANANIAS WAS HIGH PRIEST. 

St. Paul's ignorance that Ananias was high 
priest, has presented some difficulty, and oc- 
casioned much discussion. The former modes 
of considering the subject are given by the 
learned Witsius". How, it is demanded, could 
Paul be mistaken in the person of a man so 
exalted in rank as the high priest? And, if he 
was mistaken, can his excuse be considered as 
sufficient ? The Jews were forbidden to revile 
their ruler ; were they therefore permitted to 
revile the rest of their countrymen ? In reply 
to this, some explain the words, " not to know," 



" Witsius, De Vitd PauU, cap. 10. ap. Meletem. 
Leidensia. 



Note 32.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*36T 



as equivalent to " not to acknowledge." I do 
not acknowledge him for high priest — our Great 
High Priest is Jesus Christ: him only can I 
allow as such. This, however, does not appear 
satisfactory to Witsius, and he proposes two 
elucidations, leaving liis reader to choose be- 
tween them : — 

1st. It is very possible tliat St. Paul was not 
acquainted with tlie person of the high priest. 
For St. Paul had been for some time absent 
from Judtea ; and the office of high priest being 
completely at the disposal of the Roman gov- 
ernor, changes were very frequent ; so much 
so, that, as Josephus informs us, there had 
been three high priests in the course of one 
year. It may further be observed, that Ananias 
did not wear his pontifical robes, which were 
■worn only in the temple. 

2dly. We may suppose that St. Paul was not 
mistaken in the person of the high priest, but 
happening to have his eyes turned another way 
when the command was given, he was not aware 
from whom the expression proceeded, but at- 
tributed it to some other member of the San- 
hedrin seated with the high priest upon the 
bench. Le Clerc, and the most learned of the 
English interpreters, incline to this explanation. 
But what can justify the harshness of Paul's 
reply (v. 3.), supposing it addressed to any in- 
different individual ? It is answered, that Paul's 
words amount to a prophetic denunciation, and 
not an imprecation — TvrcTeiv ere /iM.si. This 
was proved in the event ; for, as Grotius ob- 
serves, Ismael Phabi succeeded to the high 
priesthood soon after ; whether on account 
of the death or the removal of Ananias is 
uncertain. 

Michaelis'' has solved the difficulty, however, 
in a very satisfactory manner. On this passage 
it has been asked, 1. Who was this Ananias ? 
2. How can it be reconciled with chronology, 
that Ananias was at that time called the high 
priest, when it is certain, from Josephus, that 
the time of his holding that office was much 
earlier? And 3. How happened it that Paul 
said, " I wist not, brethren, that he was the 
high priest," since the external marks of office 
must have determined whether he were or not ? 
" On all these subjects," says Michaelis, " is 
thrown the fullest light, as soon as we examine 
the special historj' of that period ; a light which 
is not confined to the present, but extends itself 
to the following chapters, insomuch that it can- 
not be doubted that this book was written, not 
after the destruction of Jerusalem, but by a 
person who was contemporary to the events 
which are there related." 

Ananias, the son of Nebedeni, was high priest 
at the time that Helena, queen of Abiadene, 
supplied the Jews with com from Egypt, during 
the famine which took place in the fourth year 

!> Michaelis, vol. i. p. 51-54. Hprne, i. 116-118. 



of Claudius, mentioned in the eleventh chapter of 
the Acts. St. Paul, therefore, who took a jour- 
ney to Jerusalem at that period, could not have 
been ignorant of the elevation of Ananias to 
that dignity. Soon after the holding of the first 
council, as it is called, at Jerusalem, Ananias 
was dispossessed of his office, in consequence 
of certain acts of violence between the Sa- 
maritans and tlie Jews, and sent prisoner to 
Rome, whence he was afterwards released, and 
returned to Jerusalem. Now from that period 
he could not be called high priest, in the proper 
sense of the word, though Josephus has some- 
times given him the title of igxieoev;, taken in 
the more extensive meaning of a priest, who 
had a seat and voice in the Sanhedrin ; and 
Jonathan, though we are not acquainted with 
the circumstances of his elevation, had been 
raised in the mean time to the supreme dignity 
of the Jewish Church. Between the death of 
Jonathan, who was murdered by order of Felix, 
and the high priesthood of Ismael, who was 
invested with that office by Agrippa, elapsed an 
interval in which this dignity continued vacant. 
Now it happened precisely in this interval that 
St. Paul was apprehended in Jerusalem ; and 
the Sanhedrin, being destitute of a president, he 
undertook of his own authority the discharge of 
that office which he executed with the greatest 
tyranny. It is possible, therefore, that St. Paul, 
who had been only a few days in Jerusalem, 
might be ignorant that Ananias, who had been 
dispossessed of the priesthood, had taken upon 
himself a trust to which he was not entitled ; 
he might therefore very naturally exclaim, 
''I wist not, brethren, that he was the high 
priest" Admitting him, on the other hand, to 
have been acquainted with the fact, the ex- 
pression must be considered as an indirect re- 
proof, and a tacit refusal to recognise usurped 
authority. 

A passage, then, which has hitherto been in- 
volved in obscurity, is brought by this relation 
into the clearest light ; and the whole history 
of St. Paul's imprisonment, the conspiracy of the 
fifty Jews, with the consent of the Sanhedrin, 
their petition to Festus to send him from Csesa- 
rea, with an iatent to murder him on the road, 
are facts which correspond to the character of 
the times, as described by Josephus, who men- 
tions the principal persons recorded in the 
Acts, and paints their profligacy in colors even 
stronger than those of St. Luke. 



Note 32.— Part XIII. 

It is probable these conspirators laid them- 
selves under all the curses that were usually 
denounced in an excommunication. It was 
usual among the Jews, for private persons to 



868* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIII. 



excommunicate both themselves and others". 
From their perverted oral tradition, they made 
it a rule that a private person might kill any one 
who had forsaken the Law of Moses, of which 
crime St. Paul was accused. They therefore 
applied to the Jewish magistrates, who were 
chiefly of the sect of the Sadducees, and St. 
Paul's bitterest enemies, for their connivance 
and support (v. 14.), who gladly aided and 
abetted this manner of taking away his life, 
and, on its failure, determined themselves after- 
wards to make a similar attempt, (Acts xxv. 3.) 
Their vows of not eating and drinking were as 
easy to loose as to bind ; according to Light- 
foot (vol. ii. p. 703), any of their rabbles or wise 
men could absolve them. 



Note 33.— Part XIIL 

We learn from this epithet, that the word 
JVazarene was applied to the Christians as a 
term of contempt in the time of the Apostles. 
Tertullus evidently meant the Christians in 
general, who being followers of the despised 
Nazarene, probably obtained this appellation 
from the very first. It does not, however, ap- 
pear that this name was assumed by the Chris- 
tians themselves. They were called among 
themselves " the Brethren," " They .of the Faith," 
and " the Faith," till at length, when they became 
more numerous, and received a large accession 
of converts from the Gentiles, Christian became 
the general name ; and the Hebrew Christians, 
who still perhaps bore the name of Nazarenes 
among the Jews, were distinguished among 
Christians by the names of ■' the Hebrews," and 
" They of the Circumcision." If this epithet 
was generally applied to the early Christians 
by their enemies, it is not necessary to prove 
that the Nazarenes, to whom Tertullus alluded, 
were believers in the Divinity of our Lord, and 
in those doctrines which are now embodied in 
the formularies and creeds of the Church. 

Long after the death of the apostles we read 
of a class of religionists who were called Naza- 
renes ; who blended in their ecclesiastical regi- 
men the Jewish rites and Christian precepts, and 
maintained various opinions i-especting the 
person of Christ, which are defensible neither 
from the Scriptures, nor the decisions of the 
primitive Church. Dr. Priestley attempted to 
prove that these Nazarenes, and another sect, 
the Ebionites, who likewise advocated errone- 
ous notions on this important subject, were the 
same ; and that they were the remnant of the 
Church at Jerusalem, maintaining, in depression 
and neglect, the pristine faith in its ancient 

■= Selden, De Jure Mit. I. iv. c. 7 and 8. pp. 472 
and 478 ; and De Sijned. 1. i. c. 7. p. 829, fin. 830 and 
857. Biscoe, 278, vol. i. 



purity. Bishop Horsley, on the contrary, as- 
serted, and made his assertion good by the best 
remaining evidence, that the name of Nazarene 
was never heard of among Christians them- 
selves, as descriptive of a sect, before the final 
destruction of Jerusalem by Adrian ; when it 
became the specific name of the Judaizers, who 
at that time separated from the Church of Je- 
rusalem, and settled in the north of Galilee. 
The name was taken from the country in which 
they settled ; but it seems to have been given 
in contempt, and not without allusion to the 
earlier application of it by the Jews, to the 
Christians in general. The object of this epi- 
thet was to stigmatize these Nazarenes as mere 
Judaizers, who endeavoured to retain the Jewish 
observances, while they professed Christianity, 
and thus to degrade and corrupt the Gospel. 
The Hebrew Christians, properly so named, 
left Jerusalem during the siege, and retired to 
Pella, whence they afterwards removed and 
settled at ^lia. Neither were the Nazarenes 
the same as the Ebionites ; as Epiphanius, 
Mosheim, and others, speak of them as separate 
communities. 

Such are the opposite statements of these con- 
troversialists ; and the result of their discussion 
has given another proof to the world, that the 
Unitarian opinions are as utterly unsupported 
by antiquity as they are by Scripture ; and that 
the common vulgar Christianity of the system 
rightly called orthodox, and which is in vain 
endeavoured to be used as a term of contempt, is 
the one, true, and ancient faith, upon which the 
hopes of a Christian must be founded. The 
Divinity and Atonement of Christ are the un- 
changeable basis of the Christian's confidence 
that his repentance is accepted by his Creator. — 
See Horsley's Letters to Priestley, pp. 174-180, 
&c. and Bingham's Eccles. Antiq. 8vo. edit, 
vol. i. p. 13, lib. i. cap. 2. § 1. See also Semler 
ap. Archbishop Laurence's work On the Logos 
of St. John, p. 76. 



Note 34.— Part XIII. 

There are two modes of arranging the con- 
struction of this verse. Either, " When Felix 
hoard these things he deferred them, and said, 
that after he had acquired a more perfect knowl- 
edge of that way, and Lysias being come, he 
would take full cognizance of the business ;" or, 
" When he heard these things, having," &,c. as 
in our translation. Beza and Grotius state, 
that Felix had two points, the one of law, the 
other of fact, to determine. The first was, 
whether the new sect of the Nazarenes was 
against the Law of Moses ; the other, whether 
Paul was raising a tumult. On the first, the 
learned were to be consulted ; on the other, 
Lysias was the most conclusive witness. Hence 



Note 35.-37.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*369 



delay was entirely proper. Whitby cannot al- 
low that the text will bear this construction, and 
holds with the English version, that Felix had 
already gained a knowledge of the Christian 
way by his residence at Ceesarea, where Cor- 
nelius was converted, and Philip the deacon, 
and many disciples resided, chap. xxi. 8, 16. 
Elsley, vol. iii. p. 330. 



Note 35.— Part XIII. 

For the probable date of Felix's recal to 
Rome, see the remarks on Section ii. Part XV. 



Note 36.— Part XIII. 

A FREEMAN of Rome, who had been tried for 
a crime, and sentence passed on him, had a 
right to appeal to the emperor, if he conceived 
the sentence to be unjust ; but, even before the 
sentence was pronounced, he had the privilege 
of an appeal in criminal cases, if he conceived 
that the judge was doing any thing contrary to 
the laws. Ante sententiam appellari potest in 
criminali negotio, si judex contra leges hocfaciat. 

An appeal to the emperor was highly respect- 
ed. The Julian law condemned those magis- 
trates, and others, having authority, as violators 
of the public peace, who had put to death, tor- 
tured, scourged, imprisoned, or condemned any 
Roman citizen who had appealed to Caesar. 
Lege Julia de vi publicd damnatur, qui aliqud 
potestate praditus, Civem Romanum ad Impera- 
iorem appellantem necarit, necarive jusserit, tor- 
sent, verberaverit, condemnaverit, in publica vin- 
cula duci jusserit. 

This law was so very sacred and imperative, 
that, in the persecution under Trajan, Pliny 
would not attempt to put to death Roman citi- 
zens who were proved to have turned Chris- 
tians ; hence, in his letter to Trajan, lib. x. Ep. 
97, he says, " Fuerunt alii similis amentise, quos, 
quia cives Romani erant, annotavi in urbem re- 
mittendos." " There were others guilty of sim- 
ilar folly, whom, finding them to be Roman 
citizens, I have determined to send to the 
city." Very likely these had appealed to 
Caesar. — See Grotius ap. Dr. Clarke, and Bishop 
Pearce. 

VOL.. II. *47 



Note 37.— Part XIII. 

St. Luke here relates that, " when St. Paul 
was sent from Csesarea to Rome, he was with 
the other prisoners committed to the care of 
Julius, an officer of the Augustan cohort," that 
is, a Roman cohort, which had the honor of 
bearing the name of the emperor. Now it 
appears from tlie account which Josephus has 
given in his second book on the Jewish war'', 
that when Felix was procurator of Judsea, the 
Roman garrison at Caesarea was chiefly com- 
posed of soldiers who were natives of Syria. 
But it also appears, as well from the same 
book", as from the twentieth book of his An- 
tiquities'', that a small body of Roman soldiers 
was stationed there at the same time, and that 
this body of Roman soldiers was dignified with 
the title of SEBASTH, or Augustan, the 
same Greek word being employed by Josephus, 
as by the author of the Acts of the Apostles. 
This select body of Roman soldiers had been 
employed by Cumanus, who immediately pre- 
ceded Felix in the procuratorship of Judaea, for 
the purpose of quelling an insurrection. And 
when Festus, who succeeded Felix, had occa- 
sion to send prisoners from Caesarea to Rome, 
he would of course entrust them to the care of 
an officer belonging to this select corps. Even 
here then we have a coincidence, which is 
worthy of notice — a coincidence which vt^e 
should never have discovered, without consult- 
ing the writings of Josephus. But that which 
is most worthy of notice is the circumstance, 
that this select body of soldiers bore the title 
of Augustan. This title was known of course 
to St. Luke, who accompanied St. Paul from 
Caesarea to Rome. But that, in the time of 
the Emperor Nero, the garrison of Caesarea, 
which consisted chiefly of Syrian soldiers, con- 
tained also a small body of Roman soldiers, and 
that they were dignified by the epithet Augus- 
tan, are circumstances so minute, that no im- 
postor of a later age would have known them. 
And they prove incontestibly, that the Acts of 
the Apostles could have been written only by a 
person in the situation of St. Luke. 

'' Bell. Jud. lib. ii. cap. 13, sect. 7. 

' Jintiq. Jud. lib. xx. cap. 6. 

■'" Bishop Marsh's Lectures, part v. pp. 82, 84. 
Home's Addenda to 2d edit, of Crit. Introduct. 
p. 741. 



370=^ 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIV 



PART xrv. 



Note 1.— Part XIV. 

Aristarchus is mentioned, Col. iv. 10., as 
St. Paul's fellow-prisoner ; and in Philemon 24, 
as his fellow-laborer. No records remain to 
enable us to elucidate his history 



the south of the island of Clauda, or Gaudos, 
which lies opposite to the port of Phenice, the 
place where they proposed to winter. See 
Kuinoel, Comm. in lAb. Hist. JY. T. in loc. the 
Dissertation on St. Paul's Voyage. — Ap. Class. 
Journ. No. 38, p. 202, and Bryant. Wolfius 
quotes at length the passage in Boisius, referred 
to by Kuinoel. 



Note 2.— Part XIV. 

. For a very curious and interesting account 
of the ships of Alexandria, and the trade in corn 
between that place and Puteoli, see Bryant's 
treatise on the Euroclydon, Analysis of Mythol- 
ogy, vol. V. p. 343, 349 ; and Hasseus' treatise 
in the Critici Sacri, De JVavious Jllexandrinis, 
vol. xiii. p. 717, &c. 



Note 3.— Part XIV. 

There is some obscurity in this expression. 
Commentators are divided, whether the wind 
arose against the island or the ship. By the 
words xaT' airrjc. Boisius and Wolfius under- 
stand n.QWQag, " the ship." Boltenius refers it 
to t6 nlolov, ver. 10., and thinks that aijrrjj is 
put for a^Tov. Kuinoel is of opinion that the 
island is referred to. 

Schleusner on this passage (voc. ^dllo}) inter- 
prets the words xar' airrig to mean the ship. 
It seems, however, evident that the island is 
meant, from the grammatical construction, and 
that it refers to ttjj' /C^rJD^J', in the preceding 
line. Our translation points, though rather 
obscurely, to the same meaning (" There arose 
against it"), which is rather more clearly ex- 
pressed in the Rheims translation, (" A tem- 
pestuous wind, called Euro-AquUo, drove against 
it"), and the Vulgate (" Misit se contra ipsam, 
Cretam, scilicet, ventus typhonicus"), and Cas- 
talio's version (" In eam procellosus ventus im- 
pegit"), agree in the same manner. 

This acceptation of the signification of this 
passage contradicts the idea that the wind Euro- 
clydon blew from a northerly quarter, as it must in 
such case have driven the vessel from the island, 
and not towards it, as it appears to have done. 
The course of the wind from the south-east 
would impel the ship towards the island of 
Crete, though not so directly but that they might 
weather it, as they in fact did, and got clear, 
tliough it appears that they incurred some risk 
of being wrecked, when running under, or to 



Note 4.— Part XIV. 

ON THE WIND CALLED EUROCLYDON. 

This wind is generally supposed to be that 
tempestuous and uncertain wind which blows 
from all directions, and is called a Levanter. 
" The Euroclydon," says Dr. Shaw, " seems to 
have varied very little from the true east point ; 
for, as the ship could not bear up, diVToq)du\uel>', 
loof up, against it, ver. 15., but they were 
obliged to let her drive, we cannot conceive, as 
there are no remarkable currents in that part 
of the sea, and as the rudder could be of little 
use, that it could take any other course than as 
the wind directed it. Accordingly, in the de- 
scription of the storm, we find that the vessel 
was first of all under the island of Clauda, 
ver. 16., which is a little to the southward of the 
parallel of that part of the coast of Crete, from 
whence it may be supposed to have been driven ; 
then it was tossed along the bottom of the 
gulph of Adria, ver. 27., and afterwards broken 
to pieces, ver. 41., at Melita, which is a little to 
the northward of the parallel above mentioned ; 
so that the direction and course of this particu- 
lar Euroclydon seems to have been first at east 
by north, and afterwards pretty nearly east by 
south." 

The learned Jacob Bryant" examines at great 
length the decision of Dr. Bentley, who en- 
deavoured to prove that the Euroclydon was the 
same as Enro-Aquilo in the Vulgate ; and, 
though it is not found in any table of the winds 
among either the Greek or Roman writers, nor 
in the temple of the winds of Andronicus Cyr- 
rhestes at Athens, that it corresponded to the 
wind C(Ecins, Kniy.lug. Mr. Byrant contends 

" Bryant's Jinalysis of Mythologij, vol. v. p. 330 
-341 ; Shaw's Travels, 4to. edit. p. :!2;>, edit. 2. p. 
331. Dissertation on St. Paul's Voyage, &c. No. 38, 
of the Class. Journ. Etym. M.TV(pnir ylto ianv i, tov 
(O'Uiov fi(f>vdQa nvoi^, tie y-ai fVQoxXt'So)r y.aXiirat , and 
Hesychius riKftii' 6 utyoc avt^iog. The Alexandrian 
MS. and tlie Vulgate read for ixjiJo>e?.idoii — ev(}ay.v- 
'/.o>v, Euro-.iquilo, ap. Kuinoel. 



Note 5.-7.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*371 



there was no such wind as Euro-Aquilo. An 
anonymous writer, No. 38, of the Class. Journ., 
has drawn up the argument in a very satisfac- 
tory manner. 

The Latin Vulgate translation, tliat of Castalio, 
and some otiiers, render the word Eurodydon, by 
Euro-Aquilo, a word found no where else, and in- 
consistent in its construction with the principles 
on which the names of the intermediate or com- 
pound winds are framed. Euro-notus is so called, 
as intervening between Euro and Notus, and as 
partaking, as was thougiit, of the qualities of both. 
The same holds true of Libo-notus, as being in- 
terposed between Libs and Notus. Both these 
compound winds lie in tlie same quarter, or 
quadrant of the circle, with the winds of which 
they were composed ; and no other wind inter- 
venes. But Euros and Aquilo are at ninety 
degrees distance from each other ; or, accord- 
ing to some writers, at fifteen degrees more, or 
at 105 degrees ; the former lying in the soutli- 
east quarter, and the latter in the north-east ; 
and two winds, one of which is the east cardi- 
nal point, intervene, as Caecias and Subsolanus. 
The Carbas of Vitruvius occupies the middle 
point between Eurus and Aquilo, in his scheme 
of the winds ; but this never had, nor could 
have, the appellation of Euro-Aquilo, as it lies 
in a different quarter, and the east point is 
interposed, which could scarcely have been 
overlooked in the framing of a compound 
appellation. The word Eurodydon is evidently 
composed of Eurus, or Eigog, the south-east 
wind, and xXvdut^, a wave, an addition highly 
expressive of the character and effects of this 
wind, but, probably, chiefly applied to it when it 
became typhonic or tempestuous. Indeed the 
general character under which Eurus is de- 
scribed, agrees perfectly with the description 
of the effects of the wind which caused the 
distress related in the account of this voyage. 



Note 5.— Part XIV. 

The island on which St. Paul was shipwrecked 
was in Adria. Kuinoel, and the commentators 
who adopt the general opinion, tliat St. Paul 
was wrecked at the African Malta, interpret 
Adria, in a very wide sense, of the sea betv/een 
Greece, Italy, and Africa, in such manner, that 
the Ionic, Cretic, and Sicilian seas, are com- 
prehended under that appellation. Byrant, in 
his dissertation above referred to, limits the 
application of the word to the waters of the 
gulf, still called the Adriatic. 

The Adriatic Sea in early ages comprehended 
only the upper part of the Sinus lonicus, where 
was a city and a river, both called Adria, from 
one of which it took its name. It afterwards 
was advanced deeper in the gulf; but never so 
engrossed it as to lose its original name. It was 



called for many ages promiscuously, the Adriatic 
and Ionian Gulf. Thucydides (lib. i.), Theophras- 
tus (Hist. Plant, lib. viii. cap. x.), and Polybius 
(lib. ii. p. 102, edit. Casaub. Par. 1609), confirm 
iVIr. Bryant's opinion. Polybius informs us, 
tliat the Ionian Gulf reached south to the 
promontory of Corinthus, in Bruttia, where was 
the commencement of the Sicilian Sea; but 
even this, which was the remotest point south 
of the Adriatic, was never supposed to extend 
as far as Malta in the Mediterranean. 

Strabo says expressly, that the Adriatic Sea 
is bounded by Panormus, and a port of Crismor, 
and by the Ceraunian mountains, which lie in 
about forty degrees north latitude, and upwards 
of four degrees to the north of Malta; and 
in another place, that the Ceraunian mountains, 
and the Promontorium Japygium form the boun- 
dary or mouth of the Ionian Sea (book vi. p. 
■105, Oxf edit.) 

And Ptolemy, so far from accounting Malta 
to be an island of the Adriatic Sea, reckons it 
to be a part of Africa ; and Pomponius Mela 
inclines to the same arrangement : the latter 
writer speaks of Corcyra, which is in latitude 
39° 30" north, (nearly half a degree to the south 
of the Ceraunian mountains,) as being situated 
in the neighbourhood [vicina], not in the Adri- 
atic Sea ; so that he probably meant to assign 
the same limits with Strabo. 



Note 6.— Part XIV. 

See on the rudder-bands, Pocock's Travels, 
vol. i. p. 135. Bishop Pearce in loc. and the 
explanations and quotations in Kuinoel. 



Note 7.— Part XIV. 

^id&hxaaog is properly (says Bochart) an 
isthmus, or a narrow strait between two seas ; 
but it here seems to mean (says Kuinoel) an 
oblong drift or heap of sand, a sand-bank. Mr. 
Bryant, however, objects to this interpretation. 

The Tonog diduhtaaog (says Bryant) is noth- 
ing else but the natural barrier of a harbour ; 
where this is wanting, they make an artificial 
one, called a mole, or pier; otherwise there can 
be no security for shipping, the harbour being 
little better than a road without it. Such a 
barrier or headland was here, which they en- 
deavoured to get round, and failed. This may 
be learned from the context — risQmsa6fTeg 
di elg i6nov 8id6Xaaaov, indiy.stXaf irjy favf : 
where the word ixnsadvrEg was before : it 
signifies falling upon a place in taking a round 
or circuit. The mariners saw a bay, into 
which they had a mind to run their ship ; but 
they met with a small promontory, that pro- 



372* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIV. 



jected and formed the entrance into the bay, 
and which was washed on each side by the sea. 
This impeded them, and in endeavouring to get 
round it, their ship struclf and stood fast Mr. 
Bryant confirms this interpretation of the word 
by the authority of Chrysostom. See Kuinoel 
in loc, and Bryant's Dissertation, p. .397. 



Note 8.— Part XIV. 

ON THE ISLAND OF MELITA. 

Many commentators have been of opinion 
that St. Paul was wrecked at Meleda or Melite, 
in the Adriatic, and not at Malta, in the Med- 
iterranean. Kuinoel mentions Rhoer as the 
principal continental divine who has defended 
this opinion The most celebrated treatise, 
however, with which we are acquainted, is that 
of Mr. Bryant, who has defended this opinion at 
great length, with all his usual learning, and 
more than his usual judgment; and in the 
general opinion, I believe, has been supposed 
to have established his position. I shall again 
refer to the summary of his arguments, and 
the just remarks of the anonymous writer I have 
before referred to, on this subject. 

I am of opinion, he observes, that the island 
Meleda, last mentioned, is the one here alluded 
to. My reasons are as follow : — " The island 
of Meleda lies confessedly in the Adriatic Sea, 
which situation cannot, without much strain on 
the expression, be ascribed to the island of 
Malta, as I have before shown (Note 5.) Me- 
leda lies nearer the mouth of the Adriatic than 
any other island of that sea, and would of 
course be more likely to receive the wreck of 
any vessel that should be driven by tempests 
towards that quarter. Meleda lies nearly N. 
W. by N. of the south-west promontory of 
Crete, and of course nearly in the direction of 
a storm from the south-east quarter. The man- 
ner in which Melita is described by St. Luke 
agrees with the idea of an obscure place, but 
not with the celebrity of Malta at that time. 
Cicero speaks of Melita (Malta) as abounding 
in curiosities and riches, and possessing a 
remarkable manufacture of the finest linen. 
The temple of Juno there, which had been pre- 
served inviolate by both the contending parties 
in the Punic wars, possessed great stores of 
ivory ornaments, particularly figures of Victory — 
antiquo operc et summa arte perfectaP 

" Malta," says Diodorus Siculus, " is fur- 
nished with many and very good harbours, and 
the inhabitants are very rich, for it is full of all 
sorts of artificers, among whom there are ex- 
cellent weavers of fine linen. Their houses 
are very stately and beautifully adorned. The 
inhabitants are a colony of Phoenicians, who, 
tradinof as merchants as far as the Western 



Ocean, resorted to this place on account of its 
commodious ports and convenient situation for 
a sea trade ; and by the advantages of this 
place, the inhabitants presently became famous 
both for their wealth and merchandise." 

It is difficult to suppose that a place of this 
description could be meant by such an expres- 
sion, as of an island called " Melita ;" nor 
could the inhabitants, with any propriety of 
speech, be understood by the epithet " bar- 
barous." 

But the Adriatic Melite perfectly corre- 
sponds with that description. Though too ob- 
scure and insignificant to be particularly noticed 
by the ancient geographers, the opposite and 
neighbouring coast of Ulyricum is represented 
by Strabo as perfectly corresponding with the 
expression of St. Paul. 

The circumstance of the viper or poisonous 
snake that fastened on St. Paul's hand merits 
consideration. 

Father Giorgi, an ecclesiastic of Melite 
Adriatica, who has written on this subject, 
suggests very properly, that as there are now 
no serpents in Malta, and as it should seem 
were none in the time of Pliny, there never 
were any there, the country being dry and 
rocky, and not aflfording shelter or proper nour- 
ishment for animals of that description. But 
Meleda abounds with those reptiles, being 
woody and damp, and favorable to their way of 
life and propagation. The disease with which 
the father of Publius was afflicted (dysentery, 
combined with fever, probably intermittent) 
affords a presumptive evidence of the nature 
of the island. 

Such a place as Melite Africana (Malta), dry 
and rocky, and remarkably healthy, was not 
likely to produce such a disease, which is al- 
most peculiar to moist situations and stagnant 
waters ; but might well suit a country woody 
and damp, and probably for want of draining, ex- 
posed to the putrid effluvia of confined moisture. 

The following are the principal objections, 
with their answers, to Mr. Bryant's and Rhoer's 
hypothesis: 1. Tradition has unvaryingly as- 
serted this as the place of the Apostle's ship- 
wreck. — The tradition cannot be traced to the 
time of the wreck. 2. The island in the Vene- 
tian Gulf, in favor of which Mr. Bryant so 
learnedly contends, is totally out of the track 
in which the Euroclydon must have driven the 
vessel. — The contrary has been shown, (see 
Note 4.) 3. It is said, in verse XL of this 
chapter, that another ship of Alexandria, bound, 
as we must suppose, for Italy, and very probably 
carrying wheat thither, as St Paul's vessel did 
(chap, xxvii. 38.), had been driven out of its 
course. — The same Levanter which drove one 
from its course, might have di'iven the other 
also. 4. In St. Paul's voyage to Italy from 
Melita, on board the Alexandrian ship that had 
wintered there, he and his companions landed 



Note 8.] 



NOTES ON THE ACTS. 



*373 



at S}-racuse (ver. 12, 13.), and from thence 
went to Rhegium. But if it had been the Illy- 
rian MeUta, the proper course of the ship would 
have been first, to Rhegium, before it reached 
Syracuse at all ; whereas, in a voyage from the 
present Malta to Italy, it was necessary to 
reach Syracuse in Sicily, before the ship could 
arrive at Rhegium, in Italy. This is the strong- 
est argument; but see Note 11. 

The learned Dr. Gray, author of the inval- 
uable Key to the Old Testament, in liis work on 
the connection between the sacred writings 
and the literature of Jewish and heathen au- 
thors, favors the opinion of Mt. Bryant, and 
confirms its probability by a similar incident in 
the life of Josephus, who was wrecked on his 
way to Rome, in the Adriatic Sea, in the same 
year with St. Paul. 

" The account in the life of Josephus," says 
Dr. Gray, " written by himself, appears to 
relate to this voyage, and seems to prove that 
Josephus was a companion in a part of it with 
St. Paul. There are, indeed, dilficulties which 
interfere with this opinion, which, as the subject 
is of some moment, may be proposed for 
critical investigation." 

The relation is as follows: — "After the 
twenty-sixth year of my age, it happened that 
I went up to Rome on the occasion that I shall 
now mention. At the time when Felix was 
procurator of Judaea, there were certain priests 
of my acquaintance, good and worthy persons, 
whom on a small and trifling occasion he had 
put into bonds, and^ent to Rome to plead their 
cause before Caesar. For these I was desirous 
to procure deliverance, and that especially 
because I was informed that they were not un- 
mindful of piety towards God, even under their 
afflictions, but supported themselves with figs 
and nuts : accordingly I came to Rome, though 
it was often through great hazards by sea, for 
our ship being wrecked in the midst of the 
Adriatic Sea, we that were in it, being about 
six hundred in number, swam for our lives all 
the night, when, upon the first appearance of 
the day, a ship of Cyrene appearing to us, by 
the providence of God, I and some others, 
eighty in all, preventing the rest, were taken 
up into the ship: and when I had thus escaped 
and come to Puteoli, I became acquainted with 
Aliturus, an actor of plays, a Jew by birth, 
and much beloved by Nero, and through his 
interest became known to Poppea, Cssar's 
wife, and took care, as soon as possible, to 
entreat her to procure that the priests might be 
set at liberty." 

" The dates," says this learned writer, " might 
be shown so far to correspond, that there would 
be no objection from this source. It is not 
improbable that Josephus, who was of sacer- 
dotal descent, and brought up in the strict pro- 
fession of the Pharisaic opinions, should have 
felt an interest in the welfare of St. Paul, who 
vol.. II. 



was a Pharisee, brought up at the feet of Ga- 
maliel, and who might be called a priest, as he 
was a doctor of the law, and assumed the 
character of a preacher of righteousness. What 
Josephus says of Felix having, as procurator of 
Judaea, sent the persons spoken of to Rome, 
may be inaccurately stated, or may relate to 
some order first given by Felix to this effect, 
but the execution of which was delayed by the 
change of governors. This would accord with 
the account of St. Luke, and would not be in- 
consistent with what is further stated by him, 
that St. Paul was detained two years in con- 
finement, and that Festus, not long after his 
arrival to take possession of the government, 
examined Paul at Caesarea ; and after having 
again heard his defence in presence of Agrippa, 
directed him to be conveyed to Rome. Jose- 
phus, then speaking of the imprisonment and 
sending of St. Paul to Rome, ascribes both the 
measures to their first author, whose unpopular 
government was the subject of very general 
complaint, and whose proceedings were most 
likely to be traversed at Rome. 

The piety and resignation which the historian 
ascribes to his companions, accord well with 
the character of St. Paul ; and the circumstance 
of their supporting themselves by figs and nuts, 
may help to explain what is stated in the Acts, 
that the " passengers fasted fourteen days ;" 
that is, had no regular food. It might have 
been by means of the interest of Aliturus, that 
St. Paul was allowed the liberty of residing at 
his own house at Rome. The other difficulties 
which occur are not so easily removed, and 
present a fair subject for discussion. It is 
stated by Josephus that there were six hundred 
persons in the ship in which he sailed, though 
in the vessel in which St. Paul was wrecked, 
there but two hundred and seventy-six. 

The number, however, mentioned by Josephus 
is so great, as to lead us to suspect some mis- 
take, since it is not by any means credible that 
trading vessels at that time were accustomed to 
contain, or capable of accommodating, so great 
a number of persons. 

With respect to the difference between the 
account in the Acts, and that of Josephus, as 
to the circumstances of the escape, it is to be 
considered whether Josephus, and the seventy- 
nine with him, might not have been separated 
from those, who swam to shore at Melita, and 
have been taken up in the ship of Cyrene, 
being the persons who first cast " themselves 
into the sea," as is related in the Acts ; and 
whether the remainder of the crew, who, Jose- 
phus states, were swimming with him all the 
night, and of whose subsequent fate he says 
nothing, might not have reached the land to- 
gether with St. Paul. Why, when Josephus 
afterwards, upon tliis supposition, must have re- 
ceived the account of St. Paul's escape with the 
rest, he should omit to record it, can be ex- 

*FF 



374* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIV. 



plained only from a reluctance which he might 
feel, to confirm or report the miraculous circum- 
stances which demonstrated the divine coun- 
tenance to St. Paul's mission, which, if he had 
admitted, he must have been a convert to 
Christianity. He certainly speaks inaccurately 
in one instance, representing himself and his 
companions to have swam all the night, which, 
without a miracle at least, could not have been 
literally effected ; another difficulty, and per- 
haps the greatest, is, that St. Paul expressly 
says, that they all escaped safe to land, and that 
when they escaped they knew that the island 
was called Melita, which seems to imply, that 
they all reached the same island. It is possible, 
however, that the Apostle, by the word " all," 
refers to the immediate antecedent in the verse, 
speaking distinctly of those who followed the 
first division. 

The integrity of the miracle, and the declar- 
ations of St. Paul, that there should be no loss 
of any man's life, and that not a hair should fall 
from the head of any of them, are equally es- 
tablished, whether the whole crew reached the 
land, or some only, while others were taken up 
into a ship. If Josephus was one of the breth- 
ren, whom the Apostle found at Puteoli, he 
might have been delayed on his voyage from 
Melita, or detained at Puteoli by Aliturus, till 
St. Paul arrived there ; if the circumstances 
should not be thought to be satisfactorily recon- 
ciled, there are still so many concurrences, that 
the accounts must at least be allowed to bear a 
very remarkable resemblance to each other, if 
not to refer to the same event ; for let it be con- 
sidered that in both accounts the prisoners are 
represented to have been put into bonds by 
Felix, upon a trifling occasion, and in both to 
have appealed to Csesar. In both relations, 
men of extraordinary piety and excellence are 
exposed to shipwreck in the Adriatic in the 
same year ; and in both they wonderfully es- 
cape ; by a remarkable providence, in both his- 
tories they arrive at Puteoli ; and in both in- 
stances the prisoners are, by an unexpected 
indulgence in some degree, set at liberty, in 
consequence it should seem, of interest made 
with the emperor. — Johan. Fred. Wandalinus 
considers Malta, in the Mediterranean, as the 
scene of St. Paul's shipwreck, p. 773, in a dis- 
sertation in the 13th vol. of the Critici Sacri. 



Note 9.— Part XIV. 

Mr. Bryant fully proves that the people of 
Malta, in the Mediterranean, could not be justly 
called^ " barbarous." On this point the testi- 
mony of Diodorus Siculus (see Note 8.) is 
decisive. Mr. Bryant, after some extracts on 
the magnificence of the temples at Malta, goes 
on to contrast the description of the African 



Malta, given by the classical writers, with the 
brief but forcible account of the Adriatic Melite 
in the New Testament. The island is situated 
in the Adriatic Gulf, near the river Naro, in 
the province of the Nesticeans, an Illyrian 
people. What is the character of these Illy- 
rians ? Barbarous beyond measure ; so that they 
are seldom mentioned without this denomi- 
nation. Thucydides, speaking of Epidamnus, 
says, it was " in the neighbourhood of the Tau- 
lantii, a barbarous set of people, Illyrians." — 
Hist. lib. i. Polybius says, that in his time 
" they did not seem so much to have feuds and 
quarrels with any particular nation, as to be at 
war with all the world." — Hist. lib. ii. p. 100, 
edit. Casaub. Item excerptae Legationes, sect, 
cxxv. Diodorus seldom mentions them but he 
terms them barbarians. Speaking of the Lace- 
daemonians giving them a remarkable check, he 
says (lib. xiv. p. 464, edit. Stephan.), tov noXlov 
■O-Q&aovg enavaav tovq ^aqS&qovg. One Illyrian 
nation was called the Dardanians ; of whom 
Nicolaus Damascenus [SwaymyT] nuQudo^oii' 
ridcov) mentions an odd rule, which, I believe, no 
other body politic imposed upon itself: they 
were washed only three times — when they were 
born, when they married, and when they died 
— rglg iv tu (9/(B loiovrat [i6vov, orav yipoivrai, 
xal iniy&fiOLg, xal TelsviibvTsg. Strabo speaks 
of the country as naturally good, but neglected 
and barren, " on account of the savage dispo- 
sition of the inhabitants, and the national turn 
to plunder." They are represented as rude in 
their habits, and their bodies disfigured with 
marks and scarifications, by way of ornament, 
(Strabo, vol. i. p. 484, edit. Amstel. 1707); 
not given to traffic, and ignorant of the use 
of money. (Schol. in Dionys. TleQiriy. ad vers. 
97.) They are described as extending to the 
Danube north, and eastward to Macedonia 
and Thrace ; comprehending a villainous broth- 
erhood under different denominations. (Liv. 
lib. X. cap. 2.) lllyrii lAhurnique et Istri, gen- 
tes fera. Such were the Scordisci, a nation 
bent on ruin ; who are said to have made a 
beautiful country for seven days' journey a 
desert. Add to these the Bessi, so supreme in 
villainy, that the banditti looked up to them, and 
called them, by way ofeminence,"The Thieves." 
(Strabo, vol. i. p. 490, edit. Amstel. 1707.) In 
short, it is notorious that all the tract of Illyria, 
from the city Lissus north-west, was termed 
"IklvQig BaQ6(tQi}ii) : partly on account of the 
ferocity of the inliabitants, and partly to distin- 
guish it from the Hellenic, where the Greeks had 
made their settlements. It is observable, that the 
islands upon this coast were noted for a despe- 
rate race of freebooters ; and, what is most to 
the purpose, Melite and Corcyra particularly 
swarmed with pirates. They so far aggrieved 
the Romans by their repeated outrages, that 
(Appian. De Bello Myrico) Augustus ortlered 
the island to be sacked, and the inhabitants to 



Note 10.-13.] 



ON THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



*375 



be put to the sword. This in great measure 
was executed. So that, when the Apostle 
arrived in these parts, the island must have 
been very much thinned, and the remainder of 
the people well disciplined. 



Syracuse would have been the smallest devia 
tion possible. 



Note 10.— Part XIV. 

It was the custom with the ancient Greeks 
and Romans, to place the image or picture of 
the deity, to whose care and protection they 
committed the ship, at the stern, and to place 
the sign, by the name of which the ship was 
called, at the head*. It is a dispute among 
learned men, whether the tutelar deity were not 
also sometimes the sign, and for that reason 
placed both at head and stern. There are 
undeniable instances in ancient authors, wherein 
some of the heathen deities are placed at the 
head. And it is not very likely, that such ships 
should have other deities at the stern, than those 
to whose tutelage they were committed. Of this 
sort is the ship which carried Paul to Italy. It 
had Castor and Pollux, two heathen deities, at the 
head, and doubtless, if any, had the same also 
at the stern, as the tutelar gods, protectors, and 
patrons of the ship, these being esteemed deities 
peculiarly favorable to mariners. 



Note 11.— Part XIV. 

An argument has been brought in favor of 
the opinion, that the island here in question was 
the island of Malta, " from St. Paul's calling at 
Syracuse, in his way to Rhegium ; which is so 
far out of the track, that no example can be 
produced in the history of navigation, of any 
ship going so far out of her course, except it 
was driven by a violent tempest." This argu- 
ment tends principally to show, that a very in- 
correct idea has been formed of the relative 
situations of these places. The ship which car- 
ried St. Paul from the Adriatic Sea to Rhegium 
would not deviate from her course more than 
half a day's sail by touching at Syracuse, and 
the delay so occasioned would probably be but 
a few hours more than it would have been, had 
they proceeded to Syracuse in their way to the 
straits of Messina, from Malta, as the map will 
show. Besides, the master of the ship might 
have, and probably had, some business at Syra- 
cuse, which had originated at Alexandria, from 
which place it must have been originally in- 
tended the ship should commence her voyage 
to Puteoli ; and in this course the calling at 



' Vid. Hammond in loc, Virg. ^neid. I. 10. v. 
157, 166, et 171. Ovid. De Trist. Eleg. 9. v. 1, 9. 
Pers. Sat. 6. v. 30. 



Note 12.— Part XIV. 

Dr. Lardner has shown that this mode of 
custody was in use amongst the Romans, and 
that whenever it was adopted, the prisoner was 
bound to the soldier by a single chain: in 
reference to which St. Paul, Acts xxviii. 20,, 
tells the Jews, whom he had assembled, " For 
this cause, therefore, have I called for you to 
see you, and to speak with you, because that 
for the Hope of Israel I am bound with this 
chain," r-fiv ulvcriv TavTrjv ttsqIxbiiioi. It is in 
exact conformity, therefore, with the truth of 
St. Paul's situation at the time, that he declares 
of himself (Eph. vi. 20.), nQsaSEiw h Alvuei. 
And the exactness is the more remarkable, as 
alvai,g, a chain, is no where used in the singu- 
lar number to express any other kind of custody. 
When the prisoner's hands or feet were bound 
togetlier, the word was deafiol, " bonds," Acts 
xxvi. 29. When the prisoner was confined 
between two soldiers, as in the case of Peter 
(Acts xii. 6.), two chains were employed ; and 
it is said upon his miraculous deliverance, that 
the " chains" {<j.liaBig, in the plural) " fell from 
his hands." — Paley's Hor(R PaulincE. 



Note 13.— Part XIV. 
ON the date and occasion of the epistle 

TO THE EPHESIANS. 

The Epistles which follow in this part of 
the Arrangement were written by St. Paul 
during his imprisonment at Rome. This will 
appear from the allusions which are repeatedly 
made by him to that event. In this Epistle to 
the Ephesians we meet with — "I Paul, the 
prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles," 
chap. iii. 1. " I therefore (the prisoner of the 
Lord) beseech you,'' chap. iv. 1. " For which 
I am an ambassador in bonds," chap. vi. 20. ; 
and we know that Tychicus, by whom the 
Epistle was probably sent, chap. vi. 21.. as the 
subscription affirms, was with him during his 
first imprisonment. As St. Paul does not speak 
of the probability of his release, we may con- 
clude, with Dr. Lardner, Bishop Tomline, 
Mr. Home, and others, that it was written in the 
early part of his imprisonment. 

Many learned men have doubted whether 
this Epistle was sent to the Church at Ephesus. 
They think that the proper direction is. The 
Epistle of Paul to the Laodiceans ; and sup- 
pose it to be the same which the Apostle men- 
tions Coloss. iv. 1(3., " When this Epistle is 



3T6* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIV. 



read among' you, cause that it be read also in 
the Church of the Laodiceans ; and that ye 
likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea." Dr. 
Paley's arguments in the affirmative are entitled 
to much regard. 

" Although it does not appear," he observes, 
"to have ever been disputed that the Epistle 
before us was written by St. Paul, yet it is well 
known that a doubt has long been entertained 
concerning the persons to wiiom it was ad- 
dressed. The question is founded partly in 
some ambiguity in the external evidence. 
Marcion, a heretic of the second century, as 
quoted by Tertullian, a father in the beginning 
of the third, calls it. The Epistle to the Laodi- 
ceans. From what we know of Marcion, his 
judgment is little to be relied upon ; nor is it 
perfectly clear that Marcion was rightly under- 
stood by Tertullian. If, however, Marcion be 
brought to prove that some copies in his time 
gave '£«' AaoSi-xela in the superscription, his 
testimony, if it be truly interpreted, is not 
diminished by his heresy ; for, as Grotius 
observes, 'cur in ea re mentiretur nihQ erat 
causae.' The name 'Ev '^tpsffw, ' In Ephesus,' 
in the first verse, upon which word singly 
depends the proof that the Epistle was written 
to the Ephesians, is not read in all the manu- 
scripts now extant. I admit, however, thatjhe 
external evidence preponderates with a mani- 
fest excess on the side of the received reading. 
The objection, therefore, principally arises 
from the contents of the Epistle itself, which 
in many respects militate with the supposition 
that it was written to the Church of Ephesus. 
According to the histoiy, St. Paul had passed 
two whole years at Ephesus, Acts xix. 10., and 
in this point, viz. of St. Paul having preached 
for a considerable length of time at Ephesus, 
the history is confirmed by the two Epistles to 
the Corinthians, and by the two Epistles to 
Timothy. ' I will tarry at Ephesus until Pente- 
cost,' 1 Cor. xvi. 8. ' We would not have you 
ignorant of our trouble which came to us in 
Asia,' 2 Cor. i. 8. ' As I besought thee to abide 
still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia,' 
I Tim. i. 3. ' And in how many things he 
ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest 
well,' 2 Tim. i. 18. I adduce these testimonies 
because, had it been a competition of credit 
between the history and the Epistle, I should 
have thought myself bound to have preferred 
the Epistle. Now every Epistle which St. Paul 
wrote to the Churches which he himself had 
founded, or which he had visited, abounds with 
references and appeals towhat had passed during 
the time that he was present among them ; where- 
as there is not a textlnthe Epistle to the Ephesians 
from which we can collect that he had ever been 
at Ephesus at all. The two Epistles to the Cor- 
inthians, the Epistle to the Galatians, the Epistle 
to the Philippians, and the two Epistles to the 
Thessalonians, are of this class ; and they are full 



of allusions to the Apostle's history, his recep- 
tion, and his conduct whilst amongst them ; the 
total want of which, in the Epistle before us, is 
very difficult to account for, if it was in truth 
written to the Church of Ephesus, in which city 
he had resided for so long a time. This is the 
first and strongest objection. But farther, the 
Epistle to the Colossians was addressed to a 
Church in which St. Paul had never been. This 
we infer fi-om the first verse of the second chap- 
ter : ' For I would that ye knew what great 
conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, 
and for as many as have not seen my face in 
the flesh.' There could be no propriety in thus 
joining the Colossians and the Laodiceans with 
those 'who had not seen his face in the flesh,' 
if they did not also belong to the same descrip- 
tion. Now his address to the Colossians, whom 
he had not visited, is precisely the same as his 
address to the Christians, to whom he wrote in 
the Epistle which we are considering: 'We 
give tiianks to God and the Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we 
heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the 
love which ye have to all the saints,' Col. i. 3, 4. 
Thus he speaks to the Ephesians, in the Epistle 
before us, as follows; 'Wherefore I also, after 
I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and 
love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks 
for you, making mention of you in my prayers,' 
chap. i. 15. The words ' having heard of your 
faith and love,' are the very words we see, 
which he uses towards strangers ; and it is not 
probable that he should employ the same in 
accosting a Church in which he had long exer- 
cised his ministry, and whose faith and love he 
must have personally known. The Epistle to 
the Romans was written before St. Paul had been 
at Rome ; and his address to them runs in the 
same strain with that just now quoted : 'I thank 
my God, through Jesus Christ, for you all, that 
your faith is spoken of throughout the whole 
world,' Rom. i. 8. Let us now see what was 
the form in which our Apostle was accustomed 
to introduce his Epistles, when he wrote to 
those with whom he was already acquainted. 
To the Corinthians it was this : ' I thank my God 
always on your behalf, for the grace of God which 
is given you by Jesus Christ ; ' 1 Cor. i. 4. To 
the Philippians, ' I thank my God upon every 
remembrance of you,' Phil. i. 3. To the Thes- 
salonians : 'We give thanks to God always for 
you all, making mention of you in our prayers ; 
remembering without ceasing your work of 
faith and labor of love,' 1 Thess. i. 2, 3. To 
Timothy : 'I thank God, whom I serve from my 
forefathers with pure conscience, that without 
ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my 
prayers night and day,' 2 Tim. i. 3. In these 
quotations it is usually his remembrance, and 
never his hearing of them, which he makes the 
subject of his thankfulness to God. 

" As great difficulties stand in the way, sup- 



Note 13.] 



ON THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



*377 



posing- the Epistle before us to have been writ- 
ten to the Church at Ephesus ; so I think it 
probable that it is actually the Epistle to the 
Laodiceans, referred to in the fourth chapter 
of the Epistle to the Colossians. The text 
which contains that reference is this: 'When 
this Epistle is read among- you, cause tliat it be 
read also in tlie Church of the Laodiceans, and 
that ye likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea,' 
Col. iv. 16. The Epistle from Laodicea was an 
Epistle sent by St. Paul to that Church, and by 
them transmitted to Colosse. The two Churches 
were mutually to communicate the Epistles they 
had received. Tliis is the way in which the 
direction is explained by the greater part of 
commentatoi-s, and is the most probable sense 
that can be given to it. It is also probable that 
the Epistle alluded to was an Epistle which had 
been received by the Church of Laodicea lately. 
It appears, then, with a considerable degree of 
evidence, that there existed an Epistle of St. 
Paul nearly of the same date with the Epistle 
to the Colossians, and an Epistle directed to a 
Church (for such the Church of Laodicea was) 
in which St. Paul had never been. What has 
been observed concerning the Epistle before us 
shows that it answers perfectly to that character. 

" Nor does the mistake seem very difficult to 
account for. Whoever inspects the map of 
Asia Minor will see, that a person proceeding 
from Rome to Laodicea would probably land at 
Ephesus, as the nearest frequented seaport in 
that direction. Might not Tychicus then, in 
passing through Ephesus, communicate to the 
Christians of that place the letter with which 
he was charged .' And might not copies of that 
letter be multiplied and preserved at Ephesus ? 
Might not some of the copies drop the words 
of designation ^ Ev rrj Aaodty.ela, which it was 
of no consequence to an Ephesian to retain ? 
Might not copies of the letter come out into 
the Christian Church at large from Ephesus ; 
and might not this give occasion to a belief that 
the letter was written to that Church ? And, 
lastly, might not this belief produce the error 
■which we suppose to have crept into the in- 
scription ? 

" And it is remarkable, that there seem to 
have been some ancient copies without the 
words of designation, either the words 'In 
Ephesus,' or the words 'In Laodicea.' St. 
Basil, a writer of the fourth century, has this 
very singular passage : ' And writing to the 
Ephesians, as truly united to him who is through 
knowledge, he (Paul) calleth them in a peculiar 
sense ' such who are ;' saying, to the saints who 
are, and (or even) the faithful in Christ Jesus; 
for so those before us have transmitted it, and 
we have found it in ancient copies.' Dr. Mill 
interprets (and, notwithstanding some objections 
that have been made to him, in my opinion, 
rightly interprets) these words of Basil, as 
declaring that this father had seen certain 
VOL. II. *48 



copies of the Epistle in which the words ' in 
Ephesus' were wanting. And the passage 
must be considered as Basil's fanciful way of 
explaining- what was really a corrupt and defec- 
tive reading- ; for I do not believe it possible 
that the author of the Epistle could have ori- 
ginally written uylotg rolg olaiv, without any 
name of place to follow it." 

Such are the arguments of Dr. Paley on this 
side of the question. All the ancient fathers 
and Christian writers, with Bishop Tomline, 
Home, and many others of our best critics, 
have espoused the contrary opinion, which is 
well represented by Dr. Lardner, who observes, 
" That this Epistle was sent to the Church at 
Ephesus, we are assured by the testimony of 
all catholic Christians of all past ages. This 
we can now say with confidence, having ex- 
amined the principal Christian writers of the 
first age, to the beginning of the twelfth cen- 
tury, in all which space of time there appears 
not one who had any doubt about it. Of these 
testimonies, that of Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, 
in the end of the first century, is very remark- 
able. In a letter which he wrote to the Ephe- 
sians from Smyrna, in his way to Rome, he 
says (chap, xii.), 'Ye are the companions in the 
mysteries of the Gospel of Paul the sanctified, 
the martyr, deservedly most happy ; at whose 
feet may I be found, when I shall have attained 
unto God, who, ndarj iTnarol'f] (foro^;/ imaidlri, 
as naaa olxodofi-rj, Ephes. ii. 21. is first for oItj,) 
throughout all his Epistle, makes mention of you 
in Christ.' The Greek phrase signifies honorable 
»ie?!h'o7i, ( Matt. xxvi. 13. Mark xiv. 9. Acts x. 
4.) Ignatius means, that St. Paul commends 
the Ephesians throughout the whole of the 
Epistle, without blaming them, as he did in his 
letters which were addressed to some others, 
by calling them companions or partakers of the 
mysteries of the Gospel of Paul, he alluded to 
those passages in the present Epistle of the 
Ephesians, where the Gospel is represented as 
a mystery made known to the Apostle, and by 
him to them. Ignatius having thus described 
the Epistle to the Ephesians, there can be no 
doubt as to the genuineness of its inscription ; 
for it is by some supposed that the Epistle of 
Ignatius was only written forty-five years after 
that of the Epistle to the Ephesians." 

Michaelis has shown, at considerable length, 
that the omission of the word olaiv, "who 
are," was the subject of Basil's implied censure, 
as being hostile to the inference he wished to 
deduce, and not the omission of the words iv 
'Ecpiaco. And as this father, in another passage 
of his writings, expressly cites the Epistle to 
the Ephesians" without any hesitation, it is 

'^ Stoch, De EpisloUs Apostoloruin non deperdi- 
tis, pp. 101, et seq. Michaelis, vol. iv. p. 128- 
146. Lardner's Works, 8vo. vol. vi. pp. 416-456. 
4to. vol. ill. pp. 34-2-362. Macknight on Col. iv. 
16. Bishop Middleton On the Greek Article, pp. 



378* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIV. 



evident that in his time (the latter part of the 
fourth century) this Epistle was not 'considered 
as being addressed to the Laodiceans. 

The passages quoted by Dr. Paley admit of 
easy and satisfactory interpretations, which 
directly refute his hypothesis. It will be recol- 
lected, that four or five years had elapsed since 
St. Paul had quitted Ephesus ; he might there- 
fore with great propriety express (in i. 15.) his 
complacency on hearing that they continued 
steadfast in the faith, notwithstanding the various 
temptations to which they were exposed. Again, 
the expression (in iii. 2.) (fiye i^xovauie t-qv 
oiy.ovofMlav) which many translate and under- 
stand to mean, " if ye have heard of the dis- 
pensation ;" more correctly means, " since ye 
have heard the dispensation" of the grace of 
God, which had been made known to them by 
St. Paul himself. Consequently this verse 
affords no countenance to the hypothesis above 
mentioned. The same remark applies to chap, 
iv. 21., where a similar construction occurs, 
which ought in like manner to be rendered, 
"since indeed ye have heard him," &c. With 
respect to the direction given by St. Paul in 
Col. iv. 16., that the Colossians should cause 
the Epistle which he wrote to them to be "read 
also in the Church of the Laodiceans, and that 
they should likewise read the Epistle from Lao- 
dicea," it is highly probable (as Rosenmiiller 
has remarked) that by " the Epistle from Laodi- 
cea," St. Paul meant a letter addressed to him 
by tlie Church of Laodicea, in answer to which 
he wrote the letter addressed to the Colossians 
(as being the larger Church) desiring that they 
would send it to the Laodiceans, and get a 
copy of the Epistle which the latter had sent 
to St. Paul, in order that the Colossians might 
better understand his reply. 

Michaelis and Haenlein, after Archbishop 
Usher and Bengel, get rid of all the difficulties 
attending this question, by supposing the Epistle 
to have been encyclical or circular, being ad- 
dressed to the Ephesians, Laodiceans, and some 
other Churches in Asia Minor. But it could 
hardly be circular in the sense in which Mi- 
chaelis understands that term : for he supposes 
that the different copies transmitted by St. Paul 
had^»' 'E<f)ia(o, " at Ephesus," iv Auodixela, " at 
Laodicea," &c. as occasion required ; and that 
the reason why all our manuscripts read iv 
'Eqpiaa, is, that when the books of the New 
Testament were first collected, the copy used 
was obtained from Ephesus: but this (Bishop 
Middleton observes) seems to imply what can- 
not be proved, that the canon was established 



508-518, who observes, that if ever there were an 
Epistle from St. Paul to the Laodiceans, it is lost ; 
for that which is extant in Fabricius and Jones's 
work On the Canon, (to which we may add Pri- 
tius,) is universally allowed to be a forgery ; yet the 
loss of a canonical writing is of all suppositions the 
most improbable. — See Home's Crit. Introduct. 



by authority, and that all copies of this Epistle 
not agreeing with the approved edition were 
suppressed. 

Dr. Macknight is of opinion, that St. Paul 
sent tlie Ephesians word by Tychicus, who car- 
ried their letter, to send a copy of it to the 
Laodiceans, vnth. an order to them to communi- 
cate it to the Colossians. This hypothesis will 
account, as well as that of Michaelis, for the 
want of those marks of personal acquaintance 
which the Apostle's former residence might 
lead us to expect, and on which so much stress 
has been laid ; for every thing local would be 
purposely omitted in an Epistle which had a 
farther destination. 

Dr. Lardner enumerates a variety of passages 
which apply better to the Ephesians than to 
any other people ; particularly those which 
show tliat the Apostle was well acquainted 
with those whom he was addressing (see chap. 
i. 13.) ; also at the end of the chapter, where, 
after speaking of Clirist as filling all his mem- 
bers with his gifts and graces, he adds, (chap, 
ii. 1.) " And you who were dead in trespasses 
and sins." Chap. iv. 20. " But ye have not so 
learned Christ." Ver. 21. " Seeing ye have 
heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as 
the truth is in Jesus." Now, could the Apostle 
say these things, unless he had been well ac- 
quainted with the persons to whom he wrote ? 
or rather, unless they had been instructed and 
endowed with the spiritual gifts by himself? 
Farther, if the Apostle had not been well ac- 
quainted with the persons to whom he was 
writing, and if they had not been his own con- 
verts, would they have taken such an interest 
in him, as to make it proper for him to send 
Tychicus to make known all things to them 
concerning himself.? (chap. vi. 21, 22.) The 
salutation sent to the brethren in Laodicea 
(Coloss. iv. 15.) is a strong presumption that 
the Epistle in the canon inscribed to the Ephe- 
sians was not to the Laodiceans. For the 
Epistle to the Colossians being written at the 
same time with the supposed Epistle to the 
Laodiceans, and sent by the same messenger, 
Tychicus (Eph. vi. 21. Coloss. iv. 7, 8.), is it 
probable, that in the Epistle to the Colossians, 
the Apostle would think it needful to salute the 
brethren in Laodicea, to whom he had written 
a particular letter, in which he had given them 
his apostolical benediction ? We will finish tlie 
argument in the words of Dr. Chandler, who 
observes, " It is not material to whom tlie 
Epistle was inscribed, whether to the Ephesians 
or Laodiceans, since the authority of the Epistle 
doth not depend on the persons to whom it was 
written, but on the person who indited it, 
which was St. Paul, as the letter itself testifies, 
and all genuine antiquity confirms." 

That this Epistle was designed for the use 
not only of the Athenians, but of all the breth- 
ren in the proconsular Asia, not excepting those 



Note 14.] 



OX THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



*3T9 



to whom the Apostle was personally unknown, 
may be inferred from the inscription of tlie 
Epistle, and from its concluding benedictions. 
" The saints in Ephesus, and the believers in 
Christ Jesus," appear to describe dilierent 
persons ; the latter may relate to all the be- 
lievers in the province of Asia. A distinction 
is also made in the benediction, (chap, vi 23, 
24.) "Peace be to the brethren" (at Ephesus), 
and then " grace be with all them ^vho love our 
Lord Jesus Clurist in sincerity," that is, with all 
the faithful brethren in the proconsular Asia. 
That a considerable intercourse existed between 
the Churches of the proconsular Asia and that 
of Ephesus is evident from the First Epistle to 
the Corinthians, which was written from Ephe- 
sus, where, instead of mentioning the Church 
of Ephesus by itself, as saluting the Corin- 
thians, the salutation is from the Churches 
of Asia in general, comprehending Ephesus 
among the rest, (1 Cor. xvi. 19.) St. Paul 
usually addressed his letters to the Churches 
in the great cities, yet they were designed, as 
the inscriptions prove, for all those of the neigh- 
bourhood. We may fmlher add, that the per- 
fection of the moral admonition delivered in 
this Epistle, and the catholic manner in which 
otlier matters are treated corroborate the opin- 
ion that it was intended for the brethren of 
Lhe province of Asia, which accounts for the 
omission of those allusions to particular persons 
and circumstances, which might have been ex- 
pected, had St Paul been addressing only a 
Church planted by himself in a city where he 
had so long resided. 

Dr. Lardner places the Epistle to the Ephe- 
sians at the beginning of St. Paul's first im- 
prisoimient. He proposes, in support of his 
opinion, the tvi'o foUowing arguments : that 
Timothy, who joined the Apostle in his letters 
to the Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, is 
not mentioned in tliis Epistle, from which he 
infers that Timothy had not yet joined him at 
Rome. Dr. Macfcnight, who supposes it was 
written after the Epistles to the Colossians and 
Philemon, observes, that it is possible Timothy 
might only have left Rome for a short time, 
and refers to Heb. xiii. 2-3. 

Br. Lardner's second argument is that already 
noticed, that the Apostle does not express an 
expectation of an early release, as in the 
Epistle to the Philippians. jMacknight, how- 
ever, is of opinion, that no inference can be 
drawn from this circumstance. The Apostle, 
he observes, in his Epistle to the Colossians, 
makes as little mention of his release as in his 
Epistle to the Ephesians. And yet all allow 
that that Epistle was written and sent with 
tlie Epistle to Philemon, in which the Apostle 
expressed the strongest hope of that event. 
He did not think it necessary, it seems, to men- 
tion his enlargement in his letter to the Colos- 
sians, because he had ordered Tychicus to 



inform them of it (iv. 7.) " All things concern- 
ing me, Tychicus wDl make known to you." 
For the same reason he may have omitted men 
tioning his release to the Ephesians, as may be 
inferred from Eph. vi. 21. " But that ye also 
may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus 
will make known to you aU. things." 

The phraseology here deserves notice, 
" that ye also may know ;" which he thinks 
implies, that at this time the Apostle had 
ordered Tychicus to make known all things con- 
cerning him to some others, namely, to the 
Colossians ; consequently that the two Epistles 
were written about the same time : and as 
Tychicus and Onesimus, to whom the Apostle 
delivered his Epistle to the Colossians and to 
Philemon, were to take Ephesus in their way, 
he gave them his letter to the Ephesians like- 
wise, and ordered them, when they delivered it, 
to enjoin the Ephesians to send a copy of it to 
the Laodiceans, with directions to send a tran- 
script, taken from their copy, to the Colossians. 
Tychicus and Onesimus, therefore, taking Ephe- 
sus in their way, delivered the Apostle's letter 
to the Church in that city, as they were direct- 
ed ; then proceeded with the letter to the Co- 
lossians and to Philemon, which, when they 
delivered, their commission was at an end. 

Such are Dr. Macknight's arguments. It is 
evident, however, that this mode of reasoning is 
very inconclusive. I have placed the Epistle 
therefore at this period, and have been guided 
by the arguments of Dr. Lardner, which have 
been before considered, and which is consistent 
with the order of the Sacred Canon. 

From the frequent use of the word " mystery," 
and from other reasons, Macknight, Dr. Chand- 
ler, and other commentators, have supposed 
that St. Paul intended to illustrate the truths 
he enforces in this Epistle, by referring to the 
mysteries of Diana, which were celebrated at 
Ephesus, in the temple of that name. Dr. 
]\Iacknight has largely discussed this subject. 
I have not adopted his opinions, as they appear 
to require farther confirmation. The allusions 
of St. Paul to the service and ministers of the 
Jewish temple seem to be made without any ref- 
erence to those of Diana. See the argument of 
Warburton and Leland in Macknight's Preface"*. 



Note 14.— Part XIV. 

Adaji is expressly called in Scripture " the 
figure of him that was to come ;" and the 
circumstances which attended the formation of 
Eve were equally a figure of the creation of the 

"* See Mackniffht's. Preface, Paley's Hotce Pau- 
lincz, Home. Michaelis. Bishop Tomhne.Dr. Lard- 
ner, and their numerous references ;. not only for 
this, but for the intToduction to each of the Epis- 
tles. 



380* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIV, 



Church, of whom Eve was the common mother. 
As God took from Adam, while insensible in a 
deep sleep, part of himself for the formation of 
Eve, that she might receive a spiritual life ; so 
did God revivify the human body of our Saviour 
from the deep sleep of death, for the purpose 
of conferring spiritual life on mankind. And as 
Adam gave his flesh for the woman, so did 
Christ his flesh for the Church. And as the 
wife is made one flesh with the husband, so 
must the Church be spiritually united to Christ, 
and be made one with him through the Spirit, 
for which purpose he has incorporated the 
human with the divine nature, that both may 
be united by the same holy Spirit. Woman 
was created and brought to life from the side of 
Adam, and the Church was created or regener- 
ated by the piercing of the body of Christ. 



Note 15.— Part XIV. 

ON THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 

St. Paul planted a church at Philippi, A, D. 
50, the particulars of which are related in Acts 
xvi. 9-40. part xii. sect. 8, of this Arrangement ; 
and it appears from Acts xx. 6. part xiii. sect. 
12. that he visited them again, A. D. 58, though 
no particulars are recorded concerning that 
visit. Of all the Churches planted by St. Paul, 
that at Philippi seems to have cherished the 
most tender concern for him ; and though it 
appears to have been but a small community, 
yet its members were peculiarly generous to- 
wards him. For when Christianity was first 
planted in Macedonia, no other church contrib- 
uted any thing to his support, except the Philip- 
pians ; who, while he was preaching at Thessa- 
lonica, the metropolis of that country, sent him 
money twice, that the success of the Gospel 
might not be liindered by its preachers becom- 
ing burdensome to the Thessalonians, (Phil. iv. 
15, 16.) The same attention they showed to 
the Apostle, and for the same reason, while he 
preached the Gospel at Corinth, (2 Cor. xi. 9.) 
And when they heard that St. Paul was under 
confinement at Rome, they manifested a similar 
affectionate concern for him, and sent Epaphro- 
ditus to him with a present, lest he should want 
necessaries during his imprisonment, (Phil. ii. 
25. and iv. 10, 14-18.) 

The more immediate occasion of the Epistle 
to the Philippians was the return of Epaphrodi- 
tus, one of their pastors, by whom St. Paul sent 
it, as a grateful acknowledgment of their kind- 
ness in sending him supplies of money. From 
the manner in which St. Paul expressed himself 
on this occasion, it appears that he was in great 
want of necessaries, before their contributions 
arrived ; for, as he had not converted the Ro- 
mans, he did not consider himself as entitled to 



receive supplies from them. Being a prisoner, 
he could not work as formerly ; and it was his 
rule never to receive any thing from the 
Churches where factions had been raised against 
him. It also appears that the Philippians were 
the only Church from whom he received any 
assistance, and that he conferred this honor upon 
them, because they loved him exceedingly, had 
preserved his doctrine in purity, and had always 
conducted themselves as sincere Christians. 

There is not much controversy concerning 
the date of this Epistle; it was probably written 
in the end of A. D. 62, and about a year after 
that to the Ephesians. Dr. Paley conjectures 
the date by various intimations in the Epistle 
itself. " It purports," he says, " to have been 
written near the conclusion of St. Paul's im- 
prisonment at Rome, and after a residence in 
that city of considerable duration. These cir- 
cumstances are made out by different intima- 
tions, and the intimations upon the subject pre- 
serve among themselves a just consistency, and 
a consistency certainly unmeditated. First, 
the Apostle had already been a prisoner at 
Rome so long, as that the reputation of his 
bonds, and of his constancy under them, had 
contributed to advance the success of the Gos- 
pel. (See chap. i. 12-14.) Secondly, the ac- 
count given of Epaphroditus imports that St. 
Paul, when he wrote the Epistle had been in 
Rome a considerable time; 'He longed after 
you all, and was full of heaviness, because that 
ye had heard that he had been sick ;' (chap. ii. 
26.) Epaphroditus had been with St. Paul at 
Rome ; he had been sick ; the Philippians had 
heard of his sickness ; and he again had re- 
ceived an account how much they had been 
affected by the intelligence. "The passing 
and repassing of these advices must necessarily 
have occupied a large portion of time, and must 
have all taken place during St. Paul's residence 
at Rome. Thirdly, after a residence at Rome, 
thus proved to have been of considerable dura- 
tion, he now regards the decision of his fate as 
nigh at hand: he contemplates either alter- 
native, that of his deliverance, (chap. ii. 23, 24.) 
' Him (Timothy) therefore I hope to send pres- 
ently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with 
me ; but I trust in the Lord that I also myself 
shall come shortly ;' that of his condemnation, 
(ver. 17.) 'Yea, and if I be offered upon the 
sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and 
rejoice with you all.' This consistency is nat- 
ural, if the consideration of it be confined to the 
Epistle. It is farther material, as it agrees 
with respect to the duration of St. Paul's first im- 
prisonment at Rome, with the account delivered 
in the Acts, which having brought the Apostle 
to Rome, closes the history, by telling us that 
he dwelt there two whole years, in his own 
hired house."— flor. Paul. p. 242. It is remark- 
able that this is the only Epistle that is free 
from the reprehensions and censures of the 



Note 16, 17.] 



ON THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 



*381 



Apostle. The Pliilippians throughout are com- 
mended for the excellence of their conduct, 
with the exception of the caution, or perhaps 
slight reproof, given (chap. ii. 3, 4.) on the sub- 
ject of vainglory and strife on the exercise of 
their spiritual gifts, which, as St. Chrysostom 
observes, " is a strong proof of the virtue of the 
Philippians, who gave their teacher no subject 
of complaint whatever." 



Note 16.— Part XIV. 

Commentators differ as to the person here 
spoken of; some consider the expression " yoke- 
fellow" to allude to Epaphroditus, the bearer of 
the Epistle, othera that Syntyche (ver. 2.) was 
a man, the husband of Euodias, and was here 
referred to ; and another conjecture is, that 
Euodias and Syntyche were both female pres- 
byters, and that the husband of one of tliese 
women is the person alluded to by the Apostle, 
and that he is called a " true yoke-fellow" on 
account of his excellent character as a husband. 
Others, again, think that the jailor was intend- 
ed, who was one of St. Paul's chief converts at 
Philippi, and assisted him in the work of the Gos- 
pel. If none of these suppositions are admitted, 
it may have been addressed to some particular 
bishop or deacon mentioned in the salutation. 
The Clement referred to in this verse is sup- 
posed to have been the same who was after- 
wards bishop of Rome, and who wrote an 
Epistle to the Corinthians, which is still extant. 



Note 17.— Part XIV. 

ON THE DATE AND OCCASION OF THE EPISTLE 
TO THE COLOSSIANS. 

This Epistle was written about the same 
time with that to the Philippians, towards the 
end of the year 62, and in the ninth of the Em- 
peror Nero. 

That the two Epistles were written about the 
same time is rendered probable by the follow- 
ing circumstance ; in the Epistle to the Philip- 
pians (chap. ii. 19.) St. Paul purposes to send 
Timothy to Philippi, who was then with him at 
Rome, that he might know their state. As 
Timothy joins in the salutation in the beginning 
of this Epistle, it is evident that he still con- 
tinued at Rome, and had not yet been sent to 
Philippi ; and as St. Paul wrote the former 
Epistle nearly at the close of his first imprison- 
ment at Rome, the two Epistles must have 
been written a short space ffom each other. 

By whom Christianity was first planted at 
Colosse, there is no certain information. To 
prove that St. Paul was not the first preacher, 



two passages are adduced. The first (chap. i. 
4.), " having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus," 
is supposed to imply tliat he had only heard of 
their being converted by some other teacher. 
But the Apostle might express himself in that 
manner, and still have been the minister of their 
conversion ; for it was his constant practice to 
make inquiries concerning the faith of those 
whom lie had brought to the knowledge of the 
Gospel ; being particularly anxious to ascertain 
the influence which the Judaizing teachers had 
gained over his converts. It is therefore only 
probable, that when Epaphras came from Co- 
losse to the Apostle, that he would inquire con- 
cerning their state, and being informed that the 
greater part of them remained steadfast, that he 
would address them as "having heard of their 
faith." The Apostle used the same language 
to other persons and Churches, of whose con- 
version there can be no doubt that he was the 
instrument. 

The second passage from this Epistle, which 
is thought to prove that he never preached the 
Gospel in Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis, is 
chap. ii. 1. " I would that ye knew how great 
a conflict I have for you, and for them at Laod- 
icea, and for as many as have not seen my 
face in the flesh." But this by no means im- 
plies that the brethren in Colosse and Laodicea 
had not seen tlie Apostle, when he thus ad- 
dressed them ; for, as Theodoret has observed, 
the Apostle's meaning is, that his conflict was 
not alone for the converted Gentiles in these 
places, but " for as many as had not seen his 
face in the flesh;" for all the converted Gen- 
tiles every where, and in every age of the world. 
That this is the true meaning of the expressions, 
is further evident (he remarks) from the next 
verse, where the Apostle does not say, "that 
jyoMr hearts may be comforted," as he would 
have done, if the Gentiles of Colosse and Laod- 
icea had been of tire number of those who had 
not seen his face in the flesh, but " that their 
hearts," namely, those who have not seen my face 
in the flesh " may be comforted," as well as yours. 
It is further advanced, that the Apostle himself 
speaks of Epaphras as the spiritual father of the 
Colossians, chap. i. 7. " As ye also learned of 
Epaphras." But this seems rather to intimate 
that tliey had been taught the knowledge of the 
Gospel, not from the Apostle alone, but also 
by another, by Epaphras, a faithful minister of 
Christ, and fellow-laborer with the Apostle. 
Besides, if Epaphras had alone converted them, 
the Apostle, as Lardner remarks, instead of 
saying, chap. iv. 12., " Epaphras, who is one 
of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you," would 
have said, " Epaphras, in whom ye believed," 
or some expression to the like purport. 

Dr. Lardner, Bishop Tomline, and others, are 
of opinion tliat the Church at Colosse was 
founded by St. Paul ; and they ground their 
suppositions on the following considerations : 



382* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XlV 



that St. Paul was twice in Phrygia, in which 
country were the cities of Colosse, Laodicea, 
and Hierapolis ; that he does in effect say, that 
he liad dispensed the Gospel to the Colossians 
(chap. i. 21-25.), and that it appears, from the 
terms of affection and authority discoverable in 
this Epistle, that he did not address them as 
strangers, but as acquaintances, friends, and 
converts, (chap. ii. 5. and iv. 7, 8.) The Apostle 
also wrote the salutation with his own hand, as 
he did to the other Churches planted by him- 
self, and who knew his own writing ; whereas 
in the Epistle to the Romans, who were stran- 
gers to him, the salutation was written by 
Tertius. 

Dr. Lardner observes, that the Colossians 
were converted by an apostle is further proved 
from chap. ii. 6, 7. " Seeing then ye have re- 
c>eived Christ Jesus the Lord, walk ye in him ; 
rooted and built up in him, and stablished in 
the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding 
therein with thanksgiving." This the Apostle 
could not have written to them, if their only 
teacher had been Epaphras, or any other who 
was not an apostle. See also chap. i. 6., which 
things. Dr. Lardner observes, demonstrate that 
the Colossians were converted by an apostle, 
and in that capacity he bears testimony to the 
fidelity of tlieir own pastor, (chap. i. 7.) It is 
most probable, therefore, that the Churches in 
Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis were planted 
by St. Paul, with the assistance of Timothy, for 
which reason he is joined in the salutation of 
this Epistle. Macknight supposes that, before 
their conversion, some of the Colossians had 
embraced the doctrines of Pythagoras, and 
others those of Plato, and that the Judaizers, to 
recommend the Law of Moses, affirmed that the 
former derived his discipline, and the latter his 
dogmas, from the Jewish laws. It is certain 
that the abstinence from animal food, and the 
fastings and severities practised on the body, 
recommended by the Pythagorean precepts; 
and the doctrines of Plato, concerning the 
agency of angels in human affairs, and the 
honor which is on that account due to them, are 
expressly condemned by the Apostle in this 
Epistle. As the Jewish teachers artfully suited 
their arguments to the opinions and characters 
of those they addressed, they might imve pressed 
on the minds of the Colossians, to prove the 
ministry of angels, that angels conducted the 
Israelites into Canaan, and that the Law of 
Moses was given by their ministry. To those 
who were tinctured with the Platonic philosophy, 
they affirmed that it was arrogance in sinners 
to v/orship God without some mediator, and 
therefore they exhorted them to offer up their 
prayers to God through the mediation of angels, 
which was more acceptable to him than the 
mediation of Christ ; who could not be supposed 
to have the same power with God as the angels, 
who were employed by him in the government 



of the world; and as the heathens and Jews 
were particularly attached to propitiatory sacri 
fices, we may conjecture, although not men 
tioned by the Apostle, that these false teachers, 
since there were no sacrifices appointed by the 
Gospel, tauglit that the Jewish sacrifices and 
purifications were to be continued as the means 
of justification. The whole scope of the Apos- 
tle's letter is to show the folly and vanity of 
these errors, by establishing the contrary truths. 
Lardner remarks, that in the Epistle which 
John wrote, by the command of our Lord, to the 
Church of the Laodiceans, traces of the same 
errors may be found, which the false teachers 
endeavoured to disseminate throughout Phrygia. 
For example, to show that angels are not supe- 
rior to Christ in dignity and power, and that 
they are not to be worshipped, he asserts his 
own power as governor of the world, in nearly 
the same words as St. Paul in his Epistle to the 
Colossians, (Rev. iii. 14. Coloss. i. 18.) See 
also the condemnation of the false teacliers, 
who were puffed up with their pretended knowl- 
edge, and a corruption of the Law of Moses 
(Coloss. ii. 18. Rev. iii. 47.) ; and whereas St. 
Paul said to the Colossians (chap. ii. 10.), " Ye 
are complete in him, which is at the head of all 
principality and power ;" Christ said to the 
Laodiceans (Rev. iii. 18.), "I counsel thee to 
buy of me gold tried in the fire," &c. Although 
the worship of angels was repressed for a time 
by the Apostle's Epistle to the Colossians, it 
afterwards prevailed among them to such a 
degree, that the council which met at Laodicea, 
the capital of Phrygia, found it necessary to 
condemn that idolatry by their thirty-fifth canon, 
as Theodoret informs us, in his note on Coloss. 
ii. 18., which thus stands : " Christians ought not 
to leave the Churcii of God, and go and name 
angels, or gather assemblies. If, therefore, any 
one is found to practise this secret idolatry, let 
him be anathema, because he has left our Lord 
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and has turned to 
idolatry." This council is supposed to have 
been held, A. D. 363. Its last two canons de- 
clared what sacred books were to be publicly 
read in the Churches. 

From the similarity in the doctrine and phra- 
seology of this Epistle to that of the Ephesians, 
many have considered it as an epitome of the 
former ; yet, though there is a great similarity, 
which may give us reason to suppose the 
Apostle considered the two Churches in some 
things nearly in the same state, the Epistle to 
tlie Colossians relates to corruptions which are 
not even hinted at in the other Epistle. 

The general agreement of expression and 
sentiment between these two Epistles, and 
their having been forwarded by the same mes- 
senger (Eph. vi. 21. Coloss. iv. 7.), have induced 
many to suppose they were written at the same 
time. In their arrangement I have been guided 
by Dr. Lardner, who considers tlds argument 



Note 1S.-20.] 



ON THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. 



*383 



as not decisive, because Tychicus may have 
been sent twice from Rome into Asia by the 
Apostle, with letters, during a confinement of 
two years ; and because other reasons may 
have induced him to have written the same 
things to these Churches. He considers, as 
has been already observed, that as Timothy, 
who was joined witli St. Paul in the Epistles to 
the Philippians, Colossians, and Pliilemon, is 
not united with him in his Epistle to the Ephe- 
sians, he had left Rome, and did not return to 
that city till after the Epistle to the Ephesians 
had been written. 

Epaphras, who was sent by the Colossians to 
comfort the Apostle by the assurances of their 
affectionate regard under his imprisonment, 
and to bring them back word how matters went 
with him, became so obnoxious to the Roman 
magistrates, that he v/as imprisoned by them 
(Philemon, 23.) on account of his exertions in 
the cause of the Gospel ; on this account 
Tychicus and Onesimus, whom the Apostle had 
converted and sent back to Colosse, were made 
the bearers of this Epistle. 



pensation — we are all called upon to fulfil the 
spirit of the Mosaic Law. 



Note 18.— Part XIV. 

The Apostle, in this expression, seems evi- 
dently to refer to the Jewish law, in allusion, 
perhaps, to Numb. v. 23. But as the Gentiles 
seem also to be included by him, the handwrit- 
ing of ordviances must s'lgnii'y the law of con- 
science, the transgression of whose precepts 
subjected the Gentiles to death. The law of 
conscience may be regarded as comprised in or 
united to the Law of Moses, by which these 
precepts were more generally promulgated, and 
rigorously enforced, subjecting alike all man- 
kind to the curse of eternal death, which curse 
■was abolished, or blotted out, by the death of 
Christ. We must otherwise suppose that the 
Apostle, by changing the form of his words, 
you into us, in this instance, addressed the 
Jews, confining this expression to their Jewish 
ritual, which was now by the death of Christ 
blotted out, and entirely abolished; thereby 
intimating that neither Jew nor Gentile was 
bound any longer by its observance ; that it 
was now entirely cancelled, as other bonds 
were, by being struck through with a nail ; that, 
as it no longer existed to separate Jews and 
Gentiles, they were all admitted to the same 
equal privileges, the same condition of salva- 
tion, through faith in Christ. Macknight, how- 
ever, is of a different opinion, and supposes that 
the moral and not the ritual precepts of the 
Law of Moses, to which the curse was an- 
nexed, were blotted out ; but as Christ expressly 
declares he came not to destroy the Law, but 
to fulfil it ; its moral precepts, engraven on our 
cc;;sciences, must be binding under every dis- 



NoTE 19.— Part XIV. 

This expression is variously translated. 
Commentators suppose it alludes to the first 
elements, or principles of science ; to the first 
beginnings of piety, or the first principles of 
religion and philosophy. Locke refers it to 
"the Law;" and Dr. Clarke observes, that the 
observances of Jewish rites and ceremonies 
were only rudiments, first elements, or the 
alphabet out of which the whole science of 
Christianity was composed. We have often 
seen that the world, and this world, signify the 
Jewish dispensation, or the rites, ceremonies, 
and services performed under it. 



Note 20.— Part XIV. 

ON THE DATE AND OCCASION OF THE EPISTLE 
TO PHILEMON. 

Philemon, to whom this Epistle is addressed, 
was an inhabitant of Colosse, as appears from 
St. Paul's mentioning Onesimus in his Epistle 
to the Colossians (iv. 9.) as one of them, and 
also from his saluting Archippus in this Epistle 
(ver. 2.), who appears, from Col. iv. 17., to have 
been a pastor of that Church. Philemon seems 
to have been a person of great worth as a man, 
and of some note as a citizen in his own coun- 
tiy ; for his family was so numerous, that it 
made a Church by itself, or at least a consider- 
able part of the Church at Colosse, (ver. 2.) He 
was likewise so opulent, that he was able, by 
the communication of his faith, that is, by his 
beneficence, to refresh the bowels of the saints, 
(ver. 6, 7.) According to Grotius, Philemon 
was an elder of Ephesus ; Beausobre and Dr. 
Doddi-idge suppose him to have been one of the 
ministers of the Colossian Church ; and from 
St. Paul's requesting him (ver. 22.) to provide a 
lodging for him at Colosse, Michaelis thinks 
that he was a deacon of that Church. These 
opinions appear to have been founded on the 
inscription of this Epistle, where St. Paul 
calls him a fellow-laborer. But this appella- 
tion, as Drs. Whitby, Lardner, and Macknight 
have remarked, is of ambiguous signification ; 
being given not only to those who were em- 
ployed in preaching the Gospel, but also to 
such pious individuals, of either sex, as assisted 
the apostles in any manner. Hilary, the dea- 
con, expressly calls him one of the laity ; Theo- 
doret, OEcumenius, and Theophylact appear to 
be of the same opinion. 

Philemon was most probably a converted 
Gentile, and, from the 19th verse of this Epistle 



384* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIV. 



it is generally supposed tliat he was converted 
under the ministry of St. Paul ; but, from the 
Apostle's saying, in the 5th veree, that he had 
heard of Philemon's faith in Christ, it is a dis- 
puted point with commentators. 

We learn, from this Epistle, that Onesimus 
was the slave of Philemon, whom he had prob- 
ably robbed ; though Macknight and Dr. Lard- 
ner are of opinion that St. Paul's expression, in 
ver. 18, does not insinuate that Onesimus had 
robbed his master of any tiling but his service, 
and that he then ran away as far as Rome. 
Whether he repented of what he had done, and 
voluntarily went to St. Paul, or in what other 
manner they came to meet there, we have no 
information. But the Apostle, during his con- 
finement "in liis own hired house," opened a 
way to the heart of the rude slave, converted 
him to the Christian faith, and baptized him. It 
also appears that St. Paul kept Onesimus with 
hirn for some time, to wait upon himself, until 
Onesimus, by his conduct, confirmed the truth 
and sincerity of his conversion. During his 
abode with the Apostle, he served him with the 
greatest assiduity and affection ; but, being 
sensible of his fault in running away from his 
master, he wished to repair that injury by 
returning to him. At the same time being 
afraid lest, on his return, his master should 
inflict upon him the punishment of torture, or 
death, which by the law or custom of Phrygia 
he was empowered to do to a fugitive slave, he 
entreated St. Paul to write to Philemon in his 
hehalf, and request him to forgive and receive 
him again into his family. The Apostle there- 
fore wrote this Epistle to Philemon, " in which, 
with the greatest softness of expression, warmth 
of affection, and delicacy of address, he not 
only interceded for Onesimus's pardon, but 
urged Philemon to esteem him, and put confi- 
dence in him as a sincere Christian. And 
because restitution, by repairing the injury that 
has been done, restores the person who did the 
injury to the character which he had lost ; the 
Apostle, to enable Onesimus to appear in Phil- 
emon's family with some degree of reputation, 
bound himself in this Epistle by his handwriting 
not only to repay all that Onesimus owed to Phil- 
emon, but to make full reparation also to Phile- 
mon for whatever injury he had done to him by 
running away." To account for the solicitude 
expressed by St. Paul in this Epistle, in order 
to obtain Onesimus's pardon and procure a 
thorough reconciliation, it is not necessary to 
suppose, with some critics, that Philemon was 
keen and obstinate in his resentments, or of 
that rough and intractable disposition for which 
tlie Phrygians were proverbial. The contrary 
Ls insinuated by the Apostle, who has in other 
places commended his benevolence and charity. 
It is most probable, as Dr. Macknight has 
conjectured, that Philemon had a number of 
slaves, on whom the pardoning of Onesimus too 



easily might have had a bad effect ; and therefore 
he might judge some punishment necessary ag 
an example to the rest. At least St. Paul could 
not have considered the pardoning of Onesimus 
as an affair that merited so much earnest en- 
treaty, with a person of Philemon's piety, 
benevolence, and gratitude, unless he had sus- 
pected him to have entertained some such 
intention. 

Whether Philemon forgave or punished One- 
simus is a circumstance concerning which we 
have no information. From the earnestness 
with which the Apostle solicited his pardon, 
and from the generosity and goodness of Phil- 
emon's disposition, the eminent critic above 
cited conjectures that he actually pardoned 
Onesimus, and even gave him his freedom, in 
compliance with the Apostle's insinuation, as it 
is interpreted by some, that " he would do no 
more than he had asked." For it was no un- 
common thing, in ancient times, to bestow free- 
dom on those slaves whose faithful services 
had procured for them the esteem and good 
will of their masters. The primitive Christians 
preserving this Epistle, and placing it in the 
Sacred Canon, Dr. Benson remarks, are strong 
arguments to induce us to believe tliat Phile- 
mon granted the Apostle's request, and received 
Onesimus into his house and favor again. As 
Onesimus was particularly recommended by 
Paul to the notice of the Colossians (ch. iv. 
9.), it cannot be doubted that they cheerfully 
received him into their Church. In the Apos- 
tolical Constitutions^, Onesimus is said to have 
been bishop of Berea ; but they are a compila- 
tion of the fourth century, and consequently of 
no authority. When Ignatius wrote his Epistle 
to the Ephesians (A. D. 107), their bishop's 
name was Onesimus ; and Grotius thought that 
he was the person for whom St. Paul interceded. 
But this, as Dr. Lardner-'' remarks, is not cer- 
tain. Dr. Mill" has mentioned a copy, at the 
conclusion of which it is said that Onesimus 
suffered martyrdom at Rome, by having his 
legs broken. 

Tliat this Epistle was written from Rome, 
about the same time with those to the Philip- 
pians and Colossians, is proved by several coin- 
cidences. " As the letter to Philemon, and 
that to the Colossians, were written," says Dr. 
Paley, " at the same time, and sent by the same 
messenger, the one to a particular inhabitant, 
the other to the Church of Colosse, it may be 
expected that the same, or nearly the same 
persons, would be about St. Paul, and join with 
him, as was the practice, in the salutations of 
the Epistle. Accordingly we find the names 
of Aristarchus, Marcus, Epaphras, Luke, and 
Demas in both Epistles. Timothy, who is 
joined with St. Paul in the superscription of 

' Lib. viii. c. 46. 

/ IVorks. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 381 ; 4to. vol. iii. p. 324. 

' JVov. test. Millii et Kusteri, p. 513. 



Note 21.] 



ON THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. 



*385 



the Epistle to the Colossiaus, is joined with 
him also in tliis. Tychicus did not salute 
Philemon, because he was the bearer, with 
Onesimus, of the Epistle to Colosse, and would 
undoubtedly there see Philemon." That when 
the Apostle -mrote the former Epistle, he was 
in bonds (Col. iv. 3, IS.); which was the case 
also when he wrote tbis (see ver. ]. 10, 13, 2-3.) ; 
from which, and various other circumstances, 
we may conclude that they were written about 
the same time, in the ninth year of Nero, 
A. D. 62. 

As some have thought it strange that a private 
letter, of a particular business and friendship, 
should have been admitted into the Sacred 
Canon, not only as a genuine production of St. 
Paul, but as also designed by the Holy Spirit 
for the edification of tlie Church, it will be 
necessary to show the important lessons and 
duties it enforces. In a religious view, and 
upon a spiritual account, it sets before church- 
men of the highest dignity, a proper example of 
attention to the people under their care, and an 
affectionate concern for their individual welfare. 
It teaches us that aU Christians, in their rela- 
tionship to God, are on a level. Onesimus the 
slave, upon becoming a Christian, is the Apos- 
tle's dear son, and Philemon's brother. Chris- 
tianity makes no alteration in men's civil affairs. 
By Christian baptism a slave did not become a 
freedman ;' liis temporal estate or condition was 
still the same ; and, though Onesimus was the 
Apostle's son and Philemon's brother upon a 
religious account ; yet he was obliged to be 
Philemon's slave for ever, unless his master 
voluntarily gave him his freedom. Servants 
should not be taken, or detained from their 
own masters, without their master's consent, 
(see ver. 13, 14.) We should love and do good 
unto all men, and make restitution where we 
have injured. We should not contemn persons 
of low estate, nor disdain to help the meanest 
slave, when it is in our power. The Apostle 
has here set us an example of benevolence, con- 
descension, and Christian charity, which it will 
well become us to foUow. He took pains with 
and converted a slave, and in a most affection- 
ate and earnest manner interceded with his 
master for his pardon. We should be grateful 
to our benefactors. This St. Paul touches upon 
very gently, (ver. 19.), where he intimates to Phil- 
emon tliat he owed unto himself also : and 
therefore, in point of gratitude, he was obliged 
to grant his request. We should forgive the 
penitent, and be heartily reconciled to them. 
The Apostle's example teaches us to do all we 
can to make up quarrels and differences, and 
reconcile those who are at variance. The 
bishops and pastors of the Christian Church, 
and all teachers of religion, have here the most 
glorious example set before them, to induce 
them to have a most tender regard to the souls 
of men, of all ranks and conditions ; teaching 

TOT,. II. *49 



them not to despair of the souls of the wicked, 
but to do every thing in their power to convert 
them. 

It furnishes a noble example also of the 
influences of Christianity, which, if properly 
understood, and its doctrines properly applied, 
becomes the most powerfid means of the me- 
lioration of men: the wicked and profligate, 
when brought under its influence, are trans- 
formed by it into useful and worthy members 
of society. It can convert a worthless slave 
into a pious, amiable, and useful man ; and 
make him not only happier and better in him- 
self, but also a blessing to the community. 

The anxiety which the Apostle showed for 
the welfare of Onesimus, in return for his 
affectionate services, could not fail to cherish 
good dispositions in the breast of Philemon. 
We do a man a great kindness, when we even 
engage him in acts of mercy and benevolence. 
From this Epistle we learn what sort of man 
the Apostle was in private life. He has here 
displayed qualities which are in the highest 
estimation among men ; a noble spirit, arising 
from a consciousness of his own dignity, con- 
summate prudence, uncom m on generosity, the 
warmest friendship, the most skilful address, 
and the greatest politeness, as well as purity 
of manners : qualities which are never found 
either in the enthusiast or impostor. 

There is something very persuasive in every 
part of this Epistle, yet the character of St. 
Paul prevails in it throughout. The warm, 
affectionate, authoritative teacher is interceding 
with an absent friend for a heloved convert He 
urges his suit ■n'ith an earnestness, befitting 
perhaps not so much the occasion, as the ardor 
and sensibility of his own mind. Here also, as 
every where, he shows himself conscious of 
the weight and dignity of Ms mission ; nor does 
he suffer Philemon for a moment to forget it: 
"/ might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee 
that which is convenient." He is careful also 
to recall, though obliquely, to Philemon's mem- 
ory, the sacred obligation under which he had 
laid him, by bringing him to the knowledge of 
Christ ; "I do not say to thee, how thou owest 
to me, even thine own self besides." — See 
Adam Clarke in loc. v. 8. 



Note 21.— Part XIV. 

The term " prisoner," in this verse, is sup- 
posed by commentators not sufliciently to 
express the situation of St. Paul at Rome, and 
that the Greek word Siauio; should be trans- 
lated, bound with a chain ; which it not only sigm- 
fies, but describes more accurately the circum- 
stances of the Apostle, who, from being confined 
for no crime against society, but for heresy in 
the Jewish religion, was allowed to live in his 

*GG 



386* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIV. 



own hired house, with a soldier who kept him. 
To this soldier he was tied with a chain, fixed 
on his right wrist, and fastened to the soldier's 
left arm ; which being of sufficient length, 
permitted them to walk together without diffi- 
culty, wherever the labors of the Apostle 
directed him. 



Note 22.— Part XIV. 

The word Onesimus signifies " useful," or 
"profitable," from ovrifii, "to profit," or "to 
help ; " which has induced some commentators 
to suppose, that both here, and in ver. 20, the 
Apostle makes an allusion to the signification 
of the name of his convert. 



Note 23.— Part XIV. 

The apology made here by the Apostle is 
very similar to that of Joseph for his brethren, 
(Gen.xlv. 5.) 



Note 24.— Part XIV. 

0>' THE DATE AND OCCASION OF THE EPISTLE 
OF ST. JAMES. 

This Epistle of St. James, with those bear- 
incr the names of the apostles, Peter, Jude, 
and John, have been generally distinguished 
by the appellation of Catholic, for which various 
reasons have been assigned. 

Salmeron and others have imagined, that 
they were denominated Catholic, or General 
Epistles, because they were designed to be 
transcribed and circulated among the Christian 
Churches, that they might be perused by all ; 
for they contain that one cathohc or general 
doctrine, which was delivered to the Churches 
by the apostles of our Saviour, and which might 
be read with advantage by the universal Church 
of Christ In like manner they might be called 
canonical, as containing canons, or general 
rules and precepts, which concern all Christians. 

Others are of opinion that they received the 
appellation of Catholic, or General Epistles, 
because they were not written to one person, 
city, or church, like the Epistles of St. Paul, 
but to the Catholic Church, Christians in gen- 
eral, or to Christians of several countries, or at 
least to all the Jewish Christians, wherever 
they were dispersed over the face of the earth. 
CEcumenius, Leontius, Whitby, and others, 
have adopted this opinion, which, however, 
does not appear to be well founded. The 
Epistle of St. James was indeed v/ritten to the 



Christians of the twelve tribes of Israel, in their 
several dispersions; but it was not inscribed to 
the Christians in Judaea, nor to Gentile Christians 
in any country whatever. The two Epistles of 
Peter v/ere written to Christians in general, 
but particularly those who had been converted 
from Judaism. The First Epistle of John, 
and the Epistle of Jude were probably written 
to Jewish Christians ; and the Second and Third 
Epistles of John were unquestionably written 
to particular persons. 

A third opinion is that of Dr. Hammond, 
adopted by Dr. Macknight, and others, which 
appears the most probable. He supposes that 
the First Epistle of Peter and the First Epistle 
of John, having from the beginning been re- 
ceived as authentic, obtained the name of catho- 
lic, or universally acknowledged, and therefore 
canonical Epistles, in order to distinguish them 
from the Epistle of James, the Second of Peter, 
the Second and Third of John, and the Epistle 
of Jude, concerning which doubts were at first 
entertained. But their authenticity being at 
length acknowledged by the generality of the 
Churches, they also obtained the name of 
catholic, or universally-received Epistles, and 
were esteemed of equal authority with the rest. 
They were also termed canonical by Cassio- 
dorus in the middle of the sixth century, and by 
the writer of the prologue to these Epistles, 
erroneously ascribed to Jerome. Du Pin says, 
that some Latin writers have called these epis- 
tles canonical, either confounding the name 
with catholic, or to denote that they are a part 
of the canon of the books of the New Testa- 
ment. 

The denomination of Catholic Epistles is of 
very considerable antiquity, for Eusebius uses 
it as a common appellation in the fourth cen- 
tury, and it was probably earlier: for St. John's 
first Epistle is repeatedly called a Catholic 
Epistle by Origen, and by Dionysius, bishop of 
Alexandria. Of these Epistles, two only, viz. 
the First Epistle of St. Peter and the First 
Epistle of St. John, were universally received 
in the time of Eusebius ; though the rest were 
then well known. And Athanasius, Epiphanius, 
and later Greek writers, received seven Epis- 
tles, which they called catholic. The same ap- 
pellation was also given to them by Jerome. 

Although the authenticity of the Epistle of 
James, the Second of Peter, the Epistle of 
Jude, and the Second and Third Epistles of 
John, were questioned by some ancient fathers, 
as well as by some modern writers, yet we 
have every reason to believe that they are the 
genuine and authentic productions of the in- 
spired writers whose names they bear. The 
primitive Christians were extremely and neces- 
sarily cautious in admitting any books into 
their canon, whose genuineness and authen- 
ticity they had any reason to suspect. They re- 
jected all the writings forged by heretics in the 



Note 24.] 



ON THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES. 



*387 



names of the apostles, and therefore, most as- 
suredly, would not have received any, witliout 
subjecting them to a severe scrutiny. Now, 
though these five Epistles were not immediately 
acknowledged as the writings of the apostles, 
tills only shows that the persons who doubted 
had not obtained complete and incontestable 
evidence of their authenticity. But, as they 
were afterwards universally received, we have 
every reason to conclude, that, upon a strict 
examination, they were found to be the genuine 
productions of the apostles. Indeed the ancient 
Christians had such good opportunities for ex- 
amining this subject, they were so careful to 
guard against imposition, and so well founded 
was their judgment concerning the books of the 
New Testament, that, as Dr. Lardner has re- 
marked, no writing which they pronounced 
genuine has yet been proved spurious ; nor 
have we at this day the least reason to believe 
any book to be genuine which they rejected. 

The order in which these Epistles are placed 
varies in ancient authors ; but it is not very 
material in what manner they are arranged. 
Could we fix with certainty the date of each 
Epistle, the most natural order would be ac- 
cording to the time when they were written. 
Some have placed the three Epistles of St. 
John first, probably because he was the beloved 
disciple of our Lord. Others have given the 
priority to the two Epistles of St. Peter, because 
they considered him as the prince of the apos- 
tles. Some have placed the Epistle of James 
last, possibly because it was more lately re- 
ceived into the canon by the Christian Church 
in general. By others, this Epistle has been 
placed first, either because it was conjectured to 
have been the first written of the seven Epistles, 
or because St. James was supposed to have 
been the first bishop of Jerusalem, the most 
ancient and venerable, and the first of all the 
Christian Churches ; or because the Epistle 
was written to the Christians of the twelve 
tribes of Israel, who were the first believers. 

There have been a variety of diflierent opin- 
ions, both as to the author of this Epistle, and 
the time in which it v/as written. The argu- 
ments of Macknight and Lardner, who attribute 
it to James the Less, are generally considered 
satisfactory. 

In the catalogue of the apostles (Matt. x. 2. 
Mark iii. 16. Luke vi. 14. Acts i. 13.) we 
find two persons of the name of James ; the 
first was the son ofZebedee (Matt. x. 2.), the 
second, in all the catalogues, is called the son 
of Alphceus; one of these apostles is called 
(Gal. i. 19.) the Lord's brother. Wherefore as 
there were only twelve apostles, and as James, 
the son of Zebedee, so far as we know, was in 
no respect related to our Lord, the apostle called 
James, the Lord's brother, must have been 
James, the son of AlphjEus, called also James 
the Less, or younger, whose relation to Christ 



will appear by comparing Mark xv. 40. with 
John xix. 25. In the former passage, Mark, 
speaking of the women who were present at 
the crucifixion, says, " There were also women 
looking on afar oflT: among whom were Mary 
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the 
Less, and of Joses, and Salom6." In the latter 
passage, John, speaking of the same women, 
says, " There stood by the cross of Jesus, his 
mother, and his mother's sistei', Mary, the wife 
of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene :" wherefore 
our Lord's mother's sister, Mary, the wife of 
Cleophas, mentioned by John, is, in all proba- 
bility, the person whom Mark calls Maiy, the 
mother of James the Less, and of Joses : con- 
sequently her sons, James and Joses, were our 
Lord's cousins-german by his mother. And as 
the Hebrews called all near relations brethren, 
it is more than probable that James, the son of 
Alphseus, who was our Lord's cousin-german, 
is James the Lord's brother, mentioned Gal. i. 
19. Three circumstances confirm this opinion. 
1. James and Joses, the sons of Mary, our 
Lord's mother's sister, are expressly called the 
brethren of Jesus, Matt xiii. 55. Mark vi. 3. ; 
James, the son of our Lord's mother's sister, 
being distinguished from another James, by the 
appellation of the Less, Mark xv. 40. There is 
good reason to suppose that he is the James 
whom Mark, in his catalogue, distinguishes 
from James, the son of Zebedee, by the appel- 
lation of the son of Alpheeus. It is true, Mary, 
the mother of James and Joses, is called the 
wife of Cleophas, John xbc. 25. But Cleophas 
and Alphseus are the same name, differently 
pronounced ; the one according to the Hebrew, 
and the other according to the Greek ortho- 
graphy. 3. Of the persons called the brethren 
of Jesus (Matt. xiii. 55.), there are three men- 
tioned in the catalogue of apostles, James, and 
Simon, and Judas. They, I suppose, are the 
brethren of the Lord, who are said, as apostles, 
to have had a right to lead about a sister or 
a wife, &c. (1 Cor. ix. 5.) Jerome likewise 
thought James, the Lord's brother, was so 
called, because he was the son of Mary, our 
Lord's mother's sister. Lardner (Canon, vol. 
iii. p. 63.) says, "Jerome seems to have been 
the first who said our Lord's brethren were the 
sons of his mother's sister;" and that this opin- 
ion was at length embraced by Augustine, and 
has prevailed very much of late, being the 
opinion of the Romanists in general, and of 
Lightfoot, Witsius, Lampe, and many of the 
Protestants. On the other hand, Origen, Epi- 
phanius, and other ancient writers, both Greeks 
and Latins, were of opinion that James, the 
Lord's brother, was not the son of the Virgin's 
sister, but of Joseph, our Lord's reputed father, 
by a former wife, who died before he espoused 
the Virgin. Of the same opinion were Vossius, 
Basnage, and Cave, among the Protestants ; 
and Valssius among the Romanists. Epipha- 



388* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIV. 



nius and Theophylact supposed that Joseph's 
first wife was the widow of Alphaeus, who being 
Joseph's brother, Joseph married her, to raise 
up seed to him ; and therefore James, the issue 
of that marriage, was fitly called the son of 
Alphseus, and brother of our Lord. 

James the Less, the son of Alpheeus, there- 
fore, we conclude to have been not only the 
Lord's near relation, but an apostle whom, as is 
generally supposed, he honored in a particular 
manner, by appearing to him alone, after his 
resurrection, 1 Cor. xv. 7. These circum- 
stances, together with his own personal merit, 
rendered him of such note among the apostles, 
that they appointed him to reside at Jerusalem, 
and to superintend the Church there. This 
appointment, Lardner says, was made soon 
after the martyrdom of Stephen : and in support 
of this opinion he observes, " that Peter always 
speaks first, as president among the apostles, 
until after the choice of the seven deacons." 
Every thing said of St. James after that implies 
his presiding in the Church of Jerusalem, 
(Canon, vol. iii. p. 28.) For example, when the 
apostles and elders at Jerusalem came together 
to consider whether it was needful to circum- 
cise the Gentiles after there had been much 
disputing, Peter spake, (Acts xv. 7.), then Bar- 
nabas and Paul, (ver. 12.) And when they 
had ended, James summed up the whole, and 
proposed the terms on v/hich the Gentiles were 
to be received into the Church (ver. 19-21.), 
to which the whole assembly agreed, and wrote 
letters to the Gentiles, conformably to the 
opinion of James, (ver. 22-29.) From this it 
is inferred, that James presided in the council 
of Jerusalem, because he was president of the 
Church in that city. 

Chrysostom, in his Homily on Acts xv. says, 
" James was bishop of Jerusalem, and there- 
fore spake last." In the time of this council 
Paul communicated the Gospel which he 
preached among the Gentiles, to three of the 
apostles, whom he calls pillars, and tells us, 
that when they perceived the inspiration and 
miraculous powers which he possessed, they 
gave him the right hand of fellowship, mention- 
ing James first, (Gal. ii. 9.) " And perceiving 
the grace that was given unto me, James, 
Cephas, and John, who were pillars, gave to 
me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship." 
This implies that James, whom in the first 
chapter he had called the Lord's brother, was 
not only an apostle, but the presiding apostle 
in the Church at Jerusalem. In the same 
chapter Paul, giving an account of what hap- 
pened after the council, says, (ver. 11.) "When 
Peter was come to Antioch, before that certain 
came I'rom James, he did eat with the Gentiles ; 
but when they were come he withdi-ew, and 
separated himself, fearing them which were of 
the circumcision." This shows that James 
resided at Jerusalem, and presided in the 



Church there, and was greatly respected by 
the Jewish believers. The same circumstance 
appears from Acts xxi. 17., where, giving an 
account of St. Paul's journey to Jerusalem, 
with the collections from the saints in Judaea, 
St. Luke says, (ver. 18.) " St. Paul went in 
with us to James, and all the elders were 
present." Farther, the respect in which James 
was held by the apostles, appears from two 
facts recorded by St. Luke ; the first is, when 
St. Paul came to Jerusalem, three years after 
his conversion, Barnabas took him, and brought 
him to Peter and James, as the chief apostles. 
Compare Acts xxi. 18. with Gal. ii. 9. The 
second fact is, after Peter was miraculously 
delivered out of prison, about the time of the 
Passover, in the year 44, he came to the house 
of Mary, where many were gathered together 
praying, (Acts xii. 12.) ; and when he had 
declared to them how the Lord had brought 
him out of the prison, he said, " Go, show 
these things to James, and to the brethren," 
(ver. 17.) These particulars are mentioned by 
Lardner, and before him by Whitby and Cave, 
to show that James, the Lord's brother, was 
really an apostle, in the strict acceptation of 
the word : consequently that Eusebius was 
mistaken when he placed him among the 
seventy disciples. — Eccles. Hist. lib. vii. c. 12. 

That the Epistle of James was early es- 
teemed an inspired writing, is evident from the 
following fact : — That while the Second Epistle 
of Peter, the Second and Third of John, the 
Epistle of Jude, and the Revelation, are omit- 
ted in the first Syriac translation of the New 
Testament (the Peshito), which was made in 
the beginning of the second century, for the 
use of the converted Jews, the Epistle of 
James has found a place in it, equally with the 
books which were never called in question. 
This is an argument of great weight ; for cer- 
tainly the Jewish believers, to whom that 
Epistle was addressed and delivered, were 
much better judges of its authenticity than the 
converted Gentiles, to whom it was not sent, 
and who perhaps had no opportunity of being 
acquainted with it, tUl long after it was written. 
Wherefore, its being received by the Jewish 
believers is an undeniable proof that they knew 
it to be written by James the apostle ; whereas 
the ignorance of the Gentile believers, con- 
cerning this Epistle, is not even a presumption 
against its authenticity. 

That the converted Gentiles had little knowl- 
edge of the Epistle of James in the first ages 
may have been owing to various causes, such 
as that it was addressed to the Jews, and that 
the matters contained in it were personal to the 
Jews. For, on these accounts, the Jewish be- 
lievers may have thought it not necessary to 
communicate it to the Gentiles : and when it 
was made known to them, they may have 
scrupled to receive it as an inspired writing, 



JNoTE ;24.] 



ON THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES. 



*389 



for the following' reasons : — ] . The writer does 
not, in the inscription, take the title of an 
apostle, but calls himself simply James, a 
servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ. — 
2. Many of the ancients, by calling the writer 
of this Epistle James the Just, have rendered 
his apostleship doubtful. — 3. As tliey have done 
likewise, by speaking of him commonly as 
bishop of Jerusalem, and not as an apostle of 
Christ. It is not surprising, therefore, that this 
Epistle was not received generally by the con- 
verted Gentiles ; consequently that it was not 
often quoted by them in their writings. But 
afterwards, when it was considered that this 
Epistle was from the beginning received by the 
Jewish believers, and that it was translated into 
tlie Syriac language for their ase, and that St. 
Paul, though an apostle, sometimes contented him- 
self with tlie appellation of a servant of Christ 
(Philip, i. 1. and Philem. ver. 1.), and sometimes 
took no appellation but his own name (1 Thess. 
i. 1. and 2 Thess. i. 1.) ; and that the x^postle John 
did not, in any of his Epistles, call himself an 
apostle, the title wliich the author of the Epistle 
of James had to be an apostle, was no longer 
doubted ; but he was generally acknowledged 
to be James, the son of Alphaeus, and the Lord's 
brother, and his Epistle, after an accurate exam- 
ination, was received as an inspired writing. 
So Estius tells us, who affirms, that after the 
fourth century no Church nor ecclesiastical 
■writer is found, who ever doubted of the 
authority of this Epistle ; but on the contrary, 
all the catalogues of the books of Scripture 
published, whether by general or provincial 
councils, or by Roman bishops, or other ortho- 
dox writers, since the fourth century, constantly 
number it among the canonical Scriptures. 

With respect to what is remarked by Euse- 
bius, that there are not many ancient writers 
who have quoted the Epistle of James, learned 
men have observed, that Clement of Rome has 
quoted it four several times : and so does Igna- 
tius, in his genuine Epistle to the Ephesians 
(sect. X. xii. xvii. xxx.), and Origen, in his 
thirteenth homily on Genesis, sect v. That it 
was not better known is easily accounted for, 
as observed above, from tlie circumstance of 
its being particularly addressed to the whole 
Jewish nation, for the purpose of correcting the 
errors and vices which prevailed among them 
at the time it was written. On this account the 
Gentiles would feel themselves comparatively 
but little interested, and would therefore be less 
anxious to obtain copies of it. The seeming- 
opposition of the doctrine of this Epistle to the 
doctrine of St. Paul, concerning justification 
by faith, without the works of the Law, may 
have occasioned it also to have been less re- 
garded by the most ancient writers. 

Michaelis is of a different opinion respecting 
the author of this Epistle. " All things con- 
sidered," says he, " I see no reason for the 

VOL. II. 



assertion, that James, the son of Zebedee, was 
not the author of this Epistle. One circum- 
stance affords, at least, a presumptive argument 
in favor of the opinion, that it was really writ- 
ten by the Elder James, and at a time when 
the Gospel had not been propagated among the 
Gentiles, namely, that it contains no exhorta- 
tions to harmony between the Jewish and 
Gentile converts ; which, after the time that 
the Gentiles were admitted into the Church, 
became absolutely necessary. Had it been 
written after the apostolic council of Jerusalem, 
mentioned Acts xv., and by the younger James, 
we might have expected that at least some 
allusion would be made in it to the decree of 
that council, which was propounded by the 
younger James in favor of the Gentile converts 
as their brethren." 

On this controverted and uncertain point, I 
have followed the majority of commentators, 
and have considered James, the Lord's brother, 
as the author of this Epistle. His history is 
fully and ably collected by Dr. Lardner, from 
the writings of the ancient fathers ; and to his 
labors the reader is more particularly referred. 
He concludes this part of his labors with ob- 
serving, that the time of the death of James 
may be determined without much difficulty : he 
was alive when St. Paul came to Jerusalem at 
the Pentecost, in the year of Christ 58 ; and it 
is likely that he was dead when St. Paul wrote 
the Epistle to the Hebrews, at the beginning 
of the year 63. Theodoret, upon Heb. xi. 37., 
supposes the Apostle there to refer to the mar- 
tyrdoms of Stephen, James the brother of 
John, and James the Just. According to He- 
gesippus, the death of James happened about 
the time of the Passover, which might be that 
of the year 62 ; and if Festus was then dead, 
and Albinus not arrived, the province was 
without a governor. Such a season left the 
Jews at liberty to gratify their licentious and 
turbulent disposition, and they were likely to 
embrace it. The Epistle, therefore, as the 
work of James the Less, must have been written 
about this time, A. D. 62. As it concludes 
abruptly, it has been considered as a posthumous 
writing, left unfinished by the premature and 
violent death of the Apostle''. 

Bishop Tomline, and others, are of opinion 
that this Epistle was addressed to the believing 
Jews who were dispersed all over the world ; 
Grotius and Dr. Wall, to all the people of 
Israel living out of Judaja. Michaelis con- 
siders it certain that St. James wrote to persons 
already converted from Judaism to Christianity ; 
but at the same time he believes, as the Apostle 

'' Benson's Preface to the Catholic Epistles. 
Michaelis, vol. iv. p. 269-27L Pritii Introd. ad 
J^ov. Test. p. 62-65. Lardner's Works, 8vo. vol. 
vi. p. 465-468; 4to. vol. iii. p. 366,367. Rosen- 
mtiller, Scholia, vol. v. p. 317, 318. Home's Crit- 
ical Introduction, vol. iv. 

*GG* 



390* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIV. 



was highly respected by the Jews, in general, 
that he designed that it should also be read by 
the unbelieving Jews, and that by this intention 
he was influenced in the choice of his materials. 
Dr. Benson is of opinion that this Epistle was 
addressed to the converted Jews out of Palestine ; 
but Whitby, Lardner, (and after them Mack- 
night,) think it was written to the whole Jewish 
nation, both within and without Judaea, whether 
believers or not. This opinion is grounded on 
some expressions in the first ten verses of the 
fourth chapter, and in the first five verses of the 
fifth chapter, which they suppose to be applicable 
to unbelievers only. It is true that in the fifth 
chapter the Apostle alludes to the then impend- 
ing destruction of Jerusalem, and the miseries 
■which soon after befel the unbelieving Jews : but 
Bishop Tomline is of opinion, that the Apostle 
alludes merely to the great corruptions into which 
tlie Hebrew Christians had fallen at that time. 

It does not appear probable that James would 
write part of his Epistle to believers, and part to 
unbelievers, without any mention or notice of that 
distinction. It should also be remembered, that 
this Epistle contains no general arguments for 
the truth of Christianity, nor any reproof of those 
who refused to embrace the Gospel ; and there- 
fore, though his lordship admits that the inscrip- 
tion, " To the twelve tribes that are scattered 
abroad," might comprehend both unbelieving 
and believing Jews, yet he is of opinion that it 
was intended for the believing Jews only, and 
that St. James did not expressly make the dis- 
crimination, because neither he, nor any other 
apostle, ever thought of writing to any but 
Christian converts. " The object of the apos- 
tolical Epistles," he further observes, " was to 
confirm, and not to convert; to correct what 
was amiss in those who did believe, and not in 
those who did not believe." The sense of the 
above inscription seems to be limited to the 
believing Jews by what follows almost imme- 
diately, "The trying of your faith worketh 
patience," (i. 3.) And again, "My brethren, 
have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
the Lord of glory,' with respect of persons," 
(ii. I.) These passages could not be addressed 
to unbelievers'. 

The Epistle itself is entirely diiferent in its 
complexion from all those in the Sacred Canon ; 
the style and manner are more that of a Jewish 
prophet, than a Christian apostle. It scarcely 
touches on any subject purely Christian. Our 
blessed Lord is only mentioned twice in it, 
chap. i. 1. and ii. l. It begins without any 
apostolical salutation, and ends without any 
apostolical benediction. In short, had it not 
been for the two slight notices of our blessed 
liord, we had not known that it was the work 
of any Christian writer. It may be considered 



a sort of connecting link between Judaism and 
Christianity, as the ministry of John Baptist 
was between the old covenant and the new-'. 



Note 25.— Part XIV. 

The Greek word Slipvyog signifies one who 
has two souls — one for heaven, the other for 
earth — the man who desires to secure both 
worlds, but will give up neither. Some suppose 
St. James alludes to those who were divided in 
their affections and minds, between the Levit- 
ical rites and the Gospel of Christ ; equally 
unwilling to renounce the benefits of the latter, 
and to give up the long-established institutions 
of the former. It v/as a usual term among the 
Jews, to express the man who attempted to 
worship God, and yet retained the love of the 
creature. — Rabbi Tanchuma, fol. 84. 4. on Deut. 
xxvi. 16. said, "Behold the Scripture exhorts 
the Israelites, and tells them, that when they 
poured out their prayers before the Lord, H^ 
r\133b TIE' anS rrri'' they should not have two 
hearts, one for the holy, blessed God, and the 
other for something else." The expression 
occurs in Ecclus, i. 26. xaqdia ^tCTcnj. 



Note 26.— Part XIV. 

Among the Rabbins there is this saying, 
" Evil concupiscence is at the beginning like 
the thread of a spider's web, afterwards is like 
a cart-rope." — Sanhedrin, fol. 99. 2. 



Note 27.— Part XIV. 

This expression is supposed by commentators 
to signify the doctrine which has been implant- 
ed — the light within — the natural, innate, or 
eternal world ; comparing the Gospel to a seed, 
or to a plant, which is here said to be engrafted 
in their minds. But I cannot but believe that 
tlie Apostle refers rather to the Mosaic Law, 
the Gospel of Christ being engrafted on the 
Law ; for Christ came not to destroy the Law 
and the Prophets, but to fulfil them. (See 
James ii. 23 ) The ritual law he fulfilled by 
liis sacrifice and death, and the effects result- 
ing from them— His blood cleansing us from 
all sin— the Great High Priest offering up his 
intercession and prayers for us in the Holy 
of Holies — and the moral law he fulfilled in his 
pure and holy life ; for in him there was no 
sin ; he was the true paschal lamb, without 
blemish, and without spot — he realized eveiy 



' Bishop Tomline's Elements of Christian Theol- -* See Home, Macknight, Lardner, Benson, Dr 
ogy, p. 472. A. Clarke, and the commentators. 



Note 2S.-30. 



ON THE EPISTLE TO ST. JAMES. 



tittle of the Law, and was the great end and 
object of it. Its types, ceremonies, and festivals 
were only the figure and representation of Him 
that was to come — they were now finished, com- 
pleted, and blotted out for ever, dying with him 
on the cross. In ver. 2.5 of tliis chapter, the 
word " perfect," which is used in opposition 
to the Mosaic Law, which was imperfect, 
seems to be applied to the Gospel, in a sense 
which corroborates the opinion here advanced. 
It intimates that the Gospel, or the Law of 
liberty, was made perfect by bringing to per- 
fection the whole system of the Jewish Law ; 
engrafting on it the fulness of salvation, and 
giving us liberty from its burdensome rites, 
and ability to overcome the power and dominion 
of sin. 



Note 28.— Part XIV, 

In Pirke Aboth, cap. v. 14, it is said there 
are four kinds of men who visit the synagogues : 
1. He who enters, but does not work. 2. He 
who works, but does not enter. 3. He who 
enters, and works. 4. He who neither enters, 
nor works. The first two are indifferent char- 
acters ; the third is the righteous man ; the 
fourth is wholly evil. — See Schoetgen. Hor. 
Heb. vol. i. p. 1015, and Dr. Clarke in loc. 



: TO ST. JAMES. *39l 

See Clarke in loc. or Schoetgen, Hor. Heb. vol. 
i. p. 1016-1020. 



Note 29.— Part XIV. 

In the tract Shahbath, fol. 70. 2. where they 
dispute concerning the thirty-nine works com- 
manded by Moses, Rabbi Jochanan says, " But 
if a man do the whole, with the omission of one, 
he is guilty of the whole, and of every one." It 
was a maxim also, among the Jewish doctors, 
that if a man kept any one commandment faith- 
fully, though he broke all the rest, he might 
assure himself of the favor of God ; for while 
tliey tauglit that " He who transgresses all the 
precepts of the Law, has broken the yoke, dis- 
solved the covenant, and exposed the Law to 
contempt ; and so has he done who has broken 
even one precept," (MechUta, fol. 5. 1. Jalkut 
iSi7?ieo?n", part i. fol. 5'J. 2.)they also taught, that 
he who observed any principal command, was 
equal to him who kept the whole law, [Kiddusldn, 
fol. 39.) and they give, for example, "If a man 
abandon idolatry, it is the same as if he had 
fulfilled the whole Law," (ibid. fol. 40.) To 
correct these erroneous vacillating doctrmes, 
seems to have been the object of the Apostle. 
Adam Clarke has collected from Schoetgen 
many rabbinical doctrines, or traditions, to illus- 
trate this Epistle, which bears evident internal 
proof that it was written by a Jew to Jews. — ■ 



Note 30.— Part XIV. 

That particular and great sins were supposed 
to be the causes of extraordinary diseases 
among the Jews is evident from many passages 
in Scripture :— Deut. xxviii. 15, 21, 22, 27. Ps. 
xxxvii. 9, &c. ; and cvii. 17, 18.; John v. 14. ; 
and when the bodily disorder was cured, the sin 
was said to be forgiven, 2 Chron. vii. 13, 14. 
Isa. xxxiii. 24. Matt. ix. 29. Luke v. 20, &c. 
1 Cor. xi. 29, 30, 32. It is also expressly declared 
by St. John, in his First Epistle, chap. v. 16, 17. 
" there is a sin unto death, and a sin not unto 
death," the latter of wliich is described in the 
present case ; for " the prayer of faith," or of 
prophetic impulse, was to be exerted in favor 
of the latter in both instances. 

The confession recommended (verse 16.), was 
not auricular, or for the purposes of absolution, 
but was required as a proof of a sincere repen- 
tance before the miraculous cure was attempted, 
that by an acknowledgment of his sins the 
penitent might obtain tlie pardon and prayers 
of the injured parties. The miracle could not be 
performed if the sick person was not sufliciently 
penitent (John v. 16.), or if the elders had not 
the prayer of faith, or if the continued sickness 
or death of the afiiicted person tended more to 
the glory of God : and it is further certain that 
neither the apostles nor elders could work 
miracles but when the Spirit saw proper, and 
by an impulse intimated it to them (Phil. ii. 
26, 27. ; 1 Tim. v. 23. ; 2 Tim. iv. 17.) The 
oil was used as a sensible token to the sick 
person, and to all present, of the miracle about 
to be performed. It was applied in anticipation 
of a recovery from some great bodily disease, 
and not for the cleansing of the soul in the last 
agonies of death, when there is no hope of life. 
It is probable that our Saviour appointed this 
outward sign when he gave commission to his 
disciples to heal the sick (Matt. x. 8. Luke 
ix. 2.), for we read, Mark vi. 13., that they made 
use of it. It could not therefore last after the 
divine gifts were withth-awn; and where no 
miraculous interference is expected, its obser- 
vance becomes a superstition. It might have 
been originally prescribed on these occasions 
as emblematical of the peculiar mercy and 
favor of God, in allusion to the custom of 
a,nointing their prophets and kings in the old 
dispensation. It was always much esteemed 
by the Jews for its healing qualities, and was 
used by them as the natural means of recovery, 
in which sense some supposed it was applied by 
St. James, intimating that natural means are 
made efficacious only by the prayer of faith and 
the divine blessing. 



392* 



NOTES ON THE ACTS AND EPISTLES. 



[Part XIV. 



Note 3].— Part XIV. 



ON ST. LUKE S GOSPEL. 



The Gospel of St. Matthew, as has been 
shown, was most probably written during the 
first or Pauline persecution of the Church, 
when the Gospel was preached to the Jews 
only. That of St. Mark under the inspection 
of St. Peter, in the second or Herodian persecu- 
tion, when the Gospel was preached to the 
proselytes. The fitness of these Gospels to 
the periods, to which the best remaining' testi- 
mony refers their publication, is an additional 
evidence that they were then made known. 
The time had now arrived when the Gospel 
had been preached over the greater part of 
the world, by the most learned and most labo- 
rious of the apostles of our Lord. St. Paul had 
now preached to the idolatrous Gentiles for 
many years, and it is not probable that the nu- 
merous converts of this description, who were 
now added to the Church, should be left without 
an authentic statement of the facts of Chris- 
tianity. St. Luke had been long the companion 
of St. Paul, as he was a learned man, being a 
physician. He was evidently well qualified to 
give an account of the labors and travels of the 
Apostle, and to write also an account of the 
life of their common Master. Whether Luke 
was, according to Dr. Lardner, a Jew by birth, 
and an early convert to Christianity ; or, ac- 
cording to Michaelis, a Gentile (see Coloss. iv. 
10, 11, 14., where St Paul distinguished Aris- 
tarchus, Marcus, and Jesus, who was called 
Justus, from Epaphras, Lucas, and Demas, who 
were of the circumcision, i. e. Jews), or whether 
he was one of the Seventy, is uncertain. He is 
the only Evangelist who mentions the commis- 
sion given by Cln-ist to the Seventy, (Luke x. 
1-20.) It is likely he is the Lucius mentioned 
Rom. xvi. 21., and if so, he was related to the 
Apostle Paul, and is the Lucius of Cyrene, who 
is mentioned Acts xiii. 1., and in general with 
others. Acts xi. 20. Some of the ancients, and 
some of the most learned and judicious among 
the moderns, think he was one of the two whom 
our Lord met on the way to Emmaiis, on the 
day of his resurrection, as related Luke xxiv. 
13-35.; one of these was called Cleophas, ver. 
18., the other is not mentioned, the Evangelist 
himself being the person and tlie relator. 

St. Paul styles him his " fellow-laborer," 
(Philemon, ver. 24.) It is generally believed 
that he is the person mentioned. Col. iv. 14., 
" Luke, the beloved physician." All the an- 
cients of repute, as Eusebius, Gregory Nyssen, 
Jerome, Pauhnus, Euthalius, Euthymius, and 
others, agree that he was a physician ; but where 
lie was born and where he exercised tlie duties 
of his profession are not known. 

He accompanied St. Paul when he first %vent 
into Macedonia, Acts xvi. 8-40. ; xx. ; xxvii. 



and xxviii. Whether he went with him con- 
stantly afterwards is not certain, but it is evi- 
dent he accompanied him from Greece, through 
Macedonia and Asia, to Jerusalem, where he 
is supposed to have collected many particulars of 
the evangelic history ; from Jerusalem he went 
with Paul to Rome, where he staid with him the 
two years of his imprisonment. This alone 
makes out the space of five years and upwards. 

Though there have been various opinions 
respecting the date of St. Luke's Gospel, it has 
generally been referred to this period. 

Dr. Owen and others refer it to the year 5-3, 
while Jones, Michaelis, Lardner, and the major- 
ity of biblical critics, assign it to the year 63, 
or 64, which date appears to be the true one, 
and corresponds with the interna] characters of 
time exhibited in the Gospel itself. But it is 
not so easy to ascertain the place where it 
was written. Jerome says that Luke, the third 
Evangelist, published his Gospel in the coun- 
tries of Achaia and Bceotia. Gregory Nazian- 
zen also says, that Luke wrote for the Greeks, 
or in Achaia. Grotius states, that about the 
time when Paul left Rome, Luke departed to 
Achaia, where he wrote the books we now have. 
Dr. Cave was of opinion that they were at Rome 
before the termination of Paul's captivity ; but 
Drs. Mill, Grabe, and Wetstein affirm that this 
Gospel was published at Alexandria in Egypt, 
in opposition to the Pseudo-Gospel, circulated 
among the Egyptians. Dr. Lardner has ex- 
amined these various opinions at considerable 
length, and concludes that upon the wliole, 
there is no good Teason to suppose that St. 
Luke wrote his Gospel at Alexandria, or that 
he preached at all in Egypt : on the contrary, 
it is more probable that when he left Paul he 
went into Greece, and there composed or fin- 
ished and published his Gospel, and the Acts 
of the Apostles. That St. Luke wrote his Gos- 
pel for the benefit of the Gentile converts, is 
affirmed by the unanimous voice of Christen- 
dom ; and it also may be inferred from his 
dedicating it to one of his Gentile converts. 
This indeed appears to have been its peculiar 
design ; for, writing to those who were far re- 
mote from the scene of action, and ignorant of 
Jewish affairs, it was requisite that he should 
descend to many particulars, and touch on 
various points, which would have been unneces- 
sary had he written exclusively for the Jews. 
On this account he begins his history with the 
birth of John the Baptist (Luke i. 5-80.) as 
introductory to that of Christ ; and in the 
course of it he notices several particulars men- 
tioned by St. Matthew (Luke ii. 1-9, &,c.) 
Hence also he is particularly careful in specify- 
ing various circumstances of facts which were 
highly conducive to the information of stran- 
gers, but which it would not have been neces- 
sary to recite to the Jews who could easily 
supply them from their own knowledge. 



Note 1. 



ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 



*393 



PART XV. 



Note 1. — Part XV. 

ON THE ORIGIJV AND DATE OF THE EPISTLE TO 
THE HEBREWS. 

We are informed by some of the early 
fathers, that the Ebionites not only rejected the 
Epistles of St. Paul, but reviled the Apostle him- 
self as a Greek and an apostate. As the Ebion- 
ites would probably retain by tradition many 
of the opinions of the Hebrew Christians, we 
may infer that his own countrymen reproached 
St. Paul with the same appellations. They 
would charge him with abandoning his prin- 
ciples, and following the general custom of 
apostates, of opposing with virulence and bitter- 
ness the religion he had once defended. St. 
Paul well knew that it would be useless to 
assert his sincerity to those who still retained 
the opinions he had relinquished ; or to place 
before them the essential difference between 
forsaking from caprice or interest the religious 
system in which a man has been educated, 
and forsaking it from a deep conviction of its 
falsehood, founded upon a dehberate, impartial, 
and serious examination of its evidences. In 
Ms imprisonment at Rome he had repeatedly 
discussed with the Jews the question of Chiis- 
tianity, and in many instances without eflfect. 
Where we do not convince, we generally incur 
reproach ; and this was evidently the case with 
St. Paul. He did not therefore attempt to 
remove the impressions which had been cir- 
culated to his prejudice ; he wrote only a full 
and explicit statement of the doctrines and 
truths of the Christian religion contained in 
this masterly Epistle to the Hebrews. Here 
he proves the Deity of Christ, and the superior 
excellency of his Gospel when compared with 
the institutions of Moses, which were now 
abolished. That he might not excite prejudice 
against this masterly compendium of Christian 
truth, he omits his usual style of address. He 
mentions neither his name nor his apostolic 
functions. Addressing the Epistle to the 
Hebrews generally, in whatever part of the 
world they were to be found, though more 
especially the Hebrews of Palestine, he \vTites 
anonymously, and neither directs his Epistle 
from any place, nor sends it to any particular 
Church by a special messenger. The omission 
of his name, too, is further satisfactorily ac- 
counted for by Clemens Alexandrinus and 
Jerome. St. Paul would here intimate that as 
Jesus Christ himself was the peculiar apostle 
to the Hebrews (as acknowledged in this Epistle, 



chap. iii. 1.), St Paul declined through humility 
to assume the title of an apostle. — See Lardner, 
vol. ii. p. 211, vi. p. 411, 412. To which Theo- 
doret adds, that St Paul being pecuharly tlie 
apostle of the uncircumcision, as the rest 
were of the circumcision, (Gal. ii. 9. Rom. xi. 
13.), he scrupled to assume any public character 
when writing to their department, that he might 
not be thought forward or obtrusive, as if 
wishing " to build upon another's foundation," 
which he always disclaimed, (Rom. xv. 20. 
Lardner, ii. p. 412.) He did not mention his 
name, messenger, or particular persons to whom 
it was sent, because, as Lardner judiciously 
remarks, such a long letter might give umbrage 
to the ruling powers at tiiis crisis, when the Jews 
were most turbulent, and might endanger him- 
self, the messenger, and those to whom it was 
directed. But they might know the author 
easily by the style and writing, and even from 
the messenger, without any formal notice or 
superscription. 

Clement of Alexandria, Jerome, Euthalius, 
Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, and other 
fathers, were of opinion that the Epistle to the 
Hebrews was sent more particularly to the con- 
verted Jews Uving in Judaea, who in the Apos- 
tle's days were called Hebrews, to distinguish 
them from the Jews in the Gentile countries, 
who were called Hellenists or Grecians, (Acts 
vi. 1. ix. 29. xi. 20.) The opinion of these 
learned fathers is adopted by Beza, Louis Capel, 
Carpsov, Drs. Lightfoot, Whitby, Mill, Lardner, 
and Macknight, Bishops Pearson and Tomline, 
Hallet, Rosenmliller, Scott, and others. Mi- 
chaelis considers it as written for the use of the 
Jewish Christians at Jerusalem and in Pales- 
tine ; and obser\'es that it is a question of little 
or no moment, whether it was sent to Jerusalem 
alone, or to other cities in Palestine ; because 
that this Epistle, though it was intended for the 
use of Jewish converts at Jerusalem, must 
equally have concerned the other Jewish con- 
verts in that country. This very ancient opin- 
ion is corroborated by the contents of the Epis- 
tle itself, in which we meet with many things 
peculiarly suitable to the believers in Judeea. 

1st In this Epistle the Apostle does not, ac- 
cording to his usual practice, make frequent 
exhortations to brotherly love and unity, be- 
cause it was sent to Christian communities 
in Palestine, which consisted wholly of Jewish 
converts. It is true that the author speaks of 
brotherly love (xiii. 1.) where he says, " Let 
brotherly love continue ;" but he speaks only 
in general terms, and says nothing of unity 



VOL. II. 



*50 



394* 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLES. 



[Part XV. 



between Jewish and heathen converts. More- 
over, he uses the word " continue," wliich im- 
plies that no disunion had actually taken place 
among its members. 

2dly. The persons to whom it was addressed 
were evidently in imminent danger of falling 
back from Christianity to Judaism, induced 
partly by a severe persecution, and partly by 
the false arguments of the rabbins. This could 
hardly have happened to several communities 
at the same time in any other country than 
Palestine, and therefore we cannot suppose it 
of several communities of Asia Minor, to which, 
in the opinion of some commentators, the Epistle 
was addressed. Christianity enjoyed, from the 
tolerating spirit of the Roman laws and the 
Roman magistrates, throughout the empire in 
general, so much religious liberty, that out of 
. Palestine it would have been difficult to have 
effected a general persecution. But, through the 
influence of the Jewish Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, 
the Christians in that country underwent several 
severe persecutions, especially during the high 
priesthood of the younger Ananus, when St. 
James and other Christians suffered martyrdom. 
3dly. In the other Epistles of St. Paul, more 
particularly those to the Ephesians, Pliilippians, 
and Colossians, we shall find there is no appre- 
hension of any apostacy to Judaism, and still 
less of blasphemy against Christ, as we find in 
the sixth and tenth chapters of the Epistle to 
the Hebrews. The two passages of this Epistle 
(vi. 6. ; X. 29.), which relate to blasphemy against 
Christ, as a person justly condemned and cru- 
cified, are peculiarly adapted to the communities 
in Palestine ; and it is difficult to read these 
passages without inferring that several Chris- 
tians had really apostatized and openly blas- 
phemed Christ : for it appears from Acts xxvi. 
II., that violent measures were taken in Pales- 
tine for this very purpose, of which we meet 
with no traces in any other country at that 
early age. Neither the Epistles of St. Paul, 
nor those of St. Peter, furnish any instance of 
a public renunciation of Christianity and return 
to Judaism : and if such an occurrence had 
taken place, it could not have escaped tlieir 
most serious attention, and would have extorted 
their most severe reproofs. The circumstance, 
that several, who still continued Christians, for- 
sook the places of public worship (x. 25.) does 
not occur in any other Epistle, and implies a 
general and continued persecution, which de- 
terred the Christians from an open confession 
of their faith. Under these sufferings the He- 
brews are comforted by the promised coming 
of Christ, which they are to a^v■ait with patience, 
as being not far distant, (x. 25-38.) This can 
be no other than the promised destruction of 
Jerusalem (Matt, xxiv.) of which Christ himself 
said, (Luke xxi. 28.) " When these things be- 
gin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up 
your heads ; for your redemption draweth nigh." 



Now this coming of Christ was to the Christians 
in Palestine a deliverance from the yoke with 
which they were oppressed : but it had no such 
influence on the Christians of other countries. 
On the contrary, the first persecution under 
Nero happened in the year 65, about two years 
before the commencement of the Jewish war, 
and the second under Domitian, about five-and- 
twenty years after the destruction of Jerusalem 
4thly. According to Josephus several persona 
were put to death during the high priesthood 
of the younger Ananus, about the year 64 or 65 
(See Heb. xiii. 7.) 

5thly. The declarations in Heb. i. 2. and iv. 12., 
and particularly the exhortation in ii. 1-4., are 
peculiarly suitable to the believers of Judsa, 
where Jesus Christ himself first taught, and his 
disciples after him, confirming their testimony 
with very numerous and conspicuous miracles. 

6thly. The people to whom this Epistle was 
sent were well acquainted with our Saviour's 
sufferings, as those of Judaea must have been. 
This appears in Heb. i. 3. ii. 9, 18. v. 7, 8. ix. 
14, 28. X. 11. xii. 2, 3. and xiii. 12. 

7thly. The censure in chap. v. 12. is most 
properly understood of Christians in Jerusalem 
and Judsea, to whom the Gospel was first 
preached. 

Bthly. Lastly, the exhortation in Heb. xiii. 
12-14. is very difficult to be explained, on the 
supposition that the Epistle was exclusively 
written to Hebrews who lived out of Palestine ; 
for neither in the Acts of the Apostles, nor in 
the other Epistles, do we meet with an instance 
of expulsion from the synagogue merely for be- 
lief in Christ ; on the contrary, the apostles 
themselves were permitted to teach openly in 
the Jewish assemblies. But if we suppose that 
the Epistle Avas written to Jewish converts in 
Jerusalem, this passage becomes perfectly 
clear, and. Dr. Lardner observes, must have 
been very suitable to their case, especially if it 
was written only a short time before the com- 
mencement of the Jewish war, about the year 
65 or 66. The Christians, on this supposition, 
are exhorted to endure their fate with patience, 
if they should be obliged to retire, or even be 
ignominiously expelled from Jerusalem, since 
Christ himself had been forced out of this ver)' 
city, and had suffered without its walls. If we 
suppose, therefore, that the Epistle was written 
to the Hebrews of Jerusalem, the passage in 
question is clear : but on tlie hypothesis, that it 
was written to Hebrews who lived in any other 
place, the words " Let us go forth unto him with- 
out the camp, bearing his reproach," lose their 
meaning. Tlie " approaching day," chap. x. 25., 
can signify only the day appointed for the de- 
struction of Jerusalem, and the downfal of the 
Jewish nation ; but this event immediately con- 
cerned only the Hebrews of Palestine, and 
could have no influence in determining the 
conduct of the inhabitants of any other country 



Note 1.] 



ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 



*395 



Michaelis, in an elaborate dissertation (vol. 
iv. p. 186-268.) has endeavoured to set aside 
tlie authenticity of this Epistle, by the following 
positions : — 

1. That the style is so very different from 
that of St. Paul in his genuine Epistles, that he 
could not possibly have been the author of this 
Greek Epistle, p. 252. 

9. That it was originally written in Hebrew, 
but whether by St. Paul or not is doubtful, p. 
2.57. 

3. That it was early translated into Greek, 
but by whom is unknown, p. 247. 

" An hypothesis," says Dr. Hales, " at once 
so dogmatical and skeptical, calculated to pull 
down, not to build up or edify ; to unsettle the 
faith of wavering Christians, and to rob this 
most learned and most highly-illuminated Apos- 
tle of his right and title to the most noble and 
most finished of all his compositions, and this 
too upon the paradoxical plea of its acknowl- 
edged excellence, both of style and subject 
(which none assents to more cheerfully than 
Michaelis, p. 242, 243, 247.) imperiously demands 
our consideration ;" fortunately, this copious 
writer has furnished materials in abundance for 
his own refutation, from which we shall select 
a few. 

I. Objections drawn from dissimilarity of 
style are often fanciful and fallacious. On the 
contrary, a striking analogy may be traced 
between this and the rest of St. Paul's Epistles, 
in the use of singular and remarkable words 
and compound terms ; in the mode of construct- 
ing the sentences by long and involved paren- 
theses, &c., with this difference, however, that 
this being more leisurely written, and better 
digested in his confinement, is more compressed 
in its argument, and more polished in its style, 
than the rest, which were written with all the 
ease and freedom of epistolary correspondence, 
often in haste, during his travels. 

The following remarkable instances of ana- 
logy we owe to Michaelis. 

Ch. X. 33. OertTQi'Coftsi'oi, is an expression 
perfectly agreeable to St. Paul's mode of writing, 
as appears from 1 Cor. iv. 9. But since other 
writers may likewise have used the same met- 
aphor, the application of it in the present in- 
stance shows only that St. Paul might have 
written the Epistle to the Hebrews ; not that he 
really did write it, p. 256. But it is answered, 
there is a propriety in its use here that fits no 
other writer but St. Paul ; and this by Michaelis' 
own confession. It is here applied to the 
Apostle's public persecutions ; " exposed on a 
theatre to public revilings and afflictions," 
exactly corresponding to his complaint to the 
Corinthians, in the parallel text, Qiurgoy iye- 
vrfiriuEv Tw tcdcrfiu), " We were made a spectacle 
unto the world ; " and how ? the same Epistle 
will inform us afterwards ; " after the (bar- 
barous) custom of men, I fought with wild 



beasts at Ephesus," in the public theatre (1 Cor. 
XV. 32.), literally, not figuratively ; according 
to the judicious remark of Benson, supported 
by Michaelis himself, who assures us, that St. 
Paul's deliverance from the lion's mouth at 
Rome afterwards (2 Tim. iv. 17.), was "not 
from suffering death by the sword, but from 
being exposed in the amphitheatre to wild beasts 
as several Christians had already been, and in 
a very cruel manner," for which he refers to 
Tacitus, Annal. 15. 44. in his note, p. 176. 

Ch. X. 30. 'E/iiol Exdtxriaig, iyih (xi'Tanodwaco, 
is a quotation from Deut. xxxii. 35. which differs 
both from the Hebrew text and fi-om the Sep- 
tuagint ; and this passage is again quoted in 
the very same words, Rom. xii. 19. This 
agreement in a reading which has hitherto been 
discovered in no other place (see the new 
Orient. Bibl. vol. v. p. 231-236) might form a 
presumptive argument, that both quotations 
were made by the same person ; and conse- 
quently, that the Epistle to the Hebrews was 
written by St. Paul. But the argument, says 
Michaelis, is not decisive ; for it is very possi- 
ble, that in the first century there were manu- 
scripts with this reading, in Deut. xxxii. 35. 
from which St. Paul might have copied, in 
Rom. xii, 19., and the translator of this Epistle 
in Heb. x. 30., same page, 256. 

A more decided instance of skepticism is 
rarely to be found. To any other the "pre- 
sumptive argument" would appear irresistible, 
not to be overturned by a bare possibility, but 
a very high improbability ; since this remarkable 
rendering is to be found in " no other place," 
but in these two passages, as he himself ac- 
knowledges. The present Septuagint reading 
is found in both the Vatican and Alexandrine, 
and was probably therefore the original reading 
of the first century. The Apostle's rendering, 
in both places, is more correct and critical than 
tJie Septuagint, in the first clause if ^jusga 
iTiSixT'iasMg, which is only a paraphrase, not a 
translation, like his iuol iy.Sly.ijaig, of the Hebrew 
Op3 'S, and in the second the joint rendering 
ufTavToddxTu) is founded on a various reading, 
nuStyx, supported by a parallel verse, Deut. 
XTCxii. 41., and followed not only by the Septua- 
gint, but by the Syriac, Vulgate, and Chaldee. 
It is therefore greatly superior to the present 
Masorete, aSi^l, " and recompense," supported 
only by the Arabic version, and followed by the 
English Bible, evidently for the worse. And 
the Apostle has further improved upon the 
Septuagint, in the common term d,VTanoSwaoi 
by the emphatic prefix 'Eyil), which makes it 
stronger, as appropriated to the Almighty, than 
even the original Hebrew, which wants the 
personal pronoun. 

II. Michaelis asks, " Why did the author of 
the Syriac version translate this Epistle from 
the Greek, if the original was in Hebrew ? " p, 
231. 



396* 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLES. 



[Part XV. 



The Syriac version was the earliest of all, 
written in the apostolic age, and in the day of 
the Apostle Adaeus, Thaddeeus, or Jude, accord- 
ing to the judicious Abulfaragi, and near the 
end of the first century, according to Michaelis, 
vol. ii. p. 30. If, then, this most ancient ver- 
sion was translated immediately from the 
Greek, surely the presumption is infinitely 
strong, that there was then no Hebrew original. 
This argument, indeed, furnished by himself, 
seems decisive also to prove the canonical 
authority of the Greek Epistle in the judgment 
of the Syriac translator; for why should he 
adopt the Epistle, unless written by the Apostle 
to whom the voice of the Church had assigned 
it.' Surely John or Jude the apostle would not 
have suffered it otherwise to have been admit- 
ted into the Sacred Canon, either of tlie Greek 
or Syriac Testament. 

Assuming it, however, to have been written 
in Hebrew, Michaelis draws the following 
objection from a supposed blunder of the trans- 
lator into Greek, to show that he could not 
possibly be St. Paul, which most completely 
recoils upon himself, and proves irrefragably 
that the Greek was the original, and written by 
the Apostle. 

Ch. xii. 18. Oil yaq ngoaelrjXiidaTB ipyjlacpbjfiii'Cx) 
bgei. — ver. 22. 'AXldi nQoasXrjliuduTB Ztchv oqbi, 

"Here," says he, "the expression oqei, 
xprj).uq>ix)^usi>a, monti palpabili, which is opposed 
to 2'£u)>' oQEi., is certainly a very extraordinary 
one ; and I am wholly unable to give a satis- 
factory account of it, except on the supposition 
tliat the Epistle was written in Hebrew. But 
on this supposition the inaccuracy may be 
easily assigned. Sinai, or the mountain of 
Moses, is that which is here opposed to Mount 
Sion. Now the expression 'to the mountain 
of Moses,' is in Hebrew ntva inS. This word 
n:yD the translator misunderstood, and, instead 
of reading it nu'D, and taking it for a proper 
name, either read by mistake tVD, palpatio, or 
pronounced by mistake TT^r^, palpatio. Hence, 
instead of rendering ' to the mountain of Moses,' 
he rendered ' to the tangible mountain.' " 

But this " mountain of Moses" is a creation 
of his own brain. For " Sinai in Arabia," the 
mountain here meant by the apostle, pursuing 
liis former allegory, Gal. iv. 24-26., is no where 
so styled in Scripture, but rather " the moun- 
tain of God," Exod. iii, ], &c. "the mountain 
of the Lord," Numb. xxx. 33., or the holy 
place," Ps. Ixviii. 17., because it was honored 
with the presence of the God of Israel. To 
call it, therefore, by the name of Moses, or 
indeed of any mortal, would have been sacri- 
lege. To what, then, did the Apostle refer in 
the remarkable term i/jtjlacpMfiii'w ? Evidently 
to the divine injunction to the people and their 
cattle, not to ascend or touch it, beyond the 
prescribed limits near its foot, under pain of 



death, Exod. xix. 12-24. Alluding to this 
awful command, the Apostle beautifully con- 
trasts the terrors of the Law delivered on the 
earthly Sinai, not to be touched under pain of 
death, with the superabundant grace of the 
Gospel, promising to the faithful eternal life in 
the heavenly Sion ; to which, by an admirable 
anticipation, he represents them as already 
come [nqoae'krjlvduTe). 

Michaelis was rather too fond of displaying 
his Oriental learning, and never surely was 
there a more unfortunate specimen than this. 

III. He is not less unfortunate in his last 
quotation: he rested this principally on the tes- 
timony of Origen, who, according to Eusebius, 
Hist. Eccles. b. vi. ch. xxv., " held that the mat- 
ter of the Epistle was from St. Paul, but the 
construction of the words from another, who 
recorded the thoughts of the Apostle, and 
made notes, as it were, or commentaries of 
what was said by his master," p. 246. 

Having delivered his own opinion, Origen 
adds, "If then any Church (or whatsoever 
Church) holds this Epistle as Paul's, it should 
be commended, even upon this account ; for it 
was not without reason the primitive worthies 
have handed it down as Paul's ; but who wrote 
the Epistle (in its present form) truly God in- 
deed knows. The historical account that has 
reached us is various and uncertain ; some say- 
ing that Clemens, who was bishop of Rome, 
wrote the Epistle, others Luke, who wrote the 
Gospel and Acts," p. 247. 

Michaelis here thinks that by laioQlu el; 
■f^fiSg (pOdcaaaa, Origen meant " oral accounts," 
and he contends that " neither of these contra- 
dictory accounts can be true, for the style of 
the Epistle to the Hebrews is neither that of 
St. Luke, nor that of Clement of Rome ; and 
the latter especially, if we may judge from 
what is now extant of his works, had it not 
even in his power to write an epistle so replete 
with Jewish learning," p. 247. 

What now is the force of Origen's evidence, 
supposing that his opinion is fairly and fully 
related by Eusebius, which may be doubted ? 
Why surely, that St. Paul was the original 
author of the Epistle, as confirmed by primitive 
tradition. The oral account upon which he 
founded his conjecture was vague ; and Mi- 
chaelis has satisfactorily shown, that it could 
not be true in either case : what then remains 
by all the rules of right reasoning ? Unques- 
tionably, that, rejecting the oral account as 
false, we should embrace the primitive tradi- 
tion as true, and consequently admit that no 
one but the Apostle himself could be the 
author of an Epistle so replete with Jewish 
learning, who was educated at the feet of Ga- 
maliel himself (Actsxxii. 3.) and disputed with 
the first Jewish rabbis of the age, in Asia, 
Greece, and Rome. 
By the failure, therefore, of the paradoxical 



Note 1.] 



ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 



*397 



liypothesis of Michaelis, in all its branches, 
tlie positive evidence is still further strength- 
ened ; we may now rest assured, that the Epistle 
was written in Greek, not in Hebrew, by St. 
Paul himself, not by any one else. 

The Epistle itself furnishes us with decisive 
and positive evidence that it was originally 
written in the language in which it is now 
extant. 

In the first place, the style of this Epistle 
thi-oughout manifests that it is no translation. 
It has no appearance of constraint, nor do we 
meet with those Hebraisms which occur so 
constantly in tlie Septuagint version. 

The numerous paronomasias, or concurrences 
of words of like sound, but which cannot be 
rendered in English with due effect, are also a 
clear proof that it is not a translation. See in 
Heb. V. 8, 14 ; vii. 3, 19. ; ix. 10. ; x. 34. ; xi. 37. ; 
and xiii. 14. (in the Greek.) 

Hebrew names are interpreted ; as Melchis- 
edek, by " King of Righteousness," (vii. 2.) and 
Salem, by " Peace," which would have been 
superfluous, if the Epistle had been written in 
Hebrew. 

The passages cited from the Old Testament 
in this Epistle, are not quoted from the Hebrew, 
but from the Septuagint, where that faithfully 
represented the Hebrew text. Frequently the 
stress of the argument taken from such quota- 
tions relies on something peculiar in that ver- 
sion, which could not possibly have taken place 
if the Epistle had been written in Hebrew. 
And in a few instances where the Septuagint 
did not fully render the Hebrew text of the 
Old Testament, the author of the Epistle has 
substituted translations of his own, from which 
he argues in the same manner, whence it is 
manifest that this Epistle never was extant in 
Hebrew. See Dr. Owen's Fifth Exercitation on 
the Hebrews, vol. i. p. 46-5-3, folio edition. 
Calvin, and several other divines, have laid 
much stress upon the rendering of the Hebrew 
word benth by Siad-qxr], which denotes either 
testament or covenant: and Michaelis acknowl- 
edges the weight of this argument, to prove 
that the Epistle to the Hebrews was originally 
written in'Greek. 

Among the Jews there were several dialects 
spoken, as the East Aramaean or Chaldee, and 
the West Aramcean or Syriac ; which suffered 
various alterations from the places where the 
Jews were dispersed; so that the original 
Hebrew was known comparatively to few, and 
those who were conversant in Syriac might not 
be acquainted with the Chaldee. If therefore 
this Epistle had been written in biblical 
Hebrew, only a few could have read it ; and in 
either of the other dialects, a part only of the 
Jews could have perused it. 

With regard to the objection, that the 
Apostle's name is not at the beginning of this 
Epistle, Clement of Alexandria, who is followed 

VOL. II. 



by Jerome, observes, that Jesus Christ himself 
was the peculiar Apostle to the Hebrews, (as 
acknowledged in this Epistle, iii. 1.); St. Paul 
therefore probably declined, through humility, 
to assume the title of an apostle. He did not 
mention his name, messenger, or the particular 
persons to whom it was sent, because (as Dr. 
Lardner judiciously remarks) such a long letter 
might give umbrage to the ruling powers at 
this crisis, when the Jews were most turbulent, 
and might endanger himself, the messenger, 
and those to whom it was directed. And as 
he was considered by the zealots as an apostate 
from the religion of their fathers, his name, 
instead of adding weight, might have prevented 
the Judaizing and unbelieving Jews even from 
reading his Epistle. The author, however, 
would be easily known, without any fonna] 
notice or superscription ; and the omission of 
the Apostle's name is no proof that the Epistle 
to the Hebrews was not written by St. Paul ; 
for in the three Epistles of St. John, which are 
universally acknowledged to be the productions 
of an inspired apostle, the name of the writer 
is not inserted. The first Epistle begins in the 
same manner as the Epistle to the Hebrews ; 
and, in the other two, he calls himself simply 
the elder or presbyter. That the Apostle, how- 
ever, did not mean to conceal himself, we learn 
from the Epistle itself: " Know ye," says he, 
" that our brother Timothy hath been sent 
abroad, with whom, if he come shortly, I will 
see you"," (Heb. xiii. 23.) The objection there- 
fore, from the omission of the Apostle's name, 
necessarily falls to the ground. 

The passages which have been adduced as 
unsuitable to the apostolic mission, and which 
have been cited as proofs that this Epistle could 
not therefore have been written by St. Paul, 
are Heb. ii. 1, 3. and xii. 1. It is here con- 
sidered that the writer speaks of himself as 
one not at all distinguished, and in the second 
passage, according to Grotius and Le Clerc, as 
one who had received the knowledge of the 
Gospel, not himself from Christ, but from his 
apostles. To this it is again replied, that it was 
usual with St. Paul to join himself to those 
with whom he writes, particularly when he is 
mentioning any thing that is unpalatable or 
dishonorable to them (see Tit. iii. 3., and fre- 
quently in Romans); and in tliis verse (chap. 
ii. 3.) he does not imply that he received the 
knowledge of the Gospel from those who heard 
Christ preach, but that the salvation which was 
given to St. Paul by the Lord, was confirmed to 
him by the preaching of the apostles ; and St. 
Paul often appealed, as well as the other 

" Michaelis thinks it highly improbable that St. 
Paul would visit Jerusalem again, and expose his 
life to the zealots there. But surely, Dr. Hales re- 
marks, he might revisit Judasa without incurring 
that danger. See Mnalysis of Chronology, vol. ii. 
book ii. p. 1130. 

*HH 



398* 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLES. 



[Part XV. 



apostles, in this manner to the testimony of 
eyewitnesses in confirmation of things made 
known to himself by revelation, (Acts xiii. 30, 
31. ; 1 Cor. xv. 5-9. ; 2 Tim. ii. 2. ; 1 Pet. i. 12. ; 
Jude 17.) — See Macknight's Preface to the 
Hebrews. 

With regard to the objection, that this 
Epistle is superior in point of style to St. Paul's 
other writings, and therefore is not the produc- 
tion of that Apostle, we have already remarked 
that this may be accounted for by the circum- 
stance that it was one of St. Paul's latest writ- 
ten Epistles, composed in his mature age, and 
after long intercourse with the learned Gentiles. 
But " there does not appear to be such a supe- 
riority in the style of this Epistle, as should 
lead to the conclusion that it was not written 
by St. Paul. Those who have thought differ- 
ently have mentioned Barnabas, Luke, and 
'Clement, as authors or translators of this Epis- 
tle. The opinion of Jerome was, that ' the 
sentiments are the Apostle's, but the language 
and composition of some one else, who com- 
mitted to writing the Apostle's sense, and, as 
it were, reduced into commentaries the things 
spoken by his master.'" Dr. Lardner says, 
" My conjecture is, that St Paul dictated the 
Epistle in Hebrew, and another, who was a 
great master of the Greek language, imme- 
diately wrote down the Apostle's sentiments in 
his own elegant Greek ; but who this assistant 
of the Apostle was, is altogether unknown." 
But the writings of St. Paul, like those of 
other authors, may not all have the same de- 
gree of merit ; and if it should be considered 
that the Epistle to the Hebrews is written with 
greater elegance than the other compositions 
of this Apostle, it should be remembered that 
there is nothing in it which amounts to a 
marked difference of style ; but, on the contrary, 
there are the same construction of sentences, 
the same style of expression, and the same sen- 
timents expressed, in this Epistle, which occur 
in no part of the Scriptures except in St. Paul's 
Epistles. 

There are also the striking peculiarities 
■which distinguish his writings, the same abrupt 
transitions, returning frequently to his subject, 
•which he illustrates by forcible arguments, by 
short expressions, or sometimes by a single 
word. The same elliptical expressions to be 
supplied either by the preceding or subsequent 
clause, with reasonings addressed to the 
thoughts, and answers to specious objections, 
which would naturally occur, and therefore 
required removing. 

The numerous resemblances and agreements 
between this Epistle and those of St. Paul's 
acknowledged productions, have been collected 
at gTcat length by Braunius, Carpzov, Lardner, 
and Macknight, from whom Home has made 
the following abridgment. 

1. "Coincidences between the exhortations in 



this Epistle and those in St. Paul's other letters. 
See Heb. xii. 3. compared with Gal. vi. 9. 
2 Thess. iii. 13. and Eph. iii. 1-3. ; Heb. xii. 14. 
with Rom. xii. 18. ; Heb. xiii. 1, 3, 4. with Eph. 
V. 2-4. ; Heb. xiii. 16. with Phil. iv. 18. See 
also Acts ii. 42. Rom. xv. 26. 2 Cor. viii. 24. 
and ix. 1-3. 

2."Instances of agreement in the style or 
phrases of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in 
the acknowledged Epistles of St. Paul. See 
Heb. ii. 4. compared with Rom. xv. 19. 2 Cor. 
xii. 12. and 2 Thess. ii. 9. ; Heb. ii. 14. with 
2 Tim. i. 10. and 1 Cor. xv. 26. ; Heb. iii. 1. 
with Phil. iii. 14. and 2 Tim. i. 9. ; Heb. v. 19. 
with 1 Cor. iii. 2. ; Heb. viii. 1. with Eph. i. 21. ; 
Heb. viii. 5. and x. 1. with Col. ii. 17. ; Heb. x. 
33. with 1 Cor. iv. 9. ; Heb. xiii. 9. with Eph. iv. 
14. ; Heb. xiii. 10, 11. with 1 Cor. ix. 1.3. ; Heb. 
xiii. 20, 21. with Rom. xv. 33.xvi. 20. Phil. iv. 9. 
1 Thess. V. 23. and 2 Cor. xiii. 11. 

3."In his acknowledged Epistles, St. Paul has 
numerous allusions to the exercises and games 
which were then in great repute, and were 
frequently solemnized in Greece and in other 
parts of the Roman empire. In the Epistle to 
the Hebrews we have several of these allusions, 
which are also expressed with great elegance. 
Compare Heb. vi. 18. xii. 1-4, 12. with 1 Cor. 
ix. 24. Phil. iii. 12-14. 2 Tim. ii. 5. iv. 6-8. and 
Acts XX. 24. 

4."In the Epistle to the Hebrews there are 
interpretations of some passages of the Jewish 
Scriptures, which may properly be called St 
Paul's, because they are to be found only in his 
writings. For example. Psalm ii. 7. " Thou art 
my Son : to-day I have begotten thee ;" is ap- 
plied to Jesus (Heb. i. 5.) just as St. Paul, in his 
discourse to the Jews in the synagogue of 
Antioch in Pisidia, applied the same passage of 
Scripture to him, (Acts xiii. 33.) In like man- 
ner, the explication of Psalm viii. 4. and of 
Psalm ex. 1. given by St. Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 25, 
27., is found in Heb. ii. 7, 8. So also the ex- 
plication of the covenant with Abraham, given 
Heb. vi. 14, 18., is no where found but in St. 
Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, (iii. 8, 9, 14, 18.) 

5."There are, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, 
doctrines which none of the inspired writers 
have mentioned, except Paul. In particular, 
the doctrines of the mediation and intercession 
of Christ, explained in Heb. iv. 15, 16. and vii. 
22, 25. are no where found in the books of the 
New Testament, except in St. Paul's Epistles, 
(Rom. viii. 34. Gal. iii. 19, 20.) The title of 
Mediator, which is given to Jesus, (Heb. vii. 22. 
viii. 6. ix. 15. xii. 24.) is no where applied to 
Jesus except in St. Paul's Epistles, (1 Tim. ii. 
5.) In like manner none of the inspired writers, 
except St. Paul, (Heb. viii. 1-4.) have informed 
us that Christ offered the sacrifice of himself in 
heaven ; and that he did not exercise his priestly 
office on earth, but only in heaven. 

6." In the Epistle to the Hebrews, we find 



Note 1.] 



ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 



*399 



such enlarged views of the divine dispensations 
respecting religion ; such an extensive knowl- 
edge of the Jewish Scriptures, according to 
their ancient and true interpretation, which St. 
Paul, no doubt, learned from tlie celebrated 
doctor, under whose tuition he studied in his 
younger years at Jerusalem; such a deep in- 
sight also into tlie most recondite meanings of 
these Scriptures, and such admirable reasonings 
founded thereon, for the confirmation of the 
Gospel revelation, as, without disparagement to 
the other apostles, seem to have exceeded, not 
their natural abilities and education only, but 
even that degree of inspiration with which they 
were endowed. None of them but St. Paul, 
who was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, and 
who profited in the Jewish reUgion and learning 
above many of his fellow-students, and who, in 
his riper years, was intimately acquainted with 
the learned men of his own nation (Acts ix. 1, 
2, 14. xxvi. 4, 5.), and who was called to the 
apostleship by Christ himself, when for that 
purpose he appeared to him from heaven ; nay, 
who was caught up by Clirist into the third 
heaven : was equal to the subjects treated of in 
this most admirable Epistle." And, as Dr. Hales 
remarks, it is a masterly supplement to the 
Epistles to the Romans and Galatians, and also 
a luminous commentary on them ; showing that 
all the legal dispensation was originally de- 
signed to be superseded by the new and better 
covenant of tlie Christian dispensation in a 
connected chain of argument, evincing the pro- 
foundest knowledge of both. The internal ex- 
cellence of this Epistle, as connecting the Old 
Testament and the New in the most convincing 
and instructive manner, and elucidating both 
more fully than any other Epistle, or perhaps 
than all of them, places its divine inspiration 
beyond all doubt. 

7."The conclusion of this Epistle has a re- 
markable agreement with the conclusions of 
St Paul's Epistles, in several respects. Com- 
pare Heb. xii. 18. with Rom. xv. .30. Eph. vi. 18, 
19. Col. iv. 3. 1 Thess. v. 25. and 2 Thess. iii. 
1. ; Heb. xiii. 20, 21. with Rom. xv. .30-3-3. Eph. 
vi. 19-2.3. 1 Thess. v. 23. and 2 Thess. iii. 16. 
Heb. xiii. 24. with Rom. xvi. 1 Cor. xvi. 19-21. 
2 Cor. xiii. 13. Phil. iv. 21, 22. ; Heb. xiii. 25. 
with 2 Thess. iii. 18. Col. iv. 18. Eph. vi. 24. 
1 Tim. vi. 21. 2 Tim. iv. 22. and Tit. iii. 15." 

We may justly therefore conclude, with 
Carpzov, Whitby, Lardner, Macknight, Hales, 
Rosenmiiller, Bengel, Bishop Tomline, and al- 
most every other modern commentator, and 
biblical critic, that the weight of evidence, both 
internal and external, preponderates so greatly 
in favor of St Paul, that v,'e cannot but consider 
the Epistle to the Hebrews as written by that 
Apostle, and that the tradition preserved in the 
Church is correct; that this work is an inspired 
composition of the great Apostle of the Gen- 
tiles. It is acknowledged to be St Paul's 



production by the Apostle Peter, in his Second 
Epistle, (iii. 15, 16.); from which passage it is 
evident, that St Peter had read all St Paul's 
letters ; and that St Paul had written to those 
Christians to whom St Peter was then writing, 
that is, to the believing Jews in general, (2 Pet. 
i. 1.) ; and to those of the dispersion mentioned 
in 1 Pet. i. 1. ; and as there is no evidence to 
prove that this Epistle was lost, 'there is every 
reason to conclude that it must be that which 
is now inscribed to the Hebrews, both these 
Apostles having treated on the same subjects. 

If, then, St Paul, as we beUeve, was the 
author of this Epistle, the time when it was 
■\mtten may easily be determined, for the sal- 
utation from the saints in Italy (Heb. xiii. 24.), 
together with the Apostle's promise to see. the 
Hebrews shortly, plainly intimates that his im- 
prisonment was then terminated, or on the pohit 
of being so. It was therefore written from 
Italy, perhaps from Rome, soon after the Epis- 
tles to the Colossians, Ephesians, and Philemon, 
and not long before St Paul left Italy, viz. at 
the end of A. D. 62, or early in 63. Of this 
opinion was Mill, Wetstein, Tillemont, Lardner, 
Macknight, and the great majority of critics. 
Dr. Lardner thinks it was probably written from 
Rome. 

St Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians 
was written at Ephesus ; nevertheless he says 
(chap. xvi. 19.) "The churches of Asia salute 
you." So now he might send salutations from 
the Christians of Italy, not excluding, but in- 
cludincr, those at Rome, together with the rest 
throughout that country. The argument of 
L'Enfant and Beausobre, that St Paul was not 
yet set at liberty, because he requested the 
prayers of the Hebrews, that he might be re- 
stored to them the sooner, appears to me not of 
any weight. Though St. Paul was no longer a 
prisoner, he might request the prayers of those 
to whom he had written, that he might have a 
prosperous journey to them, whom he was de- 
sirous to visit; and that all impediments of his 
intended journey might be removed ; and many 
such there might be, though he was no longer 
under confinement St. Paul was not a pris- 
oner when he wTote his Epistle to the Romans, 
yet he was very fervent in his prayers to God, 
that he might have a prosperous journey, and 
come to them, (chap. i. 10.) For determining 
the time of this Epistle, it may be observed 
that, when the Apostle wrote the Epistle to the 
Philippians, the Colossians, and Philemon, he 
had hopes of deliverance. At the writing of all 
these Epistles, Timothy was present with him ; 
but now he was absent, as plainly appears from 
chap. xiii. 2-3. This leads us to think that this 
Epistle was written after them. And it is not 
unlikely that the Apostle had now obtained that 
liberty which he expected when they were 
written. 

Moreover, in the Epistle to the Philippians, 



400* 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLES. 



[Part XV. 



he speaks of sending Timothy to them, (chap. ii. 
19, 23.) "But I trust in the Lord Jesus, to 
send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may 
be of good comfort, when I know your state. 
(Timothy, therefore, if sent, was to come back 
to the Apostle.) Him, therefore, I hope to send 
presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go 
with me." 

It is probable that Timothy did go to the 
Philippians, soon after writing the above-men- 
tioned Epistle, the Apostle having gained good 
assurance of being quite released from liis con- 
finement ; and this Epistle to the Hebrews was 
written during the time of that absence, for it is 
said, Heb. xiii. 23., " Know ye that our brother 
Timothy is set at liberty, or has been sent 
abroad." The word is capable of that meaning, 
and it is a better and more likely meaning, 
because it suits tlie coherence. And I suppose 
that Timothy did soon come to the Apostle, and 
that they both sailed to Judaea, and after that 
went to Ephesus, where Timothy was left to 
reside with his peculiar charge. 

Thus this Epistle was written at Rome, or in 
Italy, soon after St. Paul had been released 
from his confinement at Rome, in tlie beginning 
of the year 63. And I suppose it to be the 
last written of all St Paul's Epistles which have 
come down to us, or of which we have any 
knowledge. 

The occasion of writing this Epistle will be 
sufiiciently apparent from an attentive review 
of its contents. The Jews did every thing in 
their power to withdraw their bretliren, who 
had been converted, from the Christian faith. 
To persecutions and threats, they added argu- 
ments derived from the excellency of the Jewish 
religion. They regarded the Law of Moses as 
given by the ministration of angels ; tliat Moses 
was far superior to Jesus of Nazareth, who 
suffered an ignominious death ; that the public 
worship of God, instituted by their great legis- 
lator and prophet, was truly splendid, and worthy 
of Jehovah : while the Christians, on the con- 
trary, had no established priesthood, no temple, 
no altars, no victims, &c. 

These arguments, being both plausible and 
successful, and supported by the Doctors, 
Scribes, and Elders of Jerusalem, the Apostle, 
who was himself a doctor most learned in the 
Law, wrote this Epistle to prove that the same 
God who gave the former revelations of his will 
to the fathers of the Jewish nation, by his 
prophets, had in these last days spoken to all 
mankind by his Son ; consequently that these 
revelations, emanating from the same divine 
source, could not possibly contradict each other. 
The Epistle may be considered as the key to 
the Old Testament, unlocking all its hidden 
mysteries, and may be divided into three sep- 
arate heads. First, that which relates to the 
person of the Son of God, as it had described 
him in the Old Testament. Secondly, to show 



that the religion of the Gospel is the same under 
both Testaments, being shadowed out in the 
Old. And thirdly, to prove that the Church of 
Israel was a figure of the Church of Christ. 



Note 2.— Part XV. 

The word axiyaaiia signifies splendor in 
itself. The word d.Tcuvyuafta, here used, is 
derived from it, and signifies tlie emitted, or 
proceeding splendor ; or, as it is expressed in 
the Nicene Creed, " fight of light." As the 
light proceeding from the sun, although of the 
same essence, is distinct from the sun, so there 
is one person of the Father, and another of the 
Son. The Son is of the Father alone, not 
made, nor created, but begotten ; of the same 
essence, bearing tlie very impression of his 
substance. 



Note 3.— Part XV. 

The Apostle here endeavours to prove that 
the Law did not rest in temporal promises, or 
as the seventh article expresses it, that " both 
in the Old and New Testament everlasting life 
was offered to mankind by Christ. Wherefore 
they are not to be heard, which feign, that the 
old fathers did look only for transitory promises." 
The Gospel was preached before to Abraham 
(Gal. iii. 8.), and the Israelites were called out 
of Egypt under Moses, to take possession of an 
unknown promised land; so are Christians, 
under the Gospel, called by Christ, the Law- 
giver of the New Testament, out of the Egypt 
of this world, that they may prepare for an un- 
known and heavenly country. The revealed 
win of God has been made manifest from the 
foundations of the world, the nature of man 
being unchanged, and Jesus Christ the same 
yesterday, to-day, and for ever. The histories 
of the eminent men of the Old Testament 
prefigured the divine life and character of the 
promised Messiah, and the chosen people of 
God illustrated in their history the warfare to 
which Christians are exposed, and the blessings 
of which they are made partakers in the Gospel. 



Note 4.— Part XV. 

Adam Clarke remarks, '• the Law and the 
Word of God in general is repeatedly compared 
to a two-edged sword among the Jewish writers, 
r\V3 T\'\S 3 in, 'the sword with two mouths.' 
By this sword the man himself lives, and by it 
he destroys his enemies." See also Schoetgen. 
In Ephesians vi. 17. the doctrine of tlie Gospe' 



Note 5.-10.] 



ON THE EPISTLJ': TO THE HEBREWS. 



*401 



is called " a Sword of the Spirit ; " and in 
Revelation i. 16., the Word of God is spoken of 
as " a sharp two-edged Sword which went out 
from the mouth of Christ." Sse Isaiah xi. 4. 
As the Apostle is representing- throughout, that 
tlie Gospel was described by the Law, as a 
body is by its shadow, there is reason to sup- 
pose tliat in the expression here used, both the 
Old and New Testaments were included. 



Note 5.— Part XV. 

CoMMESfTATORs are much divided as to the 
signification of this verse, some supposing these 
bitter supplications of Christ to be offered to 
save him from lying under the power of death, 
from which fear he was delivered ; or as some 
interpret it, he was heard for his piety : and 
others refer them (which appears to me the 
most correct opinion) to his agony in the gar- 
den. As the second Adam, I have already 
shown that the Devil, who had departed from 
Christ for a season, was then permitted to 
assault him with all the powers of darkness, 
and with the whole weight of temptation to 
which the human nature could be exposed. At 
this unconceivable spiritual agony and conflict, 
the weakness of man showed itself, and he 
earnestly prayed that this trial might be spared 
him ; but as the representative of man, it was 
appointed for him to submit to that agony of 
spirit which sin without an atonement had 
passed on all mankind. As both temporal and 
spiritual death were pronounced on the fall of 
the first Adam, so did the second Adam, in 
accomplishing our redemption, suffer and tri- 
umph over both. — See notes 33, 34, part vi. p. 
164, 165, 166. 



Note 6.— Part XV. 

The Apostle is supposed in this analogy to 
refer to the great spiritual advantages enjoyed 
by the Jews, and to foretell as a punishment of 
their abuse of them, and their apostacy, the 
approaching destruction of their city and tem- 
ple, which took place about seven years after — 
they were therefore " nigli unto cursing." 



Note 7.— Part XV. 

Fulfilled seven years after, in the destruc- 
tion of the temple and Jerusalem. 



Note 8.— Part XV. 

St. Ctril gives the following interpretation : 
— Althougfh Christ is but one, yet he is under- 
VpL. JI. *51 



stood by us under a variety of forms — He is tlie 
tabernacle, on account of the human body in 
which he dwelt — He is the table, because he is 
our bread of life — He is the ark, which has the 
law of God enclosed within, because he is the 
word of the Father — -He is the candlestick, 
because he is the spiritual light — He is the 
altar of incense, because he is the sweet-smell- 
ing odor in sanctification — He is the altar of 
burnt-offering, because he is the victim by death 
on the cross for the sins of the whole world. 

Macknight observes on this subject — " By 
introducing these things into the inward taber- 
nacle, which represented heaven, and by 
placing them in the manner described, the 
Holy Ghost may be supposed to have signified, 
that in heaven the knowledge and memory of 
the divine dispensations to mankind, and God's 
interpositions in behalf of nations and individ- 
uals, will be preserved, and be the subject of 
devout contemplation, not only to the redeemed, 
but to the angelical hosts, represented by the 
cherubim overshadowing the mercy-seat." — 
1 Pet. i. 12. Eph. iii. 10. 



Note 9.— Part XV. 

Doddridge supposes that St. Paul here 
refers to the manifestation which God made of 
himself upon Mount Sion, as being milder than 
that upon Mount Sinai. " Sion," he proceeds, 
" was the city of God. In the temple, which 
stood there, cherubim were the ornaments of 
the walls, both in the holy, and most holy place, 
to signify the presence of angels. There was 
a general assembly and congregation of the 
priests, which were substituted instead of the 
first born, of whose names catalogues were 
kept. There was God, a supreme Judge of con- 
troversies, giving forth his oracles. The high 
priest was the mediator between God and 
Israel (compare Luke i. 8-10.), and the blood 
of sprinkling was daily used." 



Note 10.— Part XV. 

Some commentators suppose that this pas- 
sage refers to the approaching destruction of 
Jerusalem, and the abolition of the political 
and ecclesiastical constitution of the Jewish 
state — the one signified by the earth, the latter 
by heaven. Others, to the dissolution of all 
things, to the new heavens and earth — to the 
future state of glory. The Jewish state and 
worship are in all probability described by the 
prophets as the heavens, because they were 
established by God, and because the tabernacle, 
with its worship, were typical of heavenly 
things. — See the Dissertation of Lord Barrino-:- 

*HH* 



402* 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLES. 



[Part XV. 



ton, at the end of the Essay on the Dispensa- 
tions. 



*NoTE 21.— Part XV. 

OJ^ THE DATE AND OCCASION OF THE SECOND 
EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 

The Second Epistle to Timothy is peculiarly 
valuable to the Christian Church, on account of 
the singular contrast it affords between the 
persecuted, yet confident and happy Christian, 
and the ferocious, abandoned, and profligate 
Roman. Nero was at this time Emperor of 
Rome. Immediately before the burning of the 
city, he had offended and disgusted the Chris- 
• tians with those dreadful scenes of indescriba- 
ble crime, which are related in the Annals of 
Tacitus. From these he proceeded to set fire 
to the city, then to persecute the Christians, 
and, possibly before the martyrdom of the 
apostles, to execute many of the most illustri- 
ous senators of Rome, for the conspiracy of 
Lucan, Seneca, and Piso. Many of the lattei-, 
indeed, met death with courage and serenity, 
though unblessed with any certain hope of 
futurity. Witli the Christian only was found 
love and good-will to all mankind, and a 
patience and cheerfulness and triumph in the 
hour of death, as infinitely superior to the 
stoical calmness of a pagan, as the Christian 
martyr himself to the hero and the soldier. 
After such scenes this Epistle was probably 
written; and St. Paul expressed among them 
that sublime language of hope and exultation 
which compels every Christian to exclaim, 
" Let me die the death of the righteous, and 
let my latter end be like his") — " I am now 
ready to be offered, and the time of my depart- 
ure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I 
have finished my course : I have kept the faith. 
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
life." 

It is, however, a matter of dispute, whether 
this Epistle was written during St. Paul's first 
or second confinement at Rome. Estius, Ham- 
mond, Lightfoot, and Lardner, think it was the 
confinement mentioned by St. Luke, for the 
two following reasons : first, it is evident from 
2 Tim. iv. IL, that when St. Paul wrote this 
letter, St. Luke was with him. Wherefore, as 
St. Luke has spoken of no imprisonment of St. 
Paul at Rome, but the one with which his 
-history of the Acts concludes, the learned men 
above mentioned infer, that this must be the 
imprisonment, during which the Apostle wrote 
his Second Epistle to Timothy. But the answer 
is, St. Luke did not propose in the Acts to give 

* Notes 11 to 20 are inserted in the Sections to 
which they belong, as filling up the Gospel History, 
of which no inspired records remain. 



a history of the life of any of the apostles, 
but an account of the first preaching and 
propagation of the Gospel. Wherefore, having 
related how the Gospel was published, first in 
Judaea by the apostles Peter, James, and John, 
and by the evangelists Stephen, Philip, and 
Barnabas ; and then, in many heathen countries, 
by St. Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, and 
others ; and by St. Paul, in his own hired 
house, during his two years' confinement at 
Rome; he ended his history at that period, as 
having finished his design. It is evident, there- 
fore, although St. Luke has written nothing 
farther concerning St. Paul, this can be no 
proof that St. Paul's ministry and life ended 
then, or that St. Luke was ignorant of his after 
transactions ; any more than his silence con- 
cerning St. Peter after the council of Jerusa- 
lem, is a proof that the ministry and life of this 
Apostle ended at that time ; or that his silence 
concerning any particulars mentioned in St. 
Paul's Epistles, is a proof that these things did 
not happen, or, if they happened, that tliey 
were not known to St. Luke. 

Secondly, it is said, that if this Epistle was 
written during an after imprisonment of St. 
Paul in Rome, Timothy must have been so old, 
that the Apostle could not with propriety have 
exhorted him to flee youthful lusts, (2 Tim. ii. 
22.) But, it should be considered, that in the 
year 66, when the Apostle is supposed to have 
been a prisoner at Rome the second time, 
Timothy may have been only thirty-four years 
of age, which, both by the Greeks and Romans, 
was considered as youth. 

These are the arguments on which the 
writers above mentioned have founded their 
opinion, that St. Paul wrote his Second Epistle 
to Timothy during his confinement at Rome, of 
which St. Luke has given an account in his 
history of the Acts. Other learned men hold, 
that the Apostle wrote this Epistle during a 
second imprisonment at Rome, and support 
their opinion by the following arguments : — 

1. At the time the Apostle wrote this Epistle, 
he was closely imprisoned, as one guilty of 
a capital crime (2 Tim. ii. 9.) " I suffer evil 
{fdXQi- SsafiG)") unto bonds, as a malefactor." 
The heathen magistrates and priests, consider- 
ing St. Paul as an atheist, because he denied 
tlie gods of the empire, very probably also sup- 
posing him to be one of the Christians who, 
they said, had set the city on fire, confined him 
in close prison, with his hands and feet in fet- 
ters, as a malefactor. His situation was very 
different during his first imprisonment. For 
then, (Acts xxviii. 30.) "he dwelt two whole 
years in his own hired house, and received all 
that came to him, (ver. 31.) preaching the king- 
dom of God, and teaching those things which 
concern the Lord Jesus, with all confidence, 
no man forbidding him." This mild treatment 
was probably owing to the favorable account 



Note 21.] 



ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 



*403 



which Festus gave of him to tlie Emperor, 
(Acts XXV. 25. xxvi. 31.) and to what Julius tiie 
centurion, who brought him to Rome, said of 
him, when he delivered him to the officer 
appointed to receive the prisoners from tlie 
provinces — the centurion's esteem of St. Paul is 
mentioned Acts xxvii. 42, 43. 

2. The Roman governors of Judaea, by whom 
St. Paul was tried for his life, declared at his 
trials, that no crime was alleged against him, 
but only holding his opinions, which his accus- 
ers said were contrary to their religion, (Acts 
XXV. 18, 19.) They likewise declared, that he 
had been guilty of no crime against the state, 
(Acts xxvi. 31.) Heresy, therefore, being the only 
crime laid to the Apostle's charge, and that cir- 
cumstance being made loiown by the governor 
of Judsea to his judges at Rome, they must have 
had a very favorable opinion of his cause. 

In the former Epistle the author confidently 
looked forward to his liberation from confine- 
ment, and his speedy departure from Rome. 
He tells the PhOippians (chap. ii. 24.) " I trust 
in the Lord that I also myself shall come 
shortly." Philemon he bids to prepare for him 
a lodging ; " for I trust," says he, " thattiirough 
your prayers I shall be given unto you." (ver. 
22.) In the Epistle before us he holds a lan- 
guage extremely different : " I am now ready 
to be oflTered, and the time of my departure is 
at hand : I have fought a good fight, I have 
finished my coiirse, I have kept the faith : 
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
righteousness, wliich the Lord, the righteous 
Judge, shall give me at that day," (chap. iv. 0- 
8.) Phil. i. 14. " Many of the brethren in the 
Lord, being assured in my bonds, have become 
much more bold to speak the word without 
fear." At this time also he had the service of 
many affectionate friends, such as St. Mark, 
Timothy, St. Luke, Tychicus, Aristarchus, and 
others mentioned Col. iv. 7, 10, 11, 12, 14. But 
when he wrote his Second Epistle to Timothy, 
his assistants were all so terrified by the rage 
of his accusers and judges, that not so much as 
one of them, nor any of the brethren in Rome, 
appeared with him when he made his first 
answer, (2 Tim. iv. 16.) And after that answer 
was made, all his assistants ^ed from the city, 
except St. Luke, (2 Tim. iv. 11.) 

During tlie Apostle's confinement in Rome, 
of which St. Luke has given an account, Demas 
was with him (Philemon, ver. 24.), and Mark, as 
his fellow-laborers, (Col. iv. 10, 11. Philemon, 
ver. 24.) But when he wrote his Second Epistle 
to Timothy, Demas had forsaken him, having 
loved this present world, (2 Tim. iv. 10.) And 
Mark was absent ; for the Apostle desired 
Timothy to bring Mark with him, (2 Tim. iv. 
11.) From these circumstances, it is evident 
that the Epistle to the Colossians and to Phile- 
mon, and the Second to Timothy, were written 
by the Apostle during diffe.rent confinements. 



To invalidate these arguments, Lardner sup- 
poses, that on St. Paul's arrival from Judeea, he 
was shut up in close prison as a malefactor, 
and expected nothing but instant death. That 
being in the greatest danger, all Iris assistants, 
except St. Luke, forsook him, and fled for fear of 
their own lives ; that in this state of despondency 
he wrote his Second Epistle to Timothy ; that 
the emperor having heard his first defence, 
mentioned 2 Tim. iv. 16., entertained a favor- 
able opinion of liis cause, and by a written order, 
appointed him to be confined in the gentle 
manner described Acts xxviii. 16., so that after- 
wards his assistants returned; and that he 
preached the Gospel to all who came to him, 
and converted many. 

Dr. Paley remarks, these particulars are all 
resolvable into one supposition, viz. that this 
Epistle was not -svritten during St. Paul's first 
residence at Rome, but in some future imprison- 
ment in that city. The Epistle touches upon 
names and circumstances connected with the 
date, and with the history of the first imprison- 
ment, and mentioned in letters during his im- 
prisonment, and so touches upon them, as to 
leave what is said of one consistent with what 
is said of others, and consistent also with what 
is said of them in different epistles. 

It is supposed by the generality of commen- 
tators that Timothy was at Ephesus when this 
Epistle was addressed to him; but Michaelis* 
is of opinion that Timothy was most probably in 
some part of Asia Minor, because the Apostle, 
towards the end of chapter i. mentions several 
persons resident in that country, and because 
Troas, where Timothy was to call (chap. iv. 18.) 
does not lie in the way from Ephesus to Rome, 
to which place Timothy was to make haste to 
come with the cloak, books, and parchments 
before winter, (chap. iv. 21.) These objections 
are removed by considering that the Apostle 
referred to the Asiatic Christians, who were 
tlien at Rome, and had professed a friendship 
for him, yet had in his afiliction forsaken him. 
Onesiphorus, who so diligently sought out the 
Apostle in his close confinement at Rome, had 
before ministered to him at Ephesus (chap. i. 
18.), and that he still continued a resident of 
that city is proved by chap. iv. 19., where his 
family are saluted, which is strong evidence in 
favor of Timothy being at this time at Ephesus. 
Hymenajus also, mentioned chap. ii. 17., was 
one of the Judaizers of Ephesus, (1 Tim. i. 19, 
20. ; compare also 1 Tim. i. 5, 6, 7. with 2 Tim. 
ii. 22., &c. and chap. iii. 6, 7, 8.); and when 
Timothy was desired to call at Troas, he was 
only directed to follow the same route which 
the Apostle had himself taken when he left 
Ephesus for Rome. — (See Acts xx. 1-5. 2 Cor. 
ii. 12.) Alexander the coppersmith, spoken of 
chap. iv. 14., is the same who is mentioned 

f" Michaelis, vol. iv. p. 161-164, 



404* 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLES. 



[Part XV. 



Acts xix. 33., and again 1 Tim. i. ^0. ; and 
although some have supposed that the mischief 
the Apostle refers to occurred at Rome, it is 
much more probable he alludes to what had 
formerly taken place at Ephesus, (compare Acts 
xix. 33. 1 Tim. i. 20. with 2 Tim. iv. 14, 1.5.) ; 
and this supposition naturally accounts for St. 
Paul's caution. Timothy being at Ephesus 
furnishes us also with a reason why St. Paul, 
who so strongly enforces his instructions and 
regulations for the ordination of bishops and 
deacons in his First Epistle, does not mention 
the subject in this. Timothy having fully exe- 
cuted the Apostle's former orders in that Church, 
there was now no occasion for repeating them. 
Tychicus (chap. iv. 12.) is considered as the 
bearer of this Epistle, who was sent by St. Paul 
to Ephesus, for the purpose of releasing Tim- 
othy, (see also Titus iii. 12.) 

From these observations we may conclude, 
with the general consent of the primitive 
Church, that St. Paul visited Rome and suffered 
imprisonment there at two different periods, 
and that his second imprisonment terminated in 
martyrdom. It is supposed that St. Paul went 
to Rome the second time from Crete about the 
year 65, on account of Nero's persecution of 
the Christians, whom he had accused of setting 
fire to Rome, for the purpose of strengthening 
and comforting them ; and that he was beheaded 
by having his head cut off with a sword, which 
was the punishment inflicted on the freemen of 
Rome, while the others were given to the wild 
beasts'', on the 29th of June, A. D. 66. A short 
time previous to his martyrdom this Epistle was 
written. To use the words of Dr. Benson, " He 
had hitherto travelled about to plant churches, 
where he had never been, or to revisit the 
churches which he had planted. He was now to 
enter upon another and a very different scene. 
But as he lived piously, he died bravely. When 
lie was not permitted to act any more, his prin- 
cipal concern was not for himself, but for the 
true Christian doctrine after his dissolution. 
He, therefore, addressed Timothy with the air 
and solemnity of a dying father, enjoining him, 
as he ever expected to meet his great and glo- 
rious Judge in peace, to preach the pure Chris- 
tian doctrine, with zeal and frequency, when 
he himself was laid in the silent dust, and should 
preach and direct him no more. And having 
devolved the work upon one, in whom he could 
so fully confide, he suffered martyrdom, during 
the power of Helius CiEsarianus (Nero being 
absent at Greece), the vilest prefect of the most 
tyrannical prince that ever lived. Imagine a 
pious father, under sentence of death for his 
piety and benevolence to mankind, writing to a 
dutiful and affectionate son, that he might see 
and embrace him again before he left the world 
—particularly that he might leave with him his 

' Lactant. deMori. persecutorum, c. 2. et Euseb. 
Histor. Ecdes. 1. 5. c. 1. edit. Reading, p 207. 



dying commands, and charge him to live and 
suffer as he had done — and you will have the 
frame of the apostle's mind during the whole of 
this Epistle." 



Note 22.— Part XV. 

St. Paul himself, a little before his death, 
has here clearly instituted a Gospel ministry. 
This was done by divine inspiration, and a suc- 
cession of authorized teachers has perpetuated 
the true Gospel doctrine, from that time to the 
present period. 



Note 23.— Part XV. 

ON ST. PETER, AND ON THE DATE AND OCCASION 
OF HIS FIRST EPISTLE. 

St. Peter, the apostle, was born at Bethsaida 
in Upper Galilee. ^ He was the son of Jonas, 
Jonah, or John, and was a fisherman upon the 
lake of Gennesareth, following in all probability 
the trade of his father. His call to the apostle- 
ship by our Saviour, with his brother Andrew, 
a disciple of John the Baptist, who heard him 
point out Jesus as the Lamb of God, is record- 
ed by three of the Evangelists. Macknight 
observes, about that time Peter had left Beth- 
saida, and had gone to Capernaum, with his 
wife, who is thought to have been of that town. 
From Andrew's accompanying his brother 
thither, and living with him in the same house, 
it may be conjectured that their father was 
dead. With them Jesus also abode, after he 
took up his ordinary residence at Capernaum ; 
for he seems to have been pleased with the 
disposition and manners of all the members 
of that family. Thus, as Lardner observes, it 
appears that before Peter became an apostle, 
he had a wife, was the head of a family, had a 
boat and nets, and a furnished house, and main- 
tained himself by an honest occupation. (Matt. 
xix. 27.) The Apostle St. Paul seems to insin- 
uate, that Peter's wife attended him in his 
travels, after our Lord's ascension, ( 1 Cor. ix. 5.) 
He was the most zealous of all the apostles, and 
was conspicuous for the strength of his faith. 
He was more forward than the rest of the dis- 
ciples, and was the first to answer the questions 
put to them by our Saviour. On the confession 
of his faith (Matt. xvi. 13-16.) it is supposed by 
some that our Lord invested Peter with privileges 
and powers superior to the rest of his disciples ; 
but the following clause, "Whatsoever thou 
shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven," 
&c. mentions privileges, which are declared to 
belong to all the apostles. (Matt, xviii. 18. 
John XX. 21-23.) It cannot be said that the 



Note 23.] 



ON THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER. 



*405 



Church of Clirist was built on Peter alone, for 
it is expressly asserted by divine revelation 
to have been built on the foundation of all the 
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself 
being" the chief corner-stone. Peter, in deliver- 
ing his own sentiments, expressed those of all 
the apostles ; and our Lord, in addressing his 
reply to Peter, intended that it should be 
equally extended to them all. Lardner remarks 
on the Canon, p. 102, that Cassian, supposing 
Peter to be older than Andrew, makes his age 
the ground of his precedence among the apos- 
tles ; and that Jerome himself says, " The 
keys were given to all the apostles alike, and 
the Church was built on all of them equally. 
But for preventing dissension, precedence was 
given to one. And John might have been the 
person, but he was too young : and Peter was 
preferred on account of his age." The only 
peculiar distinction conferred on St. Peter was, 
that after the descent of the Holy Ghost he 
should be the first to declare the Gospel to the 
Jews, and then to the Gentiles. That he re- 
ceived no superior power of preeminence over 
the other disciples is evident from our Lord's 
declaration — "One is your master, even Christ, 
and all ye are brethren." 

The First Epistle of Peter has been ever 
considered as authentic — it was referred to by 
Polycarp, Clemens Romanus, and the Martyrs 
of Lyons — it was acknowledged by Theophilus, 
bishop of Antioch, and quoted by Papias, Ire- 
nseus, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Tertullian. 
Commentators, both ancient and modern, are 
divided in opinion as to the description of per- 
sons to whom these Epistles of St. Peter were 
addressed. Eusebius, Jerome, Didymus of Alex- 
andria argue that they were addressed to Jewish 
Christians, dispersed through the countries men- 
tioned in the inscription. Beza, Grotius, Mill, 
Cave, Tillemont, have followed the same opinion. 
But others suppose it to have been written to 
Gentiles also. Bede, in his prologue to the 
Catholic Epistles, says, that St. Peter's Epistles 
were sent to such as were proselyted from hea- 
thenism to Judaism, and afterwards to the Chris- 
tian religion. V/etstein supposes they were 
written to the Gentiles — Barrington and Benson, 
to the Proselytes of the Gate — Lardner, Estius, 
Whitby, Macknight, and Adam Clarke, that they 
were sent to all Christians in general, Jews and 
Gentiles, residing in Pontus, Galatia, Cappa- 
docia, &c. That both the Epistles were sent 
to the same people is evident from 2 Peter iii. 
1. ; and it is also certain, that many things are 
mentioned in the First Epistle which can apply 
only to the Gentiles (chap. i. 14, 18, 20, 21. ii. 
9, &c.) Compare with these expressions Rom. 
ix. 24, 25., where St. Paul is unquestionably 
speaking of Gentile converts. See also chap, 
iv. 3. It is also to be remarked, that those to 
whom the Apostle writes, principally consisted 
of the converts of St. Paul ; as we are informed 



in the Acts of the Apostles that St. Paul had 
been in Galatia, and the other countries men- 
tioned in the inscription. St. Peter corrobo- 
rates this, by observing (2 Peter iii. 15.) " that 
his beloved brother Paul had written unto 
them," referring, no doubt, to his Epistles to 
the Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians, the 
greater part of whom were Gentile converts. 
The most probable conclusion appears to be, 
that St. Peter's two Epistles were sent to all 
Cliristians in general, living in those countries, 
the majority of whom had been converted by 
St. Paul from heathenism to Christianity. 

The passages which are considered inconsist- 
ent with the supposition that this Epistle was 
written both to Gentiles and Jews, are found in 
chap. ii. 9. and ver. 12. Tlie former contains the 
honorable appellations which were peculiarly 
appropriated to the Jewish people ; but as the 
Gentiles were now to become God's chosen 
people as well as the Jews, these titles belonged 
equally to them. The latter passage refers 
only to the unbelieving Gentiles. See a simi- 
lar passage, 1 Cor. x. 32. 

It remains for us now to inquire from what 
place this Epistle was written ; for on this 
point also commentators are much divided. 
From St. Peter's sending the salutations of the 
Church from Babylon, it is by many believed 
that he wrote his First Epistle from that place. 
Pearson, Mill, and Le Clerc are of opinion that 
the Apostle speaks of Babylon in Egypt. Eras- 
mus, Drusius, Beza, Lightfoot, Basnage, Beau- 
sobre, Wetstein, Cave, and Benson, suppose 
he writes from Babylon in Assyria. But, 
according to Lardner, there is no mention made 
of any church or bishop at the Egyptian Baby- 
lon during the first four centuries ; and the 
Assyrian Babylon was almost deserted in the 
time of the apostles. CEcumenius, Bede, and 
other fathers, Grotius, Whitby, and the learned 
of the Romish communion, think that by Baby- 
lon Peter figuratively signified Rome. And 
this opinion is corroborated by the general 
testimony of antiquity, which, Dr. Lardner 
remarks, is of no small weight. Eusebius"* 
relates, on the authority of Clement of Alex- 
andria, and Papias, bishop of Jerusalem, that 
St. Mark's Gospel was written at the request 
of Peter's hearers in Rome; and that "Peter 
makes mention of St. Mark in his first Epistle, 
which was written at Rome itself. And 
that he (Peter) signifies this, calling that city 
figuratively Babylon, in these words, ' the 
church which is at Babylon, elected jointly with 
you, saluteth you. And so doth Mark my son.' " 
This passage of Eusebius is transcribed by 
Jerome, who adds, positively, that Peter men- 
tions this Mark in his First Epistle, figuratively 
denoting Rome by the name of Babylon ; "the 
church which is at Babylon," &c. It is gener- 

"* Hist Eccles. lib. ii. c. 15. 



406* 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLES. 



[Part XV. 



ally thought thatPeter and John (Rev. xvii. 18.) 
gave to Rome the name of Babylon, figuratively 
to signify, as it was not expedient to do so 
more openly, that it would resemble Babylon in 
its idolatry, and in its opposition to, and perse- 
cution of, the Church of God ; and that, like 
Babylon, it will be utterly destroyed. 

Silvanus, or Silas, the bearer, was " the faith- 
ful brother," or associate of St. Paul, in most 
of the churches which he had planted. And 
though he was not at Rome with the Apostle 
when he wrote his last Epistle to Timothy, in 
all probability he soon after returned, and 
might have been sent by St Paul and Peter 
jointly, to confirm the churches in Asia Minor, 
&c. which he had assisted in planting. But 
Silvanus, St. Paul, and St. Peter had no con- 
nexion with Babylon, which lay beyond their 
.district ; and, therefore, they were not likely at 
any time to build upon another's foundation. 
It is supposed that the Gospel was preached in 
Persia, or Parthia, by tlae Apostle Thaddeus, 
or Jude, according to Cosmas ; and Abulfaragi 
computes, tliat the ancient Syriac version of 
the New Testament was made in his time, and 
probably by his authority, for the use of the 
Oriental churches". 

The Jews were fond of mystical appellations, 
especially in their captivities ; Edom was a 
frequent title for their heathen oppressors ; and 
as they were first taken captive to Babylon, it 
is very probable that Rome, the principal scene 
of their second captivity, which so strongly 
resembled Babylon in her " abominations, her 
idolatries, and persecutions of the saints," 
should be denominated by the same title. And 
this supposition is confirmed by a similar ex- 
])ression in the Apocalypse, where the mystical 
application is unquestionable, (Rev. xiv. 8. xvi. 
19. and xviii. 2, &c.) There is every reason to 
suppose (see Lardner) tliat John borrowed it 
from Peter ; or rather, that both derived it by 
inspiration, from the prophecy of Isaiah, 
(xxi. 9.) 

It is considered from the expression (chap, 
iii. 16.) as St. Peter had seen all St. Paul's 
Epistles when this was written, that the latter 
Apostle was dead ; at least if St Peter wrote 
from Rome, as is more generally supposed by 
the ancient Christian writers. For when St. 
Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy from 
Rome, a short time before his death, he did not 
mention the name of Peter, which he would 
not have omitted had he been in the city at 
that time. From which it is argued, that if St. 
Peter wrote his first Epistle from Rome, he 
must have done so after St. Paul's martyrdom, 
consequently not sooner than the year C6, or 
67, about three yeai's before the destruction 
of Jerusalem : for St. Paul was put to death in 



* Lardner, 8vo. vol. v. p. 272, 4to. vol. iii. p. 55. 
Michaelis, vol. ii. p. 30. 



the twelfth year of Nero, corresponding to A. 
D. QQ ; and we are told that when he wrote his 
Second Epistle, which was a short time after the 
first, he was old, and near his end, with the pros- 
pect of soon dying a martyr for the truth of 
Christianity. Had he been put to death, as Gro- 
tius supposes, after the destruction of Jerusalem, 
the authenticity of the Second Epistle is de- 
stroyed. His argument is founded on 2 Pet. 
iii. 12., which he interprets as referring to the 
end of the world, which was to follow, accord- 
ing to a prevalent opinion, the destruction of 
Jerusalem. But as the Apostle himself con- 
futes this idea (chap. iii. 3.) it is not necessary 
further to discuss the question. 

Macknight remarks, as the design of this 
Epistle is excellent, its execution, in the judg- 
ment of the best critics, does not fall short of 
its design. Ostervald says of the First Epistle 
of Peter, " it is one of the finest books of 
the New Testament:" and of the second, 
" that it is a most e.xce]lent Epistle, and is 
written with great strength and majesty." 
Erasmus's opinion of Peter's First Epistle is, 
" It is worthy the Prince of the Apostles, and 
full of apostolical dignity and authority." He 
adds, "It is (verbis parca,sententiis diffcrta)spa.r- 
ing in words, but full of sense.'' Lardner 
observes that Peter's two Epistles, with his dis- 
courses on tlie Acts, and the multitudes who 
were converted by them, are monuments of a 
divine inspiration, and of the fulfilment of 
Christ's promise to Peter and Andrew, " Follow 
me, and I will make you fishers of men." 



Note 24.— Part XV. 

Macknight considers the salvation of Noah 
in the ark typical of baptism, in the three fol- 
lowing particulars : — " 1st. By building the 
ark, and by entering hito it, Noah showed a 
strong faith in the promise of God concerning 
his preservation by the very water which was 
to destroy the antediluvians ; so by giving our- 
selves to be buried, in the water of baptism, we 
show a like faith in God's promise, that though 
we die and are buried, he will save us from 
death, the punishment of sin, by raising us 
from the dead on the last day. 2d. As the pre- 
serving of Noah alive, during the nine months 
he was in the flood, is an emblem of the pres- 
ervation of the souls of believers while in the 
state of the dead ; so the preserving believers 
alive while buried in the waters of baptism, is 
a prefiguration of the same event. 3d. As the 
waters of the deluge destroyed the wicked an- 
tediluvians, but preserved Noah, by bearing up 
the ark in which he was shut up till the waters 
were assuaged, and he went out of it, to live 
again on the earth ; so baptism may be said to 
destroy tiie wicked and to save the righteous, as 



Note 25.] 



ON THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER. 



*407 



it prefigures both these events : the death of the 
sinner it prefigures by the burying of the bap- 
tized persons in the water ; and the salvation of 
the righteous, by raising the baptized person out 
of the water to lead a new life." 

Macknight furtlier observes, "that Noah 
gave the answer of a good conscience towards 
God (which was the baptism signified by the 
deluge), by entering into the ark, in the firm 
belief that God, according to his promise, would 
preserve him and his family — Baptism, under- 
standing thereby the answer of a good con- 
science, now saveth us also, through the resur- 
rection of Jesus Christ : because, if Christ had 
not risen, bemg an impostor, he could not have 
saved any one." — Macknight in loc. As Noah 
prepared tlie ark for believers, so Christ pre- 
pares his Church for Christians to conduct 
them in safety through the waves of this 
troublesome life, in which so many perish— and 
as Noah was preserved in the general destruc- 
tion of sinners and the world, and brought into 
a new creation ; so shall Christians, at the gen- 
eral judgment and dissolution of all things, be 
preserved, and admitted into a new state of 
being; carried safely with Jesus Christ through 
the waves of death, triumphing over them. 



Note 25.— P^rt XV. 

ON THE SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. PETER. 

Many doubts were entertained by the an- 
cients whether St. Peter was really the author 
of this Epistle. Eusebius reckoned it among the 
ui'TilsyofiEva, or books not generally received 
as canonical. Semler thinks tne superior influ- 
ence of that party in the Church which advo- 
cated the admission of the idolatrous Gentiles, 
prevented its general reception. This opinion 
requires confirmation. We have the most sat- 
isfactory evidence, as Mr. Home has well ob- 
served, of its genuineness and authenticity. 

This Epistle, as well as the former, although 
its genuineness, as has been already observed, 
was doubted by some of the ancients, expressly 
claims St. Peter as its author. At the same 
time it is proved that tills, with the four other 
Catholic Epistles, not universally acknowledged 
as inspired writings, were very early known, and 
upon full and impartial inquiry, their authen- 
ticity was established beyond a possibility of 
doubt. There is a remarkable coincidence 
between this and the First Epistle of St. Peter ; 
and the ivriter appeals to facts and circum- 
stances which evidently refer to that Apostle. 
The writer styles himself Simon Peter, which 
is the Hebrew form of writing, a servant and an 
apostle of Jesus Christ. St. Luke has distin- 
guished him by tlie same name (chap. v. 8.), 
and John has done so seventeen times in his 
Gospel, as Macknight observes, perhaps to 



show that he was the autlior of the Epistle 
which begins " Symeon Peter, a servant and an 
apostle." The writer calls himself an apostle 
both in the inscription and chap. iii. 2. ; and in 
ver. 15. of the same chapter, he calls SL Paul 
his beloved brother, and commends his Epistles 
as Scriptures, or Inspired Writings. He also 
declares that he was with Jesus at his transfig- 
uration, and alludes to the prediction of our 
Saviour (John xxi. 19.) where Jesus foretold to 
St. Peter by what death he should glorify God. 
Some commentators have supposed that the 
First and Second Epistles of St. Peter were not 
written by the same person, because the style 
in which they are composed differs ; but this 
difference seems confined only to the second 
chapter of the Second Epistle, the first and 
third chapters resembling tlie First Epistle — 
which circumstance would more naturally lead 
to the conclusion that the Second Epistle was 
written by two different authors, rather than 
that both the Epistles were. But this diversity 
of style is more easily accounted for by sup- 
posing that many expressions in the second 
chapter, which is distinguished from the others, 
were borrowed from the Gnostics, whose doc- 
trines the Apostle was exposing and confuting. 
Thus, in 2 Pet. ii. 17., the Gnostics are called 
" clouds agitated by a tempest ;" and we are 
informed that the Manicheans, who held many 
similar doctrines with the Gnostics, taught that 
there were five good and five bad elements, and 
that one of the latter was called " tempest." They 
speak also of darkness under the name of 'Qocpog, 
which word occurs several times in this chap- 
ter. The Epistle of St. Jude also abounds with 
unusual figurative expressions, which may be 
accounted for afler the same manner. On the 
other hand, Macknight remarks, if the subjects 
treated of raise an author's indignation and 
abhorrence, he will use an acrimony of style 
expressive of tliese feelings. For the Apostle, 
whose love to his Master was great, and who 
had the feeding of Christ's sheep committed to 
him, regarding the false teachers as the mo=:t 
flagitious of men, wrote that chapter against 
them with a bitterness which he would not have 
used in correcting teachers who had erred 
through simplicity. The arguments of Grotius 
against the genuineness of this Epistle, on ac- 
count of its difierence of style and sentiments, 
are not worthy of notice, as he proposes, with- 
out the slightest authority, to expunge some 
words ; and on no better grounds to consider 
others as interpolations. 

Michaelis remarks, that the deluge, which is 
not a common subject in the apostolic epistles, is 
mentioned both in 1 Pet. iii. 20. and in 2 Pet. ii. 
5. ; and in both places the circumstance is noted, 
tha', eight persons only were saved, though in 
neither" place does the subject require that the 
number should be particularly specified. The 
author of the First Epistle had read St. Paul's 



408* 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLES. 



[Part XV. 



Epistle to the Romans ; and the author of the 
Second Epistle speaks in express terms (chap. 
iii. 15, 16.) of the Epistles of St. Paul. Now, no 
other writer of the New Testament has quoted 
from the New Testament; consequently we 
have in these Epistles a criterion from which 
we may judge that they were written by the 
same author. 

From chap. i. 14., it is evident that this Epis- 
tle was written a short time before St. Peter's 
death. It appears to have been written from 
Rome liliewise, not long after his first. For, 
as Lardner (Can. iii. p. 253,) observes, "It is 
not unlikely, that soon after the Apostle had 
sent away Silvanus with the first Epistle, some 
came from those countries to Rome, where 
there was a frequent and general resort from 
all parts, bringing him an account of the state 
of religion among them, which induced St. 
Peter to write a second epistle, for the estab- 
lishment of the Christians, among whom he had 
labored ; and he might well hope, his last 
dying testimony to the doctrines which he had 
received from Christ, and had tauglit for many 
years with unshaken steadfastness, would be of 
great weight with them." It was evidently 
written under the impression of soon dying a 
martyr for the truth he had maintained ; and 
ecclesiastical history informs us that the Apos- 
tle finished his course by being crucified with 
his head downwards, in the year 68, the four- 
teenth of the Emperor Nero. 

The Second Epistle was written to the same 
communities as the first — to the whole of the 
Christian brethren dispersed in the countries 
mentioned in tlie inscription of the former 
epistle. (Compare 1 Peter i. with 2 Peter iii. 
1.) Its design was the same, to comfort them 
under their persecution, by the most powerful 
arguments and considerations. I shall conclude 
by observing, in the words of Dr. Macknight, 
that " in speaking of the matters contained in 
the Second Epistle of St. Peter, I must not omit 
observing, that in it, as in the First Epistle, 
there are discoveries of some important facts 
and circumstances, not mentioned at all, or not 
mentioned so plainly, by the other inspired 
M-riters. Such as, 1. That our Lord was trans- 
figured for the purpose of exhibiting not only a 
proof of his greatness and power, as the Son of 
God, and Judge of the world, but an exam- 
ple of the glory in wliich he will come to judg- 
ment ; an example also of his power to trans- 
form our coiTuptible mortal bodies at the resur- 
rection, into the likeness of his own glorious 
body, as it appeared in the transfiguration. 

2. That the destruction of the cities of the 
plain by fire, was intended to be an example of 
that destruction by fire from the presence of 
the Lord, which will be inflicted on the wicked 
after judgment. (Compare Jude, verse 7.) 

3. That in the last age of the world scoffers 
will arise, who, from the stability of the present 



mundane system, will argue that the world 
hath existed as we see it from eternity, and 
that it will continue for ever. 4. That after 
the judgment, this earth, with its atmosphere, 
shall be set on fire, and burning furiously, the 
elements sliall be melted, and the earth, with 
all the works of God, and man thereon, shall 
be utterly destroyed. That after the present 
heaven and earth are burnt, a new heaven and 
a new earth shall appear, into which, according 
to God's promise, the righteous shall be carried, 
there to live in unspeakable happiness; an 
event which St. Peter himself, in his discourse 
to the Jews (Acts iii. 21.), hath termed 'the 
restitution of all things, which God hath spoken 
by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the 
world began.'" 

These supernatural discoveries could only 
have been revealed by the Spirit of God — by 
an Apostle really inspired as St. Peter declares 
himself to have been. The strong internal evi- 
dence, therefore, of this Epistle, must of itself 
be sufficient to prove its authenticity. 

From the whole tenor of the Epistle it is 
evident the Apostle is confuting the dangerous 
errors of those who perverted tlie doctrine of 
justification by free grace through faith, without 
the works of the Law, so as to make it a pre- 
tence for gratifying the lusts of the flesh with- 
out restraint. The false teachers endeavoured 
to persuade their disciples that Christ had pur- 
chased for them the liberty to indulge all their 
passions and appetites. And in order to circu- 
late their impious doctrines, they arrogated to 
themselves authority and illumination superior 
to that of Christ, or of his apostles. — See Dr. 
Macknight and other commentators. 



Note 26.— Part XV. 

Since we are told (1 Cor. xv. 24.) that after 
the judgment Christ will deliver up the king- 
dom to his Father, the everlasting kingdom here 
referred to, signifies the kingdom which Christ 
erected by what he did in the flesh, and which 
by the government which he now exercises, he 
will at length fully establish. This kingdom 
will continue after he has delivered it up to his 
Father throughout all eternity, when God will 
be all in all. — See Macknio-ht in loc. 



Note 27.— Part XV. 

ON THE ATTESTATION GIVEN TO THE DIVINE 
MISSION OF OUR LORD AT HIS BAPTISM. 

In a note on our Lord's baptism, I mentioned 
a treatise of Danzius, printed in Meuschen, 
jVov. Testaincntum ex Talmude. In this dis- 



Note 28.] 



ON THE SECOiND EPISTLE OF PETER. 



*409 



sertation Danzius labors to show that the 
circumstances attending the baptism of Christ, 
■which he considers as his initiation to his min- 
istry, were not less convincing than those 
which accompanied the promulgation of the 
Law on the mount, and attested the divine 
commission of Moses. The Jews are fond of 
contrasting the obscure beginning of Christianity 
with the splendid begLnning of tlieir own religion. 
The tliunders and lightnings, the fire on the 
mount, and the voice of Jehovah, were witnessed 
by the whole nation assembled round Mount 
Sinai, whereas, say they, what attended the 
initiation of Christ was comparatively done in 
a corner. 

St. John alone, it is said, heard the voice 
from heaven, and saw the Spirit descending in 
the form of a dove. To this Danzius replies, 
that although the divine attestations in favor of 
Christ were not attended witli those circum- 
stances of terror amidst which the Law was 
promulgated on Mount Sinai, yet they were 
not less solemn and convincing ; that it is not 
true that only John beheld them, for they were 
beheld also by the assembled multitude, who 
had just been baptized. 

The reason why the circumstances of terror 
were omitted, was the express promise of God, 
that when he should send them a prophet like 
unto Moses, he would remember their request, 
in which they begged that they might not again 
hear the voice of God, nor see that great fire 
any more, lest they should die, (Deut xviii. 
15. &c.) 

If, however, it should be here objected, that 
Christians assert the voice of God to have been 
heard at Christ's baptism, Danzius replies, the 
voice heard on this occasion was " minime qui- 
dem terribUis et horrisona : non tamen tenuis 
et remissa nimis ; sed cum jucunditate quadam, 
terrori verborum conveniente, satis sonora et 
penetrans" p. 348, § 2-3. 

The miraculous appearances at Christ's bap- 
tism, Danzius asserts, excluded all doubt, even 
more strongly than those on the Mount ; for on 
this latter occasion the people were at a dis- 
tance, and restrained by boundaries, while on 
the former there was no such restraint, some of 
the crowd being near enough to be in actual 
contact with Christ himself. 

To prove that a multitude was present at 
Christ's baptism, and was not only present, but 
heard the v^oice and saw the glorious light and 
the Spirit descending, it is necessary to compare 
the accounts given by the four Evangelists. 

That multitudes were present at the rime wUl 
be readily granted, from the expression used by 
St. Luke — iv T(3 SaTmadr^vai anavTce rbv Imov. 
That they also saw the miraculous appearances 
and heard the voice, are not so immediately ap- 
parent, as it not expressly asserted by any of 
VOL. II. *52 



the Evangelists, but must be inferred by care- 
fully comparing their several accounts. Indeed, 
one strong argument may be drawn from the 
nature of the case ; as it is doubtless reason- 
able to suppose that all this was done to con- 
vince the people of the di^rine commission of the 
person whom they had just seen baptized. 

The account of St. Luke is couched in such 
words as exclude no one from participation in 
the sight : because he ascribes it to no one in 
particular, but only recounts the wonderful ap- 
pearances, and it is natural to suppose that he 
means they were witnessed by all present The 
words of St. Matthew may, without difficult)', 
bear the same meaning. The words of St 
Mark alone contain a difficulty. He uses the 
singular verb side, and connects it with the 
foregoing verb iSuTTTladrj, by the particle y.ul, 
whence, according to the rules of grammar, the 
subject of Bide, is the same with that of iliaTT- 
rladrj. Which being admitted, it follows that 
Jesus alone saw these miraculous sights. To 
this it is replied, that y.ul is here used as the 
Hebrew v which is oflen used between two 
words, having different subjects, of which the 
latter is not expressed in the nominative case. 
The subject of eiSs, then, may be John. The 
following words favor this explanation, for we 
find in' ui'TOv, and not Jqo' huvTOv, or icf^ ovihv 
as it should be if Jesus were the subject ol slds. 
But Danzius is inclined to carry this still fur- 
ther — " We are not told (says he) that Jesus 
vidit, or Johannes vidit, but ' ascendens e flu- 
mine \idit ;' now it is certain that not only 
Jesus went up, or John alone with him, but all 
the people who had been just baptized ; why, 
then, may not iiva^ulvoiv be taken distributively 
or collectively? so as to mean that arcu: 6 Xub;, 
universus ille populus ascendens vidit Jissos 
calos," &c. ? 

For an answer to an objection which may be 
drawn from these words of Christ (John v. 37.), 
" Ye have never heard the Father's voice," I 
have omitted to notice the very tedious inquiry 
about the bip n2> as I have already discussed 
this point. 



Note 28.— Part XV. 

Not any prophecy of Scripture is of self- 
interpretation, or is its own interpreter, because 
tlie Scripture prophecies are not detached pre- 
dictions of separate, independent events, but are 
united in a regular and entire system, all ter- 
minating in one great object — the promulgation 
of the Gospel, and the complete establishment 
of the Messiah's kingdom. — Horsley's Sermons, 
vol. ii. p. 13-16. 

*II 



410* 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLES, 



[Part XV. 



Note 29.— Part XV. 

ON THE EPISTLE OF ST. JUDE. 

JuDE, or Judas, the writer of this Epistle, is 
considered by the generality of commentators 
to be the apostle of that name mentioned in 
the catalogue of the apostles given by St. 
Luke, chap. vi. 14, 15. and in Acts i. 13., and 
by St. Matthew, chap. x. 3., and Mark iii. 18., as 
Lebbeus and Thaddeus ; from whence it is 
naturally inferred, as the Evangelists unite in 
confining the number of the apostles to twelve, 
that Jude, Lebbeus, and Thaddeus, was the 
same person, known by these different names. 
As he expressly declares liimself to have been 
the brother of James, he may have borne the 
same relation to our Lord as James did. His 
^call to the apostleship is recorded by St. Luke, 
chap. v;. 13., and he is mentioned also by John, 
xiv. 21-23. Therefore, as the promise con- 
tained in this passage implies, as an apostle, 
he was endowed with the spiritual gifts of the 
Holy Ghost, Christ through the Spirit dwelling 
Avith him. 

Lardner supposes that James was originally 
an husbandman, from the expression in the 
Apostolical Constitutions, " Some of us are 
fishermen, others tentmakers, others husband- 
men." He conjectures that the latter part of 
the sentence peculiarly referred to St. Paul 
and St. Jude ; which supposition is further cor- 
roborated by Hegesippus, as quoted by Euse- 
bius, who asserts, " That when Domitian made 
inquiries after the posterity of David, some 
grandsons of Jude, called the Lord's brother, 
were brought before him. Being asked con- 
cerning their possessions and substance, they 
assured him that they had only so many acres 
of land, out of the improvement of which they 
both paid him tribute, and maintained them- 
selves with their own hard labor. The truth of 
what they said was confirmed by the callous- 
ness of their hands." From which account, if 
it may be relied upon, it necessarily follows 
that this Apostle was married, and had children. 
Jerome, in his Commentan/ on Matthew x. .35., 
says, "That the Apostle Thaddeus, called 
by the Evangelist Luke, Judas the brother of 
James, was sent to Edessa, to Abgarus, king of 
Osroene." And Eusebius (Eccl. Hist. 1. i. c. 
13.) says, that Thomas, one of the twelve, sent 
to Edessa, Thaddeus, one of Christ's seventy 
disciples, to preach the Gospel in those 
countries. 

The canonical authority of this Epistle has 
been disputed, particularly because the Apostle 
is supposed to have quoted the apocryphal book 
of Enoch. To which objection it is replied, 
there is no good evidence that in Jude's time 
there was any book extant entitled Henoch or 
HtnocVs Prophecy. The book that existed in 
the second and third centuries of that name is 



generally supposed to have been composed on 
the mention of this prophecy by Jude, and was 
consequently always regarded as a forgery. 
We cannot conclude, from the reference made 
by Jude, that such a book necessarily existed. 
For throughout the apostolical writings, there 
are many facts alluded to which are not related 
in the Jewish Scripture : — the sin and punish- 
ment of the evil angels, 2 Peter ii. 4. ; Noah's 
preaching righteousness to the people before 
the flood, 2 Peter ii. 5. ; Abraham's seeing 
Christ's day, and being glad, as declared by 
Christ himself, John viii. 56. ; Lot's vexation at 
the iniquity of the Sodomites, 2 Peter ii. 7. ; 
the emblematical purpose of the slaying of the 
Egyptians by Moses, Acts vii. 25. ; the names 
of Pliaraoh's magicians, 2 Tim. iii. 8. ; Moses' 
exclamation on the mount, Heb. xii. 21.; with 
many others ; which things seem to prove, be- 
yond a doubt, that the inspired writers of the 
Old Testament did not record all the revelations 
made to them by God any more than they 
related every event in the lives of those persons 
whose histories they have written. Some 
explication was given with the revelation, 
which, bemg of the greatest importance, was 
transmitted by uninterrupted tradition from 
father to son ; and the Spirit of God taught the 
apostles to discern those which were authentic. 
Macknight observes, " The Spirit of God, who 
inspired the evangelists and apostles, may have 
directed them to mention these traditions in 
their writings, and to allude to them, to make 
us sensible that many important matters, an- 
ciently made loiown by revelation, have been 
preserved by tradition. And more especially, 
that the persuasion which history assureth us 
hath prevailed in all ages and countries from 
the most early times, concerning the placability 
of the Deity, the acceptableness of sacrifice, 
the existence of the soul after death, the resur- 
rection of the body, the rewards and punish- 
ments of the life to come, with other matters 
of a like kind, was founded on revelations 
concerning these things, which were made to 
mankind in the first age, and handed down by 
tradition. The truth is, these things being 
matters which, by the utmost efforts of their 
natural faculties, men could not discover, the 
knowledge and belief of them, which prevailed 
among all nations, wliether barbarous or civ- 
ilized, cannot be accounted for, except on the 
supposition of their having been originally dis- 
covered by revelation, and dispersed among all 
nations by tradition. Wherefore, in no age 
or country, have mankind been left entirely to 
the guidance of the light of nature, but have 
enjoyed the benefit of revelation in a greater 
or in a less degree." 

But granting that Jude really quoted from 
the book under consideration, it no more proves 
that he was not an inspired writer, tlian that St. 
Paul was not one, because he makes use of the 



Note 29.] 



ON THE EPISTLE OF ST. JUDE. 



*411 



heathen poets, Menander and Epemenides, 1 
Cor. XV. 33. ; Titus i. 12. Neither do such allu- 
sions establish the credibility or correctness of 
the whole work, but of that part only which 
they immediately employ. The preceding 
obser\'ations apply with equal force to ver. 9, in 
which the Apostle is supposed to cite an apocry- 
phal relation, or tradition, concerning' the Arch- 
angel Michael disputing with Satan for the 
body of Moses. This is, by some writers, 
referred to a book called the " Assumption, or 
Ascension of Christ," which in all probability 
was a forgery much later than the time of 
Jude ; but Drs. Lardner and Macknight think 
it much more credible that the Apostle alludes 
to the vision in Zech. iii. 1-3. In fiirther 
illustration of this verse, we may remark, that 
it was a Jewish maxim, that "it is not lawful 
for man to prefer ignominious reproaches, even 
against wicked spirits." Might not the Apostle, 
then, have used it merely as a popular illus- 
tration, without vouching for the fact, of that 
sober and wholesome doctrine, " not to speak 
evil of dignities," from the example of an 
archangel who did not venture to rail even at 
Satan, but meekly said, " The Lord rebuke 
thee?" 

The Epistle itself was acknowledged, and 
generally received, as soon as it was fully as- 
certained to have been written by the Apostle 
Jude, the brother of James, and cousin-german 
of our Lord. It is found in all the ancient cata- 
logues of the sacred writings of the New Tes- 
tament ; it is considered genuine by Clement of 
Alexandria, and is quoted as St. Jude's pro- 
duction by Tertullian, by Origen, and by the 
greater part of the ancients mentioned by Euse- 
bius. See Lardner's works, 4to. vol. iii. p. 
440-443. Its authenticity is confirmed by the 
subjects discussed in it, which are in every 
respect suitable to the character of an apostle 
of Jesus Christ; and, as Dr. Macknight truly 
obsen'es, there is no error taught, no evU prac- 
tice enjoined, for the sake of which any impostor 
could be induced to impose a forgery of this 
kind upon the world. 

The other objection to the authenticity of 
this Epistle arises from tlie omission of the 
word apostle. The writer calls himself the 
servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of our 
Lord ; probablj' from a desire to show at once 
that he was a different person from Judas 
Iscariot. For if he had styled himself an apostle, 
simply, he would not have been distinguished 
from that traitor ; and, as the brother of James, 
he has fully established his claims to the 
apostleship, and his relationship to our Lord. 
James (chap. i. 1.) has also used the same man- 
ner of expression ; so likewise has St. Paul, in 
his inscription to the PhOippians. And the 
word apostle is omitted by the latter in his 
Epistle to Philemon, and in his Epistle to the 
Thessalonians ; and St. John, in his Epistles, 



does not use the word apostle, nor make any 
mention of his own name. Yet no one, on this 
account, has supposed that tehse Epistles are 
not genuine. 

Commentators differ as to the persons to 
whom this Epistle was addressed. Estius and 
Witsius suppose that St. Jude wrote to Chris- 
tians every where, but more especially to the 
converted Jews. Dr. Hammond, tliat the Epis- 
tle was addressed to Jewish Christians, v.ith the 
design of cautioning them against the errors 
of the Gnostics. Dr. Benson, that it was written 
to Jewish believers, particularly to those of the 
western dispersion. But from the inscription 
(Jude 3.), Drs. Lardner and Macknight, Bishop 
Tomline, and Dr. A. Clarke, concur in thinking 
that it was written to all, without distinction, 
who had embraced the Gospel. The only rea- 
son, Dr. Macknight remarks, which has induced 
commentators to suppose that Jude wrote to the 
Jewish beUevers alone, is, that he makes use of 
arguments and examples taken from the sacred 
books of the Jews. But St. Paul, we have seen, 
followed the same course when writing to the 
Gentiles ; and both apostles did so -ndth pro- 
priety, not only because all who embraced the 
Gospel acknowledged the authority of the Jew- 
ish Scriptures, but also because it was of the 
greatest importance to make the Gentiles sen- 
sible that the Gospel was in perfect unison with 
the ancient revelation. 

It is generally supposed, from the internal 
eridence of this Epistle, that it must have been 
WTitten after St. Peter's Second Epistle. Estius 
and Witsius consider that it was written in the 
latter part of the apostolical age. QScumenius 
is of opinion tliat Jude (ver. 17.) alludes to 
Peter in his Second Epistle, and Paul in almost 
aU his Epistles ; from which he infers, that 
Jude wrote late after the decease of the apostles. 
Dr. Mill fixes its date to the year 90, principally 
because the false teachers, whom St. Peter 
describes as yet to come, are mentioned by 
Jude as already come. But on a comparison 
of this Epistle with the Second of St. Peter, 
there does not appear to be such a remarkable 
difference in their phraseology, as will be suffi- 
cient to prove that St. Jude wrote his Epistle so 
long after St Peter's Second Epistle, as Dr. 
Mill supposed ; though it proves, as most critics 
agree, that it was written after the latter. The 
very great coincidence in sentiment and style 
between these two Epistles renders it likely that 
they were written about the same time ; and, 
since we have seen that the Second Epistle of 
St Peter was in all probability written early in 
A. D. 65, we are induced, with Lardner, to 
place it towards the close of the same year, or 
perhaps in A. D. 66. Bishop Tomline, however, 
dates it in A. D. 70 ; Beausobre and L'Enfant, 
between A. D. 70 and 75 ; and Dodwell and 
Dr. Cave, in 71 or 72. 

There is a striking similarity between this 



412* 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLES. 



[Part XV. 



Epistle and that of the second chapter of the 
Second Epistle of St. Peter ; which Estius and 
Benson account for by supposing that Jude 
wrote it after he had seen that of St. Peter, 
sometimes copying his very words; compare 
2 Pet. iii. 3. with Jude, ver. 17, 18. Macknight 
is also of this opinion, and remarks upon it, 
" The Spirit may have directed Jude to write 
upon the same subject with Peter, and even in 
the words which Peter used, to give the greater 
authority to both Epistles ; and that the con- 
demnation of the false teachers, and the exhor- 
tations which the two apostles addressed to the 
faithful in their time, might have the more 
weight with them, and witli Christians in suc- 
ceeding ages, when they found these things 
delivered by both, precisely in the same terms." 
Lardner conjectures on the contrary, and 
perhaps with greater probability, (Canon, vol. 
iii. p. 353.) "It seems very unlikely that St. 
Jude should write so similar an Epistle, if he 
had not seen Peter's. In that case, St. Jude 
would not have thought it needful for him to 
write at all. If he had formed a design of 
writing, and had met with an Epistle of one of 
the Apostle's very suitable to his own thoughts 
and intentions, I think he would have forborne 
to write. Indeed, the great agreement in sub- 
ject and design, between these two Epistles, 
affords a strong argument that they were writ 
about the same time." 



Note 30.— Part XV. 

Archbishop Tillotson" supposes that this 
difficult passage is illustrated by Deut. xxxiv. 6. 
He conjectures that Michael was employed by 
God secretly to bury the body of Moses, to 
defeat tlie malignant purpose of the Devil, who, 
could he have discovered to the Jews where 
Moses was interred, would have encouraged 
them to pay idolatrous honors to his remains, and 
they might have made him an occasion of idol- 
atry after his death who had been so great an 
enemy to it in his lifetime. Beza and Estius 
are of the same opinion. 

Macknight refers it to the vision of Zech. iii. 
1., where the same words are used ; he observes, 
" In Daniel's prophecy (chap. x. 13-21. and xii. 
1.) Michael is spoken of as one of the chief 
angels who took care of the Israelites as a 
nation. He may, therefore, have been the 
angel of the Lord before whom Joshua the high 
priest is said to have stood, ' Satan being at his 
right hand to resist him ;' namely, in his design 
of restoring the Jewish Church and state (which 
is typified in this chapter), called by Jude ' the 
body of Moses,' just as the Christian Church is 
called by St. Paul, ' the body of Christ.' Zech- 
ariah adds ' and the Lord," that is, the angel 

" Vol. ii. p 158. 



of tlie Lord, as is plain from ver. 1., ' said unto 
Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan ! even 
the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke 
thee ! ' " Adam Clarke considers this as the 
most likely interpretation of the passage ; and 
it will appear, he continues, the more probable, 
when it is considered that among the Hebrews 
the word "body" is often used for a thing itself; 
so in Rom. vi. 6., aiouu rr^g u/^aoTlag, " the 
body of sin," signifies sin itself; so the body of 
Moses may signify Moses himself; or that in 
which he was particularly concerned, viz. his 
institutes, religion, <fcc. It may be added, that , 
the Jews consider Michael and Samuel, one as / 
the friend, the other as the enemy, of Israel. - 
Samuel is their accuser, Michael their advocate. 
And as Michael is represented (Dan. xii. 1.) 
standing up in defence of the children of Israel ; 
and again, in Rev» xii. 7. as fighting against the 
dragon (called ver. 9., the Devil and Satan) and 
his angels. Whatever interpretation we give 
to the passage, it is only rational to infer a con- 
tinued and persevering opposition is made by 
the great adversary of man to frustrate the 
plans of Omnipotence for their salvation ; and 
that heavenly spirits protect and minister to the 
children of light and preserve them from the 
powers of evil, and the children of darkness. 



Note 3L— Part XV. 

Jones, in his Figurative Language, p. 158, has 
the following observations on this passage : 
" The Church that went from Egypt to Canaan 
gives us an example of every thing that can 
happen to the Christian Church, from the be- 
ginning of it even to the end of the world. The 
same evil which happened in the Church of 
Moses was found in the Church of Christ. 
Corah and his company had no dispute about 
the object or form of divine worship ; they 
questioned none of the doctrines of the Law ; 
they rose up against the persons of Moses and 
Aaron, that is, against the civil and ecclesias- 
tical authority ; contending that themselves 
and the congregation had an equal right; that 
Moses and Aaron had taken too much upon 
themselves ; and, by exercising an usurped au- 
thority, were abusing and making fools of the 
people. This was their sin, and they main- 
tained it to the last, and perished in it. It was 
the dispute of popular power against divine 
authority ; and wherever the like pretensions 
are avowed by Christians, and the same argu- 
ments used in support of them, there we see 
the gainsaying of Corah." 



Note 32.— Part XV. 

Dr. Doddridge remarks on this verse — " Mr. 
Blackwall (Sacr. Class, vol. i. p. 164.), has shown 



Note 35.] 



ON THE DESIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE. 



*413 



by adequate authorities, that Trooeqc^jTEvcre tov- 
TOtg maj- be rendered prophesied against these 
(see ver. 4.) Some have thought the coming of 
the Lord here mentioned, was his coming' at- 
tended witli angels, to bring on the deluge. If 
it refers to his coming to the universal jiidg 
ment, it is a most remarkable testimony to a 
future state ; not indeed in the Mosaic economy, 
but previous to it. And perhaps Moses omitting 
this (as I thinlc it almost certain he knew it) is to 
be resolved into the restriction under which he 
wrote, agreeably to the principles which the 
learned Dr. Warburton has so largely stated in 
his Divine Legation,'^ &c. 



*NoTE 35.— Part XV. 

O.V THE DESIGN A.yT> PLA>' OF THE APOCAI,TPSE. 

" The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of 
prophecy." After the deluge, and before the 
corruption of man became again universal, the 
receiving of the divine influence by the spirit 
of prophecy was common to the heads of the 
patriarchal famOies ; and when the descendants 
of Abraham were set apart from the rest of the 
nations, to preserve the knowledge of the true 
God, a continued succession of prophets, from 
the time of Abraham to 3Ialachi, predicted, 
with gradually increasing clearness, the mi- 
nutest events of the life, death, and sufferings 
of Christ, and the fortunes and enlargement 
of the visible Church, in a manner which, to 
the ancient Jews themselves, must frequently 
have appeared contradictory and incompre- 
hensible. 

As the same contest between good and evil, 
which commenced with the fall of man, is still 
proceeding in the world, the observer of the 
plans of divine wisdom might naturally infer, 
that the same testimony of Jesus would in some 
manner be continued. The office of the 
ancient prophets was twofold: they were the 
instructors and preachers to the people, and 
they were empowered to work miracles, or to 
foretell future events, to demonstrate the divine 
authority of their mission : and, as the proba- 
bility of the distant fulfilment of their predic- 
tions was not uniformly effectual with the 
multitude, they predicted circumstances which 
should take place within a short time, and thus 
lefl the people without excuse if they longer 
rejected the divine annunciation of distant 
predicted events. The Christian Church was 
provided with a succession of prophets in the 
first of these offices, but of the second it is left 
entirely destitute. No man has appeared in 
the Christian Church, since the death of the 
last of the Apostles, who has been able cer- 

* Notes 33 and 34 are inserted in the text. 
TOL. II. 



tainly to predict tlie future ; and yet the two 
former dispensations abounded with this proof 
of the divine origin of the one true religion. 
It does not seem probable that the best, and 
perhaps the last Dispensation, should be thus 
deprived of one important branch of evidence, 
unless some adequate substitute were pro%ided 
in its room ; and we know of no other than 
the Book of the Apocalypse, which we might 
therefore infer, would abound with predictions 
to be gradually fulfilled, even if we had not 
been informed that it was a volume of prophe- 
cies. We are justified, therefore, in considering 
this book, with Lowman, Clarke, and others, as 
designed to supply the place of that continued 
succession of prophets, which demonstrated 
the continued providence of God to the Jewish 
and patriarchal churches. 

The superiority of prophecy over miracles, 
as an evidence of Christianity, has been assert- 
ed by Bishop Warburton, and by many learned 
writers, as a continually increasing eiidence. 
The great peculiarity of the prophecies of the 
Old Testament, is their gradual development 
of the system of truth, as the world was able 
to bear it. The first prophecy of the seed of 
the woman, that is, of some one famUy of the 
descendants of Eve, was less definite than those 
which predicted in their order that he should 
descend from Abraham, from Isaac rather than 
from Esau ; from Judah, than from the other 
patriarchs ; from Da\id, and so on till the annun- 
ciation of Malachi, that the Lord whom they 
sought should come while the second temple 
was standing. Another peculiarity was, that 
the ancient prophets announced, in very general 
terms, in the boldest and most figurative lan- 
guage, various events which have never yet 
taken place, relative to some more glorious 
state of the Churcli, the punishment and over- 
throw of its enemies, the final restoration of 
the Jews, and the universal establishment of 
happiness and innocence among mankind. If 
we are justified in expecting a book of proph- 
ecy, in the place of a succession of prophets, 
in the Christian Church, we may anticipate 
also the clearer prediction of the same events, 
and their gradual development. 

The majority of commentators on the Apoc- 
alypse generally acted on these principles of 
interpretation. They discover in this book 
certain predictions of events wliich were ful- 
filled soon after they were announced ; they 
trace in the history of later years various coin- 
cidences, which so fully agree with various 
parts of the Apocalypse, that they are justiy 
entitied to consider them as the fulfilment 
of its prophecies ; and by thus tracing the one 
God of Revelation through the clouds of the 
dark ages, through the storms of revolutions 
and wars, through the mighty convulsions which 
at various periods have agitated the world, their 
interpretations, even when tliey are most con- 

*il* 



414* 



ON THE DESIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE. 



[Part XV. 



tradictory, when they venture to speculate con- 
cerning the future, are founded on so much 
undoubted truth, that they have materially con- 
firmed the wavering faith of thousands. Clouds 
and darkness must cover the brightness of the 
throne of God, till it shall please him to enable 
us to bear the brighter beams of his glory. In 
the mean time we trace his footsteps in the sea 
of tlie Gentile world, his path in the mighty 
waters of the ambition and clashing passions 
of man. We rejoice to anticipate the day 
when the bondage of Rome, which would per- 
petuate the intellectual and spiritual slavery of 
man, sliall be overthrown, and the dayspring of 
united knowledge and holiness bless the world. 
Among other predictions of the future glory 
of the Jewish Church, which shall be fulfilled 
in the latter ages of the world, and the subject 
of which we might expect to meet with in the 
Apocalypse, we may observe the following : — 

1. The Jewish Church shall possess its own 
land, Jer. iii. 18-23. Ezek. xxxvu. 21, 22. Amos 
ix. 14, 15. 

2. It shall possess all the earth, Obad. comm. 
XV. 19, 20. Jer. xxxi. 38-40. Isa. xxvii. 12. and 
Ixv. 10. 

3. It shall dwell secure, Isa. Ix. 18. Hosea 
ii. 18. 

4. And that for ever, Ezek. xxxvii. 25. Amos 
ix. 15. 

5. The land shall be more fertile than ever, 
Ezek. xxxvii. 35. Hosea ii. 21, 22. Joel iii. 18. 
Amos ix. 13. Zecli. xiv. 10. 

6. It shall have more inhabitants, Isa. xlix. 
19-21. Ezek. xxxiv. 31. and xxxvi. 37, 38. 

7. It shall be one united and perfect kingdom, 
Ezek. xxxvii. 22-24. Hosea i. 11. 

8. Uniformly flourishing, Dan. vii. 27. 

9. The Church shall be eminent and illus- 
trious, Isa. iv. and xxiv. 23. and Ix. 1, 2. Dan. 
xii. 3. Jer. iii. 16, 17. Joel iii. 19, 20. 

10. And this as to its external form, Isa. xxiv. 
23. and xxx. 26. and Ix. 20. and Ixii. 1-4. Zech. 
xiv. 6, 7. 

11. Free from all unholiness, Joel iii. 17. 
Zech. xiv. 20, 21. 

12. Sincere and pure in its doctrine, Ezek. 
xxxvii. 23. Hosea ii. 16, 17. and xiv. 8. Zech. 
xiii. 2, 3. 

And this representation of the universal 
Church is depicted in the Apocalypse in the 
most vivid colors. 

Rosenmiiller has drawn up, in a general 
manner, the opinions of those commentators 
who have interpreted the Apocalypse on the 
principles now laid down. 

Those who consider the Apocalypse as a 
prophecy and scenical exhibition of what shall 
happen to the Christian Church to the end of 
the world, lay down as a proposition, whicli 
comprises the subject of the whole book: — The 
contest of Christ with his enemies, and liis final 
victory and triumph over them. See 1 Cor. xv. 



25. Matt. xxiv. Mark xiii. Luke xxi. ; but 
what is but briefly hinted in these Scriptures, is 
detailed at large in the Apocalypse, and repre- 
sented by various images nearly in the follow- 
ing order : — 

1. The decrees of Divine Providence con- 
cerning what is to come are declared to John. 

2. The manner in which these decrees shall 
be executed is painted in the most vivid colors. 

3. Then follow thanksgiving to God, the 
Ruler and Governor of all things, fortliese man- 
ifestations of his power, wisdom, and goodness. 

After the exordium, and the seven epistles to 
the seven Churches of Asia Minor, to whose 
angels, or bishops, the book seems to be dedi- 
cated (chap. i. ii. iii.), the scene of the visions is 
opened in heaven, full of majesty, and John 
receives a promise of a revelation relative to the 
future state of the Church, chap. iv. v. 

The enemies of the Church of Christ, which 
the Christians had then most to fear, were tlie 
Jews, the heathens, and the false teachers. All 
these are overcome by Christ ; and over them 
he triumphs gloriously. First of all, punish- 
ments are threatened to the enemies of the 
kingdom of Christ, and the preservation of his 
own followers, in their greatest trials deter- 
mined ; and these determinations are accom- 
panied with the praises and thanksgivings of all 
the heavenly inhabitants, and of all good men, 
chap. vi. to the x. 

The transactions of the Christian religion are 
next recorded, chap. xi. to chap. xiv. 5. The 
Christians are persecuted, — 

1. By the Jews; but they were not only pre- 
served, but they increase and prosper. 

2. By the heathens ; but in vain do these 
strive to overthrow the kingdom of Christ ; 
which is no longer confined within the limits 
of Judsea, but spreads among the Gentiles, and 
diffuses itself over the whole Roman empire, 
destroying idolatry, and rooting out superstition 
in every quarter, chap. xii. and xiii. 1-10. 

3. False teachers and impostors of various 
kinds, under the name of Christians, but enemies 
of the cross of Christ ; more intent on promoting 
the interests of idolatry, or false worship, than 
the cause of true religion (chap. xiii. 11-18.), 
exert their influence to corrupt and destroy tlie 
Church ; but, notwithstanding, Christianity be- 
comes more extended, and true believers more 
confirmed in their holy faith, (chap. xiv. 1-5.) 
Then new punishments are decreed against the 
enemies of Christ, both Jews and heatliens ; the 
calamities coming upon the Jewish nation, 
before its final overthrow, are pointed out, 
(chap. xiv. and xv.) Next follows a prediction 
of the calamities which shall take place during 
the Jewish war; and the civil wars of the 
Romans, during the contentions of Otho and 
Vitellius (chap. xvi. 1-16.), who are to suffer 
most grievous punishments for their cruelties 
against the Christians, (chap, xvii.) The Jew- 



Note 35.] 



ON THE DESIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE. 



*415 



ish state being- now finally overthrown (chap, 
xviii.) the heavenly inhabitants give praise to 
God for his justice and goodness; Christ is 
congratulated for his victory over his enemies, 
and tlie more extensive progress of his religion, 
(chap. ix. 1-10.) 

Opposition is, however, not yet totally ended ; 
idolatry again lifts up its head, and new errors 
are propagated ; but over these also Christ 
shows himself to be conqueror, chap. xix. 11-21. 
Finally, Satan, who had long reigned by the 
worship of false gods, errors, superstitions, and 
wickedness, is deprived of all power and influ- 
ence ; and tlie concerns of Christianity go on 
gloriously, chap. xx. 1-6. But, towards the 
end of the world, new enemies arise, and 
threaten destruction to the followers of Christ ; 
but vain is their rage, God appears in behalf 
of his servants, and inflicts the most grievous 
punishments upon their adversaries, chap. xx. 
6-10. The last judgment ensues, ver. 11-15., 
all the wicked are punished, and the enemies 
of the truth are chained, so as to be able to 
injure the godly no more ; the genuine Chris- 
tians, who had persevered unto death, are 
brought to eternal glory ; and, freed iirom all 
adversities, spend a life that shall never end, 
in blessedness that knows no bounds, chap. xxi. 
and xxii. — See Rosenmiiller. 

Mr. Faber has supposed that much of the 
imagery of the Revelation is taken from the 
ancient mysteries ; and Eichhorn has represented 
it as a drama : and the most strange and singu- 
lar opinions have prevailed respecting its plan 
and interpretation. Though I have adopted 
that system of explanation, "which represents 
the continued superintendence of God over his 
Church, there are four other principal hypoth- 
eses : — 

1. The Apocalypse, in the opinion of Wet- 
stein, contains a prophetical description of the 
destruction of Jerusalem, of the Jewish war, 
and the civil wars of the Romans. 

2. The second is the general opinion of the 
fathers ; that it contains predictions of the per- 
secutions of the Christians under the heathen 
emperors of Rome, and of the happy days of 
the Church under the Christian emperors, from 
Constantino downwards. 

3. The third is adopted by the g-enerality of 
Protestant writers ; that it ccmtains prophecies 
concerning the tyrannical and oppressive con- 
duct of the Roman pontiffs, the true antichrist; 
and foretells the final destruction of popery. 

4. The fourth is adopted on the other side, 
by the papal writers, that it is a prophetic 
declaration of the schism and heresies of 
Martin Luther, those called Reformers, and 
their successors ; and the final destruction of 
the Protestant religion. 

This fourth has been illustrated and defended 
a-t large by Bishop Walmsley, in a work called 
the History of the Church, under the feigned 



name of Signior Pastorini ; in which he en- 
deavours to turn every thing against Luther and 
the Protestants, which they interpreted of the 
pope and popery ; and attempts to show, from a 
computation of the apocalyptical numbers, that 
the total destruction of Protestantism in the 
world will take place in 1825, or 1828 ! 

The plan of Wetstein is the most singular 
of all these. He supposes the book of the 
Apocalypse to have been written a consider- 
able time before the destruction of Jerusalem. 
The events described from the fourth chapter 
to the end, he supposes to refer to the Jewish 
war, and to the civil commotions which took 
place in Italy, while Otho, Vitellius, and Ves- 
pasian, were contending for the empire. These 
contentions and destructive wars occupied the 
space of about three years and a half, during 
which, Professor Wetstein thinks, the principal 
events took place which are recorded in this 
book. On these subjects he speaks, particularly 
in his notes, at the end of which he calls his 
'Avujisqialtttaiaig, or synopsis of the whole 
work, which I proceed now to lay before the 
reader. 

This prophecy, which predicts the calamities 
which God should send on the enemies of the 
Gospel, is divided into two parts. The first is 
contained in the closed book ; the second in the 
open book. 

I. The first concerns the earth and the third 
part, i. e, Judasa and the Jewish nation. 

II. The second concerns many peoples, and 
nations, and tongues, and kings, chap. x. 11. 
i. e. the Roman empire. 

1. The book written within and without, 
and sealed with seven seals, chap. v. 1. is 
the bill of divorce sent from God to the Jewish 
nation. 

2. The crowned conqueror on the white 
horse, armed with a bow, chap, vi. 2. is Arta- 
banus, king of the Parthians, who slaughtered 
multitudes of the Jews in Babylon. 

3. The red horse, ver. 4. — the Sicarii and rob- 
bers in Judaea, in the time of the proconsuls 
Felix and Festus. 

4. The black horse, ver. 5. — the famine under 
Claudius. 

5. The pale horse, ver. 8. — the plague which 
followed the robberies and the famine. 

6. The souls of those who were slain, ver. 
9. — the Christians in Judaea, who were per- 
secuted, and were now about to be avenged. 

7. The great earthquake, ver. 12. — the com- 
motions which preceded the Jewish rebellion. 

8. The servants of God from every tribe, 
sealed in their foreheads, chap. vii. 3. — the 
Christians taken under the protection of God, 
and warned by the prophets to flee immediately 
from the land. 

9. The silence for half an hour, ch. viii. 7. — 
the short truce granted at tlie solicitation of King 
Agrippa. Then follows the rebellion itself. 



416* 



ON THE DESIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE. 



[Part XV, 



1. The trees are burnt up, ver. 7 — the fields 
and villages, and unfortified places of Judsea, 
which first felt the bad effects of the sedition. 

2. The burning mountain cast into the sea, 
which in consequence became blood, ver. 8. and, 

3. The burning star falling into the rivers, 
and making the waters bitter, chap. viii. 10, 
11. — the slaughter of the Jews at Cffisarea and 
Scythopolis. 

4. The eclipsing of the sun, moon, and stars, 
ver. 12. — the anarchy of the Jewish common- 
wealth. 

5. The locust, like scorpions, hurting men, 
chap. ix. 3. — the expedition of Cestius Gallus, 
prefect of Syria. 

6. The army with arms of divers colors, ver. 
16, 17. — the armies under Vespasian in Judsea. 
About this time Nero and Galba died ; after 
which followed the civil war, signified by the 
sounding of the seventh trumpet, chap. x. 7, 11. 
xii. 15. 

1. Tlie two prophetic witnesses, two olive- 
trees, two candlesticks, chap. xi. 3, 4. — teachers 
in the Church, predicting the destruction of 
the Jewish temple and commonwealth. 

2. The death of the witnesses, ver. 7. — their 
flight, and the flight of the Church of Jerusa- 
lem to Pella, in Arabia. 

3. The resurrection of the witnesses, after 
tlu-ee days and a half, ver. 11. — the predictions 
began to be fulfilled at a time in which their 
accomplishment was deemed impossible ; and 
the doctrine of Christ begins to prevail over 
Judaea, and over the whole earth. 

4. The tenth part of the city fell in the same 
hour, and seven thousand names of men slain, 
ver. 13. — Jerusalem, seized by the Tdu means ; 
and many of the priests and nobles, with Annas 
the high priest, signified by names of men, i. e. 
men of name, slain by the zealots. 

5. The woman clothed with the sun, the 
moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve 
stars on her head, chap. xii. 1. — the Christian 
Church. 

6. The great red dragon seen in heaven, with 
seven heads, seven diadems, and ten horns, ver. 
6. — the six first Caesars, who were all made 
princes at Rome, governing the armies and the 
Roman people with great authority ; especially 
Nero, the last of them, who having killed his 
mother, cruelly vexed the Christians, and after- 
wards turned his wrath against the rebellious 
Jews. 

7. The seven-headed beast from the sea, 
having ten horns, surrounded with diadems, 
chap. xiii. 1. — Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, who 
were shortly to reign, and who were proclaimed 
emperors by the army. 

8. This beast, having a mouth like a lion, 
the body like a leopard, and feet like a bear, 
ver. 2. — avaricious Galba ; rash, unchaste, and 
inconstant Otho ; Vitellius, cruel and sluggish, 
with the German army. 



9. One head, i. e. the seventh, cut off, ver. 3. 
— Galba. 

10. He who leadeth into captivity, shall be 
led into captivity ; he who killeth with the 
sword, shall be killed with the sword, ver. 10. — 
Otho, who subdued the murderers of Galba, slew 
himself with a dagger ; Vitellius, who bound 
Sabinus with chains, was himself afterwards 
bound. 

11. Another beast rising out of the earth, 
with two horns, ver. 11. — Vespasian and his two 
sons, Titus and Domitian, elected emperors at 
the same time in Judaea. 

12. The number of the wild beasts 666, the 
number of a man, Teitan, Titan, or Titus : 
T, 300. E, 5. 1, 10. T, 300. A, 1. N, 50. making 
in the whole 666. 

But some very respectable MSS. have 616 
for the number ; if the N be taken away from 
Teitan, then the letters in Teita make exactly 
the sum 616. 

13. A man sitting upon a cloud, with a crown 
of gold upon his head, and a sickle in his hand, 
chap. xiv. 14. — Otho and his army, about to 
prevent supplies for the army of Vitellius. 

14. An angel of fire commanding another 
angel to gather tlie vintage ; tlie winepress 
trodden, whence the blood flows out 1600 fur- 
longs. — The followers of Vitellius, laying all 
waste with fire, and the Bebriaci conquering the 
followers of Otho with great slaughter. 

Then follow the seven plagues : — 

1. The grievous sore, chap. xvi. 2. — the dis- 
eases of the soldiers of Vitellius, through in- 
temperance. 

2. The sea turned into blood, ver. 3. — the 
fleet of Vitellius beaten, and the maritime towns 
taken from them by the Elavil. 

3. The rivers turned into blood, ver. 4. — the 
slaughter of the adherents of Vitellius at Cre- 
mona, and elsewhere, near rivers. 

4. The scorching of the sun, ver. 8. — the 
diseases of the Vitellii increasing, and their ex- 
hausted bodies impatient of the heat. 

5. The seat of the beast darkened, ver. 10. — 
all Rome in commotion through the torpor of 
Vitellius. 

6. Euphrates dried up, and a way made for 
the kings of the east, and the three unclean 
spirits like frogs — the Flavii besieging Rome 
with a treble army ; one part of which was by 
the bank of the Tiber. 

The shame of him who is found asleep and 
naked. — Vitellius, ver. 15. — Armageddon, ver. 
16.— the praetorian camps. 

7. The fall of Babylon, ver. 19. — the sacking 
of Rome. 

1. The whore, chap. xvii. 1. — Rome. 

2. The seven kings, ver. 10. — Caesar, Augustus, 
Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, and Galba. 

3. The eighth, which is of the seven, ver. 11. 
— Otho, destined by adoption to be the son and 
successor of Galba. 



Note 35.] 



ON THE DESIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE. 



*417 



4. The ten horns, ver. 12-lG.— the leaders of 
the Flavian factions. 

5. The merchants of the earth, chap, xviii. 
11. — i. e. of Rome, which was then the empo- 
rium of the whole world. 

6. The beast and the false prophet, chap, 
xix. 20. — Vespasian and his family, contrary to 
all expectation, becoming- extinct in Domitian ; 
as the family of the Ctesars, and of the three 
princes, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. 

7. The Millennium, or a thousand years, chap. 
XX. — taken from Psalm xc. 4. a time appointed 
by God, including the space of forty years, 
from tire death of Domitian to the Jewish war, 
under Adrian. 

8. Gog and Magog going out over the earth, 
ver. 8. — Barchochebas, the false Messiah, with 
an immense army of the Jews, coming forth 
suddenly from their caves and dens, tormenting 
the Christians, and carrying on a destructive 
war with the Romans. 

9. The New Jerusalem, chap. xxi. 1, 2. — the 
Jews being brought so low as to be capable of 
injuring no longer, the whole world resting 
after being expiated by war, and the doctrine 
of Christ propagated, and prevailing every where, 
with incredible celerity. 

It does not appear necessary to enter into 
any confutation of this scheme, which is founded 
upon the hypothesis that the Apocalypse was 
written before the Jewish war. This opinion 
too has been lately defended at great length by 
Mr. Tilloch, who has adopted Sir Isaac New- 
ton's idea, that the Epistles contain quotations 
from the Revelations. Mr. Tilloch has man- 
aged tliis part of his argument with great skill, 
but the arguments for the later date are so much 
more satisfactory, that I cannot assent to the 
supposition of the early date. Mr. Tilloch's 
collections of parallel passages between the 
Apocalypse and the Epistles, however, appear 
to prove, that the apostles in general were well 
acquainted with the subjects concerning which 
St. John prophesied, but that they knew them 
by the influence of the same Holy Spirit, which 
dictated them to St. John. The expressions in 
question, therefore, were common to all the 
inspired writers of the New Testament. 

If the evidence for the late date of the Apoc- 
alypse were not so decisive, I should have 
gladly assigned a much earlier period for its 
composition ; more especially as the destruction 
of Jerusalem appears to have been an opportu- 
nity so favorable to appeal to the afflicted, yet 
desperate sons of Israel at that dreadful time, 
and to have elevated their hopes to another and 
more enduring city, which hath immoveable 
foundations, the New Jerusalem, which the 
prophet saw coming down from heaven. After 
a very careful perusal both of Michaelis and 
Mr. Tilloch's objections, it appears most probable 
that the generally-received opinion is most 
correct, that St. John was banished into Patmos 
VOL. II. *.5.3 



towards the end of Domitian's reign, by virtue 
of his edicts for persecuting the Christians ; and 
that he had the Revelations contained in tlie 
Apocalypse during his exile ; though the book 
itself could not have been published until after 
the Apostle's release and return to Ephesus. 
The unanimous voice of Christian antiquity 
attests, that St. John was banished by the order 
of Domitian. Irenseus, Origen, and other early 
fathers, refer the Apostle's exile to the latter 
part of Domitian's reign, and they concur in 
saying that he there saw the Revelation. In- 
ternal evidence likewise supports this conclu- 
sion. For, in the three first chapters of the 
Apocalypse, the seven Asiatic Churches are 
described as being in that advanced and flour- 
ishing state of society and discipline, and to 
have undergone those changes in their faith and 
morals, which could not have taken place if they 
had not been planted for a considerable time. 
Thus, the Church of Ephesus is censured for 
having left "her first love." That of Sardis 
" had a name to hve, but was dead." The 
Church of Laodicea had fallen into lukewarm- 
ness and indifference. Now the Church of 
Ephesus, for instance, was not founded by St 
Paul until the latter part of Claudius's reign ; 
and when he wrote to them from Rome, A. D. 
61, instead of reproving them for any want of 
love, he commends their love and faith, (Eph. i. 
15.) Further, it appears from the Revelation, 
that the Nicolaitans formed a sect, when this 
book was written, since they are expressly 
named ; whereas they were only foretold in 
general terms by St. Peter, in his Second 
Epistle, written A. D. 65, and in St Jude's 
Epistle, which was written about A. D. 65 or 66. 
It is also evident from various passages of the 
Revelation, that there had been an open perse- 
cution in the provinces. St. John himself had 
been banished into Patmos for the testimony of 
Jesus. The Church of Ephesus (or its bishop) 
is commended for its " labor and patience," 
which seems to imply persecution. This is 
still more evident in the following address to 
the Church of Smyrna (Rev. ii. 9.), " I know thy 
works and tribulation," d-liipi,v : which last word 
always denotes persecution in the New Tes- 
tament, and is so explained in the following 
verse. 

Lastly, in Rev. ii. 13., mention is made of 
a martyr named Antipas, who was put to death 
at Pergamos. Though ancient ecclesiastical 
history gives us no information concerning this 
Antipas, yet it is certain, according to all the 
rules of language, that what is here said is 
to be understood literally, and not mystically, 
as some expositors have explained it Since 
therefore the persecution, mentioned in the 
three first chapters of the Apocalypse, cannot 
relate to the time of Claudius, who did not per- 
secute the Christians, nor to the time of Nero, 
whose persecution did not reach the provinces, 



418* 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN. 



[Part XV. 



it must necessarily be referred to Domitian, 
according to ecclesiastical tradition. 

Domitian's death is related to have happened 
in September, A. D. 96. The Christian exiles 
were then liberated, and St. John was permitted 
to return to Ephesus. As, however, the em- 
peror's decease, and the permission to return, 
could not be known in Asia immediately, some 
time must intervene before the Apostle could 
be at liberty either to write the Apocalypse at 
Ephesus, or to send it by messengers from 
Patmos. We conclude, therefore, with Dr. 
Mill, Le Clerc, Basnage, Dr. Lardner, Bishop 
Tomline, Dr. Woodhouse, and other eminent 
critics, in placing the Apocalypse in the year 
96 or 97. 

The occasion of writing the Apocalypse is 
sufficiently evident from the hook itself. St. 
John, being in exile in the island of Patmos, is 
favored with the appearance of the Lord Jesus 
Christ to him, and is repeatedly commanded 
to commit to %vTiting the visions which he be- 
held. (See Rev. i. 11, 19., ii. 1, 8, 12, 18. iii. 1. 
7, 14. xiv. 13. xix. 9. and xxi. 5.) The scope or 
design of this oook is twofold ; first, generally 
to make known to the Apostle " the things 
which are," (i. 19) ; that is, the then present 
state of the Christian churches in Asia ; and 
secondly and principally, to reveal to him " the 
things which shall be hereafter," or the con- 
stitution and fates of the Christian Church, 
through its several periods of propagation, cor- 
ruption, and amendment, from its beginning to 
its consummation in glory. " The prophecy 
of the Revelation," says Daubuz, " was designed 
as a standmg monument to the Church, to 
know what destinies attend it ; and that, when 
men should suffer for the name of Christ, they 
might here find some consolation both for them- 
selves and for the Church : for themselves, by 
the prospect and certainty of a reward ; for the 
Church, by the testimony that Christ never 
forsakes it, but will conquer at last." 

In endeavouring to ascertain the probable 
meaning of this mysterious book, I have con- 
sulted some of the works which have lately 
appeared, as well as of Mede, Lowman, and 
Mr. Paber. I know the danger of attempting 
to fix the interpretation of the book ; and how 
indelibly it fixes the stigma of deficiency of 
judgment on the unsuccessful interpreter. 
Calvin and Whitby were considered wise, for 
their prudence in declining all attempts to 
explain the Apocalypse. The learned and 
laborious hierophant, whom I have principally 
selected from among the thronging guides, who 
have presented themselves to conduct me 
through the labyrinth, is the great master who 
has explained to us the origin and progress of 
the heathen idolatry. Mr. Faber seems to have 
solved more difficulties, answered more objec- 
tions, and thrown a brighter lustre on some of 
the more involved passages, than any other 



author whatever. He has not escaped, how- 
ever, the usual fate of those who venture to 
comment on the Revelation. He has failed in 
some instances, and neither his learning, inge- 
nuity, originality, nor talent, can rescue him 
from the consequences — a suspicion of a want 
of judgment. While this eminent theologian 
is my chief guide, I take the counsel of all 
whose suggestions appear worthy of attention, 
and not unfrequently decide for myself, where 
their directions either clashed or were contra- 
dictory. 



Note 36.— Part XV. 

The last and most interesting accounts of the 
origin of Mahometanism, its progress, and its 
temporary check by the Crusades, are to be 
found in Mr. Charles Mills's eloquent and in- 
teresting works, the Histories of Mahometanism, 
and of the Crusades. 



Note 37.--Part XV. 

ON THE DATE AND OCCASION OF THE FIRST 
EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 

The place which has here been assigned in 
this Arrangement to the Epistles of St. John, 
will excite much surprise among those who 
have been accustomed, with the generality of 
commentators, to fix an earlier date, and arrange 
them before the Apocalypse. In the absence 
of all positive and decisive evidence of the 
precise year in which they were written, we 
are unable to depend, with satisfaction, upon 
the conjectural arguments by which both an 
early or a late date may be defended. Many 
reasons, however, have suggested themselves, 
which appear to be sufficient to justify the con- 
clusion which I have here adopted, that the 
Epistles of St. John were written immediately 
before the compilation of his Gospel, and after 
the Revelation, at the close of the life of the 
Apostle, and consequently at the termination of 
the apostolic age. 

When the Holy Spirit inspired the various 
writers of the Old and New Testaments, it im- 
parted only the instructions and prophecies 
which were necessary for the benefit of the 
universal Church. It did not so interfere with 
the natural or acquired talents of the favored 
persons, whom it elevated above the rest of 
mankind, that their peculiar or characteristic 
modes of expression should be necessarily 
altered. Isaiah was a nobleman and a courtier, 
and his refined and polished language declares 
his education, as well as his native genius. 
Amos was a herdsman ; and though there is 



Note 37.] 



ON THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 



*419 



the same superhuman internal evidence tliat 
the Spirit of prophecy rested on him also, 
though none of the prophets has more mag-nifi- 
cendy described the Deit)', though his senti- 
ments are elevated, and liis diction splendid, he 
is stiU distinguished by the use of images 
which are drawn from rural life, and by phrases 
which are not characteristic either of the study 
of the schools of the prophets, or of the courtesy 
of a king's palace. Every one of the sacred 
writers is distinguished from his inspired breth- 
ren by some internal proofs of his vocation, or 
habits, or education: and if the external evi- 
dence of the truth and autlienticity of the va- 
rious books of Scripture were not taken into 
consideration, sufficient arguments might be 
adduced in their defence, from a careful com- 
parison of the contents of the sacred books. 

This consideration will possibly assist us in 
the attempt to discover, from internal evidence, 
whether it is not probable that the Apocalypse 
was written before the Epistles of St. John. 
The former book abounds with Hebraisms, and 
with images derived from the Jewish traditions 
and peculiarities. Though neither the Septua- 
gint nor the New Testament is written in 
purely Attic Greek, not one book of either 
volume is so full of the solecisms in question 
as the Apocalypse : whereas the Epistles and 
Gospel of St John are written both correctly 
and elegantly. It is true that the three books 
are proved to be the work of tlie same author, 
by their general agreement, both in style and 
expression ; and Wetstein, Home, and Dr. 
Lardner, have collected numerous instances of 
this comcidence : but the chief barbarisms of 
the Apocalypse are to be found neither in the 
Epistles, nor in the Gospel of St. John. In this 
respect they are remarkably distinguished from 
each other ; and while the common adoption of 
certain forms of speech demonstrates the whole 
of the books in question to be the work of one 
writer, the insertion of so many peculiar idioms 
and Hebraisms in the one appear to justify our 
conclusion, that it must have been written at a 
period when the author was not so well versed 
in the elegances and purity of the language in 
which he wrote. He seems as if he thought in 
one language, and wTote in another ; or, as if 
he had attempted for the first time to '^vTite in a 
language in which he made a subsequent improve- 
ment. This, in literature, is not an unfrequent 
case. The triple sentence, for instance, and the 
balanced periods, which so remarkably charac- 
terize the style of the Rambler, and the Lives 
of the Poets, were perceptible Lii the early 
works of Dr. Johnson, and afford internal 
evidence that they were written by him ; while 
the grossness and puerihty of his Marmor .Yor- 
folciense, are such as he would have blushed to 
have acknowledged in his maturer years. In 
the early poems of Milton we may trace, and 
that not faintly, " the towering thought," and 



hear "the living lyre," of the days of his ripened 
genius ; yet he could not have written, at that 
splendid period, the pretty conceits which 
adorn or disgrace his juvenile Poems on the 
Passion and the Nativity. 

But it is not only the internal evidence which 
induces me to place the Apocalypse before the 
Epistles of St John ; the circumstances of 
the Apostle's life sufficiently account for the 
more frequent adoption of Hebraisms in the 
former book. He was a native Jew, and prob- 
ably continued within the precincts of the 
Holy Land longer than any of the apostles. 
Neither he, nor any of the Twelve, appear to 
have left Palestine during the Pauline persecu- 
tion. When James was made bishop of Jeru- 
salem, in the Herodian persecution, after the 
Apostle James was beheaded, and Peter had 
been cast into prison, it is probable, as I have 
endeavoured to show in the notes to the 10th 
part of this Arrangement, that all the apostles 
left Jerusalem, and John among the number. 
He was present however at the council in that 
city, and there could not have been time, during 
that short interval, for the establishment of the 
Churches in Asia, which are said to have 
acknowledged him as their founder. It seems 
probable that he continued either in Jerusalem, 
or within the precincts of Palestine, tUl the 
destruction of the city. Throughout that part 
of the Acts of the Apostles which relates the 
travels of St Paul, St John is not once men- 
tioned ; and no salutation is sent to him in 
any of the Epistles which St. Paul wrote 
from Rome to the Churches of Asia ; not even 
in his Epistle to the Ephesians, nor in the 
Epistles which, in the latter part of his life, 
he wrote to Timothy in Ephesus. I agree 
therefore with the opinion of ilacknight and 
others, that John probably remained in Judssa 
tiU he saw Jerusalem encompassed with armies, 
and obser\'ed the other signs of its approaching 
ruin, foretold by his Divine Master. Lampe 
(Prolegomena to St John's Gospel, lib. i. cap. 
3.) is of the same opinion, and fixes the time of 
his departure m the last year of Nero: in 
which he is confirmed by the Chronicon Pas- 
chale. During the whole of this period he 
would have conversed in his native language, 
among his own people : neither can we assign 
any reason for his adopting the Greek language, 
or for cultivating it with peculiar attention at 
this period. Baronius and Dr. Lardner would 
place the retirement of the Apostle from Judsea 
after the martyrdom of St. Paul and St. Peter ; 
this would make a difference of a few years 
only. 

A more important question is, whether St. 
John lived exclusively among the Greek cities 
of Asia, in the interval between the overthrow 
of Jerusalem, and his banishment to Patmos iuL 
the last year of Domitian. This cannot be 
satisfactorily decided. The learned Mill places 



420* 



NOTES OxN THE EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN. 



[Part XV 



some dependence upon the tradition, that this 
Apostle travelled into Parthia and India. His 
First Epistle was called by Augustine, the 
Epistle to the Parthians ; and the Jesuits' 
Letters, cited by Baronius, affirm that the people 
of a town in India believed the Gospel to have 
been preached there by St. John ; and the same 
is asserted, as I find in a note in Lampe, by the 
people of a town in Arabia. It is not probable 
that he would immediately establish himself at 
Ephesus ; as Timothy, who is generally declared 
by the ecclesiastical historians to have been 
bishop of that place, was probably still alive. 
Others, whose opinion is strongly condemned 
by Lampe, have been of opinion that St. John 
did not take up his residence at Ephesus till 
near the end of the reign of Domitian. This 
opinion seems to be most supported by the 
little remaining evidence which can enable us 
to come to any decision on a point so obscure. 
The apostles were commanded to preach 
throughout the world ; and they would probably 
have adopted that plan, which they are said to 
have done, that each should take his peculiar 
district, and to that direct his attention. As part 
at least of Asia Minor had been placed under the 
care of Timothy, it is not unlikely that St. John 
would have travelled to other parts of the East 
before he came to Ephesus, to reside there. The 
course of his travels might have been from the 
east of Judaea to Parthia, and round from thence 
to India, and returning by Arabia to Asia, he 
there preached, and founded the Churches of 
Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadel- 
phia, Laodicea, and others. These he might 
have established at the conclusion of his route. 
In Parthia, India, and Arabia, he would not 
have required the Greek language, and during 
the short period which elapsed between his 
arrival in Asia, and his banishment at the latter 
end of the reign of Domitian, he would have 
been more likely to have acquired that kind of 
language which we find in tlie Apocalypse, 
than the more polished style of the Epistles 
and the Gospel. The former shows less ac- 
quaintance with the language than the latter ; 
and the fact is fully accounted for, if we sup- 
pose that the Apostle, when he wrote the Apoc- 
alypse, had not had so frequent intercourse 
with the people, as at a subsequent period ; and 
this course of his travels explains the causes of 
this fact. 

If we may thus decide respecting the travels 
of St. John after the destruction of Jerusalem, 
we reconcile many of the various traditions of 
antiquity, and account for the difference be- 
tween the language of the Apocalypse and the 
other writings of the Apostle. I have taken 
no notice of the journey which Eusebius tells 
us he took again to Palestine, after the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem. 

Lampe considers it as very uncertain, and 
there is no corroborating authority to support 



it. Neither can we venture to assert the truth 
of the story, that the Apostle went to Rome 
towards the end of the reign of Domitian, and 
was there cast into a caldron of boiling oil. 
That he was sent to the island of Patmos, and 
there wrote the Apocalypse, cannot be doubted ; 
and the arguments of Lampe confirm the gen- 
eral opinion, that he was banished to that 
island in the fifteenth year of the reign of 
Domitian, and not of Claudius ; and was recalled 
soon after in the reign of Nerva. 

The uniform tradition of antiquity assures 
us, that the Apostle returned to Ephesus after 
the termination of his banishment to Patmos, 
and continued there till his death, in the third 
year of Trajan, and probably in the hundredth 
year of his own age. After his return from 
Patmos, he resided constantly at Ephesus, and 
spoke, as we may justly conclude, the Greek 
language only. This practice would have 
given him a fluency and knowledge of that 
tongue to a greater degree than when he was 
at Jerusalem, or associating with the people 
of various countries ; and it will sufficiently 
explain the reasons why the style of the 
Epistles should so much resemble that of the 
Gospel of St. John, which was undoubtedly 
the last of the inspired books which was added 
to the canon of Scripture. Thus in his Gospel 
St. John does not content himself with simply 
affirming or denying a thing, but denies its con- 
trary to strengthen his affirmation ; and in like 
manner, to strengthen his denial of a thing, he 
affirms its contrary. (See John i. 20. iii. 36. v. 
24. and vi. 22.) The same manner of express- 
ing things strongly occurs in this Epistle. (See 
chap. ii. 4, 27. and iv. 2, 3.) In his Gospel also, 
St. John frequently uses the pronoun, oinog, 
avTt], TovTO, this, in order to express things 
emphatically. (See chap. i. 19. iii. 19. vi. 29, 
40, 50. and xvii. 3.) In the Epistle the same 
emphatical mode of expression obtains. (Com- 
pare chap. i. 5. ii. 25. iii. 23. v. 3, 4, 6, and 14.) 

It does not therefore appear to me improb- 
able, that these Epistles were written as late 
as the year 95 or 96, towards the very close of 
the apostolic age. 

As this opinion is by no means generally 
adopted, it will be necessary to take some 
notice of the arguments by which Dr. Hales, 
Mr. Home, and other learned divines, would 
assign an earlier date to this Epistle. 

The expression in chap. ii. 18., " It is the 
last hour," is said to be more applicable to 
the last hour of time of the duration of the 
Jewish state than to any later period, especially 
as the Apostle adds — " And as ye have heard 
that antichrist is coming, even so now there 
have been many antichrists ; whence we know 
that it is the last hour:" in which passage the 
Apostle evidently alludes to our Lord's predic- 
tion concerning the springing up of false 
Christs, false teachers, and false prophets, 



Note 37.] 



ON THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 



*421 



before the destruction of Jerusalem, (Matt. 
xxiv. 5-25.) The expression, however, the 
" last time" may allude, not to the destruction 
of that city, but to the close of the apostolic 
age. Michaelis would support this argument 
for the early date of this Epistle, by observing 
that St John's Gospel was opposed to heretics, 
who maintained the same opinions as are 
opposed in this Epistle ; -which tenets he has 
confuted by argument in his Gospel ; whereas 
in the Epistle he expresses only his disappro- 
bation. Michaelis therefore concludes that the 
Epistle was written before the Gospel ; because 
if St. John had already given a complete con- 
futation when he wrote this Epistle, he would 
have thought it unnecessary to have again 
declared the falsehood of such opinions. This 
opinion of Michaelis appears to be correct ; but 
the date of the Epistle is not ascertained by 
its having been written before the Gospel. 

Again, the expression (chap. ii. 13, 14.), " Ye 
have known him from the beginning," applies, 
it is said, better to the disciples, immediately 
before Jerusalem was destroyed, than to the 
few who might have been alive at the late date 
■which some critics assign to this epistle. In the 
verses just cited, the fathers or elders are twice 
distinguished from the " young men" and the 
" children," by this circumstance, that they had 
seen him during his ministry, or after his resur- 
rection. Thirty-five years after our Lord's 
resurrection and ascension, when Jerusalem was 
destroyed, many such persons might have been 
alive ; whereas in 98, or even in 92, tliere could 
not have been many persons alive of that de- 
scription — In reply to this argument we may 
observe, that some of those who had seen the 
miracles of our Lord, might have taken refuge 
with St. John at Ephesus. 

To these two arguments for the early date 
of St. John's First Epistle, Dr. Hales has added 
the three following, which have not been noticed 
by any other biblical critic : — 

1. As the other apostles James, Jude, Paul, 
and Peter, had written Catholic epistles to the 
Hebrew Christians especiall}^ it is likely, that 
one of the principal '■'■pillars of the church," the 
greatest surety of the mother Church, the most 
highly-gifted and illuminated of all the apostles 
of the circumcision, and the beloved disciple, 
would not be deficient likewise in this labor of 
love. — This is true ; but the labors of these 
apostles might have been the very cause why 
St. John should delay writing. 

2. Nothing could tend so strongly to estab- 
lish the faith of the early Jewish converts as the 
remarkable circumstances of our Lord's cruci- 
fixion, exhibiting the accomplishment of the 
ancient types and prophecies of the Old Testa- 
ment respecting Christ's passion, or sufferings 
in the flesh. These St. John alone could record, 
as he was the only eyewitness of that last 
solemn scene among the apostles. To these, 

roL, II. 



therefore, he alludes in the exordium, as well as 
to the circumstances of our Lord's appearances 
after the resurrection ; and to tliese he again 
recalls their attention in that remarkable refer- 
ence to " the tvater" at his baptism ; to " the 
ivater and Mood'" at his passion, and to the dis- 
missal of " his spirit" when he commended it 
to his Father, and expired, (chap. v. 5-9.) — This 
argument really appears to be but of little 
weight ; the early converts had the other Gos- 
pels in their hands ; and there does not seem to 
have been any necessity for St. John's writing 
ten or twenty years earlier. 

3. The parallel testimony in the Gospel 
(John xix. 35-37.) bears witness also to the 
priority of the Epistle, in the expression, " He 
that saw hath testified" {ueuuQTvgjjy.e), intimat- 
ing that he had delivered this testimony to the 
world already ; for if now, for the first time, it 
should rather be expressed by the present tense 
/.inoTvoeT, " testifieth." And this is strongly 
confirmed by the Apostle's same expression, 
after giving his evidence in the Epistle, " This 
is the testimony of God, which he hath testified 
{^uffinoTvQrjy.s) concerning his Son," (ver. 9.), 
referring to the past transaction, as fulfilling 
prophecy. — It is acknowledged that the Epistle 
was written first : but this does not settle the date. 

" Though this composition is called an Epistle, 
nothing is to be found in it," Bishop Horsley 
has observed, " of the epistolary form. It is not 
inscribed to any individual, like St. Paul's to 
Timothy and Titus, or the second of the two 
which follow it, ' to the well-beloved Gains' — 
nor to any particular Church, like St. Paul's to 
the Churches of Rome, Corintb, Ephesus, and 
others — nor to the faithful of any particular 
region, like St. Peter's First Epistle to ' the 
strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, 
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, nor to any 
principal branch of the Christian Church, like 
St. Paul's to the Hebrews — nor to the Christian 
Church in general, like the Second of St. Peter, 
' to them that had obtained like precious faith 
with him,' and like St. Jude's ' to them that are 
sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in 
Jesus Christ, and called.' It bears no such in- 
scription : it begins without salutation, and ends 
without benediction. It is true, the writer some- 
times speaks, but without naming himself in the 
first person — and addresses his reader without 
naming him in the second. But this colloquial 
style is very common in all writings of a plain 
familiar cast : instances of it occur in St John's 
Gospel ; and it is by no means a distinguishing 
character of epistolary composition. It should 
seem that this book hath for no other reason ac- 
quired the title of an Epistle, but that in the first 
formation of the canon of the New Testament it 
was put into the same volume with the didactic 
writings of the apostles, which, with this single 
exception, are all in tlie epistolary form. It is 
indeed a didactic discourse upon the principles 



422* 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN. 



[Part XV 



of Christianity, both in doctrine and practice ; 
and whether we consider the sublimity of its 
opening with the fundamental topics of God's 
perfections, man's depravity, and Christ's pro- 
pitiation — the perspicuity with which it pro- 
pounds the deepest mysteries of our holy faith, 
and the evidence of the proof which it brings to 
confirm them ; whether we consider the sanctity 
of its precepts, and the energy of argument 
with which they are enforced — the dignified 
simplicity of language in which both doctrine 
and precept are delivered ; whether we regard 
the importance of the matter, the propriety of 
the style, or the general spirit of ardent piety 
and warm benevolence, united with a fervid zeal, 
which breathes tliroughout the whole compo- 
sition — we shall find it in every respect worthy 
of the holy author to whom the constant tradition 
of the Church ascribes it, ' the disciple whom 
Jesus loved.' " 

Admirable as these observations of Bishop 
Horsley are, this eminent theologian has omitted 
to observe, that the solemn and yet affectionate 
charges it contains to mutual love and charity 
seem more especially to constitute this compo- 
sition what it is generally called, a Catholic 
Epistle. It may be considered as the last advice 
of the surviving Apostle, enforcing the dying 
injunctions of his and our Divine Master. It is 
limited to no nation — it is equally addressed 
and is equally suitable to all manldnd, that they 
love one another It is the precept which, if 
observed, will ever be the criterion by which 
the true Christian will be distinguished, without 
which, faith, and hope, and profession and prac- 
tice, will be incomplete and unavailing 



Note 38.— Part XV. 

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE SECOND AND THIRD 
EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN. 

The Second and Third Epistles of John may 
be regarded as an epitome of the First Epistle, 
containing very little which is not to be found 
in the former. 

The thoughts and style of both are so similar 
to those of the First Epistle, that almost all 
critics attribute them to St. John ; and suppose 
in all probability they were written about the 
same time as that Epistle. Various reasons 
have been assigned to account for the doubts 
entertained of Iheir authenticity by the prim- 
itive Church. Michaelis thinks they originated 
from the address, in which the author neither 
calls himself John, nor assumes the title of 
an Apostle, but simply names himself " the el- 
der" (6 7TQecr6vTegog): which title the Apostle 
John might with great propriety assume, as, by 
reason of his great age, he was probably the 
only remaining Apostle. It is however most 



probable, that, being letters to private persons 
they had been kept by the descendants of the 
families to whom they were written, and were not 
discovered till long after the Apostle's decease. 
In which case, on their first discovery, all the 
immediate vouchers for their genuineness must 
have departed this life ; and the Church of 
Christ, vigilantly on its guard against imposture, 
hesitated to receive them into the number of 
canonical Scriptures, until it was fully ascer- 
tained that tliey were divinely inspired. 

The Second Epistle is citad by Irenseus, and 
received by Clemens of Alexandria. Origen 
mentions all three Epistles, and remarks that 
the Second and Third were not allowed to be 
genuine by all persons. Dionysius, bishop of 
Alexandria, speaks of them as being ascribed 
to St. John. The Second Epistle was quoted 
by Alexander, bishop of Alexandria ; and the 
three Epistles were received by Athanasius, 
by Cyril of Jerusalem, by Epiphanius, by 
Jerome, by Ruffinus, and all those writers who 
received the same canon of the New Testa- 
ment that we do. 

Commentators are greatly divided respecting 
the person to whom the Second Epistle is 
addressed. Some suppose it to have been writ- 
ten to an individual, others to some particular 
Church. 

Archbishop Newcome, Wakefield, Macknight, 
and the translators of our authorized version, 
make iy-XcKifi to be an adjective, and render 
the inscription " to the elect (or excellent, or 
chosen) Lady ;" the Vulgate version, Clemens 
of Alexandria, Calmet, Wolf, and Wetstein, 
consider iy-lexiii to be a proper name, and trans- 
late it, "To the Lady Eclecta;" Schleusner, 
Rosenmiiller, and Benson, take Kvgtu to be a 
proper name, and the Epistle to be addressed 
to Kyria the Elect Michaelis supposes 
Kv^ta to be an ellipsis o? Kvgla ' Exuhjala, 
which, among the ancient Greeks, signified an 
assembly of the people held at a stated time, 
and was held at Athens three times in every 
month; and that, since the sacred writers 
adopted the term 'Exxlr]ata, from its civil use 
among the Greeks, KvqUx 'EKxXrjaia might here 
mean the stated assembly of the Christians, 
held every Sunday ; and thus rij ^yley.Tf^ y.vqla, 
vfiXh iy.y.lrjaiq, understood, would signify, " To 
the elect Church or Community which comes 
together on Sundays." He acknowledges, 
however, at the same time, that he cannot pro- 
duce any instance of such ellipsis. Of these 
various hypotheses, that of Beza, which estab- 
lishes the authorized translation, appears the 
most probable. He observes, in his note on 
the inscription, " Some think Eclecta a proper 
name, which I do not approve, because in that 
case the order of the words would have been 
Kvqlq. 'Exlexiri, ' to the Lady Eclecta.' Others 
think this name denotes the Christian Church 
in general. But that is disproved, first, by its 



Note 39.] ON THE SECOND AND THIRD EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN. 



*423 



beinCT a manner of speaking altogether unusual ; 
secondly, by the Apostle's expressly promising, 
in the two last verses, to come to her and her 
children ; thirdly, by sending to her the salu- 
tation of her sister, whom he also calls Eclecta. 
I therefore think this Epistle was inscribed to 
a woman of eminence, of whom there were 
some here and there, who supported the Church 
witli their wealth, and that he called her Elect, 
that is, excellent, and gave her the title of 
Kvgla, 'Lady,' just as St. Luke gave to Theo- 
phdus, and St. Paul gave to Festus, the title of 
KouTtaToz, ' Most excellent' For the Chris- 
tian religion doth not forbid such honorable 
titles to be given when they are due." 

Macknight thinks this Epistle was written to 
confute the errors of BasHides, which were 
propagated by his followers, in the latter end of 
the first century. These false teachers affirmed, 
that Christ was a man in appearance only, conse- 
quently that his death and sufferings were not 
real, but only in appearance. Therefore, as this 
doctrine concerning the person of Christ did away 
entirely with his atonement and vicarious sac- 
rifice, John particularly cautions this lady and 
her children against receiving into her house 
those teachers who taught it (ver. 7.), that they 
might not be exposed to their licentiousness, 
or the danger of being deceived by them, or 
assist them in spreading their errors. It is 
uncertain where this lady lived — but as the 
Apostle mentions his intention of visiting her 
soon, it is conjectured she resided near Ephe- 
sus, from which place this letter was written. 
Some suppose the Elect Lady was deaconess 
of some Church, at whose house it is probable 
the apostles and evangelists were hospitably 
provided for and accommodated, in their differ- 
ent journeys. 



Note 39.— Part XV. 

ox THE THIRD EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 

This Third Epistle of St. John is supposed 
to be addressed to a converted Gentile. In the 
history of the Acts, and in the Epistles, five 
persons of tliis name are mentioned — A Gaius 
of Macedonia (Acts xix. 29.) ; a Gaius of Derbe, 
a city of Lycaonia, or Isauria (Acts xx. 4.) : a 
Gaius who was St Paul's host at Corinth (Rom. 
xvi. 23.) ; a Gaius whom this Apostle baptized 
at Corinth (1 Cor. i. 14.), supposed to have been 
the same as the preceding ; and the Gaius to 
whom this Epistle is inscribed, who is by some 
considered to have been a convert of the Apostle 
John, as he numbers him among his children ; 
and therefore a different person from the others 
mentioned of the same name. The majority of 
modem commentators, however, are of opinion, 
that the Epistle was more probably written to 



the Gaius of Corinth, who was conspicuous for 
his hospitality and kindness to the preachers of 
the Gospel. But it is impossible at this time 
to distinguish with any degree of certainty 
between these indiriduals. Commentators are 
also equally divided as to the character and 
official situation of Diotrephes. Bede and Eras- 
mus, with Michaelis, suppose him to have been 
the founder of a new sect But Lamy obsen-es 
this is not probable ; for had he preached false 
doctrines, St John would certainly have cau- 
tioned Gaius and the Church against them. 
Grotius, Le Clerc, and Beausobre conjecture, 
that Diotrephes refused to receive (being a 
Gentile convert) Jewish Christians. Heuman 
thought he was a deacon. Lardner, with many 
others, imagines him to have been a bishop, who 
desired to rule every thing in his Chureh ac- 
cording to his own pleasure ; and that he re- 
strained the deacons from employing any part 
of the funds of the Church in reheving the 
brethren and strangers, casting them out of the 
Church if they persisted in entertaining or 
relieving them. Likewise, from ver. 9., where 
St John appears to assert he had written to the 
Church, and insinuates that Diotrephes would 
not acknowledge his apostolical authority, hav- 
ing assumed a preeminence of episcopal power, 
he had suppressed his letter, and had prevented 
it from being read, according to the usual man- 
ner, in the public assemblies, for the direction 
and instruction of the people. On which 
account with the additional consideration of his 
persecuting conduct, it is more probable that 
John wrote this Epistle to Gaius after the 
brethren had informed him of the letter, and of 
the hospitality and kindness of Gaius. From 
these arguments it is reasonable to suppose, 
that he was either a turbulent and ambitious 
elder, or bishop of the Church of which Gaius 
was a member ; and that, heing a converted 
Jew, he violently opposed the admission of the 
GentUes, and became the leading opponent of 
the apostles. 

Commentators also differ much in their opin- 
ions concerning the brethren and strangers 
mentioned ver. 5. It is generally supposed, 
from the circumstance of their having praised 
the liberality of Gaius, in the presence of the 
Church, that they were the rulers of that Church 
over which John was supposed to preside, which 
was the Church of Ephesus. And as this 
Apostle desired Gaius to assist and forward 
them on their journey (ver. 6.), that they were 
going out a second time to the Gentiles. The 
strangers likewise are variously described — 
Grotius and Lampe think them believing Jews, 
driven out of Palestine by their unbelieving 
brethren, or by the calamities of the Jewish 
war. Benson, with many others, considers 
them GentUe converts, whom Diotrephes re- 
fused to receive, because they did not observe 
the rites of the Mosaic Law. He is led to this 



424* 



NOTES ON THE EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN. 



[Part XV, 



conclusion from the recorded fact, that Diotre- 
phes did not acknowledge the authority and 
apostleship of St. John (ver. 9.) ; and he thinks 
that none but the Judaizing teachers denied the 
authority of the apostles. 

Macknight says, with respect to the stran- 
gers, without determining in this place whether 
they were expelled from their native country 
for the faith and profession of the holy name of 
Christ (which was the opinion of Heuman) or 
not — " I suppose that having come to the place 
where the brethren, of whom the Apostle speaks, 
dwelled, they joined tliem in their journey ; 
which I think was undertaken for the sake of 
preaching Christ to the Gentiles. If I am right 
in this conjecture, the strangers as well as the 
brethren were preachers, as above observed. 
For, if they were only persons in want, it was 
no commendation of them ' that they went forth 
taking nothing of the Gentiles ;' because stand- 
ing in need of alms, it was their duty not only 
to receive, but even to ask alms for the support 
of their life from the unbelieving Gentiles ; 
especially as in many places there may have 
been no Christians to whom they could apply 
for relief: whereas, if they were preachers, they 
were greatly to be praised, when, in imitation 
of the Apostle St. Paul, they supported them- 
selves by their own labor, and took nothing from 
their Gentile converts on the score of main- 
tenance, lest it might have marred the success 
of their preaching. In short, if these brethren 



and strangers had not been preachers, the 
Apostle could not with propriety have said (ver. 
8.) ' We thei-efore ought to receive such, that 
we may be joint laborers in the truth.' For the 
terms 'laborers' and 'joint laborers' are always, 
in apostolical writings, applied to preachers of 
the Gospel, or to those who in some way or 
other assisted the preachers of the Gospel. 
These things Lardner did not attend to, when 
he said, ' I see nothing that should lead us to 
think preachers are spoken of, but only persons 
in want.' " 

Benson and Rosenmliller agree in supposing 
Demetrius to have been one of the brethren 
mentioned in this Epistle, who went forth to 
preach to the Gentiles, and that he was the 
particular bearer of this letter. This opinion 
appears more probable than that which main- 
tains that he held some sacred office in the 
Church of which Gaius was a member, for had 
that been the case, it would have been unneces- 
sary to have mentioned his piety and exemplary 
conduct to the good and hospitable Gaius. 

The authenticity of the Third Epistle of St. 
John has been discussed in the preface to the 
Second. There is reason to suppose they were 
both written about the same time, at Ephesus, 
over which Church John is thought to have 
presided, when he was eminent for his great 
age ; and that they were received at the same 
time into the Sacred Canon. 



END OF THE NOTES. 



M25 



INDEX THE FIRST. 



PART I. 

From the Birth of Christ to the Temptation. 



II. 

in. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 



X 

XI 

XII 



XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 
XVIII. 



XIX, 



CONTENTS. 



XX. 



General Preface. 

The Divinity, Humanity, and Office of 

Christ. 
Birth of John the Baptist. 
The Annunciation. 

Interview between Mary and Elisabeth. 
Birth and Naming of John the Baptist. 
An Angel appears to Joseph. 
Birth of Christ at Bethlehem. 
The Genealogies of Christ. 



The Angels appear to the Shepherds. 

The Circumcision. 

The Purification — Presentation of Christ 
in the Temple, where he is acknowl- 
edged by Simeon and Anna. 

The Offering of the Magi. 

The Flight into Egypt. 

Slaughter of the Children at Bethlehem. 

Joseph returns from Egypt. 

History of Christ at the age of 12 years. 
Commencement of the Ministry of John 
the Baptist. 



The Baptism of Christ. 



The Temptation of Christ. 



SCRIPTURE. 



Mark i. 1. 
Luke i. 1-4. 
John i. 1-18. 

Luke i. 5-25. 
Luke i. 26-38. 
Luke i. 39-56. 
Luke i. 57, to end. 
Matt. i. 18-25. 
Luke ii. 1-7. 
Matt. i. 1-17. 
Luke iii. 23, to the 

end. 
Luke ii. 8-20. 
Luke ii. 21. 
Luke ii. 22-39. 



Matt. ii. 1-12. 
Matt. ii. 13-15. 
Matt. ii. 16-18. 
Matt. ii. 19, to end. 
Luke ii. 40. 
Luke ii. 41, to end. 
Matt. iii. 1-12. 
Mark i. 2-8. 
Luke iii. 1-18. 
Matt. iii. 13,to end. 
Mark i. 9-11. 
Luke iii. 21, 22, 

and part of 23. 
Matt. iv. 1-11. 
Mark i. 12, 13. 
Luke iv. 1-13. 



PLACE. 


Be. 
V. 
jE. 


Julian 
Period 


Jerusalem. 


6 


4708 


Nazareth. 


5 


4709 


Hebron. 


•• 


.... 


Nazareth. 






Bethlehem. 






Jerusalem. 


, , 




Temple of 
Jerusalem. 







Bethlehem. 






Egypt. 
Bethlehem. 


V. 

.E. 





Nazareth. 


3 


47ii 


Jerusalem. 


7 


4720 


The Wilder- 


26 


4739 


ness of Ju- 






deea. 






Bethabara, 




• > . • 


where the 






ark had 






rested. 






The Wilder- 




.... 


ness. 







47 

47 

48 
49 
49 
50 
51 
51 
51 



57 



57 



PART II. 

From the Temptation of Christ to the Commencement of his more public Ministry/ after 

the Imprisonment of John. 



I. Further Testimony of John the Baptist. 
II. Christ obtains his first Disciples from 
John. 

III. Marriage at Cana, in Galilee. 

IV. Christ goes down to Capernaum, and 
continues there some short time. 

The Buyers and Sellers driven from the 
Temple. 

VI. Conversation of Christ with Nicodemus. 
VII. John's last Testimony to Christ. 
VIII. Imprisonment of John the Baptist. 



VOL. u. *54 



the 



John i. 19-34. 
John i. 35, to 

end. 
John ii. 1-11. 
John ii. 12. 



John ii. 13, to the 

end. 
John iii, 1-21. 
John iii. 22, to end. 
Matt. xiv. 3-5. 
Mark vi. 17-20. 
Luke iii. 19, 20. 



Bethabara. 


26 


4739 


Cana. 
Capernaum. 

Temple of 

Jerusalem. 
Jerusalem. 
Judsea. 


27 


4740 









59 
59 

60 
60 

60 

61 

62 
62 



"Jl" 



426* 



INDEX THE FIRST, 



PART III. 


From the Commencement of the more public Ministry of Christ to the Mission of the 


twelve Apostles. 


SECTION. 


CONTENTS. 


SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE. 


V. 

27 


Julian 
Period 

4740 


Page. 
63 


I. 


General Introduction to the History of 


Matt. iv. 12-17. 


Judaea. 




Christ's more public Ministry. 


Mark i. 14, 15. 
Luke iv. 14, 15. 










II. 


Christ's Conversation with the Woman 
of Samaria. 


John iv. 1-42. 


Samaria. 


•• 


.... 


63 


in. 


Second Miracle at Cana in Galilee. 


Johniv. 43, to end. 


Cana. 







65 


IV. 


First public Preaching of Christ in the 
Synagogue at Nazareth, and his Dan- 
ger there. 


Luke iv. 16-30. 


Nazareth. 




.... 


65 


V. 


Christ sojourns at Capernaum. 


Luke iv. 31, 32. 


Capernaum. 




.... 


66 


VI. 


The miraculous Draught of Fishes, and 
the Calling of Andrew and Peter, James 
and John. 


Matt. iv. 18-22. 
Marki. 16-20. 
Luke v. 1-lL 


Sea of Gali- 
lee. 




.... 


66 


VII. 


The Demoniac healed at Capernaum. 


Mark i. 21-28. 
Luke iv. 33-37. 


Capernaum. 







67 


VIII. 


Peter's Mother-in-law cured of a Fever. 


Matt. viii. 14, 15. 
Mark i. 29-31. 
Luke iv. 38, 39. 






.... 


67 


IX. 


Christ teaches, and performs Miracles 
and Cures throughout Galilee. 


Matt. iv. 23-25. 

viii. 16, 17. 
Mark i. 32-39. 
Luke iv. 40, to end. 


Galilee. 






68 


X. 


Christ cures a Leper. 


Matt. viii. 2-4. 








69 






Mark i. 40, to end. 














Luke V. 12-16. 










XI. 


The Paralytic cured ; and the Power of 

Christ to forgive Sins asserted. 


Matt. ix. 2-8. 
Mark ii. 1-12. 
Luke V. 17-26. 


Capernaum. 




.... 


69 


XII. 


The Calling of Matthew. 


Matt. ix. 9. 








70 






Mark ii. 13, 14. 
Luke V. 27, 28. 










XIII. 


The infirm Man healed at the Pool of 
Bethesda. 


John V. 1-15. 


Jerusalem. 






71 


XIV. 


Christ vindicates the Miracle, and asserts 
the Dignity of his OfRce. 


John V. \Q,toend. 








71 








XV. 


Christ defends his Disciples for plucking 
the Ears of Corn on the Sabbath day. 


Matf. xii. 1-8. 
Mark ii. 23, to end. 
Luke vi. 1-5. 


In a Pro- 
gress. 




.... 


72 


XVI. 


Christ heals the withered Hand. 


Matt. xii. 9-14. 






.... 


73 






Mark iii. 1-6. 














Luke vi. 6-11. 










XVII. 


Christ is followed by great Multitudes, 
whose Diseases he heals. 


Matt. xii. 15-21. 
Mark iii. 7-12. 









74 


XVIII. 


Preparation for tlie Sermon on the Mount 
— Election of the Twelve Apostles. 


Mark iii. 13-19. 
Luke vi. 12-19. 


Galilee. 







74 


XIX. 


The Sermon on the Mount. 


Matt. V. vi. vii. 








75 


and viii. 1. 














Luke vi. 20, to end. 










XX. 


The Centurion's Servant healed. 


Matt. viii. 5-13. 
Luke vii. 1-10. 


Capernaum. 







80 


XXI. 


The Widow's Son at Nain is raised to life. 


Luke vii. 11-18. 


Nain. 




.... 


81 


XXII. 


Message from John, who was still in 
Prison, to Christ. 


Matt. xi. 2-6. 
Luke vii. 19-23. 


On a Tour. 







81 


XXIII. 


Christ's Testimony concerning John. 


Matt. xi. 7-15. 








82 


Luke vii. 24-30. 










XXIV. 


Christ reproaches the Jews for their Im- 
penitence and Insensibility. 


Matt. xi. 16-24. 








82 


Luke vii. 31-35. 










XXV. 
XXVI. 


Christ invites all to come to hirn. 
Christ forgives the Sins of a female Peni- 
tent, at the House of a Pharisee. 


Matt. xi. 25, to end. 








83 


Luke vii. 36, to the 








83 


end. 










XXVII. 


Christ preaches again throughout Galilee. 


Luke viii. 1-3. 


Galilee. 




.... 


84 


XXVIII. 


Christ cures a Demoniac — Conduct of the 
Scribes and Pharisees. 


Matt. xii. 22-45. 
Mark iii. 19-30. 
Luke xi. 14-28. 


Capernaum. 




.... 


84 


XXIX. 


Christ declares his faithful Disciples to be 
his real Kindred. 


Matt. xii. 46, to the 








86 


end. 














Mark iii. 31, to end. 














Luke viii. 19-21. 











INDEX THE FIRST. 



*427 



XXX 
XXXI. 

XXXII. 

XXXIII. 

XXXIV. 

XXXV. 

XXXVI. 

XXXVII. 

XXXVIII. 



XXXIX. 

XL. 

XLI. 



XLII. 



CONTENTS. 



Parable of the Sower. 

Reasons for teaching by Parables. 

Explanation of the Parable of the Sower 



Christ directs his Hearers to practise what 

they hear. 
Various Parables descriptive of Christ's 

Kingdom. 
Christ crosses the Sea of Galilee, and 

calms the Tempest. 

Christ heals the Gadarene Demoniac. 



Christ dines with Matthew. 



Jairus' Daughter is healed, and the infirm 
Woman. 



Christ restores two blind Men to Sight. 
Christ casts out a dumb Spirit. 
Christ returns to Nazareth, and is again 
ill-treated there. 

Christ preaches again throughout Galilee. 



SCKIPTURE. 



Matt. xiii. 1-9. 
Mark iy. 1-9. 
Luke viii. 4-8. 
Matt. xiii. 10-17. 
Mark iv. 10-12. 
Luke viii. 9, 10. 
Matt. xiii. 18-23. 
Mark iv. 13-23. 
Luke viii. pari of 

ver. 9,and\\-\7. 
Mark iv. 24, 25. 
Luke viii. 18. 
Matt. xiii. 24-53. 
Mark iv. 2(5-34. 
Matt. viii. 18-27. 
Mark iv. 35, io end. 
Luke viii. 22-25. 
Malt.viii.28,foe7i(Z. 
Mark v. 1-20. 
Luke viii. 26-40. 
Matt. ix. 10-17. 
Markii. 15-22. 
Luke V. 29, to end. 
Matt. ix. 1,18-26. 
Mark V. 21, to end. 
Luke viii. 40, to 

the end. 
Matt. ix. 27-31. 
Matt. ix. 32-34. 
Matt. xiii. 54, to 

the end. 
Mark vi. 1-6. 
Matt. ix. 35, to the 

end. 



Galilee. 



Sea of Gali- 
lee. 

Gadara. 
Capernaum. 



On a Tour. 
Nazareth. 

Galilee. 



27 



28 



Julian 
Period 



4740 



Proba- 
bly 

early 
in the 

year 

4741 



86 

87 



89 
89 
91 

92 

93 

94 



96 
96 

97 



97 



PART IV. 



From the Mission of the Twelve Apostles to the Mission of the Seventy. 



I. 

II. 
III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 
XL 



Christ's Mission of the Twelve Apostles. 



Death of John the Baptist — Herod de- 
sires to see Christ. 

The Twelve return, and Jesus retires 
with them to the Desert of Bethsaida. 



Five thousand are fed miraculously. 



Christ sends the Multitude away, and 
prays alone. 

Christ walks on the Sea to his Disciples, 
who are overtaken with a Storm. 

Christ heals many People. 

Christ teaches in the Synagogue of Ca- 
pernaum — his Conversation there. 

Christ converses with the Scribes and 
Pharisees on the subject of Jewish Tra- 
ditions. 

Christ heals the Daughter of the Ca- 
naanite, or Syro-Phcenician Woman. 

Christ goes through Decapolis, healing 
and teaching. 



Matt. X. and xi. 1. 
Mark vi. 7-13. 
Luke ix. 1-6. 
Matt. xiv. 1-12. 
Mark vi. 14-29. 
Luke ix. 7-9. 
Matt. xiv. 13, 14. 
Mark vi. 30-34. 
Luke ix. 10, 11. 
John vi. 1,2. 
Matt. xiv. 15-21. 
Mark vi. 35-44. 
Luke ix. 12-17. 
John vi. 3-14. 
Matt. xiv. 22, 23. 
Mark vi. 45, 46. 
John vi. 15. 
Matt. xiv. 24-33. 
Mark vi. 47-52. 
Johnvi. 16-21. 
Matt. xiv. 34-36. 
Mark vi. 53, to e«(Z. 
John vi. 22, to the 
end, and vii. 1. 
Matt. XV. 1-20. 
Mark vii. 1-23. 

Matt. XV. 21-28. 
Mark vii. 24-30. 
Matt. XV. 29-31. 
Mark vii. 31, to 
the end. 



Probably in 
Galilee. 



Desert of 
Bethsaida. 



On the way 
to Jerusa- 
lem. 

Probably 
near Jeru- 
salem 

Galilee. 



Capernaum. 

Tyre. 
Decapolis. 



28 



4741 



97 

99 

101 

101 

102 

103 

103 
104 
105 

107 
108 



428* 



INDEX THE FIRST, 



SECTION. 


CONTENTS. 


SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE. 


V. 

.as. 
28 


Julian 
Period 

4741 


Page. 
108 


XII. 


Four thousand Men are fed miracu- 


Matt. XV. 32, to 


On a Mount 




lously. 


the end 
Mark viii. 1-10. 


by the Sea 
of Galilee. 








XIII. 


The Pharisees require other Signs — 
Christ charges them with Hypocrisy. 


Matt. xvi. 1-12. 
Mark viii. 11-21. 


Magdala. 


■• 





109 


XIV. 


Christ heals a blind Man at Bethsaida. 


Mark viii. 22-26. 


Bethsaida. 




■ • • . 


110 


XV. 


Peter confesses Christ to be the Messiah. 


Matt. xvi. 13-20. 
Mark viii. 27-30. 
Luke ix. 18-21. 


CsBsarea- 
Philippi. 


•• 


.... 


no 


XVI. 


Christ astonishes the Disciples by de- 
claring the Necessity of his Death and 
Resurrection. 


Matt. xvi. 21, to 

the end. 
Mark viii. 31, to 

end, and ix. 1. 
Luke ix. 22-27. 


Galilee. 






no 


XVII. 


The Transfiguration of Christ. 


Matt. xvii. 1-13. 








in 




Mark ix. 2-13. 














Luke ix. 28-36. 










XVIII. 


The Deaf and Dumb Spirit cast out. 


Matt. xvii. 14-21. 








113 




Mark ix. 14-29. 














Luke ix. 37-42, 










' 




and part of 43. 










XIX. 


Christ again foretells his Death and Re- 
surrection. 


Matt xvii. 22 23. 








114 




Mark ix. 30-32, 














and part of 33. 














Luke ix. 43-46. 










XX. 


Christ works a Miracle to pay the Half- 
shekel for the Temple Service. 


Matt. xvii. 24, to 
the end. 


Capernaum. 


•• 





114 


XXI. 


The Disciples contend for Superiority. 


Matt xviii. 1, to 








115 




the end. 
Mark ix. part of 














33, to the end. 














Luke ix. 47-50. 












PART 


V. 











From the Mission of the Seventy Disciples to the triumphal Entry of Christ into 
Jerusalem, six Days before the Crucifixion. 



III. 

IV, 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 
X. 

XI. 
XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 
XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 
XVIII. 



The Mission of the Seventy Disciples. 
Christ goes up to the Feast of Taber- 
nacles. 

Agitation of the public Mind at Jerusa- 
lem concerning Christ. 

Conduct of Christ to the Adulteress and 
her Accusers. 

Christ declares himself to be the Son of 
God. 

Christ declares the Manner of his Death. 

The Seventy return with Joy. 

Christ directs the Lawyer how he may 
attain eternal Life. 

The Parable of the good Samaritan. 

Christ in the House of Martha. 

Christ teaches his Disciples to pray. 

Christ reproaches the Pharisees and Law- 
yers. 

Christ cautions his Disciples against Hy- 
pocrisy. 

Christ refuses to act as Judge. 

Christ cautions the Multitude against 
Worldly-mindedness. 

Christ exhorts to Watchfulness, Fidelity, 
and Repentance. 

Christ cures an infirm Woman in the 
Synagogue. 

Christ begins his Journey towards Jeru- 
salem, to be present at the Feast of 
the Dedication. 



Luke X. 1-16. 
Matt. xix. 1. 
Mark x. 1. 
John vii. 2-10. 
John vii. 11-52. 

John vii. 53, and 

viii. 1-11. 
John viii 12-20 


Galilee. 
Jerusalem. 


28 


4741 














John viii. 21, to 

the end. 
Luke X. 17-24. 

Luke X. 25-28. 

Luke X. 29-37. 
Luke x.38, to end. 
Luke xi. 1-13. 
Luke xi. 37, to the 

end. 
Luke xii. 1-12. 

Luke xii. 13, 14. 
Luke xii. 15-34. 

Luke xii. 35, to 
the end, and xiii. 
1-9. 

Luke xiii. 10-17. 

Luke xiii. 22, and 
18-21. 








Near Jeru- 
salem. 
On a Tour. 






Uncertain. 










































Journey to- 
wards Je- 
rusalem. 







117 
117 



118 

119 

120 

120 

121 

122 

122 
122 
123 
123 

124 

124 
124 

125 

126 
127 



INDEX THE FIRST. 



*429 



SECTION. 


CONTENTS. 


SCRIPTCRE. 


PLACE. 


V. 

X.. 

28 


Julian 
Period 

4741 


Page. 
127 

128 

129 
130 

130 

130 

131 

132 

132 

133 
133 
134 

134 

135 

135 
136 


XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 
XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXIX. 

XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 

XXXIII. 

XXXIV. 


Christ restores to Sight a Blind Man, who 
is summoned before the Sanhedrin. 

Christ declares that He is the true Shep- 
herd. 

Christ publicly asserts his Divinity. 

In consequence of the Opposition of the 
Jews, Christ retires beyond Jordan. 

Christ, leaving the City, laments over 
Jerusalem. 

Christ dines with a Pharisee — Parable of 
the great Supper. 

Christ's Disciples must forsake the World. 

Parables of the lost Sheep, and of the 

lost Piece of Silver. 
Parable of the Prodigal Son. 

Parable of the unjust Steward. 
Christ reproves the Pharisees. 
Christ answers the Question concerning 
Divorce and Marriage. 

Christ receives and blesses little CliU- 
dren. 

Parable of the rich Man and Lazarus. 

On Forgiveness of Injuries. 
Christ journeys towards Jersualem. 


John ix. 1-34. 

John ix. 35. to the 
end, and x. 1-21. 

John X. 22-38. 

John X. 39, to the 
end. 

Luke xiii. 23, to 
the end. 

Luke xiv. 1-24. 

Luke xiv. 25, to 

the end. 
Luke XV. 1-10. 

Luke XV. 11, to the 

end. 
Luke xvi. 1-13. 
Luke xvi 14-17 


Jerusalem. 








Bethabara. 

Near Jeru- 
salem. 




.... 


On a Tour. 
























Matt. xix. 3-12. 
Mark x. 2-12. 
Luke xvi. 18. 
Matt xix 13-15 








Mark x. 13-17. 
Luke xviii. 15-17. 
Luke xvi. 19, to 

the end. 
Luke xvii. 1-10. 
Luke ix. 51, to the 

end, and xvii. 

11. 
Luke xvii. 12-19. 
Luke xvii. 20, to 

the end. 

Luke xviii. 1-8. 
Luke xviii. 9-14. 
Matt. xix. 16-29. 
Mark x. 17-30. 
Luke xviii. 18-30. 
Matt. xix. 30, and 

XX. 1-16. 
Mark x. 31. 
John xi. 1-16. 

Matt. XX. 17-19. 
Mark x. 32-34. 
Luke xviii. 31-34. 
Matt. XX. 20-28. 
Mark x. 35-45. 
Matt. XX. 29, to 

the end. 
Mark x. 46, to the 

end. 
Luke xviii. 35, to 

the end. 
Luke xix. 1-28. 

John xi. 17-46. 
John xi. 47, 48. 


























XXXV. 
XXXVI. 

XXXVII. 
XXXVIII. 

XXXIX. 

XL. 

XLI. 
XLII. 

XLIII. 
XLIV. 

XLV. 

XLVI. 
XLVII. 


Christ heals ten Lepers. 

Christ declares the Lowliness of his King- 
dom, and the sudden Destruction of 
Jerusalem. 

Christ teacheth the true Nature of Prayer. 

Parable of the Publican and Pharisee. 

From the Conduct of the young Ruler, 
Christ cautions his Disciples on the 
Dangers of Wealth. 

Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. 

Christ is informed of the Sickness of La- 
zarus. 

Christ again predicts his Sufferings and 
Death. 

Ambition of the Sons of Zebedee. 

Two Blind Men healed at Jericho. 

Conversion of Zacchsus, and the Para- 
ble of the Pounds. 

The Resurrection of Lazarus. 

The Sanhedrin assemble to deliberate 
concerning the Resurrection of Laza- 








136 
137 

137 
137 
138 

139 

140 
140 

141 
142 

143 

144 
145 








































29 


4742 


On the way 
to Bethany. 
Jericho. 


Bethany. 
Jerusalem. 




.... 


XLVIII. 
XLIX. 

L. 
LI. 

LII. 

LIII. 


Caiaphas prophesies. 

The Sanhedrin resolve to put Christ to 
death. 

Christ retires to Ephraim, or Ephrata. 

State of the Public Mind at Jerusalem, 
immediately preceding the last Pass- 
over, at which Christ attended. 

Christ comes to Bethany, where he is 
anointed by Mary. 

Christ prepares to enter Jerusalem. 


John xi. 49-52. 
John xi. 53. 

John xi. 54. 
John xi. 55, to the 
end. 

Matt. xxvi. 6-13. 
Mark xiv. 3-9. 
John xii. 1-11. 
Matt. xxi. 1-7 
Mark xi. 1-7. 
Luke xix. 29-35. 
John xii. 12-18. 








145 
145 

145 
145 

145 

146 








Ephraim. 
Jerusalem. 

Bethany. 

On the way 
to Jerusa- 
lem. 


•• 


.... 



430* 



INDEX THE FIRST. 



PART VI. 


From Christ's triumphant Entry into Jerusalem, to his Apprehension — Sunday, the 


fifth Day before the last Passover. 


SECTION. 


CONTENTS. 


SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE. 


V. 

29 


Julian 
Period 

4742 


Page. 
148 


I. 


The People meet Christ with Hosannas — 


Matt. xxi. 8-9. 


On the road 




Christ approaches Jerusalem. 


Mark xi. 8-10. 
Lulte xix. 36-40. 
John xii. 19. 


to Jerusa- 
lem. 








11. 


Christ's Lamentation over Jerusalem, 
and the Prophecy of its Destruction. 


Luke xix. 41-44. 


Near Jeru- 
salem. 




.... 


148 


III. 


Christ, on entering the City, casts the 
Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple. 


Matt. xxi. 10-13. 
Mark xi. -part of 

ver. 11. 
Luke xix. 45-46. 


Jerusalem. 






149 


IV. 


Christ heals the Sick in the Temple, and 
reproves the Chief Priests. 


Matt. xxi. 14-16. 







.... 


149 


V. 


Some Greeks at Jerusalem desire to see 
Christ— The Bath Col is heard. 


John xii. 20-43. 








149 








VI. 


Christ declares the Object of his 
Mission. 


John xii. 44, to the 
end. 








150 








VII. 


Christ leaves Jerusalem in the Evening, 
and goes to Bethany. 


Matt. xxi. 17. 
Mark xi. part of 
ver. 11. 


Bethany. 




.... 


150 


VIII. 


Monday — Fourth Day before the Pass- 
over — Christ, entering Jerusalem, 
again curses the barren Fig tree. 


Matt. xxi. 18, 19. 
Mark xi. 12-14. 


Near to Je- 
rusalem. 




.... 


150 


IX. 


Christ again casts the Buyers and Sellers 
out of the Temple. 


Mark xi. 15-17. 


Jerusalem. 




.... 


1.51 


X. 


The Scribes and Chief Priests seek to 
destroy Jesus. 


Mark xi. 18. 
Luke xix. 47, 48. 








151 








XI. 
XII. 


Christ retires in the Evening from the 

City. 
Tuesday — Third Day before the Passover 


Mark xi. 19. 
Matt. xxi. 20-22. 








151 
151 


Road to Je- 








— The Fig tree is now withered. 


Mark xi. 20-26. 


rusalem. 








XIII. 


Christ answers the Chief Priests, who 
inquire concerning the Authority by 
which he acted — Parables of the Vine- 
yard and Marriage Feast. 


Matt. xxi. 23, to 
the end, and 
xxii. 1-14. 

Mark xi. 27, to end, 
and xii. 1-12. 

Luke xix. 1-19. 


Jerusalem. 






152 


XIV. 


Christ replies to the Herodians. 


Matt. xxii. 15-22. 








155 


Mark xii. 13-17. 












Luke XX. 20-26. 










XV. 


Christ replies to the Sadducees. 


Matt. xxii. 23-33. 
Mark xii. 18-27. 
Luke XX. 27-40. 






.... 


155 


XVI. 


Christ replies to the Pharisees. 


Matt. xxii. 34-40. 
Mark xii. 28-35. 








156 








XVII. 


Christ inquires of the Pharisees concern- 
ing the Messiah. 


Matt. xxii. 41, to 








157 




the end. 














Mark xii. 35-37. 














Luke XX. 41-44. 










XVIII. 


Christ severely reproves the Pharisees. 


Matt, xxiii. 1, to 








J 58 




the end. 














Mark xii. 38-40. 














Luke XX. 45, to 














the end. 










XIX. 


Christ applauds the Liberality of the poor 
Widow. 


Mark xii. 41, to 








159 




the end. 














Luke xxi. 1-4. 










XX. 


Christ foretells the Destruction of Jerusa- 
lem, the End of the Jewish Dispensa- 
tion, and of the W^orld. 


Matt. xxiv. 1-35. 
Markxiii. 1-31. 
Luke xxi. 5-33. 






.... 


160 


XXI. 


Christ compares the Suddenness of his 
Second Advent to the Coming of the 


Matt. xxiv. 36, to 








163 




the end. 










' 


Deluge. 


Mark xiii. 32, to 

the end. 
Luke xxi. 34-36. 










XXII. 


The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Vir- 


Matt. XXV. 1-13. 




•• 


.... 


164 


XXIII. 


gms. 
The Parable of the Servants and the 


Matt. XXV. 14-30. 








164 




Talents 













INDEX THE FIRST. 



*431 



XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 
XXIX. 
XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 

XXXIII. 

XXXIV. 

XXXV. 
XXXVI. 



XXXVII. 
XXXVIII. 

XXXIX. 

XL. 
XLI. 

XLII. 



XLIII. 



CONTENTS. 



Christ declares the Proceedings at the 
Day of Judgment. 

Christ retires from the City to the Mount 
of Olives. 

Wednesday, second Day before the Cru- 
cifixion — Christ foretells his approach- 
ing Death. 

The Rulers consult how they may take 
Christ. 



Judas agrees with the Chief Priests to 
betray Christ. 

Thursday — The day before the Cruci- 
fixion — Christ directs two of his Disci- 
ples to prepare the Passover. 

Christ partakes of the last Passover. 



Christ again reproves the Ambition of his 
Disciples. 

Christ, sitting at the Passover and con- 
tinuing the Conversation, speaks of his 
Betrayer. 

Judas goes out to betray Christ, who pre- 
dicts Peter's Denial of him, and the 
Danger of the rest of the Apostles. 

Christ institutes the Eucharist. 



Christ exhorts the Apostles, and consoles 
them on his approaching Death. 

Christ goes with his Disciples to the 
Mount of Olives. 

Christ declares himself to be the True Vine. 
Christ exhorts his Apostles to mutual 

Love, and to prepare for Persecution. 
Christ promises the Gifts of the Holy 

Spirit. 
Christ intercedes for all his Followers. 
Christ again predicts Peter's denial of 

him. 
Christ goes into the Garden of Geth 

semane — His Agony there. 



Christ is betrayed and apprehended- 
The Resistance of Peter. 



SCRIPTURE. 



Matt. XXV. 31, to 

the end. 
Luke xxi. 37, 38. 

Matt. xxvi. 1, 2. 
Mark xiv. part of 

ver. 1. 
Matt. xxvi. 3-5. 
Mark xiv. part of 

ver. 1. ver. 2. 
Luke xxii. 1, 2. 
Matt. xxvi. 14-16. 
Mark xiv. 10, 11. 
Luke xxii. 3-6. 
Malt. xxvi. 17-19. 
Mark xiv. 12-16. 
Luke xxii. 7-13. 
Matt. xxvi. 20. 
Mark xiv. 17. 
Luke xxii. 14-18. 
John xiii. 1. 
Luke xxii. 24-27. 
John xiii. 2-16. 
Matt. xxvi. 21-25. 
Mark xiv. 18-21. 
Luke xxii. 21-23. 
John xiii. 17-30. 
Luke xxii. 28-38. 
John xiii. 31, to 

the end. 
Matt. xxvi. 26-29. 
Mark xiv. 22-25. 
Luke xxii. 19, 20. 
John xiv. 

Matt. xxvi. 30. 
Mark xiv. 26. 
Luke xxii. 39. 
John XV. 1-8. 
John XV. 9, to end, 
and xvi. 1-4. 
John xvi. 5, to the 

end. 
John xvii. 
Matt. xxvi. 31-35. 
Mark xiv. 27-31. 
Matt. xxvi. 36-46. 
Mark xiv. 32-42. 
Luke xxii. 40-46. 
John xviii. 1, 2. 
Matt. xxvi. 47-56. 
Mark xiv. 43-50. 
Luke xxii. 47-53. 
John xviii. 3-11. 



PLACE. 


V. 

29 


Julian 
Period 


Jerusalem. 


4742 
















•• 


.... 










































































Garden of 
Gethsema- 
ne. 


•• 


.... 









Page. 
165 
165 
165 

166 

166 
166 
167 

167 
168 

109 

170 

170 
171 



171 
172 

172 

173 
174 

175 



176 



II. 

III. 
IV. 



PART VII. 

From the Apprehension of Christ to the Crucijixion. 



Christ is taken to Annas, and to the Pal- 
ace of Caiaphas. 



Peter and John follow their Master. 



Christ is first examined and condemned 
in the House of the High Priest. 

Twelve at Night — Christ is struck, and 
insulted by the Soldiers. 



Matt. xxvi. 57. 
Mark xiv. 51-53. 
Luke xxii. 54. 
John xviii. 12-14. 
Matt. xxvi. 58. 
Mark xiv. 54. 
Luke xxii. 55. 
John xviii. 15, 16. 
Matt. xxvi. 59-66. 
Mark xiv. 55-64. 
John xviii. 19-24. 
Matt. xxvi. 67, 68. 
Mark xiv. 65. 
Luke xxii. 63-65. 



Jerusalem. 


29 


4742 




•• 


.... 









177 

178 

178 
179 



432* 



INDEX THE FIRST. 



VI. 



VII. 



VIII. 



IX. 
X. 



XI. 
XII. 



XIII. 

XIV. 
XV. 

XVI. 
XVII. 

XVIII. 
XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXIL 
XXIII 



CONTENTS. 



Peter's first Denial of Christ, at the Fire, 
in the Hall of the High Priest's Palace. 



After midnight — Peter's second Denial 
of Christ, at the Porch of the Palace of 
the High Priest. 

Friday, the Day of the Crucifixion — 
Time, about three in the Morning. 
Peter's third Denial of Christ, in the 
Room where Christ was waiting among 
the Soldiers till the Dawn of Day. 

Christ is taken before the Sanhedrin, 
and condemned. 



Judas declares the Innocence of Christ. 
Christ is accused before Pilate, and is by 
him also declared to be innocent. 



Christ is sent by Pilate to Herod. 

Christ is brought back again to Pilate, 
who again declares him innocent, and 
endeavours to persuade the people to 
ask for his release. 

Pilate three times endeavours again to re- 
lease Christ. 



The Jews imprecate the punishment of 
Christ's Death upon themselves. 

Pilate releases Barabbas, and delivers 
Christ to be crucified. 



Christ is led away from the Judgment- 
hall of Pilate to Mount Calvary. 



Christ arrives at Mount Calvary, and is 
crucified. 



Christ prays for his Murderers. 

The Soldiers divide and cast Lots for the 
Raiment of Christ. 



Christ is reviled, when on the Cross, by 
the Chief Priests, the Rulers, the Sol- 
diers, the Passengers, and the Malefac- 
tors. 

Christ, when dying as a Man, asserts his 
Divinity, in his Answer to the Penitent 
Thief. 

Christ commends his Mother to the Care 
of John. 

The Death of Christ, and its attendant 
Circumstances. 



SCRIPTURE. 



Matt. xxvi. 69, 70. 
Mark xiv. 66-68. 
Luke xxii. 56, 57. 
John xviii. 17, 18, 

25-27. 
Matt. xxvi. 71, 72. 
Mark xiv. 69, part 

of 70. 
Luke xxii. 58. 
Matt. xxvi. 73, to 

the end. 
Mark xiv. part of 

70, to end. 
Luke xxii. 59-61. 
Matt, xxvii. 1. 
Mark xv. part of 

ver. 1. 
Luke xxii. 66, to 

the end. 
Matt, xxvii. 3-10. 
Matt, xxvii. 2, and 

11-14. 
Mark XV. 1-5. 
Luke xxiii. 1-4. 
John xviii. 28-38. 
Luke xxiii. 5-12. 
Matt, xxvii. 15-20. 
Mark XV. 6-11. 
Luke xxiii. 13-19. 
John xviii. 39. 
Matt, xxvii. 21-23. 
Mark xv. 12-14. 
Luke xxiii. 20-23. 
John xviii. 40. 
Matt, xxvii. 24, 25 



Jerusalem. 29 



Matt, xxvii. 26-30. 
Mark XV. 15-19. 
Luke xxiii. 24, 25. 
John xix. 1-16. 
Matt, xxvii. 31,32. 
Markxv. 20, 21. 
Luke xxiii. 26-32. 
John xix. part of 

V. 16, and v. 17. 
Matt, xxvii. 33, 

34, 37, 38. 
Mark XV. 22, 23, 

26, 27, 28. 
Luke xxiii. 33-38. 
John xix. 18-22. 
Luke xxiii. part 

of ver. 34. 
Matt, xxvii. 35, 36. 
Mark xv. 24, 25. 
Luke xxiii. pai-t 

of ver. 34. 
John xix. 23, 24. 
Matt, xxvii. 39-44. 
Mark xv. 29-32. 
Luke xxiii. 35-37. 

Luke xxiii. 39-43. 



John xix. 25-27. 

Matt, xxvii. 45-51, 

54-56. 
Mark xv. 33-41. 
Luke xxiii. 44-49. 
John xix. 28-37 



Julian 
Period. 



4742 



On the way 
to Calvary. 



Mount Cal- 
vary. 



Page. 



179 



180 



180 



181 



181 
181 



182 
183 



183 

184 
184 

185 
186 

186 
186 

187 

187 

187 
187 



INDEX THE FIRST. 



*433 



PART VIII. 

From the Death of Clirist till his Ascension into Heaven. 



II. 
III. 
IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 
X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 
XX. 



CONTENTS. 



Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus 
bury the Body of Christ. 



Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, 
and the Women from Gahlee, observe 
where the Body of Christ was laid. 

The Women from Galilee hasten to re- 
turn Home before the Sabbath began, 
to prepare Spices. 

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary 
continue to sit opposite the Sepulchre 
till it is too late to prepare their Spices. 

The Sabbath being ended, the Chief 
Priests prepare a Guard of Soldiers to 
watch the Sepulchre. 

The Sabbath being over, Mary Magda- 
lene, the other Mary, and Salome, pur- 
chase their Spices to anoint the Body 
of Christ. 

The Morning of Easter-day — Mary Mag- 
dalene, the other Mary, and Salome, 
leave their Homes very early to go to 
the Sepulchre. 

After they had left their Homes, and 
before their arrival at the Sepulchre, 
Christ rises from the Dead. 

The Bodies of many come out of their 
Graves, and go to Jerusalem. 

Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, and 
Salome, arrive at the Sepulchre, and 
find the Stone rolled away. 

Mary Magdalene leaves the other Mary 
and Salome to tell Peter. 

Salome and the other Mary, during the 
absence of Mary Magdalene, enter the 
Porch of the Sepulchre, and see one 
Angel, who commands them to inform 
the Disciples that Jesus was risen. 

Salome and the other Mary leave the 
Sepulchre. 

Peter and John, as soon as they hear the 
Report of Mary Magdalene, hasten to 
the Sepulchre, which they inspect, and 
immediately depart. 

Mary Magdalene, having followed Peter 
and John, remains at the Sepulchre 
after their departure. 

Mary Magdalene looks into the Tomb, 
and sees two Angels. 

Christ first appears to Mary Magdalene, 
and commands her to inform the Disci- 
ples that he has risen. 

Mary Magdalene, when going to inform 
the Disciples that Christ had risen, 
meets again with Salome and the other 
Mary — Christ appears to the three 
Women 

The Soldiers, who had fled from the Sep- 
ulchre, report to the High Priests the 
Resurrection of Christ. 

The second Party of Women, from Gali- 
lee, who had bought their Spices on 
the Evening previous to the Sabbath, 
having had a longer Way to come to 
the Sepulchre, arrive after the Departure 
of the others, and find the Stone rolled 
away. 



SCRIPTURE. 



Matt, xxvii. 57-60. 
Mark xv. 42-46. 
Luke xxiii. 50-54. 
John xix. 38, to the 

end. 
Mark xv. 47. 
Luke xxiii. 55. 

Luke xxiii. 56. 



Matt, xxvii. 61. 



Matt, xxvii. 62, to 
the end. 

Mark xvi. 1. 



Matt, xxviii. 1. 
Mark xvi. part of 

ver. 2. 
John XX. pt. ofv. 1. 
Matt, xxviii. 2-4. 



Matt, xxvii. part of 
V. 52, and v. 53. 

Mark xvi part of 
V. 2. and v. 3, 4. 

John xx.pt. of v.l. 

John XX. 2. 

Matt, xxviii. 5-7. 
Mark xvi. 5-7. 



Matt, xxviii. 8. 
Mark xvi. 8. 
John XX. 3-10. 



John XX. part of 
ver. 11. 

John XX. pt. V. 11, 
12, 13, 4- pt. 14. 

Mark xvi. 9. 

John XX. part of 
V. 14, and 15-17. 

Matt, xxviii. 9, 10. 

John XX. 18. 



Matt, xxviii. 11-15. 
Luke xxiv. 1-3. 



PLACE. 


v. 
29 


Julian 
Period 

4742 


Jerusalem. 

The Sepul- 
chre. 

Jerusalem. 
Sepulchre. 
Jerusalem. 


Sepulchre. 


•• 


.... 


Jerusalem. 
Sepulchre. 

Jerusalem. 
Sepulchre. 


•• 


































Jerusalem. 
Sepulchre. 


•• 


.... 



Page. 

189 

190 
190 
190 
190 
190 

190 

191 

191 
191 

191 
191 

192 
192 

192 

192 
192 

193 

193 
193 



VOL. II. 



*5l 



"^KK 



434* 



[NDEX THE FIRST. 



XXI 

XXII 

XXIII. 

XXIV, 
XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXIX. 
XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 
XXXIII. 

XXXIV. 



XXXV. 



CONTENTS. 



Two Angels appear also to the Second 
Party of Women, from Galilee, assuring 
them that Christ was risen, and remind- 
ing them of his foretelling this Fact. 

Mary Magdalene unites her Testimony 
to that of the Galilean Women. 

The Apostles are still incredulous. 

Peter goes again to the Sepulchre. 

Peter, who had probably seen Christ, de- 
parts from tlie Sepulchre. 

Christ appears to Cleopas, and another 
Disciple, going to EmmaUs. 

Cleopas and his Companion return to 
Jerusalem, and assure the Apostles 
that Christ had certainly risen. 

Christ appears to the assembled Apostles, 
Thomas only being absent, convinces 
them of the Identity of his resurrec- 
tion Body, and blesses them. 

Thomas is still incredulous. 

Christ appears to the Eleven, Thomas 
being present. 

Christ appears to a large Number of his 
Disciples on a Mountain in Galilee. 

Christ appears again at the Sea of Tibe- 
rias — His Conversation with St. Peter. 

Christ appears to his Apostles at Jerusa- 
lem, and commissions them to convert 
the World. 

Christ leads out his Apostles to Bethany, 
within Sight of Jerusalem, gives them 
their final commission, blesses them, 
and ascends visibly into Heaven ; from 
whence he will come to judge the Living 
and the Dead. 

St. John's Conclusion to the Gospel His- 
tory of Jesus Christ. 



SCRIPTURE. 



Luke xxiv. 4-9. 



Mark xvi. 10. 
Luke xxiv. 10. 
Mark xvi. 11. 
Luke xxiv. 11. 
Luke xxiv. pt. 
Luke xxiv. I't- 12. 

Mark xvi. 12. 
Luke xxiv. 13-32. 
Mark xvi. 13. 
Luke xxiv. 33-35. 

Luke xxiv. 36-43. 
John XX. 19-23. 



12. 



John XX. 24, 25. 
Mark xvi. 14. 
John XX. 26-29. 
Matt, xxviii. 16,17, 
and part of 18. 
John xxi. 1-24. 

Luke xxiv. 44-49. 
Acts i. 4, 5. 

Matt, xxviii. part 

of 18-20. 
Mark xvi. 15, end. 
Luke xxiv . 50, end. 
Acts i. 6-12. 

John XX. 30-31, 
and xxi. 25. 



PLACE. 


V. 

M. 

29 


Julian 
Period 

4742 


Sepulchre. 
Jerusalem. 


Sepulchre. 
Jerusalem. 

On the way 
to EmmaUs. 
Jerusalem. 


•• 


.... 














A mountain 
in Galilee. 

Sea of Tibe- 
rias. 

Jerusalem. 

Bethany. 


•• 





Page. 
193 

193 

194 

194 
194 

194 

195 

195 

195 
196 

196 

196 

197 

197 



198 



PART IX. 

From the Ascension of Christ to the Termination of the Period in which the Gospel 
IV as preached to Proselytes of Righteousness, and to the Jews only. 



I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 
IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 



After the Ascension of Christ the Apos- 
tles return to Jerusalem. 

Matthias by lot appointed to the Apostle- 
ship in the place of Judas. 

Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of 
Pentecost. 

Address of St. Peter to the Multitude. 

Effects of St. Peter's Address. 

Union of the first Converts in the primi- 
tive Church. 

A Cripple is miraculously and publicly 
healed by St. Peter and St. John. 

St. Peter again addresses the People. 

St. Peter and St. John are imprisoned by 
Order of the Sanhedrin. 

St. Peter's Address to the assembled 
Sanhedrin. 

The Prayer of the Church on the liberation 
of St. Peter and St. John. 

The Union and Munificence of the prim- 
itive Church. 

Deaths of Ananias and Sapphira. 

State of the Church at this time. 

An Angel delivers the Apostles from Pri- 
son. 

The Sanhedrin again assemble — St. Pe- 
ter asserts before them the Messiah- 
ship of Christ. 



Acts i. 1-3, and 

ver. 12-14. 
Acts i. 15, to the 

end. 
Acts ii. 1-13. 



Acts ii. 
Acts ii. 
Acts ii. 
end- 
Acts iii 



14-36. 
37-42. 
43, to the 

1-10. 



Acts iii. 11, to end. 
Acts iv. 1-7. 

Acts iv. 8-22. 

Acts iv. 23-31. 

Acts iv. 32, to the 

end. 
Acts V. 1-10. 
Acts V. 11-16. 
Actsv. 17-20, part 

of ver. 21. 
Acts V. part of 21, 

22-33. 



Jerusalem. 


29 


4742 




























30 


4743 
































31 


4744 








32 


4745 













204 

204 

205 

205 
20(5 
206 

207 

207 
208 

208 

209 

209 

209 
210 
210 

210 



INDEX THE FIRST. 



*43£ 



XVII 

XVIII 
XIX 

XX 

XXI 
XXII 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 
XXV. 

XXVI. 



XXVII. 
XXVIII. 

XXIX. 



XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 

XXXIII. 

XXXIV. 
XXXV. 



CONTENTS. 



By the Advice of Gamaliel the Apostles 
are dismissed. 

The Appointment of the seven Deacons. 

The Church continues to increase in 
number. 

St. Stephen, having boldly asserted the 
JNIessiahship of Christ, is accused of 
Blasphemy before tlie Sanhedrin. 

St. Steplien defends himself before the 
Sanhedrin. 

Stephen, being interrupted in his Defence, 
reproaches the Sanhedrin as the Mur- 
derers of their Messiah. 

Stephen, praying for liis Murderers, is 
stoned to Death. 



General Persecution of the Christians, in 
which Saul (afterwards St. Paul) par- 
ticularly distinguishes himself. 

Philip the Deacon, having left Jerusalem 
on account of the Persecution, goes 
to Samaria, and preaches there, and 
works Miracles. 

St. Peter and St. John come down from 
Jerusalem to Samaria, to confer the 
Gifts of the Holy Ghost on the new 
Converts. 

St. Peter reproves Simon Magus. 

St. Peter and St. John preach in many 
Villages of the Samaritans. 

The Treasurer of Queen Candace, a Pro- 
selyte of Righteousness, is converted 
and baptized by Philip, who now 
preaches througli the Cities of Judsa. 

Many of the Converts, who had fled from 
Jerusalem in consequence of the Per- 
secution there, preach the Gospel to 
the Jews in the Provinces. 

Saul, on ills way to Damascus, is con- 
verted to the Religion he was oppos- 
ing, on hearing the Batli Col, and 
seeing the Shecninah. 

Saul is baptized. 

Saul preaches in the Synagogues to the 
Jews. 

St. Peter, having preached through Judaea, 
comes to Lydda, where he cures .Eneas, 
and raises Dorcas from the dead. 

The Churches are at rest from Persecu- 
tion, in consequence of the Conversion 
of Saul, and the Conduct of Caligula. 



SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE. 


V. 

32 


Julian 
l-eriod 

4745 


Page. 


Acts V. 34, to the 

end. 
Acts vi. 1-6. 
Acts vi. 7. 

Acts vi. 8-14. 


Jerusalem. 


211 
''11 




33 
33 


4746 
4746 


9]Q 




9,12 


Acts vi. 15, and 

vii. 1-50. 
Acts vii. 51-53. 




or 
34 


or 
4747 


019 








814 


Acts vii. 54, to the 

end, and viii. 

part of ver. 1. 

and ver. 2. 
Acts viii. part of 

ver. l,andver.3. 








01 4 




34 


4747 


915 






Acts viii. 5-13. 


Samaria. 


•• 


.... 


215 


Acts viii. 14-17. 








215 


Acts viii. 18-24. 
Acts viii. 25. 








215 








216 


Acts viii. 26, to 
the end. 


Gaza. 


•• 


.... 


216 


Acts viii. 4. 


Provinces of 
Judsea, &c. 


•• 


.... 


216 


Acts ix. 1-9. 


Near Da- 
mascus. 


35 


4748 


217 


Actsix. 10-19. 
Actsix. 19-30. 

Acts ix. 32. to the 
end. 

Acts ix. 31. 


Damascus. 


•• 


.... 


217 

017 


Palestine. 


38 
to 
40 


4751 

to 

4753 


218 











PART X. 

TTie Gospel having 7iow been preached to the Jews in Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and 
the Provinces, the time arrives for the Conversion of the devout Gentiles, or Prose- 
lytes of the Gate. 



II. 
III. 

IV. 
V. 



St. Peter sees a Vision, in which he is 
commanded to visit a Gentile who had 
been miraculously instructed to send 
for Mm. 

St. Peter visits Cornelius, a Roman Cen- 
turion. 

St. Peter first declares Christ to be the 
Saviour of all, even of tlie Gentries 
who believe in him. 

Cornelius and his Friends receive the 
Holy Ghost, and are baptized. 

St. Peter defends his Conduct in visiting 
and baptizincr Cornelius. 



Acts X. 1-16. 

Acts X. 17-33. 
Acts X. 34-43. 



Acts X. 44, to the 

end. 
Acts xi. 1-18. 



CaBsarea and 
Joppa. 

Caesarea. 



Jerusalem. 



40 



4753 



219 

219 
220 

220 
221 



436* 



INDEX THE FIRST. 



SECTION. 


CONTENTS. 


SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE. 


V. 

jE. 

41 


Julian 
Period 

4754 


Page. 
221 


VI. 


The Converts who had been dispersed 


Actsxi. 19-21. 


Judaea and 




by the Persecution after the Death of 




the Prov- 










Stephen, having heard of the Vision 




inces. 










of St. Peter, preach to the devout 














Gentiles also 












VII. 


The Church at Jerusalem commissions 
Barnabas to make Inquiries into this 
Matter. 


Acts xi. 22-24. 


Jerusalem 
and Anti- 
och. 


•• 


.... 


222 


VIII. 


Barnabas goes to Tarsus for Saul, whom 
he takes with him to Antioch, where 
the Converts were preaching to the 
devout Gentiles. 


Acts xi. 25, 26. 


Tarsus. 


42 


4755 


222 


IX. 


Herod Agrippa condemns James, the 
Brother of John, to death, and im- 
prisons Peter, who is miraculously re- 
leased, and presents himself to the 
other James, who had been made 
Bishop of Jerusalem. 


Acts xii. \-lQ,and 
part ofver. 19. 


Jerusalem. 


43 


4756 


222 


X. 


The Converts at Antioch, being fore- 
warned by Agabus, send relief to their 
Brethren at Jerusalem, by the hands 
of Barnabas and Saul. 


Acts xi. 27, to the 
end. 


Antioch. 


44 


4757 


223 


XI. 


The Death of Herod Agrippa. 


Acts xii. part ver. 
19, and 20-23. 


Cassarea. 


•• 


.... 


223 


XII. 


The Churches continue to increase. 


Acts xii. 24. 


Palestine. 


, , 


• • • • 


223 


XIII. 


Saul having seen a Vision in the Temple, 
in wliich he is commanded to leave Je- 
rusalem, and to preach to the Gentiles, 
returns with Barnabas to Antioch. 


Acts xii. 25. 


Antioch. 


45 


4758 


223 


PART XI. 


Period for preaching the Gospel to the idolatrous Gentiles, and St. Paul's First 


Apostolical Journey. 


I. 


The Apostles having been absent from 
Jerusalem when Saul saw his Vision 
in the Temple, he and Barnabas are 
separated to the apostolic Office by the 
Heads of the Church at Antioch. 


Acts xiii. 1-3. 


Antioch. 


45 


4758 


224 


II. 


Saul, in company with Barnabas, com- 
mences his first apostolical Journey, 
by going from Antioch to Seleucia. 


Acts xiii. p^rt of 
ver. 4. 


Seleucia. 




.... 


224 


III. 


From Seleucia Saul and Barnabas proceed 
to Salamis, and Paphos, in Cyprus, 
where Sergius Paulus is converted ; be- 
ing the first known or recorded Convert 
of the idolatrous Gentiles. 


Acts xiii. part of 
ver. 4-12. 


Salamis and 
Paphos. 






224 


IV. 


From Cyprus to Perga, in Pamphylia. 


Acts xiii. 13. 


Perga. 




.... 


224 


V. 


From Perga to Antioch in Pisidia — St. 
Paul, according to his custom, first 
preaches to the Jews — they are driven 
out of Antioch. 


Acts xiii. 14-50. 


Antioch in 
Pisidia. 


46 


4759 


225 


VI. 


From Antioch in Pisidia, to Iconium, 
in Lycaonia — the People about to 
stone them. 


Acts xiii. 51, 52, 
and xiv. 1-5, and 
part of ver. 6. 


Iconium. 


' ' 


.... 


226 


VII. 


From Iconium to Lystra — The People 
attempt to offer them Sacrifice, and 
afterwards stone them. 


Acts xiv. 8-19, an(Z 
part ver. 20. 


Lystra. 


* • 


. . . • 


226 


VIII. 


From Lystra to Derbe. 


Acts xiv. last part 
ver. 20, part ver. 




47 


4760 


227 
















6, and ver. 7. 










IX. 


St. Paul and Barnabas return to Lystra, 
Iconium, and Antioch in Pisidia, or- 
daining in all the Churches. 


Acts xiv. 21-23. 


Lystra, Ico- 
nium, An- 
tioch. 


' ' 


.... 


227 


X. 


They proceed through Pisidia, Perga, 
and Attalia in Pamphylia. 


Acts xiv. 24, 25. 


Pisidia, Per- 
ga, Attalia. 


48 


4761 


227 


XI. 


They return to Antioch, and submit an 
Account of their Proceedings to the 
Church in that Place. 


Acts xiv. 26, to 
the end. 


Antioch. 


■ 


.... 


227 


XII. 


Dissensions at Antioch concerning Cir- 
cumcision, before the commencement 


Acts XV. 1, 2. 




49 


4762 


228 
















of St. Paul's second apostolical Journey. 






_ 







INDEX THE FIRST. 



*437 



SECTION. 


CONTENTS. 


SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE. 


V. 

M. 

49 


Julian 
Period 


Page. 


XIII. 


St. Paul and Barnabas go up to Jerusa- 


Acts XV. 3-29. 


Jerusalem. 


4762 


228 




lem to consult the Apostles and El- 














ders on the Dispute concerning Cir- 














cumcision — Decree of James and of 














the Church therein. 












XIV. 


St. Paul and Barnabas return to the 
Church at Antioch, with the Decree of 
the Church at Jerusalem on the Sub- 
ject of the Necessity of Circumcision. 


Acts XV. 30-35. 


Antioch. 






229 


PART XII. 




St. Paul's Second Apostolical Journey 




I. 


After remaining some time at Antioch, St. 
Paul proposes to Barnabas to commence 
another Visitation of the Churches. 


Acts XV. 36. 


Antioch. 


50 


4763 


229 


II. 


St. Paul, separating from Barnabas, 
proceeds from Antioch to Syria and 
Cilicia. 


Acts XV. 37, to 
the end, and 
xvi. 4, 5. 


Syria and 
Cilicia. 




.... 


230 


III. 


St. Paul proceeds to Derbe, and Lystra in 
Iconium — Timothy his Attendant. 


Acts xvi. 1-3. 


Derbe and 
Lystra. 


•• 





230 


IV. 


They proceed from Iconium to Phrygia 
and Galatia. 


Acts xvi. 6. 


Phrygia and 
Galatia. 


•• 





230 


V. 


From Galatia to Mysia and Troas. 


Acts xvi. 7-10. 


Mysia,Troas 




.... 


230 


VI. 


From Troas to Samothracia. 


Acts x-vi. pt. of 11. 


Samothrace. 




.... 


230 


VII. 


From Samothracia to Neapolis. 


Acts xvi. pt. of 11. 


Neapolis. 




.... 


230 


VIII. 


From Neapolis to Philippi, where the Py- 
thoness is dispossessed, and the Jailor 
converted. 


Acts xvi. 12, to 
the end. 


Philippi. 


• * 


.... 


231 


IX. 


From Philippi, through Amphipohs and 
ApoUonia, to Thessalonica, where they 
are opposed by the Jews. 


Acts xvii. 1-9. 


Thessalo- 
nica. 


51 


4764 


232 


X. 


St. Paul writes his Epistle to the Gala- 
tians, to prove, in opposition to the Ju- 


T^^iPy^TT F TO THF 








232 




Galatians. 












daizing Teachers, that Faith in Christ, 














and not their imperfect Obedience to 














the ceremonial Law, was the Cause 














of their Salvation. 












XI. 


From Thessalonica to Berea — The 
Causes for which the Bereans are fa- 
vorably disposed to receive the Gospel. 


Acts xvii. 10-14. 


Berea. 




• . . • 


238 


XII. 


From Berea, having left there Silas and 
Timothy, St, Paul proceeds to Athens, 
where he preaches to the Philosophers 
and Students. 


Acts xvii. 15, to 
the end. 


Athens. 






238 


XIII. 


From Athens St. Paul proceeds to Cor- 
inth, where he is reduced to labor 
for his Support — Silas and Timothy 
join him there. 


Acts xviii. 1-5. 


Corinth. 






239 


XIV. 


St. Paul, writes his First Epistle to the 


First Epistle to 






• - ■ • 


239 




Thessalonians, to establish them in the 


the Thessa- 












Faith, (when they were exposed to the 


lonians. 












Attacks of the unconverted Jews,) by 














enforcing the Evidences of Christianity. 












XV. 


St. Paul, being rejected by the Jews, con- 
tinues at Corinth, preaching to the 


AptQ xviii fI-1 1 




52 


4765 


243 




^^V^Lo A. V m . \J X J. • 












Gentiles. 












XVI. 


St. Paul writes his Second Epistle to the 
Thessalonians, to refute an Error into 


Second Epistle 








243 




TO the Thessa- 












which they had fallen concerning the 


lonians. 












sudden coming of the Day of Judg- 














ment — He prophesies the Rise, Pros- 














perity, and Overthrow of a great 














Apostacy in the Christian Church. 












XVII. 


St. Paul, still at Corinth, is brought be- 
fore the Judgment-seat of Gallic, the 


Acts yviii 12—17 








246 




^X\. US A V 111 . J. ^.^ J. # , 

and part of ver. 












Proconsul, the Brother of Seneca. 


18. 










XVIII. 


St. Paul, having left Corinth for Crete, is 
compelled on his Return to winter at 
Nicopolis, from whence he writes his 
Epistle to Titus, whom he had left in 
Crete, with Power to ordain Teachers, 
and to govern the Church in that Island. 


Epistle to Titus. 


Crete, 
Nicopolis. 


53 


4766 


246 



*KK.* 



438* 



INDEX THE FIRST. 



SECTION. 


CONTENTS. 


SCRIPTURE. 


place. 


V. 

54 


Julian 
Period. 

4767 


Page. 

248 


XIX. 


St. Paul proceeds to Cenchrea. 


Acts xviii. part of 

ver. 18. 
Acts xviii. 19. 


Cenchrea. 


XX. 


From Cenchrea to Ephesus, where he 


Ephesus. 


.. 


.... 


248 




disputes with the Jews. 












XXI. 


From Ephesus St. Paul proceeds to Ctes- 
area, and having saluted the Church 
at Jerusalem, completes his Second 
Apostolical Journey, by returning to 
Antioch in Syria. 


Acts xviii. 20-22. 


Cfesarea, 
Jerusalem, 
Antioch in 
Syria. 






248 


PART XIII. 




The Third Apostolical Journey of St. Paul. 


I. 


St. Paul again leaves Antioch, to visit 
the Churches of Galatia and Phrygia. 


Acts xviii. 23. 


Galatia and 

Phrygia. 


55 


4768 


249 


II. 


History of Apollos, who was now preach- 
ing to the Cliurch at Ephesus, planted 
by St. Paul. 

St. Paul proceeds from Phrygia to Ephe- 
sus, and disputes there with the Jews. 


Acts xviii. 24, to 
the end. 


Ephesus. 




.... 


249 


III. 


Acts xix. 1-10. 








249 














IV. 


St. Paul continues two Years at Ephesus 


Acts xix. 11-20. 




56 


4769 


250 


- 


— the People burn their magical Books. 












V. 


St. Paul sends Timothy and Erastus to 
Macedonia and Achaia. 


Acts xix. 21, part 
of ver. 22. 






.... 


250 












VI. 


St. Paul writes his First Epistle to the Co- 
rinthians, to assert his apostolic author- 


First Epistle to 
THE Corinth- 




56 


4769 


250 






ity, to reprove the Irregularities and 


ians. 






proba- 






Disorders of the Church, and to answer 








bly 






the Questions of the Converts on vari- 






57 


4770 






ous points of Doctrine and Discipline. 












VII. 


St. Paul continues at Ephesus — a Mob is 
occasioned at that Place by Demetrius. 


Acts xix. part of 
ver. 22, to end. 








268 








VIII. 


St. Paul leaves Ephesus and goes to Ma- 
cedonia. 


Acts XX. 1. 


Macedonia. 


•■ 





2C9 


IX. 


St. Paul writes his First Epistle to Timo- 
thy, to direct him how to proceed in 


First Epistle to 




57 


4770 


269 




Timothy. 




or 


or 






the Suppression of those false Doc- 






58 


4771 






trines and Corruptions which the Jew- 














ish Zealots were endeavouring to estab- 














lish in the Church of Ephesus, over 














which he was appointed to preside. 












X. 


St. Paul proceeds from Macedonia to 
Greece, or Achaia, and continues there 
three Months. 


Acts XX. 2, and 
part of ver. 3. 


Macedonia, 
Achaia. 


' • 


.... 


275 


XI. 


St. Paul, having been informed of the re- 
ception his First Epistle had met with 
from the Corinthians, writes his Second 
Epistle from Philippi, to justify his 
apostolic Conduct, and vindicate his 
Authority, both of which had been 
impugned by a false Teacher. 


Second Epistle 
TO the Corin- 
thians. 


Philippi 


58 


4771 


275 


XII. 


St. Paul returns from Achaia and Corinth 
to Macedonia, sending his Companions 
forward to Troas. 


Acts XX. part per. 
3, ver. 4, 5. 


Macedonia. 




.... 


239 


XIII. 


St. Paul, in his way from Achaia to Ma- 
cedonia, writes from Corinth his Epis- 
tle to the Gentiles and Jews of Rome 
— to the Gentiles, to prove to them that 
neither their boasted Philosophy, nor 
their moral Virtue, nor the Light of 
human Reason — and to the Jews, that 
neither their Knowledge of, nor Obe- 
dience to, the Law of Moses, could 
justify them before God ; but that 
Faith in Christ alone was, and ever 
had been, the only way of Salvation 
to all Mankind. 


Epistle to the 

Romans. 


Corinth. 






289 


xtv. 


From Macedonia St. Paul proceeds to 
Troas, where he raises Eutychus to 
life. 

From Troas to Assos and Mitylene. 


Acts XX. 6-12. 


Troas. 




.... 


314 


XV. 


Acts XX. 13, 14. 


Assos and 


, . 


.... 


315 








Mitylene. 









INDEX THE FIRST. 



*439 



XVI, 

XVII, 

XVIII. 
XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 
XXI]. 

XXIII. 
XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 
XXVIII. 

XXIX. 
XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 

XXXIII. 
XXXIV. 

XXXV. 

XXXVI. 



CONTENTS. 



From Mitylene to Cliios. 

From Chios to Samos, and Trogyllium. 

From Trogyllium to Miletus, where St. 
Paul meets, and takes his Farewell of, 
the Elders of the Church at Ephesus. 

From Miletus, to Coos and Rhodes and 
Patara ; whence St. Paul, together 
witli St. Luke, tlie writer of the Book 
of the Acts of the Apostles, sails in a 
Phcenician Vessel to Syria, and lands 
in Tyre. 

St. Paul and St. Luke continue at Tyre 
seven Days. 

They proceed from Tyre to Ptolemais. 

From Ptolemais to CiBsarea, to the House 
of Philip the Evangelist — Agabus pro- 
phesies the near Imprisonment of St. 
Paul. 

St. Paul and St. Luke arrive at Jerusa- 
lem, and present themselves to St. 
James and the Church. 

St. Paul is apprehended by the chief 
Captain of the Temple, in conse- 
quence of a Mob, occasioned by some 
of the Asiatic Jews, who met St. Paul 
in the Temple. 

St. Paul makes liis Defence before the 
Populace. 

On declaring his Mission to preach to the 
Gentiles, the Jews clamor for his 
Death. 

St. Paul claims the Privilege of a Roman 
Citizen. 

St. Paul is brought before the Sanhedrin, 
who are summoned by the Captain of 
the Temple. 

St. Paul is encouraged by a Vision to 
persevere. 

In consequence of the Discovery of a 
Conspiracy to kill St. Paul, he is re- 
moved by Night from Jerusalem, 
through Antipatris to Caesarea. 

St. Paul is accused of Sedition before 
Felix, the Governor of Judcea — his De- 
fence. 

After many Conferences with Felix, St. 
Paul is continued in Prison till the ar- 
rival of Porcius Festus. 

Trial of St. Paul before Festus — He ap- 
peals to the Emperor. 

Curious Account given to Agrippa by 
Festus, of the Accusation against St. 
Paul. 

St. Paul defends his Cause before Festus 
and Agrippa — their Conduct on that 
Occasion. 

St. Paul, being surrendered as a Prisoner 
to the Centurion, is prevented from 
completing this Journey, by returning 
to Antioch, as he had usually done. 



SCRIPTURE. 




PLACE. 


Acts XX. pt. of 
Acts XX. pt. of 


15. 
15. 


Chios. 
Samos and 


Acts XX. part 
15, to end. 


of 


Trogyllium. 
Miletus. 


Acts xxi. 1-3. 




Coos, 
Rhodes, 
Patara, 
Tyre. 


Acts xxi. 4-6. 




Tyre. 


Acts xxi. 7. 
Acts xxi. 8-14. 




Ptolemais. 
CcEsarea. 



Acts xxi. 15-26. 
Acts xxi. 27-36. 



Acts xxi. 37, to end, 

and xxii. 1-21. 
Acts xxii. 22. 



Acts xxii. 23-29. 

Acts xxii. 30, and 
xxiii. 1-10. 

Acts xxiii. 11. 

Acts xxiii. 12, to 
the end. 



Acts xxiv. 1-21. 

Acts xxiv. 22, to 
the end. 

Acts XXV. 1-12. 

Acts XXV. 13-22. 



Acts XXV. 23, to 
end, and xxvi. 

Acts xxvii. 1. 



58 



4771 



Jerusalem. 



Antipatris- 
Csesarea. 



CsBsarea. 



315 
315 

315 



316 



316 

316 
316 



317 

317 

318 
31.q 

319 
319 

320 
320 

321 

322 



60 



4773 



322 
323 

323 

325 



PART XIV. 



II. 
III. 



The Fourth Journey of St. Paul. 
Acts xxvii. 2. 



St. Paul commences his Voyage to Rome 

as a Prisoner. 
The Ship arrives at Sidon, from whence 

it proceeds to Cyprus. 
After changing their Ship at Trye, they 

proceed to Cnidus, Salmone in Crete, 

and the City of Lasea. 



Acts xxvii. 3, 4. 
Acts xxvii. 5-8. 



On the voy- 
age to Rome. 
Sidon and 
Cyprus. 
Cnidus, Sal- 
mone, La- 
sea. 



60 



4773 



325 
325 
325 



440* 



INDEX THE FIRST. 



IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 
IX. 



XI. 



xn 



CONTENTS. 



XIII. 



XIV. 



XV. 



St. Paul warns the Master of the Ship of 
the Danger they were in — They at- 
tempt to reach Phenice in Crete. 

The Ship is wrecked, but tlie Lives of all 
on board are saved, as St. Paul had 
foretold. 

They land on the Island of Melita. 

After three Months they sail to Rome. 

St. Paul arrives at Rome, and is kindly 
received by the Brethren. 

St. Paul summons the Jews at Rome, to 
explain to them the Causes of his Im- 
prisonment. 

St. Paul writes his Epistle to the Ephe- 
sians, to establish them in the Christian 
Faith, by describing, in the most ani- 
mating Language, the Mercy of God 
displayed in the Calling of the Gentiles 
through Faith in Christ, without being 
subjected to the Law of Moses, and to 
enforce upon them that Holiness and 
Consistency of Conduct, which is re- 
quired of all who have received the 
Knowledge of Salvation. 

St. Paul writes his Epistle to the Philip- 
pians, to comfort them under the Con- 
cern they had expressed on the Sub- 
ject of his Imprisonment — to exhort 
them to continue in union and mu- 
tual love, and to caution them against 
the Seductions of false Teachers, who 
had begun to introduce themselves 
among them. 

St. Paul writes his Epistle to the Colos- 
sians, in reply to the Message of Epa- 
phras, to prove that the Hope of 
Man's Salvation is founded on the 
Atonement of Christ alone ; and, by 
the Establishment of opposite Truths 
to eradicate the Errors of the Ju. 
daizers, who not only preached the 
Mosaic Law, but also the Opinions of 
the Heathen, Oriental, or Essenian 
Philosophers, concerning the Worship 
of Angels, on account of their suppos- 
ed Agency in human Affairs and the 
necessity of abstaining from animal 
Food. 

St. Paul writes his Epistle to his Friend 
Philemon, to intercede with him in 
favor of his Slave Onesimus, who had 
fled from the Service of his Master to 
Rome ; in which City he had been 
converted to Christianity by Means of 
the Apostle's Ministry. 
St. James writes his Epistle to the Jew- 
ish Christians in general, to caution 
them against the prevalent Evils of the 
Day — to rectify the Errors into which 
many had fallen, by misinterpreting 
St. Paul's Doctrine of Justification, 
and to enforce various Duties. 
St. Paul remains at Rome for two years, 
during which time the Jews do not dare 
to prosecute him before the Emperor. 



SCEIPTURE. 



Acts xxvii. 9-13. 



Acts xxvii. 14, to 
the end. 

Acts xxviii. 1-10. 
Acts xxviii. 11, to 

■part ofver. 14. 
Acts xxviii. part 

of V. 14 to 16. 
Acts xxviii. 17-29. 



The Epistle to 

THE EpHESIANS. 



The Epistle to 
THE Philippi 

ANS. 



The Epistle to 
the colossians. 



On the voy- 
age to 
Rome. 



60 



Julian 
Period 



4773 



Melita. 
Voyage to 

Rome. 
Rome. 



61 



4774 



Page. 

325 

326 

327 
327 

327 

328 

328 



62 



4775 



338 



345 



The Epistle to 
Philemon. 



The general 
Epistle of St. 

James. 



Acts xxviii. 30, 31. 



Jerusalem. 



Rome. 



351 



352 



359 



INDEX THE FIRST. 



*441 



PART XV. 




From the Commencement of the Fifth and last Journey of St. Paul to the Comple- 


tion of the Canon of the whole Scriptures — With a brief Survey of the History 


of the Christian Church to the -present Time. 




SECTION. 


CONTENTS. 


SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE. 


Vul;. 

62 


Julu-in 
Periud 


Page. 
360 


I. 


St. Paul, while waiting in Italy for Tim- 


The Epistle 


Italy. 


4775 




othy, writes the Key to the Old 


TOTHE He- 




or 


or 






Testament — the Epistle to the He- 


brews. 




C3 


4776 






brews — to prove to the Jews, from 














their own Scriptures, the Humanity, 














Divinity, Atonement, and Interces- 














sion of Christ — the Superiority of the 














Gospel to the Law — and the real Ob- 














ject and Design of the Mosaic Institu- 
tion. 
After his Liberation, St. Paul visits 












II. 




Italy, Spain, 


63-4 


4776-7 


381 




Italy, Spain, Britain, and the West. 




Britain. 








III. 


He tlien proceeds to Jerusalem. 




Jerusalem. 




.... 


384 


IV. 


From Jerusalem to Antioch in Syria. 




Antioch. 


65 


4778 


384 


V. 


From Antioch to Colosse. 




Colosse. 






384 


VI. 


From Colosse to Philippi. 




Philippi. 






384 


VII. 


From Philippi to Corinth. 




Corinth. 






385 


VIII. 


From Corinth to Troas. 




Troas. 






385 


IX. 


From Troas to Miletum. 




Miletum. 






385 


X. 


From Miletum to Rome. 




Rome. 






385 


XI. 


St. Paul is imprisoned at Rome in the 
general Persecution by Nero. 










386 


XII. 


St. Paul, in the Anticipation of the near 


The Second 


Italy. 


65 


4778 


386 




approach of Death, writes Ills Second 


Epistle TO 




or 


or 






Epistle to Timothy, exliorting him, as 


Timothy. 




66 


4779 






his last request, to the faithful Dis- 














charge of his Duty, in all times of 














Apostacy, Persecution, and Dissen- 












XIII. 


sion. 
St. Peter writes his first Epistle to the 
Jews, who, in the time of Persecu- 
tion, had taken Refuge in the hea- 
then Countries mentioned in the In- 
scription, and also to the Gentile Con- 
verts, to encourage them to suffer 
cheerfully for their Religion ; and to 
enforce upon them the Necessity of 
leading a holy and blameless Life, 
that they may put to shame the Cal- 
umnies of their Adversaries. 


The First 
Epistle 

GENERAL 

of St. Pe- 
ter. 


Rome. 






391 


XIV. 


St. Peter, under the Impression of ap- 
proaching Martyrdom, writes to the 
Jewish and Gentile Christians, dis- 
persed in the Countries of Pontus, 
Galatia, Cappadocia, &c., to confirm 
the Doctrines and Instructions of his 
former Letter, to caution them against 
the Errors of the false Teachers, by 
reminding them of tlie Judgments of 
God on Apostates, and to encourage 
them under Persecution, by the Con- 
sideration of the happy Deliverance of 
those who trusted in him, and the 
final Dissolution both of this World 
and of the Jewish Dispensation. 


The Second 
Epistle 

GENERAL 

OF St. Pe- 
ter. 


Italy, or 
Rome. 


66 


4779 


398 


XV. 


Jude writes his Epistle to caution the 
Christian Church against the danger- 
ous Tenets of the false Teachers, who 
had now appeared, subverting the 
Doctrine of Grace to the Encourage- 
ment of Licentiousness ; and to ex- 
hort them to a steadfast Adherence to 
the Faith and Holiness. 


The GENER- 
AL Epistle 

OF JuDE. 


Probably 
Syria. 






403 


XVI. 


Martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul. 




Rome. 






405 


XVII. 


Destruction of Jerusalem. 




Jerusalem. 


70 


4783 


406 



VOL. II. 



%6 



442* 



INDEX THE FIRST. 



xvm. 



XIX. 



XX. 



XXI. 



CONTENTS. 



St. John writes the Apocalypse to supply 
the place of a continued Succession of 
Prophets in the Christian Church, till 
the second coming of Christ to judge 
the World. 

St. John writes his First Epistle to con- 
fute the Errors of the false Teachers, 
and their different Sects — against the 
DocetcB, who denied the Humanity 
of Christ, asserting that his Body and 
Sufferings were not real, but imagi- 
nary — against the Cerinthians and 
Ebionites, who contended that he was 
a mere Man, and that his Divinity 
was only adventitious, and therefore 
separated from him at his Passion — 
and against the Nicolaitanes, or Gnos- 
tics, who taught that the Knowledge 
of God and Christ was sufficient for 
Salvation ; that being justified by 
Faith, and freed from the Restraints 
of the Law, they might indulge in 
Sin with Impunity — He cautions 
Christians from being seduced by 
these Doctrines and Practices, by 
condemning them in the strongest 
Terms — He contrasts them with the 
Truths and Doctrines of the Gospel, 
in which they had been instructed, 
and in which they are exhorted to 
continue. 

St. John writes his Second Epistle to 
caution a Christian Mother and her 
Children against the Seductions and 
pernicious Errors of the false Teachers, 
supposed to be a sect of the Gnostics. 

St. John writes his Third Epistle to Gaius, 
to praise him for his steadfast faith and 
kindness to some Christian Brethren 
and strangers, and to recommend them 
again to his protection and benevo- 
lence — to rebuke and to caution him 
against the presumptuous arrogance of 
Diotrephes, who had denied his author- 
ity, and disobeyed his injunctions, and 
to recommend Demetrius to his atten- 
tion, and the imitation of the church. 

St. John sanctions the Books of the 
New Testament, and completes the 
Canon of Scripture, by writing his 
Gospel, at the Request of the Church 
at Ephesus. 

Brief View of the Condition of the Jews, 
the Stations of the Sanhedrin, and its 
Labors before the final and total 
Dispersion of the Nation ; with an 
Outline of the History of the visible 
Church, from the closing of the Canon 
of Scripture to the present Day ; and 
the Prospects of the permanent Hap- 
piness of Mankind, in the present and 
future World. 



SCRIPTURE. 



The Bof)K or 
Revelation 



The First Epis- 
tle OF John 



The Second 
Epistle op 
John. 



The Third 
Epistle of 
John. 



Patmos. 



Ephesus. 



V. 
JE. 



96 



Julian 
Period 



4799 



Page. 



407 



429 



437 



438 



439 



443 



*443 





INDEX THE SECOND, 






ON THE PLAN RECOMMENDED BY 


TORSHEL* 








SHOWING 








IN WHAT PART OF THE ARRANGEMENT ANY CHAPTER OR VERSE OF THE 




NEW TESTAMENT MAY BE FOUND. 






SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE 


N ARRANGEMENT. 


SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE IN ARRANGEMENT. 


MATTHEW. 


Part. 


Scctio7i. 


Page, 

51 


MATTHEW. 


Part. 


Section. 


Page. 
101 


i. 1. 


I. 


IX. 


xiv. 15-21. 


IV. 


IV. 


2-17. 




IX. 


52 


22, 23. 




V. 


102 


18, to end. 




VII. 


51 


24-33. 




VI. 


103 


ii. 1-12. 




XIII. 


54 


34-36. 




VII. 


103 


13-15. 


, , 


XIV. 


54 


XV. 1-20. 




IX. 


105 


16-18. 




XV. 


54 


21-28. 




X. 


107 


19, to end. 


.-, 


XVI. 


55 


29-31. 




XI. 


108 


iii. 1-12. 




XVIII. 


55 


32, to end. 




XII. 


108 


13, to end. 




XIX. 


57 


xvi. 1-12. 




XIII. 


109 


iv. 1-11. 




XX. 


57 


13-20. 




XV. 


110 


ia-17. 


lii. 


I. 


63 


21, to end. 




XVI. 


110 


18-22. 


, , 


VI. 


66 


xvii. 1-13. 




XVII. 


111 


23-25. 


, , 


IX. 


68 


14-21. 




XVIII. 


113 


V. vi. vii. 


, , 


XIX. 


75 


22, 23. 




XIX. 


114 


viii. 1. 


, , 


XIX. 


80 


24, to end. 




XX. 


114 


2-4. 


, , 


X. 


69 


xviii. 




XXI. 


115 


5-13. 


. . 


XX. 


80 


xix. 1, 2. 




II. 


117 


14, 15. 




VIII. 


67 


3-12. 


V. 


XXX. 


134 


16, 17. 


, , 


IX. 


68 


13-15. 




XXXI. 


134 


18-27. 


, , 


XXXV. 


91 


16-29. 




XXXIX. 


138 


28, to end. 


, , 


XXXVI. 


92 


30. 




XL. 


139 


ix. 1. 




XXXVIII. 


94 


XX. 1-lG. 




XL. 


139 


2-8. 




XI, 


69 


17-19. 




XLII. 


140 


9. 




xn. 


70 


20-28. 




XLIII. 


141 


10-17. 


, , 


XXXVII. 


93 


29, to end. 




XLIV. 


142 


18-26. 


, , 


XXXVIII. 


94 


xxi. 1-7. 




LIII. 


146 


27-31. 


. . 


XXXIX. 


96 


8, 9. 




I. 


148 


32-34. 




XL. 


96 


10-13. 


VI. 


III. 


149 


35, to end. 




XLII. 


97 


14-16. 




IV. 


149 


X. 


IV. 


I. 


97 


17. 




VII. 


150 


xi. 1. 




I. 


97 


18, 19. 




VIII. 


150 


2-6. 


III. 


XXII. 


81 


20-22. 




XII. 


151 


7-15. 




XXIII. 


82 


23, to end. 




XIII. 


152 


16-24. 




XXIV. 


82 


xxii. 1-14. 




XIII. 


1.52 


25, to end. 




XXV. 


83 


15-22. 




XIV. 


155 


xii. 1-8. 


, , 


XV. 


72 


23-33. 




XV. 


155 


9-14. 




XVI. ~ 


73 


34-40. 




XVI. 


156 


15-21. 


, , 


XVII. 


74 


41, to end. 




XVII. 


157 


22-45. 




XXVTH. 


84 


xxiii. 




XVIII. 


158 


46, to end. 




XXIX. 


86 


xxiv. 1-35. 




XX. 


160 


xiii. 1-9. 


■ • 


XXX. 


86 


36, la end. 




XXI. 


163 


10-17. 


• > 


XXXI. 


87 


XXV. 1-13. 




XXII. 


164 


18-23. 


, , 


XXXII. 


88 


14-30. 




XXIII. 


164 


24-53. 


. . 


XXXIV. 


89 


31, to end. 




XXIV. 


165 


54, to end. 




XLI. 


97 


xxvi. 1, 2. 




XXVI. 


165 


> xiv. 1-12. 


IV. 


II. 


99 


3-5. 




XXVII. 


166 


: 13, 14. 




III. 


101 


6-13. 


V. 


XLII. 


145 



* See Introduction to the Old Testanvent. 



444* 



INDEX THE SECOND. 



SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE IN ARRANGEMENT. 


SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE IN ARRANGEMENT. 


MATTHEW. 


PaH. 


Section. 


Pane. 

166 


MARK. 


Part. 


Section. 


Page. 
97 


xxvi. 14-16. 


VI. 


XXVIII. 


vi. 7-13. 


IV. 


I. 


17-19. 




XXIX. 


166 


17-20. 




VIII. 


62 


20. 




XXX. 


167 


14-29. 




II. 


99 


21-25. 




XXXII. 


168 


30-34. 




III. 


101 


26-29. 




XXXIV. 


170 


35-44. 




IV. 


101 


30. 




XXXVI. 


171 


45, 46. 




V. 


102 


31-35. 




XLI. 


174 


47-52. 




VI. 


103 


36-46. 




XLII. 


175 


53, to end. 




VII. 


103 


47-56. 


, . 


XLIII. 


176 


vii. 1-23. 




IX. 


105 


57. 


VII. 


I. 


177 


24-30. 




X. 


107 


58. 




II. 


178 


31, to end. 




XI. 


108 


59-66. 




III. 


178 


viii. 1-10. 




XII. 


108 


67, 68. 




IV. 


179 


11-21. 




XIII. 


109 


69, 70. 




V. 


179 


23-26. 




XIV. 


110 


71, 72. 




VI. 


180 


27-30. 




XV. 


110 


73, to end. 




VII. 


180 


31, to end. 




XVI. 


110 


xxvii. 1. 




VIII. 


181 


ix. 1. 




XVI. 


110 


2. 




X. 


181 


2-13. 




XVII. 


111 


3-10. 




IX. 


181 


14-29. 




XVIII. 


113 


11-14. 




X. 


181 


30-32, fart 33. 




XIX. 


114 


15-20. 




XII. 


183 


Part 33, to end. 




XXI. 


115 


21-23. 




XIII. 


183 


x. 1. 


V. 


II. 


117 


24, 25. 


, , 


XIV. 


184 


2-12. 




XXX. 


134 


26-30. 




XV. 


184 


13-16. 




XXXI. 


134 


31, 32. 




XVI. 


185 


17-30. 




XXXIX. 


138 


33, 34. 




XVII. 


186 


31. 




XL. 


139 


35, 36. 




XIX. 


186 


32-34. 




XLII. 


140 


37, 38. 




XVII. 


186 


35-45. 




XLIII. 


141 


39-44. 




XX. 


187 


46, to end. 




XLIV. 


142 


45-51. 




XXIII. 


187 


xi. 1-7. 




LIII. 


146 


Part ver. 52. 




XXIII. 


188 


8-10. 


vi. 


I. 


148 


Ft. ver. 52-3. 


VIII. 


IX. 


191 


Part of U. 




III. 


149 


54-56. 


VII. 


XXIII. 


187 


Part of n. 




VII. 


150 


57-60. 


VIII. 


I. 


189 


12-14. 




VIII. 


150 


61. 




IV. 


190 


15-17 




IX. 


151 


62, to end. 




V. 


190 


18. 




X. 


151 


xxviii 1. 


. . 


VII. 


190 


19. 




XI. 


151 


2-4. 




VIII. 


191 


20-26. 




XII. 


151 


5-7. 




XII. 


191 


27, to end. 




XIII. 


152 


8. 




XIII. 


192 


xii. 1-12. 




XIII. 


152 


9, 10. 




XVIII. 


193 


13-17. 




XIV. 


155 


11-15. 




XIX. 


193 


18-27. 




XV. 


1-55 


16.17, pi. 18. 




XXXI. 


196 


28-34. 




XVI. 


156 


Pt.lQ,to end. 


•• 


XXXIV. 


197 


35-37. 
38-40. 




XVII. 
XVIII. 


157 

158 


MARK. 








41, to end. 




XIX. 


159 


i. 1. 


I. 


I. 


47 


xiii. 1-31. 




XX. 


160 


2-8. 




XVIII. 


55 


32, to end. 




XXI. 


163 


9-11. 




XIX. 


57 


xiv. Part of 1. 




XXVI. 


165 


12, 13. 




XX. 


57 


Part ofl, 2. 




XXVII. 


166 


14, 15. 


III. 


I. 


63 


3-9. 


V. 


LII. 


145 


16-20. 


, , 


VI. 


66 


10, 11. 


VI. 


XXVIII. 


166 


21-28. 




VII. 


67 


12-16. 




XXIX. 


166 


29-31. 




VIII. 


67 


17. 




XXX. 


167 


32-39. 




IX. 


68 


18-21. 




XXXII. 


168 


40, to end. 




X. 


69 


22-25. 




XXXIV. 


170 


ii. 1-12. 




XI. 


69 


26. 




XXXVI. 


171 


13, 14. 




XII. 


70 


27-31. 




XLI. 


174 


15-22. 




XXXVII. 


93 


32-42. 




XLII. 


175 


23, to end. 




XV. 


72 


43-50. 




XLIII. 


176 


iii. 1-6. 




XVI. 


73 


51-53. 


VII. 


I. 


177 


7-12. 




XVII. 


74 


54. 




II. 


178 


13-18. 




XVIII. 


74 


55-64. 


, , 


III. 


178 


19-30. 




XXVIII. 


84 


65. 




IV. 


179 


31, to end 




XXIX. 


86 


66-68. 




V. 


179 


iv. 1-9. 




XXX. 


86 


69, part of 70. 




VI. 


180 


10-12. 


, , 


XXXI. 


87 


Pt. 70, to end. 


. , 


VII. 


180 


13-23. 




XXXII. 


88 


XV. Pari of 1 . 


, , 


VIII. 


181 


24, 25. 




XXXIII. 


89 


Part of 1-5. 




X. 


181 


26-34. 


, , 


XXXIV. 


89 


6-11. 




XII. 


183 


35, to end. 


, . 


XXXV. 


91 


12-14. 


, , 


XIII. 


183 


V. 1-20. 




XXXVI. 


92 


15-19. 




XV. 


184 


21, to end. 




XXXVIII. 


94 


20, 21. 




XVI. 


185 


vi. 1-6. 


•• 


XLI. 


97 


22, 23. 




XVII. 


186 j 



INDEX THE SECOND. 



*445 



SCKIPTURE. 



MARK. 



u 



V. 24, 25. 

26-28. 

29-32. 

33-41. 

42-46. 

47. 
'i. 1. 

Part of 2. 

Part of 2-4. 

5-7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

11. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15, to end. 

LUKE, 
i. 1-4. 
5-25. 
26-38. 
39-56. 
57, to end. 
1-7. 
8-20. 
21. 

22-39. 
40. 

41, to end. 
iii. 1-18. 

19, 20. 

21,22,pt. of 23. 
Pt. of 23, end. 

iv. 1-13. 

14, 15. 

16-30. 

31, 32. 

33-37. 

38, 39. 

40, to end. 
V. 1-11. 

12-16. 

17-26. 

27, 28. 

29, to end. 
vi. 1-5. 

6-11. 

12-19. 

20, to end. 
vii. 1-10. 

11-18. 
19-23. 
24-30. 
31-35. 

36, to end. 
nu. 1-3. 

4-8. 

9-17. 

18. 

19-21. 

22-25. 

26-39. 

40, to end. 

1-6. 

7-9. 

10, 11. 

12-17. 

18-21. 

22-27. 

28-36. 

37, part of 43. 
Part 0/43-46. 



IX 



PLACE 


IN ARRANGEMENT. 


Part. 


Sulion. 


Page. 

186 


VII. 


XIX. 




XVII. 


186 




XX. 


187 




XXIII. 


187 


VIII. 


I. 


189 


, , 


II. 


190 




VI. 


190 




VII. 


190 




X. 


191 


. , 


XII. 


191 


, , 


XIII. 


192 


, , 


XVII. 


192 




XXII. 


193 


. , 


XXIII. 


194 


, , 


XXVI. 


194 




XXVII. 


195 




XXX. 


196 


•• 


XXXIV. 


197 


I. 


I. 


47 




III. 


48 


, , 


IV. 


49 


. , 


V. 


49 




VI 


50 


, , 


VIII. 


51 


, , 


X. 


52 


, , 


XI. 


53 


., 


XII. 


53 




XVI. 


55 


, , 


XVII. 


55 




XVIII. 


55 


II. 


VIII. 


62 




XIX. 


57 


I. 


IX. 


51 


, , 


XX. 


57 


III. 


I. 


63 




IV. 


65 


., 


V. 


66 




VII 


67 




VIII. 


67 




IX. 


68 


, , 


VI. 


66 




X. 


69 




XI. 


69 




XII. 


70 




XXXVII. 


93 




XV. 


72 




XVI. 


73 




XVIII. 


74 


, , 


XIX. 


75 




XX. 


80 




XXI. 


81 




XXII. 


81 


, , 


XXIII. 


82 


, , 


XXIV. 


82 




XXVI. 


83 




XXVII. 


84 




XXX. 


86 




XXXII. 


88 




XXXIII. 


89 




XXIX. 


86 


, , 


XXXV. 


91 




XXXVI. 


92 




XXXVIII. 


94 


IV. 


I. 


97 




II. 


99 




III. 


101 




IV. 


101 




XV. 


110 




XV[. 


110 




XVII. 


111 




XVIII. 


113 


• • 


XIX. 


114 



SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE 


IN ARRANGEMENT. 


LUKE. 


Part. 


Section. 


Page. 


i.x. 47-50. 


IV. 


XXI. 


115 


51, to end. 


V. 


XXXIV. 


136 


X. 1-16. 




I. 


117 


17-24. 




VII. 


121 


25-28. 




VIII. 


122 


29-37. 




IX. 


122 


38, to end. 




X. 


122 


xi. 1-13. 




XI. 


123 


14-36. 


III. 


XXVIII. 


84 


37, to end. 


V. 


XII. 


123 


xii. 1-12. 


• « 


XIII. 


124 


13, 14. 




XIV. 


124 


1.5-34. 




XV. 


124 


35, to eiid. 




XVI. 


125 


xiii. 1-9. 




XVI. 


125 


10-17. 




XVII. 


126 


18-22. 


, , 


XVIII. 


127 


23, to end. 




XXIII. 


130 


xiv. 1-24. 




XXIV. 


130 


25, to end. 


. , 


XXV. 


131 


XV. 1-10. 


, , 


XXVI. 


132 


11, to end. 


, , 


XXVII. 


132 


xvi. 1-13. 




XXVIII. 


133 


14-17. 




XXIX. 


133 


18. 


, , 


XXX. 


134 


19, to end. 


, , 


XXXII. 


135 


xvii. 1-10. 


, , 


XXXIII. 


135 


11. 




XXXIV. 


136 


12-19, 


, , 


XXXV. 


136 


20, to end. 


o • 


XXXVI. 


137 


xviii. 1-8. 


. . 


XXXVII. 


137 


9-14. 




XXXVIII. 


137 


15-17. 


, , 


XXXI. 


134 


18-30. 




XXXIX. 


138 


31-34. 




XLII. 


140 


35, to end. 




XLIV. 


142 


xix. 1-28. 




XLV. 


143 


29-35. 




LIII. 


146 


36-40. 


VI. 


I. 


148 


41-44. 




II. 


148 


45, 46. 




III. 


149 


47, 48. 




X. 


151 


XX. 1-19. 




XIII. 


152 


20-26. 




XIV. 


155 


27-40. 




XV. 


155 


41-44. 




XVII. 


1.57 


45, to end. 




XVIII. 


158 


xxi. 1-4. 




XIX. 


159 


5-33. 




XX. 


160 


34-36. 




XXI. 


163 


37, 38. 




XXV. 


165 


xxii. 1, 2. 


, , 


XXVII. 


166 


3-6. 




XXVIII. 


166 


7-13. 


, , 


XXIX. 


166 


14-18. 




XXX. 


167 


19, 20. 




XXXIV. 


170 


21-23. 




XXXII. 


138 


24-27. 


, , 


XXXI. 


167 


28-38. 




XXXIIL 


169 


39. 


, , 


XXXVI. 


171 


40-46. 




XLII. 


175 


47-53. 


, . 


XLIII 


176 


54. 


VII. 


I. 


177 


55. 


. , 


II. 


178 


56, 57. 


, , 


V. 


179 


58. 


, , 


VI. 


180 


59-62. 




VII. 


180 


63-65. 




IV. 


179 


66, to end. 


, . 


VIII. 


181 


xxiii. 1-4. 




X. 


181 


5-12. 




XI. 


182 


13-19. 


. , 


XII. 


183 


20-23. 


, . 


XIII. 


183 


24, 25. 


.. 


XV. 


184 



VOL. II. 



'"LL 



446* 



INDEX THE SECOND. 



SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE IN ARRANGEMENT. 


SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE IN ARRANGEMENT. 


LUKE. 


Part. 


Section. 


Page. 

185 


JOHN. 


Part. 


Sectinn. 


Page. 
173 


xxiii. 26-32. 


VII. 


XVI. 


xvii. 


VI. 


XL. 


33. 




XVII. 


186 


xviii. 1, 2. 




XLII. 


175 


Part of 34. 




XVIII. 


186 


3-11. 




XLIII. 


176 


Part of 34. 




XIX. 


186 


12-14. 


VII. 


I. 


177 


35-37. 


. , 


XX. 


187 


15, 16. 




II. 


178 


38. 




XVII. 


186 


17, 18. 




V. 


179 


39-43. 




XXI. 


187 


19-24. 




III. 


178 


44-49. 




XXIII. 


387 


25-27. 




V. 


179 


50-54. 


VIII. 


I. 


189 


28-38. 




X. 


181 


55. 




II. 


180 


39. 




XII. 


183 


56. 




III. 


190 


40. 




XIII. 


183 


xxiv. 1-3. 




XX. 


193 


xix. 1, part of 16. 


.. 


XV. 


184 


4-9. 




XXI. 


193 


Pt. of 16, 17. 




XVI. 


185 


10. 


, , 


XXII. 


193 


18-22. 




XVII. 


186 


11. 




XXIII. 


194 


23, 24. 




XIX. 


186 


Part of 12. 




XXIV. 


194 


25-27. 




XXII. 


187 


Part of 12. 




XXV. 


194 


28-37. 




XXIII. 


187 


13-32. 




XXVI. 


194 


38, to end. 


VIII. 


I. 


189 


33-35. 




XXVII. 


195 


XX. Part of 1. 




VII. 


190 


36-43. 




XXVIII. 


195 


Part of 1. 




X. 


191 


44-49. 




XXXIII. 


197 


2. 




XI. 


191 


50, to end. 


•• 


XXXIV. 


197 


3-10. 
Part of 11. 


•• 


XIV. 
XV. 


192 
192 


JOHN. 








Part 0/11,12, 








i. 1-18. 


1. 


II. 


47 


13;;^^«.o/14. 




XVI. 


192 


19-34. 


II. 


I. 


59 


Pt. of 14-17. 




XVII. 


192 


35, to end. 




II. 


59 


18. 




XVIII. 


193 


ii. 1-11. 




III. 


60 


19-23. 




XXVIII. 


195 


12. 




IV. 


60 


24, 25. 




XXIX. 


195 


13, to end. 




V. 


60 


26-29. 




XXX. 


196 


iii. 1-21. 




VI. 


61 


30, 31. 




XXXV. 


198 


22, to end. 




VII. 


62 


xxi. 1-24. 




XXXII. 


196 


iv. 1-42. 


lii. 


II. 


63 


25. 




XXXV. 


198 


43, to end. 




III. 


65 










V. 1-15. 




XIII. 


71 


ACTS. 








16, to end. 




XIV. 


71 


i. 1-3. 


IX. 


I. 


204 


vi. 1, 2. 


IV. 


III. 


101 


4, 5. 


VIII. 


xxxm. 


197 


3-14. 




IV. 


101 


6-12. 




XXXIV. 


197 


15. 




V. 


102 


13, 14. 


IX. 


I. 


201 


16-21. 




VI. 


103 


15, to end. 




IL 


204 


22, to end. 




VIII. 


104 


ii. 1-13. 


, , 


III. 


205 


vii. 1. 




VIII. 


104 


14-36. 


. , 


IV. 


205 


2-10. 


V. 


II. 


117 


37-41. 




V. 


206 


11-52. 




III. 


118 


42, to end. 




VI. 


206 


53. 




IV. 


119 


iii. 1-10. 




VII. 


207 


viii. 1-11. 




IV. 


119 


11, to end. 




VHI. 


207 


12-20. 




V. 


120 


iv. 1-7. 


, , 


IX. 


208 


21, to end. 




VI. 


120 


8-22. 




X. 


208 


IX. 1-34. 




XIX. 


127 


23-31. 




XI. 


209 


35, to end. 




XX. 


128 


32, to end. 


, , 


XII. 


209 


X. 1-21. 




XX. 


128 


V. 1-10. 




XIII. 


209 


22-38. 




XXI. 


129 


11-16. 




XIV. 


210 


39, to end. 




XXII. 


130 


17, part of 21. 




XV. 


210 


xi. 1-16. 




XLI. 


140 


Part of 21-23. 




XVI. 


210 


17-46. 




XL VI. 


144 


34, to end. 




XVII. 


211 


47, 48. 




XLVII. 


145 


vi. 1-6. 




XVIII. 


211 


49-52. 




XLVIII. 


145 


7. 




XIX. 


212 


53. 




XLIX. 


145 


8-14. 




XX. 


212 


54. 




L. 


145 


15. 




XXL 


212 


55, to end. 




LI. 


145 


vii. 1-50. 




XXI. 


212 


xii. 1-11. 




LII. 


145 


51-53. 




XXII. 


214 


12-18. 




LIII. 


146 


54, to end. 




XXIII. 


214 


19. 


vi. 


I. 


148 


viii. Part ofl. 




XXIII. 


214 


20-43. 




V. 


149 


Part of ] . 




XXIV. 


215 


44, to end. 




VI. 


150 


2. 




XXIII. 


214 


xiii. 1. 




XXX 


167 


3. 




XXIV. 


215 


2-16. 




XXXI. 


167 


4. 


,, 


XXX. 


210 


17-30. 




XXXII. 


168 


5-13. 




XXV. 


215 


31, to end. 




XXXIII. 


169 


14-17. 


, , 


XXVI. 


215 


xiv. 




XXXV. 


170 


18-24. 




XXVII. 


215 


XV. 1-8. 




XXXVII. 


171 


25. 




xxvni. 


216 


9, to end. 




XXXVIII. 


172 


26, to end. 




XXIX. 


216 


xvi. 1-4. 




XXXVIII. 


172 


ix. 1-9. 




XXXI. 


217 


5, to end. 




XXXIX. 


172 


10, part of 19. 




XXXII. 


217 



INDEX THE SECOND. 



*447 



SCKIPTCRE. 

ACTS. 

is. 19-30. 

31. 

32, to end. 
X. 1-16. 

17-33. 

34-43. 

44, to end. 
xi. 1-18. 

19-21. 

22-24. 

25, 26. 
27, to end. 

xii. 1, -part o/19. 
Pt. 0/19-24. 
24. 
25. 
xiii. 1-3. 

Part of A. 
Part of 4-12. 
13. 

14-50. 
51, 52. 
xiv. 1-5, part of 6. 
Part of 6. 7. 
S-19,pt. of 20. 
Part of 20. 
21-23. 
24, 25. 

26, to end. 
XV. 1, 2. 

3-29. 
30-35. 
36. 

37, to end. 
xvi. 1-3. 
4,5. 
6. 

7-10. 

Part of 11. 
Part of 11. 

12, to end. 
xvii. 1-9. 

10-14. 
15, to end. 
xviii. 1-5. 
6-11. 

12-17, pt. 18. 
Part of 18. 
19. 

20-22. 
23. 

24, to end. 
xix. 1-iO. 
11-20. 

21, part of 22. 
Pt. 22, to end. 
XX. 1. 

2, part of 3. 
Part 0/3,4,5. 
6-12. 

13, 14. 
Part of 15. 
Part of 15. 
Pt. 15, to end. 

xxi. 1-3. 
4-6. 
7. 

8-14. 
15-26. 
27-36. 
37, to end. 
xxii. 1-21. 
22. 
23-29. 



PLACE 


IN ARRANGEMENT. 


Part. 


Section. 


Page. 
217 


IX. 


XXXIII. 




XXXV. 


218 




XXXIV. 


218 




I. 


219 




II. 


219 




III. 


220 




IV. 


220 




V. 


221 




VI. 


221 




VII. 


222 




VIII. 


222 




X. 


223 




IX. 


222 




XI. 


223 




XII. 


223 




XIII. 


223 


xi. 


I. 


224 




II. 


224 




III. 


224 




IV. 


224 




V. 


225 




VI. 


226 




VI. 


226 




VIII. 


227 




VII. 


226 




VIII. 


227 




IX. 


227 




X. 


227 




XI. 


227 




XII. 


228 




XIII. 


228 




XIV. 


229 


XIl. 


I. 


229 




II. 


230 




III. 


230 




II. 


230 




IV. 


230 




V. 


230 




VI. 


230 




VII. 


230 




VIII. 


231 




IX. 


232 




XI. 


238 




XII. 


238 




XIII. 


239 




XV. 


243 




XVII. 


246 




XIX. 


248 




XX. 


248 




XXI. 


248 


xiii. 


I. 


249 




II. 


249 




III. 


249 




IV. 


250 




V. 


250 




VII. 


268 




VIII. 


269 




X. 


275 




XII. 


289 




XIV. 


314 




XV. 


315 




XVI. 


315 




XVII. 


315 




XVIII. 


315 




XIX. 


316 




XX. 


316 




XXI. 


316 




XXII. 


316 




XXIII. 


317 




XXIV. 


317 




XXV. 


318 




XXV. 


318 




XXVI. 


319 




XXVII. 


319 



SCRIPTURE. 



ACTS. 



xxii. 30. 
xxiii. 1-10. 

11. 

12, to end. 
xxiv. 1-21. 

22, to end. 
XXV. 1-12. 

13-22. 

23, to end. 
xxvi. 

xxvii. 1. 
o 

3; 4. 

5-8. 
9-13. 

14, to end. 
xxviii. 1-10. 

11, to pt. 14 
Pt. of 14-16 
17-29. 
30, 31. 



1. 



u 



111. 



IV. 



ROMANS. 

1-7. 
8-17. 

18, to end. 
1-3. 
4-10. 
11-16. 
17-24. 
25, to end. 
1-8. 
9-20. 
21-26. 
27, to end. 
1-12. 
13-22. 

23, to end. 
V. 1-11. 

12, to end. 
vi. 1-11. 
12-14. 
15-18. 

19, to end. 
vii. 1-6. 

7-12. 
13-24, part 

0/25. 
Part 0/25. 
viii. 1-4. 
5-11. 
12-17. 
18-23. 
24-28. 

29, to end. 
1-5. 
6-9. 
10-13. 
14-18. 
19-29. 

30, to end. 
1-3. 
4-13. 
14, 15. 
16, to end. 
1-6. 
7-10. 
11-16. 
17-24. 
25-32. 
33, to end. 
1-8. 

9, to end. 
xiii. 1-10. 



IX. 



XI. 



XII. 



PLACE IN ARRANGEMENT. 



XIV. 



XIII. 



Section. 



XXVIII. 
XXVIII. 

XXIX. 
XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 
XXXIII. 
XXXIV. 

XXXV. 

XXXV. 
XXXVI. 

I. 
II. 
III. 

IV. 
V. 
VI. 
VII. 
VIII. 
IX. 
XV. 



XIII. 



Pao-e. 



319 
319 
320 
320 
321 
322 
322 
323 
323 
323 
325 
325 
325 
325 
325 
326 
327 
327 
327 
328 
359 



289 
290 
290 
291 
291 
291 
292 
292 
292 
293 
293 
294 
294 
295 
295 
295 
296 
296 
297 
297 
297 
298 
298 

299 

299 

299 

300 

300 

300 

301 

301 

302 

302 

302 

303 

303 

304 

304 

304 

305 

305 

305 

306 

306 

307' 

307 

308 

308 

308 

309 

1 



448* 



INDEX THE SECOND. 



SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE IN ARRANGEMENT. 


SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE IN ARRANGEMENT. 


ROMANS. 


PaH. 


Section. 


Page. 

310 


II. CORINTH. 


Part. 


Section. 


Page. 
281 


xiii. 11, to end. 


XIII. 


xin. 


vii. 2-4. 


XIII. 


XI. 


xiv. 1-12. 








310 


5, to end. 


, , 




281 


13, to end. 










311 


viii. 1-15. 


, , 






282 


XV. 1-7. 










311 


16, to end. 








283 


8-13. 










311 


ix. 1-5. 


, , 






283 


14, io end. 










312 


6, to end. 


., 






283 


xvi. 1-16. 










313 


X. 1-6. 








284 


17-20. 










314 


7-11. 


, , 






284 


21, to end. 










314 


12, to end. 


, , 






285 










xi. 1-6. 








285 


1. CORINTH. 








7-15. 








285 


i. 1-3. 


XIII. 


VI. 


250 


16, to end. 


, , 






286 


4-9. 








251 


xii. 1-6. 


, , 






287 


10-16. 








251 


7-11. 








287 


17, to end. 








251 


12, to end. 


, , 






287 


ii. 1-5. 








252 


xiii. 1-4. 








288 


6, to end. 








252 


5-10. 








288 


iii. 1-9, part of 30. 








253 


11, to end. 








289 


Part of 10-15. 








253 










16, to end. 








254 


GALATIANS. 








iv. 1-5. 








254 


i. 1-5. 


xn. 


X. 


232 


6-13. 








254 


6-10. 


.. 




232 


14-17. 








254 


11, to end. 








233 


18, to end. 








255 


ii. 1-10. 








233 


V. 








255 


11, to end. 








233 


vi. 1-8. 








256 


iii. 1-5. 








234 


9, to end. 








256 


6-18. 








234 


vii. 1-17. 








256 


19, to end. 








235 


18-24. 








257 


iv. 1-11. 








235 


25, to end. 








257 


12-20. 








235 


viii. 








258 


21, to end. 








235 


ix. 1-14. 








259 


V. 








236 


15, to end. 








259 


vi. 1-10. 








237 


X. 1-12. 








260 


il, to end. 








238 


13-22. 








260 










23, to end. 








261 


EPHESIANS. 








xi. 1. 








261 


i. 1-14. 


XIV. 


X. 


329 


2-16. 








261 


15, to end. 


.. 


, , 


329 


17, to end. 








262 


ii. 1-10. 










330 


xii. 1-30. 








262 


11, to end. 










331 


31. 








263 


iii. 1-12. 










331 


xiii. 








263 


13, to end. 










332 


xiv. 1-25. 








264 


iv. 1-6. 










332 


26, to end. 








265 


7-16. 










333 


XV. 1-11. 








265 


17-24. 










333 


J2-22. 








266 


25^30. 










334 


23-28. 








266 


31, to end. 










334 


29-34. 








266 


V. 1-14. 










334 


35-44. 




* 




267 


15-20. 










335 


45-49. 








267 


21, to end. 










336 


50, to end. 




' 




267 


vi. 1-9. 










336 


xvi. 1-4. 


, , 






267 


10-20. 










337 


5, to end. 


•• 






268 


21, to end. 










337 


II. CORINTH. 








PHILIPPIANS. 








i. 1, 2. 


XIII. 


XI. 


275 


i. 1-11. 


XIV. 


XI. 


338 


3-7. 








275 


12-20. 






338 


8-11. 








275 


21, to end. 










339 


12-14. 








276 


ii. 1-11. 










340 


15, to end. 








276 


12-16. 










340 


ii. 1-4. 








276 


17, to end. 










341 


5-11. 








277 


iii. 1-11. 










342 


12, to end. 








277 


12-16. 










342 


iii. 1-6. 








277 


17, to end. 










343 


7, to end. 








278 


iv. 1. 










343 


iv. 1-6. 








278 


2-9. 










343 


7-11. 








278 


10-20. 










344 


12, to end. 








279 


21, to end. 










344 


V. 1-10. 








279 










11-15. 








279 


COLOSSIANS. 








16, to end. 








280 


i. 1-14. 


XIV. 


xn. 


345 


vi. 1-10. 








280 


1.5-23. 






346 


11, to end. 








281 


24, to end. 




, , 


346 


vii. 1. 








281 


ii. 1-7. 


•• 


•• 


347 



INDEX THE SECOND. 



*449 



SCRIPTURE. 


PIACE IN ARRANGEMENT. 


SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE IN ARRANGEMENT. 


COLOSSIANS. 


Part. 


Section. 


Page. 

347 


TITUS. 


-Part. 


Section. 


Page. 
247 


ii. 8-15. 


XIV. 


XII. 


iii. 1-8. 


XII. 


XVIII. 


16-19. 


. , 




348 


9. 






248 


20, to end. 








348 


10, 11. 






248 


iii. 1-11. 








348 


12-14. 






248 


12-17. 








349 


15. 


, , 




248 


18, to end. 








349 










iv. 1. 








350 


PHILEMON. 








2-6. 








350 


1-7. 


XIV. 


XIII. 


351 


7, to end. 








350 


8, to end. 


•• 


•• 


352 


I. THESS. 








HEBREWS. 








i. 1-4. 


XII. 


XIV. 


239 


i. 1-3. 


XV. 


I. 


360 


5, to end. 






240 


4, to end. 


, , 




360 


ii. 1-13. 










240 


ii. 1-5. 








361 


14, to end. 










240 


&-9. 








361 


iii. 1-5. 










241 


10, to end. 








362 


6, to end. 










241 


iii. 1-6. 








363 


iv. 1-12. 










241 


7, to end. 








363 


13, to end. 










242 


iv. 1-13. 








364 


V. 1-11. 










242 


14, to end. 








304 


12, to end. 










243 


v. 1-10. 








365 










11, to end. 








366 


II. THESS. 








vi. 1-3. 








366 


i. 1, 2. 


XII. 


XVI. 


243 


4-12. 








366 


3-5. 






244 


13, to end. 








367 


6, to end. 








244 


vii. 1-10. 








367 


ii. 1-12. 








244 


11-17. 








368 


13, to end. 








245 


18-24. 








368 


iii. 1-5. 








245 


25, to end. 








369 


6, to end. 








245 


viii. 1-5. 








369 










6, to end. 








370 


I. TIMOTHY. 








ix. 1-10. 








370 


i. 1, 2. 


XIII. 


IX. 


269 


11-15. 








371 


3, 4. 






270 


16-22. 








371 


5-W, pt. of 11. 










270 


23, to end. 








372 


Partll, 12-17. 










270 


X. 1-4. 








372 


18, to end. 










270 


5-10. 








373 


ii. 1-7. 










270 


11-18. 








373 


8, to end. 










271 


19-25. 








373 


iii. 1-7. 










271 


26-31. 








374 


8-13. 










271 


32, to end. 








374 


14, to end. 










272 


xi. 1-7. 








375 


iv. 1-11. 










272 


8-19. 








375 


12, to end. 










272 


20-31. 








376 


V. 1-16. 










273 


32, to end. 








377 


17, to end. 










273 


xii. 1, 2. 








377 


vi. 1, 2. 










274 


3-13. 








377 


3-10. 










274 


14-17. 








378 


11-16. 










274 


18-24. 








379 


17-19. 










274 


25, to end. 






. , 


379 


20, to end. 










275 


xiii. 1-6. 








379 










7-16. 








380 


II. TIMOTHY. 








17-21. 






, , 


380 


i. 1, 2. 


XV. 


XII. 


386 


22, to end. 








381 


3-12. 


• • 




386 










13, to end. 








387 


JAMES. 








ii. 1-7. 








387 


i. 1-12. 


XIV. 


XIV. 


353 


8-13. 








888 


13-18. 






353 


14-21. 








388 


19, to end. 










354 


22, to end. 


. , 






389 


ii. 1-13. 










354 


iii. 1-5. 


. , 






389 


14, to end. 










355 


6-9. 








389 


iii. 1-12. 










356 


10, to end. 








390 


13, to end. 






- 




356 


iv. 1-8. 


, , 






390 


iv. 1-10. 










357 


9-15. 








391 


11, 12. 










357 


16-18. 








391 


13, to end. 










358 


19, to end. 








391 


V. 1-6. 










358 










7-12. 










358 


TITUS. 








13, to end. 










359 


i. 1-4. 


XII. 


XVIII. 


246 










5-9. 




, , 


246 


I. PETER. 








10, to end. 




, , 


246 


i. 1, 2. 


XV. 


XIII. 


391 


ii. 1-8. 




, , 


247 


3-12. 




, , 


392 


9, to end. 










247 


13-21. 








. 


392 



VOL. II. 



*57 



*LL* 



450* 



INDEX THE SECOND. 



SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE IN ARRANGEMENT. 


SCRIPTURE. 


PLACE IN ARRANGEMENT. 


I. PETER. 


P 


art. Section. 


Page. 

393 


REVELATION. 


Part. 


Section. 


Page. 
408 


i. 2ii, to end. 


5 


:y. XIII. 


ii. 12-17. 


XV. 


XVIII. 


ii. 1-10. 




. . 


393 


18, to end. 






409 


11-17. 




. . 


394 


iii. 1-6. 






409 


18, to end. 




. . 


394 


7-13. 






410 


iii. 1-7. 




. . 


395 


14, to end. 






410 


8-17. 




. . 


395 


iv. 






410 


18, to end. 




. 


396 


V. 1-3. 






411 


iv. 1-6. 




. 


396 


4, to end. 






411 


7-11. 




. 


396 


vi. 1, 2. 






412 


12, to end. 




. • 


397 


3, 4. 






412 


V. 1-4. 




. . 


397 


5, 6. 






412 


5-11. 




* • • 


398 


7, 8. 






412 


12, to end. 




• 


398 


9, 11. 

12, to end. 






412 
413 


II. PETER. 








vii. 






413 


i. 1-11. 


X 


V. XIV. 


399 


viii. 1-5. 






414 


12, to end. 




. 


399 


6, 7. 






414 


ii. 1-9. 




. 


400 


8, 9. 






414 


10-16. 




• 


401 


10, 11. 






414 


* i7, to end. 




• 


401 


12! 






415 


iii. 1-7. 




. 


402 


13. 






415 


8-13. 




, . 


402 


ix. 1-11. 






415 


14, to end. 




.. 


403 


12, to end. 

X. 






416 
416 


I. JOHN. 








xi. 1-14. 






417 


i. 1-4. 


X 


V. XIX. 


430 


15-18. 






417 


5, to end. 




- 


430 


19. 






418 


ii. 1-6. 




. 


430 


xii. 






418 


7-17. 




• • • 


431 


xiii. 1-10. 






419 


18, to end. 




> • 


432 


]], Jo end. 






419 


iii. 1-8. 




■ * 


433 


xiv. 1-13. 






420 


9-17. 




. 


433 


14, to end. 






420 


18, to end. 




. 


434 


XV. 1-4. 






421 


iv. 1-6. 




, 


434 


5, to end. 






421 


7, to end. 




• • 


435 


xvi. 1. 






421 


V. 1-12. 




, 


436 


2. 






421 


13, to end. 




. 


436 


3. 
4-7. 






421 
422 


II. JOHN. 








8, 9. 






422 


1-3. 


X 


V. XIX. 


437 


10, 11. 






422 


4, to end. 




. 


437 


12-16. 
17, to end. 






422 
423 


III. JOHN. 


X 


V. XIX. 


438 


xvii. 
xviii. 






423 
424 


JUDE. 








xix. 1-10. 






425 


1, 2. 


X 


V. XV. 


403 


11, to end. 






425 


3-11. 




• .- . 


403 


XX. 1-6. 






426 


12-16. 




- 


404 


7, to end. 






426 


17-23. 




. . 


405 


xxi. 1-4. 






427 


24, to end. 




• 


405 


5-8. 

9, to end. 






427 
427 


REVELATION. 








xxii. 1-9. 






428 


i. 1-3. 


X 


V. XVIII. 


407 


10-15. 






428 


4-8. 




. 


407 


16-19, part 








9, to end. 




. 


407 


0/20. 






429 


ii. 1-7. 




. . • 


408 


Part of 20, 








8-11. 




• 


408 


and 21 . 






429 



*451 



INDEX THE THIRD, 

SHOWING THE PLACE IN THE TEXT WHERE THE NOTES ARE REFERRED 

TO, THE SUBJECT UPON WHICH THEY ARE WRITTEN, AND THE 

PAGE IN WPIICH THEY ARE TO BE FOUND. 



No. of 
Note. 



9 
10 
11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

' 33 

I 34 

! 35 

j 36 

37 

! 38 

! 39 

40 

i ^2 
43 

I 44 

45 

46 

47 

**48 

48 
49 



II. 

lii. 

IV. 
V. 



VI. 
VII. 

vir. 



VIII. 



IX. 
IX. 

X. 

XI. 
XII. 



XIII. 

xiv. 

XV. 

XVI. 



XVII. 
XVIII. 



XIX. 



SUBJECT. 



47 
47 

47 
47 
47 
48 
48 

49 
4J 
49 
40 
50 
50 
51 
51 
51 
51 
51 
51 
51 
51 
51 
52 
52 
52 
53 
53 
53 
53 
54 
54 
54 
54 
54 
54 
•54 
54 
55 
55 
55 
55 
55 
56 
56 
56 
56 
56 
57 

57 
57 



Mark i. 1 . On the place of this verse 

Luke i. 1-4. On the place of these verses, and on St. Luke's 

Gospei 

Luke i. 2, 



Disscrtat.io;: oii the Logos 

John i. l.'i-lB. Oh the arrangement of these three verses 

On tile Miraculous Events which preceded the Birth of the 

Messinli. 

On the Doctrine uf tile Miraculous Conception 

On the Salutation of Mary 

Luke i. o:- 

Luke i. 41... 

Luke i. 4G-.55 

Luke i. 74 

Matt. i. 1 S 

Matt. i. 
Mcitt. i. 
Iilatt. i. 
Luke ii. 
Luke ii. 



On Prophetic Dreams. 



Page of 
Notes. 



Luke ii. 2 

Luke ii. -5 

On the Genealogies of Christ 

Luke i. and ii 

Matt. ii. 17 

On the Ano-els appearing to the Shepherds 

Luke ii. 21, 

Luke ii. 24 

Luke ii. 26 

Luke ii. 34 

On the Return of the Holy Family to Bethlehem. 
Matt. ii. 3 



Matt. ii. 6 

On the Visit of the Magi 

Matt. ii. 12 

On the Flight of Joseph and Mary into Egypt.. . 

Matt. ii. 15 

On the Slaughter of the Children at Bethlehem. 

Matt. ii. 16 

Matt. ii. 20 

Matt. ii. 22 

Matt. ii. 23 



Luke ii. 41, to the end. 

Luke iii. 2 

Mark i. 4 

Luke iii. 3 

Mark i. 2 

Mark i. 5 , 



On the Period that elapsed between the Commencement of the 

Ministry of John and the Baptism of Christ 

On the Commencement of Christ's Ministry 

Matt. iii. 15. On the Baptism of Christ.. , 



*2 
*4 
*4 
*4 
*16 

*17 
*18 
*23 
*24 
*24 
*25 
*25 
*25 
*25 
*26 
*27 
*27 
*27 
«28 
*28 
*28 
*33 
*34 
*34 
*35 
^35 
*35 
*36 
*36 
*36 
*37 
*37 
*39 
*39 
*39 
*40 
*41 
*41 
*42 
*42 
*42 
*43 
*43 
*43 
*44 
M4 

•45 
*46 
*46 



452* 



INDEX THE THIRD. 



No. of 

Note. 

50 
51 
52 
53 
54 

1 
2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
Iff 
17 
18 
19 

1 

2 
3 
4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 
10 
11 

12 
13 

14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 

30 
31 
32 

33 
34 
35 

36 
37 
38 
39 
40 

41 
42 

43 


PART. 


SECTION. 


Page 

of 

Text. 

57 

57 

58 
58 
58 

59 
59 
59 
59 
59 
59 
59 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
62 
62 
62 
62 
62 
63 

63 
63 
63 

63 
63 
64 
64 
64 
65 
65 

65 
65 
65 
65 
65 
65 
66 
66 
66 
66 
66 
67 
67 
68 
68 
69 
69 
69 

70 
71 
71 

71 
71 

72 

72 

72 
73 
73 
74 

74 

75 

75 


SUBJECT. 


Fare of 

Notes. 


I. 
11. 

iii. 


XIX. 
XX. 

I. 

if. 
iii. 
iv. 

V. 

VII. 

viii. 
i'. 

fi. 
iii. 

IV. 

V. 
VI. 

vii. 

VIII. 
IX. 

X. 

xi. 

XII. 
XIII. 

xiv. 

XV. 

XVI. 
XVII. 

XVIII. 
XIX. 


Matt. iii. 16 


*47 


On the Temptation of Christ 


*47 - 


Luke iv. 5 


*51 


Luke iv. 13 


*51 


On the Difference in the order of the Temptations as related 
by St. Matthew and St. Luke 


*51 


On the Further Testimony of Jolin the Baptist 


*53 


John i. 25 


*54 


John i. 28 


*54 


John i. 29 


*55 


John i. 30 


*55 


John i. 31 


*55 


John i. 36 


•"56 


John i. 42 


*56 


John i. 51 


*56 


On the order of the Events in this and the following Sections. 
John ii. 1. On the Miracle at the Marriacre at Cana 


*57 
*57 


On Ijampe's interpretation of John ii. 1—11 


*61 


John ii. 12 


*61 


On the Buyers and Sellers being driven from the Temple 

On the final Testimony of John the Baptist to Christ 

John iii. 29 


*61 

*62 
*62 


John iii. 34 


*63 


On the Place of this Section 


*63 


On the Imprisonment of John the Baptist 


*63 


On the Place of this and the following Sections, and on the 
Commencement of Christ's more public Ministry 


*63 


Luke iv. 14 , 


*64 


Matt. iv. 15 


*65 


On Christ's Conversation with the woman of Samaria. John 
iv. 1-42 


*65 


John iv. 2 


*65 


John iv. 5 


*66 


John i\r. 20 


*66 


John iv. 25 


*66 


John iv. 35 


*66 


On the Place of this Section 


*66 


On the Healing the Nobleman's Son at Capernaum. John iv. 
43, to the end 


*67 


On Christ's Visit to Nazareth 


*68 


Luke iv. 16 


*68 




*68 


Luke iv. 18. On Christ preaching in the Synagogue at Nazareth. 
On the Nazareth Prophecy. Isaiah Ixi. 1 and 42 


^=68 
*69 


Luke iv. 23 


*69 




*70 


Luke iv. 31, 32 


*70 


On the Place of this Section 


*70 




*71 


On the Types of the New Testament 


•>^2 




*73 


On the Place of this Section - 


*77 




*77 


Matt viii. 17 On the Meaning of Isaiah liii. 4—12 


*78 


On the Place of this Section, and on the Cure of the Leper.. . 
Mark i . 44 


*79 
*80 


On the Place of this Section, and on the Power of Christ to 


*80 


On the Place of this Section, and on the Calling of Matthew. 

On the Number of Passovers during our Lord's Ministry 

John V. 4. On the Healing of the Impotent Folk at the Pool 


*81 
*81 

*84 


John V 8 


*84 


John V 17 


*84 


On Mr. Mann's opinion as to the place of the 5th and 6th 


*85 


On the Plucking the ears of Corn 


*85 




*86 


Mark ii 26 


*87 


On the Place of this Section • 


*87 


On the Place of this Section, and on the Casting out of the 
Unclean Spirits • 


*87 


Luke vi. 12 


*88 


On the Place of this Section, and on the Sermon on the 
Mount 


*88 


Matt. v. 9 


*89 



INDEX THE THIRD. 



*453 



No. of ■ 
Note. 



44 
45 
46 

47 
48 
49 
50 

51 

52 

53 
54 
55 
56 

5r 

58 

59 
60 
01 
62 
63 
64 
65 
66 
67 



69 
70 
71 

1 

2 

3 

4 
5 
6 



III. 



9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 

15 
16 
17 

IS 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

1 

2 

3 



6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 



IV. 



XIX. 



XX. 
XXI. 



XXII. 



XXIII. 

xxiv. 

XXV. 
XXVI. 

XXVIII. 



XXIX. 
XXX. 

xx'xi. 

XXXIV. 
XXXV. 
XXXVI. 

XXXVIII. 

I. 



II. 

IV. 



V. 
VI. 

viii. 

IX. 
X. 
XV. 



XVI. 



XVII. 

xix. 

XX. 

XXI. 



I. 
II. 
I'li. 



IV. 
V. 
VI. 



76 
76 
76 
76 

77 
80 
81 

81 
81 

82 
83 
82 
82 
83 
83 

84 
84 
84 
80 
86 
86 
86 
87 



89 
91 
92 
94 

97 
97 

98 

99 

99 

99 

101 

101 

102 

102 

103 

103 

104 

106 

107 
107 
110 

110 

110 

111 

111 
111 

112 
114 
114 
115 
115 
116 
117 
117 
117 
118 
118 
139 
119 
119 
120 
121 
121 



SUBJECT. 



Matt. V. 13 

Matt. V. 14 

Matt. V. 22 

On the Gospels being written in the Greek language 

Matt. vi. 9, &c 

On the Place of this Section 

On the Place of this Section, and on the Raising to Life the 

Widow's Son at Nain 

Luke vii. 15 

On the Place of this Section, and on the Message of John the 

Baptist to Christ 

Matt. xi. 5 

Matt. xi. 11 

Matt. xi. 12 

On the Place of this Section 

On the Place of this Section 

On tlie Arrangement of the Events recorded in this and the 

following Section 

On the Place of this Section 

On the Address of our Lord to the Pharisees 

On the Place of Mark iii. 19-21 

On the Place of this Section 

Matt. xii. 50 

On the Place of the Event related in this Section 

On the Arrangement of this Section 

Mark iv. 2 

On the Arrangement of this and the remaining Sections in 

this Part 

On the Phrase The Kingdom of Heaven 

Matt. viii. 20 ". 

On Christ's healing the Gadarene Demoniac 

On an opinion of Michaelis respecting the Gospel of St. 

Matthew 

On the Arrangement of the Sections of this Part 

On the Christian Ministry and the Mission of the Twelve 

Apostles 

Matt. X. 27 

Matt. X. 29 

Matt. X. 40 

On the Death of John the Baptist 

On the Miraculously Feeding of Five Thousand 

Matt. xiv. 16 

Mark vi. 43 

On Christ's Praying alone 

On Christ's 'Walking on the Sea 

Matt. xiv. 33. Of a truth thou art the Son of God ! 

John vi. 35. I am the Bread of Life 

Matt. XV. 3. Why do ye transgress the Commandment of 

God by your Tradition ? 

On the Healing of the Syro-phcenician Woman 

Matt. XV. 26 

On the opinions of the Jews respecting the Character of the 

Messiah 

On the Confession of St. Peter. Matt. xvi. 16 

On the Meaning of Matt. xvi. 19 

On our Lord's explicit Declaration of the Nature of his King- 
dom 



Mark ix. 1 

On the Transfiguration 

Matt. xvii. 9 

On Christ's Foretelling his Death and Resurrection. 

On Christ's Paying Tribute. Matt. xvii. 24, &c 

On the Disciples' Dispute for Superiority 

Mark ix. 49 

Matt, xviii. 20 , 

On the Mission of the Seventy 

On the Number Sevent}' 

On the Place of this Section 

John vii. .5 

On the Place of this Section 

John vii. 42 

John vii. 48 

On the Genuineness of this Section 

John viii. 12 

John viii. 58 

I John viii. 58 



Page of 
Notee. 



*-89 
'90 
*90 
■*91 
*91 
*91 

'92 
*92 

*93 
*93 
*93 
*94 
*94 
*94 

*94 
*95 
*95 
*96 
*96 
*96 
*96 
*96 
*97 

*97 
*98 
*99 
*99 

*99 
*100 

*100 
«105 
*105 
*105 
*105 
*105 
*105 
*105 
■'107 
*107 
*107 
*107 

*107 
*108 
*108 

*109 
*110 
*112 

*1]4 
*115 
*115 
*118 
*1]9 
*11!) 
*1]!) 
*120 
*121 
*121 
*]21 
*12] 
*122 
*122 
■''■122 
*122 
*1 22 
*123 
*]23 
*123 



454* 



INDEX THE THIRD. 



No. of 
Note. 



12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 



38 


•'• 


39 




40 




1 


VI. 


2 




3 




4 




o 




6 




7 




8 




'9 




10 




11 




12 




13 




14 




15 




16 




17 




18 




19 




20 




21 




22 




23 




24 


.. 


25 




26 


, , 


27 




28 


, , 


29 


, , 


30 




31 


, , 


32 


, , 


33 




34 


, , 


35 




1 


VII. 


2 




3 




4 


, , 


5 




6 




/ 


.. 


9 




10 
11 





VII. 

viii. 

IX. 
X. 

xviii. 

XIX. 



XXIII. 
XXX. 

XXXI. 
XXXII. 
XXXIV. 

XXXV. 
XXXIX 

XL. 

XLI. 

XLII. 

XLIV. 

XLVI. 

XLVII. 

XLVIII. 

LII. 

Llil. 



III. 
V. 

viii. 

IX. 
XII. 
XIII. 
XV. 
XVII. 
XVIII. 



XIX. 
XX. 
XXI. 

xxiv. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXX. 

XXXI. 
XXXII. 

XXXIII. 

XXXIV. 

XXXV. 
XLII. 

XLIII. 

I. 
III. 



rv. 

V. 

VII. 
IX. 



Page I 

of 
Teiu 



121 
121 

122 
122 
122 
122 
127 
127 
127 
127 
130 
134 
134 
135 
136 
136 
138 
139 
140 
140 
140 
142 
144 
145 
145 
145 
145 
147 
147 
148 
148 
148 
149 
149 
149 
150 
151 
151 
151 
153 
155 
157 
159 
159 
159 
159 
160 
163 
163 
165 
166 
166 
167 

167 
168 
169 
169 
169 
170 
170 
171 
175 
175 
176 
177 
179 
179 
179 
179 
179 
179 
180 
180 
181 
181 



SUBJECT. 



On the Places of these Sections, (vii. -xviii.). 

On the Return of the Seventy — 

Luke X. 26 

Luke X. 29 

On the Place of this Section 

Luke X. 42 

Luke xiii. 19 

On the Restoring a Blind Man to Sight 

John ix. 2 



John ix. 6 , 

On the Place of these Sections, xxiii.-xxxix , 

On the Place of this Section 

On the Place of this Section 

On the Place of these Sections, xxxii. and xxxiii 

On Christ's Journey to Jerusalem 

On the Place of these Sections, xxxv.-xxxviii 

On the Place of this Section 

Matt. xix. 28 

Matt. XX. 16 

On the Time and Place of this Section 

On Christ's Predicting his Sufferings and Death 

On the Healing two Blind Men at Jericho 

On the Resurrection of Lazarus 

John xi. 48 

John xi. 51 

On the Time of the Anointing of our Lord at Bethany 

On the Precious Ointment 

On Zechariah ix. 9 

John xii. 16 

On Christ's Entry into Jerusalem 

Matt. xxi. 9 

Mark xi. 10 

On the Casting out of the Buyers and Sellers from the Temple, 

On the Greeks desiring to see Christ, John xii. 20 

On the " Bath Col," or Voice from Heaven 

On the Cursing the Barren Fig-tree 

Mark xi. 13 

Christ again casts the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple... 

Mark xi. 23 

Matt. xxi. 42 

Luke XX. 27 

Matt. xxii. 42 

Matt, xxiii. 26 

Matt, xxiii. 37 

Matt, xxiii. 38 

Mark xii. 42 

On the Destruction of Jerusalem 

Matt. xxiv. 36 

Matt. xxiv. 43 

Matt. XXV. 34 

Luke xxii. 2 



On the Betrayal of Christ 

On the Question, whether our Lord ate the Passover immedi- 
ately before the Institution of the Eucharist 

John xiii. 5 

Matt. xxvi. 24 

Matt. xxvi. 25 

Luke xxii. 32 

Luke xxii. 38 

On the Institution of the Eucharist 

Matt. xxvi. 29 

John xiv. 31.. . . 

Matt. xxvi. 36 

On Christ's Agony 

John xviii. 6 

John xviii. 13 

Matt. xxvi. 64 

Matt. xxvi. 65 

Matt. xxvi. 65 

On the Place of this Section 

Matt. xxvi. 68 

On Peter's Denial of Christ 

On the Time of the Cockcrowing 

Luke xxii. 59 

On the Place of this Section 

On the Death of Judas 



INDEX THE THIRD. 



*455 





f 




Pa^e 


Note. 


PART 


SECTION. 


of 
Text. 


12 


VII. 


IX. 


181 


13 


•• 


X. 


182 


14 




XI. 


183 


15 




XII. 


183 


1(3 




XIII. 


183 


17 




XIV. 


184 


18 




XV. 


184 


19 






184 


ao 






184 


21 




, , 


184 


22 




XVI. 


185 


23 




XVII. 


186 


24 






186 


25 




XIX. 


186 


26 


.. 


XXI. 


187 


27 




XXIII. 


188 


23 






188 


29 




.. 


188 


1 


VIII. 


I. 


189 


2 


.. 


. , 


189 


3 


.. 


, 


189 


4 


• • 


II. 


190 


5 




IV. 


190 


fi 




V. 


190 


7 




VI. 


190 


8 




VII. 


190 


9 




VIII. 


191 


10 




IX. 


191 


n 


.. 


X. 


191 


12 






191 


13 




XII. 


191 


14 




XIII. 


192 


15 




XIV. 


192 


16 




. , 


192 


17 




XV. 


192 


IS 




XVI. 


192 


19 




XVII. 


192 


20 






192 


21 




, . 


192 


22 




XVIII. 


193 


23 




XIX. 


193 


24 




XX. 


193 


25 




XXI. 


193 


26 




XXII. 


193 


27 




XXV. 


194 


•2B 




XXVI. 


194 


29 




, , 


194 


30 




XXVII. 


195 


31 




XXX. 


196 


32 






196 


33 


.. 


•• 


196 


34 




XXXI. 


196 


a5 






196 


36 




XXXII. 


196 


37 






196 


38 






197 


39 




XXXIII. 


197 


40 




XXXIV. 


197 


41 






197 


42 






198 


43 






198 


44 




XXXV. 


198 


1 


TX. 




199 


2 




II. 


204 


3 






204 


4 




, , 


204 


5 


.. 




205 


6 






205 


7 




I'li. 


205 


8 


.. 




205 


9 






205 



Matt, xxvii. 9 

On the Question, wliether the Jews, at the time of Christ, had 

the power of inflicting Capital Punishment 

Luke xxiii. 12 

On the Release of Barabbas 

John xviii. 40 

Matt, xxvii. 25 

On Mark xv. 25. and John xix. 14-16 

On the Purple Robe, John xix. 2 

On the Crown of Thorns 

Jolm xix. 9 

Mark xv. 21 

On Matt, xxvii. 34. and Mark xv. 23 

On the Superscription on the Cross 

On the Necessity of the Atonement 

On Clirist's Answer to the Penitent Tliief. 

On our Lord's Exclamation when on the Cross 

John xix. 30 

John xix. 30 

On the Burial and Resurrection of our Lord 

Mark xv. 42 

Matt, xxvii. 60 

On the opinion that " Two parties of Women visited the 

Sepulchre." 

Matt, xxvii. 61 

On the Guard of Soldiers 

Mark xvi. 1 

On the Time when the Women set out for, and arrived at, the 

Sepulchre 

Matt, xxviii. 2 

Matt, xxvii. 52, 53 

On the Punctuation of this Section 

Mark xvi. 4 

On the Form and Dimensions of the Jewish Sepulchres 

Mark xvi. 8 

John XX. 3 

John XX. 8 

John XX. 11 

John XX. 12 

On the Resurrection. Mark xvi. 9 

John XX. 16 

John XX. 17. On the words, " Touch me not." 

John XX. 18 

Matt, xxviii. 13 

Luke xxiv. 1 

Luke xxiv. 9, 10 

On the Genuineness of Mark xvi. 10, to end 

On the Place of Luke xxiv. 12 

On the Arrangement of these Sections 

Luke xxiv. 21 

Luke xxiv. 34 

Mark xvi. 14 

John XX. 26 

John XX. 28. On the Exclamation of St. Thomas, and on the 

word Uooaxvriw 

Matt, xxviii. 17 

Matt, xxviii. 18 

John xxi. 1-24 

John xxi. 14 

John xxi. 18. 

Acts i. 4 

On the Arrangement of this Section 

On the Arrangement of this Section 

Acts i. 8 

Actsi. 12 

John XX. 30. On the Visible Ascension in each of the tliree 

Dispensations 

Preliminary Observations 

On the Appointment of Matthias 

Acts i. 19 

Acts i. 20 

Acts i. 24. On the Divinity of Christ 

Acts i. 25 

On the Descent of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost... 

Acts ii. 1 

Acts ii. 1 



Pa»e of 
Notes. 



*169 

*170 
*174 
*175 
*175 
*175 
*175 
*177 
*178 
*178 
*178 
*178 
*179 
^181 
*183 
*183 
«184 
*184 
*1S5 
*196 
^196 

*196 
*200 
*200 
*-200 

*201 
*202 
*202 
*203 
*204 
*204 
*206 
*206 
*206 
*207 
*207 
*208 
«208 
*209 
*209 
«209 
^210 
*210 
«210 
*211 
*211 
*211 
*211 
*212 
*212 

*212 

*213 

*213' 

*213 

*213 

*214 

*214 

«214 

*214 

*215 

«215 

«215 

199 

^217 

*218 
*218 
«219 
*220 
*220 
*223 
*224 



456* 



INDEX THE THIRD, 



No. of 

Note. 



10 

11 

12 
13 
14 
15 

16 
17 

18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 

3; 

32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 

39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
50 
51 
52 
53 
54 



50 
57 
58 
59 
60 
61 
62 
63 
64 
65 
66 
67 
68 
69 
70 
71 
72 



IX. 



III. 
IV. 



VI. 

viii. 



IX. 
X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

xviii. 
xix. 

XX. 

XXI. 



XXII. 
XXIII. 

xxiv. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 
XXIX. 



XXX. 
XXXI. 



XXXII. 
XXXIII. 



XXXIV. 
XXXV. 



I. 
lii. 



VI. 
VII. 
VIII. 
IX. 



Page 

of 

Teit. 



205 
205 
206 
206 
206 
207 
207 
207 
207 
207 
207 
208 
208 
209 
209 
210 
210 
211 
2U 
211 
211 
212 
212 
2J2 
212 
212 
213 
214 
214 

214 
214 

214 
215 
215 
215 
215 
215 
215 
216 
216 
216 
216 
216 
216 
216 
216 

217 

217 
217 
217 
217 

217 
217 
217 
217 
217 
217 
218 
218 
218 
2] 8 
218 
218 

219 
219 
220 
220 
220 
221 
222 
222 
222 



Acts ii. 13 

Acts ii. 14 

Acts ii. 27 

Acts ii. 33 

Acts ii. 45 

Acts ii. 46 

Acts iii. 17 

Acts iii. 19 

Acts iii. 20 

Acts iii. 21 

Acts iii. 22. On the Parallel between Moses and Christ 

Acts iv. 6 

Acts iv. 19 

Acts iv. 28 

Acts iv. 37 

Acts V. 4 

On the Arrangement of Acts v. 11-16 

Acts V. 28 

Acts V. 34 

Acts V. 38 

On the Origin and Nature of the Office of Deacon 

Acts vi. 5 

On the Date of the Martyrdom of St. Stephen 

Acts vi. 9. On the Synagogue of the Libertines 

Acts vii. 2. On St. Stephen's Apology before the Sanhedrin.. 

Acts vii. 6 

Acts vii. 16 

Acts vii. 43. On the Star of the God Remphan 

Acts vii. 53. On the Meaning of the words Elg SiaTayag 
'^yyfXmv 

Acts vii. 56 

Acts vii. 58 

Acts vii. 58. On the Exclamation of St. Stephen 

Acts viii. 2 

Acts viii. 1 

Acts viii. 3 

Acts viii. 5 

Acts viii. 9 

Acts viii. 17. On Confirmation 

Acts viii. 26 

Acts viii. 27 

Acts viii. 32. On the different Readings of Isaiah liii. 7, 8... . 

Acts viii. 33 

Acts viii. 34 

Acts viii. 36 

Acts viii. 39 

Acts viii. 4. On the Date, Design, and Original Language of 

St. Matthew's Gospel 

On the Conversion of St. Paul 

Acts ix. 1 

Acts ix. 2 . 

Acts ix. 2. " Any of this way." 

On the Conversion of St. Paul, Acts ix. 3 

Acts ix. 5 

Acts ix. 7 

Acts ix. 8 

Acts ix. 9. General Observations on Conversion 

Acts ix. 15 

Acts ix. 20 

Acts ix. 25 

Acts ix. 26 

Acts ix. 41 

Acts ix. 43 

On the Rest of the Primitive Churches from Persecution 

Acts ix. 31. On the State of the Primitive Church, and on the 

Apostolic Office 

On the Proselytes 

Acts X. 10 

Acts X. 35 

Acts X. 36 

Acts X. 40 

Acts xi. 19 

On Barnabas's Journey to Antioch 

Acts xi. 26. On the Christian Designation 

On the Government of the Church of Jerusalem after the 

Herodian Persecution, and on the Episcopate of St. James. . . 



IJNDEX THE THIRD. 



*4l 



No. of 
Nole. 

10 

.11 

12 

13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
1 

2 
3 
4 
5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 

9 
10 

11 

12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 

20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
23 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 

1 

2 


PART. 


SECTION. 


Pa,e 
Text. 

222 

222 
223 

223 
223 
223 
223 
223 
223 
224 

224 
224 
224 
225 

22.5 
225 
225 
225 
225 
226 
226 
227 
227 
227 
227 
228 
228 
228 
229 
22;) 

229 
230 
230 
230 
230 
230 
231 
231 

232 
232 

234 

234 
235 
235 
235 

236 
236 
233 
239 

239 
239 
239 
239 
243 
243 
244 
244 
244 
245 
245 
246 
246 
247 
248 
248 
249 
249 
249 


SUBJECT. 


*280 
*282 

^^282 
*288 
*288 
*289 
*289 
*289 
*291 

*291 
*292 
*293 
*293 

*293 

*297 
*297 
*297 
*298 
*298 
^299 
*299 
*300 
*300 
*300 
*300 
*300 
*300 
*301 
*302 

*305 
*3]3 
*313 
*313 
*313 
*3]3 
*313 
*314 

*314 
*316 

*316 

*329 
*330 
*330 
*330 
*331 
*331 
*331 
*331 

*334 
*336 
*337 
*337 
*337 
*338 
*339 
*339 
*339 
*339 
*343 
*343 
*343 
'344 
*346 
*346 
*346 
*347 
*347 
*347 


X. 

xi. 

XII. 

xiii. 


IX. 
X. 

xi. 

XIII. 

I. 
III. 

V. 
VII. 

I'x. 

XIII. 
XIV. 

I. 

II. 

lii. 

VI. 
VIII. 

IX. 
X. 

x'ii. 

xiii. 
xiv. 

XVI. 

XVII. 
XVIII. 

xix. 

XXI. 

II. 




Acts xii 10 . . . . . 


On the Question concerning St. Peter's Visit to Rome, and the 
Writintr of St. Mark's Gospel 


On the Arrano"ement of tliis Section 


Acts xi. 27 


Acts xi 30 On the word J^vcshijtcr 


Acts xii 23 


On the Time when St. Paul was appointed to the Apostolate. . 
Acts xii. 25 


Acts xiii. 3. On the Occasion of St. Paul and Barnabas re- 


Acts xiii 7 * 




Acts xiii. 9 

Acts xiii. 14. On the OiBcers and Modes of 'Worship in the 
Synaffocrues ••........• 


On the Oration of St Paul Acts xiii. 16-50 






Acts xiii 27 




Acts xiii 42 


Acts xiii. 48. On the Systems of Calvin and Arminius 

Acts xiv 11 


Acts xiv 12 


Acts xiv 19 


Acts xiv. 23 


Acts XV. 5 


Acts XV. 10. On the Time of the Council of Jerusalem 




Acts XV. 32. On the Spiritual Gifts, Titles, and Offices, in the 
Church of Antioch 


Acts XV 36 


Acts XV. 39 


Acts XV 41 


On the Arranfrement of this Section 


Acts xvi. 3 


Acts xvi. 11 


Acts xvi 12 


Acts xvi. 16. On the Nature of the Spirit of Divination in the 
Pythoness 


Acts xvii 2 


General Introduction to the Epistles, and on the Epistle to the 


Gal. ii. 18. On St. Paul's Silence respecting the Apostolic 
Decree 


Gal. iii. 11 


Gal. iii. 16 


Gal. iii. 27 


Gal. iv. 10 


Gal. iv. 17 


Gal. iv. 24 


Acts xvii. 17. On St. Paul's Plan of Preachino- 


Acts xvii. 23. On the Altar at Athens, and the Existence of 
God 


Acts xvii. 28 


Acts xviii. 2 


Acts xviii. 5 


On the First Epistle to the Thessalonians 


1 Thess. V. 27. The Holy Scriptures intended for all 


On the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians 


2 Thess. i. 4 

2 Thess. i 7 


2 Thess. ii. 12. Popery the predicted Apostacy 


2 Thess. iii. 6 


2 Thess. iii. 17 


Acts xviii .17 


On the Date of the Epistle to Titus 


Titus ii. 15 


Titus iii. 12 


Acts xviii. 18 


Acts xviii. 22 


Acts xviii. 24 


Acts xviii. 28 





VOL,. II. 



*58 



'^JttM 



458* 



INDEX THE THIRD. 



No. of 
Note. 


PART. 


SECTION. 


Page 
Teit. 


3 


XIII. 


III. 


249 


4 




- . 


250 


5 




IV. 


250 


6 




VI. 


250 


7 






255 


8 




• • 


257 


9 






258 


10 




, , 


261 


11 






263 


12 




VII. 


268 


13 




IX. 


269 


14 






271 


15 




X. 


275 


1(5 




XI. 


275 


17 






277 


18 






278 


19 




.. 


279 


20 






281 


21 




• • 


288 


22 




XIII. 


289 


23 






296 


24 




, 


298 


25 




XIV. 


314 


26 




XVIII. 


315 


27 




. 


315 


28 




XX. 


316 


29 




XXIII. 


317 


30 




XXVII. 


319 


31 




XXVIII. 


319 


32 




XXX. 


320 


33 




XXXI. 


321 


34 




XXXII. 


322 


35 






322 


3fi 




XXXIII. 


322 


37 




XXXVI. 


325 


1 


XIV. 


I. 


325 


2 




. III. 


325 


3 




V. 


326 


4 






326 


5 




, , 


326 


6 






327 


7 






327 


S 




VI. 


327 


9 






327 


in 




VII. 


327 


11 




, 


327 


12 




VIII. 


327 


13 




X. 


328 


14 






336 


15 




XL 


338 


If! 






343 


17 




XII. 


345 


18 






347 


19 






348 


20 




xiii. 


351 


21 






351 


22 






352 


23 






352 


24 




XIV. 


352 


25 






353 


2fi 






353 


27 






354 


28 






354 


29 






355 


30 






359 


31 




XV. 


359 


1 


XV. 


[. 


360 


2 






360 


3 




, , 


364 


4 






364 


5 






3f!5 


fi 






366 


7 






370 



Acts xix. 2 

Acts xix. 9 

Acts xix. 13 

On the First Epistle to the Corintliians 

1 Cor. V. 9. On tlie Erroneous Translation of this Verse 

1 Cor. vii. 6. On the Plenary and Perpetual Inspiration of St. 

Paul 

1 Cor. viii. 6 

1 Cor. xi. 10 

1 Cor. xii. 16 

On the Shrines of Diana 

Brief Account of Timothy, and of the First Epistle to him.. . 

1 Tim. iii. 13 

Acts XX. 2 

On the Date of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians 

2 Cor. iii. 6 

2 Cor. iii. 18 

2 Cor. V. 2 

2 Cor. vi. 14 

2 Cor. xiii. 1. On the Meaning of the words- Tqirov rovro 

&Q/o^ai 

On the Date and Occasion of the Epistle to the Romans 

Rom. V. 14 

Rom. vi. 23 

Acts XX. 12 

Acts XX. 17 

Acts XX. 28 

Acts xxi. 4 , 

Acts xxi. 26 

Acts xxii. 28 

On St. Paul's Declaration that he was ignorant that Ananias 

was High Priest, Acts xxiii. 5 

Acts xxiii. 12 

Acts xxiv. 5 

Acts xxiv. 22 

Acts xxiv. 27 

Acts xxv. 11 

Acts xxvii. 1 

Acts xxvii. 2 

Acts xxvii. 6 

Acts xxvii. 14 

Acts xxvii. 14. On the wind called Eurodydon 

Acts xxvii. 27 

Acts xxvii. 40 

Acts xxvii. 41 

Acts xxviii. 1. On the Island of Melita 

Acts xxviii. 4 

Acts xxviii. 11 

Acts xxviii. 12 

Acts xxviii. 16 

On the Date and Occasion of the Epistle to the Ephesians. . . . 

Ephesians v. 32 

On the Epistle to the Philippians 

Philippians iv. 3 

On the Date and Occasion of the Epistle to the Colossians.. . . 

Colossians ii. 14 

Colossians ii. 20 

On the Date and Occasion of the Epistle to Philemon 

Philemon 1 

Philemon 11 

Philemon 15 

On the Date and Occasion of the Epistle of St. James 

James i. 8 

James i. 15 

James i. 21 

James i. 25 

James ii. 10 

James v. 15 

On St. Luke's Gospel 

On the Origin and Date of the Epistle to the Hebrews 

Hebrews i. 3 

Hebrews iv. 8 

Hebrews iv. 12 

Hebrews v. 7 

Hebrews vi. 8 

Hebrews viii. 13 



INDEX THE THIRD. 



*459 



No. of 






Paso 


Note. 


PART. 


SECTION. 


of 
Text. 

370 


8 


XV. 


I. 


-9 




, , 


379 


10 




, , 


379 


11 




II. 


381 


12 




III. 


384 


13 




IV. 


384 


14 




V. 


384 


15 




VI. 


384 


16 




VII. 


385 


17 




VIII. 


385 


18 




IX. 


385 


19 




X. 


385 


yo 




XI. 


386 


21 




XII. 


386 


22 






387 


23 




XIII. 


391 


"24 






396 


25 




XIV. 


398 


26 






399 


27 




• • 


400 


28 






400 


29 




XV. 


403 


30 






404 


31 






404 


32 




, , 


404 


33 




XVI. 


405 


34 




XVII. 


406 


35 




XVIII. 


407 


36 




, . 


415 


37 




XIX. 


429 


38 






437 


39 






438 



Hebrews ix. 5 

Hebrews xii. 22 , 

Hebrews xii. 26 

On the Travels of St. Paul 

Same subject 

Same subject 

Same subject 

Same subject 

Same subject 

Same subject 

Same subject 

Same subject 

Same subject 

On the Date and Occasion of the Second Epistle to Timothy.. 

2 Timothy ii. 2 

On St. Peter, and on the Date and Occasion of his First 
Epistle 

1 Peter iii. 21 

On the Second Epistle of Peter 

2 Peter i. ] 1 

2 Peter i. 16. On the Attestation given to the Divine Mission 

of our Lord at his Baptism 

2 Peter ii. 20 

On the Epistle of St. Jude 

Jude 9 

Jude 11 

Jude 14 

On the Martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul 

On the Destruction of Jerusalem 

On the Design and Plan of the Apocalypse 

: 26... 

On the Date and Occasion of the First Epistle of John 

General Remarks on the Second and Third Epistles of John... 
On the Third Epistle of St. John 



*401 
*401 

*401 
381 
384 

384 
384 
384 
385 
385 
385 
386 
386 
*402 
*404 

*404 
*406 
*407 
*408 

*408 
*409 
*410 
*412 
M12 
*412 
405 
406 
*413 
*418 
*418 
*422 
*423 



*460 



INDEX THE FOURTH. 



Page. 

Abarbanel, on the Bath-Col *142 

Abiathar, the High Priest, Michaelis on .... *87 
Achor, valley of, a door of Hope, meaning of *65 
Acclamations of the children, »&c. when 

Christ entered Jerusalem *140 

Adam created in the image of God, but his 

son was born in his own image . '. *19 

, Christ shown to be the second, from 

the Old Testament, the New Testament, 

and, the Jewish traditions *47 

, why the second was tempted in 

Gethsemane *164 

Adria, whei'e St. Paul was wrecked *371 

yEons, of Cerintlms *11 

Africanus, on the genealogy of Christ *29 

Aldine MS., on a reading in *139 

" Allegory, which things are an," Bishop 

Marsh on this passage *331 

Allix, Dr. sometimes inaccurate *5 

Alexandrian Jews obedient to the Sanhedrin 

of Jerusalem *255 

Altar at Athens *334 

Ananias, on his High Priesthood *366 

, the nature of his crime *231 

Analogy between the claims of human and 

divine Laws *247 

Analogies in Scripture, not from chance . *230 

Analysis of our Lord's address to the Phari- 
sees, on casting out Devils *95 

Angel Jehovah, the Logos of St. John *4 

Angels, renewal of their visits to man to be 

expected at the coming of Christ *34 

" , by the disposition of," meaning of 

the expression *243 

, present at the reconciliation as at the 

creation of the world *35 

ascending and descending, interpreted 

by King as a literal prophecy *56 

, the agents of the Deity *207 

at the tomb of our Lord *207 

attendant at the giving of the law . . . *243 

, probability of their continued agency *2S0 

Angel of the congregation — his duties in the 

Synagogue, service and qualifications *295 

Angelic appearances, prove our nearness to 

the invisible world *207 

Annas, influence of, at Jerusalem, when 

Christ was apprehended *166 

Anointing with oil, on this custom *391 

Antipater, son of Herod, probably an adviser 

of the massacre at Bethlehem *41 

Antioch, Church of, whether St. Paul was its 

Apostle *291 

, composed of Proselytes 

of the Gate *303 

Antioch, well situated to become the principal 

Gentile Church *303 

, spiritual gifts, offices, and titles, in 

the Church of '. . . *30.5 

Apocalypse, its design, plan, &c *413 

— — — , its various interpretations *413 

Apollonius and Apollos, whether the same . . *347 
Apostles, why chosen from the lower ranks 

of life *71 

, chosen ^88 



Page. 
Apostles, connected the two dispensations . . . *105 

unable to comprehend the causes of 

Christ's death *119 

, office of, well known to the ancient 

Jews *265 

of the High Priest and Sanhedrin, 

meaning of *266 

, when they left Judaea after the as- 
cension of Christ *283 

, when St. Paul was appointed to the 

office *289 

, their safety in the first persecution. "^246 

, had power over other Churches .... *305 

, their qualifications *305 

Apostolic decree, on the "302 

, spiritual meaning of *304 

'■ , why not mentioned by St. 

Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians *329 

writings early known, and widely 

circulated 439 

Archelaus, commencement of his reign *42 

, banished about the time when 

Christ at twelve years old went up to Je- 
rusalem *42 

Aretas, king of Arabia, defeats the army of 

Herod Philip "63 

Arguments in favor of Christianity, how 
different from those in favor of othei 

systems 'lUl 

— against Christianity have been all 

refuted 199 

Arminians and Calvinists, in what respects 

they agree "299 

Arnobius, on Simon Magus ^247 

Articles of faith in the Church of Jerusalem ^2G4 
" Ascended, I am not yet," »fec. explained. . . *]90 

Ascension, place of our Lord's "215 

Ascensions, three "■'2L5 

Athens, wisdom of St. Paul's conduct at *3?l 

, on the altar there, noticed by St. Paul *334 

Atonement, the chief doctrine of the Bible . . *53 

, on the *1]9 

, necessity of an, for sin *]81 

Augustus, expression of, to Cleopatra *^>7 

" Augustan band," on the *369 

Auricular confession, not an apostolic custom *391 
Authority of ancient writers preferable to 

modern conjecture *3 

_ of our Lord, to preach at Nazareth *68 

exercised in every stage of the 

Church *305 

of the ministers of the early Church, 

not from the people, but from God... ^ *312 

" Babbler," Acts xvii. 18 *332 

Babylonian Jews obedient to the Jewish San- 
hedrin *255 

Baptism, origin of, among the Jews ........ *43 

, whether a permanent institution 

among the Jews *44 

, of John, in what respects different 

from that of others *44 

, three forms of ^44 

, time of Christ's *45 

, reasons and meaning of Christ's . . . *96 



INDEX THE FOURTH. 



*461 



Page. 
Baptism first practised as a permanent insti- 
tution by John "24 

, typified by the preservation of Noah *4U6 

, our Lords, Danzius on the attestation 

tlien given to his Divine Mission *408 

Baptize, whj^ Christ did not "65 

Barabbas, his release, how obtained ^175 

Barnabas (tlie father) compares wicked men 

to fish ^'S 

Barrett, Dr. on the genealogies of Christ *3U 

Barrington, the first Lord, on the image of 

God and Adam "19 

on the cessation of consciousness 

between death and the resurrection *92 

, papers unpublished communica- 
ted by the late Bishop of Durham *19 

, on the resurrection of the body *185 

, on the earliest notion of immor- 
tality *227 

, opinion on the proselytes, con- 
firmed by the most eminent theologians . . "270 
, on the meaning of the word Apos- 
tle **290 

, on the Apostolic decree 302 

, on the miraculous gifts *307 

, on GaJatians iii. 1(5. *330 

Barrow's, Dr. Isaac, inquiry if St. Peter was 

ever at Rome . — = "56 

Basilides, origin of his opinions *12 

, nature of Iris opinions "13 

, his age "12 

, his errors refuted in the Second 

Epistle of St. John *423 

Baskets, on the twelve '106 

Bath-Col. its kind and degrees "142 

; defined *142 

Believe, men must believe much that cannot 

be comprehended "19 

Belsham on the miraculous conception *22 

on the Epistles, reasons for esteem- 
ing lio-htly this work *328 

'■ Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf," applied 

by Witsius to St. Paul *246 

Benson, Mr. proposed reading of Luke ii. 2. "28 

• on the last Passover *156 

chronology confirmed by the 

prophecy of the Seventy Weeks *236 

Berkeley on the non-existence of matter .... *335 
Bethabara, where John baptized, the place 

where the ark rested *o4 

" Bind and loose," meaning of these words *118 
Biscoe on the power of life and death 

among the Jews *i70 

Blastus, chamberlain of Herod, was a Roman "282 
Blayney's. Dr. interpretation of Jer. xxxi. 22 *22 
" Blessed with faithful Abraham." Gal. iii. 9. *330 

Blind men at Jericho, &c *130 

Blind Pharisee, custom alluded to *144 

Blomfield, Bishop, on the Chaldee para- 
phrases, &c "5 

, on the Messiah expect- 7 *33 

ed by the Jews in the time of Christ . . . . ) *109 

, on the Samaritans *66 

, on IMatt. xix. 28 *129 

, on the teaching of the 

Pharisees *14o 

, on tlie condemnation of 

Christ *167 

Blood, prohibition to eat, whether now bind- 
ing' *304 

Body of Christ after the resurrection "207 

Body, resurrection of it, a mystery to be 

more fully revealed *208 

Books burnt at Ephesus "348 

Bowyer, on the expression '■ den of thieves ' *143 
Br.ahmins and Budhists might be appealed to 

on their own principles *333 

" Breathing out threatenings," a similar phrase 
often found in classical authors *255 



Page. 

Brenius on the Cophinus of the Jews *106 

Brethren of Christ, why not believers in his 

claims *122 

Britain, probably visited by St. Paul 381 

Bull, Bishop, his Defensio Fidei JVicceiuE, the 

great storehouse of argument against Uni- 

farianism *14 

Burgess, Bishop, on St. Paul's visiting Britain 382 

Burying places of the Patriarchs *240 

Buyers and sellers, how often driven from 

the temple *14I 

Byrom, on the gift of tongues *222 

Cainan, this name the same as Sala *30 

Caiaphas, on his prophecy *132 

Caligula, account of his interview with Philo *6 

, not the " Man of Sin" *340 

Calvin, his character ; history of his estab- 
lishment at Geneva *102 

's interpretation of Jer. xxxi. 26 *22 

Calvinistic tenets not taught in the Epistles *319 
Calvinists and Arminians, in what respects 

they agree *299 

Camel's hair, garment of, a dress of the 

ancient Prophets, &c *43 

Campbell, &c. on Mark i. 1 *1 

, on the Demoniacs "74 

Candace, a common name of the Ethiopian 

Queens *249 

Canon completed by St. John 439 

Capellus on Gal. iii. 20 *330 

Capernaum, why our Lord fixed on, as a 

residence *70 

Carpocrates, his opinions *12 

Carpzovius on the Logos *9 

Castalio on the word " Jesus" *26 

Catholic Epistles, why so called, account of*386 

Causes of our Lord's condemnation *166 

Popery and Mahometanism 449 

the corruptions of Christianity .... 449 

Celsus reproaches the Christians for calling 

Christ the word of God *6 

Centurion's servant, healing of the *91 

Ceramicus at Athens *331 

Cerinthians opposed by St. John *10 

Cerinthus began to disturb the Church in 

the time of St. John *10 

, his age and opinions *]0 

, origin of his opinions *11 

Chaldee paraphrases attribute to " The 
Word," the attributes of the Angel Jeho- 
vah *5 

" Chickens under her wings," on Dr. Hales's 

remarks upon *145 

Children, among the Jews, required to learn 
a trade, and study the law at thirteen 

years of age *42 

Chiun, meaning of this word *241 

Christ and Moses, parallel between *227 

genealogies of, according to St. Mat- 
thew and St. Luke, reconciled *28 

assumed the titles given by the Jews 

to the Messiah *107 

by what authority he preached at Naza- 
reth *63 

commenced every important work 

with prayer *88 

decided against the school of Scham- 

mai *87 

declared himself the Messiah at Naza- 
reth *69 

, deity of, peculiarly taught in the Epis- 
tles *317 

did not separate from the public ser- 
vices of his countrymen *68 

dines with the Pharisee, &c *94 

enacted the law of Moses, and claimed 

dominion over it *86 

entering Jerusalem, reason of "140 



462* 



INDEX THE FOURTH. 



Page. 

Christ, events at his hirth *28 

, how he dehvered himself from the 

people *70 

in his humiliation before Pilate, de- 
clares himself to be the Messiah *166 

known in his pre-existent state by the 

evil spirits *87 

not to be followed for earthly pur- 
poses *107 

, on the atonement of, upon the cross *181 

, opinion of Cerinthus respecting *10 

procures greater blessings than Adam 

has lost *363 

sanctioned no error because it was 

popular *75 

sent out the Apostles on the death of 

John n05 

sympathizes with human sorrow *401 

'the enactor of the Jewish law *105 

the guide and head of the Church in its 

three stages *104 

the Lord of angels and of men *399 

the second Adam *47 

, why first called Messiah *66 

,'why he did not openly declare himself 

the Messiah *70 

, why he lived at Capernaum *70 

, why not shown to all the people after 

his resurrection *277 

, wisdom of, in refusing to work a mira- 
cle at Nazareth *69 

Christian dispensation supported by every 
species of evidence which confirms the 

Mosaic *2C2 

Christianity a system of institutions, not of 

theoretical opinions *238 

, meaning of the word 446 

, no religious system comparable 

to it 199 

Chi'istians, how or why this name was first 

conferred on the followers of Christ *278 

, primitive, considered the Logos 

and the Jehovah Angel to be the same *15 

, primitive, why called i/^vg *73 

, the most unlearned, know more 

than the ancient prophets *'93 

Church, Christian, apostolic commission, its 

foundation *104 

, history of it while Christ 

was upon earth *103 

, criterion of the purity of a *248 

, duty of every, to follow the apostolic 

custom in appointing officers, &c *233 

government, history of the innova- 
tions in *102 

, its four prevailing forms *102 

, in tlie safety of one, in what it con- 
sists *240 

, its first union, and purity *231 

of Christ, how to be perpetuated *102 

of Christ, truly catholic in the apostol- 
ic, and will be so in the millennial age .... *292 

" Church of God," on this phrase *365 

of Jerusalem gradually established. . . *237 

of Rome described and censured by 

St. Paul *339 

, its asserted supremacy un- 

scriptural *111 

, jealousy of, among Protes- 
tants, just and reasonable *343 

'■ , to be condemned for "its tra- 
ditions *108 

J unaltered and unalterable.. *342 

Church service, how altered at the Reforma- 
tion *3] 6 

Churches in the time of the Apostles, on the *225 

, rules for their government *.346 

Chuza, Herod's steward, supposed to be the 
nobleman at Capernaum *67 



Circumcision not necessary to a sojourner 

among the ancient Jews *271 

, reason of Christ's *35 

Clarke, Dr. A., on the demoniacs *74 

genealogy of Christ. . . *29 

laborers in the vine- 
yard *129 

last passover *154 

Claudius, Emperor, date of his banishing the 

Jews from Rome *337 

Cleansing of the Temple by Christ, an asser- 
tion of the Messiahship *61 

Cleanthes, hymn of, quoted by St. Paul .... *336 
Clemens Alexandrinus, hymn of, to Christ.. *73 
, on the divinity of 

Christ *15 

Clemens on St. Mark's Gospel *284 

on the time when the Apostles left 

Judaea *287 

Clergy particularly addressed by Matthew, 

xii. 5 *86 

, their true dignity *86 

Cloven tongues, how long they remained on 

the Apostles *225 

Cocceius on Matt. viii. 17 ^79 

on the two Sauls *246 

Colossians, Epistle to, date, origin, &c *381 

Commission, last, of Christ to his disciples. . . *2]4 

Community of goods not intended, &c *225 

Comparison between the witnesses to the old 

and new dispensation *58 

Conception, a miraculous, opinion of the 

ancient Jews on this subject *18 

, miraculous, objected against by 

Socinians, Deists, &c. who reject the 

divinity of Christ : *22 

, of a perfect being, 

necessary and reasonably to be expected . . *18 
, typified in the Old 

Testament *20 

Condition, past and present, of the Jews, 

contrasted *60 

Confession of St. Peter more ample than that 

of the Centurion *107 

Confirmation derived from the practice of the 

Apostles *247 

Confusion of tongues healed at Pentecost . . . *220 

Congregation waiting for Zacharias *17 

Consciousness, on the cessation of, between 

death and the resurrection *92 

Conspirators against St. Paul, their vow *367 

Constantine, on the circumstances of his 

conversion *260 

Contrast between the teaching and disciples 

of our Lord and the Rabbis of his age *89 

Controversies among Christians, how divided *101 
Controversy has-been held on all points of 

theological inquiry *232 

Conversion, whether sensible impressions on 

the mind are essential to *258 

Cophinus of the Jews *106 

Corah, on the gainsaying of. *412 

Corinthians, first Epistle to, date, &c *348 

, second Epistle to, its date, cause, 

&c *356 

Corinth, its character, people, &c *348 

Cornelius probably protected St. Peter after 

his release from prison *282 

Correspondences between types and anti- 
types confirm the truth of doctrines *230 

Corruptions, Christ conquered the gradations 

of. *92 

Corruptions, first, of Christianity 449 

Cotovicus', map of Jerusalem, on *198 

Council of Jerusalem, date of *300 

does not weaken the 

claim to divine inspiration *305 

Cranfield's harmony of the resurrection *191 

Creation, incomprehensible *19 



INDEX THE FOURTH. 



*463 



Page. 

Creation of the world "334 

Creed, articles of tlie Apostles', taught in the 
sermons and teaching of St. Peter in the 

Church at Jerusalem *264 

Crenius on the Cophinus of the Jews *]06 

Criticisms, verbal, utility of *15 

Cross, concerning the superscription on it. . . *179 
Crusades, Mill's interesting work on the .... *418 
Cud worth on fixing the time of the Passover *L5S 

Cyprian, on tlie office of Deacon *234 

Cyrenius ; on the difficulty arising from 
tlie insertion of liis name *28 

Dsemoniacal possessions a picture of what 

man might have been, without redemption *77 
consistent with rea- 
son *75 

distinguished from 

diseases *74 

present a picture of 

the future misery of man *77 

Dasmoniacs, discussion concerning *74 

known in other countries than 

Jndffia *74 

Dasmon, meaning of *74 

Damascus, how possessed by Aretus *262 

Danzius, Joh. And. treatise on Baptism *54 

, on the attestation given to the divine 

mission of our Lord at his baptism *408 

Darkness that fell on St. Paul, typical *255 

Daubuz on the Apocalypse *418 

Deacons, caution in appointing them *233 

, from whom selected *233 

, nature and extent of their ofEce *234 

, their qualifications *233 

Death, Christ's power over, gradually taught *92 
Deity of Christ peculiarly taught in the 

Epistles *317 

Delaney on the prohibition to eat blood *304 

Demiurgus of Cerinthus *11 

"Den of thieves," on this expression *143 

Desert, nature of the, where John preached. . *43 

Despise, men despise each other *]22 

Devotional reflections not included in the 

plan of this arrangement *86 

Dialects of the East have no word for " de- 
note," &c *163 

Difficulties of Scripture sometimes removed 

by adherence to the literal meaning *201 

Diodati on the prophecy of Caiaphas *133 

Disbelief, Apostle's, of the resurrection, occa- 
sioned a demonstration of that truth *212 

Disciples, dispute for pre-eminence on the.. *119 

of Christ aiyl of the Jews contrasted *39 

, first, why taken from the 

disciples of the I3aptist *56 

were unfit for their office till the 

day of Pentecost *220 

Discipline, why necessary to a Church ..... *248 
Diseases considered by the Jews as the con- 
sequents of sin *80 

Dispensations, Jewish and Christian, for a 

short time co-existent *61 

. the same Spirit of God assist- 
ed. the members of botli, &c *248 

" Disposition of Angels," on the expression. *243 
Distance between Jerusalem and the sep- 
ulchre *204 

Divinity of Christ taken for granted in the 
New' Testament *219 

of Churches condemned in the 

Epistles *318 

of the law among the Jews *<38 

DocetEE, origin of their opinions *11 

, their opinions *11 

Doddridge on John i. 31 *55 

the pool of Bethesda "84 

proselytes "273 

DorschcBus on the prohibition to eat blood . . . *30.5 



Page. 
Dogs, name applied by the Gentiles to the Jews *108 
" Double-minded man," meaning of the ex- 
pression *390 

Dowry of a virgin, two hundred pence *106 

Draughts offered to our Lord on the cross . . . *]78 
Dreams, prophetic, different from monitory. . *26 

, imparted to heathen 

princes "26 

, revived in favor of Joseph *26 

, their nature *26 

, vouchsafed to the Pa- 
triarchs "26 

Drusius on Zech. ix. 9 *139 

Duysing on the vision of St. Peter *275 

Duport's translation of the hymn of Cleanthes *336 

Ebionites, a sect of the Docette *11 

rejected the Epistles *320 

similar to the Simonians *11 

Ecclesiastical Polity, the seventh book of, 

doubtful *291 

Editions of the five harmonizers principally 

referred to in this work *7] 

Education and study necessary to qualify men 
for tlie office of teachers, after the cessation 

of miraculous gifts *306 

Egypt, number of Jews in, at the time of 

Christ'sbirth *39 

a type of the world *39 

, intercourse with, prohibited *40 

Eichhorn on the gift of tongues *222 

miraculous draught of fishes *70 

Elder, difference between the Jewish and 

Christian *296 

, meaning of this word "289 

Elders of the Church *364 

Elias expected to baptize the Jews them- 
selves ' *54 

Elisha, power of, inferior to that of Christ. . . *]05 

Eloquence of St. Paul *323 

Elymas, meaning of this word *293 

Emblems and hieroglyphics, the origin of 

prophetic language *38 

Engedi and Eneglaim, Ezek. xlvii. 10. situa- 
tion of *72 

English theologians much esteemed by the 

continental divines *334 

" Engrafted word," meaning of *390 

Enrolment of Augustus, compelled accuracy 

in the tables of pedigree "28 

ordered by Augustus, possibly the 

same as aTToypaifl, of St. Luke *27 

Ephesian letters, &c *348 

Ephesians, Epistle to, its date, cause, &c *375 

Epicureans of Athens, account of *332 

Epilepsy ascribed to the power of demons . . . *74 
Episcopacy prevailed fifteen centuries with- 
out interruption *102 

, the only form of church govern- 
ment sanctioned by Scripture *1C2 

Epistles, causes of their obscurity *324 

, how distributed *321 

, not of temporary use to the Church. *31C 

, their inestimable value *3] 6 

number, order, preservation, &c. *320 

, whether St. Paul wrote to the Corin- 
thians before his first Epistle *.349 

Errors of the apostolic age still exist *317 

Eucharist compared with the Passover *162 

, its institution *160 

Euroclydon, on the wind *S70 

Eusebius on St. Mark's Gospel *287 

the Canon 440 

early places of worship *294 

time when the Apostles left 

Juda;a *287 

Eutychus raised to life, on this miracle *363 

Evening divided into late and early *]96 

Evidence of every kind which supported the 



464* 



INDEX THE FOURTH. 



Page. 
Mosaic, was afforded to confirm also the 
Christian dispensation *262 

Evidences of Christianity, never denied in the 
Apostolic age *317 

Evil, if we are not delivered from its power, 
we cannot be saved from its consequences. *26 

Existence and eternity of God and Christ. . . . *123 

Experience, many things contrary to, not con- 
trary to philosophy *26 

Faber defends the divinity of the Angel Jeho- 
vah *15 

on natural religion 201 

the Apocalypse *418 

word " Remphan " *242 

Facts, Christianity founded on *]01 

" Fall of man," meaning of the expression . . *18 
Family, Holy, return to Bethlehem, not -to 

Nazareth, after the purification *36 

Fathers, Apostolic, their testimony to the di- 
vinity of Christ *14 

, the early, when their testimony is val- 
uable and decisive *234 

— - unanimous on the essential truths of 

Christianity *284 

Fanner, Dr. on the demoniacs *74 

Farnabius on the cophinus of the Jews ^106 

Fig tree cursed, meaning and circumstances 

of that event *142 

" Figs, time of," on this expression *143 

Fire descended at Pentecost on the Apostles as 

on the sacrifices *223 

" — J salted with," meaning of the expression *120 

First Parents, their state at the fall *]85 

" Fishers of men," meaning of the expression *72 
Fishes, kind of, with which tlie five thousand 

people were fed *10o 

Fleming on the persons who rose with Christ *203 
Forms of Chm-ch-government now prevailing *102 
<■ Forsaken me, wliy hast thou," on this ex- 
pression *183 

" Four hundred and fifty years," and Acts xiii. 

20 *297 

« months, and then cometh harvest," 

meaning of *66 

Fourteen generations, on the, of Matt. i. 17. . *34 

" years after," Gal. ii. 1 *301 

Freeman of Rome, his right of appeal *369 

" Fruit of the vine," how not drank again by 

Christ *1 64 

"Full of new wine," Markland and Lightfoot *224 

Gaius addressed by St. John *423 

Galatians, Epistle to the, its date *325 

design *326 

Gale's Court of the Gentiles, a valuable work "'IS 

Galilee, Christ began his ministry there *64 

, dialect of *169 

, idolatry began there *64 

pointed out in the Jewish traditions as 

the place where the Messiah should appear *64 

, the wonderful consequences to the 

world of our Lord's commencing his minis- 
try there *R4 

Gallio, an amiable and literary man *343 

Gamaliel, Acts v. 34 ^. '23 

Ganz, R. Da^id, his mistake concernmg John 

the Baptist *93 

Gardiner, Colonel, on his conversion *25S 

'■ Gaza which is desert," opinions on this pas- 
sage *249 

GeiTiara, account of 445 

Genealogies, Jewish, so confused, that the 
Messiah could not now be known from 

them *144 

of Christ *28 

" Generation, who shall declare his," &c. . .. ''250 
Gentiles, their conversion predicted by our 
Lord in his first public address *70 



German critics confound the personal and 

conceptual Logos *8 

theologians injure the cause of reli- *222 

gion *222 

Gerizim, how tlie Samaritans defended their 

worship there *66 

Gethsemane, agony in the garden of *164 

Gift of tongues, on the *220 

place where this mir- 
acle, &c *224 

, various opinions on this 

miracle *221 

Gifts, the miraculous, difficult to define *30G 

, how arranged, &c *307 

, in the Church at An- 

tioch *306 

Gisborne, on the Epistles *318 

Glassius, on " Gaza which is desert " *249 

Gleig's, Bishop, illustration of the mode of 
preserving the accounts of our Saviour's 

miracles *3 

Gnosticism condemned by the Apostles, simi- 
lar to various modern errors *3]7 

Gnostics, their opinions *12 

God, belief in his existence the foundation of 

all religion ■*334 

" — , the mighty," (Isa. vii. 9.) rendered by 

Horsley, '• God, the mighty man " . , *20 

Gospel, its first effects to remove hatred, &c.. *247 

, progress compared to that of rivers . . *72 

, preached by the converts to the pros- 
elytes first *277 

, probable that one would be written 

early *25l 

, superior to the law *358 

Gospels, many spurious works published with 

this title *2 

) why written in Greek '91 

, written in various persecutions *392 

Government, why necessary to a Church. . . . *248 

Grace, when man may fall from *258 

Graves, Dean, on the prayer of Solomon. . . . *274 
Graves, opened at the Crucifixion, but the 
bodies did not rise till after the resurrec- 
tion of Christ *202 

" Grave with the wicked," &c. this passage 

explained *196 

Gray, Dr. on St. Paul's shipwreck *.373 

Greek, propriety of the Evangelists writing 

in that language *91 

Greeks who desired to sf e Christ *141 

Grotius on " the man of sin " *340 

miraculous conception *24 

prohibition to eat blood *304 

prophecy of Caiaphas *133 

Zech. ix. 9 *139 

Guards who seized Christ, struck to the 

ground *1GG 

" Guilty of all," meaning of *391 

" Habitation be desolate," meaning of *218 

Hales, Dr. criticism on Matt, xxiii. 37, object- 
ed to *145 

, on St. Paul's visiting- Britain 383 

, on the Apostleship of St. Paul *29T 

date of St. Paul's trance *2fi2 

• Epistle to Titus *344 

— proselytes *273 

word Remphan *241 

Half-shekel for the temple service, on the . . . *119 

Hall, Bishop, on the Transfiguration *n8 

Hammond, Dr. on the Elders of the Church. *3(;4 

. ■ " man of sin " *340 

" Handwriting of ordinances," meaning of 

the expression *383 

Happiness of man the object of revelation . . . *72 
Harmonists principally consulted in this ar- 
rangement 2 

Hausenius on the prophecy of Caiaphas *132 



INDEX THE FOURTH. 



*465 



Page. 

" Heard in that he feared," meaning of *401 

Hearing, and hearing not the voice, at St. 
Paul 3 conversion, various solutions of this 

difficulty *3.57 

'■ Hearts of the fathers to tlie children," &c. 

meanincr of the expression *44 

Heathen addressed by St. John *1.5 

admitted into the Jewish Church by 

baptism '44 

Hebrews, Epistle to the, cause, date, desio-n, 

&c : '. r. . *393 

Hebron always venerated by the Israelites . . . *24 

, many remarkable events occurred 

there , '24 

, singular alliision to, in the temple- 
service *24 

Henrich on the gift of tongues *222 

Heinsius, Daniel, his work too much neglected *69 

, Iambic line of '*69 

, on the Demoniacs *74 

glory at the transfig- 
uration *114 

Herder, on the gift of tongues *222 

Heresies, many ancient, occasioned by wrong 

notions of the Logos "11 

of the apostohc age, against which 

St. John wrote *10 

Herod Agrippa, death of ~239 

and filate, cause of their difference. . . *174 

, causes of his alarm when he heard 

that Christ was born *36 

Hieroglyphics and Emblems the origin of pro- 
phetic writing "38 

Hillel, the learned Rabbi, dies about the time 
when Christ, at twelve years of age, went 

up to Jerusalem "43 

Historians err in assigning proportionate 

causes to great events *63 

History of the Church to the present day — 446 
Hooker on the time of St. Paul's apostleship *291 

Home on St. JIatthew's Gospel *252 

Horsley, Bishop, incorrect in his account of 

the Samaritans *66 

, on St. Stephen's last words. *245 

. on the cloven tongues *22-5 

exclamation of St. 

Thomas *212 

meekness of Moses . . *230 

miraculous gifts *308 

Nazarenes *368 

Shechinah *114 

Syrophenician woman *108 

on Unitarianism *11 

'• Hosanna," meaning' of the word *140 

Hosea li. 1, how apphcable to Christ *39 

Hottinger, on releasing a prisoner at the Pass- 
over *175 

Hour, on the, when Christ was given to he 

crucified *17.5 

" House is left unto the desolate," meaning of 

the expression *14.5 

'■' Housetops, preach ye on," &c. meaning of. *10.5 
" House which is from Heaven," meaning of. *3.58 
Human means necessary to preserve religion "102 

Humility of our Lord *122 

Hypotheses on the origin of the world *334 

to account for coincidences in the 

Gospels *2 

Ideas can be suggested by God, otherwise 

than through the medium of the senses. . . "26 
Identity of man, in what it consists : contin- 
ues in the invisible state *1S.5 

Idolatry, on the ancient Jewish *242 

Ignatius, on the ofiice of Deacons *234 

Ignorance less injurious to truth than pervert- 
ed learning *222 

Image of God, and of Adam, difference be- 
tween *19 

VOL 11. *.59 



Page. 
Imagination, a bad guide in interpreting Scrip- 
ture *72 

Immortality, earliest notion of it in the world *227 
Imprisonment of John, date of, various opin- 
ions concerning *63 

Incarnations, idea of, perverted by the pagans *15 

Independenc}', its origin *103 

Indich, the name of the Eunuch of Candace. *249 
Infidelity, its effects on revolutionary France. 202 

I rejected in England 202 

Infidels, opinions of some principal. 202 

I Influences of the Holy Spirit always necessa- 

! ry *248 

attendant on 

the use of the means of grace *248 

Insane, the, different from Demoniacs *74 

Introduction to St. John's Gospel, its impor- 
tance ^ *15 

Irenaeus's account of Basilides *12 

the reasons why St. John 

wrote his Gospel *10 

testimony to the divLoity of Christ "15 

Isaiah vii. 9. " a virgin shall be with child," 
meaning of the expression *20 

Jairus's daughter healed *99 

James made Bishop of Jerusalem "278 

, St., Epistle of, its date, cause, &c.. . . *.386 

, his advice to St. Paul *36.5 

Jebb, Bishop, on the speech of Mary *25 

Jehovah, Angel, the Logos of St. John *5 

, rendered by the Chaldee paraphra- 

sers " Word of the Lord " .' *5 

"Jeremy the prophet," Matt, xxvii. 9 *169 

Jericho, a populous city *43 

Jerome, St. on the date of St. Paul's preaching *261 

on St. Mark's Gospel *237 

Jerusalem, Church of, its union, doctrine, dis- 
cipline, and practice *263 

, circumstances of its fall fulfilled 

the predictions of Christ *146 

, on the destruction of 444 

, why permitted to be destroyed .... *146 

Jesus, as the son of Mary, was heir to the 

throne of David "29 

, meaning of the name *26 

, opinion of Cerinthus respecting *]1 

Jew depends on his Babbies *2.3 

Jews, ancient, on a miraculous conception. . . *18 
appealed to by the similarity of the evi- 
dences which confirm the Christian emd 

Mosaic dispensations *262 

circulated false accounts of the resur- 
rection *2.57 

, guilt of Christ's death rests upon them *17.5 

, opinion of the modem, on the Bath 

Col '. "142 

, past and present opinion of, contrasted *58 

, predictions of their fiiture prosperity . *414 

, their final and total dispersion 446 

ideas of the Messiah ■*109 

John (Acts iv. 6.) the same as Rab. Johanan. *230 

Baptist, his dress, food, message, place 

of preaching-, persons he addressed, his 

baptism, <!tc "43 

, period and causes of his death. *10.5 

, proofs that he was a prophet. . . *94 

, propriety of the selection of, 

as the forerunner of Christ "43 

. why he sent messengers to 

Christ. . ..'...." r *93 

ix. 1 — 35, on the place of *]26 

's last testimony to Christ, meaning of. . *62 

St. belief of the resurrection *206 

design of *10 

on the date of his Gospel "4 

Epistles of *418 

supposed to have been the bride- 
groom at the marriage at Cana in Galilee . . *57 



466* 



INDEX THE rOURTH. 



Page. 

John, St., time of the death of 442 

Jonathan ben Uzziel, author of the Chaldee 
paraphrase, might have questioned our Lord, 

when twelve years of age *43 

Jones on the rehgion of Philo and Josephus . . *247 

Gadarene demoniac "99 

good Samaritan '125 

restoration of the Wind man, &c. *127 

Jortin, Dr., on the parallel between Christ and 

Moses *227 

. Conversion of Constantine *260 

demoniacs "74 

Syrophoenician woman .... *108 

Joseph, the Patriarch, nature of his dreams.. *26 

Josephus's account of John the Baptist *63 

confirms the history of John's im- 
prisonment *63 

on his omitting the slaughter at 

Bethlehem *40 

remark on a passage in his works, 

in reference to the Bath Col "142 

whether wrecked with St. Paul . . . *373 

Journey, causes of St. Paul's second apostoli- 
cal... *313 

" Joy, this my, is fulfilled," meaning of the 

expression ' ' >2 

Judas, on the manner of his death *169 

Jude, object, &c. of his Epistle *410 

Justin Martyr on Simon Magus *247 

the office of deacons '234 

Kennicott, Dr., on Isaiah vii. 9 *20 

" Kick against the pricks," on this phrase. . . *257 
" Kinffdorn of Pleaven," meaning of the ex- 

■ *QR 

pression •J° 

opened by St. Peter 

when he preached to Cornelius *284 

King's morsels of criticism *56 

Kleinius on the gift of tongues *222 

KnatchbuU, Sir Norton, on the slaughter at 

Bethlehem *41 

star in the 

East *39 

Knowledge, Pharisees mistook it for religion *122 
Krebsius on the power qf life and death 

among the Jews *174 

Kuinoel on John i. 30 ''So 

the Baptist as the Para- 
nymph, &c o2 

St. Paul's conversion *'257 

St. Stephen's death *245 

the demoniacs *74 

the power of life and death 

among the Jews "174 

the term, " The Son of God "... *21 

" Lamb of God," Lightfoot on this expression *5.5 
liamb of God, the principal name of Christ. . *55 
Lampe, curious and fanciful interpretation of 

the miraculous draught of fishes *72 

, on the mystical interpretation of the 

narrative of the marriage at Cana '^Gl 

Land purchased by Jacob, difiiculty concern- 
ing, reconciled 66 

Lnodiceans, Epistle to the ■"'375 

Lardner, Dr., confounds the twofold nature of 

Christ in his treatise on the Logos *35 

on the authority of Macrobius ; 

from the Barrington papers *41 

date of St. Matthew's 

Gospel ^252 

proselytes *271 

time when the Apostles 

first left Judsea *282 

date of the Epistle to Titus *344 

prophecy of Caiaphas *133 

demoniacs "74 

solution of the difficulty, 

Luke ii. 2 *28 



Page. 
Laurence, Abp., remarks on Michaelis on 

Matt. iv. 8 *53 

on Michaelis's remarks on 

St. Matthew *]00 

■ on the Chaldee paraphrases. *i) 

on the draughts offered to 

our Lord on the cross , *178 

Law, Bishop, on the propriety of Christ's con- 
duct in the affair of the adulteress *123 

of Moses and the miraculous gifts im- 
parted at Pentecost *22.i 

, Mr., on Church government *248 

Laws are only binding while the reason of 

their first enactment still continue *3C4 

Lawyer, on our Lord's answer to *125 

Lazarus, on the place of the resurrection of. . "129 

, why the account of his resurrection 

is given by St. John only *1S2 

Leper, when cured, why commanded to con- 
ceal it *80 

Leprosy a type of sin *79 

, on the cure of *79 

Leslie's Appeal to the Jews, chiefly taken 

from Limborch *(30 

Lesson of the day, whether Christ read the, in 

the synagogue of Nazareth *68 

" Letter killeth." meaning of *357 

Libertines, (Acts vi. 9.) who are meant by 

this word *238 

Lightfoot, a contradiction in his works ■ *133 

, conjecture of, respecting the lesson 

read in the Temple, on the day when Zach- 

arias was struck dumb ""17 

on demoniacs *75 

on the Nicoiaitans *236 

effect of the preaching of 

John the Baptist *67 

genealogies of St. Matthew 

•and St. Luke *29 

■ Jewish expectation of the 

Messiah *10D 

modes of worship among the 

early Christians *294 

office of Deacons *236 

pool of Bethesda *84 

. — power of life and death, &c. *173 

words " bind and loose " . . . . *112 

on " these men are full of new 

wine," (Acts ii. 13.) *224 

■ — supposed the star in the East to be 

the Shechinah, which appeared to the 

shepherds *38 

Light of nature never taught true religion 203 
the world, a title of the Rabbis, con- 
ferred on his disciples by our Lord "*90 

, what is implied by *123 

Limborch on the superiority of the mission of 

Christ to that of Moses *C0 

Linen clothes, how they were lying in the 

sepulchre *206 

Liturgical services sanctioned by our Lord. . ''fiS 

Locusts eaten by John the Baptist M3 

Logos, idea of, traced by Gale to the times of 

Pythagoras *15 

Loo-os, in what sense the Jews understood 

jlihni. 1.18 "5 

of Philo, both conceptual and real, 

why *'' 

, propriety of the word to describe a 

manifested God *J0 

, same as the Angel Jehovah *5 

, the twofold notion of, produced many 

heresies ' 1/* 

, whether referred to in Luke i. 2 *4 

, whether united to the human nature 

at the birth of Christ *35 

Lord's Prayer, clauses of in the Jewish Htur- 

gies '"- 

Lowth, Bishop, on Isaiah liii. 8 "'i-'jO 



INDEX THE FOURTH. 



*467 



Page. 
Luke published the genealogy of Christ 
while the tables of pedigrees were still pre- 
served *28 

, St., account of *3 

alludes to the origin of the name 

" Messiah " *68 

carefully avoided a word used by 

St. Matthew and St. Mark *15 

on the Gospel of "3 

on the time when he joined St. 

Paul *288 

very brief in some part of the Acts *236 

why his preface was written "2 

Lunacy ascribed to the power of dtemons .... *74 

ZVIacedoniaj cliief city of "314 

Jilacknight on faith and works *328 

on the demoniacs *74 

Epistle to the Galatians . . . *325 

typical nature of Noah's 

preservation *406 

on Jude 9 *'412 

on the time when St. Paul saw 

our Lord *256 

filasee's, Abp., admirable criticism on Matt. 

vTii. 17 *78 

Magi, honored with a renewal of divine 

vision *38 

, on their visit, country, object in 

coming to Jerusalem, &c *37 

Magistrate, reason why the first idolatrous 

convert was a *292 

Mahomet not the " man of sin " *340 

Maimonides on the Bath Col *142 

time of the Passover *158 

I'.Ianaen supposed to have been the nobleman 

at Capernaum, and early converted *67 

, account of *292 

'•Man of Sin" described by St. Paul, the 

Church of Rome *340 

Mann on the place of John vi. - "85 

Manifestation of the Spirit *305 

IManuscripts, authority of, necessary in every 

proposed alteration of the text of the New 

Testament *28 

IMarcion, used an apocryphal composition .. . *34 
r.Iarket-place or Forum at Athens, on the .... *332 
Markland on Acts ii. 13, probably not correct "224 
Mark i. 1, whether to be separated from the 

context *1 

— xvi. 9, &o. on its genuineness *210 

, St., circumstances of his life *285 

— • his Gospel written or dictated by 

a spectator of our Lord's actions *286 

object of his Gospel "285 

probable date of his Gospel *288 

whether his Gospel was written at 

Rome ." *285 

Marriage at Cana in Galilee *.57 

, interpretation of 

this narrative *57 

Marsh, Bishop, censures Michaelis *71 

of opinion that the evangelist 

borrowed from a common document *2 

on John v. 4 "84 

on the draughts offered to our 

Lord on the cross *178 

■ Libertines *238 

title of Sergius Paulus *293 

■ unction at Bethany. . . . *134 

Martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul 405 

Martyr, Justin, testimony to the divinity of 

Christ *15 

Mirv, how the cousin of Elizabeth, though 

not of the tribe of Levi "33 

, the Virgin, why she went to Bethle- 
hem with Joseph *28 

Masora and Masorites, account of the 445 

Matter, on t.he existence of "334 



Page. 

Matt. iii. 13. reconciled with John i. 31 *55 

v. 22. explained *90 

Matthew and Levi, whether different persons. *81 

most suited to become the writer of 

the first Gospel *81 

, St., date of his Gospel *251 

Gospel written for Jewish be- 
lievers *251 

originally both 

in Greek and Hebrew, or Syrochaldaic. .. *2.53 

in what language his Gospel 

was written *253 

probable origin of his Gospel. *254 

published the genealogy of 

Christ, while the tables of pedigree were 

still extant *28 

refers to times of persecution *252 

why selected to write the first 

Gospel *251 

wrote eai-ly to contradict the 

Jev/isli story of our Lord's resurrection . . . *251 

Matthias, election of, &c *217 

Mead, Dr., on the demoniacs *74 

Means of grace appointed from the beginning 
to convey the influences of the Holy Spirit *259 

, on tlie advantages, &c *247 

Medc, Joseph, on the salutation *23 

, on the Churclies in the apostolic age . *225 

demoniacs *74 

early places of Christian wor- 
ship ^ *294 

Mediatorial kingdom to be resigned *408 

'• Mediator not of one," &c. (Gal. iii. 20.) Ca- 

pellus on this text *330 

Meekness of Moses, (Num. xii. 3.) on the. .. *230 
Melita, or Malta, natives of, not barbarous . . . *.374 

, where St. Paul was wrecked "372 

Mendham's Clavis Apostolica *363 

Messiah, spiritual, idea of, constantly pre- 
served in the New Testament *26 

Metaphysical errors condemned by the 

Epistles *317 

Micah v. 2. interpreted by the Rabbis, as by 

St. Matthew *37 

svipposed by Lowth and Hales to 

allude to Isaiah vii. 9 "21 

Michael and Satan, dispute between *412 

Michaelis, his Harmony of the New Testa- 
ment very inaccurate "G6 

in error concerning the miraculous 

draught of fishes "71 

interpretation of Luke ii. 2. con- 
demned by Bishop Marsh *27 

of opinion that St. John wrote 

against Cerinthus *10 

on Mark ii. 26 *87 

on Matt. iv. 8 *52 

on the date of the Epistle to Titus *344 

St. Paul's preaching *261 

on the dispute of the disciples, &c. *119 

draughts offered to our 

Lord on the cross *178 

Epistle to the Galatians . . . *327 

proselytes *273 

— unction at Bethany *133 

pays too little regard to ancient 

authority *3 

, unwarrantable remarks of, on St. 

Matthew's Gospel *99 

the 

Evangelists *88 

Middleton, Bishop, on the Greek article *2 

, on Simon Magus *247 

Mills on Mahometanism and the Crusades . . . *418 
Ministers of God the paranymphs of the 

Church *62 

of the early Church, different from 

those of the Synagogue '294 

Ministry of Christ, time of, from the conver- 



*468 



INDEX THE FOURTH. 



Page, 
sation with Nicodemus to the miracle at 

Bethesda *81 

Ministry, propriety of the age at which 

Christ's began *123 

Miracle at the pool of Bethesda, at the feast 

of Pentecost *82 

, Christ's first, probably wrought be- 
fore his own family *57 

defined *58 

, second, at Cana of Galilee, its im- 
portance *67 

, why not wrought at Nazareth *69 

Miracles, comparisons between those of Mo- 
ses and of Christ *58 

, Jewish and Christian, supported on 

the same evidehce and reasons *58 

, object of *58 

of Christ, why rejected by the Jews. *167 

of Moses and Elias, how divided. . . . *58 

, reasons of the Jews for believing, 

the same as that of the Christians *59 

, their revival to take place in Galilee *57 

Miraculous gifts expected by the Jews in the 

time of Christ *224 

Mishna, account of 445 

, on the Sabbath *6G 

Missionaries, St. Paul's conduct at Athens the 

model for ; *333 

to reason with men on their own 

principles *333 

Mission of Christ as demonstrable as that of 

Moses *409 

Mite, or Lepton, Jewish law concerning it. . . *.146 

Mnemeion different from the Taphos *205 

Mahometanism, Mills's interesting work on.. *418 

" Moment of time," Luke iv. 5 *51 

Morgan on the miraculous gifts *'308 

Moses and Christ, parallel between *227 

, the paranymph of the Jewish Church . *62 

Mosheim on James being Bishop of Jerusa- 
lem *279 

on the election of Matthias *218 

office of Deacon *235 

word Apostle *267 

Nares, Archdeacon, on John i. 31 *55 

Luke i. 2 "4 

Natural religion defined 200 

" Nature," meaning of this word *58 

" Nazarene," meaning of this word 5 ^ .g 

Nazareth, despised part of Palestine *42 

New articles of faith not taught in the Epis- 
tles *318 

Newcome, Archbishop, on our Lord's more 

public teaching "G? 

the denials of St. 

Peter *]67 

last Passover . *154 

word Rem- 

phan *24] 

Newton, Bishop, on the demoniacs *74 

, Sir Isaac, on the time of the Pass- 
over *159 

Nicolaitans, origin of the name *23G 

Nicopolis, when visited by St. Paul *244 

Noah, on the typical nature of his preserva- 
tion *406 

Nonnus's paraphrase of John i. 31 *56 

on Christ walking on the sea *107 

on the fishes which fed the 5000 *106 

, utility of his paraphrase on St. John *56 

Notes of this Arrangement designed to illus- 
trate the wisdom and propriety of Christ's 

conduct *3 

not necessary to illustrate our Lord's 

addresses to the Jews, before his apprehen- 
sion *140 

Nye, Stephen, on the Logos '9 



Page. 
Oak of Mamre, venerated in the time of 

Eusebius *24 

Obedience to human and divine law, &c. . . . *247 
Offerings, various, among the Jews, account 

of "160 

" Offspring, we are his own," whence taken. *336 
Ointment of spikenard, vuQdog niarixi,, vari- 
ous meanings of. *136 

Old Testament, Epistle to the Hebrews the 

key of *400 

Onesimus, account of him *384 

Onias, temple of, equal in authority to that 

of Samaria *66 

Operations of the Holy Spirit, ordinary, con- 
tinue for ever *221 

Opinions in the apostolic age *327 

Oppian quoted, on fish considered as emblems "^S 

Opposition against the infant Church *230 

to the early Churches • 448 

" Ordained to eternal life," &c. Acts xiii. 48. *299 
Order of the narrative of the Temptation, 

why different in St. Matthew and St. Luke . *47 
Ordinary influences of the Spirit always 

necessary *248 

Original sin, meaning of *18 

Origin of Pagan Idolatry, by Mr. Faber, an 

admirable and useful work. *15 

the Papal usurpations 450 

■ the visible world *334 

Osiander on the word Jesus *26 

Osiander's plan condemned by Spanheim... *70 

Paley on St. Paul's silence on the apostolic 

decree *329 

the council of Jerusalem *301 

the Epistle to Titus *345 

Paley's solution of the difficulty, Luke ii. 2. . *28 

Papacy, date of its supremacy *102 

Parable, meaning of the word *97 

Parables, when our Lord first spoke in *97 

Parallelisms in the Old and New Testaments *25 
Paranymph, John the Baptist the, of Christ 

and the Church *62 

one only, at the Galilean mar- 
riages *62 

Paraphrases, Chaldee, Bishop Pearson on the *5 

on the Logos *5 

on the origin and cor- 
ruptions of. *5 

Passover compared with the Eucharist *]60 

, manner of its celebration ., *152 

, whether Christ ate of the last *].53 

Passovers, number of, in our Lord's ministry. *81 

, passed by our Lord 

when on earth *81 

Patriarchs, why they desired to be buried in 

Canaan . . ; *202 

Pauline persecution, St. Matthew's Gospel 

probably written at that time *254 

Paul, St., addressed his Epistles to all the 

people *338 

appeals to CaBsar *3C9 

as a Jewish doctor, was privileged to 

preach in the Synagogues *293 

causes of his second apostolical 

journey *313 

conduct at Athens the model to all 

missionaries ^333 

conversion, a type of the future 

conversion of the Jews *257 

on his silence respecting the apos- 
tolic decree in his Epistle to the Galatians. *329 

date of his conversion "254 

dispute concerning Mark *313 

eloquence •«•» 

• his age at the death of Stephen *245 

his probable design in being set 

apart by the Church at yVntioch *292 

his removal to Caesarea. > *3C7 



INDEX THE FOURTH. 



*469 



Page. 
Pdul, St., illustrations, traceable to his private 

life *323 

is imprisoned the second time under 

Nero 405 

is wrecked at Melita *371 

learning, quotations, &c *324 

martyred at Rome 406 

on his conduct at Jerusalem *365 

ignorance of Ananias *366 

plan of his preaching at Athens. . . *331 

possessed all the apostolic qualifica- 



tions *306 

the proof of our Lord's Messiahship 

afforded, wliich he might have demanded. . *255 

trance in the temple, date of *262 

travels after his first imprisonment *382 

when made an Apostle *239 

• whether taken to Areopagus by 

force *332 

why this name was given to Saul *293 

Paulus, a German critic, on the twofold 

Logos ^9 

on the gift of tongues *222 

" Peacemakers," meaning of the term *89 

Pearce, Bishop, on the Libertines *238 

Pearson, Bishop, on the office of Deacons. . . *234 
Pedigree of Joseph and Mary must have 

been well known and accurate *28 

Pentecost, why the Holy Ghost was then 

given £i.l 

Perfections of God predicated of Christ *219 

" Permission, this I speak by," on this phrase *350 
Persecution, time of, referred to by St. 

Matthew ' *251 

Peter, St., whether his name Cephas proved 

his supremacy over the other Apostles. . . . '56 
, whether the rock on which the 

Church is founded *]10 

, on the time when he saw Christ 



after the resurrection *211 

, deliverance from prison, how e.x;- 



plained by the liberal German commenta- 
tors *280 

where he took refuge after his 



miraculous release from pi-ison *282 

did not remain long at Rome, on 



Ills first journey to that city *284 

martyred at Rome ) 7,;- 

, Epistles of, their date, origin, 



design. &c *404 

-, observations on the genuineness 



of his second Epistle *407 

Petronius Arbiter, on fish, as an emblem .... *73 

Pfeiffer, on the word Jesus *27 

dialect of Galilee *]69 

word Remphan *241 

Pharisees charged with hypocrisy *144 

, on the leaven of *145 

Philemon, Epistle to, its date, origin, &c. . . . *383 

Pliilip assumed the name of Herod -'63 

the Deacon must not be confounded 

with the Apostle *246 

Philippians, Epistle to, its date, origin, &c. . . *380 
Philosophers, who fashion Christianity to pre- 
conceived ideas, generally wrong *77 

Philo, some account of *6 

, interview of, with Caligula *6 

, passages from, on the Logos *7 

~, confounds the personal with a concep- 
tual Logos, and is thus equally depended 
upon by the Unitarian and Trinitarian 

writers *S 

, former popularity of his works *9 

— : — , on prophetic and monitory dreams. . . . *26 
" Physician, heal thyself," a Jewish proverb.. *69 
Pilate and Herod, cause of their difference . . *174 
Pilkington, on the miraculous drauo-ht of 
fiihes ..'..... T *71 

VOL. II. 



Page. 
Pirke Eliezer, illustration of Matt. xv. 26. 

from *]08 

" Place, go to his own," meaning of *22Q 

Places of worship among the early Christians *294 
Plato, source whence he derived liis idea of a 

Logos *15 

thought all things full of dcemons *74 

Pleroma of Cerinthus *11 

Plucking the ears of/ corn, place of this 

event *85 

corn considered as reaping *86 

Plutarch quoted, on fish as an emblem *73 

Poly carp on the oflice of deacons *234 

Pool of Bethesda, miracle at, authenticity of 

the passage in which it is related *84 

Popery, its revival will compel attention to 

the ancient controversies *112 

has increased within the last few 

years *340 

its principles censured in Scripture . . *340 

the enslaver and curse of mankind . . 451 

Popular election of the Clergy not proved 

firom the election of Matthias *2]7 

Porteus, Bishop, on Mark ix. 1 *115 

Practice of the Apostles the best guide to 

Christian Churches *248 

Church at Jerusalem *264 

Prayer, the Lord's, clauses of i)i the Jewish 

liturgies 'Ol 

Bishop Taylor on *C1 

Preaching of Christ began at the imprison- 
ment of John, reasons for this *64 

of St. Paul no proof of his Apos- 

tleship *290 

Preexistence, Christ in his, known by evil 

spirits *87 

Preface to the Gospels *1 

of St. Luke variously interpreted .... *2 

of St. John, its precise object *y 

" Prepared before the foundation of the world " *151 
Presbyterianism, date and causes of its origin *103 

, its progress *i03 

Presbytery, meaning of this word *289 

" Pressed in the Spirit," (Acts xviii. 5.) mean- 
ing of *337 

Prideaux, Dean, on the seventy weeks, re- 
marks on his interpretation *237 

account of the proselytes *270 

Priesthood, Jewish, publicly instituted *101 

, its succession sacred. *101 

, Christian, its origin, descent, and 

succession, as clear as that of the Jews .... *101 . 

, Patriarchal, Levitical, Christian . *102 

, Christian, its present degradation *103 

Prisoner released at the Passover, origin of.. *]75 

Prisoners, mode of securing them *375 

Progress of the Papal corruptions 449 

Prophecies accomplished by events apparent- 
ly incidental *28 

Prophecy, the .spirit of, when descended upon 

John '^43 

'• unto us of Christ," meaning of this 

insult *]67 

better evidence of miracles *413 

Prophetic dreams, observations on *25 

Prophetical books, how divided by the Jews . *68 
Propriety, peculiar, of Clmst's actions pointed 

out in the notes *3 

Proselytes of Shechem, the first persons bap- 
tized "43 

, controversy concerning, between 

Lord Barrington and Dr. Lardner *270 

of the gate, apostolic decree ad- 
dressed to ''303 

Providence, doctrines of, maintained by the 

Jews *105 

of God, how shown in the pro- 
tection of the first teaching of Christianity *293 
Prudence required in Missionaries. *333 

*NN 



470* 



INDEX THE FOURTH. 



Page. 
Publicans considered by the Jews as profane 

persons *81 

Publicity of the Apostles' preaching *347 

Punishment, capital, whether permitted to the 

Jews *170 

" Put on Christ," this phrase illustrated *330 

Pythagoras thought all things full of dsemons *74 
conversed with the Jews in the 

captivity 201 

Pythoness really possessed *314 

Quotations in tiie New Testament sometimes 
on the rabbinical plan *87 

Quotation (Acts viii. 32.) the same in the 
Septuagint and Hebrew *249 

Rabbi, how rendered in Greek *71 

Rabbins, celebrated, who probably questioned 

Christ when twelve years of age *43 

Rabbinical mode of quoting Scripture *87 

Reger on the title on the cross *180 

Reading, no new, of the New Testament to 

be received, unless on the authority of MSS. *28 
Reason alone never discovered a true religion 201 
Reasons of the Jews for believing the ancient 
mn'acles, of the same nature as those on 
which the miracles of Christ are credible . . *58 
" Receiveth you, receiveth me," an assertion 

of our Lord's divinity *105 

Reformation of the Church service, plan of. . "316 

from Popery, not "the man of 

sin " *341 

, its good and bad eifects ; . 451 

Regeneration, (Matt. xix. 28.) *129 

Rejecters of Christianity have no foundation 

of hope *401 

Religion, object of, under its three forms. . . . *19 

Remphan, meaning of this word *241 

Piennell, Mr., admirable observations on inspi- 
ration *2 

on the Canon 440 

Repentance, meaning of John's preaching . . *44 

the foundation of true faith .... *56 

Restoration of the Jews possibly very near. . *30 

Resurrection gradually taught *92 

expected in the time of Christ. . *93 

of the body taught in Scripture 

by facts *131 

, importance of the doctrine *185 

, difficulties in the accounts of. . *18G 

, evidence in its favor complete *187 

, West, Townson, and Cran- 

field, on *189 

, scene among the tombs of Ju- 

dcEa, at the *203 

, in the time of the Messiah ex- 
pected by the Jews *202 

Revelation, design of "72 

the only means of discovering the 

will, of God 203 

defined *3JG 

the only guide to man *316 

Revival of miracle and prophecy at the com- 
ing of Christ *17 

Rjjvokition of souls, a Jewish opinion *127 

Rivers, 'progress of Gospel compared to *72 

Robe of fChrist, how called purple and scarlet *177 
Rolling away of the stone from the mouth of 

the sepulchre before the rising of the sun . *203 
Roman Emperors prevented the early power 

of the man of sin *342 

Romans, Epistle to, its date, place, object, &c. *360 
Romanists keep the Scriptures from the people *338 
Rome, vide Church. 

Rosenmuller on the Apocalypse *414 

demoniacs *74 

name of Matthew *8l 

■ Mark ii. 26 'S? 

" Rudiments of tiie world," on the expression *383 



Page. 
Sabbath, Jewish traditionary laws respecting, 

very burthensome and superstitious *8C 

Sabbatical years referred to *33] 

Sacrifices, account of the Jewish *160 

, federal rites between God and man *1G1 

Sacrifices, legal types of the sacrifice of 

Christ *162 

Salt losing its savor, meaning of *89 

" Salted with fire," meaning of the expres- 
sion *120 

Salutation, meaning of the *23 

Salvation of man never certain till death .... *258 
by faith alone the doctrine of Scrip- 
ture '327 

Samaria, proselytes to the Jewish Church first 

admitted there *65 

, Christ first announced his Messiah- 
ship there *(i5 

, first addressed after the Jews ^Oo 

Samaritans highly esteemed the prophetic 

writings *6G 

Samaritan, on the good *12o 

Samothrace, history of, much wanted *313 

Sanhedrin, account of *42 

, Christ admitted into, when twelve 

years old *42 

, why they apprehended the Ro- 
mans if they acknowledged our Lord. ..... *132 

, of Jerusalem, authority of, very 

great over the distant Jews *255 

permitted by the Romans to govern 

the distant synagogues *255 

in the wilderness, endued with 

miraculous gifts *30.5 

its places of meeting after the fall 

of Jerusalem 444 

Sampseans, a sect of Esseans *261 

Satan and Michael, dispute between them. . . *412 
Saturninus, origin and nature of his opinions *]2 

Saul, why called Paul *2;)3 

Schoetgen on the study of the Jewis'n writers *5 

glory at the transfiguration *118 

leaven of the Pharisees. . . . *145 

expression " it is enough " . *1G0 

— : draught off'ered on the cross *179 

expectation of the miracu- 
lous gifts *224 

office of deacon *234 

" Gaza, which is desert " *249 

Scott, Dr., on the Episcopate of James *279 

Schools of Hillel and Schammai, on the Sab- 
bath *87 

Scripture read by Christ at Nazareth *68 

, fanciful interpretations of, incon- 
sistent with sobriety of judgment *72 

to be read by all *33'.) 

the test of truth *108 

■ , warning to those who study it .... *]G0 

Sealing of the tomb assisted to prove the res- 
urrection *200 

" Searcher of hearts," an epithet applied to 

Christ, proving his divinity *219 

Second Sabbath after the first '^SG 

" Seed of the woman," meaning of the ex- 
pression *19 

" Seeds as of many," (Gal. iii. IG.) meaning 

of the expression *330 

Selden on the power of life and death among 

the Jews *]74 

word Remphan "242 

Semler, on the distributing Scripture *339 

Sepulchre, form of, among the Jews *204 

of Josepli, a prophecy fulfilled by 

its nearness to the city ^ *10G 

Sergius Paulus the first idolatrous Gentile 

convert *292 

Sermon on the Mount, and on the Plain *88 

Service of God the highest honor *86 

Seventy, their mission and time *121 



INDEX THE FOURTH, 



Page. 
Sharp, Granville, on the supremacy of the 

church of Rome *111 

his rule with respect to the 

Greek article ■*15 

Shechinah appeared to the sheplierds *35 

, Bishop Horsley's description of. *115 

. . appeared to St. Stephen *244 

S Paul *255 

Sheet in St. Peter's vision, a type of the 

Church *275 

" Shiloli," meaning of the word *^7 

Ships adorned with images "375 

Shipwreck, on St. Paul's *370 

Silence of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, on the 

homage of Samaria *Co 

Simeon , prophecy of * 35 

Simon, father of Alexander and Rufus *178 

Simon Magus, on *247 

Sleep of the soul, not proved by the restora- 
tion of the widow's son '*92 

Smith, Dr. P., on the Angel Jehovah ... *5 

, miraculous conception *20 

Jewish expectation of 

a Messiah *109 

Socinians reject the two first chapters of St. 

Luke *33 

Sojourning of Israel 400 years *240 

Soldiers to whom John preached *44 

" Some doubted," on this expression *213 

Son of God, in what sense applied to Christ, 

and to men in general *19 

Son not knowing the day of judgment *150 

Sota, fishes considered an emblem in *73 

Soul, revolution of *127 

Spencer on the Bath Col *142 

Spices, when brought by the women *200 

Spirit of God, analogy between the action of, 
at the creation and at the baptism of Christ *46 

" Spirit given by measure," meaning of *63 

Spirits, evil, knew Christ in his preexistent 

state _ *87 

Spirit of prophecy, last sigh of, in the Jewish 

Church *142 

Christ resigned, not taken from him *] 84 

God ever present witli Christians. .. *243 

Spirit imparted to the Samaritans by the 

Apostles only *248 

of God, its influences principally attend 

the means of grace *259 

, on its sole existence *'336 

" Spirit giveth life," meaning of *357 

Star expected to appear at the birth of the 

Messiah *37 

Students, to study the evidences for tlie divin- 
ity of Christ *16 

Stoics thought the world full of Daemons *74 

of Athens, account of *332 

Stealing the body of Christ, on this story .... *209 
State of the world at the coming of Christ. . . 443 
close of the Apos- 
tolic age 444 

Stephen, time of his martyrdom *23fi 

, design of his address to the Jews.. *239 

, how he saw the heavens opened. . . *244 

. • — , on his dying exclamation *245 

Straightway, he preached Christ, &o *261 

Study and education essential to Christian 

teachers *306 

" Suffered he their manners " *2iJ7 

Sufferings of Christ, were predicted in the 

Old Testament *21 1 

, under what circum- 
stances they were first preached to the 

Apostles *109 

Superscription on the cross *179 

" Sure mercies of David " *298 

Sykes on the Dasmoniacs *74 

Syro-Phenician woman *108 

Synagogues, account of, where to be built, &c. *294 



%age. 
Synagogues, service, some customs adopted'!", 

from «295 

Syracuse, on St. Paul's landing there *^7b , 

Table of evidence for the divinity of Christ. . ^6 
Tacitus confirms the opinion that the Church *, 

was gradually established *238 

Talmudists on the power of life and death. . . . 

Tanner, how esteemed among the Jews *2G 

Taplios different from the Miiemeion *2(r4 

Targums of Onkelos, and Jonathan ben Uz- 

ziel, when and where written *5 

Targums, their authority . » •''5 

Taylor on tlie Epistle to the Romans *36% 

, Bishop, on the word " Apostle " *26S' 

Taxation conmianded by Augustus, &c *"27 

Teaching of our Lord *12G 

Temple, courts of, how divided *61 ■ 

of God, meanest oflice in, honorable *8G 

Temptation of Adam and Christ compared. . . *47 , 

Christ, as the second Adam . . . MT*'^ 

, a real event *51 g,,; 

, why related difterently 3 r - 

by St. Matthew and St. Luke *51 H ] 

at Gethsemane, mean- \- ', j 

ing of *164 '.J( 

Tertullian on St. Mark's Gospel *287 * \ 

Testament, New, written on the same plan as ,'•<> 

the Old *72 / , 

Theophilus of Antioch, on the divinity of J-'' 

Christ *15 A 

, Luke i. 3. whether a real character *4 it 

Theory of Lord Barrington on the proselytes "271 (I 

Thief, on Christ's answer to the penitent *]83 i 

Third day, (John ii. L) on the *57 \ 

" Third time I am come to you " *359 I 

Thorns, on the crown of *178 

Thessalonians, First Epistle to, its date, &c.. *337 '-'V'-'' 

, Second Epistle to, its date, &c. *339 / - 

" Through ignorance they did it " *226 3 

Thomas the Apostle, on his exclamation .... *212 .t. i 

Tilloch on the Apocalypse *417 1 I 

Tillotson, Archbishop, entrusted with the I 

posthumous works of Barrow *412 I 

on Jude 9 *"5G 1 

Time of events, in the New Testament, fixed 1 

by very general expressions *79 \ 

" Times of refreshing," on the *226,„^. J 

Timothy, why circumcised by St. Paul *3I3 \ 

, his life and characti^r '352 

, First Epistle to, its date, &c *353 

, Second.. ditto *402 

Title on the cross *] 79 

Titus, Epistle to, its early date, &c ■•*344 

Toinard on the last Passover *155 

" To us there is one God " explained *351 

" Touch me not," on this expression ........ *209 

Townson, Dr., reconciles the accounts of the / 

miraculous draught of fishes *71 1 

on the originality of the Evangelists *2 / 

hour of the crucifixion ''176 ,' 

■ — title on the cross *]79 [ 

harmony of the resurrection. *191 1 

■ date of St. Matthew's Gospel *254 'r 

Traditions of the Romanists and Jews com- / 

pared ' *108 

, Jewish, on the second Adam .... *5<1 ; 

■_ Sabbatli *84 

, in what manner censured 

by Christ *5 

Trance, or ecstasy of St. Peter defined *275 

Transfiguration, on the *]15 

represents the manner in 

which Christ shall judge the world '1 IG 

Transubstantiation *I63 . 

Translators, our, of the Bible, learned He- 
braists *"3C9 

Trent, council of, tlie perpetuation of the 

errors of the dark aces 457 



*472 



INDEX THE FOURTH. 



Page. 

Trinitarian writers, on Philo *7 

Truth, more valuable than toleration *347 

Twilight, distinctions of, among the Rabbis . . *201 
Types, whether any in the New Testament. . *7S 

, meaning of this word *72 

Typical events, not understood as such, when 
they took place *72 

Unbelieving Jews not " the man of sin " .... *340 

Unction at Bethany, time of . ; *133 

Unitarian writers guilty of wilful misrepre- 
sentations both of Scripture and arguments *15 

consider Philo as a Plato- 

nist *8 

Unitarianism the offspring of Gnosticism. . . . *12 
Universe agitated at the birth of Christ *34 

Valentinians, their opinions *]2 

Veysie on the origin of the first three Gospels *3 
Vicar of Christ upon earth, appointment of, 

useless, &c *111 

Villapandus's map of Jerusalem *198 

Vinegar mingled with gall, Matt, xxvii. 34... *179 
Violence, how suffered by the kingdom of 

Heaven *94 

Vision of St. Peter, meaning and nature of *275 
Vitellius, general of Tiberius's army against 

Aretas *255 

Vitringa, his account of Basilides and tlie 

Valentinians "13 

's account of the design of St. John's 

Gospel *13 

endeavours to prove that prophecy 

and miracle did not entirely cease with 

Malachi *17 

's dissertation on the Bath Col *]42 

on the word Remphan *241 

's comparison between St. Paul and 

the young lion *246 

on Simon Magus *247 

on the word " Apostle " *267 

on the modes of worship among the 

early Christians *294 

on the similarity between the Minis- 
ters of the early Church and the Syna- 
gogues "295 

Vorsfius, editor of R. D. Ganz, obnoxious to 

James I *93 

Vow of St. Paul in Cenchrea *346 

Wall, Dr , on the last Passover *154 

Warburton, Bishop, on the Shiloh of Judah . *27 

on prophetic writing . *38 

omitted to reply to the 

arguments on the Resurrection, from the 

Jewish traditions *144 

Watson, Bishop, on the Atonement *182 

'• Way, any of this," a common phrase *255 

Weeks, prophecy of the seventy, confirms 
the chronological arrangement of the 

present work *236 

West's harmony of the Resurrection *189 

Wetstein on the Apocalypse *4]5 

'• Where two seas met " '^371 

Whitby on Mark ix. 1 *115 



Page. 

Whitby on the man of sin ■*340 

Widow, on the liberality of the poor '*146 

Wilson on our Lord's condemnation *167 

Wine mingled with myrrh, (Mark xv. 23.) 

on this passage *178 

Wings of the Shechinah, proselytes said to be 

received under *145 

Witnesses of the old and new dispensations 
distinguished by the same characteristics . . ''.59 

Witsius on the Logos, (Luke i. 2.) *14 

commanded silence of the 

leper "80 

gradation of Christ's miracles *]06 

Transfiguration *ll(i 

barren fig-tree *144 

on St. Stephen seeing the heavens 

opened s-. . . *244 

of opinion that St. Paul saw the She- 
chinah *256 

on the word Apostle *266 

on St. Paul's ignorance of Ananias. . *3G6 

Woman, used as a title of honor *57 

of Samaria, why our Lord talked 

with her *65 

taken in adultery, on the authentici- 
ty of that passage ." *122 

Women, whether two parties of, went to the 

sepulchre *196 

, time when they set out to, and 

arrived at, the tomb *201 

— : , arrived after the stone had been 

rolled away '. . *202 

, why the first witnesses of our Lord's 

resurrection *208 

, when the second party came to the 

tomb *210 

united report of, to be taken distrib- 

utively *210 

"Word ye know," (Acts x. 37.) on this phrase *276 
"Work, my Father worketh hitherto, and I," 

explained *84 

Works relating to the Sabbath, how divided 

by the Jews *86 

World shall only last till the Church is com- 
pleted *85 

why not created sooner *335 

Worship, how divided by the Jews. *25 

, among the early Christians, wheth- 
er derived from the Synagogue *293 

, among the early Christians, wheth- 
er derived from the Synagogue "*316 

Wotton's Misna illustrates the Jewish laws 

on the observance of the Sabbath *86 

Wyld's Scripture Atlas, useful, &c *64 

Young on Adam's transgression *363 

Zacharias, on the circumstance of his being 
struck with dumbness *17 

, his prophecy the death-song of the 

Jewish Church ^2-5 

Zechariah's prophecy, fulfilled only in and by 
Jesus of Nazareth, who is thereby proved 
to be the Messiah '1^'7 



THE END. 



